A/N: Okay, your review seriously made me incredibly happy. I only got three, but that was good enough for me. If you want me to continue, just keep on reviewing. Also, when I wrote this chapter, I was on a high from the happiness your reviews brought me. So, if it sucks, gosh, I apologize. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. I'm sorry if it's weird or anything. I did my best.

Anyway, enjoy!

Insane thought: There is a small, wooden dinosaur stuck to my TV. It's green. It came from a party giveaway. :)

Max

I bit my lip nervously. I hate car rides. Too cramped. Can't escape because you're moving. Trapped. I felt like puking. As soon as the car stopped, I would make a mad dash for the door, for sure.

"Relax," my mom said, smiling encouragingly. I tried to smile back. Beside me, Fang took my hand. Instantly, I felt better. I leaned my head against his shoulder, smelling his Fang-smell.

Nudge was looking out the window, taking in New York City. We'd been here before but this time, we were able to actually see the sights. Sort of. She faced me, her brown eyes full of questions. "Where are we going, again?"

"Good question," I said, turning towards my mom. Her cheeks flushed. For a moment, I felt guilty, but she'd been very vague about the details. So I had a reason to be suspicious.

"Jeb said he needed your help," she began. I scoffed involuntarily. Despite everything we'd been through (and despite the fact that he was my dad), I still didn't trust Jeb. There was too much history for me to forget everything we'd been through and run into his arms. No freaking way.

"He said it was really important."

I shook my head and muttered something under my breath. My mom exhaled, evidently exasperated. "Look, Max. I don't know much more than you do, okay? He said to meet him at this restaurant. There are some people we need to meet."

"How do we know they aren't from Itex? Or...or...that they're not working for Mr. Chu? How do we know they can be trusted?"

"We don't," Mom answered tersely.

My jaw clenched as I let go off Fang's hand and moved closer to the car window.

Your mom is right, Max.

Ahh. Of course. Hey, there, Voice, I thought, with as much contempt as I could muster. Nice to hear from you again.

Confused? Yeah, I have a voice in my head. Oh, don't you? No? Really? Well, you probably don't have wings either. So, there.

Give your mom a break. She's doing the best she can.

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, whatever," I murmured. Fang arched a brow at me. I smiled sheepishly and shook my head.

Now, just a little heads up about where you're going.

Finally! The Voice was saying something useful. Yes, almighty Voice? What is it?

I'm going to have to ask you to keep an open mind. Be prepared. Everything is not what it seems.

I rolled my eyes. Thank you, Confucius. Still...what did the Voice mean, exactly?

It means we have to trust them, Max.

I nearly jumped at the intrusion. But this time it was Angel.

Trust who? I asked, in my mind.

The people we have to meet. We have to take a leap of faith.

My eyes met Angel's. Her face appeared impassive. Then her expression changed to confusion. After a while her eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. "Oh my gosh," she murmured.

Angel? You okay, sweetie?

She hadn't moved. Gazzy had noticed too. "Angel?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

Angel didn't answer. She didn't have to. The car slowed down and the driver pulled up in front of a small pizzeria on the corner of a deserted street.

"We're here."

Well, huzzah.

When we got inside, Jeb was there to greet us. "Max!" he exclaimed. "You came!"

"Didn't have a choice," I muttered as he attempted to pull me into a hug. I dodged it easily and looked around. There weren't too many people in the restaurant. In fact, there were only a few. And they were all at one table. I felt my stomach doing uneasy flips. I didn't have a good feeling about this.

"Val," Jeb said, hugging my mom. "Uh...come this way."

He led us toward the table and I did a quick scan of all the possible escape routes. Better paranoid than dead, I always say. Then I turned my attention towards the occupants of the table. There were twelve of them, and they were some of the weirdest people I'd ever seen (and coming from me, that's saying something).

There was a tall man wearing a suit, sitting at the head of the table. He had salt-and-pepper hair that reached his shoulders. He was good-looking, but he looked tired. It was too soon for me to decide whether I liked him or not.

The woman to his right looked like she came out of a movie. She was pretty. Her long brown hair was tied in a braid, resting on her shoulder. She was wearing a simple, white dress. She gave me a sweet smile and I averted my eyes quickly. I'm not getting friendly just because you look nice, got it? I know. I know. I'm so amiable.

