I've had some people ask why I'm not using the whole book text. Because copyright. I've tried to make it so you can follow what's happened in the books. If you want to read it with a copy of the book alongside you, please do.

Piper cleared her throat.

Chapter Two

I Play Dodgeball with Cannibals

Sally sighed. "Is it too much to ask that I get a few chapters before everything starts?"

"Apparently," Amphitrite said, looking just as concerned.

My day started normal. Or as normal as it ever gets at Meriwether College Prep.

"I've heard of that school," Michael said. "It's … interesting."

"It was good for the ADHD though," Percy said. "Mostly."

See, it's the progressive school … we sit on beanbag chairs … we don't get grades and the teachers wear jeans and rock concert T-shirts to work.

Athena looked pained. "Did you at least learn things?"

"Yes, ma'am," Percy said. "They just tended to do it in … strange ways. More interactive."

Athena sighed. "Well, there are worse ways to learn, I suppose."

That's all cool with me … The only bad thing … was that the teachers always looked on the bright side of things, and the kids weren't always … well, bright.

"Are you counting yourself in that?" Thalia asked with a grin.

"That was one of the best things about that school," Percy said. "It made me look like a genius."

Take my first class … The whole middle school had read this book called Lord of the Flies …

"Oh, no …" Lee said, hiding a smile. "Why do I know where this is going?"

So for our final exam, our teachers send us into the yard to spend an hour with no adult supervision to see what would happen.

"Oh for Olympus's sake," Sally said. "I'm all for alternative teaching, but how the heck is that going to help?!"

"Maybe they were hoping the kids would pull together," Amphitrite said.

"Given that the book was about a group of kids who I'm fairly sure resorted to cannibalism, I'm fairly sure that would count as failure," Sally said. "Did I read the prospectus of this school?"

"It was the only one that would take me, I think," Percy said.

… The school bully, Matt Sloan, led most of those activities

"Pebble fights?" Clarisse asked in disgust. "Did he have no imagination?"

Percy rolled his eyes. "None whatsoever."

… Anyway, Sloan was giving everybody wedgies until he made the mistake of trying it on my friend Tyson.

Annabeth smirked. "This should be fun."

Percy sighed. "Why?" he asked, in a tone that suggested he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"I want to know how you explained everything away," Annabeth said, "if you hadn't noticed after a year."

… As near as my mom and I could figure, he'd been abandoned by his parents when he was very young …

"Poor thing," Silena murmured.

… He was two metres tall … His face was kind of misshapen … I couldn't tell you what colour his eyes were, because I could never make myself look higher than his crooked teeth.

"Stupid question," Connor said. "But why not?"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know."

"Because that sounds like the Mist," Travis continued. "Why would the Mist be hiding him?"

No one answered him.

His voice was deep, but he talked funny … He smelled like a New York City alleyway, because that's where he lived, in a cardboard refrigerator box off 72nd Street.

"Oh, the poor boy!" Sally said. "Why didn't I do something about it?"

"You tried," Percy said. "You asked him to come and stay with us, but he always turned you down. And CPS didn't seem to care."

Meriwether Prep had adopted him as a community service project … Once they discovered he was a big softie … they made themselves feel good by picking on him.

"Cowards," Silena grumbled. "Can they not pick on someone who'll fight back?"

… I was pretty much his only friend, which meant he was my only friend.

"So to clarify," Thalia said, "if you'd ignored him, you'd probably have been pretty popular?"

Percy shrugged. "I guess. Why?"

"It takes guts to walk away from that," Thalia said.

My mom had complained … The social works claimed Tyson didn't exist … though how you miss a giant kid living in a refrigerator box, I don't know.

"Yeah, that sounds like the Mist," Lee said with frown. "I wonder why?"

Thalia shrugged. "Could be anything. I stopped going to school when Jason was born; I don't remember anyone ever coming to check up on me."

"Why did you stop going to school?" Sally asked, sounding concerned.

"Because if I wasn't there, I wasn't convinced he'd get fed," Thalia said with a sigh.

"I don't remember you mentioning that before," Jason muttered.

"Well, we were short on time, honey," Piper reminded him.

"The point is," Thalia said, not bothering to ask, "I'm sure that must have been the Mist, because I can't believe everyone at school just forgot I existed. Not to mention the neighbours who used to give me rides every now and then."

