He dreamt of a barn filled with animals, they all had this gods awful stank of on them, unlike most animals. Everytime Perseus would get close, they'd snap at them with their sharp teeth.

He woke up several times, he tried to listen to what people were saying around him but nothing made sense, so Percy just passed out again. What he remembers is being fed something that tastes like buttered popcorn, only in pudding.

The blonde girl hovered over Percy, "What will happen at the summer solstice?" She interrogated.

His throat felt dry as he croaked out, "what?"

She looked around, "What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!" she said urgently.

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, I don't-" Somebody knocked and the girl pushed a spoon inside of his mouth and stuffed it with pudding, effectively silencing him.

The next time he woke up, a blond dude stood in the corner to keep watch over Perseus. Blue eyes, at least a dozen, everywhere on his face and even on the back of his hands. Finally Perseus came around.

"Don't drink too much." A voice said and Perseus looked over, there he was, leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn't slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALFBLOOD.

The unsettling reality kicked in as he stopped tasting the taste of blue cookies on his tongue. "You saved my life," Grover said. "I…well, the least I could do…I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this." He placed a shoe box in Perseus' lap along with his shoulder bag. He put aside the bag and opened the shoe box.

A black and white bull's horn, the base was jagged from it being broken off. The tip had dried blood on it. He hoped it wasn't true but this confirmed it all. "The minotaur." Perseus said.

"Um, Percy, it isn't a good idea-"

"The Minotaur. Half man, half bull." He repeated.

Grover sighed, "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"

"My mom. Is she really dead?" He asked.

A breeze crossed the meadow as it blew the tall grass, it moved in waves. Acres of strawberries were spread out under the blue sky, the valley surrounded by rolling hills. The tallest had a huge pine tree on top; he found beauty in it as the sun shone through the needles.

His mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold. Nothing should look beautiful.

"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm-I'm the worst satyr in the world." He moaned.

Percy felt his head turn warm again, "Don't." He cut him off, "That isn't going to bring back my mum." He said as he leaned back into the bed.

The wizard was too miserable to care that satyrs existed, or even minotaurs. All that meant was his mom really had been squeezed into nothingness, dissolved into yellow light. Percy was alone. An orphan. He would have to live with . . . uncle Moody? No. That would happen, but his uncle would never be the same.

Grover was still sniffling. Perseus looked over and said, "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."

"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"

"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least…I was." Percy finished his glass of nectar and felt somewhat energized. "Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting." The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.

Perseus' legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that distance. Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but he held on to it. He had paid for that souvenir the hard way. There was no way that he was going to let it go. As we came around the opposite end of the house, He caught his breath.

They must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, Perseus needed a minute to process everything.

The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture, an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena but well, except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun.

In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school–age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, some of them were pegasus'.

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who'd fed the wizard was leaning on the porch rail next to them.

The man facing Percy was small, but chubby. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple.

He looked like those paintings of baby angels. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt.

"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to Perseus. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And that is Chiron." He pointed at the guy whose back was to me. First, he realized Chiron was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Ah, good, Percy," The man in the wheelchair said. "Now we have four for pinochle." He offered me a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."

"Uh, thanks."

"Annabeth?" Chiron called to the blond girl. She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."

Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron." She was probably his age, unlike the satyr with the goatee. She was maybe a couple of inches taller, and athletic looking. She had a deep tan and curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what Purseus imagined when he thought of what a stereotypical California girl would look like.

Except for her eyes. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take me down in a fight.

Grey-eyes glanced at the minotaur horn in his hands, then back at me. "You drool when you sleep." Then she sprinted off down the lawn.

"So," The boy said, anxious to change the subject. "What does Mr. D. stand for?"

Mr. D stopped shuffling the cards. He looked at me like the wizard was an idiot. "Young man, names are powerful things. You don't just go around using them for no reason."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

"I'm glad you made it here." Mr. Brunner said, "I thought we would have lost you before you even stepped in this place."

He thought so as well, "Why?" He still questioned it.

"The scent that you came with was aggressive and your presence was known by many." Chiron said. "Where did you learn to fight?"

Suddenly panic washed over him as he didn't feel his wand holster anymore. The color was drained from his face and he looked at his bag that Grover slung over his chair. "From another centaur." He said quietly as he took his bag in his hands. Clumsily leaning over as he still sat in the chair.

"What are they called, if you don't mind me asking?"

Never before was it mentioned that he wasn't allowed to not tell his name to others, "Firenze." Perseus said and gave more information. "He was a centaur that would teach me when I was at school." He dug around in the bag and finally touched his familiar wand. Relief sank through him.

"Your mother mentioned this school of yours." Chiron said and Perseus felt his heart skip beat.

"My mother?"

"Yes, she had sent many letters, involving your situation. I even sent one to your headmaster."

Mr. D. snorted, "Wizards."

