You know the feeling after you've written your final math test, and a knot in your stomach (which you didn't even know was there) unravels?

That's exactly how I was feeling.

Oh, why?

Should I tell you the short version or the long version? Hmm. Let's go with the short one.

Me and six other demigods had to travel halfway across the world, battle everything on the way, fight the giants, come back, battle Dirt Face (AKA, Gaia, her muddiness), kill her (not really, as she's immortal, and can't be killed, but you get the point), and then finally finish off the rest of her forces.

I guess that's enough to explain the knot unraveling thing. So it was just a norm-

Hey wait! I forgot to introduce myself. I'm sorry; my ADHD does that to me sometimes.

I'm Percy Jackson, a demigod, which means I'm half human and half god. I'm from Manhattan, NY. So I was talking about camp, which is actually Camp Half Blood, one of the only safe places for demigods, or half-bloods. The other one is Camp Jupiter. Here we used to have Greek demigods and in Camp Jupiter they had Roman ones, but now everyone comes and goes in between the camps as they like. I'm in no mood for telling you everything from the beginning, so if you want to know the entire story, go read those books Uncle Rick wrote.

I've saved the world a couple of times, reduced about a hundred monsters to dust, defeated the Titan of Time, literally been over to hell and back, battled The Earth and eaten spinach. Just a little list of all those things that took some guts from me.

By the way, my quests (read: journeys in which I came very close to dying about 20 times a day) have been written down by our official scribe, Uncle Rick.

(Don't ask me why we call him Uncle, I don't know.)

The other six demigods were split in between both camps. Jason and Piper were here. Jason is my best bro next to Grover. Piper is his girlfriend. Jason's Roman, and his dad's Jupiter, the Roman version, sorry, form of Zeus. Piper is Greek and her mother's Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. I had no idea where they were. Probably teaching the newbies at camp.

And oh, my dad's Poseidon, Greek God of seas, earthquakes, horses and some other cool stuff. Just thought I'd mention that, you know, on the passing.

So there I was, chilling out in the sun (is that even possible?) Anyway, I was feeling really contended and relaxed. Now, if there's one thing being a demigod has taught me, when you feel both of those feelings, it's a sure sign that things are gonna go downhill before you can say "holiday."

As if to prove this fact, I heard Grover yelling my name. Grover is my best mate and a satyr: a half goat. Meaning he's got a goat's legs and hooves.

I saw him making his way towards me, rolled over, and got up.

"What is it, G-Man?" I asked, then, seeing Grover's expression, "Is something wrong?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean, you need to come with right now!" He looked totally flustered.

"Whoa! Calm down and tell me what happened," I asked him, but he just shook his head and said, "No time! Come on!"

So of course I had to follow him. So much for a relaxing vacation.

He ran up the rocks like a goat (which is easy for him as he is a goat, or part goat, at least.) I had to tread more carefully, but I wasn't really all that concerned, because even if I fell, I would tumble down and fall right into the sea.

No, I'm not crazy. My dad's Poseidon, God of seas, remember? So water heals me and I can breathe underwater.

We'd reached the main camp. I could just see the Ares and Athena children sword fighting, the Apollo kids shooting arrows at a dragon in the woods, the Hephaestus campers hammering away in the forges, probably building another giant popcorn machine, (Long story) and some of Hecate's daughters turning the Aphrodite girls' dresses, eyes and hair pure red. Just a typical day at camp.

I wasn't really seeing where we were going, so it wasn't a surprise when we reached the Big House. Almost everything new or strange (including demigods) comes there, to meet Chiron. Chiron is our activities director and a centaur. He's got a middle aged man's torso and a horse's lower body. Chiron looks just like any ninth grade English teacher, but he's hundreds of years old and trains heroes.

We entered to find our Oracle, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who is a 17 year old mortal studying in a girls' finishing school. When she's not acting pretty, she gives us prophecies for our quests. She has frizzy red hair and sea green eyes like mine, and ever since she became the oracle, she always looks sort of mysterious.

There was Chiron, in full centaur form. When he's on missions for the camp, he pretends to have a disorder in his legs and stays in a magical wheelchair in which his horse-half can be compacted. But when the ceilings are high enough, he prefers to be in his original form.

And then my eyes fell on the third person in the room. It was a sweet but also somewhat serene looking lady, might've been 25 or so, with corn gold hair decorated with sheaves of barley (I know, not the greatest fashion statement, but whatever) and green eyes, but not sea green like mine. Hers looked more like the color of grass, with brown specks.

