Hi. I want to kill myself and I don't want to explain. Kidding...but yeah, since I'm not in such a good mood, I'l just let you read. Hahahahahaha.

Chapter 3 Landyn

Camp Half-blood was great. Even better than I had imagined. Will showed us all sorts of amazing stuff. My initial aim of building a hero image of myself was achieved too, kind of. (At least campers gawked, instead of smirked amusedly, at me.) But, I felt that nothing was really right. I couldn't shake off the feeling of June's cold hand on my wrist. Staying with July, who was a replica of June, was no help. Crap.

Strange what a quest could do to you. I was supposed to love attention. (Hey, I was the star at school.) But now I just wished I was with nobody except for the Loras twins and Nico. I had to avoid eye contact with the campers since my baseball cap was long lost and I hadn't had time to find a replacement yet. The last thing I needed was people finding out about my freaking eyes. During the time when July was out, I spent most of my time in the room, keeping an eye on her, but mostly hiding from the others and allowing my mind to wander free. By the time July finally woke up, several theories of where June and Nico were had formed but none was really convincing. The thought that Nico was most likely with June on one hand reassured me that they were safe. Nico was obviously the most powerful demigod I have or will have ever known. On the other hand, I felt a strange kind of resent whenever I picture them together.

Oh man, I, the great son of the goddess of Love, am for once forgetting my duty to be popular.

All the thinking made my head hurt. The one thing I was certain of was I wasn't going to lay back and rest until I find out June and Nico's location. We couldn't contact them since we don't know where they are, but they should know we're at Camp Half-blood. Nico must have the sense to Iris-message us. If they haven't, that can only mean one thing… they are at a dangerous place. Or dead, a nagging voice told me.

When I checked out my new doll house of a cabin, I overheard Drew talk about the counselors' meeting and the satyr's missing. An idea suddenly popped into my mind. I hid my excitement and made up an excuse to escape Drew's constant rambling of her hatred towards this girl Piper. If Drew hated Piper, then I'm fairly sure I'd like to meet this Aphrodite girl who had the guts to go on "the most dangerous quest for demigods".

When I found that July wasn't in Apollo's cabin, I almost panicked. I imagined June's furious face if I had lost July. Thankfully, after a few calls, the blonde haired girl emerged from the stone cabin right next to Apollo's cabin. Rachel the oracle (she was introduced to me earlier) followed. I didn't have time to mull over the weird coincidence. At the risk of Rachel overhearing, I told July my plan.

xxx

So there we were, sitting and listening to the other counselors discussing the problem. Apparently, a satyr named Grover Underwood was missing, for the second time.

"Chiron is in a wheel chair! He can change into a disabled human?" July stared in awe.

"Uh, no. It's just a magic wheel chair that can contain his, uh, horse part when he feels like looking like a human." I answered. While I tried to answer July's questions, the meeting was already on.

"Let's just forget about him." A bulky tall girl in armor said gruffly. "That puny goat is not worth the time. We need to put all efforts preparing camp for the war."

A strangled scream came out from the other side of the table. I looked in that direction and saw a petite girl with tears flowing from her eyes. She looked somewhat elfish. It look me a minute to realize it was because her ears were slightly pointed. The girl wore a simple dark green chiton that went well with her wispy amber hair.

"Her eyes are green!" July gasped beside me. "No…she's literally green all over!" She whispered in an awed voice. I couldn't help smiling. July seems to be amazed by nearly everything. Such a cute girl.

"I think she's a tree spirit, a nymph like Camellia." I guessed.

As we were talking in low voices, the "green" girl shouted loudly.

"Grover is not puny, you mean, hateful, ignorant, cruel…"

I had a feeling that she had a lot more derogatory adjectives in store. (Though if I were her, I guess the things coming out of my mouth would be a lot worse than her civilized accusations.) But Chiron cut her off.

"Calm down, Juniper, we know Grover is not puny." He gave a look to the burly girl. "But Clarisse has a point. We can't afford to divided forces now that we are expecting a confliction according to Rachel's vision, especially when our strongest fighters are absent."

"What!" Juniper gasped so dramatically that even I, the master of drama, had to feel impressed. "You can't abandon him! We need to find Grover!"

"I think we should find him too. If he isn't here, we're in short of a large number of nature spirit fighters. Plus, Rachel's vision didn't tell when the attack will happen. Maybe we can find Grover before the attack happens." A girl with dark hair said. She reminded me of a stern grandma that still looks her teens.

"Thank you, Katie! I knew you were the best!" Juniper practically sobbed in gratefulness.

Chiron sighed: "Katie's right too. We must weigh the benefits and deflects before making a decision. If Percy were here…" The old horse man stopped, eyebrows tightly knit together. I knew he meant with Percy Jackson here, they would be available to send search teams.

July was watching the meeting in interest, probably guessing how it was going. I caught her eye and gave her a meaningful look. Her light blue eyes narrowed in determination and nodded.

She cleared her throat. "Um, fellow counselors? I have an idea. Why don't I and Landyn here go to search for Grover?"

