WE GO OUR SEPARATE WAYS

There were only a few days of the summer term left. Percy wasn't allowed to train for those days—sister's orders. I stayed with him for those long hours never really leaving unless I was being forced to go out and be active—Annabeth's orders. Even then I didn't stray far. Thankfully, my friends were distractions.

"Now point it at the target," Roe said, helping me line my bow up.

"I don't get it," I sighed. "If Téleio Pláno can't miss, why do I have to aim?"

Roe crossed her arms over her chest, looking stern. "Just because I'm allowing you to use my bow doesn't mean that I'll allow you to slack off. You still need to work at it."

"But I can't. it won't let me fail! Hum…never thought I'd say that…as I was saying, I have to fail to succeed. I've done plenty of succeeding, but no failing!"

Josh laughed from his shaded spot under a tree a few feet away. He still hung around, even after his half-brother tried to kill me and my brother. At first he was ashamed, but realized he had nothing to be ashamed of, since he didn't try and kill us. "You're both making good points. But Cam's right, she needs a normal bow."

Roe rolled her eyes. "You think I don't know that? I'm not stupid. But it seems everyone thinks this is the day to practice archery. All the bows are gone. At least she can get a feel for it with Téleio Pláno."

Josh stood, reaching around the tree. "And here is where she sees the joys of having a son of Hermes as a friend." He pulled out a bow.

I smirked, walking up and taking it from him. "And who did you steel this from."

"A very ticked off Ares camper. Well, they weren't ticked when I took it, they didn't even notice, but they are probably right now."

Laughing, I placed an arrow on the bow, and pulled back the string. "Well, thank you, honey." I sent him a wink.

"Hey, Cammie!"

For a second I feared it was said ticked off Ares camper. But when I turned around, I realized it was only Vanessa, a much kinder camper.

I waved. "Hey."

She ran up to me, panting. "Hey, I've been looking for you."

"You have?" I asked, bewildered.

She smiled. "Can we talk in private?"

I shrugged. "Why not, huh?"

She led me over to the dock by the lake. I sat down at the end, taking off my shoes and putting my feet in the water. "What you wanna talk to me about?"

Vanessa was an old camper here. She was 21, three years since she graduated high school. She was a daughter of Athena and Annabeth's older half-sister.

Sitting next to me, she said, "You've been kicked out of that one school of yours, right?"

I nodded, a proud smile on my face. "That was ages ago. Not at all surprising either."

She pulled out a folder from her sweatshirt, handing it to me. "Maybe you want to consider Gallagher Girls Academy for exceptional youth woman."

I opened up the file and picked up the pamphlet that sat on top of a registration packet, looking at the picture of a lavish mansion, with green, freshly cut grass, and a sparkling lake. Flipping the pamphlet open, I saw more pictures of girls in uniforms. They looked happy, and they carried large textbooks with names that had been to blurry to read. There were photos of the kitchen (large, and filled with all kinds of delectable foods), the cafeteria (more like a mutable table castle dining room), the room where the girls would go to hang out after classes (big screen TVs. Three of them.), and the dorm rooms (they have their own personal mini-fridges.). It all looked posh and utterly perfect. Somewhere I wouldn't be welcome.

I laughed. "Thanks for thinking I'm exceptional and all, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to get in to a place like that."

"Cam, hear me out. This place is the best place to learn. I know that's not your top priority in life, but I they're asking me to recommend a girl that I think would be a smart choice to join the academy and I can't think of anyone better."

I gave her a disbelieving look. "You've known me for a few months. How could you know if I'd belong in a place like that?"

"It isn't a normal school. Never has been, never will be. I know this will be hard to believe, but you need to listen to me. This is a school for spies. They teach you things in this school that you won't learn anywhere else."

I looked at her, a blank look on my face. "Spies. You really want me to believe there's a school for spies?"

"And there's a camp for the children of gods."

Valid point.

"True, true, but do you really expect me to just believe that?"

"Well no, but it doesn't matter if you do or not, 'cause if you do decide to go here, they can't know you know."

"Then why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I if you do go I want you to be prepared for it. That, and you won't be going as you."

Is she crazy?

"And why not?" I asked. "If this school really is for spies, wouldn't they find out who I am?"

