Thank you to the people that submitted OCs!

Wow, over twenty reviews! Thank you thank you (::)

And over 1000 hits! Yay!

We finally meet the illusive Jackson today!

Until I get it as a Chanukah present, I won't own PJO

Happy make up your mind day!

And, you know, Christmas and Chanukah

I put their outfits on polyvore if anybody cares, it's the last link (The link is broken though, so it's not really a link.)

FYI: Katie is 17, Kia is 17(her b-day today), Faith is 16, Megan is 16, Connor is 16, Travis is 18, and Jackson is 14.

The next few days passed much in the same way. Travis and I skied on the greens, and occasional blue; Faith and Josh spent more time making out then skiing, but she was happy and that was all that mattered; Kia and Connor raced down the blacks and double blacks; Megan, well she stayed in the hotel, (she hates athletics with a passion). Soon, it was time to pick up Jackson. Travis drove because he was the only one with a car. It was a blue dodge sports car with two rows of seats. I sat shotgun, as I was the only one who knew how to work the G.P.S. Megan sat in the back; it was her brother that we were picking up after all.

"I can't believe that Jack has to come," Megan said after we were all seated in the car. "This vacation was supposed to be my chance to get away from him. Now he's coming."

"Everything happens for a reason Megan," I told her. That phrase had been something that was bothering me this whole vacation. As much as I enjoyed hanging out with Travis and Connor, and I enjoyed it much more then I thought humanly possible, two demigods don't just end up in the same place randomly. We'd just defeated Kronos, and while I hadn't seen any monsters yet, I was a little bit on edge. I subconsciously fingered the leaf necklace that mom had given me last year. When I unclasped it, it turned into a glowing three-foot long bronze sword. Hopefully, this vacation I'll never need to use it, I thought to my self.

Of course, I was wrong. We picked Jackson up from the airport without incident. He barely looked up from his phone the whole car ride back to the lodge, I guess he wanted to be here about as much as Megan wanted him here. Looking at Travis and him, they really did look pretty similar. They had the same upturned eyes, except Jackson's were light brown instead of blue. They had the same brown hair, though Jackson wore his in a faux-hawk to annoy his mother. They were both tall and fit, though Jackson cared a lot more about looking cool then Travis did. He was wearing an aeropostale shirt with sagging levi's jeans and nikes. Travis on the other hand was wearing, well, not that.

"I hear you play pranks on people," Travis said, interrupting the awkward silence that had enveloped the car. "What's the best one that you've played?" At the mention of pranks Jackson immediately opened up.

"A lot of them. Once, I put bleach in Megan's hair. It stayed blonde for a month. Another time I switched all of Megan's clothes with the same clothes, but in a smaller size…" The list went on and on. Each prank worse then the last, and I could see Travis nodding his head approvingly. I was right; those two were going to get along famously. I had already heard most of these pranks from Megan, but somehow it was different hearing them from the mastermind himself. In no time at all, we were back at the lodge. Travis helped Jackson unload his baggage and the two of them walked away, leaving Megan and I in the parking lot. Megan smiled.

"Maybe Jack won't be such a problem after all."

"Yeah," I replied, but I wasn't really paying attention. Was that businessman over there staring at us with unusual interest? No, I decided. It's probably just paranoia, so soon after the Titan war, but still…

"Are you coming? Or are you planning to just stand there all day. We have to go get ready, Kia's birthday party is in an hour."

"Oh, sorry. Just thinking. Does there seem to be anything off about that business man to you?"

"Umm, no. Aside from the fact that he probably spent about three hundred dollars on that coat, three hundred dollars that should have been spent helping the hungry, but I suppose that's most businessmen, there'd probably be something wrong with his if he spent his money where it was actually deserved." (a/n if you're a businessman, I mean you no offense by that comment.)

"Okay, thanks." We walked inside, was it me or did his eyes follow us? I scurried past him as fast as I could and made Megan do the same; I told her that I just really wanted to get ready for tonight. When we made it to our room I breathed an audible sigh of relief. I thought of telling Travis, but then I shook my head. I'd never needed his help before; I was Katie Gardner for Gods' sake! One vacation certainly didn't change years of independence, and besides, he'd probably just think that I was being unreasonable, I mean, most monsters fought in the titan war, and lost! They didn't reform that quickly. Suddenly I felt hands covering my face. My first instinct was to elbow him in his soft spot, but he saved himself by speaking.

"Guess who?" It was just Travis being annoying,

"What do you want Stoll?" I asked him.

"And here I was, thinking that we were on first-name basis, bus sadly I was mistaken."

"Travis, what you want? Is that better?" I asked him.

"Much. I was just wondering when and where you wanted to meet for Kia's birthday."

"How 'bout right here, in about an hour? Would that work?"

"See you then."

"Hey Travis," I called out as he was walking away. "How's Jackson?"

"He seems really cool, I think he would get along well with the Hermes cabin."

The cable car was small, a little too small for seven people. So small that I ended up sitting on Travis's lap a little bit, not completely, just enough to make both of us uncomfortable. We were seated it a 'C' shape, with the door being the gap. Faith and Megan were on one side of me, and Travis the other. Jackson sat in between Travis and Connor, and Kia sat on Connor's other side. As we got out of the gondola my heart nearly stopped. The man from earlier was standing outside, like he was waiting for us.

"Travis," I whispered urgently. "That man, I think he might not be a man. I think, I think he's a monster." Sometimes, I really hate being right. He removed his hat and I recognized him from the description that Annabeth had given me years before. He was tall and bulky. One of his eyes was blue, the other brown. It made perfect sense, according to Annabeth, Mr. D killed him two years ago; he would have missed most of the Titan War.

"Megan, Kia, Faith, you go ahead. There's something that we need to take care of." My only hope was that he'd leave them alone; they were only mortals. I would have sent Jackson ahead with them, but something held me back. Maybe there was a reason why he loved to prank and looked so much like the Stoll's…

"Leave us alone," I told the beast in as loud a voice as I could muster. "The war's over. We won. You lost."

"Go back to Tartarus where you belong," Connor added. The manticore didn't seem to like that last comment, because he started to attack.

"Jackson! Get back!" I yelled, and for once, he obeyed. I unclasped my necklace and Travis and Connor took out their swords. It took about twenty minutes of dodging flying missiles, earth magic, and great swordsmanship before we finally had him cornered. With one well-aimed strike, Connor stabbed him in the stomach and he turned into dust. I turned around and faced Jackson.

"We can explain, I promise."

Okay please R&R, constructive criticism is welcome and thank you to everybody who reviewed my story or added it to their favorite story list or story alert list.

Does anybody know how I can find the list of people who've added me to their story alert/author alert/favorite story/favorite author list? Please tell me in a review or a pm. I would greatly appreciate it. Also, vote on my poll. If more them 10 people vote, I'll make the next chapter extra-long

~Swimmer14