To the Anonymous guest who asked, Percy will be absent. However, he does exist in this universe. You'll find out more about this later.

Also, I don't know much about NYC or America, so if I get any geography wrong, my apologies. I'll mainly be going off the stuff in the books.


A week passed; the Winter Solstice was the next day. And my birthday was the day after. I was pretty sure my birthday wasn't going to be the best one ever. I had no party planned, no burgers, no anything, it sucked!

Anyway, the day before the solstice, Luke and I met with the son of Hecate he mentioned. His name was Tony Fremont. The kid enchanted my Linkin Park badge with some wacky curse. Yep, I have one of those. I've got a few badges with my favourite bands on them. Most of them are birthday presents from Luke. I'd probably get another one this year, knowing him.

"This will make you undiscoverable by anyone, as soon as you put this on," Tony said, handing me the badge. "But only for 30 minutes, so be careful."

"Sure," I said, taking the badge. "Why only 30 minutes?"

"I can't do any longer," Tony said, frowning.

Luke patted his shoulder. "No worries, Thalia's quick as lightning. She'll be able to handle it. Right, Thals?"

I nodded, and slipped the badge into my pocket. "I can handle anything."

I ignored my head telling me otherwise. Stupid head.

Luke and I headed out of the Hermes cabin, arms linked. I kept my head high, still trying not to be nervous. I mean, I wasn't nervous. I was fine!

"Hey, guys," a daughter of Apollo came up to us, holding a clipboard under her arm. "You guys are friends with Annabeth Chase, right?"

"Yep," Luke said. He frowned. "Is she…?"

Annabeth appeared from behind Apollo's daughter. I held back a cry of joy, and swept her up in my arms in a really big hug. Tears appeared in my eyes as I squeezed the life out of her. Relief was overwhelming, and I had to stop myself from having a mental breakdown. Or breaking Annabeth's spine.

"Can't... breathe..." Annabeth panted. I let her go, laughing nervously. Then I got into Mom-mode.

"Gods dammit, Annabeth," I glared at her, my voice hoarse. "Don't you ever do something like that again, okay?!"

Annabeth blushed and looked down, cutely. She reminded me of my little brother Jason. I bit my lip, sadly. At least I got my little sister back.

Luke came and put his arms around us. "Hey, at least we're all together again."

I nodded. We were a family again.


"So," Max said, as we were picking strawberries. Yeah, real fun that is. "I heard you're not going to the solstice thing."

"Yep." I said, totally not lying.

"What are you gonna do while we're all at the solstice, then?" Max asked.

"Bore myself to death." I shrugged.

Max chucked a strawberry at me, which I caught with ease. He groaned in frustration.

"One day, I'm gonna get you," he said. "Trust me."

I rolled my eyes and lightly punched his shoulder. "Dork."

"Hey!" He glared at me, clenching his fists. "I'm not a dork!"

"You were wearing Bob the Builder bandaids." I said.

Max looked flustered. "Those were the only ones I had!"

"Why did you even have them?" I asked.

Max stammered. "I-I don't know!"

I face-palmed. Gods, Max was such a dweeb.


I had a weird dream that night, which is pretty common with demigods. All part of the fun. Also, Luke was in it. Why was I even surprised?

I saw him walking towards a big crevice in the Earth, a twisted grin on his face. There was this strange, gold light coming out of it.

"I've come to serve you, my lord," he said, holding up his arms. "I'll make this world a better place!"

Who the Hades was he talking to?

"Serve me, little demigod," a voice - from the crevice - was now speaking to me. It chilled me right down to my core. Its power was ancient, thrumming. Almost incomprehensible. "Be with your beloved forever. Bring vengeance against your father."

Luke was holding out his hand, giving me an encouraging smile. I stepped back in fright, breathing heavily. White spots appeared in my vision, until I woke up. When I did, was covered in sweat. My breathing was heavy.

What was that all about?

My instincts were telling me nothing good. Especially since today was the Winter Solstice.

My birthday really was going to be terrible.


