Jasmine's POV
The difference between Camp Half-Blood during the summer versus it during the winter time always surprises me.
See, the camp has the ultimate magic climate control. Nothing gets inside the borders unless the director, Dionysus, wants it to. You'd think it'd be warm and sunny, but instead the snow had been allowed to fall lightly. Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be balls of real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in an old mummified body. I wondered if the spirit of Delphi was roasting marshmallows up there or something.
"Whoa," Nico said as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"
"Yeah," Percy said.
"Why is there lava pouring down it?"
"Little extra challenge. Come on. I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoë, have you met—"
"I know Chiron," Zoë said stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."
"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.
"We know the way."
"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here—if you don't—"he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking—"like my old daddy goat use to say! Come on!"
Zoë rolled her eyes, but I guess she figured there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in her brother's ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away. Good for him.
"Take care sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at Percy. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."
"What do you mean?" Percy asked.
Instead of answering, he hopped back in the bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"
He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned aside as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. A red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.
Nico was still looking grumpy. I wondered what his sister had told him.
"Who's Chiron?" he asked. "I don't have his figurine."
"Our activities director," Percy said. "He's . . . well, you'll see."
"If those Hunters don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."
Camp was also quite empty, as usual during this time of year. Most demigods only trained during the summer. Just the year-rounders would be here—the ones who didn't have homes to go to, or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left. But there wasn't many of them, either.
I spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stroking the forge outside the camp armory. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. Even Clarisse didn't seem to be around.
The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Dionysus and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.
Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wasn't posing as a teacher this year, so I guess he could afford to be casual. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoofprint design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.
He smiled when he saw us. "Percy! Jasmine! Thalia! Will! Ah, and this must be—"
"Nico di Angelo," Percy said. "He and his sister are half-bloods."
Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."
"Well . . ."
His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?"
I tried to hold back my tears.
"Oh, dear," Dionysus said in a bored voice. "Not another one lost."
I'd been trying to ignore Dionysus, but it was kind of hard to in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. (Like he had ever run a day in his immortal life.) A golden laurel wreath was tilted sideways on his curly black hair, which must've meant he'd won the last hand of cards.
"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"
Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap mark. "The Hunters are all moved in!"
"Are you're all beat up," I noted.
Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." He glanced at Nico. "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."
"But . . . Oh, right. Yes, sir."
"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? 'Cause Bianca is kind of strict—"
"It's PG-13," Grover said.
"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.
"Now," Chiron said to the rest of us, "perhaps you four should sit down and tell us the whole story."
When we were done, Chiron turned to Dionysus. "We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately."
"I'll go," Percy, Thalia, and I said at the same time.
Dionysus sniffed. "Certainly not!"
The three of us both started complaining, but Dionysus held up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and ugly was going to happen if we didn't shut up. I had a similar thing.
"From what you have told me," Dionysus said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell—"
"Annabeth," Percy and I snapped. She's been going to camp since she was seven, and still Dionysus pretended not to know her name.
"Yes, yes," he said. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue mission. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead."
I wanted to strangle Dionysus. It was beyond unfair Zeus had sent Dionysus here to dry out as camp director for a hundred years. It was meant to be a punishment for Dionysus's bad behavior on Olympus, but it ended up being a punishment for all of us.
"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, but I could tell he was having trouble sounding upbeat. He'd practically raised Annabeth a little bit for a whole summer before my parents adopted her. "She's very bright. If . . . if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."
"That's right," Thalia said. "Luke would want her alive."
"In which case," said Dionysus, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."
Percy got up from the table. I stood beside him. Toothless growled at him from the other side of the porch.
"Jasmine. Percy." Chiron's tone was full of warning. In some ways, Dionysus was not somebody to mess with. Even if you were an impulsive ADHD kid like Percy, he wouldn't give you any slack. But Percy and I both were so angry we didn't care. Will stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, firmly holding them down to keep myself in control, but I could also feel how much he wanted to move because he knew how mad I was.
"You're glad to lose another camper," Percy said. "You'd like it if we all disappeared!"
"That's for sure," I agreed.
Dionysus stifled a yawn. "You have a point?"
