Chapter Three:
Melissa Discovers How Crazy the World Is.

Percy woke up the next morning to a knocking on the door.

The loud knocks woke Melissa up too.

"Hey," She said, tiredly, rubbing her eyes.

"Good Morning," Percy said, getting out of bed, and walking over to the door. He pulled it open, and Annabeth stepped in. She was holding a large, stuffed pillowcase. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Morning," She said, her face flushed from the cold. "How are you, Melissa?"

"Still quite positive that I'm dreaming," She responded. "But better."

Annabeth nodded, and then turned her attention to Percy. "You've heard the phrase 'Don't shoot the messenger', right?" She said, wrinkling her nose.

Percy looked at her. "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not, but I think I should tell you anyway."

"Alright, if you say so."

"Thalia, Travis, and Connor took your truck this morning," She said, wincing a bit.

Melissa giggled, and then slapped her hand over her mouth.

"They what?" Percy said, his voice rising.

"Thalia wanted to go back to the school and get our armor and weapons and some other stuff so that Jane wouldn't find them."

"So she took my car?"

"In her defense, it was Travis who hotwired it, and I'm pretty sure that it was Connor's idea."

Percy put his head in his hands and groaned. "Chiron let them leave?"

Annabeth sighed. "I guess he said that it wasn't a huge risk. That they would be able to handle themselves."

"Why didn't you stop them?"

Annabeth put her hand on her hip. "You really think that I would've let them steal your car if I had been awake? Please, Seaweed Brain. I just found out. Relax. They brought it back in one piece."

"Why does that statement not comfort me what so ever?"

"Because it's covered in mud."

Percy wanted to yell, but instead, he paced. "When's the next capture the flag game? I'm going to kill them."

"That's against the rules and you know it. No maiming either," Annabeth laughed.

"Fine. I'll cause them as much physical pain as Chiron will allow. I'll get back at them somehow."

"That's my boy," Annabeth said, with a grin. "Anyway, the real reason I came over her was to deliver these toiletries that I stole for you guys, and to tell you that Thalia and I are leading a tour of the camp for the new kids at eight if you would like come along. Percy, you can help lead it. Meet at the Big House," She handed the pillowcase to Percy.

Melissa nodded, and Percy turned to Annabeth. "Alright. We'll be there."

Annabeth quickly left.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Melissa asked, taking the pillowcase from Percy, and digging through it.

"Yeah," He said. "And best friend."

"That's nice." She said, sitting cross-legged on her bunk. "Who's kid is she?"

"Athena."

Percy was glad that she was accepting everything a little more this morning.

"And Thalia, the girl who took you car…" She said, looking into the toiletry bag, "She was with you when you came to save me. Who's daughter is she?"

"Zeus."

"Whoa."

Percy laughed, and walked over to one of the trunks, which laid in front of each bed. "The trunks should have a fresh set of clothes in them." He explained. "Most people just wear jeans and the camp t-shirt. Grab some clothes, and I'll show you where the showers are." He said.

They two embarked from the cabin, and the camp already looked livelier than the night before. There were a few year-rounders running around, getting ready for their activities. Percy showed her where the girl's bathrooms were, and then he went and got ready himself.

They met back outside the restrooms, and they started for the Big House.

"Now, we're going to the Big House." Percy explained, slowly. "So you are probably going to meet Mr. D. I'm just giving you a heads up now. If he says anything bad to you, it is really not your fault. We aren't the best of pals, and he'll probably hate you by association."

She threw her hair up into a ponytail. "Lovely." She said, with a small grin on her face.

Percy had been right- they did have the same smile.

When they reached the Big House, there was a small crowd around the stairs. At the front of the group was Thalia and Annabeth were leaning against the railing. Percy joined them, whilst Melissa joined the new campers. Percy could already recognize a few of them. Twin sister who were without a doubt daughters of Aphrodite, a bigger kid who looked like he could be a child of Ares, and a small boy with blond hair, and grey eyes, exactly like Annabeth. There were three others, and Percy guessed that they were all either children on Apollo or Hermes.

