Okay, won't waste time on my usual blabber of excuses and just skip to the part where I say THANK YOU FOR READING! :D Love you guys, and I'd love you even more if you favorited/followed/reviewed! *eyebrow wiggle* Enjoy Chapter Three!

The next week was definitely interesting. I had all my classes with Percy, and wow... were all newbies this bad and I just hadn't been paying attention?

During Ancient Greek, he could push through a couple lines of Greek. I would've given him grief, but I wasn't much better.

Archery ended with Chiron pulling an arrow out of his tail and me being grateful I was a fast runner.

Foot racing? I could barely keep behind the nymphs, but Percy was practically still at the starting line when they finished.

Wrestling was a pain for the both of us, as Clarisse got to pummel us every time.

The only thing he was good at so far was canoeing, and we both knew how helpful that was in combat. Still, I consoled, "Hey, at least you excel at something. All I can do is choke on nymph dust and after six years of practice, throw a knife without killing myself."

Percy nodded, but I could tell he wasn't convinced.

When Thursday's sword-fighting came along, I wasn't too excited. No offense to my new friend, but I didn't expect him to do very it came to hacking at the dummies, he wasn't the worst, and his reflexes were better than I'd expected. Still, he looked awkward with just about any sword they handed him. Maybe he was a knife guy.

And when pairs time came around, gave Luke a pleading look, but he pretended not to see. He wanted first go with Percy here. "Percy, you'll be with me, since it's your first time. Raven with Andrew, Nakamura with Chris..."

I bit back a curse. Now I regretted telling Luke I could take anything he could throw. I didn't think he'd throw Andrew, though.

Andrew mimicked cutting his throat. How had this kid's father been Hermes and not Ares?!

We split off into our pairs, Andrew and I in the farthest corner of the arena. I knew what he would do: he'd try to back me into a corner where my flexibility meant nothing, and his brute strength would mean point one more for Andrew. Great.

I pulled out a knife and Andrew drew his sword, smirking. "Four days in a row, short stack? You must be trying to set a record."

I scowled. "Hardly." I rushed forward, refusing to get cornered. Andrew swung his sword and I ducked underneath, stabbing quickly with my knife, ripping the side of his shirt.

I grinned as Andrew growled, "You're gonna pay for that."

"Good luck with that." I know, I know. I was about to get creamed, but hey, I couldn't help but get in a few hits on him.

Andrew slashed harshly with his sword and I yelped as it cut across the front of my chest, tearing open my shirt and leaning a faint red line from the left of my chest and down to the right. I quickly stepped back, avoiding a second blow, my chest stinging.

I started stumbling back as he kept attacking, my one hand keeping my shirt from flopping down, one holding my knife and trying to blocking when it got too close for comfort.

I could vaguely hear Luke coaching Percy in the background, but I had my own problems. Andrew had me right where he wanted me, five feet from the wall and running. I didn't know anything I could do except attack worthlessly. So I did. Come on, what did you expect, surrender?

I rushed forward, dodging around his jab, and lunged forward with my knife out. Andrew didn't fall for that. He grabbed my wrist and made me drop the knife. "Thought it would be that easy?"

He twisted and it hurt so much from the last time I broke it, I closed my eyes and just yelled.

The air seemed to thicken, growing cold. The pressure on my arm faded, then disappeared entirely. I opened my eyes to see Andrew on the ground at my feet, unconscious. But that wasn't even the weird part.

Black smoke, so thick you could barely see through it, was all around me for ten feet. I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I stumbled a step back, panicking. What was going on?! Suddenly, the smoke was retreating, as if being sucked into a vacuum... at my feet. I looked around, shaking, terrified. "W-What..."

Luke was staring at me, his face a mix of confusion and... fear. He was afraid. So was I, but wasn't this the part where Luke said everything was alright?

Percy just looked confused, nervous. He didn't look afraid, but everyone else did.

I tried to find my voice, but it wouldn't work. Luke suddenly powerwalked over to me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me across the arena. I stumbled along behind him as other campers stepped forward to help Andrew. Once out of earshot, Luke let go and put both hands to the back of his head, now looking tense and conflicted. The fear was still there... but looking closer, he didn't seem to be scared of me. It looked more... for me. But that was completely insane.

Luke muttered, "Of all the times... gods, of all the people, it had to be you..."

I could feel my own fear rising in my throat. "Luke, what's going on? What was that? What... what did I do?"

Luke didn't seem to hear me, still talking under his breath, "Why now? Why her? Of course the Fates would say her or Annabeth..."

More insistently, I begged, "Luke, tell me what's going on!" My voice cracked. "I-I'm scared."

Luke's expression softened. "It's going to be okay, Rav. But you have to trust me."

I promised, "I always have. But Luke, what's going on?"

Luke put his hands on my shoulders, holding me at arms length. "I can't tell you right now, Raven. I wish I could, but it could put you in danger."

I felt like curling into the fetal position, but I said, "It sounds like I'm already in trouble with someone."

Luke bit his lip. "Raven, I just need you to stay calm. I know you want to go somewhere, get away from camp, but hold out a little longer and I promise, everything'll be fine."

I nodded a bit. "Okay."

Luke nodded, looking slightly relieved. "Alright. I'll deal with the other campers. You go back to the cabin."

I nodded and took off. I didn't even hesitate, I was so terrified. I ran straight to the cabin, past satyrs and nymphs, and into the cabin. I sat on my bed, curled in a ball, hoping I'd wake up and find this was all a dream... but I never did.