Looking around the dining hall, there were a lot of new faces. Maybe I forgot a lot of people, or maybe there were just a lot of new campers. I saw a few of them looking at me with a range of expressions; from confusion to surprise to, sadly, fear. I managed a weak smile, with a face that said 'um, hi.'

I saw the Hermes kids all sitting at the same table, having some stupid argument about stealing stuff.

"C'mon, Miles," said the one kid, "you couldn't even loot the camp store! There's no way you're better than me!"

"Michael Jordan didn't make all of his free throws either," Miles retorted, "Doesn't mean he's not the best."

"Don't call yourself to Jordan, dude," a different kid said, "that's an unfair comparison."

"Alright, how bout a bet," Miles said, "whoever can steal the most stuff by the end of the week wins. Losers clean the cabin for a month."

"Sounds like a bet you'd lose," I said, walking to the table and smiling at Miles. He looked up from his food, a look of shocked surprise across his face,

"Jacob?" He stood up quickly, "holy crap it is you!" He walked over to me, giving me a tight bro-hug. "Where the hell did you go?"

"Yeah, I, um, went away for a little bit," I said awkwardly before taking a seat at the table across from where Miles had been sitting. "But I'm here now."

"Good, things were starting to get a bit boring without you here," He said, sitting back down, "allow me to introduce you to my brothers." Some I already knew, many were new to me. I shook a few of their hands and sat back down.

"Jacob here is one of the most powerful demigods you'll ever meet," Miles said, talking me up in a way that I really didn't want to hear.

"I wouldn't say that…" I mumbled.

"Oh, well, yeah," he said, "sometimes he loses control and turns into an unstoppable fear monster, but that's still pretty solid."

I twitched, hearing the words 'unstoppable fear monster' used to describe me. That's exactly why I left, so I wouldn't be an unstoppable fear monster.

"Um, what?" Said the one kid. "Who's your godly parent?"

"Phobos," I said, "God of fear. Boo. But trust me, that won't be happening any time soon." I lifted my hand to show them my ring, but almost fell out of my seat when I saw that it wasn't there. "No, no, no, no…." I stuttered, looking around under the table, "where is it, where is it…" I began to panic, standing up quickly and putting my hands behind my head.

"Jacob?" Miles asked, raising an eyebrow, "You okay, man?"

I could barely hear him, feeling my power slowly start to rise up in me. I cursed, bolting from the dining hall, trying to get as far away from people as I could. This can't be happening.. I thought to myself as I approached the forest. I was so close to being in the clear, when the black smoke exploded from me. I could hear a few shocked screams as I fell to the ground, feeling all the energy leave my body. Thank the gods, I didn't hear any constant screaming, which meant that no one was in my range. My face hit the dirt, and I almost passed out. I could only exert enough energy to push myself on my back, staring up at the sky through the massive and violent black smoke engulfing me.

"Everyone stand back!" I could hear someone shout. I thought it was Chiron, but I couldn't be sure. This tends to make so much noise that it's extremely hard to understand anything from outside it. I took a deep, long breath, trying to relax myself. I could see the smoke slowly start to recede back into my body. Finally, it was all gone, but my energy was not at all back. I managed to lift my head, seeing a huge circle of dead grass around me. Thank the gods it was just grass. Once, I accidentally knocked down the Morpheus cabin.

"Jacob!" I hear someone yell, "Jacob! Oh my gods, are you okay? What happened?"

I looked up, seeing Jenna kneeling over me, helping me up. I wrapped my arms around my knees, looking down at the dead grass as I sat there.

"I panicked.." I said, not looking up, "my ring was gone…"

"Your ring?" Jenna asked, not too sure what I was talking about.

Before I could answer, Chiron ran up to us and picked Jenna up, telling her to go to her cabin. She tried to refuse, but Chiron wasn't having it. She sighed, slowly walking off.

I lifted my head a bit, seeing almost every camper surrounding me from a distance, looks of shock painted on their face. I groaned, looking back down. Great, now everyone thinks I'm a freak, and in record time too.

"Everyone back to your cabins!" Chiron shouted. Some of the crowd thinned out, but most didn't listen. Chiron pulled me to my feet, putting a hand on my shoulder. "What happened? Where's your ring?"

"I don't know… I don't know…" I managed to get out, "I noticed it was gone and I panicked… lost control…" My powers were often unleashed with periods of high stress, and losing the only thing that contained them was certainly a stress inducer.

I explained to him what had happened before my little episode, telling him about breakfast at the dining hall.

"You said you were sitting at the Hermes table?" He asked, to which I nodded. He sighed, looking at the crowd and shouting, "Hermes cabin! Come here right now!"

A few of the kids looked like they didn't want to be anywhere near me right now, but they obeyed and walked towards us.

"Now, I'm only going to ask this once," he said sternly, "which one of you stole a ring from him?

Oh gods… I should have known. Why did I shake their hands?

None of the kids spoke up for a second, to which Chiron shouted at them again. Finally, one of the kids, I think Miles said his name was Shaun, stepped forward, handing my black ring to Chiron. Chiron grabbed it quickly, giving him a look that said we will talk about this later before dismissing the rest of the campers. He handed me the ring, and I swiftly put it on. Like clockwork, I immediately felt it's calming abilities.

"This isn't your fault," Chiron told me softly, "it's important to know that."

I nodded slowly, "No one got hurt right?" He nodded, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just relax for the rest of the day," he said, "you're excused from camp activities."

I thanked him, managing to walk off under my own power. I walked through to crowd, not saying anything as they let me pass. Miles patted me on the back, saying "sorry, man" as I passed. I walked towards the Apollo cabin, knocking on the door.

Some kid (whom I hopped had missed breakfast today) answered the door. "Yeah?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, is Jenna in there?"

He nodded, calling for Jenna behind him. He walked away, and she took his place.

"Oh my gods, Jacob, are you okay?" she asked hysterically, walking out of the cabin and closing the door behind her. She hugged me tightly, rubbing my back.

"I'm okay.. I'm okay…" I assured her. "Hermes kid stole the ring that controls my powers, and I panicked.."

"That's okay, no one's gonna touch that ring again. Don't worry."

I nodded, finally letting her go. "Thanks, Jenna. Do you wanna go for a walk? I need to blow off some steam…"

She smiled, grabbing my arm and pulling me away, "of course! Anything for you, Jacob. Let's go!"

"Can't believe I ran away from you for a year," I said, walking next to her.

"Yeah, I know." She agreed. "I'm the best."

I laughed, walking with her to the lake.

Hello! If you've read this far, I'd like to know what you think! Any and all criticism is welcome and appreciated! Thank you!