Thalia smiled at Percy when he leaned up against the rail. She narrowed her eyes, evilly. "It drives great." She said, "Thanks Perce."

With that, she turned to the new Half-Bloods.

"Hey everyone!" She said, with a huge smile on her face. "As you know, we're going to give you a tour of camp." She continued on, giving a brief history of the camp, and who had passed through it. She sounded a little bit like one of the overly perky tour guide that you might encounter at a museum. It was amazing how charming Thalia could be when she wasn't electrocuting you, stealing your car, or being blatantly rude.

About halfway through her story, Mr. D. walked through the front door. He instantly looked as if he wished that he hadn't.

"Oh. New campers." He murmured. He inspected them all for a moment. "Any of you know how to play Pinochle?" He asked, gruffly. The new campers exchanged looks with one another, and with Mr. D., who looked mildly disappointed. "Oh well. I'll leave you in the doubtfully capable hands of Tina, Peter, and Annabelle."

He looked through the crowd once more, and his eyes settled on Melissa. "Another one," He mumbled disdainfully, before walking back into the house.

Annabeth clapped her hands together. "and that is Mr. D, he runs the camp," She explained.

"And contrary to popular belief, I'm Percy, and this is AnnaBETH, and Thalia." He said, putting extra emphasis on their names.

One of the Aphrodite girls spoke up in a pronounced New Jersey accent. "Um, how long have you guys been at this camp, if he, like, can't even remember your names?"

Percy put his hands in his pockets. "Five summers."

Annabeth ran a hand over her necklace, playing with her father's ring. "Eleven years."

Thalia was biting her lip, and then seemingly gave up. "Somewhere between two and eleven years. Depending on how you look at life." She said, finally.

"That makes no sense," The Ares boy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry about it," Thalia said harshly, dropping the tour guide persona.

With that, they started walking off toward the stables. The new campers freaked out over the Pegasi. As they passed, Percy grabbed Melissa by the arm.

"Hold on a second," He said, "I want to show you something."

They walked closer to the stables, and into the stall of Percy's favorite Pegasus, Blackjack.

"Woah, Boss! Long-time no see, eh?"

Melissa looked at Percy in disbelief. "What the heck was that?" She said, with eyes wide opened.

"Poseidon created horses from the sea foam," Percy said. "As his kids, we can communicate with them."

"He's right you know, Chief."

Melissa reached out, rubbing Blackjack's nose, softly. "This is all crazy," She said, making eye contact with the Pegasus.

"It's a crazy world, Chief."

"Alright, Blackjack, we need to meet up with the rest of the tour group now," Percy said, patting his side, as they turned to walk away.

"Kay, Boss. And if it's not too much trouble, some sugar cubes? Chiron's got me on a diet, and, well…"

"What's with the nicknames? Boss, Chief?" Melissa giggled, as they rejoined the group.

Percy shook his head. "They all do that," He said, before rejoining Annabeth in the front.

They trekked by the Armory, through the Arena, and then to the lake. Percy's truck was sitting exactly where it had been, but the bottom half was covered in a heavy layer of mud.

"And, here, campers, is a new Camp Half-Blood favorite. The Kelp-Mobile," Thalia said, with an ear-to-ear grin. All of the new campers began laughing and jeering when they saw Percy's distressed face. Annabeth looked caught in between sympathy for Percy, and a strong desire to laugh because it was Percy.

"Thalia," Percy said, a brilliant idea suddenly popping into his head, which would probably get him killed afterward. "You picked the absolute worst place possible to bring that up."

And seconds later, Thalia was covered in freezing water.

Annabeth either laughed or gasped and covered her mouth.

Melissa's eyes were wide, staring at Percy.

Everyone else was either completely silent, or refusing to look at either of them.

To their surprise, Thalia looked at her feet, shaking her now dripping head. "I completely deserved that," She sighed, with a small laugh. "Truce?" She said, holding out her hand.

Percy, being stupid, took her hand. He was greeted instantly by a sharp, shooting jolt of electricity throughout his body. "You are so lucky that you're my friend, Thalia," He said, in a low voice so nobody except she or Annabeth could hear him. "Or else I'd personally make sure you got trampled by a herd of zebra."

