I'm sorry it took so long to update, but in the last couple of days right when I was getting my swing back, I learned that an eighth grader from my middle school died, and although I didn't know him a couple of my friends did, and any death so close to home shakes me up. And then the day after it was the two year anniversary of a boy who committed suicide a few years back and lately that's just been hitting me a bit in a sore spot.

On a brighter note, I just want to say you guys are absolutely amazing! Reading your guys' reviews has been the highlight of my week. I have some bad news for one reader though, and maybe some others. Zach will not be in this story. If I'm rewriting the whole series he won't be there ether, but I've already decided on writing kind of a last book to everything, and Zach will be in that, and so will the rest of the girls. That's the only bad news I have though, so plus there! A completely new and unheard of character in this chapter! Look out everyone because here comes what will be a very important—and hopefully loving—character in my later story.

Back to Percy's pov.


MY DINNER GOES UP IN SMOKE

"I'm really sorry about what happened in the bathroom, Annabeth," I said. "But that wasn't my fault."

She gave me a look, like she didn't believe me. "Whatever."

"I'm serious."

"And I have training to do. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall" she sighed. She made it seem like I had done it. And then I realized it was my fault. I had felt it, I didn't understand how, but it had happened, and I was at blame. Still Annabeth made it seem like I did it on purpose.

She started to walk away and I grabbed her hand, not wanting her to leave thinking I had tried to soak her in waste water. "Wait, Annabeth…" Though it seemed urgent, I couldn't seem to tell her what I wanted to.

Luckily, Annabeth spoke for me.

"You two have to go see the Oracle," she said.

"Who's that?" Cammie asked.

"Not who, but what. The Oracle. You must have remembered learning about past Oracles in your Latin class, right?"

I shrugged. "A little. I wasn't really paying attention. But they can tell the future, right?"

"They can tell prophecies. Give a very brief overview of things to come. They usually don't make sense till the very end."

I turned to look into the lake, wishing I'd get some straight answers once today. I didn't think anyone would be there, but there sat two teenage girls at the end of the pier, about 20 feet below. They sat cross-legged and wore jeans and shimmery green T-shirts, brown hair flouting around. They looked to me and smiled, waving.

I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.

Cammie hit me. "Dude, not now."

"Naiads are terrible flirts," Annabeth added.

"Take me home now!" I groaned, throwing my hands up and I could hear the two naiads giggle.

"You are home, Percy. This place, this camp, it's the only thing standing between you and a demigod eating monster."

I shook my head. "I think I've heard enough for today. This week. My entire life!" my head was spinning, and had been for the last two days. "I just don't want to hear this."

"Your dad's alive. He's a god, Percy."

"This is all crazy," I whispered to the sky.

Annabeth turned to Cam. "What's the most common thing gods did back in the 'myths'?"

Cammie's head hung low, her hair creating a curtain between her and us. I felt almost shut out by it. "They ran around falling in love with humans, having children."

"Exactly. They had children with mortals. Do you honestly think that that's changed over the last few millennia? You know the saying: do something 21 times and it becomes a habit."

But those are just myths, I thought. Remembering what Chiron told me, I crossed that out of my mind. "Who's your father then?"

The hand she had placed on the pier railing tightened, the atmosphere going from stiff awkwardness to nearly boiling hot fury

"My father, is a professor at West Point teaching American history," she said blandly. "I haven't seen him in years."

"He's a human?"

"Do you honestly think there were only guy gods? That only male gods find mortal women attractive? That's sexist."

Cammie's soft hand on my arm told me to leave it. "Who's your mom then?"

"Cabin six."

"Meaning?"

Annabeth straightened with pride, chin held high. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

Now the creepy "I'm going to kill you" eyes make sense.

"Who's our dad then?" Cammie asked.

"You're undetermined, meaning no one knows who your god parent is."

"Are mom did."

"Maybe she did, but most likely not. Gods don't always reveal themselves to the mortals they have affairs with."

"He would have. He loved her."

I grabbed Cammie's hand, gripping it tight. It was true, I know it was. The way she talked about him, how happy the simple thought of him made her, there had to be something more in there then simple lust. He was with her for months. He had to feel something more.

