we were used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This twenty four/seven hallucina-tion was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on us . The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blond woman whom we'd never seen in our life until she got on our bus at the end of the field trip-had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.

Every so often we would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if we could trip them up, but they would stare at us like we were psycho's.

It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed. but Naruto did not since he knew that Mrs Dodds was real .

Almost.

But Grover couldn't fool us . When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. But we knew he was lying .

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum

Naruto explained to me what really happened but i had a hard time beliving him though with every day that i was thinking about this the more i was starting to accept that he probably said the trough .

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.

even so with Naruto being there for me i was pulling up and so i was not totally going crazy .

The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs. I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.

even Naruto was feeling the same but he manage somehow .

Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it sounded good.

Naruto laughed at that and agreed since he too did not liked the man very much for he annoyed the two of us .

The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.

Naruto after pranking him recived a letter as well which meant we bought where not welcomed to Yancy anymore .

Fine, I told myself. Just fine

I was homesick. and even Naruto was able to see that

I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment on the Upper East Side, even if I had to go to public school and put up with my obnoxious stepfather and his stupid poker parties.

i told Naruto about smelly Gabe and he did not liked him and also felt bad for me since me and mom had to put up with that guy i was greatfule for this since at least i had some one who cared about my feelings .

And yet... there were things I'd miss at Yancy. The view of the woods out my dorm window, the Hudson River in the distance, the smell of pine trees. I'd miss Grover, who'd been a good friend, even if he was a little strange. I worried how he'd survive next year without me.

even Naruto felt in a way the same since he wandered about Grover and what will happen to him from now on .

I'd miss Latin class, too-Mr. Brunner's crazy tourna-ment days and his faith that I could do well.

Naruto like me felt the same way since he liked that as well .

As exam week got closer, Latin was the only test I stud-ied for. I hadn't forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me. I wasn't sure why, but I'd started to believe him.

Naruto gave me a look teling me that i was doing right to start beliving Mr Brunner it was strange but i had littel reason not to belive him .

The evening before my final, I got so frustrated I threw the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology across my dorm room. Words had started swimming off the page, circling my head, the letters doing oneeighties as if they were riding skateboards. There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon, or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.

''hey Perce calm down don't throw the poor book away just cause you don't get what is in there i feel the same way too but i don't throw books around do i '' i told him with a smirk ,he gave me a look showing he was annoyed at my words .

''haha very funny Naruto you know that i don't like this ''i told him being serious ,he simply shrugged grining right away .

''me either but we have to suck it up well ok maybe we can ask for help you know i mean the first part with Chiron and Charon i think it is simple since one is written with i and i belive that he is in fact Mr Brunner i don't know how so don't ask me since my mom told me about him ,but you have to consider that the man is a very well known teacher i mean the way he teach his lesson's even if they are funny there is more than what we think isn't it ?, as for the other name i don't know who that person is but what if this person and i think i m streaching it a bit might be a a guy who works for the guy who is underground maybe he faries souls or something .

Percy at first was as amused as i was but then he became shocked when i told him about Mr Brunner some how being Chiron himself it was crazy but after spending this much time with the man i at least had a sneaking suspicion that i was right .still Percy did not belived me let alone when i brought his uncel in to discution since that was not funny at all and i did not blamed him having to face a fury and Alecto no less was not fun at all .

''wait are you serious ? do you actually belive that Mr Brunner is in fact him this Chiron ? but Naruto this is imposible since Mr Brunner can't be this Chiron i mean shouldn't he be dead if it is like that ,and why did you even thought about something like that when refering to that other person why would you think he might fary souls to the underworld ?

i asked since i was very shocked and surprised by this for it was crazy ,Naruto simply shrugged not carying very much but for me this was nuts .

''well why can't i be serious i mean really Perce we saw a fury we are living proof that demi gods exist if so why can't some one like Chiron or even Charon exist too don't you think this will be kind of stupid to not exist when we saw what we did .

saying that Percy shuted up since he had nothing to say he was still confused about this whole thing unlike me who decided to not think about it and simply accept what was coming since what was there to even do deny the trough yeah that was a good plan but for how long since sooner or later the trough was bound to come out and even if me and Percy may not like it we bought had to accept that there where things that were biger than us .

''ok look why don't we go and ask Mr Brunner for help with the exam i mean it's clear we will not go anywere like this so it wont hurt to ask him for a few pointers at least '' i said making a sugestion since at least i thought he might be willing to help us out even if a bit .

