To make up for me ghosting you all out of nowhere, I present to you some extra long chapter(s) leading into the next arc: The Battle of the Labyrinth

Atalanta POV:

The last thing I wanted to do on my summer break was attend student orientation. But there I was Monday morning, the first week of June, sitting in Percy's Maserati Spyder in front of Goode High School on East 81st.

"Is this really a good idea?" I asked for the thousandth time. "You should know, we always tend to mess schools up with our volatile behavior."

Percy chuckled, like he was remembering something amusing. "You're right Atti, and I can't say exactly, but even orientation won't got smoothly."

I huffed. "Thanks for the heads-up, bro. Can we just not go then?"

Percy turned his head, raising an eyebrow. "First off, Mom would kill me, then kill you. And I don't want to feel her wrath. Second, school is good for you."

"Bullshit," I said. "I can't read half the homework they give us and you know that."

Percy chuckled again. "Yes, yes, dear sister, but you see, you learn some important information about the enemy here, so please, step out of my car and go attend your orientation."

"Ugh," I groaned, but heeded his order.

"Remember everything I warned you about," Percy said seriously. "You've trained over the summer, so you're already more prepared that I ever was, but be careful. Empousa are no joke, even to girls. And look out for a girl named Rachel. She's a special one."

"Another one of your past lovers?" I asked.

Percy facepalmed. "No, nothing like that. But I figured since we... ah, never mind. Run along now." He drove off, blasting Real Good Feeling from his stereo as he left.

"Rachel, huh," I muttered. "Who are you?"

I turned to gaze at the school I would possibly be attending, recommended and helped by my mom's new boyfriend Paul Blofis and Percy Jackson himself. Goode was this big brownstone building overlooking the East River. A bunch of BMWs and Lincoln Town Cars were parked out front. Staring up at the fancy stone archway, I wondered how long it would take me to get kicked out of this place.

"Maybe I'll get to stay," I said. "There's a first for everything after all."

I looked over at the steps of the school, watching Paul greet all the future ninth graders that were also attending orientation. He was currently talking to a girl with frizzy red hair, the girl wearing a maroon T-shirt and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings. When she turned, I caught a glimpse of her face, wondering if this was the Rachel Percy described.

I shook my head, nervous about approaching the school. I took a deep breath and stepped forward, before inching towards the side entrance instead, not prepared to greet Paul without promising not to decimate his school. Although, sneaking into orientation was not on my side either.

Two cheerleaders in purple-and-white uniforms were standing at said entrance, looking like they were going to jump-scare freshmen with the wrong idea. I narrowed my eyes. They were as Percy warned: one was blonde with icy blue eyes, and the other was African American with dark curly hair like Medusa's. Both girls had their names stitched in cursive on their uniforms, not that I could read it with my dyslexia.

"Welcome to Goode," the blonde girl said. "You are so going to love it." Her voice was enthusiastic, but her tone matched one staring down at a rotten carcass.

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. This girl couldn't be any more obvious could she?

The other girl stepped uncomfortably close to me. I studied the stitching on her uniform and was on guard instantly. Kelli. The name of the empousai Percy described who tried over and over to seduce him and suck his blood. Greek version of the vampiric myth. She smelled weird, like a freshly washed horse. It was as disgusting as the blonde's fake enthusiasm.

"What's your name fish?" Kelli asked.

"Fish?" I asked. Did she already guess my identity?

"Freshman."

"Uh, Alexandra." I lied.

The girls exchanged looks. "Sorry about being so intrusive," Kelli apologized. "Off you go then."

"Thanks," I muttered, stepping forward and accidentally kneeing Kelli in the thigh.

Clang. Huh?

Her leg made a hollow metallic sound, like I'd just hit a flagpole.

"Ow," she muttered. "Watch it, fish."

"My bad." I kept my calm, then walked straight past and entered the building. I was suspicious, though choosing to observe first rather than attack since Percy and I had found a few irregularities between our universes. Kelli could just be extremely messed up, but I made sure to keep my guard up around her until I was convinced otherwise.

"There you are!" Paul came out from a hallway, grinning at me. "Atti, welcome to Goode!"

"Hey Paul," I greeted, flashing a peace sign to cover my tenseness. "I got lost a bit, would you mind showing me the hall?"

"Of course," Paul said. "Hey, don't be too nervous alright? We get lots of kids here with ADHD and dyslexia. The teachers know how to help."

I almost wanted to laugh. If only ADHD and dyslexia were my biggest worries. I was more concerned about cheerleaders that might go psycho at any moment, and force me to blow up this beautiful school.

§§§§§

A bunch of kids were heading towards the gym, so I just followed the stream of people after Paul left to greet more incoming freshmen. I was soon crammed alongside three hundred other fourteen year olds in the bleachers, with the frizzy red head next to me coincidentally. A marching band played an out-of-tune fight song that sounded like somebody hitting a bag of cats with a metal baseball bat. Older kids, probably student council members, stood up front modeling the Goode school uniform and looking all, Hey, we're cool. Teachers milled around, smiling and shaking hands with students.

The walls of the gym were plastered with big purple-and-white banners that said WELCOME FUTURE FRESHMEN, GOODE IS GOOD, WE'RE ALL FAMILY, and a bunch of other over the top happy slogans that made me want to projectile vomit onto the shoulder of the kid in front of me.

None of the other freshmen looked that much thrilled to be here either. I mean, coming to orientation in freaking June, when school starts in September is just so not cool. But at Goode, we're supposed to prepare to excel early. At least that's what the brochure said.

The marching band stopped playing. A guy in a pinstripe suit came to the microphone and started talking, but the sound echoed around the gym so badly that I had no clue what he was saying. It was like listening to the Terms and Conditions section of a paper, like, I don't give a care! The man could've been lip synching and we would've never known.

