Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS, OR ANYTHING THAT HAS TO DO WITH PERCY JACKSON OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

A/N: thank you to Artemis's Lieutenant for beta-ing! you`re awesome: I bet Camp Half-Blood misses you already!

I`m actually happy with the way this story`s turning out! :] I don`t have a plan for how this story might end or go, but I have a general idea of the biggest things that`s gonna happen and stuff. if any of you have any ideas, they`re more than welcome!

this chapter has more Casalia bonding time! and well, a little surprise P: you`ll just have to read to find out more.

enjoy and tell me what you think... that means: REVIEW!

ps. the song " thinking of you " by Katy Perry (which by the way I do NOT own) reminds me of this story. hahaha!

A Message From THE Messenger

Last night, I finally decided to go back to the Artemis cabin. It felt really weird being there. I used to be comforted with all the hunters around me, but right now, it was as if I liked it better alone in the Zeus cabin. But I couldn't stay there forever. I was Artemis' lieutenant, I had to stay in the Artemis cabin, and it was my duty. I guess it was nice while it lasted.

I sat on the floor of the Artemis cabin and stared out the window. It was raining again, but the raindrops sparkled as they fell from the sky. The campers were all outside, continuing their activities even while it was raining. She spotted the Stoll brothers running around, hysterically singing 'Singing in the rain! I'm singing in the rain!'

I smiled. At least someone was enjoying the rain.

I turned around and looked at the empty cabin. All the hunters were also outside, probably owning the Apollo cabin again at archery. They invited me to join them, but I refused. I didn't really feel like archery today. Honestly, I didn't really feel like anything today. My brain was all fuzzy and I just didn't understand why I was feeling this way. I felt like I was starting to doubt all the decisions I ever made, if I had made the right ones. And I never did this… but why now?

"Hey Thalia," Kate greeted beside me. Was she there that whole time?

Kate was one of the younger huntresses. She had joined us about a few months ago, and she was just nine years old. She was about to turn ten, but she joined the hunt, so now she'll never be ten. She will never reach a double-digit age. I felt sorry for her, but then again, Kate didn't seemed bothered by it, so why should I?

"Hi Katie," I smiled at her. "Katie" was my pet name for her. "What's up? I thought you were outside with the others."

"Yeah but I got bored so I went here," Kate stuck her tongue out. "Why aren't you with the others?"

I smiled at her. "Because I don't really feel like owning the Apollo cabin today."

"So what, you're just going to sit here and do nothing?" she said to me fiercely. I think I taught this girl how to be sassy a little too well.

"I hope not," I laughed.

She looked at me, her cheeks puffed up, "Thalia, seriously, what's wrong? It isn't like you to be like this!"

I sighed, "Well, actually, my friend's kind of in trouble. I want to visit, but I can't, since… Remember I escaped yesterday when they wanted me to rest? Well, now they're punishing me by not allowing me to go back there."

"So what? Why don't you just visit her for a while and just sneak back out before anyone notices you were ever there?" I laughed, not because that was what I was planning to do from the beginning, but because she quickly assumed that my friend was a girl. It made sense though, I mean, why in Zeus's name would Artemis' lieutenant be worried about a friend that's a boy. Sounds kind of weird, right?

"You're Thalia, you've never let anything as stupid as being punished stop you from doing whatever you wanted to do!" she had a point there.

"Okay then, I guess I'm going to the Big House," I stood up and walked over to the door.

"You aren't really going to the Big House, are you?" Kate asked suspiciously.

I turned around and lied through my teeth, "Nope, I am. So just tell the others I'll be out for a while, alright?"

Thunder crackled in the distance. Maybe that was my dad helping me in convincing Kate… or maybe that was my dad wanting to singe me for lying… well now I didn't really wanna know.

Kate's eyes were wide and naïve. "Yes!" she said promptly.

I smiled at her and walked out the door.


I sprinted over to the… yeah you guessed it, not the Big House. I was heading for the beach, hoping that a lucky coincidence would happen and I would find whomever I needed to find there.

But when I got to the beach, no one was there. I walked around. I could feel the sand sinking underneath my booted feet. I moved closer towards the shore, and I felt the breeze, my hair moving with the wind. It was relaxing here, especially with the raindrops lightly trickling down. Maybe this was why Percy liked it here so much. I sat down. I watched the waves crash down and the water touching the tips of my shoe, then returning back, then doing it all over again. Maybe I didn't need to see anyone. Maybe I just needed to see this.