"I graduated best in my class. Making you a fake file isn't going to be hard for me," she said. "With all the schools you've gone to, and all the trouble you've created, it'd be smart to make you someone different. Not to mention your latest adventure that was all over the news. Even if you're name has been cleared, they won't wont to take any chances letting in a potential terrorist. And then there's the matter of this being a dangerous line of work. I know you don't mind, but consider it a safety cushion that stands between your family and any enemies you make."

I sighed. "Why me?"

"Because defeating a minotaur, chasing after a stolen lightning bolt, and standing up to the god of the underworld and of War takes bravery, courage, and not to mention a bit of insanity," she laughed. "There isn't a better example of a Gallagher girl then you."

"But that wasn't just me! Percy was there! Grover too!"

"Well I can't ask them to go to an all-girls school, now can I?"

"Well, how about Annabeth?"

"She was on the news. The whole county knows about the incident with you mom and brother. The police mentioned Annabeth, and Grover. Oddly, no one could find any pictures of you." I didn't quite know if she was happy about this, or suspicious.

"That's not true," I said. "I was interviewed after fighting Ares. They had cameras and everything."

"Funny thing, that is, they seemed to have lost all that. Everything except audio. There was no actual film."

My eyes widened. "What…"

"Do you think I'll have to go apologize?" she questioned, smirking.

"You stole the film?"

"Not technically. I had a Hermes camper go get it; I just organized the little theft. I had already decided that you would make a good choice."

"But all the other photos? Was that you?"

"No, that was just luck. Or it's a sign," she smiled. "A sign from the gods that you should go."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not sure about that."

She put a hand on my shoulder. "I know you think you don't belong there, but to be honest with you—and I say this in the nicest way possible—I don't think you'd belong anywhere else."

I gave her a bit of a hurt look. "You don't think I belong here?"

"Well, yes, you belong here, but not all year long." She scooted closer. "It's the one place people won't question you about the odd things that happen. It's the one place you'll feel like you belong outside of camp. Fate has given you a chance at something amazing. Do you think you can go back to it, a normal life?"

"What about home? What about my mom?"

She shrugged. "I'm doing a lot of the planning, but it's up to you what you want." Patting my back, she got up, leaving. "I'm just giving you choices."

I watched as she left, thinking over my choices.

"What is this?" Percy asked, waving the Gallagher pamphlet around.

I was sitting on my bed, reading the Greek version of Harry Potter, a book I'd been dying to read for years, when Percy found it. Admittedly, I set it out in plain sight on our shared night stand. I didn't really want to bring it up, seeing how I was past the point of considering Gallagher Girls Academy. I had already written to mom, saying I wasn't staying year round at camp, but was going off to Virginia to a boarding school. She was very happy for me, not only because this school would undoubtedly set me up for whatever path I chose to pursue afterschool, and even more ecstatic when I told her I would be able to come home for every single holiday and then some. Percy was a different story.

"It's a pamphlet," I told him, not even looking up.

"A pamphlet for an academy."

"And they say that I'm the smarter one."

"An all-girls academy."

"Is that what it says?"

"Cammie."

"Percy," I sighed. "Just sit down."

"You can't be considering this," he said hysterically. "You can't. We've just figured things out. We decided to go home to mom, go to the school there, be together. You can't!"

"Percy, I know it sounds like I'm planning on leaving you forever, but—"

"You can't do this to me!"

"I'm not doing it to you," I finally yelled. "I'm doing it for me!"

We both stood there, fuming and crying. I don't think either of us really knew what to say in that moment. We've never had to face the thought of being separated. Sure, when Luke had offered to let me live while Percy died, that certainly would've separated us, but this was different. This was a separation by choice.

"I've already decided to go," I told him softly. It just felt so wrong to yell. "Vanessa was told to pick out a girl to recommend, and she picked me. Gave me this." I waved the pamphlet. "It's a school for…well it sounds crazy, but it's a school for spies."

Sighing, he rubbed his face with his hands. "Spies. Spies, that's real funny, Cam."

"I'm not kidding Percy."

I could feel him looking into my head, trying to understand why I'd play such a joke on him. When he realized it wasn't, he sat down. Okay, he thought. I'll listen to what she has to say.

"Thank you," I said sitting beside him, and when he glared at me I realized I wasn't meant to hear that.