Anyway … he swatted Sloan away a little too hard. Sloan flew five minters and got tangled in the little kids' tyre swing.

"Hold up!" Michael said. "No way is that a normal kid. I'm not even convinced someone in Cabin 5 could do that."

Everyone looked at Clarisse, who looked a little put out. "I don't think so."

"Maybe he's a monster?" Annabeth suggested.

"He can't be," Malcolm said. "He'd have done something after a year, surely."

"Well, just because he's not human, doesn't mean he has to be bad," Katie said fairly. "I mean, satyrs aren't human, but they're not monsters – there must be a middle ground."

… Tyson started sobbing.

Silena made a little sympathetic noise.

I tried to think of the right thing to say, but … He and his big ugly friends were too busy laughing … I was used to seeing him with two or three, but today he had like, half a dozen more, and I was pretty sure I'd never seen them before.

"You have no self-preservation, do you?" Nico asked wearily. "Did it even occur to you that the Mist might be involved?"

"Honestly?" Percy asked. "No."

"How have you survived this long?" Thalia asked. "I mean, really?"

Annabeth raised her hand. "Hello?" A second later, she reached over and tugged Nico's hand into the air as well.

Rachel sighed, raising her hand too. "I may as well get in on that."

Seeing the pout forming on Percy's face, Annabeth laughed, lowering her hand. "You're normally very good, you know that. But sometimes, you're a …"

"Seaweed brain," Percy finished with a mock sigh. "I know."

'Just wait till PE, Jackson,' Sloan called. 'You are so dead.'

"For sticking up for someone?" Sally asked with a frown. "Where were the teachers?"

"Letting us sort it out between ourselves," Percy answered. "It builds character."

"No, it teaches entitled little brats that they can do whatever they want," Artemis said, clearly in agreement with Sally. "That is ridiculous. Not to mention, the oldest threat in the book."

When first period ended, our English teacher … pronounced we'd understood Lord of the Flies perfectly.

"How?" Connor asked.

"They didn't kill each other, maybe," Malcolm answered. "So they learned from the book. Possibly."

We all passed his course …

Athena sighed. "Honestly. Alternative ways of learning is one thing, but that is not helping any of those children."

… and we should never, never grow up to be violent people.

Travis snorted. "Yeah. Alright, then."

… I had to promise to buy Tyson an extra peanut butter sandwich at lunch to get him to stop sobbing.

Sally smiled proudly.

… Tyson sniffled. 'You are a good friend. Miss you next year if … if I can't …'

"Oh, the poor boy," Amphitrite said, frowning. "Whatever he is, someone needs to look after him."

… How could I promise a kid like him that anything would be fine?

"Sometimes, empty platitudes are the best you can do," Lee said. "Besides, it's not your job to make sure it's fine."

Our next exam was science.

"They can't possibly make a mess of that, can they?" Athena asked. "It's fact."

Mrs Tesla told us that we had to mix chemicals until we succeeded in making something explode.

"Apparently they can," Hephaestus said dryly. "Surely that's just luck."

Tyson was my lab partner … He accidentally knocked a tray of chemicals … and made an orange mushroom cloud in the trashcan.

"Cue evacuation," Travis said with a snigger. "What's the betting they get praised for it?"

After Mrs Tesla evacuated the lab … she praised Tyson and me for being natural chemists.

Athena just sighed again, looking pained.

… I couldn't stand the idea that something might be wrong at camp.

"None of us can," Katie said sadly.

Even worse … I had a terrible feeling that Grover was in danger.

"I hope not," Grover bleated.

In social studies … I opened my notebook and stared at the photo inside – my friend Annabeth on vacation in Washington, DC.

"Out of interest," Thalia said, "how long is it going to take you to realise that's not something that 'just friends' tend to do?"

"Do you not have pictures of us?" Percy asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Of course I do," Thalia said. "I just don't stare longingly at them when I'm supposed to be doing other things."

Percy and Annabeth had both gone bright red, something Thalia didn't fail to notice.

She was also fairly certain that the only reason Clarisse hadn't said anything was because she was still trying not to draw too much attention to herself after the revelations about her father yesterday.

None of the gods had mentioned Ares' punishment yet, but he had been particularly quiet, and Apollo and Hermes both quietly smug about something, so she assumed he must have been.

In any case, she chose not to tease Percy any further – at least until they were in private.

… See, Annabeth wants to be an architect … she's always visiting famous monuments and stuff. She's weird that way.

Annabeth mock-huffed. "How dare you?"

"I never said that was a bad thing," Percy said. "We're all weird."

She'd e-mailed me the picture … every once in a while I'd look at it just to remind myself she was real and Camp Half-Blood hadn't just been my imagination.

"Alright, I'll let you off," Thalia said. "I still wouldn't be doing that in class though."

"Because that exam might actually be worth something?" Reyna asked.

"No, because he's in a room full of people who will take any excuse to mock him," Thalia answered. "You don't hand someone the ammo to hit you with." She paused. "Also, that exam might actually be worth something, but I'm not holding out much hope."

I wished Annabeth was here.

Silena, Travis and Connor all cooed in unison.

Only one of them wasn't mockingly.

The first two guesses don't count.

She'd know what to make of my dream.

"You're more optimistic than I am," Annabeth said, her blush finally receding. "I heard the whole thing, and I don't know what to make of it."

I'd never admit it to her, but she was smarter than me …

"You don't need to admit that to me," Annabeth said. "I already know."

… even if she was annoying sometimes.

Her mouth fell open. "Hey!"

Percy ducked instinctively. "I wouldn't admit that to you either!"

I was about to close my notebook when Matt Sloan reached over and ripped the photo out of the rings.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Called it."

… 'No way, Jackson. Who is that? She is not your –'

'Give it back!'

"Mm, denial's not going to help," Jason said. "It's the whole 'protesting too much' thing."

"Why does everyone assume I'm his girlfriend?" Annabeth asked.

Percy glanced at her. "You are."

"I am now," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "People have been making assumptions for years."

"Because any time two people of the opposite sex have any kind of friendship, people assume they must have a thing for each other," Will said. "Meanwhile, two people of the same sex can be as comfortable as they like with each other and no one assumes they're together, even when they are."

… They were new kids who must've been visiting, because they were all wearing those stupid HI! MY NAME IS: tags …

"Okay, maybe it's not the Mist," Nico said.

… they'd all filled in strange names like: MARROW SUCKER, SKULL EATER and JOE BOB.

"Or maybe it is," Nico sighed.

No human beings had names like that.

"Keep going," Thalia said. "Follow that train of thought."

'These guys are moving here next year,' Sloan bragged, like that was supposed to scare me.

"I won't be there next year," Percy predicted. "Something's about to happen."

'I bet they can pay the tuition, too, unlike your retarded friend.'

"It might even be my fault for once," Percy said, scowling.

"Percy, you can't hit him," Sally said patiently. "However much of a bully he is."

'He's not retarted.' I had to try really, really hard not to punch Sloan in the face.

"At least he's trying," Amphitrite said.

… I was under strict orders from Chiron never to take my anger out on regular mortals, no matter how obnoxious they were.

"Hit him anyway," Clarisse said.

"Oh, believe me, I was tempted," Percy grumbled.

… Still, part of me thought, if Sloan only knew who I really was …

"He wouldn't believe you," Thalia said wisely. "And you know it."
"I'm allowed moments of fantasy," Percy said.

"His fantasy life needs some work," Will muttered, just loud enough for Jason to hear.

Jason choked back a laugh.

… As Tyson and I were leaving class, a girl's voice whispered, 'Percy!'

"It's definitely you," Malcolm said to his sister.

"Why would I be stalking him invisibly?" Annabeth asked. "And don't say," she added to the Stolls, "that it makes more sense than stalking him visibly."

They both closed their mouths looking disappointed.

"I can't say if it's me or not," Annabeth said. "I will say, however, if it was me, it would be the reason why I don't bother with subtlety anymore."

… Like any girl at Meriwether would ever be caught dead calling my name.

"Technically, they whispered it," Nico said. "Would that make more sense?"

... It was time for PE. Our coach had promised us a free-for-all dodgeball game …

Sally closed her eyes. "Malcolm, did you make a note of the name of the school?"

Malcolm ran an eye over his notes. "No – would you like me to?"

Sally smiled at him. "Yes please. So I can make a note to never, ever consider them.

… and Matt Sloan had promised to kill me.

"On the bright side, dodgeballs can't kill you," Silena said.

Will tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't know … baseballs can kill you; that's why they wear helmets. I suppose if a dodgeball hit you hard enough in the right place, they might be able to kill you."

"Not to mention there are a load of monsters in the class, maybe," Clarisse said.

She was torn.

On the one hand, hearing about this bully beating Prissy up would be hilarious.

On the other, she didn't really want him dead, which was the risk with the monsters, if they were monsters.

The gym uniform …

Piper paused, reading the next sentence again in her head.

It definitely said what she thought it did.

The gym uniform at Meriwether is sky-blue shorts and tie-dyed T-shirts.

"Oh dear," Silena said with a sigh.

Fortunately, we did most of our athletic stuff inside, so we didn't have to jog through Tribeca looking like a bunch of boot-camp hippie children.

"That's where all the artists live," Michael said. "No one would notice."

… Tyson ducked inside the weight room. I stood guard outside the door while he changed.

"That's kind of you," Katie said.

"Well, he got so worried about it," Percy said with a shrug.

… I think it's because he's completely hairy and he's got weird scars on his back that I've never had the courage to ask him about.

Sally frowned. "Poor boy."

Anyway, I'd learned the hard way that if people teased Tyson … he'd get upset and start ripping the doors off lockers.

"And you thought this was normal demigod strength?" Nico asked dryly.

"Look, I've seen people in Cabin 5 do some pretty odd things," Percy said. "Some demigods get enhanced strength."

"So do the hunters," Thalia said. "I'm fairly certain I can't rip a locker door off."

"Have you ever tried?" Percy asked.

"Well, no," Thalia admitted.

"Then you can't say I'm wrong," Percy said.

… Coach Nunley … was about a million years old … He reminded me of the Oracle … except Coach Nunley moved a lot less …

"Well, he sounds like an excellent gym teacher," Rachel said. "Of course, I never liked gym class so I'm probably biased."

… and he never billowed green smoke.

"I should hope not," Apollo said, trying not to smile. "I don't think his prophecies would be too good."

… Matt Sloan said, 'Coach, can I be captain?'

"Oh, that's a recipe for disaster," Michael said.

… He made me the other team's captain, but it didn't matter who I picked … I had Tyson, Corey Bailer the computer geek, Raj Mandali the calculus whiz, and a half-dozen other kids who always got harassed by Sloan and his gang.

"A calculus whiz might actually help you," Malcolm said. "Being able to predict trajectories can be very beneficial in dodgeball games."

"Only if you're playing against a team that plays by the rules," Connor said. "Otherwise he wouldn't have time to predict them."

Normally I would've been okay with just Tyson … but the visitors on Sloan's team were almost as tall and strong-looking as Tyson, and there were six of them.

"I've been thinking," Lee said slowly. "I know Percy's got a strong scent and everything but … is it usual to get six at once that are working together?"

"No," Chiron said grimly. "I would imagine that recent events have caused unrest."

"Or they were sent," Luke said darkly.

"Or that," Chiron agreed.

… 'Scared,' Tyson mumbled. 'Smell funny.'

"Uh oh," Grover said. "If he can smell monsters …"

"He's definitely not human," Hermes agreed. "Although I can't figure out what he is."

… The visitors were cracking their knuckles, eyeing us like it was slaughter time.

"Whatever they are, they're very polite monsters," Thalia said.

"How so?" Will asked.

"Well, they've waited all day, and even now they're waiting for the game to start," Thalia said. "Very disciplined."

"Too disciplined for my liking," Reyna said. "It's not normal."

I couldn't help wondering where they were from. Someplace where they fed kids raw meat and beat them with sticks.

"To be fair, that's probably not a bad description of Tartarus," Nico commented.

Will, Jason, Reyna and Piper all tried not to flinch.

Sloan blew the coach's whistle and the game began … A ball slammed into my gut.

Percy doubled over with a sharp gasp, a curse escaping him.

"Language," Annabeth said mildly, rubbing his back.

"Any time you want to jump in and help," Percy said hoarsely. "That'd be great.

… My eyesight was fuzzy.

Percy blinked rapidly. "Piper, please tell me I'm not going to get any more descriptive."

Piper glanced at the next line. "Sorry."

"I figured as much," Percy groaned. "Just get it over with please."

I felt like I'd just got the Heimlich manoeuvre from a gorilla.

