Hey everyone. I was going to wait until The new lightning thieves picked up some steam but screw it. I'm going to get you the first chapter.

I thought Grover was a boy goat.

Chapter 1

Skylah P.O.V

We were staying at Percy's apartment before the last day of School. I had another argument with our guardian so that was the main reason we were here.

Percy described the nightmare he had "My nightmare started like this. I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.

Florida, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been to Florida. Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw Grover running for his life. Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground. Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere."

"He was trying to get away from… something. A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks. Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them! I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He'd run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE. Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing—a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food. Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on. Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone. Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIIINE!"

"Wait I thought Grover was a boy goat," I asked

"He is you, idiot. He went in there for cover" My brother Jaden told me. He shares dreams with Percy. Sometime soon, so will I. I was not looking forward to that. I don't know what weird things might be in that head of his.

If I was paying more attention I would have seen a shadow flicker across the glass—a humanlike shape.

There was a knock on the bedroom door—Percy's mom called: "Kids, you're going to be late"—and the shadow at the window disappeared. It must've been my imagination. I imagine the things I'm going to paint or draw all the time.

Plus it's a fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape…there couldn't or wouldn't be anyone out there.

"Come on, dears," Sally called again. "Last day of school. You should be excited! You've almost made it!"

"Coming," Percy managed. He felt under his pillow.

Percy brought out his pen and studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos. Riptide. I thought about how unfair it was that Percy and Jaden got cool magic swords.

had made us promise not to use deadly weapons in the apartment after Percy had swung a javelin the wrong way and taken out her china cabinet.

Percy put Anaklusmos on his nightstand and Percy and I dragged ourselves out of bed. Jaden just jumped up gracefully. I got a good look at his eyes.

One bright silver and the other was a relaxed green. I feel like his eyes refelt his 2 different Personalities. One shows a fierce and intimidating person, ready to take you out on a moment's notice and the other is funny, relaxed, and chill, like Percy.

We all got dressed as quickly as we could.

I thought about Percy's nightmare. Have to get away. Have to warn them! What had Grover meant?

Percy made a three-fingered claw over his heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture Grover had once taught us for warding off evil. Jaden and I followed his example.

The dream couldn't have been real. Last day of school. Sally was right, we should have been excited.

For the first time in our lives, we'd almost made it an entire year without getting expelled. No weird accidents. No fights in the classroom. No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill us with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework. No painting on walls to get me expelled because I paint too much on too many things.

Tomorrow, we'd be on our way to our favorite place in the world— Camp Half-Blood.

Only one more day to go.

Surely even Percy couldn't mess that up.

.

As usual, I didn't have a clue how wrong I was.

Percy's mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast. She's funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food.

I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.

We ate at the kitchen table while Percy's mom and Jaden washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform —a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail. The waffles tasted great, but Percy wasn't digging in like he usually did so his mother picked on something being wrong.

She looked over and frowned. "Percy, are you all right?"

"Yeah…fine."

But she could always tell when something was bothering any of us. She dried her hands and sat down across from Percy.

"School, or…"

She didn't need to finish. We knew what she was asking.

"We think Grover's in trouble," Jaden said, still doing the dishes.

Percy told her about my dream. She pursed her lips. We didn't talk much about the other part of Percy's life. Or I could say Jaden's and mine as well.

We all tried to live as normally as possible, but Sally knew all about Grover. "I wouldn't be too worried, dear," she said. "Grover is a big satyr now. If there were a problem, I'm sure we would've heard from…from camp.…"

Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I'll tell you what. This afternoon we'll celebrate the end of school. I'll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center—to that skateboard shop you like."

Oh, man, that was tempting. If I was a dumb boy like these 2 idiots in the room.

The Jacksons were always struggling with money. Between Percy's mom's night classes and Percy's private school tuition, they could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard. They refused any money that Jaden and I offered. Must be because they know we hate using it.

But something in her voice bothered me.

"Wait a minute," Percy said. "I thought we were packing me up for camp tonight."

She twisted her dishrag. "Ah, dear, about that…I got a message from Chiron last night."

Chiron was the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He wouldn't contact them unless something serious was going on.

"What did he say?"

"He thinks…it might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet. We might have to postpone."

"Postpone? Mom, how could it not be safe? I'm a half-blood! It's like the only safe place on earth for me!"

"Usually, dear. But with the problems, they're having—"

"What problems?"

"Percy…I'm very, very sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can't explain it all now. I'm not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly. Jaden, Skylah, it would be best if you didn't go as well"

Jaden had grabbed our backpacks but he looked like he wanted to throw them. Not at .

My mind was reeling. How could we not go to camp? I wanted to ask a million questions, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.

Sally looked almost relieved. "Seven-thirty, dears. You should go. Tyson will be waiting."

"But—"

"Percy, we'll talk this afternoon. Go on to school." That was the last thing I wanted to do but she had this fragile look in her eyes—a kind of warning like if we pushed her too hard she'd start to cry. Besides, she was right about our friend Tyson.

We had to meet him at the subway station on time or he'd get upset. He was scared of traveling underground alone. Percy and I grabbed our things from Jaden, but Percy stopped in the doorway. "Mom, this problem at camp. Does it… could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?"

She wouldn't meet his eyes. "We'll talk this afternoon, dear. I'll explain…as much as I can."

Reluctantly, we told her goodbye. We jogged downstairs to catch the Number Two train. I didn't know it at the time, but Sally, Percy, Jaden, and I would never get to have our afternoon talk.

In fact, we wouldn't be seeing home for a long, long time.

As we stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second, I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight—a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one. Then it rippled and vanished.

That reminds me. I had a feeling Jaden was hiding something from me. Sometimes he would wake up with makes around his neck like someone or thing was strangling him. I was worried that he had made some kind of deal with Hades because shadows were something that would go with the god of the dead.

.

~Jaden P.O.V~

I think I git a few more powers from Hades. I'm totally hiding something from Skylah. It was the fact that I think I could mess with shadows. But they don't like me very much so they try and hurt me. This is why I have spent $300 on just flashlights for my room so whenever the shadows get handsy with my throat I can knock them all out.

That's all everyone. I'm thinking about a different title. Let me know if you have any suggestions. I hope you have a great Morning/Night/afternoon/ or evening. Bye.