He dropped me off in front of the Empire State Building. For the first time in over a year, I had been able to sleep well. The cabbie had woken me up. He told me it was now the twenty-first, the Fall Equinox. The cabbie also had had an aura. His was more mischievous, but I had ignored it. Now that I was in Manhattan, I didn't know what to do. The strange voice hadn't spoken in my head since the first day, so I wasn't really relying on that. I looked up at the Empire State Building. A ring of dark clouds formed at the top so I couldn't see the spire. The strange part: the rest of the sky was bright blue, and the locals seemed to think this was perfectly normal.

I heard a bark behind me. I spun around. Another dog stood in front of me. This one seemed familiar. He looked practically the same as the others, but he had two large lumps on his head.

"Oh, hey, boy," I said nervously. This was the same dog that had destroyed my home and killed my foster parents. "Looks like you found me," I tried for a small laugh, but even I couldn't laugh in a situation like this. I had begun to be afraid of these giant hounds.

Just as I pulled out my hammer, he charged me. I wasn't able to move out of the way in time. I was thrown into a wall. My hammer went flying. The dog snapped it in half. I made a very indignified whimpering sound. I had grown kind of close to my hammer, it had gotten me out of every sticky situation. The hound inched towards me, baring his fangs as if saying, Ha ha! You beat me before, but now you're dog food!

Just when I thought I was done for, he exploded into yellow dust. When the dust settled-on me and the ground-a boy of about sixteen was revealed. I studied him. He was holding a glowing bronze sword. His orange T-shirt read: Camp Half-Blood. The most unsettling thing: he looked like an older, male version of myself. He had black wind-swept hair and sea green eyes. I decided he wasn't a threat even though he was holding a sword.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Thanks to you," I managed a smile, "I was about to become a chew toy. What was that thing? I know it was a giant dog, but it has to have a name."

"A hellhound."

I snorted, "Definitely seemed like a hound from hell," I decided to ask him his name, "What's your name."

I found him staring at me as if just realizing that we looked practically alike, "Percy Jackson." I looked at him, awestruck. It couldn't have been a coincidence that we had the same last name. Hundreds of howls could then be heard. I pressed against the building. My breathing and heart rate quickened.

Percy saw the fear in my eyes. He held out his hand, "Come on." I took it without hesitation. He pulled me up, "How many hellhounds were after you?"

"Over a hundred," I replied.

"Over a hundred?" he repeated.

I pulled Percy out of the way of a traffic light that he was about to run into, "I was never attacked by anything else."

"Nothing else? With that many hellhounds…" he cursed. It sounded Greek, "We need to hurry."

I smirked, "Might be easier if you don't run into traffic lights and poles."

He shrugged, "You'll get used to it." I laughed, a real laugh, the first time in over a year. It was then I realized that I was in a new place because I had just made a friend, a long lasting friend. We didn't stop until we were in Long Island. Percy had put his sword away. It magically had shrunk into a ballpoint pen.

We climbed a hill and stopped at a large pine tree, "Is that a dragon?" I asked.

He walked up to it and petted it, "Yep. This is Peleus. He protects the Golden Fleece that protects Camp Half-Blood from monsters," Percy pointed to a branch on the tree. On it, a golden ram's fleece glittered in the morning sun. Peleus looked up at me with glowing yellow eyes. I should've crapped my pants, but I didn't feel threatened. I followed Percy's example and stroked Peleus's head. He nuzzled me.

"Percy!" a voice called from inside the camp. A girl that looked about Percy's age was waving at us. We walked up to her.

Percy turned to me, "This is my girlfriend, Annabeth Chase. Annabeth, this is...uh, I actually never got your name."

I watched him carefully to see his reaction, "Raven Jackson," I answered slowly, "The two of you can call me Ray." I studied Annabeth. Her blonde hair was tied in a ponytail. She had familiar-looking, intense grey eyes. She was tan and had an athletic build. She wore jean shorts, tennis shoes, and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. (I didn't really understand the "Half-Blood" thing. Sounded kinda racist to me.) She also had a knife sheathed at her belt. Both Annabeth and Percy had clay beads around their neck, but Annabeth had five more than Percy. From examining Annabeth, I decided she was a friend, but I wouldn't want her as an enemy.

She and Percy seemed to be having a silent argument. Percy noticed me standing there awkwardly in front of them and cleared his throat, "Well, we better introduce you to Chiron, our camp activities director, and Mr. D, our camp director." The two of them led me to a blue farm-looking house.

"We call this the Big House," Annabeth informed me.