"Nope, I think you still need me."

I turned to my left and saw a man standing beside me, looking at me. His eyebrows were upturned and his ears pointed a bit. He had a mop of curly, salt and pepper hair and he wore a loose blue shirt that said, "watch your wallet" in big white letters and gray jogging pants. He smirked at me.

I bowed my head and smiled at him, "Hermes?"

"Thalia?" he gaped then took a seat beside me.

"So what brings you here?" I asked him, glancing from him to the shore, peaking at the waves breaking.

"Like I said, I think you still need me," he smiled.

"Do you know what's happening to Alecs?" I asked hopefully.

"Well, yes, but that's not what I came to talk to you about."

"But that's what I want to talk about."

"Maybe some other time."

I sighed. I knew it was useless arguing with a god.

"So what do you need to talk to me about then?" I muttered.

"Cas."

I sat up straighter. "What about Cas? He's your son, isn't he? He told me Nico brought him to Olympus and you claimed him."

"Well, yes. Don't you find that quite odd?"

I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"He is my son, and yes, I did claim him, in front of the other gods too, might I add, but I remember where Alecs came from more than him. And if you remember correctly, I don't know where Alecs came from."

"What are you saying?"

"You have to figure that out yourself. What else did he tell you?"

I pursed my lips and paused for a bit. "He told me he was from Los Angeles and that his real names was Cassius Beckendorf."

He chuckled, "Well he told you quite a lot. I feel like you know him better than I do."

"Really now? You're a god. Of course you know him more than me."

"Yes, but he told you, he never told me."

"He didn't have to."

He chuckled, "You really are Zeus's daughter, with that mouth of yours."

"Thank you?"

He remained silent for a moment, "You still haven't realized it… have you?" he looked at me.

"I don't think I have, since I don't know what you're talking about."

He turned his head and looked at the ocean, "You'll figure it out." He looked at me and winked. "I think you should drop by the arena today, and just visit Alecs tomorrow. He's out cold now, so you won't get anything out of him today."

"Are you telling me he'll be okay by tomorrow?"

"Maybe," he chuckled. He handed me a paper bag.

"What's this?" I took it suspiciously.

"There's a tuna sandwich and some medicine in there."

"…For what?" I looked at him suspiciously.

"Don't look at me like that," he snickered. "The tuna sandwich is for eating. Not for you though. And the medicine… you'll see."

He stood up and I felt myself stand up with him.

"I have to go now. Just tell me how it goes… when we meet again," he winked. He motioned for me to turn away, and I followed. Where Hermes once stood was a bright light, and then nothing.

I looked at the bag he gave me and shrugged. I walked forward and felt myself step on something that wasn't sand. I stepped back and bent down. There was a crumpled piece of paper that said:

"Cas has a funny birthmark near his left armpit. He told me that much. Weird right?

Yours Truly, Hermes."

Right after I read it, the message began to dissolve until it melted right out of my fingers and into the sand below. I smiled remembering the funny message.

Note to self: ask Cas about his funny birthmark.


I followed Hermes' orders and immediately headed for the arena right after our little chat. I sprinted as fast as I could to avoid the hunters who were, like I guessed, owning the Apollo cabin at archery.

When I finally got to the arena, I saw Cas there, playing with Percy's giant pooch, Mrs. O'Leary. He was scratching her (giant) belly, as she lay plopped on her back on the arena floor. I slowly walked over towards him, one hand gripping onto the paper bag and the other hand inside my pocket.

"Hey Cas," I grinned at him.

He looked up at me and beamed, his blue eyes twinkling as a few raindrops slid down his cheeks. "Hey!" he exclaimed, his voice still in that kind of voice people used to either talk to babies or puppies. I just have no idea why he would've used that voice on Mrs. O'Leary though.

He tickled Mrs. O'Leary some more before standing up and meeting me, "sorry about that. I guess she was just feeling lonely and I probably reminded her of my dad."

