A / N: Hi everyone! I hope I didn't take too long to write this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson. I'm meant to say something witty now aren't I. Oh well, I'm too tired.

2

The next morning, I woke up before everyone else in the cabin. I snuggled deeper under the covers in my bed, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I could hear Audrey snoring beneath me. I pulled the red flannelette sheets up over my head, before stopping myself. There was no point trying to go back to sleep, no matter how enticing the soft covers were.

I slid off my bunk nimbly, and on to the ladder that led to the floor. I skipped the last rung, because of the creak that it would make, and I didn't want to wake Audrey up. I wiggled my toes in the long soft carpet, and threw a thick hoodie over my pyjamas to keep out the chill of the morning air that drifted through the window. I glanced over at the clock on the wall; it was four in the morning. I sighed. My body never let me sleep.

I looked out the window to see the deserted U of cabins. Rusty was out there, faithfully guarding Thalia's tree in the cold. My stomach panged with sympathy. In that moment I decided to visit Rusty, the loyal hellhound that I had found those many months ago.

I crept out of the cabin, opening and shutting the door without a sound. It had been part of the training at camp to learn how to move soundlessly. That was the one class Jack had ultimately failed. Once outside, it was even colder than before. Winter was coming early, so I wouldn't be surprised if snow would be coming in a few weeks. A feet protested as I walked across the prickly grass. Damn my sleepy brain. I'd forgotten to put shoes on. I didn't want to go back though, so bare feet it was.

Not caring to linger in the frosty stretch of grass, I began to walk towards the forest. My morning body didn't feel up to using its strong legs, and it would be stupid to run without shoes anyway.

I glanced at the art pavilion as I passed it, remembering how Jack had brought Rusty in there to show me, and how horrified Sylvia had been. I smiled, hugging myself.

Inside the forest it was only a little warmer. The trees blocked out some of the wind, but not the chilly temperature. Thalia's tree wasn't too far in luckily. The sharp rocks and pinecones that littered the forest floor cut my feet. I bent my head down against the cold, thinking how silly I would look in my pyjamas if someone saw me.

A huge bark of excitement came from up ahead, and I barely had time to look up before Rusty's huge muzzle loomed over me. I pushed him to the side gently.

"Rusty, no kisses," I chided, not wanting to get soaked; I was wearing new PJ's.

Rusty sat back down and whined. I laughed, and gave him a generous scratch behind the ear. He nuzzled me, and crouched down so that I could climb on to his back. I used the crook behind Rusty's hind leg to propel myself, before landing in his soft black and orange fur.

"Thanks boy."

I lay down, tucking my arm under my head like a pillow.

"I don't know if you heard, but my Dad has been taken," I whispered to Rusty.

Rusty's ears flattened.

"Pretty bad, huh," I continued. "This big bird came down and – whoosh – he was gone."

How come it was easier for me to talk to a dog about my Dad, who probably can't understand a word I'm saying?

"And I don't know where he is, Rusty. And there is nothing I can do about it," I finished quietly.

Rusty could sense my fear and sadness. He whined and lay down, his head on his paws.

I closed my eyes, and fell asleep.

"Maia?"

I woke up at the sound of the boy's voice. I sat up groggily on Rusty's back, stretching out my cramped muscles.

"Leo?" I asked.

"That's me," said the boy, grinning, his green eyes twinkling. "Also, nice jammies."

"Shut up," I moaned, taking Leo's hand and sliding down Rusty's back.

Leo held out a piece of toast and I accepted it, my bare feet shuffling through the dead leaves on the ground.

"How long was I asleep?" I mumbled.

Leo laughed. "Well, you slept through breakfast, and rock climbing. Also, the canoe races are starting in an hour."

"Oops," I said.

"And," Leo continued. "I felt a little bit cheated out yesterday."

I frowned. "For what?"

"For this," he murmured, as he bent down and pressed his lips on mine.

I kissed him back, running my fingers through his hair. The kiss wasn't fast and fierce like our kiss at Zeus' fist, but soft and languorous. Now I knew what I had been missing during the school term. This.

Finally we pulled away.

"I should get, um, ready," I said breathlessly.

"You should," said Leo, his green eyes searching through mine. "Because you have quite a terrible bed head."

I stuck my tongue out, but smiled none the less.

I went back to my cabin, showered, and got changed into the orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, jeans, and black sneakers.

I emerged from the pale blue walls as I pulled my hair into a low ponytail.

A large cluster of demigods were heading towards the lake, and I jogged to reach them, before blending into the crowd.

I stood on tiptoes to see over the heads. Small groups of demigods from each cabin were standing next to long wooden canoes, heads together. The canoes bobbed on the calm blue lake that formed the race track. A large yellow flag marked the starting line, and next to it stood Chiron, his white stallion body too big for the umpire chair that sat alone next to him.

In the distance I could see the white flag that marked the finish line. Next to it I could see Mr D's Hawaiian shirt next to a scoring table.

I walked across to the group of Aphrodite kids, standing a good ten metres away from their canoe.

As I approached the group, Megan turned around and smiled.

"Ooooo, there you are Maia. Isn't it awful? Canoe races and designer clothing? Eugh," she made a gagging gesture.

"I'm going to compete," I said boldly, and the others turned around shocked.

Sylvia sniggered. "I'm sorry darling, but you need at least two competitors from your cabin to compete."

I kept a straight face, although my heart had dropped with disappointment. I had hoped that I could join in, not just be another prissy Aphrodite girl sitting on the side lines. Even Holly's brother James didn't want to compete.