"I know that being a spy is your dream—" he sighed.

"It is."

He winced. He didn't really understand why, but he couldn't deny that this was an amazing opportunity. "How often will we see each other?"

"Every night," I told him. "We can talk though our dreams remember?"

"And if they don't reach that far?" he asked.

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. "I can't just not go. I want to do something useful with my life. I want to use the qualities that people tell me make me a bad person and use them to help people."

"What if they ask you to do something bad? Hurt someone, split up families, kill someone? They can do that. Are you going to do that if they ask you to?"

I shook my head. "You know better than anyone that I don't do anything I don't want to."

"I know, but if you have no choice?" he insisted.

"Then I'll come to you for help."

Percy seemed startled that I'd suggest such a thing. "Really?"

I nodded. "I'm not pushing you out of my life, Percy." I pulled out the letter mom sent back to me. "Here, I've already written to mom, and she agrees with me. I'll come home on holidays, spend a week after school at home, then you and me will come back here for the summer. I know it's only three months a year, but hey," I smiled. "distance makes the heart grow fonder."

He knew there was nothing to say that would make me change my mind. He knew it'd be unfair to ask me not to go. We were never going to spend the rest of our lives side by side, we both knew that.

"You'll write?" he whispered.

Crying out in delight at his agreement, I hugged him close. "Yes, yes, yes, I'll write every week, every day if you want me to!"

"Once a week will be fine," he chuckled weakly.

"Pictures, I'll send you as many pictures as I can. That way you can show them to mom. You'll write back to, right? And tell me if anyone starts bothering you. because I won't wait till a holiday to come kick their butts, I'll steal a car and do it that night. And make friends! I know you're not exactly the most social of people, but you're nice and your funny so you shouldn't have to hard of a time finding someone. I mean, you did pick out Grover. Sure he was your roommate, and it was his job to befriend you, but you make him like you, like legitimately like you, so you're not all that bad—"

Percy smiled, and seemed to ignore my rambling.

The last night of the summer session came all too quickly.

The campers had one last meal together. We burned part of our dinner for the gods at the bonfire, the senior counselors awarded the end-of-summer beads.

Percy and me got our own leather necklaces, and when my eyes landed on the bead, I was glad the firelight covered my blush. The design was pitch black, with a sea-green trident shimmering in the center, and a white Gemini zodiac behind it.

"The choice was unanimous," Vanessa announced. "This bead commemorates the first Children of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest they undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!"

The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares' campers felt obliged to stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in the applause.

It was a happy moment. I realized that Percy and mom weren't my only family, that I had friends and allies I could come to. They believed I'd done something right, that I wasn't a mess up or a delinquent with no future. Sure, I was going to be leaving all of my family behind for the rest of the year, but I would be back, and it was going to be great.

The next morning, Annabeth was helping me and Percy pack up what little things we had.

"So you'll be spending the year apart then?" she asked, looking confused.

"Yeah, but I'll be coming back on holidays and butt kicking missions," I told her, hauling out my duffel bag.

"Butt kicking missions?"

Percy shook his head. "Don't ask."

"It's just this will be the first time you'll be in different schools, right?"

"It's a good school," I said. "A spy school."

"A spy school?"

I shrugged. "I'm not joking, as Vanessa.'

"Well, that does make some of the stories she used to tell me a little more plausible," Annabeth nodded.

Josh ran into our cabin, looking around. "Hey, is—Oh there you are Annabeth. Mr. D sent me to find you. They're here."

"Who's here?" Percy asked.

No one answered. Annabeth just nodded.

With all our bags packed, Annabeth had us walk her out.

"Sorry for having to leave you here year round," Percy apologized when we passed the Big House.

"Yeah, you'll be stuck here all year with Clarisse," I said distastefully.

Annabeth pursed her lips, then said quietly, "I'm going home for the year."

We stared at her. "You mean, to your dad's?" I asked.

She pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia's pine tree, at the very edge of the camp's magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted—two little children, a woman, and a tall mad with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that look like the one Annabeth had gotten from Waterland in Denver.

"I wrote him a letter when we got back," Annabeth said. "Just like you suggested, Percy. I told him…I was sorry. I'd come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided…we'd give it another try."

"That took guts," Percy said.