She was wearing a green dress with a sort of black poncho over it, so when she moved, it looked like grass rippling. Her dress looked like it was woven from leaves. She had an aura around her that I knew only too well.

She was an Olympian.

And I'd met her twice before, like, not actually talking, but I'd seen her up close, although at that time she'd looked like someone's mom (which she is). The first time, we were in the Underworld and she was in favor of imprisoning me. The second time, it was on Olympus, where the gods were debating on whether to let me stay alive or not. But hey, no hard feelings.

Unless I was completely mistaken, (which is highly possible) this lady was Demeter, Goddess of Plants.

Immortals, especially really powerful ones like Demeter, seldom visit demigods for just saying hello. They're gods, which makes it rather hard to come to your school for open house.

Usually, gods meet us demigods when they need something to be done. Which meant I had a chore for Christmas. Yippee. That's what my present was going to be, some errand.

I've never been really comfortable with one on one meetings with gods, since I don't know whether I should bow, or shake hands, or fall at their feet and scream, "Oh Lord whoever-it-is!" But Demeter looked unsettled, and when the Olympians are unsettled, they blow minor stuff up, like demigods and cities.

So I went with a bow and said in a (I hope) polite voice, "Lady Demeter."

She looked at me, nodded and said, "Perseus Jackson," and went back to talking with Chiron. She spoke really softly, and all Chiron did was nodded when she paused.

I was just thinking that if Demeter was the plant goddess, did that make her the goddess of chocolate as well? Because chocolate comes from seeds, which come from plants, so would that make her the goddess of chocolate, when I heard Chiron saying, "Rachel, are you ready?"

I snapped out of my reverie, and asked, "What do I have to do?"

Chiron sighed and said, "Percy, Lady Demeter's Scythe is missing. No, it's stolen." I knew what was coming.

"So I have to go get it back, right?"

But it was Demeter who replied, "Yes, Perseus, nephew of mine."

I was sort of startled when she called me her nephew, but then I remembered she was my dad's sister, which made her my aunt. Great. A family favor.

The word Scythe brought back bad memories, "But isn't the Scythe Kronos's weapon?"

"Yes Percy, it was Kronos's weapon, but after the first war with the Titans, Lady Demeter preferred using a milder form of the Scythe," Chiron answered, "You have to find it and bring it back." Which was no surprise.

If you're wondering that if Demeter is an all-powerful Olympian, then why can't she just go and bring the Scythe back herself, then here's the thing. Immortals consider themselves above such trivial matters. So they ask demigods to do stuff for them.

"Eh, sure, Lady Demeter," was all I could think of.

"Good. In that case, you shall need a prophecy," said Chiron.

I nodded; intrigued that Demeter wasn't going for searching the Scythe herself. But I let it pass. Immortals are complicated. If you try to understand them, you only get more confused, or blasted to pieces (more than likely.)

"And I suppose there is a deadline?" I asked (There always is.)

But the answer surprised me. Demeter said, "No deadline, hero. But that does not mean I shall be willing to wait a very long time. Take your time, but don't waste it."

She went on,"Good luck, Perseus Jackson. Just some information, your enemy is an immortal. I wish to see you with my Scythe, the next time we meet."

Her voice was pleasant enough, but her eyes carried a hint of "or else..."

I turned to Rachel, about to ask her what my quest was supposed to be, but she'd already closed her eyes and started concentrating. I braced myself. Her eyes opened, glowing acidic green, smoke spewing out of her mouth, I heard the rasping, serpentine voice of the Oracle speaking,

"The child of waves and his closest one,

Shall travel with help from none

They shall find what is lost,

But fail to save it at long last

Ten whole months it shall take,

For sense this quest to make

This one shall not be the last,

The foe's shadow shall still be cast

Helped by friends, but alone in the end,

The hero shall make the foe a friend

Only remorse shall save the Olympians' fates,

Either that or the West shall close its gates."

I just stood there, trying to grasp the meaning of this prophecy. Prophecies are meant to be puzzling, but this one was a little surprising even by my standards, probably because it actually made sense in some parts. If you think that's insane, welcome to the world of Greek Mythology.

But one thing was clear from the first line: the child of waves and his closest one had to do this alone.

The child of waves was obviously me, being the only son of Poseidon alive. As for the closest one, I've known her since six years.

We needed Annabeth Chase.