I couldn't figure out why Mrs. O'Leary would be comforted by Cas because he reminded her of Hermes, because Hermes didn't give me that "dog-person" vibe… maybe because he didn't give me a person vibe at all since he was a god, but still. "That's a SHE?" I gaped at him.

He chuckled, "Yes she is." He looked back at Mrs. O'Leary who was finally right side up. She was still looking at Cas, her tail wagging so violently I was afraid it would cause a tornado.

"So what brings you here little miss sunshine?" he asked me sarcastically. He probably knew I was the reason why the camp had been missing sunshine these past few days.

"Actually, I'm not so sure. Why don't you tell me why you're here first?" I decided not to tell him that I saw his dad and he told me to go here.

"I wanted to practice sword-fighting again but Mrs. O'Leary here distracted me," he laughed as he glanced at the hellhound who looked like she was going to pounce. I was prepared to run if she did.

"Cool, cool…" I bit my lip and looked up at the sky. "Soo… what's up?" I asked him awkwardly.

"Um…" he looked up, "the sky?"

I glared at him and punched him lightly.

"Ow, hey, that hurt!" he stuck his tongue out playfully as he scratched the arm I punched.

"WOOF! WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary barked.

Every time I looked at her I always seemed to think, Holy Zeus! That dog is going to kill me!

"Hey Cas, this whole time you've been here at Camp Half-Blood, has the only thing you've done practice sword-fighting?" I asked suspiciously.

He paused for a while and laughed nervously, "…kind of… no."

"Really? What else have you done?" I crossed my arms and asked him cockily.

"I stole from the gift shop… does that count?" he screeched.

"Seriously? You haven't even tried archery, swimming in the lake, the climbing wall?"

"Nope. They tried getting me to, but I always slipped away while they weren't looking and went here. I don't really feel like doing anything else."

I rolled my eyes, "You're from Los Angeles aren't you? Aren't there beaches like everywhere there?"

"Yeah. I used to surf."

"Then why don't you try that here?"

"I don't have my board. And the waves aren't big enough," Cas tried to make excuses. His cheeks reddened a bit.

"We can find Percy to make the waves and we can figure the rest out, c'mon!" I grabbed his hand and started dragging him out of the arena.

"But I haven't surfed in ages… I probably forgot how! C'mon, Thalia!"

I ignored him and continued dragging him out. We were almost out of the arena when I felt the ground shake and I heard a familiar "WOOF! WOOF!" slowly inching near us. I stopped and turned around, seeing a big black thing heading towards us.

"Oh—my—gods—" I muttered.

Mrs. O'Leary pounced on Cas who yelped as the hellhound tackled him. Cas flailed his arms around trying to get Mrs. O'Leary off of him, but she was just too heavy. I stood there motionless for a while, trying to figure out what to do, when I remembered the paper bag. I reached in for the tuna sandwich.

"Mrs. O'Leary! Look what I have!" I waved the tuna sandwich.

She looked up and then spotted the tuna sandwich in my hand. She began panting heavily, getting off of Cas and heading towards me. I had a really bad feeling she was going to body slam me next so I threw the tuna sandwich as far as I could screaming, "GO GET IT!"

Mrs. O'Leary chased after it barking "WOOF! WOOF! WOOF!" loudly. I could only guess she was saying, "FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!"

I admired my handiwork for a while when I remembered Cas. He sat up and covered his face. I bent down beside him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so…" he took out his hand and looked at it. It was covered in blood.

I reached in for the paper bag and took out the medicine, "Where does it hurt?"

He turned his face towards me and pointed to his left cheek, which had blood smudged all over it.

I poured the medicine on it and almost immediately the blood dissolved and the wound faded into a scar.

"Thanks," Cas opened his left eye and looked at me. "How'd you know Mrs. O'Leary liked tuna?"

I laughed and shrugged. Thank you Hermes!

I stood up and held my hand out. He reached for it and I pulled him up. He dusted himself and then smiled, "You know, surfing doesn't sound so bad anymore."

I laughed at Cas. His blond hair was even messier than usual. He wore the signature Hermes grin, and his eyes had even more of a gleam now than it did before. And now he had scar under his left eye… Cas had a scar under his left eye…

Just like… oh dear gods… no… it can't… oh no… NO WAY!

I froze.

A/N: d`you like this chapter? tell me what you think! & ideas are more than welcome (: