PERCY

'You three are half-bloods,' Annabeth told them.

'What does that mean?' Piper asked, slightly guarded.

'She means we're demigods. Half-god, half-human.' Percy said.

'You seem to know a bit, don't you, Percy? But yes, you're right. My mother is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch is the child of Ares, the war god, and Jeffrey is a son of Apollo, the god of archery.'

Annabeth explained of the camp. It would train them to fight monsters and learn Ancient Greek. Annabeth then explained the cabins. 'Each cabin is made for an Olympian. The twelve Olympians, you know, Zeus, Hera, etcetera.'

'Do you mean Jupiter, Juno, Neptune and the others?' Percy asked.

Annabeth frowned slightly. 'I guess, those are the Roman names for the gods.' Suddenly, a burst of wind shook the chariot. A lightning bolt struck the left wheel. 'Porkpie! Blackjack! What's going on?'

Storm spirits, boss! Blackjack shouted. Porkpie just whinnied nervously. 'We're being attacked by venti!' Percy told the others. 'Anemoi Thuellai?' Butch asked worriedly. Suddenly, two smoky horses appeared in front of the chariot. Blackjack gulped. 'Wait…' Piper began, 'weren't they supposed to be people?'

'They can change form between people, or stallions, depednding on how chaotic,' Annabeth explained. 'Hold up. You three, keep still.' Percy, Leo and Piper nodded and sat down.

Butch unsheathed a sword, The other boy nocked an arrow, and Annabeth drew a fine dagger. Blackjack and Porkpie picked up speed. The venti charged. The venti flew downward, and disappeared. Percy's vision went blank. When it came back the chariot was hovering over a place with a wall that seemed to be on fire, a bunch of Greek-style temples and a forest near a lake attached to a span of ocean by a river.

'Uh oh,' Percy managed and the the chariot began to fall at surprising speed into fall into a lake. But then it stopped. Percy opened his eyes and realised that there was a bubble forming around the chariot.

Wow, boss. I knew you would be cool, but this is legendary! Blackjack acknowledged. Porkpie agreed.

'Who's doing that? What is going on?' Annabeth asked. She turned to Percy and gasped. Percy smiled before trying to make them land. The bubble came down to shore. The water flew back to the lake, where some girls with long black hair and yellow, glowing eyes were standing. They bowed to Percy before jumping into the lake. A few people started gathering around Annabeth and asking questions. Percy noticed that they all had the same orange camp shirt. Butch and Jeffery were talking to each other about something.

'So, uh, what do you think is going on?' Leo asked Piper.

'I don't know.' Piper admitted. Percy was pretty confused himself. This camp seemed vaguely familiar, Annabeth seemed like she knew Percy from somewhere before. The camp was situated on Long Island Sound, as Annabeth told the trio before. The camp was on top of a hill, Half-Blood hill, and had twelve cabins, a lava climbing wall, a lake, a beach, a big house, a cave, a forest, a medical centre and a dining area. The weather was also controlled within the boundaries. Annabeth beckoned a satyr, as Coach called it, forward and whispered something to him. He was two or so inches shorter than Annabeth, and had the start of a wispy beard. He glanced and Percy, then Piper and nodded. Suddenly, a crowd of more campers came near the lake. They looked at Percy and whispered stuff like, 'Do you think he did it?', 'Wow.', 'Wait… where's Jason?', and 'Who's child are they?'

A boy with a bow and quiver walked up to Annabeth and growled, 'I let you borrow my chariot, Annabeth. Not break it.'

'I'll fix it, Will,' Annabeth frowned.

'Wait,' another boy said, 'these guys are like 16! How are they not claimed?'

'What is claiming, exactly?' Piper asked. Suddenly, a red light glowed from behind Percy. He turned around and saw a giant symbol floating on top of Leo's head. A fiery red hammer. Percy's first thoughts to it were: The symbol of Vulcan. 'What?' Leo looked at everyone, then turned and yelped. A camper muttered, 'That's not good. The curse of Hephae-'

'Silence,' Annabeth warned. She looked at Percy carefully, studying his arms. He felt a bit unnerved. 'Come here, Percy.' Percy did as he was told. She grabbed his arm and showed him a tattoo. 'I've never seen these marks before,' she gestured to the eagle that had the letters SPQR underneath it. 'It looks like it was burned into your skin.'

