Chapter 7

Piper

Piper kept her position next to Annabeth, watching the boys push the girl's bed next to Annabeth's. Piper basically nicknamed the new girl "girl", as the girl refused to tell anyone her name. Piper was a little irritated by this. Piper was polite, and was sure that the girl had her reasons, but it just seemed like an attention-grabber in Piper's eyes.

Everybody crowded around the joined beds. Percy grabbed a cup of water, and after dumping it on himself, he refilled the glass and handed it to the girl.

Piper thought that Percy was nice. He was extremely good-looking, but so was Jason, her soon-to-be/sort-of boyfriend. Percy took his place next to Hazel.

"Thanks," the girl said, taking the glass and drinking it with two hands, like a child. The only difference was that her right pinky involuntary hovered next to the cup, all fancy-like. You could tell it was instinct.

"So," Reyna, as usual, took control. Piper shared the relationship of I-hate-you-because-you're-stealing-my-almost-boyfriend-but-it-has-to-wait-because-we-have-important-demigod-stuff-to-do with Reyna. Piper never really enjoyed being with Reyna; whenever they were alone the air suddenly got thicker and teeth and sharp weapons were bared.

"Girl, we must have a proper name for you. Your godly parent, at least."

"That will be a problem," she said in a still, small voice.

"Girl here has a…situation concerning her godly parent." Nico explained.

"Does she have a grudge with her parent?" Piper asked, knowing all too well what it was like to not favor your godly parent.

"No, she…" Nico paused.

"Well, spit it out, Nico, what is it?"

"She doesn't know who her godly parent is."

"Oh," Piper murmured.

They were silent.

"Well, she isn't sixteen yet, so technically, her godly parent hasn't broken any rules." Percy said finally.

"What rule?" Reyna asked. Percy blushed, and Annabeth started laughing.

"When Percy defeated Kronos, the gods offered him one 'wish'. They even offered him immortality, but he turned it down and made a rule. Every god had to claim their children before the age of sixteen, and all the gods-even the minor ones-are honored at Camp Half-blood." Annabeth smiled lovingly at Percy. Piper had a jealous pang in her heart. Why couldn't that be me and Jason?

Leo made a gagging motion behind Percy and Annabeth.

Reyna looked stressed and frustrated.

"Leo! Frank! Hazel!" They jumped to attention at Reyna's outburst. "Push Girl's bed to the other side." They did so, with some help from Percy and Jason.

"What now, Praetor Reyna?" Frank asked, as respectfully as possible.

"Stay there," she growled. "Percy, Jason, Nico," she waved them towards Annabeth's bed.

Gods, she's so bossy. Piper thought.

"We need a more private meeting. Does this rule Percy put in effect apply to Romans, such as Girl?" Reyna asked, disbelievingly. Piper suspected a new level of respect for Percy would blossom in Reyna's head. Annabeth's smile faltered.

"Doesn't matter," Nico cut in. "Girl is definitely Greek."

"How do you know?" You could hear the stress in Reyna's voice creep in. "Do you even know if she's a demigod?" Reyna sounded a mite bit hysterical. Nico answered calmly.

"Dyslexia and ADHD. Sees monsters, been attacked by a couple. Monsters say that her demigod powers are no match for them, and " That convinced them.

"Okay, can you tell us her name?" Jason asked. Piper disliked this level of interest Jason gave the girl. Nico shook his head.

"That would be breaking our promise." Reyna rolled her eyes. Piper was with her on this one. A simple promise, that's enough for you to shut up? Nico saw the look on their faces.

"Not just a normal promise. I promised on the River Styx not to tell anyone her real name." A wave of understanding washed over their faces.

"Fine." Reyna said. "You've convinced us. Now tell us her story." Nico looked stubborn.

"Fine! We'll ask you the questions. What type of fighter is she?"

"Hand-to-hand combat." They inhaled sharply. Hand-to-hand combat was risky. When one is using hand-to-hand combat, they are uncomfortably close to their enemies, and one wrong move could mean the end. "Sometimes daggers. Sometimes throwing blades. Swords if she has to."

"How do you know this?"

"She was running away from Camp Half-blood when I found her." Percy gasped.

"This wouldn't be…this wouldn't be Elaine, would this?" Percy said knowingly. Nico looked surprised.

"Yes. But she doesn't like that name. Said she was Seri when I got to her. How d'you know?"

"When you guys landed," Percy suddenly looked very excited, giving Jason, Annabeth, and Piper a meaningful stare. "Tyson told me-" Annabeth cut him off.

"Tyson's here?"

"Yes," he answered patiently. "So's Mrs. O' Leary and Eila. And Hazel's demon horse."

"Eila?"

"Prophecy-telling bird, I'll fill you in later. But anyways, Tyson told me Chiron Irised me, and to get back to him. He told me to be on the lookout, because there was a runaway from Camp Half-blood. Very powerful aura, but he didn't sense it at first. She's like a shield. He can't figure out who her godly parent is. He gave me her description. Asian, black hair, brown eyes; not very helpful, I know, but one more thing.
Chinese."

CONTINUE

IMPERATIVE MUST READ

So I'm having trouble with this one thing, and I WON'T BE ABLE TO POST ANY CHAPTERS UNTIL THIS IS FINISHED. You can PM me or review to answer.

Poll: Which one do you like the most?

Dragon Lord: Being able to transform into a 6 foot long dragon, and breathe underwater.

Zhang Guifang: Paralyze people temporarily by saying their full name. For a strong person like say, Percy or Jason, it would be one minute or 40 seconds, but a weak person like injured Annabeth it would be 5 minutes.

Hou Tu: Power over earth/soil-manipulate earth/soil-earthbending, you know what I'm talking about.

I need to know! Right now the first and second ones are in the lead, third losing by one.