Chapter 11.

Haniel calls the wind

No matter how fast we ran, the chimera seemed to be gaining on us.

I could hear it in the distance now. Heavy thudding footsteps, though the sound was muffled, like a brick wrapped in a cushion- probably its paws muffling the noise. The forest was still quiet, a deathly silence.

It screamed (roared?) again. The bone chilling noise sounded the same- but this time, I heard something else that chilled me to the bone.

A distinct crackle. The sound you hear when logs are being overturned in a campfire.

The chimera was lighting the forest on fire.

"Caleb!" I spoke up, but not too loudly.

The burly son of Mars looked back at me and nodded. He knew. There was no point telling the others- either they already knew and were running faster, or it was better they didn't know.

We ran faster.

On the bright side, I could tell we were getting close. The landscape showed signs of it- trees began to thin out, the foliage was less dense. The mud was stickier, and the flies were more annoying. The humidity of the air increased from 84% to 86%. The trees were giving way to marshy ferns and other shorter plants. The air began to feel hot and stick, instead of the cool mist of the forest.

But more than that, I felt myself feel stronger. Sharper. More powerful- it was like I was on a sugar rush.

There was only one reason I could be feeling that way.

We were nearing the sea.

"Percy!"

I turned to see Haniel staring at me, before pointing ahead.

In front of us was a canal. Dark blue green water churned along its edges, creating a never ending burble. It was surrounded on both sides by a mud bank, which had several small rocks scattered along its length. A trail of excavator marks was distinct on the far side of the bank, but it looked old. There were a few run down docks on the far side, along with a sign that was hard to read. A small white boat house lay on our side. It was two stories tall, with a large wooden porch that was once painted white. Several gilded pillars held it up, though they were beginning to crack. It was clearly abandoned- windows were broken, the paint was peeling off and algae grew on the white walls. I could tell it was once a well-to-do place, but now there was nothing inside.

I peeked into one of the windows. The air that hit me was pungent- it smelt like algae and swamp water and moldy gym socks. Water lined the entire hallway I saw inside the house. I could see a flight of stairs in the center, which led somewhere upstairs. There were white walls on either sides, with windows next to them.

There was no floor. The water rose up to the level of half the staircase, just below the window sill.

I saw something move in the water. I though it was a log, but then it blinked.

An alligator.

I quickly ran past the window to catch up with the others.

Just then, I heard another roar. This time it was closer.

The roar was so powerful it began to shake the windows. Glass cracked, and the windows splintered into thousand bits, dissolving and falling into the water inside the house with multiple splashes, leaving only the metal frames standing on the sills.

The chimera was nearly clearing the forest. It was clearly after us. Once it got past the trees, it would no longer be slowed by them, meaning it could catch up fairly easily with us. Not only were its paces larger, we were tired. True, I had superhuman stamina, but there was still a limit to it. I wasn't a demigod marathon runner.

I ran anyway.

When we finally reached the docks, the ground was pounding with every step of the chimera. It did nothing to help our nerves.

In front of us was the canal. I could see the water gushing past me as I ran. Turbulent and unpredictable. On either side, past the muddy banks, it was surrounded by dense woods- the remnants of the forest, which escorted it on each side for around a mile.

Beyond that, several rocky walls abruptly stopped the forest, like bodyguards, beyond which I could see a mile of sand on each side of the canal.

Beyond the sand, I could see the sky. It was gray and gloomy- the kind of weather where you think it can rain any moment, though it doesn't actually shower. A distant storm rolled over, muffled thunder reaching my ears.

Below the sky though, I saw it.

Churning. Roaring. Powerful.

Calling to me.

The largest and deepest ocean in the world. Spanning 60 million square miles, it extended all the way from here to China. The realm of my father, and my domain.

The Pacific Ocean.

"Percy!"

I looked over to the sound, and noticed Caleb gesturing towards three boats.

Running up, I quickly checked them out.

One was a baby blue catamaran.

Yes, I know what baby blue is. I know all the shades of blue. Only blue though. Go figure.

It was lean, and slick, built like a powerful jet ski which could cut though water with ease. The chimera would never catch us on this. I almost laughed happily, before my brain caught up with me.

It was a catamaran. It was here rotting. No one had used it in ages. It would definitely not have enough fuel to get us offshore. Heck, it wouldn't have any fuel at all.

Somehow I knew everything about the other two boats as well. Both of them required fuel- and we didn't have any.

The chimera roared again, this time closer.

I heard its steps now. They were rhythmic, like a giant horse.

"Shit. Shit. None of these have fuel," I said, looking at Caleb, "We don't have any fuel."

Everyone cursed.

