Tristan Hale did the unthinkable. He cut one of the heads off of the hydra.

He cursed loudly, and ran. He just couldn't win today. First he finds out this morning that he was in all the way over in Vermont and not New York, then he runs into a hydra and ends up cutting off one of the heads before he had something to sear the necks.

He just wanted to get to the camp and crash in a bed. He was so tired.

And if he didn't get some sort of victory, his mother would never claim him.

The goddess of victory had children who were driven, who strove to win—at times completely disregarding the cost.

That's what had set him on the path toward camp. He had really messed things up at home. He had been so focused on winning that his half-brother had almost died. His dad had railed into him, they had a huge fight, and Tristan got the heck out of there before he hurt his other half-siblings.

If his step-mom had let them take swimming lessons, it wouldn't have been up to Tristan to make sure they didn't accidentally drown themselves despite the life-jackets, water wings, and various other flotation devices that she decked them out in.

He somersaulted forward, then launched himself to the side as he heard the hydra spit acid his way. He had to be getting close now.

If he wasn't, then he would have to come up with a seriously good plan to try and burn the hydra after cutting off all of the heads. Right now, all he had was a lighter that some drunk had dropped and a couple of tissues. That wouldn't be enough to fry the monster.

He let out a yelp as the acid just barely missed him again.

"Look, mom! That dog is attacking the kid!"

Great. Mortals.

At least this time they were sort of on his side.

He ran for all he was worth, down the street, still trying figure out where that truck had dropped him.

There! A sign.

Keeseville, New York.

Well, at least he was in the right state now.

And he was heading out of town, so hopefully it was the right direction. He'd have to find a map once he wasn't being chased by a multi-headed serpant-hound of death.

That's when things got weird.

He ran into this teenager.

Tall, brown hair, green eyes, lanky and freckled—the kid didn't look like much, especially in the clothes he was wearing.

But his sword said otherwise.

The teenager sliced off the head of the hydra, then chanted something and the creature turned into an inferno.

Tristan stared, not sure whether he should be impressed or scared.

A man appeared and held out a hand. "You alright?"

Tristan took the hand and got up. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just exhausted."

The teen examined him warily. "Are you a camper?"

"I…haven't made it to the camp yet. So I guess not. How far away am I?"

The teen looked disgusted. "Don't bother going. It's a place for people who want to blindly follow the gods. Only idiots go there."

"Where do you suggest then, because I've been out here for weeks and I'm tired. I just want to be safe." Tristan was starting to lose his patience.

"Alabaster, if you want people to listen to you you're going to have to given logical reasons for your beliefs." The man said.

Was that actually…

Why could he see through the man?

Alabaster saw him trying to figure it out and sighed. "He's kind of like a mistform. But with a consciousness."

"Right, because I know what that is. Look, I just want to get somewhere where I can sleep without getting attacked. So which way?"

"Depends on where we are," Alabaster said.

"Somewhere called Keeseville."

Alabaster and the man exchanged uneasy looks.

"How about we see you as far as the next town and point it out on a map for you?" the man offered.

Alabaster didn't look especially pleased with that answer.

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's go."

"Or don't." A new voice said. A woman's voice.

They all turned, weapons ready (well, the man didn't have a weapon…).

She arched an eyebrow. "Please, I could have killed all of you if I wanted to. You want a safe place to sleep, you two want to get away from that town without going somewhere that bends to the whims of the gods. So come with me."

"Right, a perfect stranger," Alabaster snarled.

"Who knows who you are. Alabaster C. Torrington, most powerful child of Hecate currently. Doctor Howard Claymore, recently deceased and now a mistform. Tristan G. Hale, son of Nike, who is still haunted by the mistake his obsession caused him to make." Her blue eyes fixed on him, intense and yet understanding. "I run a place for misfits. People who have nowhere else to go, and who aren't ready for life at either of the camps. People like me, who are cursed and exiled. Granted, I wasn't exiled because of a war. I just mostly stayed out of that."

Alabaster's eyes widened slightly. "You were there…at every port we made. You were there."

Tristan didn't know what was going on.

She just smiled. "It great target practice. All those monsters in one place. I had a bit of a beef with a couple and they were hiding on the ship. I'm Allison by the way." She waved her hand and a portal opened behind her. "Tristan, we can prepare you for camp. Get you directly there without travel. You can even just sleep for the night and leave in the morning. It's up to you. Alabaster, Dr. Claymore, you both look like you could use a good nights sleep as well. If mistforms do sleep. The gods will never know you were there. They have no power there. It had to be that way."

Dr. Claymore looked like he wanted to agree.

Tristan stepped forward. "I can leave for the camp whenever?"

She nodded. "Of course. Until then you'll be in a cabin with a few other boys, three meals a day and only one scheduled activity."

"But it's safe."

"No monsters can get in," She said reassuringly.

Tristan nodded. "I'm in."

She nodded and looked at Alabaster.

"I can leave when I want?"

"I'll even put you and Dr. Claymore in your own cabin if you like." Allison shrugged a bit, like it didn't even matter.

"What's the catch?"

"No catch," She replied, looking worried. "Should there be a catch? I always thought you should just sort of help your fellow demigod."

"How do I know you're not just like Camp Half-blood?"

"You don't. Neither do I, really. I've never been. All I can tell you is that it's a community. Oh, there is a catch. You don't hurt my kids, and you do not reap strife. I will kick you out of my camp so fast and so hard that you'll reach the great wall of China in ten seconds flat. Got it?" She held out her hands.

Tristan took the one.

Alabaster grudgingly took the other, then did something with Dr. Claymore. "Got it."

She smiled, then jerked them back with her.

There was a sort of snap and the whole scenery changed.

"Welcome to Camp Northpoint."