I nodded in agreement, "It definitely is a big house." It was three stories tall with a porch in front. On the porch, a middle aged man with a well-trimmed brown beard sat in a wheelchair at a table. Across from him sat a man with a potbelly. He wore purple warm-up pants and a loud Hawaiian shirt. He had an aura of...well, it wasn't anything exciting, just boredness and annoyance. (If he read this, Mr. D would turn me into a dolphin.) The two of them seemed to be playing a card game.

They put down their cards, "It seems I've won again, Mr. D," Chiron said. Mr. D grumbled something unpleasant in Ancient Greek-I didn't understand how I was able to translate it-he then summoned a Diet Coke out of mid-air and popped open the can. I resisted gagging. I hate Coca-Cola and Coke products. I love Pepsi.

He noticed us first, "Peter Johnson," he said in a bored tone that matched his aura, "It looks like you have returned," he sipped his Diet Coke, "And you brought a friend."

Chiron had finished shuffling the cards and looked up at me, "You should be dead."

I blinked, "Excuse me? As far as I know, I'm very much alive."

A woman stepped out of the shadows. She was more beautiful than the Southern Belle in Charleston, though I could tell she tried not to. She had long wavy brown hair with golden highlights. Her brown eyes had a fierce beauty to them. Her soft lips were a natural red. She wore skinny jeans tucked into olive green heeled, leather boots, and an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt.

"Chiron, what do you mean should be dead?" she studied me with those scary, but beautiful, brown eyes, "That's a new one." She had a soft British accent.

"Nothing," he said, "Just a silly thought." I could tell he was hiding something. Apparently, I wasn't supposed to be alive.

"Oh, uh, Ray," Percy said, "This is our camp counselor, Lora Skywalker, goddess of war."

Lora curtsied, then cursed as she did it, "Sorry, I really hate curtsying, a bad habit. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"If you hate curtsying, why do you do it?" I asked.

Lora sighed sadly as if it was a memory she didn't want to remember but wanted to remember, "It's a long story, but I was a princess, and now, a queen."

"Of where?"

"The universe."

"The universe? How does everyone accept that?"

She shrugged, "Most don't even know."

"Raven," Percy interjected, "We should probably explain why you're here."

"Explanations would be nice," I agreed.

"You're a half-blood-" he began.

"Woah, woah," I interrupted, "You're starting to sound kind of racist. From reading your shirts-it's pretty amazing I can actually read it being dyslexic-your camp is Camp Half-Blood. Are all you guys half American and half something else?"

Lora laughed, "No! That's not what Percy means. He means a demigod."

"Oh! That makes loads more sense. So…" I racked my brain for an example, "Like in the Greek myths. Heracles was the son of the king of the gods, Zeus, and the princess Alcmene."

Chiron beamed, "Exactly, Raven. He was half god, and half mortal. You do seem to know a lot."

I shrugged, "The only parts of Social Studies I actually paid attention to was Ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt. They all fascinated me. Are you saying one of my parents is a Greek god?"

Annabeth nodded, "Precisely. So which one of your parents was absent? Your mom or your dad?"

"Both," I said sadly, "My foster parents had told me that one day they had found me on their doorstep with my name and birthday, that's it."

Lora and Chiron exchanged a look, "Annabeth, give Raven a tour of the camp. Maybe later today her mum or dad will claim her."

I looked at Lora, "Claim me? What does that mean?"

Annabeth put an arm around my shoulder, "I'll explain. It's quite complicated." She led me around the camp.

"So what did Lora mean by my mom or dad claiming me?" I asked.

We stopped to watch some kids play volleyball with what appeared to be satyrs, "Well, a claiming is when your godly parent identifies you as their child."

"Who's your godly parent?"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom."

"Wow, that's really cool! Who's Percy's?"

"Poseidon-"

"God of the sea," I finished, "Sorry."

"Hey, Annabeth!" a boy called, "Wanna play?" He threw the ball to Annabeth.

She bumped it back, "Sorry, Will. Lora asked me to give a tour to a new camper Percy just brought back."

Will walked up to me and held out his free hand, "Will Solace, son of Apollo."

I shook it, "Raven Jackson, daughter of no one in particular yet."

Will opened his mouth to say something, but Annabeth gave him a warning look, "I'd love to play, but I have to finish the tour." She led me towards the cabins. All of the cabins were set in a Greek Omega-looking form.

In the center, there was a fire pit with a flame burning inside, "Isn't it bad if no one is watching the fire?" I asked.