You might be wondering why I didn't. I didn't cuss simply because I did once when I was smaller, and mom made me wash my mouth. Obviously, she wouldn't see me now, but I still didn't. Judge me if you want, but I wanted to make her happy even if I couldn't see her. She always used to frown when Gabe cursed, and anything Gabe did, I did not want to do. Besides, t was a small way that I could still be close to my mom. Obviously, I sounded weird, like telling her oh mom I went on a quest, nearly got killed multiple times, but didn't cuss so like, where's my treat?

That was, if I got out alive.

"What about this one?"

All of us gathered around a small sail boat. It was around fifteen feet long, and maybe eight feet in height. It was lying between two rocks in a depression near the canal- probably put there for ease of use. It had a sea-green hull, painted with two red stripes. Several designs of corals ran along the gunwale. It was a beautiful boat, and in too good a condition to have been left here for long. The deck was made up of wooden panelling, dark oak if I had to guess, and it had a small cabin below deck. I couldn't see into it, but there was a door that led to it. There were several ropes and lines on board, as if someone had just used it to fish. Though what they wanted to fish which such huge lines I didn't know. Sea monsters maybe. The paint on the side read, NEW TUNA'S GIRL, but when I blinked again the letters rearranged themselves into NEPTUNE'S GIFT.

It was probably a fishing boat- it's sail and mast had been dismantled and thrown down on the deck, and then covered. It had been under a tarpaulin, which was why we hadn't see it before. Also probably the reason why the rain and mist hadn't affected it so quickly.

I nodded.

"That'll do."

Together, we carefully walked down the slope towards the depression and pushed the boat out towards the canal. It was heavy, but mortal peril is a great motivator to work. We pushed with all our strength.

My muscles screamed in pain. My calves were burning, and I was pretty sure I had shin splints from running for such a distance.

Note to self: Jordans aren't the best for cross-country running.

But I kept pushing.

I could hear the chimera clearly now. Even when not roaring, it made other noises.

One of them was a creepy hiss. Like a viper, only five times as loud.

It also bleated. So in the end, it sounded like ROAR-ROAR-hiss-baaa.

But we had bigger problems. Distantly, I could hear the crackle of burning wood. I smelt smoke and burning leaves, and a few embers flew into the air to our right.

The forest was on fire, and the chimera was chasing us out of it. It roared again, and I though I heard the sound of concrete walls breaking.

It had broken past the white boat house.

With a burst of energy, we finally got the boat onto the water.

It bobbed up and down, and all of us got onto it.

I quickly stepped on the boat, and suddenly I knew everything about it.

I knew what to do.

I raised my hands on either side, and shouted, "Mizzenmast!"

Immediately, the ship began to work on itself.

I don't even know how, but the ropes began to tighten. The anchor was raised. The mast somehow levitated back into position, knocking Caroline on the head, and the sail rose up, attached to the mast with the help of several ropes and spars. A warm breeze blew past me, from the sea. I inhaled it, and it only made me long for the safety of the open ocean even more.

I concentrated on the pull of the waves. The call of the ocean. How badly I wanted to get there, and out of the chimera's reach.

Slowly, with almost too much leisure, the boat eased into the water and began to sail. I sighed in relief, thinking we might be able to get to the ocean after all.

Then the chimera appeared.

It was huge. The size of the large African Elephants in San Francisco Zoo (Lupa had taken me there once). It had the head of a lion, the body of a goat, a blood-caked mane, and a ten-foot-long diamondback snake-headed tail. Blood dripped from its mouth, saliva mixed with dead animal fur dripping down onto the forest floor and turning the vegetation bright red. The snake head (or was it a tail?) reared up and hissed, opening its mouth to reveal a forked tongue and sharp teeth. It spat something like green bile towards us, and I knew it was deadly poison. Fortunately, we were just out of range, and the poison fell into the water, the water around it sizzling and releasing steam. Several fish floated up, dead, and I swallowed hard. If it did that to fish though only a few drops fell on the water, I didn't want to know what it could do to me.

It also had a collar. I couldn't read it exactly, thanks to my dyslexia and the fact that I was trying not to die, but it went something like, "CHIMERA-RABID, FIRE-BREATHING, POISONOUS-IF FOUND, PLEASE CALL TARTARUS-EXT. 954."

Too bad I didn't have a phone on me.

The chimera roared again, and the entire ship shuddered.

I felt a tremendous amount of fear at that. Not the Medusa I-turn-you-into-stone type of fear, but the I'm-going-to-kill-you-and-tear-you-to -shreds type of fear. And that was way worse.

The chimera was an apex predator, and its roar chilled me to the bone. It compelled me to give up. There was no way I could defeat it. Millions of heroes before me had tried and failed. What would I be able to do?

I was frozen in place, unable to get the boat to move.

The chimera roared again, before taking a running leap.

The boat was moving as slow as a snail….if snails could float on water.

I couldn't help it. There wasn't a lot of wind, which meant it was mostly the current pushing is along. A small part of my mind told me to fight, to urge the current to push harder, but I couldn't. I was frozen on the spot.