Annabeth got a weird look on her face. "Maybe so. The point is, you'll have to wait till you're claimed to get out of that cabin. Until then, you two will just have to deal with it like the rest of the undetermined."

"Why is that?" Cam asked. "Why don't some kids get claimed?"

Annabeth gave a sad pause. "The god's are really busy, Cammie. They have things they have to do, and—"

"Just tell us, Annabeth," I said. "Don't water it down. Just tell us."

"They don't always care about us," she sighed. "Not all the gods care about us. It's sad, but true. They ignore us, and pretend we don't exist, and go make more children."

I looked over at the Hermes cabin, thinking about how full it was. I'd seen it before, at most of the boarding schools we were sent to. Boys and girls who's mothers and fathers didn't have time to love them, waiting for the call proving that all those feelings of being unloved were stupid, and childish, and being so utterly disappointed when they didn't get anything more then a Christmas card from some fancy resort. I guess gods wouldn't be too different, but honestly, wouldn't they be able to see the pain it causes their children? Don't they feel any bit of love for the kids they just up and left?

"So we're stuck here for the rest of our lives?" Cammie asked. "Will we ever be able to leave?"

"It all depends," Annabeth said. "If you're a child of a minor god, you should be fine, monsters don't see you as a threat, and if they do, summer training is enough to get you through. But for the rest of us it's too dangerous to be out there so long. Monsters like to come and challenge us, but they don't really do that until we're eleven or so and start causing trouble."

"What happens if you don't get found like we were?" I asked. "I mean, not all demigods are found, right?"

"It's true, some demigods aren't found. They ether get killed off, or just get by. Some are even famous, you'd know their names if I told you. Some kids like that don't even realize their demigods, but it's highly unlikely."

"This place is safe, though, right?" Cammie asked, as though she was nervous. "Monsters can't get in here?"

"Not unless they're summoned, and that's not very often."

"Who would be stupid enough to summon a monster in here?" I scoffed.

"This is a summer camp, Percy. There're pranks and challenges. People like to test themselves if they can't get out into the real world. Mortals and monsters cannot enter. On the outside it looks like a strawberry farm, so mortals don't try and get in."

Cammie cupped a handful of water, splashing her face with it. "Too much to take in while so tired," she muttered to herself.

"You're a year rounder though?" I asked.

She pulled out a necklace just like Luke's, with a golden ring on it. "You get a bead every year you survive. I've been here seven years so I have seven beads, which is longer than most counsels."

"Why have you been here so long?" Was she important? Did monsters come for her when she was still really little?

She glared at me, but it was soft, as though she wasn't really mad that I asked. "It doesn't matter. Don't worry about it."

Sighing, she sat down, patting the spot next to her signaling for us to follow. "Let's stop the small talk, and get to what I've really wanted to say." Sitting down, I looked at her face of determination, awestruck that someone could look so intense on something. "I've wanted to leave camp, get out into the real world for years. But you can't leave camp without permission from Chiron or Mr. D, that's the end of that. But there is a loop hole, and I'm hoping you guys are it." Sitting straighter, she said, "If you are granted a quest, you are allowed to leave. I've been bugging Chiron about one, but he says no every time." Annabeth shook her head in disgust.

"I know," Cammie mock sighed. "I hate it when adults try and keep us from getting ourselves killed."

Annabeth gave her a scolding stare. "We're born for these kinds of things, Cammie. We're not meant to be pinned up in here waiting to be released. We're meant to be out in the real world, fighting real monsters and not just dummies. It seems like a stupid idea from anyone who hasn't been here long, but its nature for demi-gods to fight." She clenched her fist. "If it wasn't for that stupid rule, we'd all be going out on quests, doing what we're supposed to be doing."

"What happened?" I asked. "Why can't kids be let out for quests anymore."

"That's a story for another time. But it's not like I won't ever get out. Chiron did tell me once that I was destined to go on a quest, I just had to wait for the right people to come."

Silence sat in once again as Annabeth patently waited for us to register all the information. I looked to Cammie and made a snap decision to let Annabeth in on something. "Back at that farm house, the one you were feeding me that popcorn flavored mush in."

