Chapter 1

Jason Grace's sleep was ruined by the world's worst cruise.

The son of Jupiter was sleeping peacefully in Cabin One of Camp Half-Blood, anxiously waiting for his sister Thalia to arrive in the morning, the first day of spring break. When his sleep was peaceful and devoid of nightmares, Jason hoped it was sign of good things to come. He should've known better.

That's when he heard it. A strange, haunting sort of singing. Jason sat up in his bed. He grabbed his imperial gold wristwatch off the bedside table and checked the time. Three-thirty in the morning. Definitely too early for an Apollo cabin sing-along. Jason grabbed his glasses, strapped on his watch and sword to and ran outside. There, he saw dozen campers headed for the beach. All girls. All dazed and glassy-eyed, walking right out of camp while their brothers and friends watched from their cabins.

"Jason!" Leo Valdez ran over from the Hephaestus cabin, wearing his toolbelt over his pajamas "What the heck is going on?"

Jason summoned the winds and flew up to the top of Cabin One. From there, he could see a luxury cruise ship docked on Long Island Sound. And the girls filling on, one by one.

"There's a boat on the beach!" Jason shouted as he flew down from the roof. "Tell Chiron and go get Festus. We need to keep them from setting sail."

Leo nodded and ran off to Bunker Nine to retrieve his dragon. Jason summoned Tempest and rode out of camp. He tapped a button on his watch, causing it to magically transform into a rectangular shield made of imperial gold. A gift from Tyson the cyclops. As Jason made it to the beach, he jumped off Tempest and flew towards the ship. Through the darkness of night, he had to squint to make out the words written on the hull: C.C.'s Spa and Resort.

A massive wave rose up and slammed Jason right in the chest, knocking him out of the air and crashing into the sand. Jason groaned as he stood up. He only knew one person in the world who could do something like that. But Percy Jackson was an ocean away. And he would never attack Camp Half-Blood. So what in the name of Neptune made the Atlantic ocean sock Jason in the jaw?

"It's Jason, right?" a voice asked.

Jason's eyes widened as he saw someone standing at the bow of the boat, a girl with teal-dye braids in matching leather. An old-fashioned pirate hat adorned her head and a scabbard sword hung off her belt, the hilt encrusted with gold and pearls.

Jason recognized her instantly. "You're Percy's sister. Uma."

"That's my name," the pirate captain said with a cruel smile.

"The girls. Let them go!" Jason demanded, causing thunder to rumble overhead.

"Ooh. Someone has their daddy's temper," Uma coaxed.

"Got that right." Jason flew up and charged at the daughter of Poseidon, only to become lost in a thick white fog when he landed where the boat deck should've been.

Uma laughed as Jason spun in circles. "Tell my brothers I'll see them soon."

"Jason!"

The son of Jupiter paled as heard another voice. "Thalia?"

Jason ran through the fog, racing after his sister's cries, desperate to reach her in time. He found her on Half-Blood hill, battling a massive black dragon. Her clothes tattered and covered in blood. Her quiver was empty, her spear had been split in two. And riding on the dragon's back was Krios, the star-covered Titan of the South.

"Get away from my sister!" Jason shouted. He drew his sword and summoned a bolt of lightning, striking the dragon right in the chest, knocking it out of the sky. Jason summoned the winds and charged at Krios, knocking the Titan off the dragon and onto the fog covered ground. The fog cleared and to his horror Jason realized that he wasn't fighting Krios. "Leo?"

"Yeah man," the son of Hephaestus said nervously "You think you can get that sword out of my face now?"

Jason dropped his sword in shock. "I thought…Thalia…Krios…the dragon." Jason looked turned around and saw Festus lying the sand, a massive electrical burn on the celestial bronze plating that made his chest.

"You were enchanted," said Chiron, the centaur galloping into view with his bow and quiver strapped over his back "The girl, she veiled your sight with the Mist."

Jason looked out over the water, where the cruise ship was quickly sailing over the horizon. Too far away for Jason to catch and Festus was no shape to fly. But it didn't matter. Jason knew where Uma was going. "I need to make a call."

Getting into trouble on the first day of school was new record for Percy Jackson. The day started out normal enough, with a talking dog waking up. But before that, he started hearing voices.