"Hi guys!" The blonde cheerleader from before bubbled into the microphone, her voice cutting through the crowd like a light through darkness. Conversations ceased almost instantly as every guy began to get hearts in their eyes at the two cheerleaders up front. "My name is Tammi, and this is Kelli." Kelli did a cartwheel.

I was suspicious once more. Even if the cheerleaders were gorgeous, it was impossible to make this many guys all pant like horny dogs. It reminded me of a scene in One Piece, when Boa Hancock stood in a crowd and made everyone transform into a lustful state, straight or gay it didn't matter. This was the same, except I felt no pull, but apparently the guys did.

Next to me, the frizzy haired girl yelped, making a few kids look over and snicker. I decided to ask what was wrong, cause if she was Rachel, then those cheerleaders were definitely sus.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I asked. "Do you see something?"

"They're horrible..." The girl breathed.

I sighed and cut to the chase. "Is your name Rachel Elizabeth Dare?"

"How did you know that?" The girl turned, head tilted.

"Let's get out of here first," I suggested. "If what you're seeing is real, then this is not the safest place to talk."

"Sure," Rachel said, tugging a blue hairbrush out of her back pocket and brushing her hair. "This orientation is boring so far anyways."

We jumped out of the stands, ignoring stern teacher glances and the indignant cries of a few students we trampled. Then we headed out.

§§§§§

We decided to hide in the band room, given the amount of things we could hide behind without getting exposed. "Okay," said Rachel. "What is going on here?"

"First," I said. "My name is Atalanta. My brother... he knew you somehow and asked me to search for you."

"Weird," Rachel nodded. "But my life is already so messed up, I don't mind so much anymore. What does all of this mean?"

"Tell me what you see first." I said, wanting to come to a conclusion that Rachel could see through the Mist. "What do the cheerleaders look like to you?"

Rachel shuddered. "They–ugh, you wouldn't believe me."

I sighed. "Try me."

"They have really white skin, well, the blonde one does. They both have red orbs for eyes, and fangs for teeth. And their left legs are brown and shaggy like a donkey's hoof. Their right ones are shaped like human legs, but made of bronze. They look horrendous." Rachel finished. "Tell me I'm not going insane."

I shook my head, still not fully convinced. The final test. I needed to know. I pulled out Riptide in pen form.

"Tell me, what do you see."

"A pen."

"Okay, now what?" I uncapped the pen, the three-foot-long blade shooting out, the bronze glowing with faint golden light. "What am I holding now?"

"A sword." Rachel breathed. "How do you even sneak that past security?"

I capped the sword and put in back into my pocket. "Rachel, do you know anything about the Greek myths?"

A nod.

"Well, they're real." I said. "This sounds so stupid, but they exist. Long story short, they transferred into the modern world and integrated with our universe. For example, all delivery services like FedEx and UPS are technically all owned by Hermes, and monsters like those cheerleaders you see exist and can be killed by people like me."

Another nod. "I have no reason not to believe you," Rachel said. "That's the best explanation for all the weird shit I've ever seen. So what are you?"

I swallowed. "I'm a half-blood. Half-human and half-god."

Rachel's eyes widened. "You're a daughter of a deity?"

"Yup," I smiled lightly, drawing water out of the air into a small sword construct. Percy's training regime was harsh at times, but seriously helpful.

"Whoa," Rachel reached out, swiping her finger through the construct only to find that her finger didn't even get wet. "That's amazing."

"The reason why you are seeing our world is because you were born with a gift." I said. "You can see through the Mist."

"The Mist?"

"It's an invisible screen dividing the mortal world from the demigod world." I explained. "Like a hellhound to mortals look like your typical eighteen wheeler truck, and my sword would've looked like a baseball or lacrosse bat. You get the point, it's to avoid scaring mortals away most of the time."

"That's explains it all..." Rachel said. "So what–"

Just then, Tammi and Kelli stepped into the band room, slamming the doors shut behind them. "Atalanta, you lying bitch! We've finally found you. It's time for your orientation."

I laughed and uncapped Riptide. "Sure. Come within two feet of me and I'll slice you apart." I was confident that I would be able to take these two, my speed and strength greatly improved thanks to Percy.

Tammi gave a bright smile and waved her pom-poms, but I wasn't falling for it.

"Show yourself," I goaded them. "I already know you're hiding your ugly asses behind your pretty girl facade."

Tammi hissed. "Freshmen," She said in disgust. "We feed on who we choose. This is our turf!" She transformed, making me smirk.

"I knew it," I snickered. "My brother and Rachel were right. You're just an ugly piece of crap on goat legs."

"Don't mention the legs," Tammi snapped. "It's rude to make fun!" She advanced towards us, getting closer and closer despite me leveling my blade at her chest.

"I warned you," I muttered, before vanishing from my spot in a rush of power, appearing behind the vampire knockoff with my blade in the air. Nothing happened for a moment before Tammi shrieked, a massive slice through her waist exploding with monster dust as she vaporized and exploded. Rachel got a face full of dust and spat. "Ugh, disgusting!"

"Sorry about that," I apologized. "Monsters are pretty much sacks of yellow flour forced in a shape."

"You killed my trainee!" Kelli yelled. "You need a lesson in school spirit, half-blood!" She transformed as well.

"I'm a senior empousai," she growled. "No hero has bested me in a thousand years."

I chuckled. "I have a knack for beating people older than me. Bring it you ugly donkey!"

Kelli was a lot faster than Tammi, reaching for me claws-first. Thanks to my training, I parried her away, not even breaking a sweat. Zoe was so much faster than Kelli, that I was almost able to put no effort in this fight. The empousai snarled as I blocked and parried her next attacks, keeping in mind to not destroy the band room as Percy had in his world.

"Are you ever gonna hit me?" I yawned. "I thought you were a senior empousai?"

"Laugh now, half-blood," Kelli laughed maliciously. "You don't even know what's happening, do you? Soon, your pretty little camp in flames, your friends made slaves to the Lord of Time, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. It would be merciful to end your life now, before you have to see that."

