PERCY

The next morning, I make myself some cereal, and then head out to Camp Half-Blood, calling out, "See yah, Mom!" on the way out. I hear a faint, "Bye Percy!" when I was outside of the door. I cab-whistle so loud that every taxi within, like, 5 blocks came rushing towards me. But I wave them all away, and wait as Mrs. O'Leary fades out of the shadows.

"Hi Mrs. O'Leary! Nice to see you again. Could you take me to Camp?" Mrs O'Leary whines in agreement. I hop on, and she runs towards a tree, melting into the shadows right on time.

"Hey, Percy!" "PERCY'S HERE!" "YAY, Percy training time!"

I smile as a bunch of little voices from the newest campers echo in my ears. I love training them in sword fighting. They aren't that young, the youngest being 9, but they seem so small and innocent to me. They shouldn't have to grow up so quickly. It's not fair.

"Percy? Percy, why are you angry?" I look down to see Kaylie, a 10 year old daughter of Nike. She isn't super competitive like most of her siblings, she just tries her hardest at everything, and she's pretty good at everything she does. Honestly, she is probably my favorite newbie.

"I'm not angry, Kaylie. I'm just a little sad. Thinking about some things."

"No, Percy! Don't be sad!" Kaylie runs at me and hugs me around the legs. I soften and go onto my knees so I can hug her back. "Don't worry Kaylie. Everything will be fine. Let's start on some training!"

The kids cheer. I uncap Riptide and watch as the kids' jaws drop in amazement. I love the wonder in their eyes. I will try my hardest to make sure that it is never extinguished. "Okay, so today, I'll match you with a weapon."

The kids lined up, Kaylie in the front, her eyes shining with stars. I smile down at her, then turn around and rummage through my stack of daggers, knives, swords, maces, hammers, chains, and Expando duckies. All Celestial Bronze or Imperial Gold, of course. Basically a demigod's dream stack of items. I think for a little, then pull an Imperial Gold dagger out of the stack. I hand it to Kaylie. "Okay Kaylie, go practice on that dummy over there."

I go through the whole line of kids, giving each one a weapon, then telling them to go practice on a dummy. Once I've given the last kid, Jamie, a son of Hephaestus, a hammer. I go to the center of the training arena. "All right everyone, listen up!" All the kids turn towards me. "We are going to be learning a couple of defensive maneuvers." I demonstrate a couple of moves with my sword, and watch with some glee as the kids clumsily follow. They're so adorable. I let them practice for about half an hour against the dummies, then tell them that class is over.

Annabeth comes up to me, her grey eyes sparkling with some plan or idea that she hasn't put to use yet. They're always like that now, always ready for something to do. I smile when I see her, and follow her to my cabin.

"Tomorrow! Camp Jupiter is coming here! It's technically a peace summit, but it's just an excuse to see Reyna, and Frank, and Hazel again."

I grin, thinking about seeing the Romans again. I've missed them so much, even if I have been Iris messaging them all the time.

"Leo is also really excited. He can't wait to see Hazel again." I narrow my eyes. I thought Leo was over his crush on Hazel?

Annabeth sees my expression. "No, Percy, not like that. Didn't you notice? They became really good friends on the Argo II. He hasn't seen her since he," she chokes a bit, "died."

I wince. "Dying… doesn't seem fun." I remember Calypso. "Hey, at least he's with Calypso now. They really are good together."

Annabeth scowls. I pale, remembering how I once landed on Calypso island. Annabeth does not like Calypso. I kiss her on the top of the head, and she melts into me, and we just hold each other for a little while.

I hear a little chuckle. Piper is leaning against the abalone walls of Cabin 3. "You two are just so cute together. I'm not like my siblings, but I can tell when a match is made in Elysium." I blush a bit. My Wise Girl goes and punches Piper in the arm. She just laughs. "See ya, love birds!"

I turn back to Annabeth. "So all of the demigods at both camps are going to be there? That'll be awesome!" Then my smile turns into a confused frown as something occurs to me. "What about Nico and Will? Aren't they in France together?"

"Yeah, they'll be coming a day late. But the Seven haven't all been together in a year. It'll be so exciting to see Hazel again!" I smile, remembering the bonds Annabeth and Hazel formed on the Argo II. Annabeth was like Hazel's older sister. She introduced her to all of her favorite series, and now Hazel and Annabeth fangirl over Harry Potter, Divergent, The Hunger Games, and like, all the other books. What, you expect me to remember them all? I have ADHD, I didn't even listen when Annabeth listed all the books for me.

I jump up. "Oh gods! Annabeth! I promised the kids that I would play with them on the beach right now, I have to go. Love you!" I rush off towards the beach, where the little kids are all waiting for me to arrive so I can make the ocean a lot more fun than usual.

"Hey, kids! Sorry I'm late. I lost track of time." They beamed up at me, not caring that I was late, only that I was here now. I waved my hand, and the kids all laughed as the ocean sprayed a mist that got them all wet. From time to time, I pulled my hand towards myself like I was yanking a rope, and jets of water shot out, slipped under a kid and threw them sky high. I caught them on a stream of water that I directed into a geyser-ish thing that I made, which caught the kids and safely deposited them on the beach.

I love how joyful they are. Their laughs and screams of delight are so shrill, but they are so small and tiny. I can't wait for tomorrow. I bet Hazel will love all of the kids, especially Kaylie.

Speaking of Kaylie… "PERCY PERCY PERCY!" I laugh as Kaylie jumps into my arms. "Hey Kaylie? How are you doing?"

"Percy, can you put me on a slidey thing? Pleeeeeease?" I chuckle and pull the stream of water out of the ocean. Kaylie jumps right on and gets blasted up about 15 feet from the ocean. She lands on the water slide and zooms down to the geyser, which blows her onto the beach. She laughs and yells, and then dives right back in the water. I smile. Another perfect day at Camp Half-Blood.