Halloween's coming up, and though I'm too old to go out trick-or-treating - subtle hint on my age there - my friends and I all decided to go as the characters from Alice in Wonderland for our school thing. I'm the Queen of Hearts. I wanted to just go as myself, but that might be too scary.

This is more of a dialogue chapter, but it is important, I promise!

Happy Halloween!

There was pain coursing through every vein in my body, and I felt like one giant bruise. A haze of pain covered my eyes as I tried to open them, and I let out a small moan.

Then I remembered the giant dog.

I blinked my eyes open for real this time, looking around the small room someone had put me in. Early morning sunlight streamed in through the windows, making me blink. Someone had wrapped me in soft blankets. The room itself was quiet, but if I listened hard, I could just make out the sounds of kids shouting and laughing in the distance. And there was someone sitting on the edge of my bed.

I blinked again, certain that what I was seeing was a dream. Gorgeous boys don't normally visit me on my sickbed - they always turn out to be looking for the person in the bed next to mine.

Okay, I'll put my sarcasm aside now.

But this dude was clearly looking at me.

I wondered what I'd done to deserve that. I mean, I'm not exactly a model citizen.

But then again, there were many other more pressing issues at hand.

Where was I?

I tried to get up out of bed, but the gorgeous boy put a hand on my shoulder and gently pushed me back down. "You might not want to get up just yet," he told me. "We think you're recovering from a concussion."
"Oh, lovely," I groaned. "What the heck happened?"

"You killed a hellhound," he said. I thought I heard the faintest trace of admiration in his voice, even though I had no idea what a hellhound was. "Using this."

He reached towards my neck and tapped my bronze chain.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "That's Levanter."

He nodded. "And who are you?"

I paused for a moment. Then I figured that if I'd been battling things called hellhounds, telling this dude my name was probably the safest thing I'd done in several weeks.

"Megan Muse."

"Cool. I'm Nico di Angelo."

Nico di Angelo turned towards the door of what I guessed was the infirmary. "Hey, Argus?"

An enormous surfer dude with blonde hair and eyes all over his body showed up in the doorway. I sucked in a breath, and every one of his hundred eyes flicked towards me. The dude named Argus smiled at me, and I gave him a rather uncertain smile in return.

"Would you mind finding Percy and Annabeth for me?" Nico asked. "I would guess they're welcoming the Romans down at the docks."

Argus nodded, then silently left the room, leaving me and Nico alone. He watched me silently for a moment, a small frown on my face. Against my better intentions, I knew I was blushing.

"What is it?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

"Nothing," he said, shaking his head. "So where'd you get the sword?"

Though I was wary of sounding insane, I told him. "In a dream."

He didn't look surprised. "Demigods have weird dreams like that a lot," he explained. "Makes it completely impossible to get any sleep. Anyways, go on."

"Some bearded dude wearing a college toga put this around my neck and told me to run -" I told him, " - and I was wearing it when I woke up. And there also happened to be a hellhound trying to break into our house. I left home a few minutes later."

"Where are you from?"

"Maine."

His eyebrows raised. "You walked all the way from Maine to New York?"

"More like ran. It took three whole weeks."

Nico looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead changed the topic. "The man who gave you the necklace. Who was he?"

"No idea."

"What did he look like?"

I stopped, trying to remember, but the details were hazy. "The only thing I know is that he had a beard."

"That, unfortunately, doesn't really narrow it down," he said, frowning again. "I guess we'll just have to wait until you get claimed tonight."

"Claimed?" I asked. I was beginning to get really confused.

Nico squared his shoulders like he was bracing himself for something. "This is going to sound weird and possibly crazy, but the reason you're here is because you're a demigod."

My jaw dropped slightly. "Demigod as in the half-blood child of a mortal and a god?"

Nico cocked his head to one side, considering. "You know, I think you and my friend Annabeth would really get along well. She's a daughter of Athena - you'll meet her in a few minutes." Then he seemed to realize I was going into shock. "But yeah, you're right. The man who gave you the necklace was most likely your godly parent."

I lay back on the bed, barely hearing what the hot dude had to say. Me, a demigod. The toga dude, my father. I was reeling.

But deep down, I knew it made sense. I'd never known my dad. I'd had weird dreams my entire life. Monsters and creepy things had always followed me. And I'd been able to do…stuff.

"You're a demigod too, then," I croaked out, finding my voice. "Whose kid are you?"

"I'm the son of Hades," he answered. Deep, dark eyes searched my face for a reaction. Maybe he thought I'd find it creepy that he was the son of the god of dead things.

"That's pretty awesome," I told him, and I meant it. "Does that mean you visit the Underworld?"

Nico looked surprised, but a tiny bit gratified. "On a regular basis. My dad set a whole wing aside for his kids in his castle."