I slashed at her shoulder, nicking it and making the empousai growl. "You talk too much, Kelli."

Suddenly, voices of one of the group tours echoed down the hall. Someone seemed to be talking about locker combinations. Either way, people were coming.

Kelli's eyes lit up. "Excellent! We're about to have company!" She reached for a few music stands and tossed them like dangerous bullets towards Rachel and I.

Rachel and I dodged, causing the stands to crash through the windows behind us. Ksssssssh!

The voices in the hall died down.

"Atalanta!" Kelli shouted, pretending to be scared. "Why did you throw that?"

"Bitch," I muttered. No sooner had I said that, Kelli reached for more music stands, throwing them at the instruments only to find the stands hovering in midair and smashing onto the ground instead. I was not gonna let her pulverize the band instruments, not when the band already sounded so horrible.

People were tromping down the hall now, coming in our direction quickly.

"Time to greet our visitors!" Kelli bared her fangs and ran for the doors. I panicked. I ran after her, trying to stop her in her tracks.

"Atalanta, don't!" Rachel shouted.

I didn't realize it until it was too late. Kelli flung open the doors, showing a shocked group of freshmen led by Paul. The fake cheerleader turned and cowered, my blade already falling as she pleaded false mercy. Right when my blade was about to touch her, Kelli exploded like a Molotov cocktail, throwing up long tails of flame at the band hall entrance, causing me to scoot backwards in shock. "What the heck?"

"Atalanta, what have you done?" Paul asked, just as much in shock.

I was speechless. The kids behind him were screaming their heads off and running down the hall back where they came from. The fire alarm wailed, and the ceiling sprinklers began raining water down.

In the Chaos, Rachel tugged on my sleeve. "C'mon, we gotta get out of her first."

I nodded numbly. "Right, I'll call my brother to pick me up." I followed with Rachel, jumping out the broken window and breaking fast towards the curb. Much to my surprise, Percy was already waiting there, his car at park while he smiled knowingly at the billowing black smoke behind us.

"Ya just couldn't help but blow up the band room too huh?" Percy joked, making me blush.

"It was Kelli's fault dammit." I retorted. "I did better than you, that's for sure."

"Huh, so this is your brother?" Rachel burst out behind me somehow, panting. "Cool car."

"Thanks," said Percy. "You're Rachel?"

Rachel nodded. "Are you a half-blood too?"

"Yup, same as Atalanta." Percy said. "I'm Percy. I'm sure you have more questions, but right now, there's a bit of urgent business we must handle. If you have more questions, just give us your number or something."

"Sure," Rachel said, already scrawling a number on a white strip of paper pulled from nowhere. "I want to know more about all this Greek stuff when you are available. Can you do that for me?"

Percy bowed his head. "Sure Rachel. C'mon Atti, we gotta go now."

I hopped in the shotgun seat and waved goodbye to Rachel as the car drove away, back towards our apartment I assumed. "So, Rachel is a mortal who can see through the Mist, yes? And you were attacked by Kelli the empousai?" Percy asked.

"Yes, and yes." I confirmed. "Where are we going?"

"Straight to camp," Percy said seriously. "What happens in the next few weeks isn't gonna be pretty. I'll debrief you later on, but you better brace yourself. A lot of shit is about to hit the fan, so expect your training to become more difficult."

I normally would've complained about him saying that, but Percy's training had allowed me to keep calm and take control of the situation back in the band hall. I wanted to become as skilled as him, able to snap between my sarcastic self and a battle hardened warrior at any moment. And if that meant upping my training, then so be it. I looked forward to anything my brother would teach me.

§§§§§

"Remember, knowledge is power." Percy told me once, during one of our past training sessions. "You can fight as well as Ares himself, but without a calm mind and no plan, or no understanding of your opponent, you could very easily lose. Never underestimate your opponent, no matter how weak they may look or act."

It was after these words that I made sure to analyze every fight I had with Zoe or Thalia carefully, and Percy when he was training my hydrokinetic abilities. The days when I would join Percy and Zoe on hunting trips, I would watch how Percy moves, and how familiar he is with the forest, as if he has the entire area mapped in his head. Again, it was quite impressive to watch such a seasoned fighter work his way around the world, every inch of his body attuned perfectly to his environment.

Back to the car ride to camp, I wondered whether I had killed Kelli or not. I had never seen a monster burst into flames after all.

"Percy?"

"Yah?"

"Why did Kelli–"

"–Burst into flames before you killed her?" Percy finished. "According to Chiron, some senior monsters have that ability to escape. She's not dead yet, sorry."

"Oh," I said. "Well, that just means I need to move faster next time."

Percy nodded. "You're already pretty good. When you beat Zoe at least once, I'll think about teaching you more advanced skills."

He parked his car on the hillside, then threw a device inside that created a blue bubble shield around the car. Then, he headed towards camp, and I followed him.

We hiked to the crest of the hill. The young guardian dragon was dozing, coiled around the pine tree, but he lifted his coppery head as we approached and let Percy scratch under his chin. The two also had a brief conversation with fireballs, though I wasn't sure how.

"Hey, Peleus," Percy said fondly. "Keeping everything safe?"

The last time I'd seen the dragon he'd been six feet long. now he was at least twice that, and as thick around as the tree itself. Above his head, on the lowest branch of the pine tree, the Golden Fleece shimmered, its magic protecting the camp's borders from invasion. The dragon seemed relaxed, like everything was okay. Below us, Camp Half-Blood looked peaceful – green fields, forest, shiny white Greek buildings. The four-story farmhouse we called the Big House sat proudly in the midst of the strawberry fields. To the north, past the beach, the Long Island Sound glittered in the sunlight.

Yet, I knew better. In fact, there felt as if there was tension in the air, as if the hill itself were holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen. I looked at Percy, and he seemed lost in thought, as if he were replaying a battle in his mind.

"C'mon." Percy finally said after a few seconds, before moving again.

