Hello, friends! I've decided to update every other week, so I don't have to keep you waiting. I will update The Fire Within every other week too, so I will be posting every week to try and make up for any chapters I miss when school starts. Thanks for all the great reviews!

Ch 3

Ryan

The cruisers followed the giant bronze dragon that had sprang out from a suit case. Beckett's reaction was pretty funny, despite the seriousness of the situation. Piper had pressed a few buttons and what had been a small carrying case was now a fully function, 3 story tall magical bronze dragon named Happy. Well, actually it was Festus, but I don't speak Latin. When the mechanical wonder had taken full form, my jaw dropped and I began to tremble in wonder. But that had been nothing compared to Beckett. She had let out a piercing shriek and leaped behind a cruiser parked on the curb. Peeking around the cruiser, trembling, with gun drawn and aimed, the tough detective had to be convinced out by Castle, who of course thought a magic flying killing machine was incredibly cool.

All of the teenage demigods had climbed aboard Festus, squeezing on tightly for lack of room. They had had so much trouble fitting that eventually Percy had let out a piercing whistle, and moments later, a black shape came spiraling out of the sky, landing on the sidewalk with a whump. Standing in front of me was a gorgeous jet-black pegasus with coal-like eyes. The horse nickered and Percy chuckled. "Yeah, we're having trouble fitting on. Is Pork Pie coming?" He asked. The pegasus snorted and Percy looked up. He smirked and said,"Why didn't he just come with you?" The pegasus whinnied and Percy rolled his eyes. All of the non-demigods were looking on with confusion and Tory, who had been standing beside me, arms crossed and a smirk on her face muttered to me,"He's a son of Poseidon, so he can talk to equine and sea creatures." I nodded getting it, as another winged horse, this one a light brown color, touched down on the sidewalk. The New Yorkers walking past the precinct were giving us weird looks, but apparently decided it was nutty police business and continued on their way.

Annabeth ended up on the brown pegasus, and we left the precinct. We swerved through the streets of the Bronx, going down through Harlem and headed for Long Island on the the Queensboro Bridge, because for some reason, the demigods seemed to want to check on the Empire State Building. We passed through Queens and The dragon showed no signs of stopping as we left the city. We continued all the way to Montauk and out to Long Island Sound. We drove down a dirt road that led up to a large hill, then stopped at the base. I looked up to the top of the hill. where an large pine tree sat on the crest, with a large purple lump beneath it. The demigods flew out over the giant mound, and before my eyes, the lump began to move. Beckett squeaked in disbelief as the thing lumbered down the hill a bit, and catching a glimpse of it, I saw the creature was another dragon, but alive. Tory jumped out of the car and dashed up the hill as the dragon turned around and headed to the pine tree.

Castle squealed like a little kid, and begged,"Can we follow her please please please please please?" Beckett and I exchanged cautious glances and Beckett replied,"Sure, why not?" I parked the car where we were stopped and turned off the ignition. We all got out and trekked out to the base of the hill. Still in our work clothes, Beckett and I were careful not to trip on anything, but Castle was falling every ten steps.

Noticing the pine tree had a gold colored sheep wool hanging in it's branches, we approached the top and a small path that wound its way up the mound of grass led us to Tory. She was already at the top, and seemed to be talking to the dragon, though not as large as Festus. Castle wheezed and gasped for breath after his unfortunate falls every five seconds, but luckily we had gotten to the top of the hill. A large smile spread across Tory's face and she led us to a large entrance that was made of ancient Greek style pillars and a large, fancily decorated stone block that said 'Camp Half-Blood' in large Greek style letters. Grinning, Tory gestured us to step through the entrance. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

Beckett

I couldn't believe my eyes as I looked down at Camp Half-Blood. "This... this is incredible," I whispered in awe. I was vaguely aware of Tory saying something like,"I, Tory Ellis, daughter of Athena, allow these mortals to pass through the magical borders." She also said something about how we would be respectful, neat, considerate, blah, blah, blah. I was too busy taking in the beautiful, bustling valley.

There were an assortment of ancient Greek buildings, a cluster of other structures that looked nothing alike, a big blue mansion, and a giant climbing wall that looked like it was on fire. Making a mental note to check that out, I turned my attention to the more natural looking stuff. A forest stretched off to the northwest, and a lake sat next to the mismatched group of buildings. Strawberry fields filled with red fruit were south of the woods, and a golden beach overlooking Long Island Sound was on the far north of the valley.

Castle squealed and ran past the entrance onto a path that wound down to the camp. Tory headed down after him. Ryan and I hesitated for a moment but followed them cautiously.