"Percy. Percy!"

The son of Poseidon groaned and swatted at his alarm clock, not even realizing that he had just disconnected an Iris-message. Then the dog came at him.

Percy laughed as the dog excitedly licked his face, deeply grateful that his roommate's dog was no where near as big as his own.

"Okay. Okay. You win Dude," said Percy "You win, I'm up."

"It's senior year baby!" the dog exclaimed excitedly "Let's get to Auradon Prep! Time to rule the school! Whoo-Hoo!"

Percy chucked and scratched Dude behind the ears, looking over at his roommate, Carlos De Vil.

"You ready?" Carlos asked.

"Let's do this."

For the first time in his life, Percy was excited for the first day of school. After ten years of being hunted by monsters the second he walked into home room, the eighteen-year-old son of Poseidon had finally found a school that actually seemed right for him.

Auradon Prep, a magical school in a magical kingdom hidden in the sea of monsters, ran by the princes and princess from all the old Disney movies Percy watched as a child. Princesses that were either demigods or the descendants of demigods themselves. Here, magic and monsters were common knowledge. After helping the king and queen with a little wedding problem, that he may have accidently caused, Percy was allowed to make Auradon his home along with his family and a few of his friends. Now he and Annabeth were going to start thier senior year together with their new friends. Which gave Percy all the more reason to make this school year the best he ever had.

After getting dressed, Percy made a stop down the hall, where Annabeth Chase opened the door.

She was dressed in an orange blouse tucked into a pair of grey plaid trousers. Her curly blonde hair was tied back in her usual ponytail and her grey eyes sparkling.

Even after all they'd been through, the sight of her still made Percy's heart race.

"Morning."

"Good morning," Annabeth repeated right before giving him a kiss "That's a blast from the past."

Percy shrugged as he looked down at his beloved Camp Half-Blood t-shirt. "Been through a lot of rough spots in this shirt. Makes facing the first day school feel like a cake walk. Besides, the VKs say you should never forget where you come from."

"Good advice," Annabeth agreed, fingering her Camp Half-Blood necklace.

"Can you two take a break from getting lost in each other's eyes long enough for us to get to school?" Carlos requested. "Some of us don't live with our girlfriends."

"Good morning, everyone!"

Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen strutted out of the bathroom, like a ray of sunshine. Dressed in her usual tiara and royal blue dress.

If Percy could've picked anyone in the world to be his big sister, he would've picked Evie. The daughter of the Evil Queen was fashionable as a daughter of Aphrodite and as nurturing a daughter of Demeter. When Percy and Annabeth moved to Auradon, she immediately opened her home to them, treating them like family.

"I'll take care of breakfast," She insisted "Can you guys get the little ones up and ready for school?"

"I'll wake the vampire," Percy volunteered, breaking into a mischievous smile.

Annabeth laughed. "You are so bad."

"Well, Carlos did say I would've fit right in on the Isle," Percy reminded. He turned around and opened the door that once belonged to Evie's best friend, Mal.

"Rise and shine, Zombie Dude!" he said loudly, barging in the room that now belonged to the son of Hades.

Nico Di Angelo groaned as he buried his face in his pillow.

"Too. Early," he grunted.

"It's the first day of school freshman," Percy reminded "Sleeping into noon is canceled."

"Jackson, don't you dare. If you touch those curtains, I swear on the Styx I'll," Nico screamed as Percy whipped opened his blackout curtains.

"Your sister made me promise to get you to school on time. And I do not want to end up as dragon barbeque. So, get up. Don't make me get the hose."

"You get me wet, and I will summon an army of the dead to pick the flesh from your bones," Nico warned.

"Evie's making breakfast."

"I'll be down in ten."

Percy laughed. If there was one thing Nico loved more than sleeping in, it was Evie's cooking. After waking the house vampire, Percy went to help Carlos with the twin sons of Smee, Squeaky and Squirmy. Not that he minded. Helping take care of Evie's younger houseguests reminded Percy and Annabeth of being head counselors over at Camp Half-Blood. Which is why they let Celia, Dizzy, Nico and the twins get first crack at breakfast.