'It was,' Percy says automatically. His brain suddenly ached and he winced. 'At least, I think it was.' Some campers started crowding over Percy to see the tattoo. An Asian girl made herself known by sliding in too close to Percy and saying, 'Nice tattoo, my love.' Percy didn't like her. At all. 'THE HAMMER IS AFTER ME!' Leo shouted.

'Isn't that the symbol of Vulcan?' Percy asked Annabeth. Annabeth looked at him carefully. Then at his tattoo, then him again. 'That's his Roman name. We call him Hephaestus. Hey, Will? Give a tour to Hammerhead over there.' Will nodded and began walking to Leo, who was breathing heavily and glaring at the vaporizing symbol. Annabeth turned to the weird girl. 'Can you tour Piper, please?' she asked. The girl looked at Piper and shrugged before walking to Piper, but not before winking slyly at Percy. People started leaving once Annabeth disbanded them. 'Come on, Percy. Let me show you around.'

Percy quickly realized that Annabeth was only half interested in touring him. She had bags under her eyes and was trudging slowly. Percy stopped walking and she turned to look at him. 'Why did you stop?' she questioned. Percy didn't answer. He just grabbed her arms and made her sit on the grass. 'How long have you been searching for your boyfriend?'

'A few days.' Annabeth sighed. 'We were on Christmas break and we were so happy. We played in the snow and drank hot chocolate and had so much fun. He disappeared mysteriously on the second day.' Percy stayed silent as Annabeth told him everything. Soon, she stopped. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-'

'No, no. I made you talk to me. You were bottling so much that I thought I'd help you get it all out.' Annabeth looked at Percy and smiled slightly. He grinned back at her and stood up. 'Come on, then. You still have to show me around.'

The tour went great after that. Percy got to meet Piper's tour guide, Grover the satyr, and saw the canoe lake, the lava wall, the dining area and a bunch of other cool places. 'So, this is the battle arena. We use arrows, swords, spears, guns and a few more weapons.'

'Isn't that sort of dangerous?' Percy asked.

'That's sort of the point,' Annabeth replied. Percy started laughing. Annabeth looked at him weirdly. 'Why are you laughing?'

'That's sort of the point. Point! Sword tips!' Percy laughed again. A grin broke across Annabeth's face, and it actually reached her eyes. 'Well, I'm glad I can make a pun. Let's go. I still have to show you the cabins.'

After a while, they reached the cabins. They were all arranged in a U shape. One was badly painted in red, with barbed wire on the top. There were two other ones that seemed to shine brightly. The gold one was probably from the sun god, Sol. 'The shiny ones are for Sol and Diana?' Percy guessed.

'Apollo and Artemis in Greek mythology, but yes. That's right. You know quite a bit, don't you?'

'I'm not sure how I know it though. It's a bit unsettling.' Annabeth looked at Percy like he just dropped from the sky. 'What?'

'Big word of the day, huh? Unsettling?'

'I'm not that stupid.' Percy retorted. Then something caught his attention. Sand glittered on the surface as waves broke on the edge. The sun beat heat down on the waves, making them glow. 'Hello?' Annabeth waved her hand in front of his face.

'Oh, yeah. Are we allowed to go swimming there?' Percy asked, gesturing to the beach.

'Yeah, do you want to?'

'Of course I do. Now, come on, let's go!' Percy grabbed Annabeth's arm and dragged her along. He reached the beach, was about to lead Annabeth into the water but Annabeth pulled away, and whispered, 'I can't swim.'

'Why not?' Percy asked.

'My mother, Athena, is rivals with the god of the seas, Poseidon.' Percy stood still. 'Oh,' was all he could say. Then he gave her a lopsided grin. 'Well, you said we had to go to Chiron, right? We can come back here later, so I can teach you how to swim.'

Annabeth smiled at him. 'Sure,' she said. 'Let's go meet Chiron.'

Percy was not expecting a centaur. Nor was he expecting Chiron the centaur, trainer of Hercules. But of course it just manages to happen. Chiron had a brown beard that wasn't actually as long as a 450-something year old man should have had. It was brown and short, and he had kind eyes. He had a quiver slung over his back. His bottom half was the body and legs of a strong, brown stallion. He was sitting on a comfortable chair with a wooden one just opposite him. Those weird happy-sad masks that were in theatres hung from a wall. Wine bottles were labeled and placed neatly in drawers. Near the fireplace was a stuffed leopard head. It growled and Percy stepped back. 'No Seymour.' Chiron said to the leopard, who snarled and stared back at the fireplace.

