This chapter is for all who are suffering from I-have-to-go-back-to-school-this-week syndrome. Hope this chapter might cheer y'all up!

Percylover008—be unbreakable, girl! March in there and knock their socks off with your awesomeness, and if that doesn't work just use your muffin gun ;)

SatyrsUnite—unless there's been a mistake in the scheduling, I'll see you in algebra/trig! We can suffer through that like we suffered in geometry! And we can't forget the 4x4s that'll be thrown our way this year! Three cheers for math and track! *sarcasm* :P

Son of The Sea 100896—good luck to you this school year as well! Hopefully you'll get inspiration to write an awesome story! And manage to get some sleep too! ;) have a great year :)

Enjoy, y'all!


Axl's POV

"So, what exactly is this place?" I asked Mom as we left the room and walked back through the front doors of the house, Soter trotting at our heels.

She smacked her palm into her forehead. "I knew I left something out! Sorry, honey, this is Camp Half-Blood. It's a training camp for demigods. Chiron's the activities director here, and many demigods live here, some year round and some just for the school year or summer; it depends." She turned to me with a smile. "This was my home for a long time."

"Wow," I muttered as we crossed a small stretch of grass, heading toward a small building I assumed was the infirmary. Mom pulled open the door and waved me inside.

"Hey," Dad's voice greeted us as soon as I'd put one foot in the room. My head turned toward the back wall; Dad was sitting up on a cot, his left leg heavily bandaged. I lurched in his direction, my heart pounding.

"Hi, buddy," Dad said, smiling at me. "Oh, don't worry, I've had worse," he added when he saw where I was looking. "It doesn't even hurt that badly, trust me."

"I was worried," I muttered.

Dad's smile faltered. "I'm sorry," he said, stretching out his arms. I stepped closer and hugged him tightly. What would I do without Dad? He'd only been there for me my whole life.

"Aw," Mom said behind me. "Wish I had a camera."

Dad laughed as he let go of me, and I turned to grin at her. Now that I had seen Dad face to face, my nerves were starting to relax. I took a proper look around the infirmary and noticed something I hadn't before: Jake was here too, standing by another cot that was a few paces away; on it was a petite blonde woman who looked a lot like Ashton. I realized that this must be his mother, Rue. A medic was applying some sort of salve to a long cut on her left arm. The wound looked bad, but Rue was sitting up and talking to Jake, looking perfectly fine.

"So, has Chiron filled him in on everything?" Dad's voice asked; I turned around as Mom answered.

"Ah…bits and pieces. I gave him the simple version," Mom replied.

"Are you confused, Axl?" Dad asked, reaching over the side of the cot and ruffling Soter's ears. "I know it was probably…crazy-sounding…" He looked a bit sheepish.

"A bit," I admitted. "But I didn't faint or anything, so I guess I'm getting used to it."

Dad grinned. "Wait till you really get used to camp, buddy. Best time of my life was spent here."

Mom nodded and smiled. "I met some of my best friends here," she said softly.

"And me!" Dad piped up.

Mom grinned and leaned over to kiss Dad's cheek. "And you."

I rolled my eyes dramatically when they both turned to look at me, but I wasn't as exasperated as I pretended to be. I was just so relieved, after the trauma of this morning, that everyone was safe and (more or less) sound. I could put up with embarrassing parents just this once.

Suddenly the infirmary doors opened and Ashton walked in, a bow slung over his shoulder and grass stains prominent on the knees of his jeans. He flashed me a quick grin when he saw me before strolling over to where his parents were standing.

"Hey guys," he said to them. "Okay, Mom?"

Rue clenched her teeth, looking frustrated. "Stupid dracaena," she growled. "Snuck up on me. I swear, if I'd already had my knife ready, I'd've—"

"She's fine," Jake said to Ashton, and Rue glared up at him.

Ashton's blue eyes suddenly landed on me, and I turned away quickly; I hadn't meant to eavesdrop. But Ashton didn't seem bothered.

"Hey, by the way," he said, interrupting whatever Jake was saying. "I met Axl earlier." He beckoned me closer, and I walked forward nervously.

"Axl, these are my parents. Guys, this is Axl," Ashton said, stepping back a pace to make room for me.

"Um, hi," I said, addressing Rue, as I didn't know her yet. "Axl Valdez. Nice to meet you." I extended my hand and she shook it, studying me calmly.

"Pleasure," she said, giving me a small smile. "So you're Anne and Leo's son?"

"What?" Mom asked, walking up behind me. "Someone say my name?"

"So this is your son," Rue said, tipping her chin at me.

"Yep," Mom said with a smile, resting a hand on my shoulder. She then seemed to notice Ashton standing on my other side. "And this is yours?"

"Ashton Wilder," Ashton said, reaching across me to shake Mom's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you," Mom said, smiling. "It's been too long," she said, addressing nobody in particular. "I'm so behind on everything! Is anyone else here?" she asked Jake and Rue. "Anyone I know?"

"Charlie and Carter," Jake answered. "And their daughter."

Mom gasped quietly. "Charlie and Carter have a daughter? Oh my gods, why did I never know about this?"

Jake rolled his blue eyes. "Maybe it had something to do with the fact that you tried to cut yourself off from the rest of us."

Mom's expression hardened. "Leave it alone, Jake. We thought it was for the best, but I admit we were wrong."

Ashton shot me a look like, Sorry about that. I shook my head and smiled at him to tell him it was fine.

"So, what's their daughter's name?" Mom was asking now, her question seeming to be directed more towards Rue.

"Anya," Rue replied. "She and Ashton are pretty good friends."

"Oh, I met her!" I realized. "When I first came into camp earlier."

"You did?" Mom exclaimed. "Oh, that's great; I'd love to meet her too, and see Charlie and Carter again, and Ashley…" she trailed off.

"Hey, if you want I can show you around," Ashton offered suddenly, meeting my eyes. "I don't really have anywhere I need to be right now."

"Really?" I asked, slightly surprised. I looked up at Mom, and she nodded, so I turned back to Ashton. "That'd be great, thank you!"

"Go and have fun," said Dad from behind Jake and Mom.

"Thanks," I called to him as Ashton turned away from Rue's bed. I followed him out the doors of the infirmary, Soter of course trotting along at my heels as I looked back over my shoulder at my parents and the couple who apparently were relatives, who I'd never known about—

"Hi!"

I turned back around to see the smiling girl who'd greeted me upon my arrival to camp— Anya. She greeted Ashton with a quick hug and surprised me by hugging me too.

"Sorry for just hanging outside the door, I was waiting for you guys but I didn't want to intrude," she said. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, Mom's alright," Ashton replied. He turned to me. "And how's your dad?"

"It looks kind of bad, but he's fine," I said, and Anya's blue eyes filled with sympathy.

"I'm sorry," she said, as though I'd just told her Dad would have to have his leg amputated or something. I just shrugged, not entirely sure how to respond.

"I was just about to show Axl around camp," Ashton told her. "Care to come along?"

"Sure!" she said, her face lighting up. "Come on," she said, grabbing my hand and making my cheeks feel distinctly warmer than they had a few minutes ago. "You're going to love it here!"

Ashton laughed quietly behind me as Anya took off, pulling me along behind her. And after a few seconds, I began to laugh too, surprised at how much better I felt already.