She was puzzled for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, back in the Big House when I was feeding you Ambrosia…"

"Well, you were saying something about the summer solstice…" Annabeth's shoulders tensed, and Cammie raised her head to look at me.

We're going to tell her? Her eyes seemed to ask.

I nodded.

"So you do know something about it then?" Annabeth said hopefully.

"I don't know if it's anything of importance, but Cammie overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it once back at our boarding school. Something about the deadline."

"And we know something was stolen," Cammie added. "That's what Mrs. Dodds had been asking us. She kept telling us to give it to her."

"She thought you stole it?"

"What is it, anyway?" I asked. "What did she think we stole?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, and that's what bothers me. Last time we were at Olympus, the gods were fine, there wasn't even yelling like usual."

"You've been to Olympus?"

Annabeth nodded, as though it wasn't a big deal. "Well yeah, we go on field trips, us year-rounders. We went in the winter for the solstice."

"How did you get there, though?"

"We took the railroad of course. Empire state building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She gave us a sideways glance. "You guys are from New York, right?"

Cammie pointed at herself. "Mortal life up till now, Princess."

Not to mention there is no six hundredth floor, but whatever you say, I thought.

"We were then, and then on our way back, we noticed that the weather had started to change, it got worse, so obviously Zeus was upset about something. And then there were all the sea storms, so Poseidon was angry too.

"Athena can work with anyone, well except Ares, and of course there's that rivalry with Poseidon, but that still leaves lots of people who would be able to come with me."

I almost mistook the tone in her voice for one of begging, but shot it down. I could never imagine this girl begging for anything in her life. But as she muttered, "I need a quest, I need one," that thought seemed to falter.

I could smell barbeque smoke just behind me, and my stomach started to growl.

Annabeth looked down at it. "You guys should go, dinner will be soon."

Cammie and I stood, and I lent a hand out for Annabeth to grab, but she just waved it away. "I'll see you later."

We walked away, but I could still hear her muttering under her breath, "I'm not too young. I'm not too young."


"It would seem to me that this quest thing is starting to drive Princess to madness," Cammie commented, tapping her chin thoughtfully. We were heading to the Hermes cabin, and everyone seemed to stare at us, then look away, muttering to their friends, but seemingly forgetting about us moments later. We were quickly becoming old news.

"She's got a bit of Cabin fever, I suppose," I shrugged.

"This place doesn't seem too bad, though," she said as we walked up the stairs to the cabin.

"Way to think on the bright side," someone said from behind us. I started to turn around, but arms were flung over my shoulder, squishing me into Cammie.

"Yes, positivity is a very helpful skill when dealing with large amounts of stress," a familiar voice said from Cammie's side. Looking up at them, I saw it was the twins from earlier. Connor and Travis.

I realized that they must be identical twins too, seeing how they look exactly alike, with no visible differenced except the small mole under the one's left eye. Looking around, I realized a lot of them looked alike. Same sandy blond hair, sharp noises, and mischievous grins with a pair of matching eyes. The looked like the class clowns that everyone but the teachers loved.

"Yes, I see you noticed how much everyone here looks alike," the one with the mole said.

"It seems many were graced with good looks, just like us," the other said.

"Don't worry about the gossip going around camp," Mole-twin said. "It'll die down soon. It's just so exiting having new campers. Twins none the less. Twins are kind of a big deal in our world."

"Really?" Cammie blinked. "How so?"

"I don't know what you guys are talking about," Luke said, coming up to us with a plastic bag in his hand. "But you two leave them alone. You cause too much trouble."

They gasped. One said: "To hear that—"

"From our own half-brother—" the other said.

"Whom we're so close to—"

They gasped again, and said together, "That hurts!"

Luke smiled. "Too bad, go on, get ready for dinner."

They saluted him, and left. "We'll talk later about that twin thing, Jacksons!"

I waved, feeling my head spinning.

Luke dug inside his bag. "Here, I stole you guys some toiletries." By his smile I couldn't tell if he was serious or not about the stealing part.

I nodded. "Thanks."

He studied us. "Hard first day?"

I shut my eyes. "We don't belong here. We really don't."

