Author's note: Hi friends! This is my first ever fan fic so I hope I'm doing okay :-) I appreciate any ideas or constructive criticism with this, it's honestly been a few years since I've read these books but I love the characters so much that I wanted to write something. I don't own any of the characters or any parts of the original story, I'm just using them to write something that makes me happy. I don't know if I will be able to update regularly, but I'll try to post whenever I finish each chapter.

Love you guys! Enjoy :-)

Chapter 2

In the past few years, Annabeth had come to know the other returning counselors really well. They were all the brightest and strongest half-bloods around and each of them enjoyed helping the new campers get acquainted with their new life as a demigod. It was never an easy transition for anyone, figuring out one of your parents was a god. So many half-bloods felt misunderstood and alone since it was common for them to be only children or the neglected stepchild. Unless of course you were lucky enough to be a twin like the Stoll brothers.

Regardless, it was comforting to have an older camper or counselor there to confide in. Annabeth would know, she had been going to Camp Half-Blood since she was eight. At that point she only had her friends Thalia and Luke to lean on, but even that went away after Thalia's death and Luke's betrayal. She would forever be grateful to Chiron and the past Athena counselors for pulling her out of her shell and helping her become the strong, independent woman she was today.

Meals during training week had a lower attendance since there weren't any campers around. But it meant the counselors could goof off and get to know each other without the pressure of Mr. D breathing down your neck. Since there were so few people, nobody bothered to sit at designated tables, preferring to sit at the largest one so they weren't alone. They could usually all fit at the Hermes table comfortably since they usually had the most available seats, but this year they'd had to pull up a few chairs for extra counselors.

With the new rules around gods claiming their children at a certain age, and minor gods taking part, new cabins had to be built and more counselors were needed to accommodate the increase in demigods. It was crazy to think about how it had all happened so fast. Some troublemaker camper had gone and complained to Zeus the year before and made them all change their ways.

No one knew how that kid got away with something as crazy as changing Zeus's mind especially with a whole war waging around them. Nonetheless Annabeth was grateful to see the Hermes cabin clear out a bit as campers found out their godly parents. It also meant she got to assist in designing new cabins which was a huge plus.

Annabeth had been pushing food around her plate, lost in thought when she heard a crash to her left. Clarise and her Ares counterpart were bent over laughing and high fiving each other, barely able to stay standing from their cackling at the expense of a newer counselor who seemed to have fallen into a pile of todays meal: spaghetti. The poor guy was covered from the waist up in red sauce and noodles that hung down from his head like poorly installed hair extensions. He tried to get up to defend himself, but only ended up slipping and falling flat on his back, making the Ares counselors laugh even louder.

"I'm gonna pee!" exclaimed the male counselor, now literally rolling on the floor in a fit of hysterics. Others around them snickered as well at the sight of it all.

"Annabeth didn't recognize the slippery victim from any of her past years working but could tell he was an older half-blood by his broad shoulders and large vocabulary of profanities which he flung at Clarise even as he slid around on the floor.

Annabeth started to get up to help the poor soul, but Malcom grabbed her forearm, stopping her.

"I wouldn't if I were you," he warned. "You know what happened the last time you tried to go up against Clarise during training."

Of course, she remembered vividly. That whole summer she had been tormented by Clarise's pranks and jabs at Annabeth's typically cool composure. By the end of the summer, even the campers were in on it, leaving plastic spiders in the girl's bathrooms and stealing eggs from the mess hall to throw at her windows. One didn't just stand up to Clarise and get away with it.

"I can't just leave him there Malcom," Annabeth countered, pulling her arm from his grip. "I'm not afraid of Clarise and her posse."

Before she could move to step in, the laughing abruptly stopped. The blonde's focus shifted back to the scene as Clarise was now completely drenched from her greasy hair down to her worn combat boots. She was sputtering and coughing in shock at the spontaneity of the near drowning. The entire mess hall went silent, waiting for the inevitable explosion that was about to let loose.

The spaghetti covered boy lay completely still in his position on the ground, eyes wide in fear and darting around looking for an escape route. Annabeth noticed one of his arms lowering to match the other one which was propping himself up on his elbow. His fists opened and closed in a nervous fashion.

Did he do that?

"Before anyone had a chance to react, the boy scrambled up and ran off in the direction of the lake. Probably a smart move as he was now an even bigger target for a beating from the children of war.

Others whispered to their neighbors at the table, wondering who the latest victim was and why he ran to the lake instead of his cabin. Those who seemed to already know his identity remained silent, not wanting to get involved in rumors or drama on only the second day of training. Annabeth made a mental note to talk to them later, wanting to know more about what just happened. It didn't go unnoticed by her that the ones who knew him were new counselors or younger half-bloods.

Was he new too? Maybe that was why she didn't recognize him.

"Poor guy. He never stood a chance as a solo counselor," Malcom said in between mouthfuls of buttered roll. Annabeth turned to him, her full attention now on her brother who somehow knew more than she did about something.

"Wait you know that guy? What cabin is he in? What do you mean he's a solo counselor?" She interrogated him, a million questions flying through her head. "It's a camp rule that there has to be at least one girl and boy counselor in each cabin, there's no way he would be allowed on his own."

This rule was only ever broken with cabins that needed more help like the Hermes campers who vastly outnumbered the older demigods. Or when no counselor was needed. The only cabins that wouldn't need one were those of the Big Three since there were rarely any campers sired by the kings in the first place. And even the rare demigod who did stay there wouldn't necessarily emneed/em counselors because they would only have themselves to look after. As it was, they usually got swept up in other cabins when groups were formed or decisions were made.

Maybe this was Chiron's way to include more half-bloods in leadership roles.

"Whoa, whoa slow down there Sherlock," her brother held his hands up in surrender. "He's the boy from cabin 2. The one who always gets into trouble with Mr. D?" She stared at him with a blank expression.

"You seriously don't know who he is?" he asked, eyebrows slowly disappearing into his hairline. "That's the maniac who killed Kronos and challenged Zeus's parenting skills," he exclaimed. "Honestly Annabeth. And here I was thinking you knew everything."

She looked back down at her plate, stunned. How had she not known who that camper was? She knew every demigod there was to know, especially the powerful ones. How did a son of Poseidon slip past her radar?

She desperately wanted to know the boy's name and was about to ask Malcom but was pulled from her thoughts by a horn that blared from one end of the mess hall. Chiron and Mr. D stood in the doorway signaling the start of the ice breaker activities. Annabeth momentarily forgot about the mystery boy as dread was all that now filled her mind.