AN: thanks for reading! I don't own PJO or HoO.

Thanks to Jade Fey for being the first person to follow and review this story!

Annabeth's POV

I always love the looks on people's faces when they see Camp Half-Blood for the first time. It's halfway between awe and disbelief, and it's pretty great.

"Holy…" Sam muttered.

"Yeah! This place rules!" Attie crowed, already jogging down the hill towards camp. "Come on, guys!" Sam ran after her, but Brook stayed with Percy and I.

"What do you think, Brook?" Percy asked nervously, looking at her with the corner of his eye. On the ride back to camp, we had talked quietly about Brook's possible relation to Poseidon. She had the same eyes as Percy. And she had led Sam and Attie, which would make sense if she was a child of one of the big three.

"It's cool." Brook said. "All these kids are really children of the gods?" We walked down the hill after Sam and Attie. But before we caught up, there was a glow from the bottom of the hill. A fiery hammer hung over Attie's head.

"Ah!" Attie already had a monkey wrench from one of her many pockets, and swiped at the hammer with it. "What is that!"

"Don't worry." I assured her. "That's the symbol of-"

"Hephaestus! Hey Percy, hey Annabeth." I recognized Leo's cheery voice. "You're a daughter of Hephaestus, newbie! What's your name?"

"Wait, you mean Hephaestus is my dad?" Attie asked, staring at the flaming hammer as it faded away, and slowly tucking the wrench into her pockets. "Really?"

"Yep. I'm Leo, by the way. Leo McShizzle Supreme Commander Valdez! And son of Hephaestus."

"Really? So you're, like, my half brother?" Attie asked, surprised. "That's awesome! I always wanted a brother even crazier then me!"

"What's your name?"

"Atalanta Coolio Ruler of the Awesome Abberson. But everyone calls me Attie."

Leo grinned. "Knew I liked you! C'mon, I'll show you around camp, and introduce you to the other children of Hephaestus. And wait until you see the forges!"

"Forges? That's awesome! Are we allowed to-" Then she seemed to remember Brook and Sam, and turned back to them, face falling. "I should probably stay with my friends. Leo, this is Brook and Sam."

"Who're your godly parents?" Leo asked.

"We, um… don't know." Brook said, her cheeks going a little pink.

"Dudes, a bow? He must be a son of Apollo." Leo said, slinging an arm around Sam.

"Not necessarily." I said. "We'll have to wait for them to be-" There was a yellow glow, and a large sun symbol appeared over Sam's head. Leo smirked and stepped back a little. Sam pulled his hood off for the first time, showing shaggy blond hair, almost past his ears.

"Okay, who was right?" Leo pretended to hold up his hands for high-fives.

"Apollo?" Sam asked. "The god of the sun? And archery and stuff?"

"Yup." Percy said. "He's your dad."

"Are you sure?" Sam asked, frowning suspiciously.

"Dude, who else's glowing golden sun would be flying over your head?" Attie pointed out, grinning. "You're a son of Apollo, buddy. I guess this explains your weird love of bows and pointy sticks." Sam glared at her. She shrugged.

"Shouldn't I be claimed, too?" Brook asked nervously.

"You will be soon." Percy assured her. "The gods agreed to claim their kids when they were thirteen or younger. And your… what, fifteen?" She nodded. "Then your godly parent will claim you soon, don't worry."

Once Brook and Sam had convinced Attie that they would be alright without her, Leo led her away to introduce her to her siblings at the forges. Normally I would've had Will show around a new Apollo camper, but he and Nico were visiting Will's mom in Maine, so Percy led him away, leaving me with Brook.

She glanced at me. "How soon will I be claimed?" She asked.

"We can't know," I told her. "But you're over thirteen, so it has to be soon. And in the meantime, you'll stay in the Hermes cabin. He's the god of travelers, so all unclaimed campers sleep in there."

"Great." Brook nodded, and I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not. "So… like the lost and found of demigods?" She sighed, and I wasn't sure what to say. With the other kids around she had stood straight, seemed confident, smiled and acted sure of herself. But now that it was just her and I, she stuffed her hands in her pockets and the smile slipped from her face. "Sorry. Rude."

"It's fine… are you okay?" I asked, a little worried about the younger girl.

"I'm fine." Brook said. "Sorry, it's just, around Sam and At I always have to act happy and confident, but I think right now what I need is to bang my head against a wall a few hundred times instead of leading them. I wish they didn't always ask me to tell them what to do." She shook her head and brushed a stray strand of black hair behind her ear.

I was flattered that Brook already trusted me enough to tell me that. I racked my brain to figure out what to say. "I guess that wouldn't be fun. But you do seem like the leader type."

"I do?" She asked.

I nodded. "But they shouldn't always ask you. Everyone should get to be a kid. But can I ask… why were you guys in that abandoned building? It looked like you lived there."

"We do." Brook said as we walked into camp. "I don't know their stories, but I met them on the streets, already homeless. I don't… my family and I aren't exactly friendly." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Sorry," I said. "I ran away from home when I was seven. I can relate."

"That sucks." Brook said, but she almost sounded… jealous? What could've been so bad in her past that running away from home at age seven would be better? I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "My story's even more fun." But instead of telling me, she pointed at the climbing wall. "Hey, why's there lava on that?"

At dinner that night, I kept glancing at Brook, hoping she'd be claimed, but no glowing symbols appeared, no signs at all as to who her godly parent was. And as soon as she saw her friends, she broke into a grin and waved.

"You should tell them you don't want to lead them," I muttered when Sam and Attie were gone again. "They'd understand, they're your friends." Brook just shrugged. I left her at the Hermes table and went to find Percy.

After the Giant war, Chiron had given the seven (plus Nico and his boyfriend, Will Solace) permission to sit at our own table. It wasn't really fair to the other kids, but the rest of the campers had been so grateful to us they had supported it.

Percy and I sat down at the table. We were the first ones there. "What do you think of the new demigods?" I asked.

"Sam's nice, if a little stern." Percy shrugged. "Great with the bow, too."

"I like Brook a lot." I said truthfully.

"Attie and I blew up some stuff!" Leo cackled, making me jump. I hadn't realized he had walked up behind me. "Sorry. Anyway, she's really skilled with the machines we have down at the forges. She's almost as good as... well, me."

"Cause it's not like you're full of yourself or anything." Calypso said, smiling, walking up to the table. She kissed Leo on the cheek and sat down next to him. "There are new demigods? Have they been claimed yet?"

"Two of them have, Apollo and Hephaestus." Percy nodded. "But Brook is still unclaimed." Then he grimaced. "She's over thirteen! Why isn't she claimed yet?"

I didn't know. And I don't like not knowing. That night at the campfire, Brook sat quietly with the Hermes kids, not singing along or even laughing when the Stoll's pranked Piper and she chased them around camp screaming with spoiled milk in her hair.

I was starting to get worried about her. Her godly parent had better claim her soon.

AN: Please review/favorite/follow, thanks for reading.