I spent the rest of the day and the next day nursing Percy back to health but he never woke up while I was there. Finally, on the second day, he woke up. I stayed with Chiron and Mr. D while Grover brought Percy up to speed on what had happened. After a while they came around the porch.

"Mr. Brunner!" Percy cried when he saw Chiron.

Chiron turned towards him. "Ah, good, Percy. Now we have four for pinochle." He offered Percy the chair beside Mr. D who chose to then welcome him.

"Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you." Mr. D was a jerk but we were forced to obey him until his punishment at this camp was over.

"Uh, thanks." Percy took the seat, looking apprehensively at Mr.D.

"Annabeth?" Chiron called me. I went to him and he introduced me to Percy. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."

"Sure, Chiron." I glanced at the Minotaur horn Percy was holding. He was brave but I wasn't about to admit that to him. "You drool when you sleep." I sprinted away and didn't look back. What a great first impression I made. Oh well, if he's not the one I'm waiting it for it hardly matters what he thinks of me.

I jogged over to cabin eleven, the Hermes cabin. I knocked on the door, expecting a younger kid to open the door but it was Luke. Luke is my oldest friend here at camp. I trust him more than anyone else. Him and I took care of each other, we basically grew up together. But for some reason I got nervous seeing him standing in front of me so perfectly.

"Hey Annabeth, what's up?" he smiled when he saw me.

"Hi Luke. Chiron sent me to check on the new guys bunk. Did you manage to find some space for him?"

Luke invited me in and showed me a corner that had been cleared for Percy. "It's not much but it's all we have. Wish some of these kids would start getting claimed; it's a little crowded in here."

I nodded. He was right as usual. This cabin was always overflowing. I felt bad for Luke, having to deal with all of this all the time. But he was a great head councilor in my opinion.

"I'll be back in a bit alright, I'm going to check how my cabin is doing at archery." Luke winked at me and disappeared. I stared after him until he disappeared then shook my head.

"Focus," I muttered to myself. I turned and headed to my own cabin and grabbed the book of architecture I was in the middle of reading. I settled in front of the Hermes cabin to wait for Percy and Chiron.

About half an hour later the Hermes cabin arrived, back from their archery lesson I guess. I nodded to the campers as they filed in. Luke winked as he passed me and I felt myself blushing. Finally, Chiron and Percy approached.

I looked at Percy, trying to figure out who his father was. It has to be a big three I don't care what Chiron says.

"Annabeth, I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?" Chiron asked me.

"Yes, sir," I was a little excited about this, after all it would give me a chance to learn more about Percy.

Chiron turned to Percy. "Cabin eleven. Make yourself at home."

Percy studied the outside of the cabin then looked through the open door. The campers inside saw Chiron and stood and bowed.

"Well, then. Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." Chiron galloped away, leaving Percy to me.

I glanced inside where everyone was staring at us then turned to Percy. "Well? Go on."

He tripped. I cursed inwardly. This couldn't be who I was waiting for. But I stepped forward anyway to introduce him.

"Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."

"Regular or undetermined?" Travis Stoll asked.

"Undetermined." I replied. The campers weren't fond of that answer but I was used to giving it. Then Luke came forward.

"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." He pointed in the direction of a cleared space.

I felt like I was obligated to introduce the two of them. "This is Luke." I saw Percy glance at me and quickly changed my face so he wouldn't see me blushing. "He's your counselor for now."

"For now?" Percy asked.

"You're undetermined. They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers." Luke explained all this while I watched him speak. I shook my head before I got too lost in his eyes.

Percy looked around the cabin. "How long will I be here?"

"Good question. Until you're determined." Luke replied. He was studying Percy, I don't know why.

"How long will that take?" Percy asked. The campers started laughing. It was time to pull him out of there before he embarrassed himself more.

"Come on. I'll show you the volleyball court"

"I've already seen it," leave it to him to make it more difficult.

"Come on." I grabbed his wrist and him outside. The cabin was still laughing. I waited until we were out of earshot then turned to him. "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"What?"

I rolled my eyes. "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem?" He was starting to get angry, "All I know is, I kill some bull guy-"

"Don't talk like that!" I exploded. This guy had no clue about anything. I felt insulted just by talking to him. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"To get killed?"

"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?" I can't believe I thought he was the one.

He shook his head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories…"

"Yes."

"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So…"

"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die." I could tell I was going to have a lot to explain.

"Oh, thanks. That clears it up." Fantastic. A new kid with an attitude.

"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they reform."

"You mean if I killed one, accidentally with a sword-"

"The Fur… I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

"You talk in your sleep." It was true. He could talk quite a bit for someone that got knocked out.

"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

I glanced at the sky. Names are powerful, I didn't want anything else coming. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."

"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering? Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there" He pointed to the big three cabins. He was whining. I couldn't blame hi, all this stuff would freak anyone out.

"You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or… your parent." I stared at him, waiting for him to put the pieces together.

"My mom is Sally Jackson. She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least she used to."

"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."

"He's dead. I never knew him."

I sighed; this was going to take a while. "Your father's not dead, Percy."

"How can you say that? You know him?"

"No, of course not."

"They how can you say-"

"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."

"You don't know anything about me."

"No? I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."

"How-" He tried to interrupt but I was on a roll.

"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Taken together, its almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD- you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are." I stopped to let him process what I was saying.

"You sound like… you went through the same thing?" He finally calmed down and I heard some sympathy in his voice.

"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

"Ambrosia and nectar."

"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood." I stopped. I may have gone too far.

Percy was staring at me but before I could help anymore, we were interrupted.

"Well! A newbie!" It was Clarisse. Perfect, just what I needed right now, a daughter of Ares to mess with us.

"Clarisse. Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess. So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"Erre es korakas! You don't stand a chance." I was going to destroy Ares in the upcoming capture the flag game.

"We'll pulverize you." I saw her eye twitch and knew she was bluffing. Try as she might, Athena was hard to beat. She turned towards Percy. "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson, meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."

He looked stunned. "Like… the war god?"

"You got a problem with that?" Clarisse sneered at him.

"No. It explains the bad smell."

"We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy."

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse-" I tried to stop her. Percy didn't need to get killed on his first day.

"Stay out of it, wise girl."

I decided to back off. I just hoped Percy wouldn't get hurt. He handed me his Minotaur horn and put his hands up. But Clarisse grabbed him by the neck and dragged him to the bathroom. Percy struggled the whole way there, while the Ares campers laughed.

Clarisse pushed Percy towards a toilet. "Like he's "Big Three" material. Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."

I covered my eyes and watched the scene through my fingers. Clarisse started pushing Percy's head toward the toilet bowl and he struggled to keep his head up. Clarisse was strong though.

Then all of a sudden water shot out of the toilet and hit Clarisse straight in the face. The water got stronger, pushing her into the showers behind her. The other campers moved forward to help her but then all the toilets exploded and blasted them back. The showers started spraying and I got soaked along with the children of Ares. The water kept going until all the campers were out of the bathroom, sprawled in the mud outside. Then the water shut off.

I stared at Percy in shock. He was sitting in the only dry spot in the room. He stood up and looked at me.

"How did you…?" I tried to ask him.

"I don't know."

We walked outside to where everyone was gathering around Clarisse.

"You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead." She screamed at Percy.

"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth." Percy replied. I grinned. He was getting better at this. Clarisse had to be held back.

"What? What are you thinking?" I realized I was staring at Percy. I couldn't help it. An idea was forming in my head from what Clarisse said. She wanted him dead and that gave me an advantage for capture the flag.

"I'm thinking, that I want you on my team for capture the flag." I was also thinking that I had an idea who his father was.