Hans Zimmer is a genius. Just saying. :D

Okay I know it's a bit late... but sorry? even though Thanksgiving is tomorrow for us Canadians, teachers have been piling up projects. And I'm a photographer for our school's yearbook! yay!

So I don't own PJ&O, now no one's disillusioned.

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I Get Arrested – Ish

"It's okay," Diana soothed in her quiet voice. I looked up at her in surprise.

"Diana," I said. "Whether or not you get a safe place – probably whether or not you live depends on what I tell them. If I go completely unprepared and probably give them total bull, they're going fry you into pieces."

Diana tucked a piece of hair behind her hair. "It's okay. You know, the whole thing is pointless."

"Great for installing confidence."

Diana ignored me. "I'm never going to be accepted. My dad abandoned me; all my foster families thought I was a freak. Even now I know the answers, I'm still alone."

"Well, I'm on your side, even if I seem bitchy to you," I said. "Is that why you…"

"Tried to kill myself?" she said flatly. "Think about it. It's a lot easier if I'm out of the way. I was only helping everyone."

~0~

42nd street was just how I remembered it. Busy and swarming with tourists. Now that all the workers had gone home, loads of visitors came to replace their numbers, although it was almost freaking midnight. I hopped down from the bus, keeping a close eye on Diana.

For a scary second, I thought I lost her.

I grabbed her bandaged wrist a bit too tightly and told her not to wander off. She twisted her wrist away, crossed her arms, and stared off into another direction. I shook my head and told myself I had more urgent issues.

Like the fact that I was probably going to mess up in front of the gods.

Annabeth laughed as Percy pretended to push her off the steps of the bus. She lost her balance for a moment and careened into me. "Sorry Lena!" She straightened herself. "Why so glum? You've got your speech –"

"Nope."

"Well, I'm not going to ask how that happened," she muttered. "How can you not have it?"

"I left it at camp?" I suggested. "Can you whip up another speech for me?"

Annabeth frowned. "Listen, we'll be in front of everyone's daddys and mommys in five minutes. You think I can write one worthy of the Olympians in that time period? I don't have a pencil anyway." Then she began lecturing me for another few minutes about how important it was to remember things when she could've wrote the speech.

"I get it," I mumbled after she paused to take a breath. "Come on, we're behind the others." I stuck a hand into the elevator, effectively stopping the doors from closing and shutting us out.

"Why do you hafta come in?" a nine-year old moaned. "It's so cramped." It was true. There was maybe enough space to fit one more person in.

"Shut it," I snapped.

"Is she a daughter of Ares?" the boy whispered to his sibling.

I pushed Annabeth in. "Push the up button several times for me, will you?"

"What?" she asked.

"We're late!" howled the boy. The doors closed and shut me out. I closed my eyes and paced back and forth in the lobby. No one from camp was here with me. I was the last person. Maybe I could run outside and ditch the stupid council.

Nope. Couldn't do that. I didn't do all the worrying over the past few days for nothing. I slumped against the wall and waited for the next elevator.

"Darling, I think the building's closed," a man said to his wife. They were obviously tourists. The 'I love NYC' t-shirts, heavy backpacks, and cameras dangling from their necks said that.

"Rob, I just saw a bunch of kids go in," the wife sighed. "Let's keep waiting."

"It's almost midnight, for god's sake!"

"We're leaving tomorrow... Let me get a few pictures first."

Rob grumbled something not nice.

11:48. Twelve minutes. I remembered that I needed to get a special card from the security guy to get to Olympus. Last time, I'd dropped the sword in front of him to prove that I wasn't just some crazy girl going up to the observation deck. I wondered if he still remembered that, but the guy at the security desk was different. He'd just gotten on his shift.

"Get some coffee for me too," he called to a man leaving.

I smirked and pulled the dagger out. Then I approached him. "Now listen, I need the key."

He looked up at me blankly.

"To the highest floor," I said. "We can do this the easy way or the hard way." The security guy looked absolutely horrified when I took out the dagger. Only when he pressed the red button did I think that maybe this guy didn't know about the six hundredth floor. "Hold on," I began. Wasn't mist supposed to disguise the dagger into something else?

"Put the gun down," some burly guy burst into my view, holding one of his own. In seconds, five big men surrounded me.

Gun. Dagger. I just love mist. I swore and dropped it down. The others flinched, as if they thought it was a bomb. One guy came up and handcuffed me. "What the hell guys!" I shouted. "I'm just freaking thirteen."

"Delinquents these days," I heard one guy mutter to another. Then with my hands behind my back, my sword, and dagger confiscated, I was shoved with the butt of a gun on my back to some random place. As if I didn't have enough problems already.