The table looked a Mother's Day brunch. Eggs, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit and every kind pastry imaginable.

Evie beamed as she stood at the head of the table. "Breakfast is served."

"Cannoli!" Nico exclaimed, shadow-traveling into the nearest seat and stacking his plate high.

"Evie, this looks incredible," Dizzy gasped.

"And that's not all."

"You made frittata?" Nico asked with a mouthful of cannoli.

"Better." Evie reached under the table and pulled out a stack of boxes.

"Presents!" Squeaky and Squirmy said in unison.

Nico opened the box and pulled out a black leather blazer and a blue silk scarf. "What's all this for?"

"Just a little something to give you some extra flare on the first day of school. It's an old VK tradition. I'll explain it when Carlos and the others come down."

"Incoming!" Carlos called as a bag landed on the bottom of the staircase.

"Percy, hurry up!" Annabeth shouted as she ran down the stairs. "You better not ruin my perfect attendance, Seaweed Brain!"

"I can't find my tourney helmet!" he called "Just go without me."

"You're my ride!"

"What's the rush?" Evie asked "School doesn't start for an hour."

"Percy and I have tryouts before first period," said Annabeth, right before gulping down a glass of orange juice "And Carlos has to help Jane and Fairy Godmother with the first day assembly."

"What about breakfast?"

"Looks like it's going to have to be to go," Percy said as he ran down the stairs with a bag over each shoulder "If we make Dude wait any longer for senior year, he's going to go inside the house."

"Breakfast is served," Annabeth said as she tossed Percy an orange and a blueberry muffin just as an Iris-message started to appear.

Percy caught the food and ended the message before anyone could see it. "Thanks babe!"

"Found your helmet!" said Carlos as he came running down the stairs.

"Let's hustle people!" Dude demanded "Senior year isn't going to rule itself."

"Okay, okay." Carlos chuckled as his dog started pawing at his pant leg. "Take it easy, Dude. We're going."

"Carlos," Evie gave her friend a worried look "You didn't forget, did you?"

"Oh right!" Carlos grabbed a chocolate chip muffin and shoved it into his bag "Most important meal of the day. Race you guys to school?"

"You're on," said Percy "Looser buys lunch!"

Carlos' eyes widened as Percy and Annabeth bolted outside. "Hey that's cheating! I'll call you after class, Evie!"

"Carlos!" Evie chased after her friends as they headed out the door, but it was too late.

Carlos had already mounted his latest creation: an automaton horse made of enchanted steel, and rode off after Annabeth and Percy as they flew to school on the back of the pegasus Blackjack.

Evie watched Carlos as he rode out of sight. He had been spending so much time with Annabeth and Percy lately, Evie felt like she had barely seen him all month. Between Jay off traveling and Mal getting settled into her new role as queen, Evie couldn't help but feel like the VKs were drifting apart.

Evie forced a smile and walked back into the living room. "Alright little ones, hurry up and finish eating. You don't want to be late."

"Good morning, Queen of Auradon," Ben whispered.

Mal smiled as she opened her eyes, fully refreshed from a good night's sleep. The morning sun tickled her face. Her bed was as big and soft as a cloud, facing a balcony that overlooked half the kingdom. And smiling over her was Ben. Her high school sweetheart. Her one true love. Her husband.

"Good morning, King of Auradon," Mal echoed, leaning up to give him a good morning kiss.

"What time is it?"

"Eight-thirty. I had Cogsworth clear our morning for you. Figured you could use a break from all the royal duties. And,"

Mal gasped as Ben stepped away to reveal serving cart full of food, including a fresh batch of strawberry crepes. Mal's favorite.

"I thought this would gives us the chance to enjoy a romantic breakfast in bed."

Mal moaned as Ben hand-fed her a delicious mini-quiche. "You are the greatest husband."

"Only because you are the most amazing, most awe-inspiring wife in the whole, wide world."

Mal giggled as she pulled Ben back into bed, rolling on top of him as they kissed.

"Uh, should we call back later?" Leo asked.

Mal looked up and saw an Iris-message floating above her bed.

"Uh…hi Mal," Jason said with an awkward wave.