"Yeah," Percy growled. "Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little!"
For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. The light reflected in Dionysus's eyes, giving him a sinister look. He opened his mouth to say something—probably a curse that would blast us to smithereens—when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.
"SO COOL!" Nico yelled, holding his hands out to Chiron. "You're . . . you're a centaur!"
Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."
"And, whoa!" He looked at Dionysus. "You're the wine dude? No way!"
Dionysus turned his eyes way from me and Percy and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?"
"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."
"My figurine."
"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"
Just when I was starting to like that boy . . .
"Ah." Dionysus seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved our lives. "Well that's . . . gratifying."
"Jasmine, Percy," Chiron said quickly, "you two and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."
"Capture the flag?" Percy asked. "But we don't have enough—"
"It's a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."
"Yeah," Thalia muttered. "I bet it's real friendly."
"It is," I said sarcastically. I remembered the last time we played with them.
Chiron jerked his head toward Dionysus, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defense points all the gods had in his game. "Run along now," Chiron told us.
"Oh, right," Thalia said. "Come on, guys."
She and Will hauled us out of the Big House before Dionysus could remember that he wanted to kill us.
"You've already got Ares on your bad side," Thalia reminded Percy as we trudged toward the cabins. "You need another immortal enemy?"
I guess she was right. Percy's first summer as a camper, he'd gotten in a fight with Ares, and now he and all his children wanted to kill him. We didn't need to make Dionysus mad, too.
"Sorry," Percy said. "I couldn't help it. It's just so unfair."
"Of course it's unfair," I said. "Anybody who says otherwise that any of the gods are fair is an idiot."
Thalia stopped by the armory and looked out across the valley, toward the top of Half-Blood Hill. Her pine tree was still there, the Golden Fleece glittering in its lowest branch. The tree's magic still protected the borders of camp, but it no longer used Thalia's spirit for power.
"Everything is unfair," Thalia muttered. "Sometimes I wish . . ."
She didn't finish, but her tone was so sad I felt sorry for her. With her ragged black hair and her black punk clothes, an old wool overcoat wrapped around her, she looked like some kind of huge raven, completely out of place in the white landscape.
"We'll get Annabeth back," Percy promised. "I just don't know how yet."
"We'll figure out a way," I agreed.
Toothless rubbed his head against my side as a form of comfort.
"First I found out that Luke is lost," Thalia said. "Now Annabeth—"
"Don't think like that," Will told her.
"You're right." She straightened up. "We'll find a way."
Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.
"I'll break that up," Thalia said. "You three circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow."
"All right," Percy said. "You should be team captain."
"No, no," she said. "You've been at camp longer. You do it."
"We can, uh . . . co-captain or something."
She looked about as uncomfortable with that as Percy seemed, but she nodded.
As she headed for the court, Percy said, "Hey, Thalia."
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry about what happened at Westover. I should've waited for you guys."
"S'okay, Percy. I probably would've done the same thing." She shifted from foot to foot, like she was trying to decide whether or not to say more. "You know, you asked about my mom and I kinda snapped at you. It's just . . . I went back to find her after seven years, and I find out she died in Los Angeles. She, um . . . she was a heavy drinker, and apparently she was out driving late one night about two years ago, and . . ." Thalia blinked hard.
"I'm sorry."
"Yeah, well. It's . . . it's not like we were ever close. I ran away when I was ten. Best two years of my life were when I was running around with Luke and Annabeth and you, Jasmine. But still—"
"That's why you had trouble with the sun van."
She gave him a weary look. "What do you mean?"
"The way you stiffened up. You must've been thinking about your mom, not wanting to get behind the wheel."
Thalia's expression was dangerously close to anger—like any minute, her eyes would shoot a million volts.
"Yeah," she muttered. "Yeah, that must've been it."
I don't think that's why she was afraid . . .
She trudged off toward the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter were trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball.
The cabins were the weirdest collection of buildings you've ever seen. Zeus and Hera's big white-columned buildings, Cabin One and Two, stood in the middle, with five gods' cabins on the left and five goddesses' cabins on the right, so they all made a U around the central green and the barbecue hearth.
