It was finally Thanksgiving break. Annabeth hadn't been to camp since early October, when she had a long weekend, and she was craving Camp Half-Blood. School was going fine, nothing significant had happened but she missed her home, and her friends. Thankfully, she had been able to see Percy on the weekends, but after a summer of constantly being together, it was a major adjustment to make.
Percy didn't get off of school until the day after Annabeth did, she had the entire Thanksgiving week off, but he got out on Tuesday. Argus had picked her up at her school on Tuesday morning, and Percy would arrive that evening. Unfortunately, she wasn't about to get the blissful week training to fight monsters that she had anticipated.
The trip to camp went fine, Argus picked her up in one of the white 'Delphi Strawberry' vans, and she spent the trip attempting to study for the Spanish test she had the next week. 'Attempted' being the key word. Being dyslexic, English was hard enough- but Spanish was nearly impossible.
The rest of the day was nice, she got settled back into the Athena cabin, introduced herself to her new little brother, and got back into the swing of things. Sword fighting without Percy kind of sucked, but she got to catch up with Malcolm and Lexia, so it was okay.
At around four o'clock, however, things changed. A satyr staggered over the property line with a newby, something that happened all the time since the gods took the oath to claim their children. Annabeth didn't think much of it, but went to go meet the new camper with Clarisse, who was hoping for someone she could drown in the toilet.
"When does Prissy get here?" Clarisse asked as she tied her shoulder length, brown hair into a ponytail.
Annabeth shrugged, "Dinner, I think. Have you met the new kid?"
She shook her head, "Nah, I've been teaching wrestling. I heard it's a chick, and as soon as she passed Thalia's tree, Apollo claimed her."
"I'm glad she's not an Athena kid. I've already got one new sibling I have to put in their place. She got here about a month ago and since Malcolm and I have both been in school, she hasn't met either of us."
Clarisse nodded, "I've had that problem. Just give 'em a good beating, and they'll fall right in line."
Annabeth chose to ignore this, and stepped into the pavilion. Chiron was standing near the front table, and she walked over to him.
"Hey Chiron, where's the new camper?"
Chiron placed a hand on Annabeth's shoulder, "Hello, my dear. She's over by the Apollo table with Will. And Clarisse!" he called, looking pointedly at the daughter of war. "Be nice. She's had a tough time getting here."
Clarisse rolled her eyes, but didn't protest otherwise.
"Tough time getting here, my butt. I had a tough time getting here- got chased into camp by a pack of monsters, then my friend got turned into a tree…" Annabeth muttered.
Kaley had been so ready for Thanksgiving break. She'd had a long week of tests and homework, and her weekend had been spent working on a history project. When Monday rolled around, she was anticipating a long week of hanging around her empty dorm room, and eating turkey sandwiches on Thanksgiving. Her mother had decided that going on vacation with her new boyfriend was more important than spending the holiday with her daughter, so she was stuck in school. Not that she really cared; she and her mom hadn't been getting along too well lately.
What she hadn't expected, was for a dog the size of a dump truck to barrel into her dorm room late Tuesday morning. And she certainly hadn't expected a human-animal hybrid to throw a rock at her window, shattering it, and yelling at her to hurry. Kaley didn't really see any alternative, so she tumbled out the window, thankful that her room was on the first floor.
The boy- who had a human face and upper torso but the legs of some sort of animal, explained that his name was Lucas, he was called a satyr, and that he was here to protect her. Kaley had always been told not to trust strangers, but at the moment, she didn't really have a choice. The dog, whatever it really was, was hot on their heels, and Kaley had a feeling that it didn't just want to play ball.
They ran out of the school's campus and managed to catch a taxi. Lucas slid the privacy partition shut, panting and wheezing while he did so.
The adrenaline was starting to wear off, and Kaley's eyes widened, "Oh my god. Oh my god. What was that? What are you?" She was starting to freak out, she had just run off with a strange creature, to god knows where.
Lucas gave her a small smile, "Like I said, I'm Lucas and I'm a satyr. What we were being chased by, that's a hellhound, from the Underworld."
"The Underworld? Like from Greek Mythology?"
He nodded, "Exactly. Good, you already know the basics. Don't flip out on me, but that's all real. All the gods, monsters, creatures. They're real. And please, don't ask for proof, just look at my legs. I'm not wearing fuzzy pants."
She shook her head, "No. That's not right, you're just pranking me. Very funny. You got me."
"Sorry Kaley, but I'm not. They're all real, and unfortunately, you're a part of it. Let me guess, you only live with one biological parent? You're ADHD, dyslexic?"
Kaley's blue eyes were huge, and her face was flushed, "How did you know that?"