Percy whimpered, resting his head on his knees. "What the heck is wrong with me?!"
Despite his predicament, Annabeth couldn't help snickering. "Heimlich manoeuvre from a gorilla? Where'd that come from?"

"And here I thought you were going to be the problem," Will muttered to Thalia as he leaned past her to rest a hand on Percy's shoulder.

At his frown, Annabeth's laughter disappeared. "Is he okay?"

"You got ambrosia after this, right?" Will asked.

"I think so," Percy groaned. "At some point. I don't remember. I thought I just got winded. Didn't I just get winded?"

"I don't know," Will said. "But right now, you have cracked ribs."

"Isn't that from the fight yesterday though?" Annabeth asked.

"No, I gave him ambrosia," Will said. "It healed overnight." He dug in his pocket and pulled out another square. "Eat."

I couldn't believe anybody could throw that hard.

"Well, no mortal, certainly," Lee said.

… I rolled as another dodgeball whistled past my ear at the speed of sound … Corey Bailer yelped.

"Oh dear," Sally said. "Just get them out of there, Percy. You're going to get blamed for it, but you're not going back to that school anyway, so don't worry about it."

"It would be nice if I could have one year," Percy said with a sigh.

'Hey!' I yelled at Sloan's team. 'You could kill somebody!'

"I think that's the point," Jason said.

The visitor named Joe Bob grinned … Somehow, he looked a lot bigger now …

"The Mist is lifting," Michael said. "Are we going to find out about Tyson now?"

"No, that's going to take me at least another chapter, I think," Percy said. "Piper, what's the next chapter called?"

Piper flipped through the next few pages and leaned over to show him.

Percy nodded. "Yeah, at least another chapter."

… 'I hope so, Perseus Jackson! I hope so!'

"That should get you to catch on," Nico said. "No one ever calls you that."

… Nobody called me Perseus except those who knew my true identity. Friends … and enemies.

"I never did thank you for that," Percy said to Luke. "Whatever else you did, you never called me that."

"You're welcome," Luke said. "I think."

… All around Matt Sloan, the visitors were growing in size … They were two-and-a-half-metre-tall giants with wild eyes, pointy teeth and hairy arms tattooed with snakes and hula women and Valentine hearts.

"What the heck are they?!" Will asked.

"Sound like Laistrygonians," Lee said grimly. "Which is not good."

"More 'not good' than usual?" Will asked.

"They eat humans," Lee said. "Normally, the mortals would be okay, because the monsters wouldn't be interested in them. But those things will eat anything nearby, demigod or not."

"This might be a silly question," Luke said. "But do those gym shorts have pockets?"

"Most of them don't," Travis said. "Why?"

Luke closed his eyes. "Who takes a pen to gym class?"

Sally's eyes widened. "Percy, please tell me you're armed!"

Percy sighed. "Mom, I can't tell you one way or the other."

Matt Sloan dropped his ball. 'Whoa! You're not from Detroit! Who …'

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Nico muttered.

The other kids on his team started screaming … Marrow sucker threw a ball with deadly accuracy … and hit the door, slamming it shut like magic.

Sally covered her mouth. "Oh, those poor children!"

Raj and some of the other kids banged on it desperately but it wouldn't budge.

"Out of interest, would it have killed you to step in early?" Percy muttered under his breath.

"I was avoiding the locker room," Annabeth whispered. "Not to mention a dodgeball ricocheting off someone invisible would kind of give me away."

'Let them go!' I yelled at the giants.

"Not giants," Jason said. "But points for optimism."

… 'And lose our tasty morsels? No, Son of the Sea God.

"There's a mouthful," Nico said. "Are we sure they weren't sent?"

Luke opened his mouth, paused, then said, "I don't know if he sent them, but he didn't do it through me."

We Laistrygonians aren't just playing for your death. We want lunch!'

"Then you should have taken advantage of Taco day in the cafeteria," Percy said.

He waved his hand and a new batch of dodgeballs appeared … They were bronze … with fire bubbling out of their holes.

"Can they do that?" Will asked.

"I've never heard of it," Chiron said. "Kronos must have been working with them."

"You just said he wasn't," Thalia said to Luke.

"I didn't say Kronos wasn't working with them," Luke said. "I said I personally didn't send them on this particular trip."

… 'Coach!' I yelled.

"What is he going to do?" Nico asked.

"I can dream," Percy said.