"Everyone thinks that when they first come here," he said. "I'm sorry to say it doesn't get much easier." The bitterness in his voice shocked me. "To be taken from the only life you've ever know, and then to be thrown into this one, it's hard, but we all go through it, so we're here for each other."

He pulled out a switch blade with his name carved on the side, and for a terrifying moment, I was scared he was going to start gutting me, but instead he started scrapping the mud out of his sandal. "As you know, my father is Hermes, or else I wouldn't have landed this job of cabin leader. Anyway, he's the god of travelers, thieves, medicine, and such. In other words, anyone you find on the side of the road is a friend of his in some way."

I suppose that was a joke, but I wasn't really getting the punch line. I looked to Cammie, who normally at this point would have made some snappy come back, but she didn't seem very up to the task at the moment.

"That's why all these kids are in here?" I asked.

Luke nodded. "Hermes isn't choosy about who he sponsors."

I nearly flinched at the underlining meaning. I'm sure he didn't mean to call you a nobody.

Sighing, he stood up. "Enough about that. It's time for dinner."

I grabbed Cammie's hand, pulling her up with me. "You were terribly quiet during that," I noted.

She shrugged, saying, "Sometimes I get tired of hearing myself talk."

"Since when?"

"Since I found out our Latin teacher was half horse."

I smiled a bit. "Yeah, I guess that can set anyone back a bit." I grabbed the Minotaur horn, still not trusting it to be left alone, and dragged Cammie outside. We staying in the back of the group, and I can't help but still consider ourselves as outcasts, even here with the rest of the freaks.

We all lined up in a straight line, boys and girls from almost all the cabins falling in, and marched to the pavilion. I watched as we gathered more and more people on the way. Girls jumped out of the lake and woods. No seriously, I watched a girl who was about ten or so literally walk out of a tree.

When we got there, everyone split up according to their cabins. The pavilion was lined with torches, and a giant fire pit burned in the middle. The tables were made of a gray marble, and coved with white tablecloths lined with purple. Table eleven was jam packed with kids, and we were almost pushed off the bench. I spotted Annabeth sitting with a bunch of athletic kids, and I could feel Clarisse's burning glare in the back of my head from a table filled with an assortment of other uglies.

"You'd think she'd of gotten over it by now," Connor or Travis said, sitting down across from us.

"Well, Connor, it was utterly humiliating," 'Travis' laughed. Naiads skirted around the tables, bringing barbeque, and other sorts of foods—grapes, cheese, bread, strawberries—around.

"Okay, note to self, Connor has the mole under his eye," Cammie muttered to me. I nodded.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," Connor smiled. "Clarisse holds grudges for a long time."

"Here, you two pile 'er up," Luke said, handing me a platter of the delightful smelling smoked brisket. My stomach started growling from the scent. Luke laughed. "Come on now, before you starve."

I quickly piled a mountain on my plate, and was about to dig in when Cammie tapped my shoulder. I looked up at where she was pointing. Everyone was getting up and going to the pit in the middle of the pavilion. I looked to her and she shrugged. "Not the weirdest thing we've seen so far today."

I got up, and stood behind Luke. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Offerings for the gods. They like the smell," he said, not looking back.

"They like the smell of burnt food?" Cammie said, scrunching her nose. I bumped her.

"Careful what you say," Luke said, looking worried, throwing in some grapes as he talked. "I know you don't mean offence by it, but the gods can hear what you say, and you don't want to upset them. There are consequences if you do."

Her face soured a bit as she pushed some brisket into the fire. Suddenly she stopped, and started sniffing the air. I looked at her questionably, throwing in some of my own food. To whoever you are dad, I thought. Please claim us soon. I was about to leave when the smell hit me too. It was wonderful, and I wouldn't be able to describe it with words.

There was a laugh behind us. "First whiff of the smoke," a boy behind us said. I recognized him from before, but where?

"Josh, right?" Cammie asked, smiling.

He nodded. "Nice to see you again, Cammie and Percy."

I nodded. "Likewise."

"I'm sitting at the other end of the table, but if you want you can squeeze in by me," he offered.

"No way man!" Travis said, throwing his arm over me. "We're going to have a heart to heart with the new campers."

"Very important stuff to discuss," Connor finished.

