Thank you so much for reviewing and adding me to your favorites/alerts. I really appreciated it. It also encourages me to write more:) I would like to thank Sarah-Nikole for well... forcing me to write. Thanks Sarah, I love being sat on. ;) Anyway, I suppose you want to read the story now, so here it is:D

Chapter 4

Word must have spread about the bathroom incident, because everywhere me and Percy went people would point and whisper things about toilet water. It could have something to do with the fact that I was soaking wet.

Before I went back to my cabin to get cleaned up, and then train, I showed Percy around a little more. I showed him the metal shop, the arts-and-crafts room, and the climbing wall. From there we made our way back to the canoeing lake, which had a trail that led back to the cabins.

I was still a little upset with Percy when we got there. "I've got training to do." I said flatly. "Dinner is at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

"Annabeth," Percy said, "I'm sorry about the toilets."

"Whatever."

"It wasn't my fault."

I stared at him. It was his fault, I didn't understand how exactly, but I just had this feeling. If he did for sure do that, it would fit the prophecy.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," I told him.

"Who?"

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

I looked over at Percy and he was looking into the lake and for a second looked scared to death then calmed. I saw the Naiads. They can be so annoying. Percy waved at one. "Don't encourage them, Naiads are terrible flirts," I warned.

"Naiads," he said looking beat. "That's it. I want to go home now."

I felt the corners of my lips going down into a frown and I said, "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"

"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?" You'd think he would've caught this by now.

"I think you know."

"God. Half-god." Thank the gods; the kid does know a thing or two.

I nodded. "You're father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."

"That's…crazy."

"Is it? What's the most common thing the gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"

"But those are just-" he hesitated. "But if all the kids here are half-gods-"

"Demigods. That's the official term. Or half-bloods."

"Then who's your dad?"

This was a sensitive spot for me. My dad and I didn't have the best relationship. I ran away from home when I was seven, I guess 'not the best relationship' is an understatement. I didn't really want to talk about him about it, but reluctantly I told Percy a little of it, but refused to go into detail.

"My dad is a professor at West Point. I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American History."

"He's human."

"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"

"Who's your mom, then?"

"Cabin six."

"Meaning?"

"Athena. Goddess of wisdom in battle."

"And my dad?"

"Undetermined, like I told you before. Nobody knows."

"Except my mother. She knew."

"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."

"My dad would have. He loved her."

I didn't have the heart to tell him that the gods may love someone, but know that it's best not to tell them. So instead I told him, "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send you a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

"The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always … Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

"So I'm stuck here. That's it? For the rest of my life?"

"It depends. Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounder's. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?"

I shook my head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights. Practical jokes."

"Practical jokes?"

I so did not want to get into that. "The point is, the boarders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"So…you're a year-rounder?"

I nodded and played with my leather necklace. It had five clay beads on it, each bead represented each year that I was at camp, and it also had a ring strung on it.

"I've been here since I was seven. Every August, on the last day of summer session you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors and they're all in college."

"Why did you come so young?"

I twisted my ring on my necklace. "None of your business."

"Oh." We stood there for minute in an awkward silence. Finally Percy said, "So…I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless…"

"Unless?"

"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time…" I trailed off. I was thinking of my friend Thalia. She was turned into the pine tree at the top of the hill.

"Back in the sick room, when you were feeding me that stuff-"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

I tensed. What if he was the one Chiron had been talking about. "So you do know something?" I asked.

"Well…no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

I clenched my fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others-we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But…how did you get there."

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." I looked at him. He looked confused, but I was pretty sure he was from New York, so he should know what I'm talking about. "You are a New Yorker, right?"

"Oh, sure."

"Right after we visited the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping…I mean-Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

He shook his head. He looked like he was tiring.

"I've got to get I quest," I muttered. "I'm not too young. If they could just tell me the problem…"

I heard his stomach growling. I told him to go ahead and that I'd catch him later. I was left there to my thoughts. I thought about the capture the flag game and where we could put everyone in order to win. I was not letting Clarisse beat my team again.

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it:)