Annabeth finally gave into laughter.

Thalia laughed spitefully. "Time and place, Seaweed Brain. Time and place."

The rest of the tour was uneventful compared to that.

The tour ended in the Mess Hall, where they all ate lunch.

The wood nymphs began to serve food as they always did. Melissa looked extremely eager, and she kept playing with her silverware. "Alright over there?" Percy said from across the table.

She put her fork down. "I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday," She said, steadily. "I'm starved."

The nymphs dropped platters of food off at the table, Percy looked at her, feeling a mix of amusement and pity. "You're going to need to wait another minute." He said, making his plate.

They lined up in front of the hearth, and watched as the other campers started scraping bits of their food into it, and saying quiet prayers to their parents.

"Gods like the smell of the smoke." Percy explained, as they approached the front.

"Poseidon." Percy said, scraping two bread rolls into the flames.

Hope things are good down in the ocean. Tell Tyson I said hello. He added, silently.

Melissa stepped forward. "Poseidon." She said, accidentally scraping all of her food into the fire.

She turned away, looking severely disappointed.

"Don't worry, there's still more on the table." Percy whispered. "But I think that that move just pretty much confirmed that we are related."

As soon as she had reloaded her plate, and Chiron did his toast ("To the Gods!"), she began to scarf it all down.

"Slow down," He laughed. "You don't even have anything to drink yet."

She looked into her cup, and swallowed. "Where can I fill-" She started. Percy held his hand up. "Just tell the cup what you want. Anything you want." He said, with a grin. To his day, he still was slightly amazed at the cups.

She thought for a minute- "Cherry Coke," and sure enough, her cup filled with Cherry Coke.

Percy picked up his own glass, and spoke. "Blue Cherry Coke." He said, taking a sip as it filled.

"Blue?" She asked, with her mouth full. "Explain."

"Long version or short version?" He asked, taking a bite of his own food.

"Well, considering we're living together for who knows how long, I guess we should get to know each other. Long version."

Percy told Melissa all about Smelly Gabe, and how his mother had married him only so his scent would mask Percy's from the monsters. He continued with how awful Gabe had been to his mother, and how his mother never let it show to him.

"And one time, he told her that there was no such thing as blue food. So from then on, my mom became a little obsessed with proving him wrong. Hence, blue food."

"Your mom sounds amazing," Melissa smiled, perhaps a bit wistfully.

Percy nodded. "She's the best."

She held up her cup. "To Blue Cherry Coke," She said, her glass turning blue. Percy held his up on response.

"So, do people always stay completely restricted to their parent's tables?" She asked, looking around the pavilion.

"Yeah, well, it's the rules," He said, taking a bite of his food.

"What happens if you sit at someone else's table?" She sounded curious.

Percy tilted his head to the side. "You know- I'm not sure. Annabeth sat here once, but it was kind of an emergency, so I don't think it counted," He said, glancing over to the Athena table quickly.

"Emergency?" She asked, her eyebrows narrowing a bit.

Percy thought for a moment. "I'll tell you later on, maybe after classes and stuff if you're not too tired."

"Classes?"

Percy nodded, pushing his plate aside. "Besides keeping the Half-Bloods safe, the camp is used to teach us how to defend ourselves. The classes are taught by counselors." He said, leaning across the table, so as not to be heard by anyone else. "Look over at the Ares table. See the big blonde girl? That's Clarisse La Rue. She'll be instructing the Sword fighting class. Watch out for her. She has it out for me."

"Jeez, Percy!" Melissa smiled. "Who at this camp haven't you pissed off?"

Percy shook his head and blinked. "I guess I'm not a people person," He said, running a hand over his hair. He quickly listed the other people who would most likely be running the classes

"Er- Percy?" She said, suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"I think that the scary looking kid sitting alone over there is trying to get your attention."

Percy turned in the direction that she indicated. Nico was sitting alone, at the new Hades table, waving his arms frantically. Once he realized that Percy was watching, he stopped.