Audrey stepped forward. "I'll do it with her."

Sylvia gasped comically. "But Audrey –"

"Shut up Sylvia," said Audrey, putting an arm around me. "Nobody likes you."

All the campers around us heard sniggered.

Sylvia stamped her foot and stormed off, her expensive handbag swinging from her arm.

"So," I said, facing my half siblings. "Do you guys have any supplies?"

"Um…" Audrey mumbled.

Ariana giggled.

"What?" I demanded.

"Well," Ariana began. "We have that I guess…"

She pointed to a pile of celestial bronze plates and a few spears that lay stuffed under a nearby bush.

I sighed. Well, it was all we had.

We had half an hour to assemble our canoes, and I went to work like wildfire. Audrey, well, she passed me the things that I needed. I even managed to borrow a screwdriver from the Hephaestus cabin behind Taylor's back.

After finishing with five minutes to spare, I brushed my hands off and looked at my work. It wasn't amazing, but I was pretty proud of myself.

I'd used the celestial bronze plates and the screw driver to plate the sides of the canoe, helping it withstand a lot more than its wood frame could have held.

I had also brushed of the spears, and lain them in the base of the canoe. Next I had used the last celestial bronze plate and some sticks to make a shield. I reckon Taylor would have been proud of me if I hadn't stolen her screw driver.

The warning horn blared and Audrey and I jumped into our canoe. I looked around at our competition feverishly. The Hermes cabin had jars of Greek fire (OUCH! That fire can burn even in water), but there canoe was wooden and flimsy. The Hephaestus cabin's canoe looked more like a war ship than a canoe; it even had large cannon looming over the edges. The canons placement though, made the canoe lean to one side, as the weight was uneven.

Pointing out the weaknesses to myself was the only thing stopping me from running away screaming about my failure. Let's hope it didn't get to that.

Audrey and I talked strategies. She would row, while I would protect her from any oncoming spears, canons or fire.

Audrey and I sat nervously at the start line as Chiron called out across the lake.

"READY!"

I wasn't ready.

"SET!"

Audrey would kill me if her dress got wet.

"GO!"

We were off. I heard felt the wind as a timid satyr waved the yellow flag. Audrey began rowing as hard as she could, and with an incredible stroke of luck, we pasted the body of canoes. Rowing fast wasn't the challenge though. Only one rower per cabin were the rules, and anyway, more often than not, it was the last canoe to sink that was the winner.
Lake water splashed up on my face, but I didn't care, because the Ares canoe was coming up on our left. Their father was the god of war, which made them really competitive.

"See ya suckers!" called an ugly Ares kid.

He prepared to throw a weighted golden net, and I raised my spear. As the net sailed over the water, I threw the spear, intercepting the net so it landed in the murky water.

I grinned as he brandished his fist.

"I'm not done yet!" I called.

With another well placed spear, the canoe began to sink. One down, way too many to go.

As I glanced across the water, I realised just how big the lake really was. But Audrey was far from tired, in fact, she began to laugh. I started laughing too.

That was until I saw the Hephaestus canoe sneaking up on our right. Damn it. If there was any canoe we needed to avoid it was this one. The bow of the canoe sent a wave of lake water over our canoe, soaking Audrey and I. Audrey cried out indignantly as I righted the canoe.

"Those were new shoes!" she shrieked.

I threw my last spear at the canoe/warship, but it bounced off the plated sides harmlessly.

"Sorry Maia," called out Taylor apologetically.

I egged Audrey on desperately, as Taylor loaded the canon. With a tide of panic, I realised that not only would the canon shot sink the canoe, but it would probably blow it up.

I squeezed my eyes shut. "JUST STOP!"

Suddenly, the Hephaestus canoe stopped, frozen in place. I hadn't even tried to use charmspeak. The look on Taylor's face was priceless.

"Way to go, Maia!" said Audrey with glee.

The rest of the race was easy. The Apollo and Hermes campers sunk each other with Greek fire, and most of the other canoes had already been taken out by Cabin 9.
The remaining canoes weren't too keen on getting too close to us either, so Audrey and I cruised over the finish line to a stadium full of cheering campers.

I saw Leo crawling out of the lake, completely drenched, the tips of his hair charred black. I laughed and he rolled his eyes.

I stood up in the canoe, as Audrey and I were both presented with golden laurel wreaths.

Leo grinned, before without warning, barrelling into me and causing both of us to fall into the lake.

I broke the surface, gasping, while Leo treaded water next to me, laughing his head off.

"You little –" I began, pretending to be angry and splashing water into his face as my t-shirt clung to my body.

Needless to say, I shouldn't have done that. Leo splashed me back and before long half the campers were in the water and a full-fledged water fight had begun. Out the corner of my eye I saw Mr D rolling his eyes, while a satyr tried to put a leaf hat on his head.

The rest of the day wasn't nearly as eventful as the start. Mr D's welcome speech just sounded depressing, and the food was the same as always. I walked with the other Aphrodite kids to the cabin, enjoying the fact that we weren't on dishes duty for once (that was part of winning).

Meg and Emily kept on congratulating Audrey and I and soon I was as red as a tomato. The Aphrodite cabin don't normally enter any of the races, so the fact that we won made them overjoyed.

Because of Leo, I had to shower a second time, but I enjoyed the warmth of the water.

"That was some nice charmspeak there," Audrey said as we crawled into bed. "The looks on their faces..."

I laughed, pulling the red flannel sheets closer to my face. "Good night."

"Night."

A / N: Please review! Reviews really make my day!