''ok let's go i mean it can't be worst than this ''i told Naruto having nothing better than his plan i picked up the mythology book and the two of us walked out from our room .

I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious expression, his thousand-year-old eyes. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson.

I'd never asked a teacher for help before. Maybe if I talked to Mr. Brunner, he could give me some pointers. At least I could apologize for the big fat F I was about to score on his exam. I didn't want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn't tried.

we walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.

we were three steps from the door handle when we heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said ''worried about Percy as well as Naruto sir ''

we bought froze .

we were not usually an eavesdropper's, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about you to an adult.

we inched closer wanting to listen a bit better .

. alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"

We would only make matters worse by rushing them ," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy's to mature more."

"But they may not have time. The summer solstice dead-line- "

we bought heard Grover say to Mr Brunner his voice sounding troubelled that made us wander what was going on for this was very serious .

"Will have to be resolved without them , Grover. Let them enjoy their ignorance while they still can."

now the two us us definitly notice that something was not right after hearing Mr Brunner talk to Grover like that we looked at each other not knowing what to say either of us coming up with his own ideeas about what Mr Brunner was saying .

"Sir, they saw her... ." Grover told Mr Brunner sound serious .

"their imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince them of that."

now the two of us wandered what the heck did even Mr Brunner talked about it was obvious that something had been pulled over the entier school that made them forget about Alecto that made me as well as Percy realise that we where not crazy and that some one or something was covering this whole thing but the qustion for the two of us was what exactly did and what was this so called mist that Mr Brunner talked to Grover about since it sounded important .

we decided to listen further wanting to see what we could learn from the two .

"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."

Grover's voice faltered and this surpised bought of us since even if we knew Grover was an easy person to upset this was very odd to say the least

"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"

''but what about Naruto i mean do you think he will be in troubel since after all he dose act some what strange don't you think so and i don't refer to his pranks but something else since things are diferent with him .

we heard Grover speak and we were very surprised by his words .

''hm you are right he dose act diferent than any demi god i had encounter till now but he is a good kid as well as person but i think this is to be expected from her son don't you think so ?''

Mr Brunner said surprising us me more than Percy since the two where talking about my mom

''are you sure he is her son sir i mean he could be the child of any other god why are you certain he is her son ? ''

this made me a bit mad while Percy was confused as well as surprised i began to mumbel about wishing to prank Grover so badely he would never speak ill about my mom or even think that i should not be her son .

''ah hmm maybe you should not talk like that Grover after all Naruto's mother can be very temperamental and i dread to think of what she might do to you if she catches wind of your words since after all she is very diferent from the king and besides you would not wish the scorn of a woman especially a mother now would you ,and why do i dare to say that Naruto is her son it is because of his hair mostly but he has more of her personality and you saw his outfit this clearly shows that he is of Shinto blood and since he is the very first demi god of that pantheon i belive that only she was capable of doing such a deed since the Shinto gods are known to not have children of their own well at least half blood children .

bought me and Percy listened with rapt attention since this was very interesting at least to me since now i learned something very interesting and that was that i came from a diferent pantheon that was called Shinto i did not knew much about it but i had a ideea of what it was more or less and this made me feel very strange but also happy since it meant that mom really did loved me if she decided to do what she did ,since if what Mr Brunner said was true about me being the very first demi god from a diferent pantheon then it made things more clear now as to why i felt they way i did .

Percy stared at me not knowing what to say since he was very confused by all this though he just like me was very pleased after hearing Mr Brunner scare Grover after saying thouse words .

''is that so sir well this is a first for us but are you sure there will not be troubel since they will not react kindly to this .

Grover told Mr Brunner even if me and Percy did not get what he meant we realise it was something quite bad .

''i can not say for sure Grover but i think that they will be tolerant at most since they will not wish to deal with the Shinto gods especially with lady Amaterasu for her temper is very well known and she is not some one many can trifell with her with out ending being hurt or at worst simply destroyed in battel or even out side of it .

me and Percy cringe at the words while Grover did not looked so good since he was pale after hearing what Mr Brunner said .

seeing as we could not ask Mr Brunner for help me and Percy decided to leave the hallway but as luck will have much to our dismay the Mythology book that Percy held fell to the floor with a thud .

right away we got scared and decided to get out of there .

