Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO all rights belong to rick riordan.

1. My best friend shops for a wedding dress hazel said.

Everyone turned to Grover who blushed. ''why do you all automatically think it was me?'' he whined.

''Because we can't really picture Annabeth shopping for wedding dresses'' Connor said making Percy, Annabeth, Nico and Thalia share a look while everyone else laughed, if only they knew.

''But you can picture me doing that''

''Exactly''

Cue more laughter.

My nightmare started like this.

''Oh great''

I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.

''Everything always relates back to the sea with you doesn't it'' Annabeth said smiling softly at her fiancé, who just grinned impishly and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

Florida, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been to Florida.

Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.

''Called it'' Connor said proud of himself

''No one disagreed with you'' Rachel replied making him pout.

Yeah, I said hooves.

Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don't recommend),

Everyone started laughing at the look on Grover's face.

you'd never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he's got furry hindquarters and hooves.

Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He'd gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn't seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest—a quest no satyr had ever returned from.

''That's really reassuring''

''Shut up''

''Shutting up''

Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground.

Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from ... something.

A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.

Everyone in the throne room paled, hoping that Grover escaped whatever was chasing him.

Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them!

''Warn them about what?'' Thalia asked Grover but he just waved his hand at the book.

I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing. The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered. He'd run into a dead end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.

''Ooohh so you didn't actually buy a wedding dress or wear one'' Apollo said only for those who knew what happened to burst out laughing.

Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses.

The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing—a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food.

Aphrodite grimaced in disgust as did the majority of the room.

Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on.

Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.

''Dammit Grover you just jinxed yourself'' Luke muttered and Grover smiled sheepishly.

Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIIINE!"

''Someone's possessive'' Travis said wiggling his eyebrows suggestively only to get whacked by Katie.

I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.

There was no storm. No monster.

Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.

I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass—a humanlike shape. But then there was a knock on my bed-room door—my mom called: "Percy, you're going to be late"—and the shadow at the window disappeared.

Everyone but Percy, who grinned and held Annabeth closer, and Annabeth looked quite worried at the prospect of something being outside his window.

It must've been my imagination. A fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape ... there couldn't have been anyone out there.

''Sure, there couldn't seaweed brain'' Annabeth whispered kissing the underside of his jaw.

"Come on, dear," my mother called again. "Last day of school. You should be excited! You've almost made it.'"

''Almost made what''

"Coming," I managed.

I felt under my pillow. My fingers closed reassuringly around the ballpoint pen I always slept with.

''That sounds really strange Perce''

I brought it out, studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos. Riptide.

I thought about uncapping it, but something held me back. I hadn't used Riptide for so long….

''Never go a long time without using your weapon Percy- it makes you rusty'' his father advised and Percy nodded his head agreeing.

Besides, my mom had made me promise not to use deadly weapons in the apartment after I'd swung a javelin the wrong way and taken out her china cabinet.

''Oh Percy'' Annabeth sighed whilst everyone else laughed.

I put Anaklusmos on my nightstand and dragged myself out of bed.

I got dressed as quickly as I could. I tried not to think about my nightmare or monsters or the shadow at my window.

Have to get away. Have to warn them!

What had Grover meant?

''That's what we want to know'' Nico said but Percy just winked at him.

I made a three-fingered claw over my heart and pushed outward—an ancient gesture Grover had once taught me for warding off evil.

They thought back to the first book when Percy had made that gesture and Gabe had gone flying up the stairs. The thought made them grin

The dream couldn't have been real.

Last day of school. My mom was right, I should have been excited. For the first time in my life, I'd almost made it an entire year without getting expelled.

Everyone looked gob smacked; so much so that Percy didn't know whether to be offended or not.

No weird accidents. No fights in the classroom. No teachers turning into monsters and trying to kill me with poisoned cafeteria food or exploding homework. Tomorrow, I'd be on my way to my favorite place in the world—Camp Half-Blood.

The demigods all looked happy thinking of camp half-blood like that, even hazel and frank had to admit it was a pretty amazing place.

