-Magnus-

After Will and Nico left, Alex was having a chat with the local squirrels. She turned into an adorable grey-furred rodent and still had that mischievous glint in her eyes. Since I was a son of Frey, I could hear every single word they were saying. To spare you from the pain of listening to which nuts are best, the creepiest thing they announced was, 'strange, strange things,' 'many nuts,' 'horseman,' and 'death, much death.' I didn't want to choose which one sounded more worrying.

Alex asked, "You think we should follow them?" I stirred, not expecting the question.

"What?" I asked in my usual eloquent manner.

"Magnus," Alex repeated slowly as if I were a kindergartener and he was speaking in a different language. "Do you think we should see what your twin and Nico are up to?"

"Number one: Will is not my twin. Number two: Stalking is creepy, and I'm sure they won't appreciate it. Number three: Assuming if I want to follow them, how will we do this? Number four: We need to get back to the Hotel before the naiads notice their future date is gone and kill us."

"Wow. Was that the longest sentence you ever spoke?" Alex raised her eyebrows. (Yes, Alex was gender-fluid, and since hanging around her, I could guess if she was a girl or boy. Usually, she was a girl but she was pretty much a Murderer all the time.)

"Are you a girl now?" I asked warily. I knew from experience that if I got the gender wrong, Alex would garrote me and I didn't think she would have enough time to remember we were not in Valhalla.

Alex grinned. "We have a winner, Beantown. As for your question before, I have an idea for that. And you're going to love it."

I did not love it.

-Percy-

"Percy, we're here." My girlfriend Annabeth said as she opened unlocked the doors.

I got out of the car as fast as I could. The camp looked wonderful in the sunrise, the strawberry fields and woods tinted gold in the early morning, the lava wall pouring lava, and the harpies screaming as the newbies ran away from them. After so many years of saving this place from becoming ashes, it looked so unreal.

I stretched and recalled what we were here for. Chiron, our immortal centaur activities director, was calling us for some help on something about a pig, a stick, a boy, and Hecate. I dunno. Seriously, the centaur was talking so fast I didn't catch it all.

I went up to the cloud blue structure near Half-Blood Hill. Chiron was already waiting at the porch with a grumpy Nico di Angelo and a nervous Will Solace. That was relatable, since if Nico got angry everything within ten meters would turn into a zombie.

"Come inside," Chiron opened the front door. "We need to talk." He didn't say this in the way an angry teacher might say it if you blew up the fish tank (I did that once in third grade, don't ask. Then I got expelled, nearly drowned the class pet, etc.) The centaur just said it as if he needed help finding chocolate-covered coffee beans at the Starbucks.

"Sit down," he gestured at the sofas. Nico being Nico, ignored him and sat on the floor while Will was keeping an eye out for Seymour, Mr. D.'s leopard head that regularly consumed Snausages and the unfortunate harpy.

Annabeth and I decided to be polite and try the sofa. I heroically managed not to stare at the director as he compressed his lower horse half into the wheelchair.

Chiron broke the silence, "I am sorry to disturb you during this summer, especially since Percy and Annabeth are starting college and Will and Nico just finished a quest."

I got a bad feeling about what was coming next. "And...?"

"Lady Hecate's most trusted has asked me to send a small squad of demigods to protect a school. Demigods who have undergone many quests and are near or at the age of sixteen." the centaur added.

"Ah." I tried to make sense of that. "But me and Annabeth are eighteen."

"Annabeth and I," she corrected.

"Think how I feel," Nico drawled. "I'm ninety and I have to go to school."

Will looked away, determined not to answer everyone's questions.

No one voiced the fact that Hecate and schools have zero in common unless it was the fact that it was magical that you could get kicked out for breaking the fish tank. Unless...

Annabeth raised her hand tentatively. "Chiron, why does Hecate want us to protect a school? I mean, schools are more of my mom's thing."

Chiron sighed. "I forgot to mention the key point. It's a school for wizards."

"Wizards, as in, those dudes who wear pointy hats and wave sticks and yell Alakazam?"

He paused, "Yes and no."

And then all Hades broke loose.