Mr. Brunner went silent.

our hearts where hammering, Percy picked the book and we backed down the hall.

A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than our wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.

we opened the nearest door and slipped inside.

A few seconds later we heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muf-fled wood blocks, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside my door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, then moved on.

A bead of sweat trickled down our necks

Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"Mine neither,""But I could have sworn ..." hearing Grover me and Percy paled since we almost where about to get cought by him lukely we did not though we now had to be more carfule around our friend since he might suspect something after saying that .

"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Don't remind me." Grover groaned not liking to be reminded of this

The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.

we waited in the dark for what seemed like forever.

''see i told you that Mr Brunner was Chiron i was right since we bought heard that cloping sound and we also saw the huge body as well as the bow .'' i said to Percy he was still shaken like me but he said nothing regurding this since probably the shock was still there .

''this is crazy but maybe you have a point but if Mr Brunner really is Chiron then how is he still alive and why is he our latin teacher just what is going on here any way cause you heard Mr Brunner i mean Mr Chiron talking about us as if we are in danger .

i told to Naruto while trying to make sense of this whole crazy thing since it was very wierd but there was simply littel for me to even say or doubt no matter how crazy things were .

''i don't know Perce but i think we might know more if we talk to Mr Chiron that's it we have to talk with him no more hiding or beating around the bush we will ask him to tell us what is up with this hole thing we heard and if he dose not say anything then we will go to camp since my mom told me about it ,it is a place for kids like us demi gods i mean maybe if we go there we could learn more and find out just what the heck is going on here before some one comes after us and kills us .

i was more serious than i had ever been in my life since this was way beyond just a simple strange encounter after what me and Percy heard it was obvious that some one was after us and they probably wanted us dead so i was not about to give who ever the person's where the satisfaction .

''wait a moment are you sure that Mr Brunner will talk to us about this i mean you heard him he wants to think we are crazy that we had imagine the thing with Mrs Dodds and even more he wants to solve what ever it is with out us . uh but what do you mean by a camp and that if we go there we might learn the trough ,you mean to say that there is some sort of camp for kids like us ? are you even serious about this Naruto ?

i glanced at him while talking since i did not knew how to think or feel about this whole thing since there where so many things that where unanswered .he glanced at me and i was abel to see that he was dead serious and this surprised me since i did not expected something like this .

''who knows maybe there is a place like this but it could be hidden you know i mean wouldn't you want a place like that to not be found by every one since how can it be safe if people know about it i think it is quite normal to have a thing like this hidden .

was my reply even if i was not sure Percy was skeptical since he did not buy it and i did not blame him for he did not expected this nor to learn that he was a demi god like i was .

''ok but come on Naruto a camp what don't tell me that this so called camp is what a summer camp i mean come on what can happen there i mean you eat smores and do what ever camp activities are there ,i mean this is wierd don't you think so ?

we bought began to laugh since this was very funny for Percy had a point since if we really were demi gods then why the heck would we need a sumer camp and even try to do normal activites when we could have done something more out of the ordinary .

''we don't know enough yet Perce but if we go there then maybe we will find out maybe it wont be so bad i mean if you want to go cause i know i will but hey you know what i think it will be best if you come too since that way you will get away from that smelly Gabe you told me about .

hearing Naruto talking about wanting to go to such a place was sure crazy but i could not stop him since he had his mind made up i was unsure since i did not wish to leave my mom behind with smelly Gabe but the ideea of me geting away from him was far more better i was thinking of agreeing to go with Naruto to this camp that his mom told him about but i did not wanted to leave my mom behind still i did not want to not at least go to that place to see what was it about .

''i don't know Naruto i mean i think this might sound intersting but i can't leave my mom you know if only she was not married with that guy then i would had agreed quite fast and even tell my mom about it but with how things are i simply don't know .

i was disapointed since i did not liked this situation for it made me mad thinking that me and my mom had to put up with that slob of a man for who knows what reason .

''hey if you go there then maybe your mom can leave that guy i mean if you are not around then she will not have to worry so much about you i know this might sound a bit wierd but maybe it could be for the best for a while at least we go there your mom tries to find a way to leave this smelly Gabe and when you go out from there maybe you and your mom can live on your own with out being forced to live with some one you don't like .

i told to Percy since the ideea was good i knew it was not simple since things could not go the way we might want but at least it was a plan ,Percy seemed to have a pondering expresion meaning that he was thinking this over since there where some pros in this even if there where some cons as well .