We walked down into the valley and found the summer session in full swing. Most of the campers had arrived last Friday, so I already felt out of it. The satyrs were playing their pipes in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow with woodland magic. Campers were having flying horseback lessons, swooping over the woods on their pegasi. Smoke rose from the forges, and hammers rang as kids made their own weapons for Arts & Crafts. The Athena and Demeter teams were having a chariot race around the track, and over at the canoe lake some kids in a Greek trireme were fighting a large orange sea serpent. A typical day at camp.

"Like I said, these next few weeks are gonna be rough." Percy said. "If you have questions, don't forget, I'll be here for two more days. Afterwards, I have some diplomatic business I want to take care of, see if I can get us an advantage before everything goes to shit." He led me toward the sword arena, as if there was something there waiting for me.

"Quintus," I heard him say. "This is my sister I was telling you about." I walked into the amphitheater and my heart almost stopped. In the middle of the arena floor, with its back to me, was one of the biggest hellhounds I had ever seen.

Normally, I would've panicked, but Percy was completely unconcerned, so I inhaled deeply and calmed myself. "Uh, Perce?"

"That's Ms. O'Leary," Percy introduced. "She's Quintus' pet. Don't ask how he did it, I still don't know to this day."

Quintus turned out to be this older man who looked about 50 years old, with short gray hair and a clipped gray beard. He was in pretty good shape for his age. Quintus wore black mountain climbing pants and a bronze breastplate strapped over an orange camp T-shirt. At the base of his neck was a strange mark, a purplish blotch like a birthmark or a tattoo, but before I could make out what it was, he shifted his armor straps and the mark disappeared under his collar.

"Huh, and he's a half-blood too?" I asked. It was my first time seeing such an old half-blood, as I was told we usually don't live past 20.

"Yeah," Percy replied, though he sounded uneasy. I figured that there was more to this old man, but didn't push the matter. Percy would tell me later if he thought it was important.

Off to my left, there was a loud BUMP. Six wooden crates the size of picnic tables were stacked nearby, and they were rattling. Ms. O'Leary cocked her head and bounded towards them.

"Whoa girl," Quintus called out. "Those aren't for you!" He distracted her with a bronze shield and threw it like a Frisbee.

The crates thump and shook, and after deciphering the letters, I read:

TRIPLE G RANCH

FRAGILE

THIS END UP

Along the bottom, in smaller letters: OPEN WITH CARE. TRIPLE G RANCH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE, MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.

"What's in the boxes?" I asked.

"Something fun," Percy chuckled. "You'll love it."

"Right..." I sighed. Excruciatingly painful deaths? Hmmm...

"You young ones need more challenges. They didn't have camps like this when I was a boy." Quintus said.

"Atalanta's already pretty challenged," Percy said. He paused then turned around. "Alright, let's go now Atalanta."

When we left, I stared at Percy, curious why he made me meet Quintus. Percy knew my question before I even said anything. "He's a key player in the future," was all Percy said. "Remember that."

"Where to now?"

"We're going to the woods, because that's where Grover is." Percy grimaced. "He's in a bit of a pickle right now, regarding his searcher's license for Pan."

I nodded in understanding. "Is something wrong?"

Percy continued. "He's at his formal hearing. This will decide his fate."

§§§§§

We plunged into the woods. Nymphs peeked out of the trees to watch us pass, and large shadows of monster shapes rustled far away, the usual game we use to practice hunting and killing. I thought I knew the forest pretty well after playing capture the flag here for two summers, but Percy took me a way I didn't recognize, through a tunnel of old willow trees, past a little waterfall, and into a glade blanketed with wildflowers.

A bunch of satyrs were sitting in a circle in the grass. Grover stood in the middle, facing three really old, really fat satyrs that looked like dehydrated apples, and Grover seemed to be telling some sort of story. Judging by the poop-under-nose faces the elders were giving Grover, they were not the least bit impressed.

Standing off the to side was Zoe, another girl I'd never seen before, and Clarisse. Percy led me over, and left me hanging as he went to greet Zoe with by simply holding her hands, making the girl blush and smile. I rolled my eyes. Only he can make a hunter look like a typical schoolgirl with a huge crush.

Clarisse's stringy brown hair was tied back with a camouflage bandanna. If possible, she looked even buffer, like she'd been working out. She glared at me and muttered, "Punk.", which must've meant she was in a good mood, because she usually tries to greet me by strangling me to death.

The girl Zoe had been comforting looked like she was crying. She was small, petite I guess, with wispy hair the color of amber and a pretty, elfish face. She wore a green chiton and laved sandals, and she was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief. "It's going terribly."

"No, no," Zoe murmured, patting the girl's shoulder. "He'll be fine, Juniper."

Juniper? I thought. I looked at Percy with a questioning glance.

He mouthed, Grover's girlfriend. See?

I observed Juniper more closely, and realized that her ears were slightly more pointed. Her eyes, instead of being red from crying, were tinged with green, the color of chlorophyll. She was a tree nymph, a dryad.

"Master Underwood!" One of the sagging bellies spoke, cutting Grover off. If it weren't for the serious situation, I'd be recording this and posting this on Reddit. Petting zoo looking like goats with saggy bellies and faces, screaming at the top of their lungs? That's content right there.

"Bu-But Silenus, it's the truth!" Grover stammered.

"For six months, you've been telling these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak." Silenus drawled, readjusting his double chin.

"But I did!"

"Impudence!" said the elder on the left.

I pretty much tuned out the rest of the argument. I knew how hard Grover worked for his search on Pan; he practically staked his life on it. But all these old saggy goats were shitting on him basically, not giving a single flying pigs' worth of care about him. Eventually, under a bit of influence by Percy, who was acting as Chiron's representative, Grover got a whopping extra one week of his license, and after that, his life's dream would be forcibly terminated.

After the meeting, Grover walked dejectedly over to us. "Hi, Atti," he said, so depressed he didn't even offer to shake my hand. "That went well huh?"