~0~

"Why did you threaten the security guard with a gun?"

I sighed. "No, you see, it's not a gun... it's a..." but I figured 'dagger' would just give me strange stares and it definitely wasn't going to help me in any way. "Look, if you give it to me, I can show you it doesn't go off."

The man interrogating me sneered. "Like I am that dumb."

Yeah, dumb enough to think the dagger was a gun. I rolled my eyes and would've crossed my arms but unfortunately, my wrists were still cuffed. "For gods' sake, I'm thirteen!" I yelled again, losing my temper. They'd gotten used to that by now. The guy in front of me didn't even blink when I spat the words out to his face. He got out a tissue and pretended to dab at his cheek. I sat back in the chair. The man clicked his pen and wrote something else in the notebook, probably like very irritable, like a ticking bomb.

I twisted my neck around to see my watch. 12:43. Yep, I was late for the council. Although I probably should've been worried about not getting arrested first. "Isn't there some kind of policy against this? I'm not eighteen."

"For all we know," the guy said out of the corner of his mouth as he looked down at his notes, "You could be forty."

"I can prove it," I said, trying not to be offended by the forty comment.

"You have ID on you?"

I jangled the cuffs. "In my backpack."

He looked to the side. "Look –"

"Zeus!" I shouted, which was when they decided I was totally insane. "Get your butt down here and save me so I can be there for your freaking council!" I didn't really think he'd answer –

And that was when Hermes decided to drop by for a visit. He just popped in like that with his caduceus phone to his ear. "… not my problem if I can't –" he snapped his phone shut. "She disconnected from me," he said. "Oh well."

The guy in the chair had fallen backwards. I laughed quietly after I recovered from the shock. Hermes looked around him. The three guards looked stunned and didn't move until the man on the ground told them to hurry up and arrest him.

"For what?" I taunted. "For using magic?"

Hermes snapped his fingers and the cuffs came off. The security guards stared in fear. "You are in a lot of trouble, kid," he said, not looking quite pleased himself. "Being late and having to get rescued by the gods doesn't help with the sympathy thing.

I rubbed my raw wrists. "I figured," I said dryly. "And I'm so sorry. For… bossing Zeus around and not being there. But it wasn't exactly my fault I was arrested."

"Yes, it technically was. You could've used a much subtler approach with the security guard, and you've let your guard down," Hermes said. I knitted my fingers together, avoiding his look.

"Who are you?" One guy finally asked.

"Oh yes, the mortals," Hermes said dismissively and snapped his fingers again. They fell down, unconscious. "They'll be out for a while, but they'll still remember about you."

"Wait, why?" I demanded.

"The gods aren't happy, so being wanted is your punishment," he said happily.

"Fu-n," I corrected myself in time. "Like a game of cops and robbers. Fun. Fun," I muttered. "Can we please get to the council now, sir?"

~0~

I think I made sort of a dramatic entrance. With Hermes slightly in front of me, we arrived during a lull. Everyone turned to look at us. I took a breath to calm my racing heart. But along the way I kind of choked and coughed a few times.

All twelve Olympians, including some greasy guy with dark hair were sitting on thrones in the U I saw last summer. A giant fire burned. Camp Half-Blood seemed to be modeled after the throne room. Everything was like… whoa. If I had a camera, I would've probably taken a bunch of photos right there but I didn't have one and all the gods were sort of glaring at me. Hermes changed into his scary giant mode and sat on his seat.

I turned the point of my sword on the ground. Everything taken away to be confiscated was given back to me. And I was glad I got it back because I was shaking really hard and the sword was like a cane to me.

Camp Half-Blood campers were standing up in front of the gods. They'd also turned to look at me. Percy looked surprised, Nico was just doing that same scowl, and Cailey was looking confused like why in Hades are you fifty minutes late?

"I'm sorry," I said and swallowed. Zeus had that expression that told you to be on the lookout for his lightning bolt. Poseidon looked disappointed the only way fathers could. I bowed my head a little, blood rushing to my cheeks and biting my lower lip.

"You should be," Zeus grumbled. "And for that, you have lost some dear points."

I couldn't meet Diana's eyes. In fact, my eyes went everywhere but the people and gods themselves. "Please give me a chance, Lord Zeus," I said. "I know I haven't pleased you at all today, but if you can…" cheesy line alert, I thought and decided to take out the 'find forgiveness in your heart'. Seriously. Zeus's heart? Not a pleasant thought… a red lump spewing out golden ichor. Oh my god I really do have ADHD.

"Continue?" Hera – I thought it was Hera because of the peacock style hair – said impatiently.

