Going home to mom was the best thing ever, especially considering we were in the process of setting up our new home. Percy and I agreed not to tell her that he had almost been poisoned to death by a pit scorpion, because that would only freak her out and make her panic, and this was the first time she had been truly happy in so long. Longer than either of us could remember. We got a new apartment and new schools to go to, things were looking great. However, mom couldn't afford to send the both of us to private school, so I bit the bullet and announced that I would go public as it was the safest option, since my demigod scent was masked by the magic in my dad's bracelet he'd given me when I was little. I still hated it, but I couldn't throw it away or break it, because the damn thing was enchanted so no matter what it kept on coming back to me and always fixed itself. Now I'd just given up and vowed that if my path ever crossed with my dad's I would shove the bracelet in his face and make him take it back. At the very least it wasn't the only bracelet I had anymore. After each year at camp, it was tradition to get a clay bead to go onto a necklace which campers would wear to signify they had survived another year, and the bead always depicted the most important event of that year. I didn't really like wearing necklaces, so instead I wore mine as a bracelet on my left wrist along with my magical one, now sporting a single bead which bore the image of a trident. It was nice because they had made mine especially for me so that I could feel the shape of the trident, which signified me and Percy being claimed by our father.

With everything going so well, I thoroughly enjoyed my life at school as it was finally normal, with good teachers and okay students, mom was happy with her night classes, and Percy for the first time ever wasn't getting into trouble at school. Of course I never mentioned this stuff out loud because that would just jinx it, and that's that last thing I wanted. I guess the only real new things about our lives was meeting Tyson, this giant kid who didn't exactly have the greatest luck in life. He was homeless but went to Percy's school as a charity project, and Percy being Percy he just couldn't ignore a vulnerable kid, though I wouldn't have thought Tyson to be vulnerable from my brother's description of him. He was extremely tall and fairly strong, he broke things even without meaning to though he was rather dirty and unkempt seeing as he lived in a box in an alley. Mom did her best to try and get Tyson some proper help, but Social Services insisted that they couldn't find him. So instead, I had asked to meet Tyson and gifted him some new clothes and invited him to come take a shower. He'd burst into tears and hugged me so tightly I felt all my bones pop, and I had to physically restrain myself from gagging on the smell. Poor kid, it wasn't his fault at all. He needed a little help in the shower as he didn't exactly know what to do and even though Percy explained things to him, we worried he might accidentally break our bathroom.

We filled the tub instead and even threw in some rubber-duckies which Tyson seemed to absolutely love, giggling and splashing happily, trying to climb in before he'd even undressed as Percy had quickly yelled and stopped him. To be honest I had to wonder at Tyson's age, I mean he was literally huge but he spoke and acted like a little kid sometimes, it was totally confusing. Anyway he was really cute and he told me that I was very pretty and he liked my smile, so whenever I saw him I always gave him the biggest smile possible. I think it's because I sneak him food more than anything, but hey, I'm cool with that. I wanted to do more, but any time we invited Tyson to come and stay at ours, offering him the couch that we were willing to set up for him, he'd politely decline. I think he was now too used to being outside on the streets. I worried that he might get mugged or something seeing as he was so soft hearted, but so far, nothing had really happened. We were doing well, Percy and I. No monsters had attacked us, nothing weird or crazy happened, it was a brilliant year, probably the best ever.

Mom even splashed out and bought me a brand new iPod when she found out mine had been broken, and I'd immediately roped in Percy to help me figure out how it all worked so I could get used to the buttons and wheel and everything. I was just glad to have music again, so I got a bunch of new songs and chilled whilst tapping my foot along with the rhythm. In order to help out mom with money I got a job walking dogs, though the pay wasn't much, Percy also joined in to help out so that in a week, we made enough to buy groceries. It helped a lot though mom insisted that we didn't have to, that we were managing just fine, but each time we handed over our pay, I could sense her relief before she'd then hug and kiss us. Percy and I had long since agreed that we owed mom everything, so we worked hard to stay out of trouble and give her everything we owed. We didn't even keep anything for ourselves. I fully planned to somehow become very rich so I could build mom a mansion where she could do anything she wanted, even if it was just writing books all days. Maybe there was some kind of treasure in my world that I could find and sell for a high price. If not, I'm pretty sure there's a lot of treasure at the bottom of the sea. I'll send Percy to go fetch it.