Soon, the campers were awake and running around, excited for the meeting. They were all carrying sleeping bags, pillows, toothbrushes, that kind of stuff. Chiron got them all to line up at the front of the Big House. I sat on the stairs, watching as he droned on about the rules.

"When we get there, you will have some free time to explore Olympus, and if you wish, you can buy something there, perhaps a gift for your mortal parents. Don't buy them anything with ambrosia or nectar, however, as that will kill them, and they probably won't appreciate that." he said. There were murmurs and giggles among the crowd. "Hermes' children especially, do NOT steal anything. If you break something, it is your own drachmas that must pay."

If I have enough time, I can buy myself a birthday present, I thought. Maybe they have Green Day merch.

Luke kept glancing at me from the crowd. He was making me uncomfortable, so I looked at my shoes.

"... and when we get to the solstice, be on your best behaviour…" Chiron droned on. "... no talking during the solstice, no giggling, no silliness..."

I sighed. Even if they weren't allowed to giggle or be silly, at least they weren't on a time limit and had to sneak around. And hey, Annabeth looked excited. I was happy for her. She deserved to do something she enjoyed.

Annabeth had been settling in well. She got on great with the rest of her cabin, and was making a few friends around camp. And of course, she hung around Luke and I, too. We were teaching her how to use her dagger on the dummies. And in return, she told us a lot of nerdy stuff I reckon only kids of Athena know.

I loved my little sister to pieces. If anyone ever even thought about hurting her I'd throw them off Zeus' fist! (That's a pile of rocks, by the way, that looks kind of like a fist. Or a poop pile.)

Grover sat next to me as Chiron talked about arrival times and other boring stuff.

"Hey, um, good news! I'll be staying here at camp with you." he said.

I smiled at him, trying to ignore the guilt brewing in my gut. "Awesome! I thought you'd want to go to the solstice, though."

"The gods make me nervous," Grover whimpered. "And besides… the council doesn't really want me up there. After you guys nearly died…" He looked away. "I don't know if I'll ever get my searcher's license."

I put my arms around his shoulder. "It's not your fault, Grover. You'll get your license."

"Thanks, Thalia." Grover said, but he still sounded down. I sighed. My plan wasn't going to reflect well on him. Oh, huh, what's a searcher's license? Well, there's this great god of nature called Pan who everyone believes is dead, but the satyrs and other natures spirits don't so they're all looking for him. You have to get a search license for it, and that's about all I know. Ask Grover if you're curious.

Grover's family had gone looking for him. None of them had returned.

If Grover himself ever went, I hoped he would return. Or I'd cause a thunderstorm.


Finally, the campers left on a big white bus driven by Argos. He's the camp's driver, by the way. He has a lot of eyes. Kinda creepy.

Grover and I hung out at the Big House, playing UNO and drinking soda. It was pretty boring, as you can guess. Mainly because I kept winning.

After about 15 minutes I got up and said, "Hey, I gotta go to the bathroom. I'll be back."

Grover nodded. And with that, I raced out of the Big House, and headed to my cabin. In there was a bag with some mortal money, a 'disguise' (so just in case other demigods couldn't tell it was me), the badge, and, of course, food. Couldn't forget that.

I bolted out of camp, tapping the metallic cover of my badge. I remember when Luke got it for me. It was my 11th birthday, and I was obsessed with Linkin Park music. I was constantly playing it on my stolen MP3 player (which was also a gift from Luke). He gave me a handsome smile as gave me the badge, and I cried out with joy, throwing my arms around his neck...

I shook my head. Not the time, Thalia! Darn ADHD.

I took a moment to glance at the tree that made the border of camp. It had been named after me, since I'd almost died against it. Somehow about it was weirdly serene. I passed it, and ran down a hill, leaving camp for the first time in two months.