She pursed her lips. "You won't try anything stupid during the school year, will you? at least…not without sending me an Iris-message?"

"No promises," we said at the same time.

"I mean, obviously, if we did we'd send you a message, but we most certainly know our fair share of stupid tricks," I winked.

"when I get back next summer," she said, "we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?"

"So we'll pull a Cammie," Percy nodded.

We all laughed.

"It's a plan worthy of Athena," I told her, opening my arms. "Now come here, Princess."

She allowed herself to be pulled in. "You'll do wonderful at Gallagher. I know you will."

"Don't you let any of those guys give you any crap," I told her. "You're much too great for any of it."

She pulled away, sending me a grateful smile, and held her hand out to Percy. "Take care, Seaweed Brain. Keep your eyes open."

"You too, Wise Girl," he said, shaking her hand.

I groaned. "Come on, you two are friends, just hug already!"

They both blushed, but gave each other a quick squeeze.

"We'll work on it," I smiled.

We stood, watching her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and look back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia's pine tree, then allowed herself to be lead over the crest and into the mortal world.

"Hey Bro," I said, looking out at the hill.

"Yeah?"

"I know you kind of wish all this didn't happen." I turned and smiled at him. "But I wouldn't change a thing."

He looked at me, funnily. "Why?"

"I feel like I have a home now. Like I actually belong somewhere. Just look at the people we've meet. If we weren't demigods, we'd have never of met Grover, or Chiron, or Josh, or Roe, or Annabeth." She smiled at me. "And don't pretend you don't like having met Annabeth."

Percy pretended to consider this. "Yeah, I guess she's alright."

We laughed, giving each other a sideways hug.

"We'll be back next year," I said.

"And then it's right back into the face of danger."

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Neither would I."

Vanessa opened the trunk for me, pulling out my suitcase. "You sure did pack light," she said. "Are you sure you have enough?"

I nodded. "I usually only have a couple bags whenever I go to a boarding school, so I'll be fine. In fact, this is more than usual." I looked the place over, and found myself slightly breathless. This was a pretty cool place, I had to admit.

Pulling out the rest, Vanessa smiled at me. "Kind of nice, huh? It takes some getting used to, living in a castle. But thankfully, it never loses its charm."

Someone laughed behind us. "Too true, Vanessa. Too true."

I'll admit it. I jumped. Squeaked a bit. I spun around to find a beautiful woman, with long brown hair, and simple blue eyes. Her smile was polite and mischievous at the same time, and I was sure I was going to like her. "I'm Rachel Morgan. The Headmistress here at Gallagher. You must be Cammie Morgan."

I nodded respectfully, holding out my hand to her. "Nice to meet you Headmistress."

She smirked. "Please, you can call me Rachel. Headmistress is much too formal, not to mention old. I'm still twenty-nine."

I gaped at her.

She chuckled sheepishly. "Well, I like to think of myself as twenty-nine." I giggled, then laughed openly. "Well, come on in, I'll help carry your bags in. Vanessa, Madam Dabney wants to talk to you." Vanessa sighed, and wished me good luck.

Shouldering my duffle bag, Rachel walked me up to the school. "It seems we have something in common," she said. "We share a last name, but I did some checking and found we have no connection."

I shrugged. "Coincidence?"

It was not, in fact, a coincidence. Vanessa had chosen that last name on purpose, hoping that if anyone looked though the students registries, only looking at the names, might come to the conclusion that I was related to the Headmistress. She said it was just a safty precotion, and could really hurt anything.

"I had asked Vanessa to find a girl who she believed was capable of learning here. I chose her because her standards are high." Probably because she lives part time at Camp Half-Blood, home to heroes. "It's an honor to be chosen by that girl. I don't believe she thinks half the graduates for this school should even be here, yet she found you pretty quickly."

I gave a sheepish smile, laughing a bit. "Yeah, don't know what she's think there.

"Oh, I can see what she does. I see many admirable qualities in you, Cameron. And I can see they'll get you far here. In fact, I've been looking over your file for the last hour or so."

My breath caught, but I'm sure she didn't see it, and if she did, she didn't say anything. Vanessa had given me my new file to study before coming here. I'd spent all day and night, and then just this morning cramming every detail of my 'life' into my head.