I really couldn't believe that all the strange people staring at us as we passed were children of gods. It seemed so impossible and bizarre. We eventually came to a stop as we approached the big blue house I had seen at the top of the hill. Tory led us to the door, and it opened with a creak. I looked into the house and saw a large living room with cozy couches, a large fire place, and a stuffed leopard head mounted on the wall. Tory slipped inside, and we followed her as she led us to another room. A large Ping-Pong table occupied most of the space. A small, pudgy man with curly black hair sat at the head of the table, and a thin man with a small beard in a wheelchair sat next to him. The table had bags of Cheez Whiz and cans of Diet Coke. Seated around the table was a group of kids, including every one of the demigods the had accompanied us here. The assortment included a blond boy with a bow slung over his shoulder, a girl with long, brown hair, a curly haired boy of about nineteen, and a pair of brunette boys with mischievous grins. A boy with unkempt, curly black hair in casts on one arm and leg, was seated in wheelchair next to Jason and a pretty girl with caramel hair dressed in a white Greek dress. All of the kids, except for the girl in the dress, Hazel, and Frank, wore orange t-shirts and shorts or jeans.

Everyone looked at us and all conversation ceased as we entered the room. All eyes were trained on Tory. "Well, I see we have visitors," the man with the beard and wheelchair said. "I see you were right, Javier." My head snapped up when I heard that name, and Tory said,"Is he here, Chiron? We'd like to speak with him..." The man in the wheelchair, Chiron, chuckled and answered,"Yes, he's here." A movement in another room off to the side distracted me, and Javier poked his head through the doorway."Nico's here!" he said cheerfully, but faltered when he saw me and Ryan glaring at him. Sure enough, Nico walked through the doorway and took a seat in an empty chair. Meanwhile, Javi was nervously heading to a corner of the room, on that seemed darker than the rest. Ryan and I advanced on him, and Javi glared at us. Suddenly, just like in the precinct, he dematerialized and was gone.

Castle

I was kinda getting tired of Espo disappearing into thin air. Beckett and Ryan were too. It was a really awesome power, but not one you want him to have when you're trying to talk to him and he doesn't want to. So when he teleported again, I watched as they charged out of the room, Tory and I following suit. Chiron was yelling something at us, but I didn't care, and we kept running. We burst out onto the front lawn, and to my shock and delight, Javi was right there, leaning against a stray tree. He didn't look too happy. Beckett was on him in an instant, Ryan right behind her.

"Why didn't you tell us who you were? Who you are?" Beckett's voice was furious, but Javi rolled his eyes. "Trust me, this is not a world you want to live in, especially being mortal," he grumbled. "Mortal? What's that supposed to mean?" my wife hissed. Javi groaned and dissolved, reappearing under another tree, much to Beckett's annoyance. Ryan backed away and stood beside me and Tory, watching the exchange. Beckett charged at Javi, who sighed dramatically. Look, Beckett, if we're going to keep doing this, then I'm leaving." I felt it was time to interfere and cried,"No! We won't attack you anymore. Just let us talk to you!"

All four of my friends looked at me, surprised by my outburst. "Fine, I'll stay. But if any of you tries anything, you guys will be answering to my skeleton army," Javi grumbled. "Wait, skeleton army? No one said anything about that! And since when did you lead and army of bones?!" cried Ryan. Javi shifted uncomfortably. I cleared my throat. "Okay, well, first question: Who are you, Javi? And I don't want some cover story or half of the truth. I want all of it."

Javier nodded. He sighed and said,"I'm a son of Hades. My mother was Hispanic, and I grew up here- well, here in NYC. I came to Camp Half-Blood for the summer, and when it got too dangerous for me to lice in the city. Nico is my half-brother, and Hazel is my half-sister. I'm very familiar with the underworld, having visited my father a lot. I've been training in combat since I was... 5 years old. I joined the military because I needed to keep and eye on the demigods that were working for Kronos, and the monsters. I had packs of hellhounds tracking me for months. Shadow traveling was quite helpful. I came to work here for the same reason I joined the army. You'd be surprised how many of the criminals we've taken down are criminals. Kelly Neiman, for example. She was a daughter of Aphrodite. Really smart, though. She was a year round camper. So was Jerry Tyson. Son of Athena. He was one of my closest friends growing up. I was shocked when I found out what he was up to. He and Neiman worked together because of their relationship as demigods."

Wait- he knew those guys? and had been friends with them?! These thoughts confirmed what I already knew- Javier Esposito was a complete stranger. But I had another question. "Next question: what is shadow traveling?" Javi looked a little miffed that I had moved on so quickly, but he answered me. "Shadow traveling is a skill of a children of Hades. We can manipulate the shadows to take us wherever we want, but it works better and takes less energy when two of his kids work together. It's really tiring, and Nico almost turned into a ghost once. But I've had years of practice, so it's almost like walking for me."

So he could basically teleport wherever it was dark?! That is so awesome! I thought. But it could have some downsides. With a chill, I realized that if Javi ever convicted a crime, we'd never catch him. I glanced at my fellow officers. Javier Esposito was incredible, his powers were awesome, but while we were here, we'd have to watch out. Because if we got on his bad side, he'd become extremely dangerous.

So, the detectives have discovered Camp Half-Blood! I made up a lot of Esposito's explanations, and I don;t know the definition of shadow traveling exactly, but hey, this is an AU.

Okay, trivia question: if Castle were a demigod, who would be his his godly parent?

If I can get to 15 reviews, maybe I'll post a chapter next week instead of waiting another two...

Review? Please?