Anyway, things were going well and we even got to the last day of school without any incident, though it seemed by that point our luck had run out, because mom let slip that there was trouble at Camp Half-Blood, and Percy told me he'd had a weird dream about Grover running away from something and hiding in a bridal shop in Florida. I had no idea how he knew this, but I just rolled with it. You learn to just go with the flow when you're a demigod. Anyway Grover was Percy's best friend but we hadn't heard from him since he left to go searching for Pan, a god who had gone missing for two thousand years, and I could tell that Percy was worried about him because before now, none of the satyrs that had gone looking for Pan ever came back. I tried to instil him with happy thoughts, though it didn't exactly work. Now there was also that news about Camp Half-Blood, and I should have gone with my gut feeling and skipped the last day of school to go back, but I'd promised mom I'd finish the year, though thinking back on it, it probably would have been better to have bunked. You see demigods were the favourite foods of all monsters, and I'm talking about real monsters. Last year alone my brother fought the minotaur, the three Furies, Echidna and her Chihuahua disguised chimera, and a bunch of other nasty things. It didn't help that he and I were kids from one of the Big Three, the top gods of Olympus, because that meant we had an extra strong smell about us.

I was fortunate in truth to have my bracelet, though I still hated it because I despised my dad for being an absent jerk who abandoned my mother and my brother, and had basically used Percy for his own benefit last year which had almost gotten him killed. Repeatedly. Anyway, the bracelet dampened the smell, but couldn't wash it away completely which meant that anything with a sensitive nose could still sniff me out, and unfortunately that mean it was usually a higher tier monster. They came in levels, you know like a game? Usually when you start out training to be a hero, you began with the baby monsters then you steadily worked your way up like levelling up each time you upgraded. I was thrown in the deep end. It sucked more for me because I was blind, so I relied entirely upon my other senses to keep me alive. In addition, I had no weapon of my own. Percy had this sword he got from dad, but you're not allowed to take weapons from camp except on quests, so I was pretty helpless when I got to school and realised something was up.

First off, it's always suspicious when you get a new cover teacher at school. You learn not to immediately trust things that change suddenly out of the blue when you're a half-blood because usually, new people are monsters in disguise waiting to figure out which kid you are and then find the best way to eat you. So of course when a new teacher walked in with a sickly sweet voice and a slight hiss that flickered every time she used the letter 's', I was rightfully wary. I was almost fooled by her too, because she clearly loved children and her class was actually pretty fun, but then subtle hints started to sneak up on me. First off, the hissing. At first I thought it was just a lisp, but then I wasn't so sure. Then, there was this kind of reptilian smell I got when she walked past me. I thought maybe she was wearing a snakeskin jacket or something. Then, she started to talk about her own kids and how much she missed them, talking in a quiet lull that made the other kids yawn until one by one they started to slump and hit their desks, snoring away. I took a guess, and I figured they'd gone to sleep, and not naturally either so as I listened to different kids snoring away, I quietly sat and listened to the movements of Miss La Mia the cover teacher as she paced calmly at the front of the class. "You're not really Miss La Mia, are you?"

"Of courssssse dear. My name isss Lamia." Oh, Lamia, not La Mia. I could have kicked myself I was so stupid. I jumped to my feet, starting to twist at my bracelets nervously as I tried to think of what to do as I began to hear this awful stretching sound, the hissing coming more clearly until something long and heavy dropped on the floor. If my memory served, Lamia was a monster created by Hera out of jealousy because Zeus had had several kids with her, because after Hera stole the kids Lamia went completely nuts and started to eat other children, which then transformed her into a hideous half snake creature. Why did the gods have to mess with mortals? We'd all be a lot happier if they just left us alone, you know, or Hera could actually wallop her husband one whenever he cheated on her. I'm just saying. "Now dear…I am ssssso very hungry, aren't you? Sssssuch tasty looking children. Thissss one looksss plump and delicioussss." Listening to her giant slithering tail as she began to move, I could only think that she was referring to poor Freddy Bates, because he was the largest kid in school.

