Pearl's POV:

I was having a great day in New York roaming the streets. School had ended the day before, and Mom was sending me to some camp next week. This was my only week of freedom, and I planned to enjoy it . . . until someone ran into me and changed everything.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" a girl with stormy gray eyes apologized, reaching down to help me up. I couldn't help but notice the dagger in her other hand. My life was finally going to get interesting! When she started to walk away, I asked, "Why do you have a dagger out in broad daylight?" The girl stiffened and turned around, looking at me carefully.

"This isn't a dagger," she calmly said. I snorted and replied sarcastically, "And I'm a unicorn."

"Percy, Grover!" the girl yelled. Oh, crap. Was that previous statement a warning? Was she part of some dagger-carrying gang? No. I knew the gang in this area. They were pushovers when it came to bystanders. Two guys came running around the corner, the shorter one running strangely.

"What's wrong, Annabeth?" the taller guy asked, a pen in his hand. A pen? Seriously?

"Nothing is wrong, but this girl can see through the Mist," the girl explained. "Grover, what does she smell like?"

"Listen, I'll just be going now. No need to worry about me snitching on you guys," I said, backing away slowly. This wasn't a good idea. They were obviously not from around here. The short guy sniffed the air for a moment then wrinkled his nose. Did I really smell that bad?

"She has a strong demigod smell similar to Percy's," Grover told Annabeth.

"Excuse me?! What the hell does that mean? I took a shower this morning!" I muttered, glaring at the boy. Annabeth smiled and put her hand on my shoulder, stopping me from backing away anymore. I stiffened.

"What's your name?" she asked kindly.

"Pearl."

"Hi, Pearl. I'm Annabeth. This is Grover and Percy." Taking a closer look at the boys, I noticed that Grover had crutches in one of his hands. The guy called Percy still held the pen in his hand defensively, his sea-green eyes on my own. He seemed familiar. Suddenly, we heard something roar. All three of them sighed.

"Time to go!" Grover announced cheerfully. He grabbed my arm and tried to pull me down the alley.

"Get your hands off of my sister!" Turning around, I saw my older brother Dylan walking towards us with a fierce glare. Grover quickly let go and backed behind Percy who now held a sword in his hands. Where did the pen go?

"Relax, bro," I told Dylan with a grin. "I can handle this."

"So I can't protect you sometimes?" He shook his head and sighed.

"Listen," Percy said, "we have to go, and Pearl needs to come with us."

"Over my dead body," Dylan growled. Sometimes my brother gets over-protective.

"That can be arranged."

"Percy!" Annabeth hissed. "Stop acting like that!"

"The boy has a strong demigod smell, too," Grover informed Annabeth and Percy.

"Then we'll take him with us, too."

"Goody!" I clapped my hands. "I finally get to do something exciting!" Dylan sighed again and agreed to come with us.

"But where are we going?" he asked.

"A camp on Long Island." Hearing the roar again, Annabeth grabbed my arm as Percy grabbed Dylan. "We don't have much time, so let's go!" Dylan shook off Percy's arm but followed us anyway. Annabeth stopped in front of a car and Grover groaned.

"Everyone, in the car!" Annabeth ordered. Once we were all in, Annabeth got in the driver's side and started the car.

"Uh, Annabeth? I think I should drive," Percy suggested carefully.

"Shut it, Seaweed Brain. We would never get out of the city if you drove." As Annabeth drove, I wondered whether we would get out of the city alive, but, surprisingly, we did. Annabeth remained just over the speed limit for the rest of the journey. When it got dark, Dylan reached in his pocket and got out his cellphone to call Mom.

"Yeah, Mom? We're staying the night at a friend's house . . . Yes, Pearl is with me . . . Yes, it's safe . . . Mom . . . Mom, we'll be back in time to go to camp . . . Yeah, love you, too." Dylan hung up and sighed, glancing at me. I smiled and lightly punched his shoulder. He really needed to lighten up.