I asked Will to go check on Nico back at the Big House while Percy and I made the rounds, with Toothless tagging along, telling everybody about capture the flag. We woke up some Ares kid from his midday nap and he yelled at us to go away. When Percy asked him where Clarisse was he said, "Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!"
"Is she okay?"
"Haven't heard from her in a month. She's missing in action. Like your butt's gonna be if you don't get outta here!"
We decided to let him go back to sleep. But I was very curious about what this "top secret" quest could be . . .
Finally we got to Cabin Three, the cabin of Poseidon. It was a low gray building hewn from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock. Inside, it was just as empty as always, except for Percy's bunk. A Minotaur horn hung on the wall next to his pillow.
He took Annabeth's baseball cap out of his backpack and set it on the nightstand. I knew he'd give it to her when we found her. And we would find her.
He took off his wristwatch and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Dr. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that Tyson had crafted were all banged up. In the picture of me, Annabeth, and Percy fighting the Hydra, it looked like a meteor had made a crater in Percy's head. Percy hung the shield on its hook, next to the Minotaur horn, but it was painful to look at now.
"Maybe Beckendorf can fix it for you," I offered. He was, after all, the best armorsmith in camp.
"Yeah," Percy agreed. "I'll ask him after dinner."
We were staring at the shield when we noticed a strange sound—water guggling—and we realized there was something new in the room. At the back of the cabin was a big basin of gray sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Out of its mouth burst a stream of water, a saltwater spring that trickled into the pool. The water must've been hot, because it sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm and summery, fresh with the smell of the sea.
"Umm, I'm guessing you didn't put that there?" I asked.
Percy shook his head. "Nope."
We stepped into the pool. There was no note attached or anything, but we knew it could only be a gift from Poseidon.
Percy looked into the water. "Thanks, Dad."
The surface rippled. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered—a dozen or so golden drachma. I realized what the fountain was for, and I think Percy just did too. It was a reminder to keep in touch with his family.
He opened the nearest window, and the wintry sunlight made a rainbow in the mist. Then he fished a coin out of the hot water.
"Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow," he said, "accept my offering."
He tossed a coin into the mist and it disappeared.
"Who are you going to contact?" I asked.
"Umm . . ." he said, realizing he didn't have anyone in mind before throwing the coin. He hesitated. "Show me Tyson. At the forges of the Cyclopes."
The mist shimmered, and the image of Tyson appeared. He was surrounded in fire, which would've been a problem if he weren't a Cyclops. He was bent over an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. Sparks flew and flames swirled around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water—the bottom of the ocean.
"Tyson!" Percy yelled.
He didn't hear him at first because of the hammering and the roar of the flames.
"TYSON!" We both yelled.
He turned, and his one enormous eye widened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. "Percy! Jasmine!"
He dropped the sword blade and ran at us, trying to give us a hug. The vision blurred and instinctively we both lurched back.
"Tyson, it's an Iris-message," Percy told him. "We're not really here."
"Oh." He came back into view, looking embarrassed. "Oh, I knew that. Yes."
"How are you?" Percy asked. "How's the job?"
His eye lit up. "Love the job! Look!" He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hand. "I made this!"
"That's really cool," I told him.
"I wrote my name on it. Right here."
"Awesome," Percy said. "Listen, do you talk to Dad much?"
Tyson's smile faded. "Not much. Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war."
"What do you mean?"
Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out the window, where it made a cloud of boiling bubbles. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. "Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys."
I knew what he was talking about. He meant the immortals who ruled the oceans back in the days of the Titans. Before the Olympians took over. The fact that they were back now, with the Titan Lord Kronos and his allies gaining strength, was not good.
"Is there anything I can do?" Percy asked.
Tyson shook his head sadly. "We are arming the mermaids. They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow." He looked at his sword blade and sighed. "Old spirits are protecting the bad boat."
"The Princess Andromeda?" I asked. "Luke's boat?"
"Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy's storms. Otherwise he would smash it."
"Smashing it would be good," Percy said.
"It would be very good," I agreed.
Tyson perked up, as if he'd just had another thought. "Annabeth! Is she there?"
"Oh, well . . ." Percy started.
