BRIENNA

Breakfast had been good. Mrs. Jackson had made blue waffles-Percy had eaten them like it was a normal thing so Bri did too, even though she didn't really understand why they were blue. Then they had piled into Mrs. Jackson's car, the four girls squishing in the back, even though there were only three seats. They arrived at Long Island and parked at the base of a hill.

They were escorted into camp by Percy, because Mrs. Jackson said mortals couldn't go inside the borders. Bri had second thoughts about entering camp herself, when she saw the giant dragon curled around the pine tree at the hill's crest. But Percy assured them Peleus was perfectly safe, and led them down to the "Big House".

There was a volleyball pit, where some boys and girls were having quite the competition. A few of the guys were wearing some kind of shag-carpet pants. "Please tell me we don't have to wear those," Bri joked to Percy.

"Wear what? Oh..." he noticed what she was looking at. "Those are satyrs. You know, half-goat, half human? My best friend Grover is a satyr."

Bri was stunned into silence and didn't make any more jokes while they walked to the Big House. There, Percy led them towards the large wraparound porch, where a guy wearing a ridiculous jogging outfit and a...yep, that was a centaur, were playing cards.

The centaur noticed them first. "New campers?" he asked, nodding at the girls. "No trouble getting here?"

"Super easy, Chiron," Percy replied. "They turned up near our apartment yesterday afternoon. This is Alex, Meagan, Bri, and Sophie," he gestured to each girl in turn. "Alex and Meagan don't know who their dads are yet...Sophie and Bri don't know their moms."

Chiron-could it be the Chiron, from the myths? Bri decided that it probably was, considering how weird their experience had been so far-smiled kindly at them. "Well, I'd say we don't need the video, as we normally do. Seems you girls have been informed enough already by Percy. Why don't we take a tour of camp? Mr D," he turned to the man in the jogging suit, "I do believe I've won." Mr D sighed and waved them away.

"Yes, yes, I suppose you should show the brats around camp. Go on, I have some Iris-Messages to make."

Chiron showed them the cabins-there were 12, one for each Olympian. "Why isn't there one for Hades?" Alex had asked. Apparently, Hades had been banned from Olympus and also from camp, so he didn't have a cabin. They saw the archery range, the forges, the climbing wall, canoe lake, and stables. When they finally came back to the Big House, Chiron announced that he was going to check on the beginning archery class to make sure they weren't shooting each other and trotted off. That was when it happened.

Suddenly, the air above Alex's head shimmered and bent into a green hologram in the shape of a staff with two snakes wound around it-like the medical symbol. The other girls gasped, but Alex didn't seem to realize what was happening.

Percy calmly told Alex to look up. When she did, she screamed. But it had already begun to fade until there was no sign it had ever been there. "What," she stammered, "Was that?"

"Let's give it up for Alex..." Percy trailed off in want of her last name.

"Mills," Alex offered.

"Alex Mills, daughter of Hermes!"