… Maybe the coach saw a few eight graders pounding the younger kids like usual.

Sally frowned. "Did I look at their bullying record?"

"To be fair, Mom, I think you're running out of options," Percy said.

Maybe the other kids saw Matt Sloan's thugs getting ready to toss Molotov cocktails around. (It wouldn't have been the first time.)

"Excuse me?" Sally asked. "Why had they not been expelled yet?"

"Oh, Meriwether never expelled anyone," Percy said, before breaking off and coughing harshly. "Oh, for …"

"Did you try to give something away?" Annabeth asked knowingly.

"Not intentionally," Percy said.

At any rate, I was pretty sure nobody else realized we were dealing with genuine man-eating bloodthirsty monsters.

"Probably for the best," Demeter said, frowning. "Those poor children."

... I dived aside as the fiery bronze comet sailed past my shoulder.

Percy flinched, as searing heat ghosted past him.

'Corey!' I screamed.

He flinched again, the memory of his former classmate suddenly changing to the memory of watching Michael fall down, down, down ...

Annabeth's hand squeezed his, anchoring him again. "You alright?" She whispered.

Percy swallowed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The words sounded hollow, even to his ears, and she didn't look convinced, but she said nothing more, squeezing his hand once again.

Tyson pulled him out … just as the ball exploded against it, blasting the mat to smoking shreds.

"Thank goodness," Amphitrite murmured.

… They ran for the locker room … that door also slammed shut.

"You are going to start fighting at some point, right?" Clarisse asked.

"I'm working on it," Percy said.

'No one leaves unless you're out!' Joe Bob roared. 'And you're not out until we eat you!'

"They're really missing the point of dodgeball, aren't they?" Thalia asked.

"I don't know," Will said. "Sounds like every game I ever played at school."

… I reached for Riptide, which I always kept in my pocket, bit then I realized … Riptide was tucked in my jeans inside my gym locker.

"Hey!" Percy yelped. "What was that for?"

Annabeth and Thalia had both smacked an arm each.

"Honestly, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said with a sigh. "Why would you leave yourself unarmed?"

"Because I'm an idiot," Percy said. "We know that, don't we?"

"That's why it's frustrating," Annabeth said. "You're not an idiot."

… I was completely defenceless.

Sally covered her mouth, clinging to her son's hand. Thankfully, the medication still seemed to be working for the most part.

Another fireball came streaking towards me. Tyson pushed me out of the way …

The campers cheered.

… but the explosion still blew me head over heels.

"Oh, that's weird," Percy groaned.

I found myself sprawled on the gym floor … T-shirt peppered with sizzling holes.

Percy grimaced, rubbing his chest.

"You're not actually burned, are you?" Will asked

Percy pulled his shirt up to find one of the old burn scars. "Well, it looks fresher than it was, but I'm not sure."

Just across the centre line, two hungry giants were glaring down at me … They both took aim.

"Move!" Several people yelled.

'Percy needs help!' Tyson yelled, and he jumped in front of me just as they threw their balls.

Silena sucked in a breath. "Oh no!"

"It's alright, darling," Aphrodite said. "I'm certain he's not human, so he should be able to handle himself."

Both balls slammed into him … but no … he'd caught them.

Travis let out a low whistle. "What is he?"

… He sent them hurtling back towards their surprised owners, who screamed, 'BAAAAAD!' as they bronze spheres exploded against their chests.

Another, louder cheer rose up among the campers.

"I don't care what he is," Travis announced. "He's awesome."

Annabeth flinched a little, and Percy squeezed her a little. "Give yourself a break," he murmured. "I wasn't amazing about it either."

The giants disintegrated … Kids were running around screaming … Others were banging on the door, calling for help.

"Those poor children," Sally murmured. "How was the coach not hearing any of this?"

"I'm convinced he was almost completely deaf," Percy said. "And possibly blind as well."

…Surely the whole school could hear the noise. The headmaster, the police, somebody would come and help us.

"They won't be much help," Thalia said. "What are they going to do?"

"I was hoping one of them would be a demigod in disguise," Percy said.

'Victory will be ours! … We will feast on your bones!'

The celebratory air had diminished again, just as quickly as it had appeared.

I wanted to tell him he was taking the dodgeball game way too seriously …

"Please don't," Thalia said wearily. "Is it too much to ask you not to have a smart mouth?"

