Chapter Six

I woke up at around ten in the morning. My body was aching. I slept on the most uncomfortable couch ever. Modern and cool? Yes. Comfortable? No.

I got up to go brush my teeth upstairs. On the way up, I didn't see anyone. I knew that my mom and Mr. Grace were at work, but what about everyone else? When I reached the bathroom, I quickly brushed my teeth, changed into my Grey hoodie with capris, and tied my hair up in a messy ponytail. I thought I looked good for a normal day.

I walked downstairs and I hear voices from the kitchen. I can also smell pancakes. Man, I was hungry. I just remembered that I didn't get my midnight snack. I followed the scent into the kitchen where Thalia was making pancakes and by making them, I mean putting them into the microwave. Percy, Nico, and Jason were all talking on the dinner table. They changed out of their pajamas and didn't brush their hair. Typical morning for boys. Thalia was wearing a white t-shirt with a black leather jacket, jeggings, and dark eyeliner on. Nico wore all black...again. Percy was wearing a black shirt to match his hair with Bermuda shorts. Jason wore a plain white shirt and some basketball shorts and was the first on to notice me.

"Hey, Annabeth! Good morning."

"Morning, Jason."

"Morning, Annabeth." said Nico and Percy in unison.

"Morning, guys." I took a seat next to Nico. "So, what's for breakfast?" I asked. The microwave beeped and Thalia came over with a plate full of pancakes, fruits, and different kinds of syrup.

"We are having pancakes" We all had two pancakes with either a topping of syrup, fruits or both. My pancake had strawberries with strawberry syrup, not to mention a small slice of butter on the top. It took us all at least twenty minutes to finish the pancakes since they were big.

We all went into the living room and all ran for the couch, but me. I sat on the carpet in front of the TV. Jason turned it on and almost immediately, breaking news.

"-has been attacked. We don't know why robbers have gone into the forest. Citizens claim to have seen mythic like creatures. Others are said to have seen kids with real swords, bows and arrows, daggers, and chariots. No one knows what is going on, but when the police arrive, everything disappeared. This story matched up with a pizza delivery boy's story. He said that he had seen a real live camp with chariot races, kids with armor, and flying horses. There is a secret in New York and the citizens are determined to find out what. This is Miranda Larson with breaking news." Right after this Jason, Nico, Thalia, and Percy all reached for the remote to turn it off. What was going on.

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" Nico chuckled nervously trying to relieve the tension in the room. Everyone else gave him the evil eye, especially Thalia. I processed everything the lady said about the forest. I was onto something. The pizza delivery boy claimed to have seen kids in a camp with weapons and chariot races. Almost like Camp Half-Blood. Then, realization dawned on me. Camp Half-Blood was hidden in the forest. Everyone there trained, even the little kids. I trained when I was seven. Everything there was like an illusion. I could have sworn that there were things flying in the sky. Smaller than planes, but larger than a bird. It have hooves and a majestic mane. I thought I was seeing things. When my mom and dad brought me to camp, they wouldn't actually go into the camp. Also, whenever I have a hard time, there is a voice in my head, a female one. She sounded really important and wise. Almost like the goddess of wisdom, Athena. What if all of this is real? What if my whole life has been a lie? I looked nothing like my mom. Only a little like my dad. Also, Thalia's dad looked nothing like Jason and her. Their mother died when they was younger. I don't even know Nico's parents. I know that he has lived with Percy ever since I knew him.

"Annabeth? Are you okay?" Percy sounded really worried. The room was silent. I guess I looked like my pupil and my iris looked gray. I probably had a melancholy look on my face. " Annabeth?" Now Percy really looked scared.

Finally I broke the silence. "Have you guys ever heard of a place called Camp Half-Blood?" still facing the TV. Then, I turned. They all looked at each other eyes wide. Their faces were pale and almost white. I can't stand it anymore. "You guys have heard of it haven't you." I raised my knee up to my chest in a cannon ball position. They all whispered to each other in a group circle. When they finished, they looked at me.

"Um, Annabeth, we need to tell you something." Thalia looked like she was going to burst out into tears. That's strange. Thalia is the strongest person I know. "Everything that you heard on the news, the kids, the monsters, the pizza delivery boy, are all real." I took a deep breath. I needed to process this.