I made it to a road. It was surrounded by half-melted snow and dead trees. I heard traffic in the far distance, and smelled the cool air. I slipped on my new clothes: a fluffy green jacket, a white shirt, and sunglasses. And a black beanie, of course. I probably looked like a hippie rapper, but it was better that than getting recognised. I shivered, clenching my arms; I missed the warm temperature of camp. It was freezing out here, even though I was wearing a few layers. I ran to the Long Island train station, and slipped onto the train. It was a lot warmer in there, thank the Gods. I leaned back as the train took me to New York City.

NYC was busy and bustling despite all the snow and stuff, which was what I expected. Cities were always busy. I slipped out of the train, making my way past the other people. Grand Central Station was huge and I could've stayed there and gaped at it for hours, but I had to get a move on. I kept my head high, walking through the city, kicking piles of fluffy, white snow. My ADHD kept me looking around everywhere, and if I weren't on a mission, I totally would've gone exploring. I forced myself to focus. I didn't have much time.

I got to the Empire State Building, my nose going blue from the cold. It was so much taller than I thought it would be. At the top of it I could see storm clouds brewing; there was definitely a solstice up there, alright.

I entered the building; the lobby was grand and full of gold, annoyingly reminding me of the Zeus cabin. My boots clinked on the grand floor; the lights were making me look gold, too. I walked up to the receptionist. I knew I had to go the 600th floor (thanks Luke for the insight).

"600th floor, please." I told the receptionist, who was reading the newspaper.

"No such thing, kid." the receptionist laughed.

I titled my head, feeling static electricity race across my skin. "You know those kids that were here before? The demigods? I'm with them. I'm just… late."

The receptionist pursued his lips, silent for a few moments. "Name?"

"Allyson Gardner." I said. She was a daughter of Demeter I'd met once. I kind of looked like her now, what with the green jacket and beanie.

"Hmm," the receptionist said, looking at a list. "Yep, your name's on the list." He handed me a golden key card. "Have fun, kid."

I took the card. "Thanks." I walked over to the elevator, sliding the key card into a slot. I went in the lift, pressing the button for the 600th floor.

"Hey, wait a sec," I heard the receptionist say. "There's already a Allyson Gardner here!"

Too late. The lift doors closed, and I was going up.


Olympus was beautiful. Like, really beautiful. It was a big paradise full of golden buildings and happy people. Literally. Not even exaggerating. There were tons of creatures everywhere, everything from godlings to dryads. Ahead was a great marble building (the throne room, I guessed), which glimmered in the sunlight. The pillars were taller than the Big House, and even more incredible than the Grand Central Station. I noticed there was also some weird black stuff around the marble place that probably wasn't usually there.

I saw a village in the distance, and a few kids in orange shirts running around. I guessed they were the campers. Trying to act natural, I sauntered through Olympus, clutching my badge in my pocket. I thought about when I'd have to wear it. Sooner or later.

I looked around the village for Luke. I managed to find him at some golden, fancy-looking music store run by the Muses. I headed inside, my hands in my pockets. I crept over to him.

"Hey Luke," I said, keeping my voice low. "It's me. Thalia."

Luke whipped around, a grin on his face. He was carrying a few different shirts for bands I like. "Hey! You made it. The solstice is in half an hour."

I clenched my fists and nodded. "Whatcha doing in here?"

"Nothing, heh." Luke said innocently. I tilted my head, as he blushed and giggled. "Why don't you go and check out the cafe just down the road? The hot chocolate there is the best you'll ever have."

"Hmm, alright," I said. We were both blushing now. I got out of there, adjusting my beanie. He really needed to be more subtle when buying me a birthday gift.


I saw the demigods lining up in front of the throne room. Luke nodded at me, giving me the go ahead. I slipped my badge on; a wave of power slipped through me, and my hands become slightly translucent. I followed the sea of demigods as they headed inside the throne room.

Power almost deep-fried my brain. The 12 Olympians (and Hades) were sitting on their thrones. They were around 20 feet tall each, all radiating power. The thrones were shaped in a U, just like the cabins at camp. Looked like 'em too. I was standing there, gawking for a few seconds before I snapped out of it. You can't blame me. The throne room itself was making me embarrassed that I was in awe over the Grand Central Station. The demigods sat around the front of the room, some nervous, some excited, some neutral. I leaned against a pillar. My father was there, looking arrogant. He was irking me. I clenched my fists, feeling electricity in my palms. Not now.