Josh just smiled, as though he was used to this. "Okay, see you later."

Travis and Connor pulled us away, sitting us back down in our spots. "Now, onto the important stuff."

"The twin stuff."

"What's so big about being a twin?" Cammie asked. "There are lots of twins."

"Yes, but you do not know of the bond those twins have," Travis said.

"Have you ever heard the story of Castor and Pollux?" Connor asked.

We shook our heads.

"They were two twins with a very close bond. Brothers who were never separated."

"But one day," Connor continued. "Castor died, leaving his brother all alone."

"So desperate over his brother's death, he went to the gods, and offered up his own mortality to be with him again."

"The gods made a deal with Pollux. They would take half his mortality, and he and his brother could stay together. Half the year on earth, and the other in the stars."

"That's why you only see their constellation—Gemini—half of the year."

"That's the story," Connor said, sipping his drink.

"What was so special about their bond," Cammie asked. "What made it so strong?"

The two smiled. "They could talk to each other with their minds."

Silence took over us.

"Okay, that's funny, now tell us, really," I said, laughing.

They laughed too. "It's true. They could talk to each other through their minds. Some even say they shared dreams too. Me and Connor can sometimes share thoughts, but we've never shared a dream."

I looked to Cammie. Shared thoughts? Shared dreams? Just last night—or really a few nights ago—the last time I dreamt, Cam had the same dream I had. At the school, it was almost as if I could hear her wishing me good luck when she left to go back to her room. With all the crazy things I'd seen in the past couple days, months really, it didn't seem completely impossible.

"Is it common for twins to have this—connection?" I asked.

"Yes, every twin has a connection, but it only works if you know about it. Mortals don't usually know they have a connection, unless somehow they stumble upon it somehow."

I took a bite of my brisket, and started to chewed it all over, when suddenly a girl plopped down in front of us. "You look thirsty," she said, smiling at us and cocking her head to the side. She had short mid-shoulder length black hair that curled slightly, as though it was wet. Her eyes were an intense blue, icy colored, but warm at the same time. "Tell the glass what you want. Go on, say it."

"Cherry coke?" Cammie said. And almost in that same moment the glass filled with a caramel colored liquid. Smirking, she added, "Blue cherry coke." It turned violet.

"I for one prefer orange coke," the girl said, and her cup with an orange liquid. "I'm Rowen Wilric by the way. Roe for short. I'm undetermined just like you guys."

"I'm Cammie, and this is my brother Percy," Cam said, smiling.

"Roe," Travis whined. "We were talking to them!"

She smirked at them. "Two bad, you have to share the newbies."

"So you're a daughter of Hermes?" Cammie asked.

Roe shook her head, twiddling her fingers. "No, I'm undetermined, just like you guys, so at least you're not alone," she smiled.

I put a hand on my face. "How long to demigods stay undetermined usually?"

"You want me to be honest?" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Brutally, if you must," Cammie said.

"Nearly forever. But don't look so down about it, you guys will be claimed in no time," she smiled.

I cocked my head sideways, giving her a look. "What makes you say that?" I asked. "Why would our father want to claim us?"

Her hands thumped on the table, and she leaned forward, grinning widely. "You guys slayed the Minotaur! You soaked Clarisse in toilet water. There are counselors who are looking up to you right now! I can't think of a god that wouldn't want to claim you."

"The Minotaur was just luck," I said, rolling my eyes. "We nearly died because of it. There wasn't any bravery or anything."

She just looked at us knowingly. "You're not all that different you know. Everyone here's gone through it. You're not alone." She started playing with her bead necklace, spinning it around. "It seems like it, but really almost everyone here didn't start our believing in the gods, so we understand."

We were all silent for a moment, poking at our food.

Finally, Roe piped up again. "My coming to camp story isn't as good as yours, but it's still kind of interesting."

I smiled. "I'd love to hear something that doesn't have to do with us."