"You don't want him." I spoke up bravely, twisting my bracelets one final time before letting it go and steeling myself, knowing that the monster Lamia was between me and the door and I had a sneaking suspicion that she was a lot faster than me. I'd have to be smart about this. It burned me up to admit it but every single lesson about monster slaying from Luke was rushing through my head as my senses seemed to sharpen and my body woke itself up from the dazed slumber it had been in before. My ADHD at work. "I'm much better tasting. You know why? Because I'm a half-blood. It's why you're here isn't it? You could smell someone here with godly blood, but you couldn't quite figure out who because the smell isn't strong enough. It's me you want, right?" I questioned as I slowly began to move, sliding out from my desk in order to stand in the aisle where there was a bit more room. Thank gods I'd taken the time to map out every inch of this school so I could find my way around pretty easily. "Besides, I think it's only right that you eat me first, considering what the gods did to you."

"You think sssso?"

"Oh of course. I completely understand why you do what you do, it's completely unfair what happened to you. I bet they never even asked your side of the story. You just got the blame, and Hera took away your precious children." If there was one thing I had learned from Percy, however, a lot of monsters were either very full of themselves, or pretty stupid. If you're lucky, it's a mixture of both. Sometimes talking them with trickery helped, and I needed to stall for time so that I could move just a little bit further. If I could get to the door, I could escape and hopefully lure Lamia out, then I'd call my ride out of here. Only thing is, I couldn't really leave Lamia in a school full of kids, because she'd eat them.

"Yesss…I wasss blamed….ssssubject to Hera'ssss jealoussssy." Lamia began to lament, hissing mournfully as I began to inch my way gradually to the right, moving into the next aisle. "Ssshe ssstole my children! My poor babiesss…and Zeussss did nothing, even when Hera cursssed me to never ssssleep. I have not sssslept in thousssands of yearssss!" Unable to help it, I was a little sympathetic. I mean, she wasn't the first monster to be created because of the gods, and I think Hera was to blame for most of them. I'm pretty sure I remember one history lesson where she stomped on a poor girl because Zeus fancied her, turning her into a hill of mint. There was also one about a cow, or something. Basically, the gods were jerks. I crooned to Lamia, being kind and understanding, telling her that it wasn't her fault that she was seduced and tricked by Zeus before he abandoned her, that she couldn't help the way she was, and that it was just a testament to how much she had loved her kids. Now Lamia was sobbing, but this kind dry of sob because I'm fairly certain she couldn't cry because she was too much like a snake.

Her sobs racked loudly against my ears as I continued to lull her with my voice waiting until she was completely distracted and also listening to where her tail was. As far as I could tell, it was curled around her and slithering, moving at the front of the class and most likely blocking the door. I needed her to move it, and the only way to do that was to make her. It was a risky gamble and possibly completely insane considering I was literally about to fight her blind, but what else could I do? Mom would totally freak if she knew what was happening. With Lamia in tears, I placed my hand on the desk next to me where Jessica Simpson sat, if I was correct, and felt around. She had her textbook out underneath her as she slept, the other kids having been lulled to sleep by Lamia. I grabbed hold of it and picked it up discreetly, sliding it out from under Jessica before all at once flinging it like a Frisbee.

It must have hit the mark because Lamia suddenly screeched and I sensed her suddenly coil up her body ready to strike, almost certain I could hear the muscles tensing and bulging. I felt her surge forwards to strike and dodged to the side with a roll, though when I rose up I smacked my head against one of the desks rather heavily which made me grunt. Okay, not so elegant, but I could feel the way was clear so I bolted forwards and flung open the door just as Lamia hissed again and turned. Clearly she had not expected a blind girl to be able to move that fast and so well. I'm not about to complain. Ripping off my magic bracelet I tossed it aside so that the full force of my demigod smell could hit the snake lady all at once, summoning her to me so that she abandoned the other children. Those kids better be grateful I'm doing this for them, though I'll probably never hear even a single thank you. Behind me, I heard something massive come crashing out of the classroom in such haste it slammed against the opposite wall. "Daughter of Possssseidon! You will be delicioussss! I sssshall feassst on your flesssssh and devour you hole!"