''i don't know but maybe you might have a point if i m not at home then maybe my mom can finally be free and not worry so much for me and finally she will have the guts to leave that guy ''i said while thinking aobut this since it was a good plan for i wanted my mom to be happy for once and not worry about me so much since i knew she was not happy staying with that man for i was not either .

''ok then it setelled when we will be done tomorrow we can go to this camp half blood that my mom talked about and then find out what is going on with this whole solstice thing and also come up with something so that you and your mom can get away from smelly Gabe .

hearing Naruto was surprising for he made a plan i had small doubts about it but it was a plan none the less and i felt a bit better about this i gave a nod since i wanted to go with him for i thought that this was not so bad in the first place . Naruto grined after seeing that i made up my mind and agreed to go with him .

Finally, we slipped out into the hallway and made our way back up to the dorm.

Grover was lying on his bed, studying his Latin exam notes like he'd been there all night.

"Hey," he said, bleary-eyed. "You going to be ready for this test?"

we didn't answere .

"You look awful." He frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Just... tired." i replyed .

''yup after all we studied till now you know '' i said even if it was a lie Percy gave a look as if he wanted to tell me that we did no such thing but i ignored him

we turned so he couldn't read my expression, and started getting ready for bed.

I didn't understand what I'd heard downstairs. I wanted to believe I'd imagined the whole thing.

Naruto on the other hand was not so sure as i was since he knew something was up as he told me in the hallway since he talked to me about this

But one thing was clear: Grover and Mr. Brunner were talking about me behind my back. They thought we were in some kind of danger.

The next afternoon, as we were leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all the Greek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called us back inside.

For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about our eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.

"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."

His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.

I mumbled, "Okay, sir."

"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."

My eyes stung.

Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out

"Right," I said, trembling.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's noth-ing to be-"

"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.

"Percy-"

But I was already gone.

''wow that was i don't know what to say Mr Brunner i mean you are telling us to be ready for this life we have and now you are saying that my best friend Percy is not good enough ,can you make up your mind cause if you keep this up you wont get what you would want just be straight with us Mr Brunner or we wont get it since how are we any way i mean you want us to learn the trough and now you want us to belive that what we saw was nothing but a lie and now this gee some trainer you turned out to be Mr Brunner .

i told the man how i felt since i did not like the fact that he was being a bit hard on Percy while me well i did not knew but now after all this the man simply decided to just drop the whole thing and act like what he said to Percy as well as me was not that important i was not mad but a bit disapointed yes since this was not something we did expect .

''oh perhaps you are right but Mr Uzumaki how did you ,ah no it dose not matter i have to say that you are very sharp for your age well if you need any help do not hesitate to give a call maybe we will meet again .

i smirked hearing what Mr Brunner said to me since he did not knew how right he was when he said that we will meet again .

''yeah maybe we will ah Mr Brunner i want to ask you where will i find a some one who knows about i don't know some sort of camp for you see i heard about this camp where kids with special gifts are supose to go there and i kind of want to give this camp a try so how would i find some one who knows about this hm ? should i talk to you or maybe Grover about it ?

Mr Brunner at first was calm but then his expresion was shocked after hearing my words i noticed right away as i was still talking that he knew what i was refering at and this to me was all that i need to confirm that he knew about the existance of such a camp where kids like me and Percy could go .

''oh how intersting so you want to appy to our special camp Mr Uzumaki ? well then as you had guessd you could talk to Grover or me and well if you are so eagerd then i will accept you in to our special camp as well as program if you want to know more contant Grover and he will tell you what you need to know .

i noded hearing Mr Brunner out but i also smiled since i was proud of my plan for it worked since i wanted to make mr Brunner tell me if there was indeed a camp for demi gods some where around here and now after hearing him i was already prepared to go there along with Percy .

''ok i will do this ,you won't mind if i bring Percy with me do you sir i mean we are best friends and i don't want to leave him alone all summer .Mr Brunner had a twinkel in his old aged brown eyes after hearing about Percy and this was all i needed to know that the man wanted us to go to the camp for what reason i did not knew but i was intend to find out .

''if that is your decision then very well since after all Mr Jakson is a special boy as well '' i smirked at the words since they where true .

''yup that's right well see you at camp Mr Brunner ''with that i left the class room now feeling much better after chating a bit with Mr Brunner .

On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase.

while Naruto did the same .