I gave him a force smile. "Could have been worse right?"

"Ha," Grover laughed humorlessly.

"Those old goats!" Juniper cried. "Oh, Grover, they don't know how hard you've tried."

"There is another option," Clarisse said darkly.

"No, no." Juniper shook her head. "Grover, I won't let you."

Grover's face was ashen. "I-I'll have to think about it. But we don't even know where to look."

"What are you talking about?" I asked worriedly. Was this the big shit-hit-the-fan moment Percy kept talking about?

In the distance, a conch horn sounded. I felt a hand clap onto my shoulder, and turned to see Percy, his face tight. "I'll fill you in on what's going on," He said. "Right now, it's time for inspection." He and Zoe walked towards the cabins, and I took one last glance at the forest before following behind.

By the time I caught up, most of the kids were already in their cabins, doing whatever usual cleanup style they had. Hermes cabin pulling the old stuff-everything-into-every-corner strat, which I wondered if I should also do. Then I realized that Percy would also have to help the cleanup and chuckled, as he usually was void of doing such tasks. However, when I entered the cabin, it was already polished clean, the reason being a big and friendly Cyclops in the middle of the floor, sweeping as Percy and Zoe cuddled on top of one of the mattresses.

"Atti!" Tyson bellowed, dropping the broom and steamrolling me into a hug.

"Tyson, nice to see you too!" I gasped, the air squeezed quickly out of me. "Ribs, big guy, my ribs!" I glanced at Percy, who held Zoe in his lap. "So, are you guys dating yet?"

Percy chuckled. "I guess in a way we are."

"Already?!" I gasped. "When?"

"A few days ago," Percy said. "Due to unique circumstances, I decided to ask her out, and well, she said yes." He pecked Zoe on the cheek, said girl smiling giddily.

I rolled my eyes. "As adorable as you guys are, could you please not make out unless you're by yourself or something? I don't want to see all that." I gestured wildly at their direction, the two of them laughing.

"Sure, sure, Atti," Percy chuckled.

I turned back to Tyson. "It's been a long time hasn't it?"

Tyson nodded. "Yah! Together, we can eat peanut butter sandwiches and ride fish ponies! We can fight monsters and see Annabeth and make things go BOOM!"

Three people winced simultaneously. Guess nobody had told the big guy that Annabeth was no longer with us. I didn't have the heart to tell him though, not when he looked so happy right now.

I didn't know what to say, and was save by the appearance of someone else.

"Oh, my." I whirled around to see Silena in the doorway with the inspection scroll, and thanked the gods that Tyson had helped clean my cabin early, because even though Silena was a pretty nice girl, she was an absolute neat-freak, and I don't do neat that well.

"Well I had my doubts," Silena smiled. "But you clean up nicely, Atalanta. I'll remember that." And then she left.

"Well that was easy," I scratched my head.

I ended up spending the rest of my morning with Tyson. He showcased his practiced forging skills in the forges, fashioning a flaming double-bladed war axe so fast even Beckendorf was impressed. While he worked, Tyson talked everything he had heard while he worked in the sea, describing the Cyclops' forges in Poseidon's palace and the oncoming war against the Titans. Hearing about all the undersea fighting made me feel anxious, but Tyson assured me that Dad wanted both of us at camp.

"Lots of bad people above the sea too," Tyson said. "We're in charge of making them go BOOM."

"Yah, we will," I agreed.

§§§§§

The next day, there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

Apparently around three in the morning, an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp. I was so exhausted that I had slept right through the noise. The magical boundaries kept the monster out, but it prowled the hill, not leaving and searching for weak spots in the shield. It didn't leave until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin took a few of his siblings and chased it away.

"It's still out there," Lee warned us during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. Its eyes–" He shuddered.

"You did well, Lee," Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves. I swallowed myself. Percy hadn't taught me how to fight against drakons yet, and I really hoped he had some cards to play against such a lizard.

Everyone knew the rumors: that Luke and his army of monsters wanted to destroy us all. It was obvious that uneasiness was rampant in camp. Three years ago, there were at least a hundred or so campers. Now, we were down to eighty. Some had died. Some joined Luke and probably got murdered by Percy. Some just disappeared.

"This is a good reason for new war games," Quintus concluded. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

I mindlessly toyed with my Froot Loops. Things were quite messed up. I was lost in thought when I felt a weight sit next to me.

"What's on your mind, kiddo?" Percy asked, concerned. "You look pretty scuffed."

"There's problems everywhere," I said. "Luke, Grover, the oncoming war..."

"Life as a demigod is never easy," Percy said, eating his mandarin slice by slice. "Only the strongest of us can survive. Don't lose your mind to the horrors of war. Become stronger instead, and never fall until you've given your all."

I nodded, absorbing his every word. Percy was giving me a chance to create a better and smarter future for myself, and I wouldn't dare to lose that chance.

I felt another weight on my other side, and saw that it was Grover. Tyson got up hurriedly and yeeted out of there fast, sneezing on the way out. I'm not sure why, but he can't seem to stand goat hair for some reason.

"I brought Grover over," Chiron's voice said from behind me. "because I thought you two might want to, ah, discuss matters. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Iris-messages to send. I'll see you later in the day." He gave Grover a meaningful look, then trotted out of the pavilion.

"What's he talking about?" I asked.

Grover chewed his eggs, and ended up chewing the fork he was eating with as well, and then eventually finished the fork. "He wants you to convince me."

"About...?"

"The Labyrinth." Percy said. "The last resort Grover may have to save his searcher's license, before he resorts to tap dancing for life."

"The Labyrinth," I repeated slowly. "Like, the Minotaur and Minos and Daedalus maze thingy?"

Percy nodded.

"So it's under some building in America like everything else?" I deducted.

"No, the Labyrinth spreads across the entirety of the country, like an underground subway system with no security," Percy explained. "It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get anywhere and everywhere in the country with the Labyrinth."