Mal screamed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. Her green eyes started to glow as her bluish-purple hair began to smolder. "You two have five seconds to give me one reason why I shouldn't fly down to Camp Half-Blood and barbeque you."

Percy loved tourney. When he first saw Carlos and Jay getting a pickup game started, Percy quickly became intrigued by the sport. It looked like a football, lacrosse and capture the flag all rolled into one. Thanks to all his years at Camp Half-Blood, Percy was able to hold his own with his friends. But when he found out about Jay's scholarship, Percy figured that the best way for him to get into college was to be the best tourney player Auradon Prep had ever seen.

He practiced day and night. He memorized Jay's old playbooks and picked his and Ben's brains for pointers. And when the time finally came for tryouts, Percy blew everyone else out of the water, stacking three points and seven interceptions.

Coach whistled. "Holy cow, Jackson! You got some skills."

Percy grinned as he took off his helmet. "Jay and Carlos taught me a few things."

"He's being modest coach," Carlos insisted "He's a natural."

"I can see that. You know De Vil, when we lost Jay, Ben and Chad, I was worried we were going to have to rebuild. But with you on defense and Jackson as our new starting forward, we just might have another shot at the championship! What number you want, Jackson?"

"Seven."

Percy caught the jersey as the coach tossed it to him. Seven was a special number to Percy. The number of demigods it took to put Gaia back to sleep.

"You think this is good, wait till you see me during swords and shields season."

"You a swordsman too?"

"Since I was twelve."

"Since you were twelve," the coach laughed "Jackson, if you can work a blade half as good as you work a tourney stick, and keep swimming the way you did back at Goode, I can almost guarantee you'll be fighting off college scouts with a stick!"

Percy was buzzing with excitement. A couple months ago, he wasn't even sure he'd make it through high school, now he was on the fast track to being a star athlete.

"We'd better get to the dorms," Carlos suggested "We don't have a lot of time to unpack before classes start."

"You're probably right. I'm all the way in 61R," said Percy.

"You don't say," Carlos said with a sneaky grin.

Percy's eyes narrowed. "What did you do?"

"Might've pulled some strings to make sure you had a top tier roommate for your one and only year at Auardon Prep. Annabeth's going to be bunking with Jane. And that's not all. Take a look at your history book."

Percy's eyes widened as he opened the brand-new hardcover textbook. "It's in Ancient Greek."

"Fairy Godmother reached out to a publisher in Thebes to get textbooks in English, Greek and Latin. She wants to make sure every last one of her students has every chance to succeed."

"I can finally read my textbooks! I'm going to get an A!" Percy vowed.

"An A in what?" Carlos asked with a laugh.

"Anything. Everything! This is going to be the best school year ever!"

"I'll drink to that."

Carlos grabbed a couple of sports drinks from the cooler and handed one to Percy.

"To new beginnings," he said, raising his drink high.

Percy repeated the gesture. "To new friends."

"To senior year!" Dude shouted.

"To senior year!" the others repeated.

"Jackson! DeVil!" coach called "They want you in Fairy Godmother's office."

Evie was not used to quiet. After sixteen years on the Isle and sharing a castle with her best friends, the daughter of the Evil Queen was used to chaotic mornings. Carlos and Jay chasing the Smee twins down the halls. Dizzy and Celia squealing with delight over all the wonders Auradon had to offer. Mal bursting into her room desperate for advice about Ben. Both those days were done. Mal was the newly crowned queen of Auradon. Jay was taking a gap year, exploring Auradon for the perfect place to set up a demigod camp. Carlos was starting his senior year at Auradon Prep with Annabeth and Percy. Which left Evie alone in a small castle that now seemed much too empty.

The daughter of the Evil Queen sighed as she sat alone in her design studio, smiling sadly she glanced at a picture on the dresser, the four original VKs celebrating Ben's coronation. It didn't seem that long ago. And yet, so much changed.

"Longing for the good old days?" a voice asked.

Evie jumped from her seat and spun around. Standing in the middle of her design room was an elegant woman in a long black dress, making tea.

"I know the feeling, my dear."

Evie studied the woman's piercing green eyes. "Mommy?"

"No dear. I am not your mother. But we are family," the woman smiled and outstretched her arms "Come give Grandma C.C. a hug."