"Oh yes. If you can forgive me, then I would be happy to bring up the topic I suggested to you back in summertime."

Zeus stroked his long beard. Huh. People with beards really do that. "For your lateness, you know you will be on the mortal police records for lookout," he said.

"Hermes told me," I said. The presence of the thirteen gods were really getting to me. It was like all my cells just decided to scream extravagant suicide and I would burst into flames.

Artemis spoke. She was glowing silver in the moonlight. I looked at her twin, Apollo, who'd I'd met last summer (and thought he was… hot). He was totally disinterested. Or at least it seemed like it because he was listening to his Ipod. "I would actually like to hear this girl's proposition. From what you've said, it sounds interesting."

Yay?

"Fine," Zeus said, unable to reject his daughter's wishes. "Go. Speak away."

I thought about clearing my throat. "Diana can you come here?" I waved her over. She looked a little scared but came to stand by my side. "Don't worry," I said to her. "Diana's a demititan," I announced. "You probably know that by now. She's the daughter of Phoebe. Raise your hand."

She raised her right arm.

"The other one," I said. She gave me a questioning look and brought her arm up. "Now turn your palm to face everyone." After she complied, I pulled down on the sleeve.

There was a collection of gasps from the gods and the campers too. Travis and Connor were staring with identical looks of confusion. Annabeth stamped her foot and muttered idiot and something about the weak point. Everyone was trying not to stare at her wrist but they did nonetheless.

"As you can see," I adopted a brisk tone, "Diana tried to kill herself." The demititan looked like she wanted to slap me. "Obviously. Why?" I asked her.

She went back to the scared expression. "Because I'm never wanted."

"Why?"

Her hand was trembling. I let her lower it. "I'm a demititan," she said in a shaking and loud voice. "You know why."

"And that's why demititans need to start belonging. They need a place like Camp Half-Blood. We can't pretend they don't exist or tell them they're not wanted or that," I pointed to Diana's wrist, "will happen."

"Their parents," Hera said.

"Are titans, I know. But aren't you too? Aren't we all connected to the Titans through some blood relation? Are you saying you too should be kicked around like an outcast?"

Hera fell silent.

Apollo clapped. "You could become a lawyer one day," he said and cleared his throat. "She silences us –"

"No poems," Artemis groaned. "Not today Apollo."

"Tomorrow?"

All the gods told Apollo they would really be fine without his haikus. Apollo slouched on his throne, frowning like a spoiled child being denied something they'd really been hoping for.

"We cannot ignore the risks of extended our trust to the demititans," Athena mused. "Diana may be willing to help us, but what about other demititans? Not everyone will react the same way. Some may betray us."

"Yes," Dionysus said. "That's exactly why there should be one camp only. One for the half-bloods. I'm busy enough without two. The brats at Camp Half-Blood –"

"Yes, yes, we know about your troubles," Hades yawned. He adjusted the oily held on his head. "You told us last time… and the time before that…"

"So it's either for a new camp, or screw the demititans?" Apollo asked, pulling the earphones from his ears. "If that's the case –"

"No," Athena said. Annabeth stood up a little straighter. "I have another few ideas. Because demititans are so rare, there is no need for a separate camp. How about just a separate cabin? Then Dionysus won't have two camps as he is already 'busy enough without two'." She said the last words sarcastically and threw a withering look at him. Dionysus yawned back – as if being bored was the best he could do – and the smell of sour grapes saturated the air, a sign that he was quite offended. "I also propose we find more demititans and bring them to Camp Half-Blood for a while – say six months – before we make any major decisions. Like a study group."

Zeus considered. "All in favour of searching for more demititans?"

I counted the hands quickly with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Seven out of thirteen.

Zeus sighed. "Alright then. We will search for demititans and then continue with this issue at the summer solstice for a progress report."

This wasn't what I expected. I'd expected for me to get a camp, or for me to get rejected. I guess I was a little disappointed because Diana put a hand on my shoulder and told me, "It's a start. Thanks."

"All in a day's work," I said.

The gods continued talking quietly among themselves.

The Olympians left the giant room. Chiron told the campers to shush and then left Annabeth in charge before he came over to me and Diana. "You do know that when they mean by searching for more demititans, they expect you to do it."

I huffed. "I know. I'm the demigod, I do the work. What? Should I put out an ad or something? Has this ever happened to you? Been chased by monsters? Abandoned by your parents? Call…" I looked up expectantly.

Chiron pursed his lips. "There will be several parties in search. And by in search, I mean as in a quest."

And that's it for this chapter! Now imma go and leave you guys to tell me what you think!

Until next time! ~^^~