Her smile was all Cheshire cat, devious, and almost terrifying. "Oh, it's nothing to special. I'm sitting in my fourth grade class, just working on my division, when suddenly my teacher's pulling me out of the room, saying she needs to talk to me. We go outside and she throws me in her car, mumbling something about how she needs to get me to some kind of "camp" and I'm so confused, and trying to ask her what she's talking about. We stop at a hotel somewhere near Ohio, and I'm watching the news on TV, and suddenly, there I was! Apparently on of the teachers saw me getting taken and thought I was kidnapped. So suddenly we go from this cake walk of a road trip to a never ending high-speed chase to Camp Half-Blood." Roe took a large gulp of her soda.

I laughed. "Though it's not as interesting as ours, it still sounds better."

She shrugged. "I can't complain. My teacher was never arrested or anything and I got to camp safely, that's all that really matters." She was lost in her own thoughts for a while, then said, "Do you guys know how to play role rummy?"

For the rest of dinner, the conversation was easy and enjoyable, a nice change. Cammie and Roe seemed to really hit it off, and I was glad she finally had a friend she could talk girl stuff with.

Chiron pounded his hoof on the wood flooring, gaining everyone's attention. All was noiseless as we waited for him to start talking. He nudged Mr. D with his staff. He looked up and sighed, muttering something. Getting up he said, "Hello, I suppose. Have you had a good dinner? Yes you have, if you haven't, too bad you ungrateful brats. Next capture the flag is on Friday Chiron tells me, Cabin five holds that present laurels."

Everyone at the Ares table jumped up, cheering, knocking over their benches.

"Hush you monsters!" he growled. "I'm trying to get this over with. Anyway, welcome new campers, Cameron and Peter Johnson."

Chiron murmured something to him.

"Er, Cameron and Percy Jackson," he corrected. "Hurray, hurrah, go on to your campfire."

Everyone got up. "He messed up my name on purpose," I hissed.

"If it makes you feel better, he messed up my last name," Cammie said, shrugging.

"Come on," Roe said, grabbing Cammie's arm. "We have to get down to the campfire."

Everyone was running down, but we stayed behind a bit.

"What's it like?" I asked Roe. "Being undetermined I mean."

She shrugged. "It's not too bad, I guess. In all aspects, I'm lucky to even be alive. But, yeah, it's hard, having the only thing you really know is that you're a demigod whose mother doesn't want her." She sighed. "I don't belong in this cabin. I have siblings in this camp, somewhere and I don't even know who they are. There's a bed somewhere in this camp that belongs to me, but no one knows I'm supposed to be in it at night. For the moment, I don't really belong anywhere."

A tear ran down her cheek, and I silently scolded myself for being so selfish. I had my sister, and wherever I was at night, I had my family with me. But Roe didn't. She could walk past them every day and they won't even know they're siblings.

Roe laughed sadly. "Okay maybe I have a problem with it."

Cammie grabbed her hand. "Well, it seems we're all undesirable at the moment, so why don't we stick together until we are wanted?"

Roe smiled at her. "We starting a club or something?"

I smiled, and put my arm around her. "Why not? We could call it the unwanted club. We could have secret meetings and stuff. We could have prizes! Ignition could be jumping in the lake in the middle of the night."

"No, you don't want to wake the naiads," Roe said. "They're not morning people."


Down at the campfire, the Apollo cabin lead the singing about gods and we all got s'mores, and jokes around like we'd known each other forever, as though we weren't the new kids, but actually part of the family. it felt like I finally found a place to call home.

After the campfire, when it was finally dying down, a conch horn blew for the last time that night, and we all fled back to our cabins. I didn't even realize I was that tired until my head hit the pillow. My fingers held the Minotaur's horn to my chest, and I whispered, "Good night," to Cammie, whose head lay next to mine.

"Night, Percy. Maybe I'll see you in my dreams," she gurgled tiredly. I chuckled.

"We'll see."

I thought about mom, but they were all good thoughts, thought's that made me smile: her beaming grin, the bedtime stories she would read us when we were little, the way she would tickle us and say, 'now don't let the bed bugs bite'. She would be happy for us, I thought. we've finally found a place we could fit in.

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep instantly.

My first day at Camp Half-Blood. My new beginning. If only I knew how much it all meant to me.


"So they weren't lying about the dreams, were they bro?"


If any of you are confused by the ending line, it's Cammie kind of saying, so Connor and Travis were right about twins sharing dreams. I just didn't know if anyone would get that last line.