Once lunch was over, Percy and Melissa started off toward the exit. Nico caught up with them immediately.

"Hey." He said, as he caught up to the two. "Since when do you have a sibling?"

"Yeah." Percy said, as they kept walking. "Um, Melissa, this is Nico. Nico- Melissa. He's a son of Hades."

Melissa smiled. "Hi." She said, extending her hand.

"It is very nice to meet you." Nico said, shaking her hand, and beaming brightly. "Are you guys going to Sword fighting?" Percy nodded. "That'll be an experience, huh? Clarisse teaching?"

"You're not kidding." Percy said, with a grin, as they made their way across the camp, to the Arena, where Sword and Shield class was held. They were having the class with the Athena cabin. Since there were so few children of the Big Three, they were often grouped with another cabin for Camp activities.

The campers who had left early from lunch sat down, scattered across the many benches.

Annabeth and Thalia joined soon after.

Clarisse finally came in, and she rested her elbow on the weapons rack. "This is the first class for how many of you?" She snarled, in an effort to sound intimidating.

Melissa and the small boy from the tour raised their hands.

"Ah, Fresh meat." She said, rubbing her hands together. "Introduce yourselves quick, so we don't have to deal with it again. Start with you, blondie."

"Um- I'm Adam." Said the small, blonde boy, who was sitting next to a much larger boy from the Athena cabin.

"And you?" Clarisse said, raising an eyebrow at Melissa, who didn't look very intimidated.

"Melissa." She said, slowly, her green eyes careful and calculating.

"Who do you belong to?"

"Lord Poseidon." Melissa said, careful not to break the steady gaze that she was holding.

Percy noticed a look of brief interest flash through Clarisse's eyes, which was instantly dulled.

"Alright. Today, we'll be covering basic offensive and defensive tactics with your chosen length weapons." She said. "Short blade fighters- go to the far side of the arena." She said as Thalia, a few of the Athena campers stood up, including Annabeth stood up.

"And maybe the Princess and the Pine Tree could run some drills until I got over there?" She said, demanded rather that asked.

Annabeth and Thalia both snorted in unison, but the continued over to the other side, nonetheless.

Clarisse turned to the remaining campers. "Alright. So you all are with me." She said, inspecting them. "How many of you have your own sword?" She asked. Nico, Percy, and several of the older campers raised their hands or blades.

"Alright, well, if you don't, come see me, and we'll try to find something quick." She said, boredly. "Everyone else, partner off. Newbies, you're with me."

Percy partnered with Malcolm, the second in command after Annabeth for the Athena Cabin. Nico was beside them with his partner. He uncapped Riptide, and they began practicing the maneuver that Clarisse explained.

As Percy was warming up, he managed to keep one eye on Melissa. Clarisse was explaining the maneuver that everyone else was already practicing. However, once they got into the fight, he had to focus his attention solely on his opponent. Malcolm was a good swordsman. He, being a son of Athena, was better at strategizing and predicting Percy's moves. Percy however, was faster, and had better reflexes.

Clarisse tapped Nico and his partner to take a break before she allowed Percy and Malcolm to. By the smug smile on her face, Percy knew that it was just to irritate him.

The campers slowly made their way to the water cooler, Percy and Malcolm being very near to the last. A few of the short blade fighters were still going.

Percy sat on the ground, cross-legged in beside Nico and Malcolm.

He took a much-needed sip of water…

"You know your sister is kind of hot." Nico blurted out towards Percy.

…And he nearly spit it out.

Malcolm grinned from the other side of him. "Nico, that's not something you just tell a guy."

"I'm just making a statement." He said, looking around the arena. "Clarisse is still making her and the Adam kid fight. She'll probably be making them for a good while longer." He observed, looking to the middle of the arena, where Clarisse was shouting instructions at the two very tired campers.

Annabeth and Thalia sat down behind the boys after getting a drink of water.

"You know," Annabeth said, resting her chin on Percy's shoulder. "Melissa reminds me a little bit of you, Seaweed Brain. When you first got to camp. She's a good fighter, she just needs to find her weapon."

