Okay, so I have a lot of homework to do, but I've completely blown it off this weekend so I can write some new chapters. Procrastinate now! Yeah, don't tell my parents.

By the way, I'm writing this in the middle of a huge storm. It's great inspiration! The lightning is absolutely incredible, but my dog is freaking out over the thunder.

I was shaken awake for the second time in twelve hours by enormous, forge-roughened hands. The first time, it was by Jake Mason, telling me that there was an injured demigod at the gates of the camp. The second time, it was my little brother Tyson telling me that there was a giant ship coming up Long Island Sound.

"There's a what?" I yelled, sitting bolt upright in bed.

"A ship over the lake, brother," Tyson said, frowning. "You do not look very well."

Understandable, I suppose. Between late night weapons practice, that new demigod and now this, I'd barely gotten any sleep. "Don't worry about it. Why is there a ship over the lake?"

Tyson's frown deepened. "It is the Roman's ship. Are you sure you are not sick?"

Dang, I'd completely forgotten that the Romans were supposed to be coming today. I just hadn't expected them to arrive at such an ungodly hour. "What are they doing here so early?"

"The captain says they made good time. Ella is here, you must come see!"

"Okay, buddy, I'm coming." I groaned as I hoisted myself out of bed. My limbs were aching; Annabeth had managed to get in a few good thwacks with her knife while we were practicing yesterday. I guess dating doesn't mean you go easy on someone.

Outside, the sun had just risen and the Roman ship was just lowering its gangplank. But before it could touch the bank of the lake, something large and winged flew off and soared towards Tyson. My little brother broke into a huge grin as Ella the harpy came out of the sky and settled on his shoulder.

The wooden gangplank settled on the shore with a dull thunk. I looked over in time to see a black-haired girl wearing a purple shirt come streaking off the ship and sprint towards the crowd of people gathered at the hearth. This must have been Reyna, because when Leo - who was stoking the fireplace with flames from his own hand - looked up and saw her, a huge grin spread over his face and he ran towards her. They slammed into each other with enough force to make me wince, but neither of them seemed to care. They were too wrapped up in each other - almost literally.

Jason was next off after Reyna. His eyes immediately went to Piper, who'd been waiting for him on the shore. A split second later, she was hurtling into his arms and being picked up and swung around. I looked away as he kissed her forehead, trying to give them some privacy.

Someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw Annabeth, who was grinning as she looked over at Leo and Reyna. "You'd think they'd been separated for months instead of just days."

I grinned back, and intertwined my fingers with hers. "If I remember right, we were exactly the same when you came to Camp Jupiter."

"That was different. You were kidnapped and gone for almost a year, and I had no idea if you'd even remember me or not."

"Special circumstances?" I teased.

"Of course. Oh, hey!" She looked over at the crowd milling around on the lakeshore, raised the hand that wasn't in mine, and waved. "Frank! Hazel!"

Two teenagers, a fourteen-year-old girl and a seventeen-year-old boy, fought through the horde of demigods towards us. The girl was small, dark and curly-haired, and the boy was tall, stocky and wearing the centurion's mark. They were holding hands, like me and Annabeth, and beaming at us.

"Percy!" yelled Frank Zhang, giving me a bro hug. Bro hugs are a hundred times more manly than real hugs, so there's no need to feel embarrassed accepting one. Hazel kissed my cheek and squeezed Annabeth so hard she groaned.

"It's so good to see you!" Hazel squealed.

"We were really upset when we heard we had to miss the last visit," Frank said.

Frank and Hazel had been questing the last time the Romans had come to New York. A lost gold laurel wreath or something like that.

"You're here now, and that's all that matters," Annabeth said warmly. She'd always liked Hazel, ever since she'd saved the entire seven kids of the prophecy from a chimaera using her sweet daughter-of-Hades powers.

"Just in time, too," I said. "We got a message from Thalia a few nights ago. She wanted us all together."

"Jason got the message too," said Frank, pointing down to where Jason was still hugging Piper. "He said we needed to get together immediately. What's the problem?"

I shrugged. "Nothing so far. But it can't hurt to be united, right?"

Frank nodded, and Hazel had just opened her mouth to reply when someone tapped my shoulder. I whirled around to see Argus watching me through brown, blue, and green eyes - all over his body.

I could guess what his visit was about. "The new demigod is awake, isn't she?"

He nodded, then pointed towards the Hades cabin. That meant Nico was with her.

"Okay," I said, putting a hand on Riptide. "Let's go meet the new girl."