"Then you've probably met Persephone," I said, grimacing sympathetically. "That must have been awkward."
He smiled slightly. "You have no idea. I try not to look her in the eye." He considered me again, as though I was a puzzle he couldn't put together. "You're handling this very calmly."

I shrugged. "Sure, it's completely weird and I am constantly doing this -" I pinched myself, " - to make sure it's not all a dream, but it does make sense. And it's pretty freaking cool." I said thoughtfully.

"I think I should warn you it's not always cool," he said with grim amusement. "The dreams and the monsters kind of suck, to start with."

I opened my mouth to ask if the monsters would still attack me now that I was obviously somewhere safe when the door opened again. Two teenagers, a girl and a boy, walked in and came to stand at the end of my bed. The girl was tall, with blond curly hair and gray eyes, and the boy had slightly messy black hair and sea-green eyes.

"Hey," said the boy. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been chewed, swallowed, then spit out," I answered. "But you know, I'm doing okay. What about you?"

Both of them smiled. "I'm Annabeth Chase -" the girl said, then gestured to the boy, " - and this is Percy Jackson."

"It's nice to see you awake," Percy Jackson said. The way the two of them finished each other's sentences made me think that they knew each other really well - and were probably dating. When their hands drifted towards each other, almost subconsciously, while we were talking, my suspicions were confirmed. "What's your name?"

"I'm Megan Muse," I told them. "Where am I?"

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Megan Muse," Percy said with a warm smile. "I think you'll really like it here, once you get over the initial craziness."

"I don't think you'll exactly see us at our best today," Annabeth warned me. "Our friends from out west arrived this morning, and will probably be staying for a while."

I cast a side glance over at Nico. "Friends from out west?"

"Roman demigods," he explained. "They're a…recent discovery. It's a very long story."

"Do you know the old Greek myths, Megan?" Annabeth asked.

I nodded. "I used to spend hours reading them." And now, I felt like I was living one.

"Well, they're all actually true. Theseus, Hercules, Perseus: every hero existed and every quest happened. The gods, too - they existed then and they still exist now."

"And if we're not mistaken - and Annabeth's usually not - then you're a child of one of those gods," Percy told me.

"There's a film we normally show new campers," Nico explained. "The same one I saw. But the entire camp is pretty busy with the Romans, so I don't think there's much time. Besides," he said, casting glances at my bruised form. "I wouldn't want to risk moving you again."

"So…yeah," Percy shrugged, laughing. "That's about all we got. Any questions?"

There were too many questions, and I didn't know which ones I was supposed to ask. So I settled for, "Which god do you think is my dad?"

Annabeth considered me carefully. "I'd say Apollo, maybe. You into poetry?"

"Sort of," I told her. Apollo, if I remembered right, was the god of music and light, among other things. "I like singing. That could work."

"I would guess Hermes," Percy suggested. "You look a little like Travis and Connor Stoll - those are two of Hermes' kids," he explained to me.

"If her mom was the Olympian, it would most definitely be Athena." Nico's dark eyes were sparkling faintly, and his tone held the barest trace of a laugh. Sure, di Angelo, tease the concussed unclaimed new girl. "She gave me the textbook definition of a demigod a while back. Like she'd memorized her seventh grade history outline."

I saw Percy give Nico an incredulous glance, eyebrows almost disappearing into his hair. I wondered why; the thought that I could have been Athena's kid wasn't that improbable. Reading was my life, and I loved writing too.

Annabeth looked pretty surprised too, but she recovered faster than Percy did. "I'm an Athena demigod myself. Percy's a son of Poseidon, and Nico's a Hades kid."

"My half-sister's at camp right now, actually," Nico explained. "Hazel Levesque. She's a Roman demigod."

"Sweet," I answered, stretching out my arms and sitting up. "When can I get out of bed and actually meet these kids?"

Nico looked doubtful, but Annabeth leaned over and put a hand on my forehead. "Do you feel sick? Dizzy, anything at all?"

"A little achy, but other than that I'm fine." And it was true. The only thing that was really bothering me right now was impatience. I wanted to get out and see the safe haven the bearded dude - scratch that, my dad - had led me to.

"Then you should be okay. Nico, would you mind showing her around?" Percy asked. "We'd do it ourselves, but the Romans are sort of taking over out there."

"Nah, it's no problem. I'll do it," Nico said. "Just so long as you promise not to fall down on me again."

"I'll let you know if I feel the sudden urge to collapse," I told him, rolling my eyes. "Can we go now?"

"Sure, come on." Nico reached down and pulled me to a sitting position with one hand, the mounds of blankets falling away. My battered green Chuck Taylors were sitting at the edge of my bed; I shoved them onto my feet and quickly laced them up.