Percy coughed loudly. "Hypocrite." He cleared his throat. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

Thalia just rolled her eyes.

… he hefted another ball. The other three giants followed his lead.

"Uh oh," Lee murmured. "I doubt Tyson can catch four at once."

I knew we were dead … Without my sword …
I had a crazy idea.

"Oh no," Nico sighed.

"I have great ideas," Percy said.

"Sometimes," Thalia agreed. "Other times, they're really not that great."

I ran towards the locker room.

"Brilliant!" Luke said.

"How is that good?" Connor asked. "The door's locked."

"Time it just right and the ball should blow the door off its hinges," Luke said. "Brilliant if it works."

"If it works," Percy repeated. "I wasn't positive."

… Tyson had batted two of the balls back towards their owners and blasted them to ashes.

"Only two left," Thalia said. "And, Percy, are you going to help Tyson at any point?"

… A third ball hurtled straight at me.

"Move!" Several people shouted.

I forced myself to wait …

"What? Why?" Chris asked.

Luke nudged his younger brother gently. "Relax. It'll be fine."

… then dived aside … Now, I figured that the built-up gas in most boys' locker rooms was enough to cause an explosion …

Silena pulled a face. "Oh, lovely."

… so I wasn't surprised … The wall blew apart.

"Di Immortales," Thalia muttered. "You ever heard of overkill?"

I turned just in time to see Tyson punch Skull Eater in the face.

"One left!" Clarisse said gleefully.

… But the last giant … He threw just as Tyson was turning to face him.

Katie sucked in a breath. "Oh no!"

… The ball caught Tyson square in the chest.

Sally closed her eyes. "If he's not human, he'll be okay, right?"

"He should be," Amphitrite confirmed.

He slid the length of the court … I didn't see how Tyson could still be alive, but he only looked dazed.

"Yeah, he's not human," Apollo said.

"I think we'd figured that out by now," Artemis said, rolling her eyes.

… The bronze ball was still smoking … Tyson tried to pick it up, but he fell back, stunned, into a pile of cinder blocks.

"Right, your turn," Thalia said. "Find Riptide."

Percy sighed. "Thalia, this was two years ago."

… 'Stop!' I yelled. 'It's me you want!'

"You do realise that a diversion without a plan is a useless one, right?" Nico asked.

Percy frowned. "Look, I wasn't going to let him die when they were there for me. I'd never forgive myself."

"It wouldn't have been your fault," Thalia said gently.

"Like that wasn't at least half the reason you stood your ground," Percy said.

Thalia paused. "Alright, fair point."

… Then I spotted my jeans in a smoking heap of clothes right by the giant's feet.

"How are you going to get out of this one?" Travis asked.

"Wing and a prayer," Percy said flippantly. "And a little bit of luck."

If I could only get there … I knew it was hopeless, but I charged.

"Points for optimism," Thalia said. "But that won't keep you alive."

… He raised his arm to throw. I braced myself to die.

Sally tightened her grip on her son, her eyes flickering to where his future self was sitting – far too calmly for someone who was about to even get hurt. Every other time there was an injury forthcoming, he had tensed, steeled himself for the blow.

He didn't even look like he was completely listening.

Suddenly, the giant's body went rigid.

"What?" Hermes asked. "That's not normal."

… his T-shirt ripped open … The monster stared down at the knife that had just run him through from behind.

"Oh," Percy said. "And really good back-up. That helps."

He muttered, 'Ow,' and burst into a cloud of green flame … Standing in the smoke was my friend Annabeth.

The campers cheered, causing Annabeth to blush, which only deepened when her mother gave her a proud smile.

Her face was grimy and scratched.

Athena's smile faded. "What happened?"

Thalia looked similarly concerned. "You ran away?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I didn't run away. I just made my own way to Camp. Dad knew where I was going."

She had a ragged backpack slung over her shoulder … and a wild look in her storm-grey eyes, like she'd just been chased a thousand miles by ghosts.

"Nightmares?" Thalia asked. "I thought you said you didn't get them."

"I don't think I got the Kronos dreams," Annabeth said. "You were dead and Luke was Olympus only knew where – of course I was having nightmares."

Matt Sloan … finally came to his senses … 'That's the girl … That's the girl –'

"Well done," Clarisse said sarcastically. "You've learned to form sentences."