My heart felt like a bowling ball. Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter (and he seriously loved peanut butter, and I didn't blame him). Percy and I exchange eye contact. Neither he nor I had the heart to tell him she was missing. He'd start crying so bad, even worse than me (maybe), he'd probably put out his fires.
"Well, no . . ." Percy said. "She's not here right now."
"Tell her hello!" He beamed. "Hello to Annabeth!"
"Okay." I fought back a lump in my throat. "We'll do that."
"And, Percy, Jasmine, don't worry about the bad boat. It is going away."
"What do you mean?" Percy asked.
"Panama Canal! Very far away."
We frowned. Why would Luke take his demon-infested cruise ship all the way down there? The last time we'd seen him, he'd been cruising along the East Coast, recruiting half-bloods and training his monstrous army.
"All right," Percy said, not seeming reassured. "That's . . . good. I guess."
In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something I couldn't make out. Tyson flinched. "Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, Brother!"
"Okay, tell Dad—"
But before Percy could finish, the vision shimmered and faded and we were alone in his cabin.
We were pretty miserable at dinner that night.
I mean, the food was excellent as usual. You can't go wrong with barbecue, pizza, cheeseburgers, and never-empty soda goblets. The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm, but we all had to sit with our cabin mates. Well, everyone except for me. Since I wasn't demigod, I wasn't exactly assigned to one cabin. I usually sat at the Athena table, tonight, however, was a different night compared to previous nights. This was the first time I had ever been at camp without Annabeth, and that wasn't even by choice. For tonight, I sat at the Hermes table, with Nico and the Stoll brothers because I wanted to keep watch over Nico since his bitch of a sister didn't care to anymore. The Stoll brothers seemed to be trying to convince Nico that poker was a much better game than Mythomagic and Toothless watched them with interest from the other side of the table. I hoped Nico didn't have any money to lose. Not that the Stolls would dare steal it with me around.
Thalia sat alone at the Zeus table; Will with a couple of his siblings at the Apollo table; and Percy at the Poseidon table. At least the Hephaestus and Ares cabins had a few people each.
The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table. The Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoë sat at the head like she was the mama. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant's band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. I thought she looked a lot nicer when she smiled. Bianca seemed to be having a great time. She was trying to learn how to arm wrestle from the big girl who'd picked a fight with the Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl was beating her every time, but Bianca didn't seem to mind.
When we'd finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty halfhearted. Then he announced the "good will" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a lot better reception.
Afterward, we all trailed back to our cabins for an early, winter lights out.
Toothless, Will, and I followed Nico back to the Hermes cabin, where he explained to me about Mythomagic.
"Is that your dragon?" Nico asked me about Toothless.
"Yep," I said. "Come here, Toothless."
He bounded over and nudged his face into Nico's chest. He laughed. "His skin isn't that hard."
"Nope. We keep it pretty clean."
"Can you ride him?"
"Yes, I can. Would you like to try? He wouldn't mind."
Toothless shook his head in agreement.
"Yeah!"
"Jasmine," Travis said sternly. "It's curfew."
"Yeah," Connor agreed. "We're going to get in trouble."
"It's amazing how you two don't care about stealing other people's stuff, but you care about not breaking curfew," I muttered. I turned to Nico. "I'll see you in the morning, buddy. Maybe we can play the game after Capture the Flag."
"Ok!" he said.
I gave him a hug and watched him go into the Hermes cabin until the door closed.
I looked at Toothless. "Can you stay out here tonight and keep an eye on him?"
He nodded. Anything for you. But are you sure you're going to be ok in the cabin tonight?
I hesitated a moment, but I smiled and wrapped my arms around his face. "I will be. And thank you."
I took Will's hand and we walked slowly together toward the Athena cabin.
"He reminds you of Johnathan, doesn't he?" Will said.
I nodded. "He's kind of more adorable. But watching Bianca do that to him . . . I can't imagine doing that to my own brother. And I wouldn't. Especially if we no longer had our parents. Or anybody in our family. Not when he needed me the most. We were taught to look out for each other, no matter what. And I plan on doing just that for Nico."
"You're a good sister."
"I have a good family."
"That you do."
We reached the Athena cabin.