The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like us, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a fam-ily of nobodies.

and Naruto was probably like me also

They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city.

while Naruto told them that he was going away at a summer camp the guys simply blinked and stared at us begining to laugh deciding to ignore us not that we mind them .

What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a sum-mer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall.

"Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool."

They went back to their conversation as if we'd never existed.

The only person beside Naruto that I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as we had, so there we were, together again, heading into the city.

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing ner-vously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, we'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore

I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"

bought me and Naruto snickered at him seeing that he was scared

''oh Perce here means nothing much since he wanders if you are looking for any sign of either Alecto or some of the other furies i think they are three isn't there ? i asked him though he looked at us as if we where crazy

''wha how did you even know about ,never mind that how do you two know about this ?'' Grover asked us .

'uhm who knows it's a secret you know something that you can not tell '' i replyed in a sing song tone .Grover was not very happy about this ,Percy was grining at my pun but he decided to spill the beans on how we eavesdroped on the converstation betwin him and Mr Bruner .

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"

"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"

we asked him wanting to know .

He winced. "Look ''Percy Naruto I was just worried for you, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ''

''Grover '' we replyed to him with dead panned stares since we did not belived him for he was the worst kind of lier for he could not even lie to save his life .

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..." he continued making us roll our eyes at him since he really was not good at this .

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." we told him bluntly .

His ears turned pink.

From his shirt pocket, he fished out a grubby business card. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.

The card was in fancy script, which was murder on our dyslexic eyes, but we finally made out something like:

Grover Underwood

Keeper Half-Blood Hill

Long Island, New York

(800) 009-0009

"What's Half-" Percy asked wanting to know i had a feeling this was the card to this so called camp that my mother told me about before coming here .

"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... sum-mer address."

i did not buy it since Grover was again not even trying to hide that he was keeping something from us and was not even good at it .

''yeah right your summer adress it's quite obvious what this is since you said summer and this means that if you are this keeper and on this card this half blood hill is written then you must work with Mr Brunner or should i say Mr Chiron and you are probably some sort of a guardian or something which means you must make sure we are fine from anything that is related to either Greek or Roman stuff or any kind of wierd stuff that might happen to us is that corect .

Grover and Percy where looking at me with stunned gawking expresions ,Percy was now staring at Grover not beliving the words i said about him since i kind of expose his cover he then looked at me as if he wanted to know how i even knew something like this .

''wha how did you even ,man you are a scary kid Naruto i can't belive it you managed to realise this so fast ugh well i guess there is no point in hiding this from you two is there , yes as you said Naruto i m indeed a keeper and it is my duty to make sure nothing happens to you two since i kind of want to get my licence i won't tell you why i need it for now but it is kind of important to me .

''woah hold on what do you mean by this what are you even trying to protect us from ?''

i asked not geting what Naruto had said nor even what Grover told us .

''well i think Grover is trying to keep us safe from well monsters and the supernatural side that is in the world i mean this kind of makes sense since we are not ready for this so the less we know the better but as we bought know this turned out bad very bad since we do know about this and it is not good for we are in danger .

i told Percy who was shocked and also had a grim face not liking that .

''Naruto is right about this ,or ...or if you need me."

"Why would I need you?"

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

Naruto was surprised as well hearing my harsh tone

Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you."

we bought stared at him even if Naruto already reveald why he needed to do that it was surprising to hear .

All year long, I'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. we'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without us. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended us .

"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting us from ,Naruto was silent but he sighed a bit since he did not needed to hear this but i felt like saying it .

There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.

After a few minutes clanking around in the engine com-partment, the driver announced that we'd all have to get off. Grover and I filed outside with everybody else.

We were on a stretch of country road-no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from pass-ing cars. On the other side, across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.

The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of bloodred cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no cus-tomers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks we'd ever seen .

I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn.

All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.

The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at us .

we looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching .

"Grover?" I said. "Hey, man-"

''what the heck is wrong with you why are you acting as if you saw a ghost or something '' i added making Grover look even more scared than he already was .

"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

''nah Perce i mean thouse socks are probably for sasqatch or godzilla even a dinosaur maybe '' we bought began to laugh at the joke since it was funny but Grover was acting like a wet blanket since he was scared .

"Not funny, Percy ,Naruto not funny '' we heard Grover telling us but we did not mind him since this was silly .

The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors-gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. we heard Grover catch his breath.