Annabeth punched him in the nose and knocked him flat. 'And you … lay off my friend.'

The Stolls whistled.

"You are awesome," Percy said.

"I am awesome," Annabeth agreed.

… 'Annabeth … How did you …. How long have you …'

'Pretty much all morning … I've been trying to find a good time to talk to you but you were never alone.'

"You could have come in to the apartment," Percy said. "Mom would have been fine."

"Well, I hadn't met your mom yet," Annabeth said. "I thought emerging from your bedroom might make a weird first impression."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Then ring the doorbell like a mortal."

"Demigods do ring doorbells," Apollo said, looking amused.

"Well, none of my friends do," Percy said. "I think Mom's just used to demigods appearing from strange places. Or out of nowhere."

"That was one time," Nico said, rolling his eyes. "And I was aiming for the fire escape."

… 'Oh my gods, you were looking in my bedroom window?'

"Oh, relax," Annabeth said, when several people snickered. "I didn't see anything. Except the fact that you …"

"I know," Percy said, rolling his eyes. "I drool in my sleep."

… The doors burst open and the adults came pouring in.

"Time to leave," Malcolm said to his sister.

'Meet me outside,' Annabeth told me. 'And him.' She pointed to Tyson …

"Really?" Silena asked. "He won't be able to get into Camp."

"No, he will," Thalia said. "Anyone can get in if they're invited."

"Mortals too?" Katie asked.

Thalia shrugged. "I don't see why not. I'm sure parents came for the … for the funerals."

… Annabeth gave him a look of distaste that I didn't quite understand.

"Uh oh," Luke said. "What was he?"

… She put on her Yankees baseball cap … and instantly vanished.

"I wish I had something that let me do that," Percy said with a sigh.

That left me standing alone … when the headmaster came charging in with half the faculty and a couple of police officers.

"Yeah, I'd want to disappear as well," Lee said.

"Look, at least Percy was a student there," Annabeth said. "How would they explain me?"

… Matt Sloan was coming around, too … 'Percy did it … Coach Nunley will tell you! He saw it all!'

"I don't think Coach Nunley saw anything," Rachel muttered. "Also, he saw them!"

"Yes, but the Mist will have kicked in," Artemis said. "So he will only remember Percy."

Rachel sighed. "I forget that other people have to deal with the Mist."

Coach Nunley had been dutifully reading … he chose that moment to look up … 'Eh? Yeah. Mm-hmm.'

"Oh, come on!" Percy groaned. "Sorry, Mom."

"It's alright, sweetheart," Sally said with a sigh. "Believe it or not, I've had stranger phone calls."

… I knew they would never believe me, even if I could tell them the truth.

"They'll have forgotten about the exchange students by now," Apollo said. "So you can't even blame them."

I grabbed Riptide out of my ruined jeans, told Tyson, 'Come on!' and jumped through the gaping hole in the side of the building.

"That, on the other hand," Sally said, "is likely to give me a heart attack."

"I called as soon as we got where we were going," Percy reassured her.

Piper cleared her throat. "That is the end of the chapter

"Shall I read next?" Jason asked.

"Hang on," Annabeth said, taking the book. She flipped to the end of the next chapter, glancing at the last line. "Yes, you can read next."

Okay, I have had a lot of people ask for different people to come in. I do have some planned, but I'd like to know what you think. So I am going to give you a list of people I am considering or that I have been asked for before. They will either be coming from the same time as the 'Present' demigods (beginning of Lightning Thief), from 2009 (few weeks after Last Olympian), or from 2010 (few weeks after Blood of Olympus).

What I need you to do is tell me, in the comments, which of these you would like to see and when you would like them to come in (book or chapter or both). This is not an exhaustive list! So if there's someone else you'd like to see, please tell me - again, tell me when you would like them to come from and when you would like to see them come in.

I'm keeping count, so every vote counts!

The Stolls (2009)

Clarisse (2009)

Thalia (2006)

Will Solace (2009)

Frank (2009)

Frank (2010)

Hazel (2009)

Hazel (2010)

Nico (2010)

Nico (2006)

Bianca (2006)

Leo (2009)

Leo (2010)

Tyson (2009)

Piper (2009)

Jason (2009)

Reyna (2009)

Octavian (2009)

Mr & Mrs Chase (2006)

Tristan McLean (2010)