"Are you going to be ok tonight?" Will asked. "With Annabeth not being here?"
I didn't answer. I honestly doubted it, but I didn't want him to worry. He was the only person here, except Thalia, who knew how I really was when Annabeth was gone . . .
I nodded. Will gave a small smile, but he still looked concerned for me. He gave me a kiss good night and headed to his cabin before the harpies scouted around.
I turned the nob to the door and pushed it open slowly. The cabin was just the way we left it from our last visit. All the beds made, everything on the shelves in order, and . . . completely empty. And lonely.
I broke down. Who was I kidding. I could not stay in this cabin by myself all night. Not with Annabeth's empty bed right next to mine when it shouldn't be. I was afraid I was going to wake up the next morning to find the cabin looked like a tornado had hit it from the inside.
I went outside the cabin. I considered walking over to the Apollo cabin and spending the night with Will, but since a couple of his siblings were here, I didn't want either of us going through that embarrassment. And it was against the rules, especially for couples, but I didn't care at this moment. I didn't want to be alone tonight.
There was only one other person I wanted to share a room with that was alone. I headed for the Poseidon cabin, and quickly.
I knocked on the door when I reached it. Percy opened it about ten seconds later.
He raised an eyebrow. "Jasmine? Is everything ok?"
No, I wanted to say.
"Yeah," I replied. "Kind of."
"What's wrong?"
"Can we talk inside? I don't want someone to see us past curfew."
"Yeah. Come in."
I walked in the cabin and sat down on the bunk across from his, trying not to make this awkward.
"So, this is the first time I've ever been at camp without Annabeth," I started. "It feels so wrong, because it pretty much is, and I just can't stay in that cabin without her being there too."
"Oh," Percy said. "So . . . you're going to stay in the Hermes cabin?"
"Umm, actually, I wanted to ask if it would be ok if I could stay here? You seem to be the only one here who understands and cares for Annabeth's absence as much as I do."
"Uh . . ." He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. "Isn't that against the rules?"
"You think I care about the rules right now?"
He shook his head. "No."
"Nope. So is it ok?"
"Uh, sure. You can have the bunk you're sitting on."
"Umm . . ." I pursed my lips. "Actually, I was wondering if it would be ok if I shared your bed with you?"
I couldn't describe Percy's expression. Surprised? Confused? Perhaps a mixture of both. "Uh . . . why?"
"I usually sleep with a stuffed animal, or use Toothless though I tend to almost suffocate him sometimes, because ever since I was young I've always felt the need to hold something while I'm sleeping. But times when I'm upset, like right now, I like to hold another person, knowing that I have the presence of one with me for support."
Percy was still staring at me.
"If it helps, I do that with Annabeth a lot," I said. "She was annoyed by it, but got used to it and is ok with it now. Sometimes I do it with Will too. So is it ok if, I guess, you could be my teddy bear tonight?"
"Just tonight?" he asked.
"Well, it may be every night until we find Annabeth."
"Uh . . . sure."
His face was tight. I couldn't help but laugh.
"I bet you really want Annabeth to be found now," I said.
"Yeah," he agreed, and even let out his own little laugh.
Percy climbed onto his bed, under the covers, and even held them up for me to climb under.
I tried not to jump at him. My heart was beating fast. At times like this, he was so sweet and cute. I was going to enjoy this.
I snuggled up against Percy, wrapping my arms around him, and resting my head against his shoulder. He was so warm. It was very comforting. "Well, if you didn't think I was weird before."
Percy chuckled. "Of all the weird things you do, this definitely takes the cake."
I made myself as comfortable as I could sharing a twin-size bed and closed my eyes. I was exhausted, which meant I fell asleep easily.
This part for The Titan's Curse is probably one of my favorites to write out. This will be the beginning of the kind of friendship that Jasmine and Percy have and will develop more and more from now until the end of this story. Their interactions will be one of my favorites to write on. (Slight spoiler!) Annabeth will eventually have her own similar friendship with someone much, much later on (unfortunately).
There's going to be a couple surprises in the next chapter!
Please review, and please check out my Discord server! at discord . gg / bMFV9g6 (no spaces). Make sure you let me know who you are!
