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Sorry about the wait people, but I was really busy this week. I'm still not satisfied with my reviews, but because I like where this story is going, I'm going to keep updating anyway.

Chapter Four-

I opened my mouth, then closed it, then opened it, then closed it again. When I finally found my voice, I said, "Paul…you're a half-blood?"

He smiled at me. "You look so surprised," he said, "But yes, Percy, I am a half-blood. As your friend here says, my father is Morpheus, god of dreams. I grew up at Camp Half-Blood, and I was one of the few who lived to adulthood." He shook his head sadly. "I heard that my father has turned to the Titan's side. I can assure you I do not support him."

"We believe you," said Annabeth, "But we have to go, like, now. Percy, get your stuff. I'll get the pegasi." She got up off the couch, rubbed her head, and went outside. I went upstairs, and subconsciously began grabbing the bag I had packed and some other things off the floor.

I was in shock. Never, not once, had I ever even considered the possibility that Paul could be a half-blood. I mean, I had never met an adult one before; most either died on dangerous quests or been eaten by monsters. To learn that my own future stepfather was an adult half-blood was…crazy. I got everything together and was about to walk out the door when something caught my eye: a small white disk on my dresser. I walked over and picked it up. It was the sand dollar my dad had given me for my last birthday. What had he said? When the time comes, I think you'll know what to do with it. Then my mom called my name from downstairs. Without thinking, I stuck it in my pocket and ran downstairs.

Everyone was waiting outside. Tyson and Annabeth had their bags too, although where Annabeth's had come from was beyond me. Paul was stroking Blackjack's neck and looking at him in awe. I guess he hadn't seen a pegasi in a while. "Ready?" my mom asked me.

"Yeah," I said. Rachel, Annabeth, Tyson and I mounted the pegasi. My mom patted my hand. "Be careful, honey," she said. "Don't get into too much trouble."

"I'll try not to," I said with a smile. "And, Mom, it's possible that I might not see you before…" I swallowed. "Before the big day."

She nodded worriedly. "I know, Percy," she said. "Just stay loyal to your friends and do what your heart tells you, and when the times, I think you'll make the right decision."

She patted my hand one more time and then backed away. I turned to look at Paul. His face gave away nothing, but I thought I saw a sort of sadness in his eyes. "Paul," I began, "I guess…"

He waved his hand. "Save it, Percy. I know I should have told you I was a half-blood sooner."

I nodded. "Me too, I guess."

"But now we know, so there's nothing to hide. I haven't been in touch with this part of my life for a long time, but there is one thing I remember from my time at camp: our side must remain strong together, or we will fall to the Titans easily. So promise me you won't hesitate to tell me and your mother anything on your mind while you're at camp, and I'll promise the same."

I looked straight at him, and now there was a sort of pride in his eyes; the same pride that I had seen in my father, Poseidon, right before I had parted from him after we had met for the first time. That's when I realized: he was proud I was his stepson, even after everything that had happened. I tried not to choke, and I said, "I promise."

He nodded. "Then so do I."

And with that, the pegasi began beating their wings and rose in the air. "Oh, and Percy…" Paul called. I looked at him, and he smiled. "Congratulations on finishing ninth grade."

And I didn't realize, until we were high in the air and flying over Manhattan once more, what I had been thinking the entire time: I was proud to call Paul my stepdad too.

--

We soared over Long Island, the pegasi gliding easily around the clouds. I knew there was something else I had to take care of. I brought Blackjack up next to Annabeth's pegasus. "Hey," I said.

She looked at me, and I turned to look down at the city. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier," I said slowly.

"I'm sorry too," she said. "I really do think your dad's war is important. I don't know why I said that. I just…"

She went silent, and we looked at each other for a minute. That shiny blonde hair glowing gold in the sunlight, those sparkling gray eyes…

Boss, we're coming up on camp, said Blackjack.

I snapped out of it. "What?"

We're comin' up on camp, he repeated. But we gotta get off and let the mortal inside the boundaries first.

I looked back. Tyson had been happily chatting with his pegasus the entire way, but Rachel had been quiet. She was looking at the back of her pegasus's neck and not saying anything. "Oh. Okay."

We gently descended and came to rest on the top of a hill. I looked down into the valley and saw the familiar Greek-style buildings glittering in the sunlight, and I had to sigh in relief. I was home.

To my right, Thalia's pine tree was glowing with health, the Golden Fleece glittering on its lowest branch. The guard dragon, which was now the size of a eighteen-wheeler, was snoozing beside it. I walked over and patted its head while Annabeth walked inside the magical borders. She turned and looked at Rachel, and I could tell this wasn't something she was thrilled about doing. But she said, "I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter Camp Half-Blood."

Thunder boomed overhead, and the dragon raised its head sleepily. Rachel tentatively stepped across the boundary and sighed when she was next to Annabeth. I guess she was half expecting to blow up or something.

Tyson and I thanked Blackjack and his pegasi friends and then caught up with them as they walked down toward the familiar farmhouse in the valley. The summer campers had just arrived, so I was guessing everyone was in their cabins. We walked up to the porch of the Big House and saw a familiar scene: a porky man in a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt and a older guy in a wheelchair were playing a card game on a table.

We walked up, and the older guy looked up at us and smiled. "Percy!" he said. "Annabeth, Tyson, you made it!"