"No," Annabeth said, "This is a magic fire. It changes height and color depending on the camp's mood. Sometimes, it can rise up to forty feet." I looked at the fire. I would find it kind of scary if it went up to forty feet.

I looked at the beads on Annabeth's neck. Each had a different little picture, "Does each bead on your neck indicate a year at this camp?"

Annabeth looked at her necklace and smiled as if remembering good memories, "Yes it does. How did you know?"

"Well, every camper I've seen is wearing a necklace with beads. Some have a lot like you, and others have none, just a string."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were a daughter of Athena like me," she winked.

I beamed at her, "And you would be the best sister ever." Annabeth hugged me.

"Now, let's test your knowledge of the gods," she said, "I'm going to show you each of the cabins, and you have to guess what god it belongs to."

I grinned, "I accept your challenge!"

The first one was easy. Its size was a giveaway. It was Zeus's. The next one was like a beach house, so it was Poseidon's. The next cabin was blood red. It had barbed wire lining it. Punk rock music was blaring out of the windows.

"Ares?" I guessed.

"Yep," Annabeth confirmed, "Be careful with the cabin counselor, Clarisse La Rue. She can get out of hand with new campers, but don't misjudge her loyalty.

The one after that was gold: Apollo's. After Apollo's was a RV-looking thing with a vault-looking door. Smoke was billowing out of a chimney: Hephaestus. The next one was a little trickier. It looked like a normal cabin you would find in the woods. I looked down the row, eliminating gods. I finally figured it out.

"Hermes," I said confidently.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise, "Correct! You're the first camper to ever get it on their first try. How'd you do it?" I told her. She smiled and we continued. Once we finished the guys' side, we went onto the girls'. I started gagging from the smell of perfume coming from Aphrodite's cabin. A girl of about fifteen walked out. She was a pretty Asian girl, but as soon as I saw her, I knew we were going to be enemies.

She examined me and looked at Annabeth, "Who's this hobo? She looks like a walking trash can." My jaw tightened and I clenched my fists, but I kept my cool. She wanted me to lose it, and I didn't want to do anything this girl wanted me to do.

Annabeth looked annoyed, but used to it, "This is Raven Jackson. Raven, this is Drew Tanaka, head counselor of the Aphrodite cabin."

"Jackson?" Drew asked, "Great, another one."

"Wha-?" I stopped. She thought Percy and I were related. "You mean Percy. No, we're not related. We just happen to have the same name. Just a coincidence. Jackson is a very popular name."

She raised an eyebrow. Her pink eyeshadow was very unnerving, "And you also just happen to look like him?"

I glared at her, "Percy's not the only person in the world with black hair, sea green eyes, and the last name of Jackson!"

"Ladies!" Percy had come up to us, "I know I'm amazing, but you don't have to fight over me!"

Drew and I both stared at Percy as if he had just grown a fishtail, "What?"

"Raven, could you come with me?" he asked.

"But I haven't finished my tour yet!"

"I'll make sure you finish it after," Percy promised, "But we need to do this first." I walked beside him. He seemed really nervous about something.

"Where you're taking has something to do with my godly parent doesn't it?" I guessed.

He nodded, "Yeah. Just...come on."

We walked in silence. I then decided to bring up the topic that had been in my head: the Greek Myths being real, "So, Percy, about Chiron. Is he really a centaur like in the myths?"

"Yeah."

"And Mr. D is Di-"

"Ray," Percy interrupted, "Names have power. Don't speak them unless absolutely necessary."

I raised an eyebrow, "So Annabeth gave me a test. I had to identify the different cabins, so I said all the gods' names. That wasn't absolutely necessary."

"Well, that's different."

"How?"

"Uh…" Percy struggled to find words, "I'm not sure," he admitted, "But that's just what Chiron told me when I first came to camp." We walked down Half-Blood Hill and stopped in front of a white Chevy Express van. (I was quite happy it was a Chevy. If it had been a Ford, I would not have ridden in it.)

Before we got in, Percy turned to me, "Our driver is a little...strange," he warned, "His name is Argus-"

"The servant of Hera who was asked to watch over this lady named Io whom Zeus turned into a cow to protect her from Hera? Argus had eyes all over his body, right? He always kept at least half of them open. Then Hermes bored him to death, literally. How is he alive again?" Percy stared at me. I then realized I had just said some of the gods' names four times. I cursed in Ancient Greek. I marveled at how fast I had learned to curse, "Wow! I just cursed in Ancient Greek!"

"Uh, yeah," he opened the door for me, "Hop in." I got in the van and buckled my seatbelt. (Always good to be safe, right?) Percy sat next to me.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see."