The woman next to her was wearing a gold dress. Her hair was tied up with dried grass. WTH? She looked friendlier than the other woman though, so that was a good thing, I guess.

Next to the man in the suit, was another man. He was wearing casual clothes. Namely, a Hawaiian polo and Bermuda shorts. Very chic, if you ask me. His sea green eyes were very friendly; and I actually felt myself smile. So far, he was the only remotely decent person here.

The man next to him was the definition of depression. He was wearing all black. He looked even darker than Fang. But he looked absolutely miserable. Like all the happiness had been sucked out of his life. Pal, I know how that feels.

The rest of them were just as odd. One looked handicapped; deformed. Another one was huge. Seriously. Looking at him gave me the chills. He looked like he wanted to beat me up. And for the first time in my life, I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to beat him. His black leather jacket screamed "Imma kick yo butt" and his shades covered his eyes. Still, I was willing to bet he was glaring at me.

There was another woman, and I swear, she was just about the most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen. Her smile was dazzling, and her eyes were hypnotic. Her hair was...indescribable. It seemed to be a mixture of colors all at the same time. It seemed to be...changing; transforming. Blond...brown...black...and...red. Dangerously red. I glanced at Fang. He was gaping at her, totally mesmerized. Not good.

Sitting next to her, was another man. He was younger than the rest; maybe nineteen or eighteen and he was incredibly good-looking. He had sandy, blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. He was leaning back carelessly, his feet propped up on the table. He winked at me and I felt my cheeks flush.

The girl sitting across from him looked at him disapprovingly. She was younger than me, to my surprise. She had auburn hair and silver eyes. Silver? She looked at me and nodded affably. When she looked at Fang, however, I could have sworn her eyes narrowed.

Gray eyes met my brown ones as I looked the last woman at the table. She was wearing a simple dress and her long black hair was tied up. She nodded at me, rather than smile. Well, nodding is the best way to acknowledge someone, I guess. Not as welcoming as a smile, but still polite.

Lastly, there was a chubby man. He looking at us like we were dirt.I wasn't surprised. I'd gotten used to that look. What I wasn't used to, were his purple eyes. Umm. Contacts? Didn't look like it.

"Please," said the man at the head of the table. "Sit."

I realized he was talking only to me. Everyone else was already seated. Right. My cheeks grew redder, as I took my seat next to Fang. Now, regain dignity by putting on badass face.

"Max," Jeb said. "We have something very, very important to tell you, okay?"

I glared at him. I hate it when people treat me like a little kid. "Okey dokey, artichokey," I said, with mock innocence in my voice. I heard Total sniggering. Jeb's jaw clenched. If there's anything more fun than annoying a possibly evil scientist who also happens to be your father, let me know. I'll have to try it. This was priceless.

"Maximum, I'm serious. You have to pay attention. This is a very delicate matter."

Wow, okay. He called me Maximum. If I had a middle name, I bet he'd have used it too. Talk about lame. You can't pull the daddy act on me, Jeb. Even if you are my biological father.

"Sure. Okay," I relented. I crossed my arms over my chest. An uncomfortable silence settled in the room. "Well? We're waiting."

For a moment, Jeb looked flustered. He looked helplessly at the chubby man.

"They're on their way," the man said. Jeb nodded at him. "Umm...just...wait a little longer, Max. We're waiting for someone...some...people."

"Figures," the huge, freaky-looking man said. "The idiot centaur doesn't know how to get here."

"Patience is a virtue, Ares," the gray-eyed woman warned.

Ares? Centaur? What the heck? The names were familiar. I felt like I'd read about them before, or seen them on TV. But why would...?

I turned to Angel for help. Angel? Any idea...?

Sorry, Max. Just...just hold on. They'll tell us in a moment. Her face was calm. She was thinking about something, I could tell.

"Finally!" the man in the Hawaiian polo said. He was looking at something behind us. Grinning, he called, "Percy!"

Behind us, I heard the door to the restaurant open. There were sounds of shuffling feet. A lot of feet. That was odd.

Max.

Ugh. There goes that dang Voice again. Yes? I inquired.

Remember what I said? Keep an open mind.

Yessiree, I replied.

I turned around to face the newcomers. And I was met with two teenagers...and two of the weirdest hybrids I'd ever seen. At first, they seemed normal...in a way. Then, my vision got a little blurry and I internally panicked. Genetically speaking, the Flock has excellent vision. When I was able to focus clearly again, I wasn't prepared for what I saw.