"Lying to Mom now, Dylan?"

"Hey! I doubt she would let you and me just go driving with some strange kids!" he defended. "Besides, we'll be back by lunch tomorrow, right?"

"Uh, yeah, Chiron will have to make a call to your Mom," Grover said.

"Why?"

"You'll understand once he speaks to you," was his answer. Wait. Chiron? That name sounded familiar . . .

"So this Chiron is named after the centaur Chiron in Greek mythology?" I asked excitedly. The three of them exchanged surprised looks before Grover yelled, "Look out, Annie!" Annabeth swerved out of the oncoming traffic and sent a death-glare to Grover.

"What have I told you about calling me that?!"

"Sorry," Grover replied meekly. The car finally stopped at the base of a hill.

"Everyone out!" Dylan and I followed the three of them over the hill and down the other side. I couldn't see much in the darkness, but there were a lot of windows lit. Hearing the roar again, Percy threw his hands in the air and stalked back over the hill, uncapping his pen which then turned into the sword from earlier. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, but that didn't change the bronze light the sword gave off in the dark.

"What . . . " I started to ask, but Annabeth pulled me away.

"Don't worry. Percy will handle it. We need to get you and Dylan to Chiron." She continued dragging me until we reached a large, two-story house.

"Chiron, we have two new campers that need something explained to their mother in the morning!" Annabeth called out. Well, that sounded suspicious. An older man sitting on a horse came out onto the porch. Wait a minute.

"Dude, why are you on a horse?" Dylan asked bluntly. I elbowed him sharply.

"Don't be rude, Dylan. He's not sitting on a horse. Are you the actual Chiron?" I asked the man excitedly.

"Yes, my dear. Although, not many demigods know me as soon as they see me the first time," the centaur said, laughing. Well, I was knew more of myths than the average person. Suddenly, Percy popped out of the darkness, scaring the crap out of me, and said, "All done! Hi, Chiron." Chiron nodded at Percy and gestured for us to go inside. Once inside, he mentioned something about us being the campers Diana was talking about.

"Diana? That's our mother's name," Dylan said suspiciously. "How do you know her?"

"Well, this is the camp you were supposed to come to tomorrow," Chiron told us. He then proceeded to stare at my brother and me. Annabeth, Grover, and Percy waited quietly and patiently as Dylan and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Dylan has the look of Apollo or maybe Hermes," Chiron murmured. "But Pearl . . . Poseidon or Aphrodite?" I laughed.

"In no way am I similar to the goddess of beauty," I told him. My eyes were a pretty sea-green like Percy's, but my weird curly hair caused me to be the center of attention with its strange green-black color. Because of that and my strange obsession with mythology, I was bullied often. At least, I was bullied until I started defending myself.

"Come with me, you two." Obediently, Dylan and I followed Chiron into a room where he turned on a short movie about Greek mythology and how it was real. I had already guessed that much when I saw the centaur, but I enjoyed the film anyway. Afterwards, Chiron had Percy show Dylan and I to the Hermes Cabin. When Percy opened the door to the cabin, I groaned. The entire place was a mess and loud. Extremely loud.

"You expect me to sleep in this madhouse?!" I asked. Suddenly, it got very quiet as everyone turned to stare at the new kids. Dylan smirked and shook his head, flopping down on a relatively clean spot on the floor and stretching out.

"I don't know, Pearl. Maybe it won't be that bad." I glared at him as Percy laughed.

"See you both in the morning. Night." Percy waved at the kids in the cabin then left. Sighing, I faced the cabin's occupants staring at me.

"Guess I have no choice. Listen up, kids, I expect to get some sleep tonight, so you will all shut up and go to sleep yourselves or, so help me gods, I will make you regret not doing it. Got it?" I glared at each of them in turn before they nodded. "Wonderful. Goodnight." I laid down next to my brother and slept.