Chapter two, guys! Thanks to beanea for reviewing the last chapter! Carter and Percy actually meet here, but it's still not the whole thing, it'd be too long. Thank for reading, everyone

Three days later and that monster was still there. Chiron had forbidden anybody to go looking for it after Leo had persuaded Piper, the Stolls and a couple of other Hermes kids to go after it with him. Long story short, if Jason hadn't been flying around looking out for it anyway it could have gotten very messy, but they all ended up fine, although Jason officially grounded Piper.

The pegasi were all in a state of shock, bless them. Hazel sat in the stables with them all day, trying to make them feel better, but it's hard when you can't speak to them.

Turned out the crocodile had been in that swamp for a couple of weeks, eating birds and other wildlife. The mortals had begun to give it names, such as Long Island's Swamp Monster. Please.

After three days, I cracked. This monster was carving a path of destruction through Long Island. I took it quite personally, since it was so close to my home. Even the mortals knew something was going on. I had to do something.

Inside the stables at camp it's dry and warm. It smells of horse, hay and sawdust, which bring back a few memories of our quest to Greece. My face warmed as I remembered falling asleep with Annabeth in the hold.

On that day, Hazel was on patrol, so it was empty. I went up to Guido. His wings hung by his side like a dog holding its tail between its legs.

"Hey, man."

'Sup, boss?

"I just wondered if you could tell me what happened one last time?"

Not much to tell. We were flying, not low, mind you, but low enough. We were just trotting over a swamp when-

"Hold up. A swamp?"

Yep. The one just south of here. It's quite deep.

Blackjack cut in. Dunno whether it's still there or not now, but it's worth a try. Need a lift?

I grinned. This horse knew me too well. "Sure thing, Blackjack. I'll get you some donuts afterwards."

Soon we were soaring through the air. I'd made Blackjack take me into the woods so no one would see us leave. Of course, it was only a matter of time before Annabeth found us both missing and figured out where I'd gone.

Below us, the swamp glistened brown, with long grass poking through the mud and sticks lying here and there. It looked pretty miserable, but I could feel something down there. It didn't feel Greek or even Roman, but it felt ancient and powerful. This was the right place.

"Blackjack," I called. "Set me down over there." I indicated a gnarled tree in the middle of a large mudflat.

You sure, boss?

'Yeah. You probably don't want to stick around for this."

The other slightly worrying thing was how close it was to the line of houses with little grey roofs and square gardens. The monster may have a taste for horse now, but what happened if he decided he wanted mortals? They were there for the taking.

I waved Blackjack away, promising I'd whistle when I was done and then we'd stop off at a donut store, and watched him swoop away, becoming smaller and smaller until he seemed more like a bird than a horse. I sighed, and went looking for the crocodile.

The mud gave me no trouble as I was walking, but it would probably make it hard for mortals to get anywhere. Hopefully they avoided this swamp.

I'd been walking in circles for about fifteen minutes, wondering how I was going to find the thing, when something exploded out of the water a few hundred feet in front of me. Impatient, I summoned the water around me and made it carry me to where I'd last seen it. It was lying half in, half out of the water, its eyes half closed.

First off, it was huge. Mythical or not, there had to be some sort of rule against monsters getting that big. Sure, I'd heard about the encounter the other five had had with Sciron (Hazel and Jason had described it enough times) and this crocodile had to be related to the turtle. It was ridiculous.

It was oily and blackish-green, with thick leathery skin. Taking my chances, I swung Riptide, only to have it glance off its scales. Yellow eyes snapped open, taking me in.

Crap. I thought. What a wasted chance. It knew I was here now, and I'd lost the element of surprise. It lumbered to its feet, and towered over me, easily as tall as the cabins back at camp.

The only thing was that it didn't seem in much of a hurry to attack me. Maybe I looked too stringy or smelt like seafood. I've been told that before.

But no, it was hunched over on itself, like it had eaten something bad. Maybe Larry was coming back to haunt him. I took a cautious step forward, and its head whipped round to face me. Rows of crooked, yellow teeth were bared as it snarled.

Without thinking, I slid in between its legs and stabbed up the back end. Elegant, Percy, I can hear you saying, but it worked! The monster's underside was soft and fleshy, and Riptide sank in easily. I rolled out of the way and waited for it to crumble to dust. What actually happened was more like this.

The crocodile jerked up, until it was standing on two feet, and roared. Retching and jerking, it threw something up, then dove into the water again. Why hadn't it disintegrated? The something-it-had-thrown-up moved.

I raised Riptide, ready to fight yet another monster or calm down a raging pegasus. Instead, I saw an African-American boy stand up, coughing and spluttering, wiping crocodile gunk from his face. Then he saw me.

For a moment we just stared at each other. He took in my T-shirt (which wasn't very readable), my necklace and Riptide. Somehow I knew he could see them. And why was he inside a crocodile?

The strangest was yet to come. He was holding a boomerang-like thing, which I had never seen in my life before, and a sword. But the sword wasn't straight like mine. It was curved, and only sharpened on one side.

He spoke, his voice cool and even. "The crocodile. Where did it go?"

A small thank you might be in order. "You're welcome."

"What?"

"I stuck it up the rump." I showed the movement with Riptide. "That's why it vomited you up. So, you're welcome. What were you doing here?"

He turned and snapped at me. "I was resting." He was clearly ticked off. "What do you think I was doing? Now, who are you, and why are you fighting my monster?"

That told me all I needed to know. This guy must know Sciron. "Your monster? Look, man, I don't know who you are, but that crocodile has been terrorizing Long Island for weeks. I take that kind of personally, as this is my home turf. A few days ago, it ate one of our pegasi."

His eyes widened. "Did you say pegasi?"

I ignored that. He clearly wasn't some innocent mortal. "Is it your monster or not?"

"I don't own it!" he snapped. "I'm trying to stop it! Now, where-"

"The croc headed that way." I pointed with Riptide, only just realizing what direction that was. Towards the houses. "I would already be chasing it, but you surprised me."

I turned to look at the guy, really looked at him. He was smaller and younger than me, maybe about fifteen, with skin the colour of coffee. He was wearing the kind of clothes you'd wear to a karate class; thin, white linen. His sword looked like one of those you'd see in some foreign movie, out in the Middle East or something. He had to be a half-blood. Perhaps he'd been sent on some stupid quest by Lupa? He didn't feel Roman though, not like Frank, Hazel and Jason did, with that air of authority. He seemed like a fighter though, someone ready for combat.

I shook my head. "I give up. Son of Ares? You've got to be a half-blood, but what happened to your sword? It's all bent."

"It's a khopesh." He growled. "It's supposed to be curved." His eyes narrowed with hatred, like I'd just insulted him. Was he really that opposed to Ares? And what was that word he had said? Copesh?

"Just get out of here. I have a crocodile to catch."

Excuse me? "Dude, I have a crocodile to catch. Last time you tried, it ate you. Remember?"

His fists clenched. "I had everything under control. I was about to summon a-" He made a noise that sounded like a sneeze, like khefa. I was about to say bless you when a huge blue fist appeared out of nowhere and sent me flying backwards across the mud, minus my sneakers.

So, what'd you think? Obviously there's going to be at least another chapter, where they actually fight the crocodile. I've got a copy of the Son of Sobek beside me as I'm writing this, so I can copy the dialogue.

Thanks for reading!

-Ciara