Percy continued. "Camp Half-Blood is a camp for special camp for kids like us. Do you know why you have ADHD and dyslexia? Why you keep seeing things? That's because we are demigods. Or if you like, half-bloods. We have ADHD because it's our fighting instincts. If we don't have it, we won't be able to fight and we'll die. We have dyslexia because our brain is wired to read Ancient Greek, not English." That was a lot to put in my mind.

"Wait, so if we are half-bloods, does that mean that one of our parents are one of the Greek Gods?"

"Yes. My mom is mortal and my dad is immortal." Percy sounded okay with this.

"So is ours," Thalia said, pointing to Jason. "but Jason is a Roman demigod. My dad turned was a Greek god when he first met my mom. Then, he changed into his Roman aspect when he met my mom the second time. And that's why Jason and I don't look all that much alike."

"I have a confession." Nico cleared his throat. "Um, I am a half-blood, but not like Thalia, Percy, Jason, or you. I have been in a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino. It makes time slow down when you're inside. They lure you in and sometimes, it's too good to ever come out. It felt like we had stayed there for months. But it turned out to be years. If I hadn't been in the Lotus Hotel and Casino, I would have been seventy years older."

Wow. I'm a half-blood. And so are my friends. "Wait. Wouldn't that mean one of us could be a child of Hermes, or Athena, or Zeus?"

"Yeah. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon at your service.

"I'm Thalia Grace. Daughter of Zeus, god of the sky and ruler of the Greek gods."

"Hey, I'm Jason Grace. Son of the Roman aspect of Zeus, Jupiter."

"And me. Nico Di Angelo. Son of Hades, Lord of the Underworld."

"Oh. That's why you know Luke, Thalia. I forgot that you came to camp with me. You met him at camp. Since he was the swordsman." I thought for a while."What about me? Who's my parent? Is it my mom or dad?" I really want to know who I am. This is probably what Percy and Nico mean by finding out who you really are. "Do you guys know who I'm the daughter of?"

"No." said Thalia, Jason, and Nico. Only Percy remained silent.

"Percy? Do you know?" I looked really scared. Percy looked really sorry.

"Annabeth, I have something else I need to tell you. When you went to camp, did you remember sitting in by the camp fire, singing camp songs?" I nodded my head yes. "Well, almost every night, a camper gets claimed. A symbol of your godly parent will appear over your head. I was claimed, but by a creak. Not all kids get claimed. If you don't, you go into the Hermes cabin. Some kids don't get claimed for years. It's really sad.

"When you came to camp when you were twelve, did anything appear over your head. Maybe like a bright light or a picture?" I jogged through my memory.

"Yes. I had an owl above my head. Does that mean I'm the child of Athena? I was put into the Athena cabin." I realized two things. "Oh. My. Gods. That means everyone in my cabin is my half sibling! Oh. That means Matthew and Bobby are my half-brothers. Oh yeah!" I was happy about that part. "Wait, Percy, how did you know that I went to camp when I was twelve?" He looked down at his feet. "Oh. My. Gods. Percy...you were that boy weren't you. You look just like him."

"Wait what boy?" Thalia looked puzzled. I took a deep breath and sighed.

"When I went to camp when I was twelve, besides my siblings, I met a boy from the Poseidon cabin. He was my best friend at that camp. He would fight with me, ride with me, make me feel good. And now, I just found out that that boy is sitting right in front of me." I stared into Percy's eyes, but he wouldn't look at me.

"If I'm the son of Poseidon, I can't be close friends with you, Annabeth. Athena and Poseidon have always had this rivalry with each other. They practically hate each other. If they can't get along, then how do you suppose that their kids can be friends. That's why I never told you who I was Annabeth, who you were. I knew that if I told you I was your friend from camp, you'll find out everything and be in danger. I can't let that happen. When you find out that you are a half-blood, your scent gets stronger. You can't use the internet or it's pretty much saying 'Hey Monster! Come eat me. And bring some barbeque sauce.' I can't let that happen. You are too important to me. We can't be close friends." And with that, he went outside without another word.