All the senior campers stared at us. Chiron's eyebrows furrowed even more. Perfect time for Landyn Green the Great Speaker to show up.

"Yes. We are new to this camp and we are more than willing to do something to help especially when times are difficult. We have enough skill and experience to keep us alive out of Camp,"

One of the brothers from Hermes Cabin muttered:" Sure you have. Didn't you come back from Underworld?"

I ignored him and continued: "But we are not familiar with battles or fighting imposers. We would probably be a burden if there should really be a confliction. It would be better for us to search for the very so important Grover out of Camp. It's exactly 'one stone and two birds'. Please allow us."

I spread out my arms in demonstration and looked around the table. Strangely, many of the counselors looked a little uneasy and kept rubbing their eyes. I glanced at July questioningly, but as soon as her eyes met mine, they unfocused for a split moment and after she recovered, she stared at me in confusion too. Uh-oh. I wanted to smack myself. It must have been my illusion power. But at the same time, it shouldn't affect July again, or at least she shouldn't seem so surprised. However, Chiron didn't seem fazed. His deep brown eyes pierced me, as if trying to figure me all out.

Luckily, the people started to push aside their confusion and whatever they were mulling over and returned to our proposition.

"Um," Malcolm, the guy from Athena cabin, started. "Logan…"

"It's Landyn." July interrupted quickly. I hated my name sometimes.

"Oh. Okay. My apologies. Anyway, I think Landyn's suggestion is reasonable. It is not perfect, but it may work."

The other counselors nodded in agreement, turning their eyes on Chiron, waiting for a decision.

July looked at Chiron pleadingly and with her big watery blue eyes, probably succeeding.

Chiron finally sighed. "All right. The decision is made. Landyn Green, new recruit from the Aphrodite cabin, and July Loras, new recruit from the Apollo cabin, will go on the search for Grover Underwood, member of the Council of Cloven Elders."

Our faces broke into large smiles and July jumped up, saying: "Thank you! Thank you!"

Everybody stared at us like we're nuts but I didn't care. Hell to their thoughts, we got the chance to find our lost teammates!

Chiron waved his hand tiredly and said: "No need, dear. Well, meeting dismissed. Get a good night's sleep and you'll be off tomorrow. I'll tell you the details of the search then."

All the counselors got up and started to leave, chatting and discussing. Just as I was about to leave too, Chiron called: "Landyn, July, wait for a moment."

I groaned inwardly and stopped my steps. In my experiences, being asked to stay behind by a teacher is never a good thing. The teachers tend to make you clean the blackboard or give you a lecture on how you should be learning, instead of sleeping, in class.

Soon, all the other campers were gone. Chiron wheeled himself in front of us. When he looked at us, his eyes were not piercing anymore, but sad and weary. "Children, I know you want to search for your companions that got separated."

Being called children when I would turn 15 in November didn't suit me that well but I decided to keep my mouth shut. I lowered my eyes and avoided Chiron's gaze. I had to be careful since I didn't know what happened then at the meeting. Maybe my power is going berserk.

Seeing that both of us remained silent, Chiron said: "It is only human nature to search for the lost ones they care about, but it is nearly always futile. I have no knowledge about July's sister, but what I can tell you is Nico di Angelo is captured by Gaea's forces and you will not be able to find him."

July made a sound like she was being strangled. Captured by Gaea? Then June is very likely captured too. My hands started to shake.

Chiron's sad eyes now looked like the huge black pit of Tartarus, swallowing me. He continued: "Landyn, I know you were blessed with Aphrodite's power of illusion. That goddess really knows how to invent crazy blessing for her favored children. I know June is an excellent archer and healer even without any training, too. But please, be aware of the risks. Don't try to do more than you can handle. I didn't even want to send you to search for Grover, but alas, there was no other option."

I should be angry that Chiron didn't trust our ability to look for June and Nico, but I knew inside that we wouldn't stand a chance against Gaea's more powerful minions alone. I managed a smile and replied: "Thanks for the advice, old man. We won't do anything rash."

Chiron shook his sadly as if he had heard that many times before and dismissed us. July followed me mutely out of the Big House. It was nearly noon and most campers had just finished their last lesson of the morning, heading back to their cabins to shower, put back things, whatever. We walked towards the cabins too, silently. Finally I had to break the ice: "July? What did I do at the meeting when I was persuading them to let us on the search? Did you see Nico in my face again? Glad you didn't call me Nico like a love-sick girl again."

"No." July said dejectedly, not even picking up the joke. "I saw another guy I've never met before. Black hair, green eyes. I think he's Percy Jackson. Overheard some people mumble his name when it happened."

Normally, July would've been interested and enthusiastic about this weird me-making-people-see-Percy-Jackson thing. But I guess she was still upset about the news Nico was captured.

I said: "That's strange. Percy Jackson is important, of course, but not in a personal way to everybody. Why would they all see him in me?"

"Maybe you can make people see who you want them to see."