Percy clenched his jaw but didn't acknowledge the small jab. "I'm impressed. I haven't seen a demigod with magical capabilities in a long time. You don't look like a son of Hecate, though."

Percy smiled a bit, "That is because I am a son of Poseidon." He said.

Mr. D. frowned, "What did I say about names, boy?" Perseus's statement was ignored, although they all looked like they knew.

"They have power."

"Grover," Mr. D said impatiently, blatantly putting Perseus aside, "are you playing or not?"

"Yes, sir!" Grover trembled as he took the fourth chair. Now Perseus remembers, Dionysus. The god of wine and insanity.

"Do you know how to play pinochle?" Mr. D eyed Perseus suspiciously.

"I'm afraid not," He answered. "I'm afraid not, sir," corrected after he saw the most nasty glance come from him. He didn't get any cards put in front of him.

"You know of the gods, boy?" Chiron asked.

Perseus nodded, "Albus and Firenze taught me, sir."

"Good, no orientation video needed then." Chiron said and Mr. D turned to the wizard. "Cabin eleven, Percy Jackson. And mind your manners." He then swept into the farmhouse, and Grover followed miserably.

"Will Grover be okay?" Perseus asked Chiron, he hadn't known the satyr for long but he knew that he had good intentions. Chiron nodded, though he looked a bit troubled.

"Old Dionysus isn't really mad. He just hates his job. He's been . . . ah, grounded, I guess you would say, and he can't stand waiting another century before he's allowed to go back to Olympus."

"But Mount Olympus is in Greece." The brit countered.

"No, the gods move with the heart of the west." This Albus hadn't taught him. "They might even be the source of it, or at least, they are tied so tightly. They wouldn't fade not unless all of Western civilization were obliterated." They walked down a hill and cabins were in sight.

"The fire started in Greece. Then the heart of the fire moved to Rome, and so did the gods. Jupiter was Zeus, Venus was Aphrodite,but they're the same forces, the same gods."

"Did the heart burn out?"

"Gods no, the gods simply moved before it could. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. They spent several centuries in England, actually." They passed a small shack, even that looked greek. "All you need to do is look at the architecture. People do not forget the gods. Every place they've ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings."

They stood still, "America is now the heart of the flame. It is the great power of the West. And so Olympus is here. And we are here." The centaur looked at him, "That is why there are close to no monsters in the UK."

Did the centaur even know about the mythical creatures that reside there?

"What is cabin eleven?"

"The cabin for the unclaimed."

Perseus looked at the man in confusion and realized he was an orphan. "Unclaimed by who, because you know about my mother."

"Your father." Chiron said, "Don't tell anyone about your heritage until you are claimed. Wait, until there is a moment grand enough to get his attention." He looked down in shame, "I know that some gods don't claim their child because they're ashamed." The man stood up from out of his wheelchair and as if some spells were casted, his muscled horse legs appeared.

Perseus' breath hitched, would his father be ashamed of him? What if he was never claimed, then he'd truly be an orphan. He got out of his head before he couldn't stop.

We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn he had on him. Another said, "That's him."

He looked back at the farmhouse, and noticed that it was huge. Four stories, sky blue with a white trim. In a flash he saw something move. A shadow, he felt the hairs on his neck stand up once again, he was being watched.

"What's up there?" Perseus asked Chiron. He looked where the wizard was pointing at, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."

"Somebody lives there?"

"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."

Perseus trusts the old centaur, but he was also sure something had moved that curtain.

"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."

They walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. "It pays for our expenses, strawberries take close to no effort." They walked past and talked about Grover for a bit, Chiron talked around the subject and gestured, "Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."

As they got closer, Percy realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.

Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."

"Stocked with what?" He asked. "Armed with what?"

"You'll see. Capture the flag on Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"

"Yes." He said and rubbed the back of his neck, "Just not a shield though."

"We'll visit the armory later". Chiron said and continued to give Percy the tour. He loved how some cabins looked, but when he looked at the fifth one, a girl sneered at him, she was loud.

Percy just kept walking, doing his best to stay clear of Chiron's hooves "We haven't seen any other centaurs," he observed.

"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."

Perseus hummed, barbaric he could call them. He has seen them spar amongst themselves but not wild, simply connected with nature.

"You're the Chiron, you've lived for, I don't even know how long, but long. Doesn't it ever get boring?" He questioned

"No, no," the centaur answered. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."

"Why depressing?"

Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again. "Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."


A/N: If you notice, this is exactly the same in the book( with a few minor tweaks) its a bit of an ode to because I think I'll flip it over a bit. (Not that much tbh) I want the first years to be the same before Percy says fuck it, bam. And ruins everything for everyone(everyone being the villains)

Percy is 12 going 13 at the moment!

I'm struggling with the pairing! You all said it and I agree now, still a bit reluctant but I see it. I'm thinking Fleur from GoF!