Holy (insert swear word of choice here).

Percy

"Chiron, what do you mean different?"

I was confused. Okay, that's very common, I know. I mean, I've got ADHD and I'm dyslexic. But this time, Chiron really wasn't making sense. Different? How could anyone be more different that me? I'm a demigod, for goodness's sake! As far as I'm concerned, nothing beats a half-breed. Half-god. Half-mortal.

"Percy, we're almost there. Alright? You'll understand. Just...just...wait, okay?"

I could tell Chiron was getting annoyed. I didn't blame him. I'd been bugging him with questions since we left camp. Even Grover had stopped talking to me. Annabeth's head was resting on my shoulder and we were holding hands. I sighed.

From the rearview mirror, Argus snuck a glance at me. Well, it was more than one glance. But that's just Argus being Argus.

After what seemed like an eternity, we pulled up in front of a restaurant on an unfamiliar street. "Weird," I murmured. I'd been living in New York for as I could remember. How could I not know where we were?

"Percy." Annabeth was waving her hand in front of my face.

I said something really smart like, "Wha?"

Annabeth laughed. Extending her hand, she helped me out of the car. Okay. That was seriously messed up. Shouldn't I be the one helping her?

When we got inside, the first person I saw was my dad. He looked really happy to see me. "Percy!"

I grinned. I hadn't seen him since the end of the War. I looked around the table. Most of the people, I already knew. However, at the end of the table, were a few unfamiliar faces. There was a man and a woman. The man looked friendly enough; at least not the type to be wary of - yet. The woman seemed reasonably nice. Her face betrayed no emotion as she looked us over. There was a dog. I was probably just imaging it...but I could have sworn I heard him say something about me. That's insane, I know. But he said something like, "What's so special about them?" Oh, you have no idea, I thought.

Then there were the six kids. They didn't look too different. They were tall. They were all wearing windbreakers despite the fact that it was a little stuffy in the restaurant. And they were sort of dirty; like they'd been on the run. But that was hardly anything to be shocked about, right?

"Sorry we're late."

I turned around to find that Chiron was back in his centaur form. Grover was in his satyr form too. Glancing back at the table, I wasn't surprised to see that the strangers looked positively freaked out. Their eyes were nearly bulging out of their sockets. Except for two of the kids – the tall, dark boy and the small, blond girl. The little girl looked like she been expecting it. But really, who expects half-humans? The boy looked at me with a deadpan face. But I could see in his eyes that he was profiling me. He wasn't sure whether to trust us or not. Huh. Well, that's new.

"Chiron!" Mr. D ushered us to our places at the long table. I felt awkward, wedged between Grover and Annabeth, not knowing what to do.

After a long pause, my dad spoke up. "Percy," he said. "Uh...there are some things we need to talk about. But first, umm. You should probably meet..."

He trailed off and I looked up. He was looking at the unidentified man.

"Oh," the man said. "Right, right. Umm. First of all, I'm Jeb Batchelder."

"Hi," I said. "I'm Percy Jackson."

He held out his hand and I shook it awkwardly.

"This is Dr. Valencia Martinez," he continued, gesturing towards the woman next to him. She flashed me a small smile and I returned it.

"This is her daughter, Max."

He was referring to the eldest girl. She was tall. Her brownish-blond hair lay in a tangled mess that reached her shoulders. She didn't smile, so I just nodded at her.

"Max, maybe you could introduce yourselves..." Jeb trailed off, willing Max to speak.

After looking us over again, she said, "Fine." She turned to the other kids and nodded encouragingly at them. It was clear who called the shots.

"I'm Angel," the small, blond girl said. She smiled, showing her teeth and I couldn't help but notice the slight resemblance she held to Annabeth – when she'd been younger, that is.

Right on cue, Annabeth spoke up. "I'm Annabeth. It's nice to meet you."

"Hi, Annabeth," Angel said. Then she looked at the boy sitting next to her. He had blond hair, like hers and they both had the same eyes.

"I'm the Gasman," he said, shrugging.

"Gasman?" Grover laughed. "Seriously?"

The boy's face was indeed serious. Dead serious. "Seriously."