"We're getting on the bus," he told us but we did not wanted to go there since it was very hot and also smelled bad .

"What''we responded ''It's a thousand degrees in there." i noded agreeing with Percy but Grover did not want to hear us complain .

''well fine ok we will go happy but why don't you go first Perce since i want to stay few more minutes then i will be back ''Percy was not liking this but he agreed even if he was reluctant Grover was sending me a look showing he was against me staying where the three ancient grannies where but i did not mind him since something was up with thouse ladies something that was very familiar so i wanted to stay to see what they wanted to do .

''just go guys i will come as well i promise ok really '' i said to the two and watched them leave leting me alone with the said granies i watched them and they did the same there was no verbal conversation betwin us but it was very strange since while being around them it was as if i was around something so familiar i felt no fear while being in their presance in fact i was very relaxed

deciding to be nice i waved at them i did not expected to have a wave back but they did the same

''what nice pair of granies i don't know why Grover was freaking out when he saw them i mean sure they are ancient and a bit old fashioned well a lot old fashioned but they are not so scary '' i thoguht rather outloud not being afraid of the three grannies since i felt there was nothing to even be afraid off .

when i decided to go back since i stayed long enough the same thing that happen at the museum happen again with my outfit chainging again only that this time around there was a soft warm glow that was coming from the shrime outfit i was perplexed as to why this happen so glancing at the sky and seting my eyes towards the sun i spoke out loud .

''uh mom what's going on why did you did the same thing like what happen at the museum ?''

it was wierd glancing at and talking with the sun but since my mom had control over it i could not help it .

sorry about this Naruto i just thought that you should look presentable since after all you are in the presance of the three fate sisters don't worry this dose not mean what you and even your friends belive but there is a reason why they are here and now you must be ready for things are going to change from now on .

listening to my mom was sure a very nice thing since i liked to hear her voice but i was very surprised when i heard who the three granies where i waved at them again and made a bow in respect i never did that to any one but since they where very important i thought that at least they deserved to be treated with respect it was funny cause i never did that twoards authority but this was diferent for the three granies where not the adults from the leaf and they did not wish to hurt me i at least hoped so they where not about to hurt me .i did not pondered on that .

''oh ok then well then i will go since i promissed Percy and Grover i will go back to the buss see you later mom ''i told her with a cherfule expresion walking twoards the buss though glancing back i saw two things ,first i saw how the granny in the middel who had the scissors cut the yarn .

and I swear I could hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, that made me wander if they where for godzilla or sasquatch .

and the second thing was that the grannies that i thought they where that changed right before my very eyes leaving me stunned since in place of three ancient scary old grannies there where three very beutifule wemen all three looking very similar . they smiled at me and the middel lady gave me a wink while her sisters simply kept smiling vaneshing right before my very eyes .

i was shocked and in a daze since i did not known what the heck did just happen . shaking my head i walked twoards the buss that started to roar to life once again .

after the buss driver who was standing at the rear of the buss wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment.

making the bus shuddered .

"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"

Once we got going, i saw that Percy was looking feverish and Grover was not looking so good since he was shivering like Percy and his theeth where chattering .

"Grover?" i called him out drawing his and Percy's attention the two where staring at me seeing that i was once again wearing the same shrime outfit only that the diference this time was that my cloths where literally glowing .

i sat betwin the two focusing on Grover who for the moment forgot about his momentary fear after seeing the fate sisters .

''yeah ? he responded still looking at me as Percy was doing being quite awaed by my shrime outfit that was literally glowing .

''i think i get why you freaked out since we saw the fate sister's didn't we ? it was them that we saw and they also had the scissors meaning that some one is meant to probably die isn't it ?

i said freaking Grover even more now even Percy gluped looking scared at me since he did not belived that we had meet the said three sisters and even survived to talk about it .

we saw Grover dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve ''Naruto tell me what did you see after we left.