"No thanks!" I yelled, cupping my fingers to my lips and giving a sharp whistle to call for my best friend. So just as it happens, my brother's best friend was a satyr which is a half goat being. My best friend? Well, she was a flying horse. Knowing that Snowstorm would have heard me, I continued bolting down the corridor and took a sharp turn just as I felt something clawed swipe at my hair, catching it though on the slippery floor Lamia had very little grip with her snake body, though I heard the sickening crunch of her crumpling the lockers and I winced again. I really hope I don't get blamed for this, I was doing so well at school for once. Unable to do anything, I continued to run through the school to the cafeteria, because it was the closest exit to the outside. I burst through the doors then slammed them shut, desperately feeling for the bolt at the top and just as Lamia threw her weight against the door, I managed to lock it so that the doors initially didn't budge.

Great! That'll hold her for all of three seconds. I started to run again, counting the steps furiously in my head and make for the exit, however in my rush I didn't sense something suddenly appear in my path since I was moving too fast and I tripped over what I believed to be the janitor's cleaning trolley. A bruising pain erupted all the way up my legs as I crashed against it, flipping over the top and landing heavily on my shoulder with a grunt as the trolley clattering to the ground and I'm pretty sure a mop hit me in the face, giving me a lovely black eye. Wonderful. To make matters all the more interesting, Lamia had now broken through the doors and was slithering inside just as I managed to dart under one of the tables, my reflexes keeping me moving. I held my breath and did my best to calm down my pulse, reaching for my wrist and secretly thanking the gods the magic bracelet was already back, dampening my scent so that when Lamia slithered by, she didn't immediately sense where I was. "I know you are here, hero. You cannot hide from me forever." She hissed softly, continuing to slither across the smooth floor. "What ssshame mussst your father feel? To have a child sssuch assss you? You are blind…you are no real hero, what can ssssomone like you do to me?" I twitched in irritation.

The weird thing about being a half-blood is that even in these kind of situations, you didn't exactly feel afraid. I mean sure, you felt scared of things, and you weren't impervious to it, but even if you were terrified of the monster you were facing, the godly side of you couldn't help but rise up and face it. I guess that's why we demigods were known as heroes, or at least the ones that had earned the title were. Just think of the legends from the past. Hercules. Jason. Achilles. Theseus. Odysseus. They'd fought against some pretty horrendous stuff, but they succeeded, and showed immeasurable courage in the process. I just hoped I had enough godliness in me that I could somehow manage to fumble my way through this. "Come to me…and I sssshall love you, child. You ssshall be with me forever, I would never abandon you…would never ignore you like your father….come to me…come dear child…hissss." There was no way I was going to walk over to a giant snake lady with open arms. I started to panic a little, because I was running out of options, but then something caught my attention, making me turn my head so I could strain my ears. Wing beats. Those were definitely wing beats.

Now I grinned, because I knew that my ride was almost here, and somehow I needed to think of a way to lure Lamia out of here. If I could stall her for a bit, then it would give me the chance to get away and take some time to think. I had no celestial bronze with was the best way to kill a monster, and as far as I was aware, there were no secret stashes between here and camp. I seriously needed to get myself a weapon. A good one. Thinking fast I shifted slightly and felt my foot nudge something as Lamia was investigating the area where they served the food, probably checking behind the counters to see if I was there. I'm guessing she saw like any other snake, through heat and smell, which was why she hadn't yet seen me. So with her momentarily distracted, I reached down and felt one of the mops or broom handles that I had crashed into. Well, it was better than nothing. Sliding out from underneath the table, I grabbed my mundane weapon and bolted for the door, giving another whistle to signal Lamia who hissed and screeched again. I should probably wrap this up quickly, class would be over soon and then it was lunch time. These kids did not want to wander in here with this crazy lady on the loose. Lifting the wooden mop high – because I had in fact determined it to be a mop – I snapped it across my knee so that I now had two broken pieces in my hands, split into a sharp splintered edge as I then turned around to face Lamia. I sidestepped and leaped, jumping over the whip of her tail as she swung it at me, listening to it come rushing at me through the air before I flung my weight backwards in reverse. I thrust downwards and prayed I'd timed it right. I felt the wood spear through snake scales and into her flesh, causing an agonised scream as she began to writhe and coil wildly. Now this I hadn't expected, so as I landed I was hit in the stomach by the wild strike of her tail, throwing me backwards with a grunt as Lamia pulled the wood free and I smelled a nasty, oozing smell which I could only assume was her monster's blood. "You horrible child! How dare you ssstrike me?!"