Cameron Anne Morgan

Age: 12

State of Birth: Nebraska

Father: Unknown

Mother: Sarah Morgan (deceased)

Siblings: Percy Morgan (deceased)

Other relatives: Haraled Morgan (Grandfather: deceased), Olivia Morgan (deceased)

Schooling: Chelsie Elementary school (Private), Helmer Elementary school (Public), West Middle School (Public)

Allergies: None.

Prior injuries: Broken wrist (right), fractured arm (Left)

"So you've been to public schooling all your life?" she asked.

"No," I told her immediately. "I went to Chelsie when I was in kindergarten and first grade. It was a private school on the south side of the city."

She nodded, and I knew she was testing me, seeing if I was going to trip up. "Why did you start going to public when you were in second grade?"

I hesitated, which was actually good for my cover. "My mother and brother died that year. I was sent into foster care that next year. Helmer was the closest school to where I was living."

She frowned a bit, seemingly pitying me. "I'm so sorry to hear that. What happened?"

"House fire. I was off playing with the neighbor girl that day, so I wasn't inside."

"How old was your brother when he…"

"Same age as I was. We were twins."

"And your father? Did you know him?"

"Mom didn't tell us anything about him. she probably thought we were too young to understand."

"So you have no family?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm all alone."

She smiled sadly at me. "Not anymore you're not. Here at Gallagher, you'll have friends. Trust me."

We reached the doors of the mansion than, and Rachel held the doors open for me.

"I knew you know what kind of school this is," she told me.

Spinning around, I gapped at her. How had she known? I swear I didn't say anything about knowing while being in a fifty mile radius of this place. How could she have possibly known!?

She laughed at my expression. "I know Vanessa, Cameron. She wouldn't recommend an unknowing girl. She must have told you."

"That this is a school for spies, yes," I said.

"Well, we train spies, yes. Some of these girls already come from spy families and are well versed in espionage. And then others know nothing of what this school really is, but are rather exceptional."

"What kind of classes do you teach here," I asked, walking up the steps.

"Well, there's Cultures Of the World, Culture and Assimilation, Computing, and Covert Operations, but you won't be taking that last class for a few years."

"No math?"

She smiled. "It's not a top priority."

This place was awesome.

We reached the door of my new dorm room.

"Here we are," Rachel said, setting down my bags. "Here's your key, and I believe one of your roommates is already inside."

Nodding I took the key, and said goodbye.

I knocked twice before entering. Inside, there was a beautiful girl with carnal skin, long black hair, and a fit body. She turned towards me, looking me over before nodding, and then smiling, waving at me.

"Hi," she said in a British accent.

I waved back, smiling awkwardly. "Hi, I'm Cammie Morgan," I said, pulling my bags inside, and walking over to her.

She offered me her hand. "Rebeca Baxter."

"Rebecca?" I said, slightly distastefully, reminiscing back to two schools ago when there was another Rebecca, one I severely disliked.

"Don't like my name?"

Realizing my mistake, I quickly backtracked. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, I didn't mean to say that! Not that I have anything against your name it's just…well you see—"

Then she started laughing. In my face. Loudly. "It's fine. I don't like my name either. Call me Bex, I insist."

Chuckling awkwardly at my little outburst, said, "Well, if you insist. Nice to meet you Bex Baxter." I took her hand.

"And nice to meet you Cammie Morgan."

I looked over at all her things, when my eyes landed on something on the wall. "You've got to be kidding me," I gasped. "James Bond?"

Nodding proudly, she waked over to her giant James Bond poster that hung over her bed. "He's kind of amazing."

"Obviously," I scoffed, walking over to my bags. Zipping open my backpack, I pulled out an exact copy of said poster. "I have that one too! It's been hanging up in my room for years."

Just then the door opened, and in walked a petite girl, with short blond hair. She smiled shyly. "Hello," she said in a soft southern accent. "I'm Elizabeth, I'm your guys' roommate."

Me and Bex smiled widely and waved. "Hi."

"So, who's excited for the first day of spy school tomorrow," Bex said wickedly.

"So you guys know too?" I asked.

They nodded.

"They told me after the exams," Elizabeth said. "Said I could get education that isn't taught anywhere else."

"Both my parents work for MI6," Bex said. "I was born and raised for this school."