"If you don't get lost," Grover muttered. "And die a horrible death."

"There is a way," Percy sighed. "And I mean, one of us has already proved that point."

"That doesn't mean anything," Grover said. "She came back with a guy that went insane!"

"Well, he's not dead though," Percy said.

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Grover whined. "Driven insane to a literal vegetable."

"Hang on, who's the insane guy?" I asked.

"Last year," Percy lowered his voice, "Clarisse went on a secret mission for Chiron."

"I remember," I said. "I didn't see her at all because of it."

"It was secret," Percy continued. "Because she found Chris Rodriguez."

"The guy from Hermes cabin?" I remembered him from two years ago, aboard the Princess Andromeda.

"Yeah." Percy nodded. "Long story short, he was out in Arizona, driven completely insane. Clarisse took him back and nursed him back to physical health, but he's completely lost his mind. Until we get Dionysus back, Chris is pretty much cooked."

I shivered. "So, Luke is exploring the Labyrinth then."

"That's right." Percy said. "We didn't know why, so Chiron sent Clarisse on a scouting mission, which even for her, is an extremely daunting quest. The fact that she went in alone and survived is pretty impressive."

"Ugh..." Grover groaned. "It's an underground maze full of horrible traps, dead ends, illusions, and psychotic goat killing monsters. It doesn't make sense why anyone would go in there."

"Problem is, if you make the maze work for you," Percy said. "It could lead you to the wild god."

"Nope, I gotta ponder longer," Grover stood. "Thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware." He turned and stared behind him. "Juniper's waiting for me. It's a good thing that she finds cowards attractive." He left.

"That's depressing shit," I concluded. "Hey Perce, where's Zoe?"

"She went back to the Hunt for a bit." Percy said. "But she'll be back tonight for the games. That girl wouldn't miss such a hunt for anything else, except maybe if I asked her not to participate, but what kind of boyfriend would I be to hold her back? Anyways, I'll let you stew in your thoughts for a bit. If you are feeling restless, come find me. I'll be in the arena all day."

§§§§§

That night after dinner, Quintus had us suit up in combat armor like we were getting ready for capture the flag, but the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates in the arena had disappeared, and I had a feeling whatever was in them had been emptied into the woods.

"Right," Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather 'round."

He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his gray hair made him look like a ghost. Ms. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.

"You'll be in teams of two," Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"

"AWWWWWW!" Everybody complained.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And of course... you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

The crowd started murmuring excitedly. The task sounded pretty straightforward. Hey, we'd all slain monsters before. That's what we trained for.

"I will now announce your partners!" Quintus said. He produced a big scroll and started reading off names. Beckendorf and Silena. The Stoll brothers would duo. Clarisse and Lee Fletcher, a tough and badass combo. And eventually, when he got to me: "Atalanta Jackson and Zoe Nightshade."

"Huh?" I said, then felt a light tap on my shoulder. I spun and saw Zoe, dressed in her usual silvery combat garb.

"Hello," Zoe said.

"Where's Percy?" I asked.

"He'll be watching." Zoe gestured to the trees. "Something about this challenge being too easy for him, and good for our training." The huntress made a small disgusted face at that.

"What'd he do?" I asked, "Take away your bow?"

Zoe huffed. "He DID! He took my bow from me and my daggers as well! I'm only allowed my sword and my abilities."

I laughed. "Well look, I'll be using the same things, so it's actually pretty fair."

"Argh!" Zoe threw her hands up in frustration. "He's the best and worst boyfriend ever!"

"Stop complaining, princess," I giggled. "Deal with it."

Quintus kept rattling the rest of the names off until he reached the final duo: "Grover Underwood, and Tyson."

I facepalmed. No way.

Grover just about jumped out of his goat fur. "What?! Bu-But–"

"No, no," Tyson whimpered. "Must be a mistake. Goat boy–"

"No complaining!" Quintus ordered. "Get with your partner. You have two minutes to prepare."

Grover and Tyson looked at me pleadingly. I tried not to laugh, and gave them an encouraging nod, gesturing that they should move together. Tyson sneezed, and Grover began consuming his own wooden club.

"They'll be fine," Zoe assured good-naturedly. "Come on, we're gonna win this hunt. It would be horrible for us to lose."

"Why?" I asked her as we went off to the side. "Cause it's embarrassing for a hunter to fail at a hunt?"

"YES." Zoe replied. "And knowing Percy, he'll make fun of me for it. And probably tell Artemis. And that's even worse!"

"Well, then we won't lose right?" I said.

When we began, it was still light when we got into the woods, but the shadows from the trees made it feel like midnight. It was cold too, but neither the darkness nor temperature bothered Zoe and I much. Percy had taken us to train in pretty much every possible biome, including underwater since all of us could breathe underwater, and so I was more or less used to adapting to low light environments. Zoe even more so, as she had been a Hunter for 2000 years and surely hunted at night.

In fact, Zoe found the first tracks: scuttling marks made by something with a lot of legs. We began to follow that trail, hiding behind a few bushes when we heard twigs snapping up ahead. However, when I heard Zoe curse, something about loud stupid boys, I looked over the bush and agreed with her. It was the Stoll brothers, somehow tripping over pebbles and creating a massive racket. For sons of the god of thieves, they were about as stealthy as a rampaging elephant.

We didn't hear any more sounds until we got to Zeus' Fist, a huge pile of boulders in the middle of the west woods. I laughed when Percy told me that from a certain angle, the pile looked like massive deer droppings, but it would've been offensive to nickname Zeus' Fist as Deer Doo-Doo. Another branch snapped nearby, followed by rustling dry leaves. Something large was near, and it didn't take a genius to guess what it probably was. We circled the boulders, our swords drawn, when someone right behind us said, "Hi."

"HOLY–!" I jumped, whirling around only to be surprised by Juniper, who yelped just as loudly. "Sheesh, Juniper you scared the crap out of me!"