With this, Percy had an epiphany. He jumped up, and ran over to the middle of the arena. He pulled Anaklusmos from her pocket, and uncapped it. "Hold on, Clarisse," He said, intruding on her 'lesson'.

"What the heck-?" She said, began.

Percy waved her off. "I want you to try this," He said intently to Melissa, taking up her sword.

"W-what?" She said, with shaking hands.

"Try this," He repeated. "Don't hold back. You won't hurt me. I promise."

Melissa drew Riptide back, and then slashed it through the air. Percy dodged and deflected with Melissa's sword, which felt rather weird, unbalanced and light. After about thirty seconds, Melissa dropped Riptide. "Too heavy," She panted, out of breath. "Sorry, Perce."

After the class, they stayed in the arena, with no luck. They tried nearly every one of Clarisse's borrowed swords, with no avail.

They were stumped.

Malcolm, (Who Percy was convinced wouldn't leave unless he solved this himself-), Thalia, Annabeth, and Clarisse sat on the bench, with their elbows on their knees, and their heads in their hands. They watched as sword after sword failed, and Percy finally drew in a breath, and fell to the ground.

"Maybe I'm just not a sword fighter," Melissa said, sitting on the ground beside him.

"Yeah, Annabeth. Maybe you were wron-"

"Don't say it," Annabeth cut Percy off, looking at him fiercely. "There are still hundreds of swords in the armor-"

This time, Annabeth was cut off.

"She's not going to try a hundred different swords," Clarisse barked. "That's stupid. Don't you have a brother, the freak, he makes weapons and stuff doesn't he?"

"Tyson isn't a freak." Percy said, looking at Clarisse.

"Have you looked at him?"

"Yeah, and he's more attractive than you."

"Why- I- Oughta-"

A shouting match ensued. It continued until Thalia stood up, and weaseled her way in between them. It must have been quite humorous by some means. Percy and Clarisse were both at least seven inches taller than Thalia. But he was too angry to notice.

"I have an idea," She said, resolutely, pushing the two apart. "Maybe she's just a short blade fighter. Smarter, faster, you know." She drew one of the hunting knives from her belt, one that she had received as a hunter of Artemis, but hardly used anymore. "Try this, Mel."

Melissa looked at Percy. She bit her lip, and drew the long hunting knife.

The next thing that Percy knew, he had been slashed across the arm.

It was a weird feeling, being cut when invulnerable. He didn't bleed, and it didn't hurt. There was just a dull, tingling sensation where he knew that it should hurt, it just didn't.

Everyone gasped except Percy and Annabeth.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Melissa said, anxiously, looking frantic and concerned.

"It's okay. I told you I'd be fine."

"Percy! How are you okay?" Malcolm questioned.

"She must've missed me." He lied.

"But your shirt is cut." Thalia said.

"Eh, He's resilient." Annabeth laughed.

Everyone looked at her. Percy smiled. He liked that she knew his secret, and hardly anyone else did.

"Well, it looks like we found your weapon." Thalia said, smugly. "Am I good, or am I good? You can keep that, Melissa." She said, when Melissa tried offering her the knife back.

There was a little girl in the corner, probably eight or nine years old. She was shivering, shaking, wearing a pair of overlarge ripped up blue jeans and a thin and threadbare t-shirt. Her hair was matted and tangled, but hidden under a plain, blue baseball cap. The bottom of her jeans looked singed.

She was sitting in the dark, and the only light in the tiny room was a bit of moonlight, streaming through the blinds on the window.

Then, a large and frazzled-looking woman walked in, and started yelling at her.

"What the hell were you thinking?" The woman yelled at the girl, who was only reduced to further cowering.

"I don't know! It wasn't my fault!" The little girl cried. "I don't know how the fire started! One minute there was a man, and the next, he was gone, and there was fire!"

The woman drew back her hand, and smacked the small girl's face, with a sickening thump. "You filthy liar! How stupid do you think I am?"

The little girl mumbled something unintelligible.

"WHAT did you just say to me?" The woman shrieked. "Grounded. Two weeks. No leaving this room. For anything." With that, she slammed the door, and walked out.

