Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, excluding Atalanta. Rick Riordan owns everything.

Disbelief

I don't understand a word they're saying. Seriously. Them and their secretive, mysterious ways. The glow-y thing is super weird, but I have no idea how they can tell me my parentage by it. Anyways, that wouldn't be possible.

"Not Ares as in the Greek god?" I asked, half laughing. One look at their faces confirmed my statement. "You're crazy." I tell Jason. "You're all crazy." I tell all of them. I KNOW my name is from Greek mythology, but gods? They need to be committed.

The glowing thing wasn't going anywhere. I tried to swat it away, but my hand went right through it. UGH! Nobody else seemed to notice, but I am so not walking around with this for the rest of my life.

"It's true," Leo admitted, "The light above your head is Ares's symbol. He's claiming you."

No way. No freaking way. "What do you mean, claiming me?" I demanded. "I have no idea what this is about!"

Annabeth was the only one who wasn't saying anything, just assessing the situation. She was frowning, as if something didn't make sense. "Atalanta, have you seen anything unusual, like the giant dog, before?"

"Um, no. How often do monsters like that roam Manhattan?"

"You'd be surprised." Jason remarked soberly.

"Do you have two…normal parents?" Annabeth continued.

"It's none of your business, but yes, I do! I am NOT the daughter of some non-existent Greek god!" I exclaimed. They were even crazier than I thought. On the other hand, I did just see them fight a humungous dog in the middle of Manhattan.

"Why would Ares be claiming her, then?" Leo asked Annabeth uncertainly.

Jason looked grim. "I'm not related to Hera, but she has claim over me as my patron."

"You're Ares's hero, even if you're not his daughter." Annabeth explained.

Me? A hero? At this I laughed. I laughed and laughed until I could laugh no more. Then I bent over and laughed again. "You. People," I said, gasping for air between laughs, "Are. Crazy." I was done with them. I'd decided I'd been hallucinating the giant dog, and these people were completely off their rocker. There could be no other logical explanation to this. I started to walk away.

"Wait!"

I didn't turn around.

"Atalanta, stop!"

Just ignore them. I told myself.

"We can explain!"

At this, I stopped. I turned around slowly. "Explain? Explain how that monster dog just waltzed into New York, without anyone noticing? Or why you all have swords? Or why I have a huge glowing light above my head that hasn't gone away? Or why is it that you think Greek gods exist? Ha! Yeah, right. Explain that rationally and I might just believe you."

Satisfied that they couldn't possibly have an explanation better than my own, I continued on my way. Honestly, school was a lost cause at this point. Why not just skip it altogether instead of arriving two hours late?

"Atalanta, I'm sorry but you need to come with us. It's not safe. There could be more monsters like the dog." Annabeth clasped my shoulder, spinning me around.

Pulling myself free, I spun around again. "No. They're after you anyways, right? And I really have to get to school now." School was looking better now. I just wanted to be left alone. My curiosity about this strange group had utterly vanished, in its place a desire to return to the familiar.

I walked to the end of the block and glanced back to make sure they weren't following me. I saw them looking after me, but not following. I breathed a sigh of relief as I rounded a corner.