Lucas shrugged, "All of those signs together pretty much scream demigod. Which is what you are. Your mom or dad is a Greek god or goddess."
She wanted to protest- this couldn't be true! But somehow, she knew this was the truth. As crazy as it sounded, it made sense.
Kaley took a long, deep breath. "I believe you."
He grinned at her, "Great. This makes things so much easier. We're going to go to Camp Half-Blood, which is pretty much the only safe place for demigods, since monsters are out for your blood."
They had arrived at the camp a few hours later, after they'd hiked from the cab, narrowly escaping the hellhound that had somehow been following them. The instant she passed the huge pine tree that marked the property line, a golden lyre appeared over her head, which Lucas told her meant that she was a daughter of the god Apollo. Needless to say, she was exhausted, and passed out the second a man in a wheelchair offered her the couch in the living room of a big, blue farmhouse. She woke up a few hours later and found her way out to the porch, where he questions were answered by the man, who she learned was called Chiron, and not really a man at all.
Chiron led her down to a marble pavilion, and gave her a partial tour along the way. She met some of her new cabin-mates and siblings, and a few of the other campers. Then she saw her.
Annabeth Chase. Annabeth was a student at her boarding school in Brooklyn, and was at the top of their class. They'd been partners for a Spanish project, and they hadn't exactly gotten along. Annabeth was very prideful and stubborn, if she thought she was right, she wasn't backing down. Unfortunately for Kaley, Annabeth was right most of the time.
Other than that, she was nice enough. She was tan, with curly blonde hair and a cute face, even though most of the time at school, she was scowling at the boys who tried to hit on her.
She looked different outside of school, she was talking with Chiron and a large, burly girl who looked only slightly older than herself.
Their eyes met, and Annabeth's stormy gray ones widened.
"Kaley?"
Annabeth stormed over to her, "You're a demigod? You're the new kid?"
She nodded, "Uh-huh... I just got here."
Annabeth quickly composed herself, "Oh. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Daughter of Apollo, right?"
"Yeah, Apollo. You're a halfblood too?"
"Head counselor for the Athena cabin," Annabeth said proudly, gesturing the other girl over. "And this is Clarisse, head of Ares. Clarisse, this is Kaley."
Clarisse shook her hand, perhaps gripping a little too hard, "Welcome to camp, punk." This made Kaley feel a little more scared than welcome, but she supposed that children of the war god wouldn't be very friendly.
Annabeth wasn't watching, however. Her eyes were on Half-Blood Hill, where a small figure was descending. Her face lit up and Clarisse grinned.
"Jackson's back! The lovebirds return!"
Annabeth's face flushed pink, "Shut up, Clarisse. What about you and Chris?"
Clarisse scoffed, "We're not nearly as bad as you and Barnacle Breath."
The boy jogged into the pavillion. He was dark haired, green eyed and had a Mediterranean complexion. He was smiling, and he curled an arm around Annabeth's waist, kissing her chastely on the lips.
Annabeth looked pleased, "Hey Seaweed Brain."
He pulled her to his chest in a hug, "I missed you, Wise Girl."
Clarisse made a vomiting gesture and a few of Kaley's siblings cooed at them, which made Annabeth glare at them.
Their intertwined hands swinging between them, Annabeth turned back to Kaley, and introduced her to who Kaley guessed was her boyfriend.
"Percy, this is Kaley O'Connor. She's a new Apollo kid, and she goes to my school. Kaley, this is my boyfriend, Percy Jackson. He's a son of Poseidon."
Percy held out his free hand, and Kaley shook it. "Nice to meet you Kaley. S'cool that you go to school with Annabeth. I go to Goode High."
Kaley nodded, "Oh, I have a cousin who goes there."
It was obvious that Percy and Annabeth wanted to get away and be alone, but they were just a bit too polite to say it out loud.
"Uh… I've got to go get settled in my cabin. I'll see you guys."
The bid her goodbye, and set off towards the lake, making perfect silhouettes against the light of the setting sun. The couple walked down the dock, and jumped into the water, not coming back up for a suspicious amount of time.
Suddenly, Clarisse was over Kaley's shoulder, "Oh, don't worry. Percy can breathe underwater, and he'll make a bubble for Princess. They'll probably be down there for a while. Don't know what they do, not sure if I want to."
Woah, Kaley thought. I want a demigod boyfriend.
A/N: I hope you liked it! I got so many awesome requests for people to meet Percabeth! My favorite was when someone suggested the Doctor meet them:)
Leave me a review telling me what holiday you're excited for this season (if you celebrate any) and if you celebrate Christmas, what you want to get!
-Emily