The little girl stifled a sob. She then walked to the small dresser in the room, packed what seemed to be everything into a rucksack, and then escaped through the window onto a fire escape, without a second glance.

The scene changed.

The girl was wearing the same clothes that she had been wearing in the last scene, but this time, she was sitting in a busy, cluttered, office-like room. There was a sign on the wall that read 'Boston Department of Social Services.' Her cheek was swollen and bruised. The man sitting across form her shook his head, and looked at her.

"What's your name, kid?" He asked.

She didn't speak.

"You don't want to tell me?" He asked.

"I don't want to be placed in another home." She responded sharply.

"You're in the Foster System?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You could say that." She said, removing her cap. On the interior brim of the cap, there were several surnames.

Marshall

Simpson

Williams

Andrews

She showed the man, who looked at her once again, before typing some things into the computer.

"How old are you?" He asked, scratching the side of his poorly shaven face.

"Nine." She responded, placing the cap back onto her head.

"You've got a awful temper for nine." He said, clicking something on the desktop.

"Hey, they say the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and I've fallen from a few sucky trees."

"Smart mouth too!"

She crossed her arms, and sat back in the chair.

A look of disappointment and pity grew on the man's face.

"You know we'll have to place you again," He said.

The girl sighed, and nodded.

Once again, the scene changed.

It was about two years later, and the girl's life seemed to have transformed significantly. She was sitting in a huge bedroom, with a huge window, and expensive looking furniture throughout it.

She was wearing a catholic school uniform. Her hair was braided, and she looked nice, clean. But she still looked miserable. The only thing out of place in her appearance was the blue baseball cap, worn and battered.

She slung a backpack over her shoulder, and walked down a grand staircase at the center of the house. There was a woman sitting at a marble countertop, reading the newspaper, and sipping some tea. She looked important, like a high-powered executive or something.

"Goodbye Sandra," The girl said, passing through the kitchen. "I'm going to school."

The woman didn't respond to her.

"I'm going to stay after; I got in a fight in the bathroom, and all of the water pipes burst. They somehow blamed it on me. I have detention."

The woman didn't say anything. She just turned the page of her paper.

"I'm thinking about running away. You wouldn't mind, would you?"

The woman didn't respond to her. The girl groaned loudly, and turned away to walk out the door.

"Oh! Did you say something dear?" The woman said, lazily, looking up from the paper. She saw the girl leaving through the doorway, shrugged, and looked back to the paper.

The scene changed again.

Then the girl was on a bus. She looked out the window, and a sign said 'New York City, 10 Miles."

There was a rather official looking woman sitting beside her, with a briefcase in her lap.

The girl, now into her early teens, took out her hat, and looked under the brim. She pulled a magic marker from her bag,

Marshall

Simpson

Williams

Andrews

Winter

Carson

Dole

She then added another name, and put the hat back on her head.

The final scene was a few years later.

He saw the girl- a little older, maybe just a few months, sitting in an office, not unlike the first. She looked angry, but her eyes betrayed her. She was frightened. Extremely frightened. Her arms were folded, and her dark hair hung low underneath her hat.

"What happened this time?" The social worker said, skimming through a file that was packed with papers, which seemed in sincere danger of ripping.

"My teacher tried to kill me," The girl said, removing her hat, and staring into her lap. "She grew fangs, and wings, and-"

The social worker snapped. "Enough with the lies, Melissa!" She yelled, softening instantly when she saw the pained expression on the girl's face. "I'll find you another home, hun, but if you get into any more trouble, it'll be a detention center."

Melissa nodded, in defeat.

Percy woke with a start.

He glanced across the dark cabin. Melissa was in her bunk, peacefully asleep. He almost could not believe that she was the girl from his dream.

Hey guys! Thanks for reading :)
I have finals coming up soon, and I don't know how often I'll update.
I'll try to get another one up sometime next week.

Oh, and reviews would be so immensely appreciated, it's crazy.
I'd like at least five for this chapter. Is that too much to ask? lol.

The action should pick up a bit next chapter :)

You all are great!

Mary :):)