"Put those down!" Juniper protested, gesturing at our swords. "Dryads don't like sharp blades okay?"

"Juniper," Zoe exhaled. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here."

"In the boulders?" I asked. "Cause I could've sworn you lived–"

"In the juniper, where else?" Juniper huffed. "Obviously."

"Um, yah." I said stupidly. "I knew that."

"Are you guys busy?" Juniper asked.

"Well, we're in the middle of a game against monsters who're trying to kill us and trying not to die. We haven't run into anything yet though, so I guess we aren't busy."

"Is something wrong?" Zoe asked. No sooner had she said that, Juniper started sniffling.

"It's Grover. He seems so distraught," Juniper wiped her silky sleeve under her eyes. "All year he's been out looking for Pan. And every time he comes back, it's worse. I though maybe, at first, he was seeing another tree."

"Um." I said helpfully. "Grover would never do that."

"He had a crush on a blueberry bush once," Juniper said miserably.

I was so confused that I didn't really know what to say. All I could think of was, "Juniper, he's just stressed about his license."

"He can't go underground!" Juniper cried. "You can't let him!"

"It's not really about if he can or not," I said. "I support his dream, but if it's his life goal, I think he shouldn't be afraid to conquer a fear to reach the greater goal."

"Ah..." Juniper wiped a green tear off her cheek. "I wish... there was another way."

"It might be the only way left." I said.

"Hush!" Zoe whispered, eyes alert. "Something's close."

I narrowed my eyes and raised Riptide, listening for any signs of movement. The bushes ahead of us rustled, and out came a glistening amber insect, ten feet long, with jagged pincers, an armored tail, and a stinger as long as my sword. Tied to its back was a red silk package.

"I'll shoot, you attack." Zoe said, reaching back for her nonexistent bow. "DAMMIT Perseus!"

"How about, we attack together?" I said, giggling. "Attack formation two, as we practiced?"

"Yes, of course," Zoe shook her wrist, drawing her blade. We were about to leap forward when two other scorpions appeared on either side of us.

"Three!" Zoe said. "Dammit, if I had my stuff then this would be easy! I'm going to kill him!" She leapt at one scorpion, dodging gracefully as she slashed its tail off, before leaping back to avoid the snapping claws. "Okay, this isn't too bad."

I yelped, narrowly avoiding getting skewered by a stinger. Pay attention Atti! I joined Zoe, and we quickly took out the two scorpions together. The last amber insect seemed wary of us now, but attacked us anyways, its large pincers acting as yellow broadswords as it fought the two of us at the same time. I winced as I caught one of its strikes the wrong way, my wrist flashing with momentary pain when I parried incorrectly.

"Ouch!" I hissed.

"Atti?" Zoe asked, defending away another strike.

"If I had water..." I muttered, pulling water from the air as Percy taught us. Within a few bought seconds (thank you Zoe), I had made a makeshift water construct cast on my wrist. "I'm okay now."

The two of us charged with renewed vigor and beat up to insect rather brutally, until we had all three silk packages at our feet. Zoe panted, her skin matted with sweat as she spun her Riptide around, practicing a few test strikes. "It's... getting easier," she admitted.

"Yah, no kidding." I said, showing her my cast. "I can't believe this actually worked."

"You hurt your wrist?" Zoe asked. "Are you alright?"

"A running source of water would do it," I said. "This is just a cast, but otherwise I'm fine."

"Nice job," Percy materialized out of thin air, patting Zoe on the head as he did. "Atti, that's some fine control you got there."

I blushed. It was rare to get Percy's approval so far, especially regarding our hydrokinetic powers. I mean, he was encouraging and all, but the final product never seemed good enough to impress him. "Thanks, bro."

"Looks like you have more competition, Princess," Percy chuckled.

"Bring it on," Zoe said, her eyes glittering. "I can still best you in a 1v1."

I smiled. "We'll see. So, Perce, is there any other reason why you showed up here?"

"Yah actually," Percy nodded. "It apparently didn't happen to you guys, because I trained you so well, but back in my world, Annabeth and I couldn't hold up against those three beasts." He said, then pointed at the boulders. "So we hid inside of that crack, just temporarily. It was when we fell inside that we discovered something that would spell danger for the camp, and most likely the reason for Luke's expeditions."

"Huh?" I looked at the crack, peering inside. I felt a breeze of wind from inside, the scent of it stale like an abandoned mine. "What's in there?"

"An entrance to the Labyrinth," Percy said gravely. "Straight into the heart of camp. If Luke finds this–"

"He'll get past the barrier and attack us with all he's got," I concluded. "Evil, but smart."

"Unfortunately, Luke is far from being a stupid enemy," Percy said. "He knows what to use, what to exploit and target. Once he finds this entrance, it's game over unless we train." He headed towards the crack. "I'm going to go in, just to check that it is an entrance. Don't want to make any mistakes you know?"

Zoe and I waited silently when Percy disappeared underground, saying nothing for nearly five minutes before Percy came back out.

"How long does checking take you?" I joked.

Percy rolled his eyes. "I'll have you know that it only took me 20 seconds to figure it out. But if you want to know, the Labyrinth dilates time. The time you spend down there is several times slower than the normal world. When Annabeth and I were down there for five minutes or something, 1 hour had passed up here."

"Right," I said.

"I'm telling the truth!" Percy said.

"Okay, okay, I believe you," I chuckled. "Now what?"

"Well, the game is still going," Percy said. "I expect the two of you to win. If you lose, you both owe me a favor."

"What if we win?" Zoe asked excitedly. "Then what?"

Percy shrugged. "Then I owe you both a favor, once."

Zoe squealed and ripped open the three pouches we already had, only to be disappointed when all of them held notes saying "Lol, try again." The huntress fumed. "DAMMIT!"

"Chillax," Percy reassured her. "There's still three more, assuming Clarisse and Lee haven't slaughtered them already."