I considered the thought. I remembered thinking if Percy agreed we could go, everyone would agree too. Maybe July's right. I sucked in a breath. I'm just getting weirder and weirder.

July sniffed and quickly wiped a tear from under her eyes. I softened and put an arm around her thin shoulders, careful not to press her wound: "Cheer up, girl. Your sister and Nico are tough. They must've found a way to survive. We'll find them, no matter what. I promise."

July blinked furiously and nodded.

Suddenly an idea that would definitely lighten us both up popped up. I cursed myself for not realizing it sooner. Unable to sustain my excitement, I said: "You know what? I know just the thing we need."

"And what's that?" July looked at me curiously.

"Iris-messages."

July's face fell. "Oh. But Chiron said it won't work."

I grinned: "Yeah, if we don't know the exact location. But I daresay you remember you home address?"

July's eyes widened so much her blue irises looked like tiny pieces of sky. "Oh my gods, oh my gods, oh my gods! Why haven't I thought of that! Mom must be so worried!"

Suddenly a conch sounded through the valley.

I smile and said: "We'll ask someone for drachmas, but first, lunch. I bet you'll love the pizza."

xxx

After lunch, we went to Percy's cabin with a few drachmas. I didn't know this Jackson guy, but I was sure he wouldn't mind us using his super cool private Iris message fountain. It's the most convenient place to I-M without curious campers poking around. As we stood in front of the stone fountain, sunlight reflected off the water surface and threw strange lights over our faces. I shuddered. I somehow felt nervous to be imposing the son of Poseidon's long-empty cabin. July didn't show any uneasiness though, most likely because she'd been here before. She handed me a gold drachma and said: "You go first."

I shrugged and tossed the drachma into the clear rainbow in the light sprays of water. "O goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Thomas Green, Fragrant Vines wine collectibles store, 5th Avenue, Brooklyn."

"So your dad is a wine merchant? Cool." July raised her eyebrows.

I watched in anticipation as the colors in the rainbow began to shift and suddenly, I was looking at the one of the display stands of a familiar wine shop. A tall man with the same brown hair as me bent over a bottle of red wine, slowly rotating it in his hand.

"D-Dad." I called out, feeling suddenly choked up. July put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder.

My father turned around in surprise. His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw me. "Landyn? Is that you, son? How on earth…"

"Yeah, Dad. But I'm not really there. I'm actually at Camp Half-blood. This is just some sort of ancient Greek video message." I felt so relieved to see my father that I just had to smile.

A woman in the background called: "Tom？Who are you talking to?" Soon a woman with red hair braided to one side appeared in my sight. "My goodness, Landyn! Is that you?"

I laughed at my stepmom's reaction and explained Iris-messages to her again. I had to admit, Emily was the coolest stepmother in the world. She was always funny and cared for me as her own. A lot better than that particular goddess that is constantly only focused on her makeup. She smiled as through her teary eyes and said: "When Steve told us you went to camp, we were so shocked. I knew you had to go to camp one day, but how could you leave without saying anything?"

I apologized and said: "Something urgent came up."

"More urgent than your old man almost having a heart attack when he learned you were gone, huh?" Emily joked.

"Poor Mr. Green!" July laughed.

"Oh right, this is July Loras, my friend. We came to camp together." I introduced.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I know Landyn would have brought you. But judging how he has all his limbs, thank you for keeping him from harm." Dad smiled warmly.

July blushed: "Not at all, Mr. Green."

"How's Kevin?" I asked. I knew this was a school day so I wouldn't be able to see him.

"He's fine, honey." Emily answered. "You worry like a 50 year old housewife!"

We chatted for some time and July left to "give us some private time."

After she left, I had to speak out the question I've been holding since the meeting. "Dad? If…hypothetically, your friend is missing, probably in a dangerous place, would you…would you go search for him… or her? I mean, even if people warn you not to?"

The cheerful light in Dad's eyes faded a little. He scratched his chin and said: "Well, that's a hard question. But… if that person is really someone you care about a lot, I'm sure it's not your nature to leave it alone. Trust your instinct. You'll be surprised how things always turn out not the way you imagined, but usually correct to what your heart tells you."

"We know you would make the right decision, Landyn." My stepmom said, "Just try to keep yourself safe, all right?"

"Of course. Thanks, Dad. Thanks, Emily." Hearing what they said lifted a huge weight off my heart. As much as I didn't want the Iris message to end, Emily and Dad's faces were becoming blurry.

"I guess time's up, son." Dad called, "I love you!"

"Take care, Landyn!" Emily cried, tears welling up her pretty green eyes.

"I will. Don't worry!" I called back. "Love you too! I'll contact you again soon."

Finally the image faded into the normal rainbow. I stared at it, wishing I could see them again. But I knew it was July's turn.

"July, your turn!" I shouted towards the door that led to the beach. The blonde came running back within a few seconds.

So how was it? We really want to know what happened to Grover sooner too, but since the next pov is June's, I guess we'll have to wait until the chapter after the next. Please R&R! Have any ideas on Grover's mysterious missing? Feel welcome to share it with us!

-Amber-