Grover's face fell slightly. I could tell he was embarrassed. "This is Grover," I said, trying to cover up for him. I only made it worse though. Drawing attention to Grover, everyone looked at him and stared. He looked down and coughed, mortified.

"I'm Nudge," a dark-skinned girl said. Nudge? Gasman? Were these kids fooling around with us or something? I was starting to get a little miffed.

"Oh, we're not lying," Angel said. I blinked, taken aback. Okay. Freaky. It's almost as if she can read my mind.

"I can," she said.

Whoa. Freakier. I'm not saying these things out loud, am I? I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm just saying this in my mind. AM I?

"No, you're not saying them out loud," she said. "I can read people's mi—"

"Angel," Max murmured, shaking her head. Quickly, Angel smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes at me. "Never mind."

Okay, I'm dyslexic, yeah. And I've got ADHD. But, I'm not stupid. Something was up. These kids were...weird. They were...different. Oh, right. Different. I turned around to look at Chiron. His expression read, "Told you so."

"I'm Iggy," another boy said. He was the tallest of them all. And he was the fairest. If the walls had been white rather than maroon, he would have easily blended in. He had strawberry blond hair and pale skin. His eyes were blue, but they looked sort of glazed over. It was almost as if he was...

"I'm blind," he said, responding to my thought. Oh.

"Oh." Annabeth said it the same time I thought it.

All eyes were on the last boy. He was wearing all black. It was a hilarious contrast to my orange Camp Half-blood shirt. His hair was long, and it reached his shoulders. Kind of like Nico di Angelo's hair, when you think about it. His eyes were just as dark. Finally, he looked up. "I'm Fang," he said. "'Sup?"

Fang? Okay, seriously? Fang. Nudge. Gasman. Who are these people?

Annabeth, on the other hand, gasped. Her eyes widened. "You're Fang?" Her voice was barely above a whisper. She knew this guy? For a second, I became a little protective. "Fang? As in...the blog?"

Blog? What blog? Unfortunately, the world wide web is not my forte. Dyslexic, here, people! Hello? Annabeth had better luck with these things though. She managed to riddle out websites and books and everything else I never took any interest in.

"Fang's blog?" Annabeth's voice was soft, and stunned. Her reaction was nearly identical to the way she acted when Athena had asked her to help the Olympians rebuild Olympus: total amazement.

The dark boy – Fang – looked amused for a moment. Then he nodded.

So apparently, he's some sort of celebrity, now?

"Oh, so you know each other?"

Jeb could have been asking about doughnuts or the weather or the latest episode of Glee. His tone and facial expression completely ignored the fact that the rest of us were completely oblivious.

"No, I...I...Fang has a blog. I've read it a couple of times..." Annabeth was practically talking to herself. She tucked her hair behind her ear like she does when she's nervous.

"Anyway," Zeus said impatiently. "We can chitchat later. Right now, we have something very, very serious to discuss."

"Hold on just a freaking second, here," Max exclaimed, startling everyone. "You can't just drag us out here, invite us to tea, and expect us to listen to you without even knowing who you are!"

My eyebrows rose. They didn't know yet? Well. I could just picture it. 'Umm, we're gods and goddesses. The ones from Greek mythology? Yeah, that's us.' Now, that's one bomb I refuse to drop.

"I assure you Maximum," Athena said. "You know us. Not personally, but you know us. You must have heard of us...or...read about us."

"Are you celebrities?" the dark-skinned girl – Nudge – asked. Her eyes were wide and hungry. She was bouncing up and down; her curls jumping in the process.

Apollo smirked. "I sort of am," he said. I laughed.

"This is not the time!" Zeus roared.

Everyone grew silent. When Zeus had regained his wits, he cleared his throat. "We've been very vague, I know. To all of you. But the thing is, we need you."

"Need us?" I asked. "What? Like...is this a quest?"

"Sir?" I added, when I'd gotten no response.

"Quest? What are you talking about?" the Gasman said. Gasman. Ha! What an awesome name. This kid totally gets cool points in my book.

"Sort of, Percy," my father said. "But...we'll get to that later."

"In short," Hades broke in. "We need you to save the world. Again."

Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that.

Well? How was it this time? Personally, I think I did...okay. I hope I did better than that though. I know I haven't given any details yet; but I'm just introducing the story, so hang in there and keep reading, okay? In my opinion, I used the words: nod and smile too much. What did you think?

Reviews! Please!

-Dorky out!