Only one more day to go. Surely even I couldn't mess that up.

''Really seaweed brain, you just had to say that, didn't you?'' Annabeth said and felt him shrug his shoulders.

As usual, I didn't have a clue how wrong I was.

My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast. She's funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.

''I love how you passing seventh grade is a miracle'' Nico cackled.

I ate at the kitchen table while my mom washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform—a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn't digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. "Percy, are you all right?"

"Yeah ... fine."

''Don't lie to your mother'' Hera said but she was ignored.

But she could always tell when something was bothering me. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. "School, or ..."

She didn't need to finish. I knew what she was asking.

"I think Grover's in trouble," I said, and I told her about my dream.

She pursed her lips. We didn't talk much about the other part of my life. We tried to live as normally as possible, but my mom knew all about Grover.

''Of course, she would know about me''

"I wouldn't be too worried, dear," she said. "Grover is a big satyr now. If there were a problem, I'm sure we would've heard from ... from camp... ." Her shoulders tensed as she said the word camp.

The demigods who didn't know what happened frowned.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said. "I'll tell you what. This afternoon we'll celebrate the end of school. I'll take you and Tyson to Rockefeller Center—to that skateboard shop you like."

''Do you still skateboard?'' Leo asked and Percy nodded.

''Sometimes, but I didn't really get to that much y'know with the quests and stuff'' he answered.

Oh, man, that was tempting. We were always struggling with money. Between my mom's night classes and my private school tuition, we could never afford to do special stuff like shop for a skateboard. But something in her voice bothered me.

"Wait a minute," I said. "I thought we were packing me up for camp tonight."

She twisted her dishrag. "Ah, dear, about that ... I got a message from Chiron last night."

My heart sank. Chiron was the activities director at Camp Half-Blood. He wouldn't contact us unless some-thing serious was going on. "What did he say?"

"He thinks ... it might not be safe for you to come to camp just yet. We might have to postpone."

''WHAT?'' Poseidon shouted.

"Postpone? Mom, how could it not be safe? I'm a half-blood! It's like the only safe place on earth for me!"

"Usually, dear. But with the problems they're having—"

All the gods and some of the demigods looked pretty confused.

"What problems?"

"Percy ... I'm very, very sorry. I was hoping to talk to you about it this afternoon. I can't explain it all now. I'm not even sure Chiron can. Everything happened so suddenly."

''What happened suddenly?''

My mind was reeling. How could I not go to camp? I wanted to ask a million questions, but just then the kitchen clock chimed the half-hour.

My mom looked almost relieved. "Seven-thirty, dear. You should go. Tyson will be waiting."

''Whose Tyson'' some of the gods asked.

"But—"

"Percy, we'll talk this afternoon. Go on to school."

''We never did get that talk'' Percy said to Annabeth.

That was the last thing I wanted to do, but my mom had this fragile look in her eyes—a kind of warning, like if I pushed her too hard she'd start to cry. Besides, she was right about my friend Tyson. I had to meet him at the subway station on time or he'd get upset. He was scared of traveling underground alone.

I gathered up my stuff, but I stopped in the doorway. "Mom, this problem at camp. Does it... could it have anything to do with my dream about Grover?"

She wouldn't meet my eyes. "We'll talk this afternoon, dear. I'll explain ... as much as I can."

Reluctantly, I told her good-bye. I jogged downstairs to catch the Number Two train. I didn't know it at the time, but my mom and I would never get to have our afternoon talk.

In fact, I wouldn't be seeing home for a long, long time.

Poseidon sighed resigned in the fact that his son was going to get into even more trouble.

As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street. Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight—a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.

Annabeth saw her mother glance at her from the corner of her eye.

Then it rippled and vanished.

''That's it'' Hazel said ''who's next?'' she asked and Rachel held up her hand.

''I will'' the red head announced and Hazel tossed her the book.

2. I play dodgeball with cannibals Rachel began.

AN: So how was that, did you like it? Please R&R. Thanks for reading.