"Well…you know. You are kind of trying to eat me." I pointed out lamely as I managed to get back onto my feet. The next few moments happened in kind of a blur, because everything around me kind of switched off and my body just reacted on its own. I had ducked under Lamia's clawed hands as she had swung them at me, trying to carve me into ribbons as I then turned under her, somehow managing to move so quickly that she hadn't even realised I'd gotten so close before I drove the final piece of my broken mop straight into her torso, shoving it as deep as it would go. She howled and hissed once again, but this time it slowed her down for longer and I pelted from the cafeteria and rushed directly into the open where I could feel warmth suddenly shine down upon me. "Snowstorm!" I heard her cry and just as I raced outside, heard the beat of her wings and the clatter of her hooves as she galloped forwards. I ran to her and she met me, dipping her head and turning with snorts of alarm as she smelled the monster and saw Lamia dragging herself after us, her huge coiling body charging after us. "Time to go, I think. Hurry!" Inelegantly launching myself onto Snowstorm's back, she didn't even wait for me to swing my leg over before she was charging off, making me wail and yell stupidly as I just clung onto her for dear life, tossed across her back like a sack of flour.

'It had to be the last day of school! This is some seriously bad luck you have, my lady!' Snow yelped with an equal attitude of panic and alarm at me as she leaped upwards with powerful strikes of her wings and then pushed off one of the sides of the building, the sound of her hooves hitting the wall ringing in my ears as she used it like a springboard and tossed herself higher into the air. Below us Lamia screeched, swiping at us and I felt one of her claws catch my leg, causing me to shriek as I felt her cut into the back of my calf. 'Mistress!'

"I'm fine, keep flying! We have to draw her away from the school and somehow kill her. She'll eat every kid in the place otherwise!" I yelled over the sound of the wind as Snowstorm continued to fly, gaining height though she nervously snorted and informed me that Lamia was now beginning to climb to the school roof in order to catch us. I thought desperately, trying to think of how to kill her with no celestial bronze. "Can monsters die from other things? Like…getting crushed or something?"

'I think so, did your brother not kill the minotaur with its own horn? What do you command of me, my lady?'

"Um…let me think a little. Just don't let her loose interest. If you can, keep her occupied." I told Snowstorm who promised she would and quickly dove down in order to start taunting Lamia, flying just within reach before suddenly veering off again, causing the snake lady to scream and hiss in frustration as I struggled to think. Think, Lily, think! Kill a monster…kill a monster…what do I have handy? A pegasus. Always helpful, and Snowstorm was braver than most, stronger too. Also…not much else. However now that I think about it, perhaps a monster could be killed by falling from a great height? Would it work? To be honest I had very little else come to mind, and even if it doesn't work, I can try leading her somewhere out of the way of the school and bury her somehow. I can make earthquakes, but the trouble with that is the effect it'll have on pretty much everything else as well as the monster. "Okay. I have a plan. See the tennis courts?" I questioned Snowstorm as I managed to scramble upright onto her back, weaving my fingers naturally into her mane.

'Of course.'