''hm well me and the fates kind of stared at each other then my mom had a chat with me after teling me about them before i was about to leave since as you can see i changed again thanks to her ,she told me that even if we did saw them not to be worried since they are not after us but my mom warned me that things might change from now on so she told me to be ready ,and then after that i simply made a bow twoards them since well i thought that they deserved some sort of respect since they are the fate after all and when i decided to leave the middel sister cut the yarn and i think you might had heard that too ,and then the strangest thing happen ,when i was about to go to the bus i saw the sisters change i mean litterally change and trust me guys they where not old wrincelled grannies but very beutifule wemen and uh i think the middel sister might had kind of wink at me i don't know since things happen very fast but her two sisters simply smilled at me and then they just left .and then we enter back in the bus .

hearing my small tale of what had happen shocked Percy and Grover since the two could not belive what i just told them Grover was looking at me as if i was wierd and very crazy and was also about to foam then pass out though him and Percy where a bit glad that they where not after us though the two were worried very worried since the news where not good .

though Grover did look very scared and worried having a mornfule expresion after hearing the part when the middel sister cut the yarn and it was obvious that who's yarn was cut that person was destined to die i did not belived this but something in my gut told me it was fated to happen since they where behind this .

but then the two looked at me wierdly when i told them about the sisters changing from old hags to beutifule wemen as well as the fact that the middel sister winked at me while her sisters simply smiled ,bought Percy and Grover had their jaws hanging and their eyes where open wide in shock .

Grover was pointing shakingly at me while Percy was literally stunned but at a closer look he was a bit upest that he missed this and i did not a grin was present on my expresion since this was very amusing and i could use this to tease Percy .

''let me get this straight you mean to say that you after we left simply stared at the fate's with nothing happen to you ,then when you where about to leave your mom contacted you telling you that we where not in danger but that things will change from now on , you saw the three cut the yarn and still stayed and not only that but you saw them change from creepy decrepited hags to beutifule wemen and the middel sister winked at you and her sisters smilled ,aw man what is your secret man tell me how come you manage to get the attention of the most repulsive pre-teenaged girl that can ever exist in human history ,as well as the fates the fates for crying out loud .

Grover talked to us while showing he was scared though the more he was talking the more he looked at me as if i was insaine instead of a normal kid in the end me and Percy saw Grover whine about my so called luck . that made the two of us laugh since it was funny but Grover had a point since Nancy was kind of preaty but she was very mean as well as creepy and repulsive not that i had anything against her since it was simply the trough .

still the matter of the fate sisters now this was very odd since even i did not expected this to begin with for i was not popular anyway but this had happen .

''uh i don't know what to say maybe i was just lucky ?''i responded half heartly earning looks from Percy and Grover who was not thinking the same way as i did .

''please just lucky ? you had the most creepy girl in school going after you as well as other girls that you did not even noticed and now even the fates seemed to like you and all you can say is that you are lucky ?'' Grover mumbelled while staring at me . Percy was simply snickering and gave a nod as if he was agreeing while he was enjoiyng this much to the wierdness that had started .

''well don't blame me i did not even expected that and what do you mean that more girls where after me was there such a thing cause i did not saw it till now i mean i only spent time with you guys isn't it ?''

i told them when the two faced palmed and groaned confusing me even more though i shrugged not minding what the big deal was since i did not even felt the same as thouse girls it was not like i did not noticed them but i did not thought they really liked me so i simply let them be .

''what ever lets just drop it ok '' Grover told me and i nodded .

''ok guys there is something that i don't get why is seeing thouse three granies so important i mean it's not as if some one is really meant to die is there ? i asked since i did heard what Naruto told us but still i had doubts Grover gave me a look that showed he was serious .

''Percy this is serious since when ever the fates appare then it means that some one is destined to die and we just saw them we were lucky this time but who knows '' Grover told us with a serios expresion i was silent since this was not what would i had expect .

''well i don't think we should count this as lucky thing since this means that things as mom told me will be bad and i think all this is conected to him guys i mean if he is really trying to rise then maybe this is a warning so we should be ready for what might come from now on .

Grover and Percy listenned to my words and they did not liked that as more than i did ,Grover was starting to mumbel freaking out while me and Percy were listening to him not geting what was wrong with our friend .

"Grover," me and Percy said calling his name wanting to stop him form mumbeling to himself about 'allways six grade and ,i don't want this to be like last time ending with the first sentance again '

he was starting to kind of creep the two of us out with his mumbeling .

"What are you talking about?" we asked him wanting to know what was wrong with him cause seeing this was defenitly not normal .

Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."

This seemed like a strange request to us but we promissed

"Is this like a superstition or something?" I asked.

No answer.

He looked at us worringly as if he was expecting something bad or worst to happen to us and barely escape with our lives .this was wierd for the two of us since it was not good nor cool seeing Grover act like this since he did not had confidence in us after what we had been through .