After everyone had settled down, Dad began talking. His voice boomed around the throne room, echoing. From him alone I could sense power thrumming like electricity. Didn't quite get the same vibe from the topics he was discussing. He talked about some stuff like politics and money that was insanely boring. Plus, he started arguing with his brothers about some stupid stuff, too. I was impatient. I didn't come up here to listen to stupid god politics and the Big Three argue about who Mother Rhea loved best! Even the other demigods looked kind of bored.

I was twitching. Not just because I had ADHD, but because I was nervous. I didn't have forever.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Hera said, "So, husband, that demigod child of yours is at camp."

I sat up, and craned my neck. My back hurt from all the sitting around and being bored.

Zeus tensed up. "Yes, she is."

Hades had a bitter look on his face. "Of course you could not keep your oath, brother." He looked like he wanted to say something else, but saved it.

"Thalia is a brave demigod," Zeus said, glaring at Hades for a moment. I felt my face go red. I wasn't expecting to be complimented. "She will be a great hero. She was able to defend herself against the monsters you sent after her."

So that's where they all came from! I thought, gritting my teeth angrily. Why did he send them all after me? Because of my father?! I didn't do anything wrong, gods dammit-

"Only because of my daughter," Athena said, nodding to Annabeth, who looked up with awe. "She almost died, protecting your daughter, Father."

"And my son, too." Hermes added in. I noticed Luke was looking away from him. His jaw was tight. I knew what that felt like. I wanted to walk over and squeeze his shoulder, but then remembered I was undiscoverable. I sighed. I wanted to speak out, but even though I was undiscoverable, I'd feel rude doing it.

"While she is a powerful demigod, Father, you know she creates a huge risk," Athena said. "She could bring forth the destruction of Olympus."

The demigods looked nervously at each other. I felt even more nervous. No. I felt like Atlas - the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

"Then we should kill her." said Ares. He had the same fiery gleam in his eyes that Max had, but none of the kindness.

"We will not be killing my daughter," Zeus snapped.

"She is a young maiden, and through that I can vouch for her," Artemis said. "She has not done anything wrong, at least at the moment. She has proven to be a brave hero. If anything, she will save Olympus."

Artemis was suddenly my favourite goddess.

"And besides, she's in love with someone," Aphrodite giggled. "We can't let that go!"

The gods started arguing. My face was an ever deeper red. Luke looked the same.

"Calm yourselves," Hera's voice rose above. "There are demigods here."

The gods seemed to calm down after that. The demigods were looking at each other, kind of scared, kind of intrigued. My feelings were jumbled. I was angry, scared, terrified, and happy all at once. Like an emotional soup.

"Well, brother," Poseidon said, "have you decided what you are going to do with your daughter?"

Everyone stared at my father. Hera looked especially evil. She was making my skin crawl - I knew how much she hated Zeus' bastard children. (Like me, sadly.)

"She must live," Zeus said. I was kind of flattered about how much faith he had in me. "She is the only child of the elder gods around. The prophecy is her destiny."

Hades looked like he wanted to say something, but again, he didn't.

"We will vote," my father said. "Decide Thalia's fate."

I felt a burning sensation beneath my chin. I looked down, and noticed my badge was flashing. My heart leapt into my throat. It had been 30 minutes.

I scrambled to my feet, almost tripping over myself. I heard people talking behind me, but I didn't look back as I bolted. I ran down the stairs, my beanie falling off, like I was Cinderella. Oh well. I kept running, racing through the village. Adrenaline made me run faster; my face was covered in sweat. My heart was probably going to explode.

I almost passed out as I made it to the elevator. Yet, one thought kept me on edge:

I had no idea if I was dead or not. Oh wait, who am I kidding? When you're a demigod, you're always dead.

Great.