"That's awesome," I said. "I was suggested by one of the graduates here. So apparently, they think I've got what it takes."

"I wonder what it's going to be like," Elizabeth said wistfully. "I mean, we'll be learning things no other girl could even begin to imagine. We can go do something useful with our lives, like really useful."

"It is kind of an amazing thought, isn't it," Bex chuckled.

"And here I thought I'd be flipping burgers for the rest of my life," I mused. "I mean, I still might be flipping burgers for a living, but at least I'll be a burger flipper with a higher education."

We all laughed.

Elizabeth looked at her watch. "They said that dinner was going to start at six. It's five thirty right now."

"What's the rush?" Bex asked.

"We don't want to be late," Elizabeth said, as though it should be obvious.

I laughed. "We have thirty minutes. I'm sure we'll make it in time."

Despite me and Bex insisting we leave in twenty minutes, we ended up listening to Elizabeth's wishes, and left five minutes later.

"I heard that they have a gourmet chef here," Bex said.

"That's crazy," I laughed, shaking my head.

"I'm not kidding! My mom said he used to work for president."

"I can't believe this. Do you believe this, Elizabeth? I don't believe this," I giggled.

She gave me a shy smile. "Please, call me Liz."

We arrived at the doors of the dining room, and much to my surprise, there were already a ton of girls inside. They were all laughing and chatting excitedly, about their summers, boys they had met, things they had done—things normal mortal girls shouldn't be able to do. All the girls seemed to be separated by age. There were a few girls, the youngest ones in the room, sitting alone and sort of awkwardly together on the left side of the room, speaking to each other shyly.

"That will be our table over there," Bex said, pointing at it.

Summoning up as much courage as I could, I sent her a smile. "Well, then let's go."

She looped her arm through mine, then Liz's, pulling us towards the table. I was shocked to say the least. I was used to this sort of behavior, but it was always my brother hooking on to me, never some girl I'd just met. At all the schools I've been to, I've never really made another friend that was a girl, the kind you could skip along down the halls with. (Not that I would skip at all, with anyone. Not really my thing. I'm more of a saunter in the room, cocky smirk on my face, and a devilish look in my eyes.)

We had reached the table, and made small talk with the other girls there for the remaining twenty five minutes till dinner began. I had already learned a few of the girls' names. There was Tina, Mick (or was it Mack?), Anna and Eva, I believe there was also a Kim, but I couldn't be sure. They were all very nice, and didn't really seem to hate me, so we were getting along pretty well. Tina had quite the mouth on her, gossiping about this and that, some things I didn't ever think I'd be interested in until she started talking. And then there was another new experience I had undergone.

I got to be girly.

Now, I'd had my girl time with Annabeth, Roe, and sometimes even Dee-Dee, but they still had this tough exterior that they refused to let down, making it imposable to talk about boys with them. But these girls made it real clear boys were always a welcome topic. There was talk about what hair looked best on what boys, and how tall they should be, next to how they should dress and act. Blue eyes looked amazing with dark brown hair, giving them a dark earthy look, while blond and brown eyes made them kind of look like farm boys, and then there was boys with black hair and green eyes that was just undeniably adorable—a topic I mentally excluded myself from, seeing how my brother has green eyes and black hair, and while we may share a face, I didn't really want to admit to my brother as being adorable.

We were just in the middle of discussing smiling boys, when the doors opened and in walked a line of adults, all smiling at the elder girls, walking proudly to the front of the dining room. Rachel was head of the line, and she smiled and winked at me as she passed.

"That's headmistress Morgan," Mick (or Mack) hissed at me. "How do you know her?"

I shrugged. "Just met today. She's nice."

"I head she's a former graduate of Gallagher, and the best headmistress this school has had yet," Tina whispered.

All the adults (teachers, I was guessing) took their seats, seemingly waiting for something. Rachel stood proudly behind the podium, looking all us girls over with equally proud gazes.

"Women of the Gallagher Academy, who comes here?" she asked.

Just then, every girl at every table, including our own, stood. I didn't understand what was happening, but I quickly stood myself.

"We are the sisters of Gillian," all the students in the room said in unison. I tumbled on the words, trying to follow along.

"Why do you come?" Rachel asked.

"To learn her skills. Honor her sword. And keep her secrets."