"Get me to them, fast as you can. I'm going to use the net to trap Lamia, and then we're going to drag her into the sky. Think you can take her weight?" To this Snowstorm snorted and told me to just wait to be impressed. Grinning, I patted her neck then gave a whistle, signalling it was time to begin. Wheeling around Snow cantered through the sky with her wings beating furiously to get me to the tennis nets at the courts, landing in a halt so that I could slide off and start fumbling around for the ties and pull them free from the posts. Leaving me to this, Snowstorm then fearlessly turned and awaited Lamia to catch up, snorting and pounding her hoof against the ground, fully prepared to charge the monster to defend me as I rushed to get the ties free. A knife. A knife! At the very least I needed to get myself a knife, celestial bronze or otherwise. I shouldn't have been so careless to leave without asking permission to have a weapon of my own. By some luck I managed to practically rip the net down, taking one end and giving the other to Snowstorm who gripped the ties in her mouth. We had to work together at this stage, Snow telling me exactly where Lamia was and how quickly she was moving, allowing me to roughly judge how to do this. In the end, I just went "screw it" and just went ahead. We charged Lamia together and according to Snow, she reared back in surprise. She slashed at me but I ducked my head in time then flicked out the net, Snowstorm cantering as we began to circle around Lamia and pull the net taught, trapping her arms at her sides before we continued to race around her. I heard Snowstorm neatly jump over her tail, avoiding its swing until we had her tightly bound and trapped, whereby Snowstorm then dropped her end of the net and turned, rising onto her legs and kicked with all her might directly into Lamia's face, my ears picking up on her movements and hearing the heavy thud of Lamia falling unconscious. "Wow! That was awesome Snow! Assuming you just kicked the snake-lady in the face, right?"

'It was nothing. However I do not think she will remain unconscious for long. We must hurry.' Nodding my head in agreement, I jumped over to the unconscious monster and fumbled for the two ends, knotting them together as tightly as possibly whilst infinitely glad that I had been forced to at least learn how to tie knots in survival class. Satisfied this one wouldn't come undone, I then had to figure out how to get Lamia up in the air. I had to use the other tennis net, using this as a kind of sling which I looped around Snowstorm's back, then together we started to fly directly upwards. She reported our progress, watching carefully to make sure Lamia did not stir or come loose. Five feet up. Ten feet up. So far so good. Fifteen. Twenty. Thirty. Now we were rapidly ascending, and the sling was still holding though the snake tail hung limply below. If Lamia woke up and hit us with that, I'm pretty sure we'd all be knocked out of the sky. Snowstorm pushed everything into her wings and I could feel her starting to tremble and become drenched in sweat, so I promised her all the sugar cubes she wanted once this was over. The promise of sugar was the last push she needed, and with a great heave, Snowstorm started to fly high in the sky. We moved away from the school, though being in the city there wasn't a great deal of choice for a good drop off point, though Snow storm continued to keep her eyes peeled until she saw an old abandoned warehouse.

It was probably the best we were going to find, so after making sure that we were as high in the air as a skyscraper, I let the net slip off Snowstorm's back as she dropped her hindquarters, allowing me to push and shove the netting as far as I could since I was sitting back to front for this very reason. 'She's waking up!' Oh crap. Feeling the netting start to twitch and move, Snowstorm whinnied fearfully as Lamia hissed then started to writhe and struggle, yelling curses at us both until finally I managed to get the net off of Snow, and all at once the child-devouring snake lady plummeted to the ground. Snowstorm did not follow straight away, waiting a few seconds before starting to circle down. 'Almost there, almost there…yes! She has disappeared into yellow smoke, she is gone!'

"Snowstorm…you are the most incredible pegasus ever, and don't let anyone tell you any different." I told her with a massive sigh of relief as she squealed happily and bucked, almost throwing me off her back. She landed on the ground whereby she told me that a Spoil of War had been left behind, the snakeskin of Lamia. I wasn't too thrilled to have a snakeskin for spoils, but Snowstorm assured me that it was rather pretty as it was a deep bronze colour that shimmered under the light. I had no idea what I'd use it for other than to maybe trade it at the camp store for supplies or currency, but I wanted to take it with me so that I could prove to everyone that I, Nerida Lily Jackson, had slayed her first monster, and all without a single celestial bronze weapon. This will be one for the campfire.