I was about to follow Nico out the door when Annabeth put one hand on my arm and stopped me. Her gaze bored into my face as though trying to force all my secrets out of me telepathically.

"What is it?" I asked, frowning.

Annabeth shook her head. "You look…very familiar."

"Good familiar or bad familiar?"

"I'm not sure." She was frowning now too, and there was silence in the infirmary for a few seconds.

Then Percy put a hand on her shoulder. "It'll come to you, probably in the middle of the night. We should go talk to Jason and Reyna."

Annabeth nodded absently, then turned reluctantly towards the door. "All right. We'll see you later, you two."

"Good luck with the Romans," Nico called, then Percy and Annabeth left. We were alone again.

Carefully I put my feet on the floor, and felt encouraged when the room didn't spin. Nico's arm hovered near mine when I took my first steps forward, probably so he could catch me if I fell on my face. When we were safely out the door and I hadn't tripped over anything, he let it drop to his side.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Megan," he said quietly. "The safe haven for Greek demigods all over the world."

I barely heard him - I was too busy staring out at the valley below me. A collection of colourful buildings of all different sizes were grouped in an omega shape around a giant hearth, which was blazing brightly. A rock climbing wall was visible over the tops of the buildings, spewing what looked like lava at random times.

The sun sparkled off the surface of what I assumed was Long Island Sound, reflecting directly onto a giant warship that was docked by the water's edge. Kids routinely came running off this ship and onto the mainland, all of them around my age. The valley was flooded with them, and as I watched, more kept coming.

"Those are all demigods?" I breathed.

"The Greek ones are," he explained. "Some of the Romans are descendants of demigods, but it all amounts to the same thing."

"This is very surreal," I said, gazing around the camp.

"I promise you it's all real." Nico started down the hill, watching me carefully in case I stumbled. "I'll show you the cabin wing first."

When we reached the center of the valley, Nico stopped and faced the two cabins at the head of the omega. Both were big and white, though one was slightly smaller than the other. The bigger one had columns out front, and two bronze lightning bolts flanking the door. The other had statues of peacocks with eyes that looked strangely alive on either side of the entranceway.

"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.

"Yep," Nico sighed. "Usually both of them are unoccupied, because Hera can't have any kids, and Zeus's only child, Thalia, became a Hunter of Artemis a few years ago. They're like handmaidens of the goddess," he said, in response to my questioning look.

Then he gestured to a tall blonde kid who was making his way towards Zeus's cabin, chattering excitedly to a dark-haired girl by his side. "That's Jason Grace from Camp Jupiter. He's Jupiter's son, and -"

" - since Jupiter is the Roman form of Zeus, he stays in the Zeus cabin," I finished.

Nico nodded. "The girl was a Greek demigod - Piper McLean. She's a daughter of Aphrodite."

I wrinkled my nose slightly. In the myths I'd read about her, Aphrodite had always bothered me slightly. Too much beauty, not enough substance.

"I know what you're thinking," Nico said, smiling. "But Piper's not like that. She's very down-to-earth, and she definitely keeps her cabinmates in line."

"How do you keep track of all these kids?" I asked in wonder. "I'll forget all these names in two seconds flat."

"Let me guess: you're ADHD."

"How'd you know?" I asked, flabbergasted. Barely anybody knew I had ADHD, because I never told them. Granted, it wasn't all that hard to see; I couldn't sit still if you paid me.

"A lot of powerful demigods are. It's your battle instinct, your complete inability to focus - they keep you alive in a fight."

"Hmm," I said thoughtfully. "You know, my fifth grade teacher gave it a completely different definition, but I think I like that one a lot better."

A smile finally broke out on his face. "No one will judge you here for that. Most of the campers have some form of an attention disorder or dyslexia. Percy Jackson -" he gestured to the cabin on Zeus's right, which looked like a stone bunker, " - is one of them."

"That's Poseidon's cabin?" I peered towards the low stone building. Through the windows, I could see that tiny bronze figures were hanging from the ceiling, and catching the light - they looked like tiny seahorses.

Nico nodded. "Percy and his half-brother Tyson live there. When Tyson's not down with Poseidon, anyway."

"Where's your cabin?" I asked, looking around for one that might suit Nico.

"That one," he said, pointing towards a coal black building with a skull over the entrance and bright green torches lining the outside.

"That's awesome," I said, grinning. "I'm going to hope for Hades now."

Just then, my stomach gave a loud and very embarrassing rumble. I was suddenly reminded that I hadn't eaten anything fried in weeks.

Nico smiled. A few of his teeth actually showed this time. "I take it you're hungry."

"Well, maybe a little," I admitted, my stomach grumbling again.

A conch horn blew in the distance.

"You're in luck," Nico said. "That means lunch just started." His smile got wider. "Time to meet the rest of your extended family."