"To what end do you work?"

"To the cause of justice and light."

"How long will you strive?"

By that point I had stopped trying to follow along, and just stood their awkwardly.

"For all the days of our lives."

Then everyone sat down. I remained standing for a few seconds, dazed, the quickly followed suit.

Rachel remained standing. "Welcome back, students," she said, beaming. "This is going to be a wonderful year here at Gallagher Academy. For our newest members"—she turned towards our table, making eye contact with me. All the other girls seemed intimidated, but I just smiled back—"welcome. You are about to begin the most challenging year of your young lives. Rest assured that you would not have been given this challenge were you not up to it."

"For returning students," Rachel continued, but I kind of just zoned out.

My challenge had in fact, been this year, this entire year. First there was losing my mother, then being told I'm some mortal/god hybrid, then being accused of a crime, solving said crime, facing my father, returning to my new home, discovered a frightening betrayal, and then came here, to this lavish school. I didn't know whether the gods were here or not, but I knew whatever came my way at this school was not going to get the best of me.

"Hey, why didn't you know the chant?" Bex asked me in a hushed voice.

Startled out of my daze, I told her, just as quietly, "I didn't know there was a chant."

"Really? They teach it to your right after you get your entrance exams back."

"I didn't really take an entrance exam," I told her. She gave me a bewildered look. "Tell you later. Either way, I didn't learn the chant."

"Sorry about that, seems I forgot to mention it," a voice said behind me. All the girls at the table jumped, making a few girls at the other tables look over and smile impishly.

I turned towards Vanessa, who had her eyes trained on Rachel, as though she had been listening the entire time.

"Yeah," I said. "You did. Could have used some sort of warning there."

"It was fine, barely anyone noticed," she said waving me off.

"I think everyone noticed."

"Okay, yeah, everyone noticed, but it's fine, no one's going to say anything."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm a graduate, and I really don't want to sit up there at the big kids table"—she pointed to the teachers—"So I thought I'd come hang out with you."

Dinner started then, and out came a million plates of mouthwatering delights.

"Did I also forget to mention the chief used to work in the White House?" Vanessa said, smiling.

Bex turned towards me, smiling. "Told you."

"Shut up and go eat your food."

Later that night, I sat in a beanbag chair in front of one of the flat screen TVs, flipping though channels with Bex and Liz.

"There's nothing good on," Bex groaned.

We got to channel 39 when we heard a wolf howling, then a fast passed theme song started. There was a montage of crosses, a blond headed girl, and monsters that flashed across the screen, the words Buffy the Vampire Slayer opening it.

We all looked at each other. "Nothing else is on," I reminded them.

They shrugged. "Might as well watch it."

Ten minutes into the show, we were hooked. A couple other girls walked in.

"Hey, what are you guys watching?" Kim(?) asked.

"Buffy the Vampire Slayer," I told them, never taking my eyes off the screen.

"Can we watch it with you?"

"Sure, take a seat."

Later it had occurred to me that all the girls in my grade had joined us, all of us watching the show together, laughing and screaming along with each other.

I reached out with my mind, mentally shaking Percy. For a while, there was no response; then I felt a tug, and smiled. Even hundreds of miles away, we were still together.

Good night, Percy, I whispered.

Sleep tight, Cam.

I love you, you know that right?

How could you not love me?

I laughed then, out loud. It wasn't really that odd, because the others were laughing at something on the TV.

Things might just turn out after all, I thought to myself, returning to the show.

My quest to get the story of Cammie and Percy out is complete. that's it guys! The final chapter! Bringing it all to a close if only 6000 some words almost seems wrong, but it's the only way, I'm afraid. I'm sad to see it go, but at the same time so proud. Thank you everyone who helped me and supported me through this story. Even those who I haven't personally thanked.

A special thanks goes out to Engineer4E ver. I literally couldn't have done this without you. You really are amazing.

I will hopefully have a collection of one-shots up set during Cammie's first year at Gallagher up this week or the next. I'll be taking some time off to finish up my other fanfic that I have been neglecting, but then I'll be back. I'll put up an author's note when the second rewrite is out.

Again, thank you guys for putting up with me, Cammie and Percy, and all my charactors and Ally's and Rick's.

-DJRocks.