I walked up and shook his hand. "Hi, Chiron," I said. "I guess this means I have to play, doesn't it?"

He gave me a small smile. "Yes, Percy. I need to speak with all of you for a moment. Then you can go and meet Grover. He has much to tell you."

"Okay." I reluctantly sat down at the table. The other man looked up at me with a bored expression. "Don't expect me to be happy to see you," Mr. D said, "Just because you have to decide my fate before summer's end."

I clenched my fists. I really wished people would quit joking about it, especially Dionysus. Chiron dealt out the cards and then looked at Annabeth and me. "I want to hear what happened, from the top.

With Annabeth's help, I managed to tell him about the bulls.

When we were finished, he nodded gravely. "So, the bronze bulls truly have returned," he said. "I feared this. Many monsters from the past are reawakening, some that I have not seen in centuries. It is possible that Kronos is awakening every monster in his possession to try and stop the gods."

It was my turn to bid. "But if all these ancient monsters are awakening, can't Artemis and the Hunters take care of them?" I thought about the twelve-year-old girl who it had taken me a while to come to know as Artemis. My friend, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had joined the Hunters winter before last to become immortal and free herself from the prophecy, dumping all the responsibility on me. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

"Well, Percy…" Chiron looked worried. "I think I'll let Grover tell you."

I didn't know what he meant, but I decided to hold my questions.

"Okay," I said, "So how are things here?"

"Oh, please, don't get him started," said Mr. D. Chiron looked grave.

"Things are not well, I am afraid. More half-bloods have joined the side of Kronos, and the ones we have left are losing confidence. Clarisse has done her best to keep spirits up, but I fear that soon we are going to break, and then it will be easy picking for Kronos. Plus, monsters come every night to the camp borders nowadays. They bang against the boundaries and try to attack the Fleece. You noticed the scars on Peleus's neck?"

I didn't know what he was talking about, but Annabeth nodded. "I wondered what had done that."

"A dracaena," replied Chiron. "Things are not looking good at all."

"Percy!" cried a sudden voice, and a teenager with curly brown hair stumbled up the steps. "You're here!"

He walked up the towards me, his rasta cap

"Hey G-man," I said, slapping his hand. He hugged Annabeth, and even Tyson patted him on the back and almost knocked him off his feet.

"I suppose you may go now, Percy," sighed Chiron. "But don't be late for dinner. As for me, I must have a word with our Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

Rachel stared at him in surprise. "What?" she said.

"Go on, Percy," said Chiron. "I'll see you at dinner."

So the four of us went off to find some place to talk in private. We stopped at our cabins first to drop off our stuff, and then Annabeth got in an argument with one of her cabin mates and Tyson wanted to check up on his fish ponies, so it wound up just being Grover and me. We got in a canoe and floated out over the lake, the water clearing my head and helping me think.

I told him about what Chiron had said, and Grover nodded. "Yeah, things are bad," he said. "I think six half-bloods have joined Kronos since Christmas. At least half of them were unclaimed." He looked worried. "They're turning bitter, Percy. They're angry that their parents still haven't claimed them, even in times like these."

I nodded. I remembered the frustration I had felt when I had first come to Camp Half-Blood, waiting for my father to claim me and getting no response. Grover and I talked some more about the half-bloods, about Typhon and Dad's war, and then I got around to asking him about his project after Pan's death.

His expression turned gloomy. "It went okay at first," I said. "The satyrs went off and defended the national parks, and hunted for the last wild places, and things like that. But no one had any luck. The mortals wouldn't listen to a bunch of kids, and although we've hunted down every last forest in the United States, we can't find any wild places."

"That's not good," I said.

"Yeah," Grover replied, "Most of them have given up, but I've still got a circle of those who are loyal. Right now, though, it's not looking great."

I remembered when we had found Pan, the lost god of the wild, and he had given up his spirit to Grover, Annabeth, Tyson, Rachel, Nico, and me. Since then, Grover had been trying to convince the satyrs that Pan really was dead so they could start saving the wild themselves, but he had had much luck at first. It didn't sound like that was improving.

"It gets worse," said Grover. "Thalia and the Hunters are missing."

I almost fell off the canoe. "W-what?" I asked.

Grover nodded. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. A month or so ago, Artemis came to Olympus, her clothes torn and her bow snapped in half. She told the Olympians 'We have to save them' and then she fell to the ground. When she woke up, she couldn't remember what had happened except that something had attacked them and taken the Hunters away. They've been missing ever since. Artemis is distraught. The wild animals are going crazy, attacking humans and doing all kinds of stuff, and at night the moon isn't half as bright as it usually is."

"Yeah, I saw that on the news," I said, remembering how some scientist guy had tried to explain it with some kind of theory. Now I knew the truth. "Anyway…that's the worst news I've heard all day, and I've heard a lot of bad news. The Hunters are missing…how could that happen?"

"I don't know," said Grover, sniffling. "But if Chiron would let me, I would be out there looking for them right now. It's so unfair."

We sat in silence for a minute, thinking about the Hunters and how they could have gone missing. Finally Grover said, "Well, at any rate, it hasn't improved the satyrs' mood. They're so sad they aren't near as into the whole saving the wild thing anymore."

I sighed. "So is there any good news?" I asked hopefully.

Grover had to think about that one. "Hey, it's Friday," he said, brightening a little. "You guys got here just in time for Capture the Flag."