'Hello, Perseus Jackson, I hear you can make bubbles appear out of nowhere,' was the first thing Chiron said.

'News travels fast,' Percy muttered. Annabeth giggled. Chiron looked at her and raised an eyebrow but said nothing. 'So, Percy. Tell me about yourself.'

'Um, I have no idea who I am. Piper and Leo seem to have memories of me, but I don't remember anything.'

Chiron nodded. 'And the weapon in your pocket?' Percy stopped breathing. Annabeth looked at Chiron. 'How did you know?' Percy asked.

'You put your hand in your left pocket when you first saw me, as if it was a habit.' Percy couldn't even respond to that. It was true, of course. He had done that. It was strange how Chiron had noticed such a small detail.

'Can you show me the weapon?' Percy nodded, and took out the pen. 'Lanioaestus,' Percy heard Chiron mutter. 'Latin for Riptide.'

'Yes.' Percy looked at Chiron. Chiron observed the pen one final time before throwing it out the window. Percy still stood there. 'Perseus? I just threw your pen outside.'

'It comes back in my pocket,' Percy replied calmly. His brain suddenly ached. 'At least, I think so.' Annabeth looked at them weirdly and Percy realized something. Chiron nodded. 'I was speaking to you in Latin and you translated easily. Very few demigods, even children of Athena can do that.' He put his hand in Percy's pocket and retrieved the same pen. 'As I thought,' Chiron said. 'This pen once belonged to Hercules himself.' He pulled out the lid and suddenly was holding a meter-long gold sword. 'Imperial gold. Very rare. Another substance that can kill monsters.'

'I don't know how I got that pen.'

'But I do,' Chiron replied. 'You come from the- wait. I swore on the River... Well, you two may leave. I have to-' He stopped in mid-speech, like someone had hit his stomach but he didn't move again. Percy looked at Annabeth but she was also frozen. Perseus Jackson. Percy grabbed Riptide from Chiron's grasp and turned slowly. Venti, he thought. 'How did you get here?' he asked to nothing in particular. He looked at Seymour and the leopard's mouth opened. A mist formed in the air and a woman in goatskin clothing appeared. I have been awaiting you, she said, as if she hadn't just came out of a predator's mouth.

'I don't know you.' Percy said.

But I know you. I have your memories and am holding them hostage. Percy really didn't like this woman.

'You stole them? Why?'

I cannot tell you. But free me and I will give you back your memories.

'How do I know if I can trust you?' The woman shrugged and turned back into mist. The mist slowly went back into Seymour's mouth. '-think about this for a while.' Chiron suddenly said. Then he looked at Percy, then his hand, then Percy and said, 'But- you… where? You were sitting there and- the pen- what?'

'I don't mean to alarm you, but I think your leopard just ate a goddess.'

'I see.' Chiron frowned and creases appeared on his forehead. 'I think that the woman was Juno, since she was wearing goatskin, and goat is one of her sacred animals.'

Annabeth scowled. 'It is? I never knew that.'

'That's because it's Juno's sacred animal, not Hera's.' Chiron told her. Suddenly Grover and a red-headed girl rushed into the room. In their hands was an unconscious Piper. 'We need help,' Grover said. 'She's passed out.'

Percy rushed to them, followed by Annabeth and Chiron, and helped them carry Piper to the infirmary. Once she was resting in a soft bed, Percy turned to the red-haired girl, who had introduced herself as Rachel the mortal Oracle, and asked, 'What happened to her?'

'I was showing her the cabins when she thought she had to enter Hera's cabin. There we met Rachel, who said it had something to do with… Jason's disappearance.' Grover took a shaky breath. 'Rachel was talking to Piper before she suddenly grabbed her shoulders and said something like-'

'She had to be freed.' Percy guessed.

'Yes.' Rachel looked confused. 'How did you know?'

Percy turned back to Chiron. 'I think Juno is trapped… and someone has to go save her.'

Wow. I got so many messages from you guys. You are all awesome. Sorry I haven't been sharing chapters for a while, but school grasps you and keeps hold of you with its ungrateful, cold hands before letting you free for the weekend. I have got a few emails suggesting Percabeth officially happens during MoA. So, that is what's happening! Anyway, hope to see you soon.

Oh… wait! I nearly forgot! Please review!

-Anaklusmos3000