"Let's go!" Zoe cried, before a horn sound ripped through the air. "NOOOOO!"

Percy threw his head back, laughing. "Guess you both owe me favors then."

"That's not fair!" Zoe said indignantly. "You already took my bow and daggers, now I owe you something?! This is stupid!"

"Sometimes life isn't fair, Zoe," Percy coughed. "You gotta learn to deal with it... Hey, why're you trying to hit me now?"

"I mean, it's still a win in some ways," I said. "Without this game, I wouldn't have been able to use what you taught us in real time."

"That's true," Percy agreed, letting Zoe clobber his back. "Experience is what helps you survive after all, not self practice. Zoe, can you please...?" He grabbed the girl from her shoulders and hugged her close to him, restricting all her movements until she sighed and slumped tiredly into him.

"So what do I owe you?" Zoe blushed.

Percy smirked. "You'll know when I tell you."

"Ugh," I pretended to barf. "Don't pretend you're all innocent. I know you are scheming something in that nasty head of yours," I said to Percy.

The demigod chuckled, his hands sliding down to Zoe's waist. "What can I say? This is one of the few times I can one-up Zoe."

I waved my hand and turned my head away. "Geezus, no one wants to see that okay?"

We left the forest, heading towards the pavilion where Clarisse stood, wearing the laurel wreaths, but for once not seeming to care. Percy headed straight for Chiron, and after a brief exchange of words, the centaur's face became worried, and he led Percy and Clarisse to the side, talking quietly. When Percy came back, his smile was grim.

"I've just told them," He said. "They know that there's an entrance there."

"And now what?" I asked worriedly.

Percy stared up into the sky. "The camp will do all it can to raise appropriate defenses against the oncoming army. In a few hours time, you'll most likely receive a quest. Make sure you review everything I've discussed with you prior to going. By the time you reach tomorrow, Zoe and I will probably already have left."

"Where are you going?"

"A secret mission," Percy said assuringly. "It's nothing that I can't handle, but it must be done discreetly. It's a pretty controversial issue right now. But if you have any questions, you can IM me. I'll answer if it's appropriate."

"So... I guess you won't answer if I call you while you are making out with Zoe?" I asked slyly.

Zoe exploded into bright pink, and Percy tried to maintain a straight face. "You would be right," he managed. "Unless you want to hear Zoe moaning like–"

"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" I cried, covering my ears. "DON'T EVEN GO THERE!"

"Agreed!" Zoe said, punching Percy hard. "Don't go saying things like that!"

"Alright!" Percy laughed, rubbing his sore shoulder. "Alright, fine! Just stop punching me!"

"Anyways," Percy continued, eyeing Zoe carefully, who glared back. "You get the point. Stay in contact, don't do anything stupid, if you die, I'll go to the Underworld and revive you after bribing Hades. Sound good?"

I rolled my eyes. "Love you too. Yes, I get it."

"Hai," Percy sighed. "Imma go soak in a bath now. My goddamn shoulder hurts. I wonder whose fault that could be?"

Zoe looked away shamelessly, putting her hands behind her back. "I dunno..."

"I'm outta here," I said, standing up and yawning. "Dunno if you noticed, but the game's finished and I'm dead exhausted."

"See yah then." Percy waved. "Don't forget to practice hard!"

"I won't!" I called back, before sprinting for my cabin. I burst through the door and barely made it inside before collapsing on my bed. In just mere seconds, I was snoring away.

A/N: That was the longest thing I've written in literally half a year. I mean, whew...

Thank you for all the comments I've been getting since the revival of this fic. A lot of you thought I died, but I promise, I'm still very alive, unless I somehow am typing with fingers that have been decomposed and are now made of 50% dirt.

So... we have finally reached the Battle of the Labyrinth plot, finally getting out of the third book area and moving on. Obviously, there are going to be a lot of changes in certain scenes and chapters of the book, mainly because of Annabeth's absence, and because Atalanta has been trained mentally and physically by Percy to be better prepared for any scenario thrown her way. I'm sure you've already noticed that Atalanta is more sensible and calmer than Percy was, since she knows a lot more about anticipated events than Percy did in his life.

Reader: So uh... doesn't this mean that Percy can just tell her everything?
Well no, because as mentioned in the story a few times, Percy's and Atalanta's timelines aren't perfectly matched, so things that happen further into the future maybe different. For example, Percy wiping out 60% of the army in previous chapters didn't originally happen, and so you can sort of guess the chain reaction that happens because of that event. There's other issues including the fact that Atalanta is a girl with different character relationships, which makes certain scenes unnecessary or strange if forced, like getting blown to Calypso's island after the volcanic explosion. You get the point.

For me, I've just finished another year of schooling, so summer break is here, and that means I'll have every day free pretty much. Please, don't spam my comments with "WHEN ARE YOU GONNA UPDATE THE NEXT CHAPTER?!" like every day though, because I get it, you are all excited, but I like breaks too. (I won't ghost you guys another half year, okay, not doing that again unless I say otherwise)

Thanks for the 600 or so followers that have decided that my work is interesting, and have supported me throughout most of my updates and publishings. Seriously, I never expected so much people to be like: "Huh, this is actually pretty good." Seriously, thanks you legends.

I have this big timeline of stuff actually written out, and I hope to be able to deliver as much as I can before school starts again. If I ghost without reason, feel free to spam my PMs with, "ARE YOU ALIVE OR NAH?" and I'll most likely be like, "Okay, my readers are concerned again, better get to work!" I won't set any more dates though, cause I said March last time and now it's May... awkward.

If there are certain story ideas you want to see or have ideas about, shoot me a comment. A lot of you like the Perzoe and Pertemis dynamic so far, so that's pretty good.

This story will stay rated T. Later chapters might include suggestive themes, but there will be no explicit ones. Stay tuned for the next oncoming chapters.

Peace out, you legends! Enjoy life, and have fun!

~ Zayden Shade