Percy looked behind him. Clarisse, from Cabin Five, Ares, sauntered toward us, with three girls behind her, big, ugly, and mean like her, all wearing camo jackets.

"Clarisse," I sighed. "Go polish your spear or something."

"Sure, Miss Princess," Clarisse sneered, giving me attitude as worse than Percy. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"Erre es korakas!" I cursed at her, meaning Go to the crows! in Greek. It was a worse curse than it actually sounded. "You won't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you." Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. She wasn't so sure she could follow through the threat. I mean, they've lost to my team so many times. She turned towards Percy. "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson," I introduced. "Meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

Percy blinked. "Like… the war god?"

Clarisse sneered once more. "You got a problem with that?"

"No," He said, recovering his wits. "That explains the bad smell."

Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy," He corrected.

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse-" I tried to say, but she interrupted me.

"Stay out of it, Wise Girl." Clarisse told me. I flinched. Only Xavier called me that. Connor and Travis… I'll get my hands on those two… "Go get back to your boyfriend. I'll deal with this one." I looked pained, and I did stay out of it. After Clarisse came into Camp, all the new campers got the facewash. Lucky me, because I got here right before Clarisse. Percy handed me the Minotaur horn, as if he was ready to fight. But he got dragged to the bathroom anyway.

I stood at the corner, and watched through my fingers. I couldn't hear anything, because of Clarisse's goons jeering at Percy. Then, all of a sudden, the plumbing started rumbling, the pipes shuddering. Clarisse then was shot straight out of the stall by a stream of water, and Percy came out of it. Her friends came by her to help her, but other jets of water blasted them in the face.

Xavier suddenly appeared in front of me, getting me out of the bathroom as far as possible, but close enough to see what was going on. The showers started rushing out water, pushing the camouflage girls straight out of the bathroom. And suddenly, another stream came right towards me and Xavier, but he covered me and got wet himself. The water shut off as quickly as it started. Then he magically got all of the water on his body to disappear. "Thanks," I told him.

"No problem," He replied. Xavier, somehow, always smelled like your favorite thing. Mine, fresh paper. Other girls say it's something else, but that's their thing. He was always going to save me in the worst possible events. He swore by the River Styx to protect me, and somehow, my mother, Athena, had no problem with that. Every girl in camp liked him. Gentle, funny, handsome, charming, he was the best person you could possibly think of. You need help, he's there.

Percy came forward to us, shaking a little bit. Maybe because Xavier was right there, or that was how he reacted to what just happened. Xavier put his hand out. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier, Percy. Let me make it up to you, okay? Anything you need." Still shaking, Percy slowly took Xavier's hand and shook it. The entire bathroom behind Percy was flooded. There goes our water bills.

"How'd you-" I started.

"I don't know," Percy replied to the question I barely even asked. He was barely even wet.

Clarisse and her friends were in mud, and a bunch of other campers gathered around to gawk. Her hair was flattened on her face, clothes sopping wet. She smelling strongly of sewage. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."

He should have let it go, but then he asked, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth." Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her towards Cabin Five, campers making way to avoid Clarisse's flailing feet. After Clarisse and her goons were gone, the campers all stared at us. Percy looked at them, their eyes following towards us. A most of the campers snickered. We looked at Percy with an expression that asked What is it? He nodded towards our bodies.

Xavier and I were still clinging onto each other, holding hands. Quickly, we tore off from each other, looked at the ground and blushed. The campers went away immediately, not really fazed about Percy and the bathroom, but about me and Xavier. I heard most of the campers say our names. After they left, Xavier and I turned to Percy at the same time, and we stared at him.

"What?" Percy demanded. "What are you thinking?"

Xavier and I both looked at each other at the exact same time, then at Percy. And back to us. We nodded. "We think," We began in sync. "That we want you on our team for Capture the Flag."

Word of the bathroom incident spread almost as immediately as the news about Xavier and I clinging on to each other. Wherever Percy, Xavier, or I went, they always murmured about toilet water, our names, or just plain staring at us. Xavier and I showed a couple other places: the metal shop (Hephaestus kids forge, basically), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of Pan, the god of nature), the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.

Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. "Xavier and I have got some, uh, cleaning to do," I lied flatly to Percy. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

'"Guys, I'm sorry about the toilets," Percy told us.

"Whatever," I responded.

"It wasn't my fault."

I stared at him skeptically. He just made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. No one understood how. Maybe Xavier, Chiron, or even Mr. D. "You need to talk to the Oracle," Xavier told Percy.

"Who?" Percy bluntly responded.

"Not who. What. We'll ask Chiron," Xavier said.

Percy looked into the lake, and I recognized two naiads waving at him. He waved back, and I warned, "Don't encourage them. Naiads are terrible flirts."

"Naiads," He repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home. Now."

I frowned and said, "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"

"She means not human," Xavier told him. "Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?" Percy asked again.

"I think you know," I replied.

There was a long pause. "God," Percy finally said. "Half-god."

Xavier and I nodded. "You're father isn't dead, Percy," Xavier said, putting both hands on the back of his head, stretching. "He's one of the Olympians."

"That's… crazy."

"Is it?" I asked. "What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"

"But those are just-" I could have sworn Percy was about to say myths. In two thousand years, all of us might be considered a myth. "But if all the kids here are half-gods-"

"Demigods," Xavier interrupted. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."

Percy turned to me. "Then who's your dad?"

My hands tightened around the pier railing, and Xavier put a hand on my shoulder. I was very sensitive on the past. "My dad is a professor at West Point. I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American History."

"He's human," Percy said.

"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"

"Who's your mom, then?"

"Cabin Six."

"Meaning?"

I straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

"Undetermined," Xavier said. "Like we told you before."

"Except my mother. She knew."

"Maybe not, Percy," I said. "Gods don't always show their identities."

"My dad would've." Percy responded. "He loved her."

I gave him a cautious look. I mean, I didn't want him to break. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign, claiming you as his son. That's the only way we'll know for sure. Sometimes it happens."

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

I ran my palms along the rail. "The gods are busy," Xavier said. "They have lots of kids and they don't always… Sometimes they don't care about you guys, Percy. They ignore you."

"So I'm stuck here? That's it? For the rest of my life?" Percy exclaimed.

"It depends," I said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble- about ten to twelve years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I t9old you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?"

Xavier and I shook our heads. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside," Xavier responded.

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights," I said.

"Practical jokes," Xavier then said.

"Practical jokes?" Percy repeated.

"The point is," I began, avoiding further explanation. "The borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

Percy turned to me once more. "So… You're a year-rounder?"

I nodded, and Xavier and I show our five clay beads of different colors. Mine had the two rings Xavier gave me strung on it.

"I've been here since this camp was made," Xavier said. "And Annabeth, she was seven. Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. Annabeth was the youngest person to ever get to Camp for her age, and she's been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

"Why'd you come so young?" Percy asked me.

I twisted the rings on my necklace. "None of your business."

Xavier gave me a look. "Annabeth..."

"Sorry," I said.

"Oh." Percy stood there in uncomfortable silence. "So... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide," I replied. "But you could, with Mr. D's and Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer unless..." I stopped.

"Unless?"

"You were granted a quest," Xavier answered for me. "But that hardly ever happens. The last time..." His voice trailed off, he and I remembering the last time demigods went on a quest, two years ago to the Garden of Hesperides. It included Luke, and it went sour. One of the demigods didn't return. And when we received a message saying they were gone, and the explanation, it was sad. Just sad. Their half-siblings mourned for them, especially their girlfriend. Gods, don't even get me started on the details.

"Back in the sick room," Percy said. "When you were feeding me that stuff-"

"Ambrosia," I corrected.

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

My shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"

Xavier looked at me. "Annabeth, I told you he doesn't know anything about it."

"Exactly." Percy agreed, sighing. "Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talk about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice, and said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. Do you guys know what that means?"

I clenched my fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron, the satyrs, and Xavier know, but they won't tell me, or anyone else." Percy and I looked and Xavier desperately.

"I'm sorry guys, I can't. I know too much. It's up to you guys to find out. Something's wrong in Olympus, something pretty major, and that's all I'm telling you. Last time, when the some of the year-rounders visited Olympus, everything seemed so normal."

Percy faced me in awe. "You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders and a god- Xavier, Luke, Clarisse, a few others and I- we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council," I replied.

"But... How'd you get there?"

"Xavier transported us. Otherwise, we'd take the Long Island Railroad. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the sixth hundredth floor." I stared at him like I was sure he must have known this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?"

"Oh, sure." As far as mortals knew, the Empire State Building only had a hundred and two floors, but the location of Olympus proved them wrong.

"Right after we visited," Xavier continued, "The weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple times since, Annabeth's overheard satyrs talking. The best she can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, she was hoping... Well, Athena can get along with anybody, except Ares. And she has that rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, she thought you two can work thought you might've known something that you could tell her, and not me. And I've told her many times, that I can't explain. But she's a little too stubborn for that. She tries to find any possible way to get what she wants, and I love that about her. She doesn't give up." He smiled at me, and Percy stared at us while we were blushing.

"But still," I repeated. "I've got to get a quest. I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem..."

All of us smelled barbecue smoke coming from the mess hall. I heard Percy's stomach growl, and we told him to go on, and we'll catch him later. Xavier gave a light breath that sounded like a laugh.

"That kid's cute," He said, and I stared at him in disbelief and confusion.

"W-wha? Yo-you have a thing? With-" Xavier looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Annabeth, why would you think that I'm gay? Or bisexual? What kind of silly question is that? We've known each other for 4 years, I would've told you by then." He was right. Xavier tells me everything he can.

"I'm- I'm sorry," I apologized, still stammering. It was very foolish of me to think that. Guess I'm not so wise anymore. I sighed, brushing my curly bangs to the top of my head. "I'm going to go wash up."

"As will I."

I gave a faint smile. "Okay."

We started heading on our way to the bathroom, still flooded. And somewhere in the middle of the path, Xavier stopped. "Annabeth?" He asked.

I turned back to look at him. "Yeah?"

An apple appeared in his hand, he threw it to me and I caught it. "Hungry?"

I examined the apple, looking for any marks, but it seemed fine. "Thanks." And it wasn't like Snow White, I promise you. I bit into it, and my tastebuds got tons of flowing sweet, delicious juice from the apple. "Oh my gods, this is delicious. What kind is it?"

"ABC," He replied, with a grin that could've knocked me off my feet. "I did some experimenting with some of the sweetest apples in the world to make this prototype. You like it?"

"Yeah, I love it!" I replied, pausing. "Uh, what does ABC stand for?"

"Anna-Beth-Chase."

I was so flattered that my eye was twitching. "And, uh, also, I'm standing right in front of you. Why'd you throw it when you could've just handed it to me?"

Xavier gave me a smirk. "Future reference." He kept going on forward, past me, while I stayed there, still flattered. Xavier looked back at me. "Aren't you coming?"

Still not fully functional, I responded, "Oh, sorry, what?" I tried to process his words. "Oh, yeah, let's go." I caught up to him and wondered, What was the meaning of that? I was only to learn what it meant years later, missing my chance to respond back to him.