That was the effect the chimera had. It scared you so much you were literally in shock. You couldn't resist. I'd read that lion roars had a similar effect on gazelles. I felt bad for gazelles, in a small part of my functional brain.

It was too monstrous. Too deadly. Too powerful.

Just then, the boat lurched forward.

I fell onto the deck, losing my balance and hitting the deck with a dull thud.

I bit my tongue, and the pain, the blood (and the hard hit on my head) jolted me back to my senses.

I looked up to see Haniel, eyes wide in fear, with sweat beading his forehead as he concentrated. He was waving his hands around like he was practicing some for of Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, but I knew what he was doing.

He was saving our lives.

Sure enough, looking at the sails, which were spread out fully now, I could see gusts of wind pushing against the sails.

Haniel was a son of Auster. He could summon winds. At least a few local ones. International winds were probably out of his call.

But there was only so fast you could go on local winds. Haniel was no child of Jupiter, and he was quickly tiring out.

The chimera roared again, and I forced myself not to look at it. It helped me a bit- with a bit of deep breathing I was able to lose the panic, and focus.

I closed my eyes and focused once again, feeling a familiar tug on my gut as I willed the undercurrent to push us ahead as fast as it could.

The chimera ran alongside us, waiting for the opportune moment to pounce.

I didn't give it one.

As soon as I drew on the power of the river, the boat zoomed.

The trees began to blur. Wind bit against my face- icy and cold. The smell of salt hit my face, and my entire body began to feel better. More powerful.

We cleared the forests, the chimera a golden blur behind us. It roared once again, before hissing. We heard it bleat in the distance, but the wind was roaring by now, meaning we couldn't hear anything else. I saw a few drops of green liquid to my right at one point, but the wind blew it away.

We zoomed past the beach, before speeding straight into the ocean.

I was pretty sure if there was a speed limit for boats in the ocean, I would've broken it.

I stopped the current once we were a mile off shore. I could still see the forests in the distance, but I wasn't worried anymore. Sure, the chimera could swim if it really wanted to, but I didn't care. The most powerful ally I could ever have surged around me. Thundering. Rolling. Alive and turbulent.

The chimera may me the most fearsome of monsters, but even it was no match for the ocean. This was my domain*.*

I looked around the boat.

Caleb was gripping the boat, his face white. Eleanor was shivering. Caroline was turning green- I didn't know she got sea sick- while Melissa was really panicking, wrapping her arms around her shoulders and trying to act as small as possible. Nike was comforting her, telling her that we were safe, and that the chimera was left behind.

Haniel had passed out.

We all looked at each other, exchanging shaky smiles as the reality of what we did just set in. My knees were still shaking, and when I tried to stand up, I ended up falling down on my butt.

We had escaped the chimera.

"WE DID IT!" I wanted to yell, but it sounded more like a yelp.

I took a deep breath, calming myself, before raising a fist high up. Lupa always told me team morale was important. I shouted, "WE GOT THIS! EAT MY DUST, CHIMERA YOU OVERGROWN HOUSE CAT!"

I was shouting. Exultant. I don't know why, but the fact that we managed to pull something so risky off…and the adrenaline. It all screamed to me.

It could also be the sleep deprivation, but eh, details.

"FOR ROME!" Caleb shouted, and we all echoed.

"DEATH TO THE TITANS!" Nike added, and we all shouted that too.

"LEBRON IS THE GOAT!"

I don't know why Haniel decided to shout that, no one repeated it. But to be fair, he'd just woken up from being knocked out, so I guess he was a little disoriented.

We all chuckled, before some kind of understanding passed between us, and we all ran in for a group hug.

"We did it!"

"I can't believe we actually pulled that off-"

"Wait till they hear about this in the legion- that we met a chimera-"

"Percy, you were brilliant!"

I shook my head. "Not really. I froze in the end, the chimera roared…and-" I shuddered.

"But it was your control of the ship and the control of the water that got us out!" Caroline argued, and I shook my head.

"Haniel did the most. He set up the initial push- summoned a wind or something. That knocked me onto the deck and knocked some sense onto me, which was why I was able to do that. Honestly, I don't think we'd be here if it wasn't for him."

Everyone turned to thank Haniel, and he blushed (it was easy to tell). But honestly, I was just happy for the guy, hopefully he could stop being a ratio or whatever for much longer.

What was the word? Pro-ratio?

Probatio.

Right.

Once the adrenaline wore off, we simply sat around and cracked jokes for around an hour. Maybe it was more. Maybe it was less.

But it was some of the most fun I've ever had.

Then Melissa paled again, and vomited over the deck, which reminded us that we were actually on an group death hike.

I quickly went to where Melissa was heaving her guts out. Something told me I could help, so I closed my eyes and concentrated, keeping a hand on Melissa and focusing.

I though of all the happy thoughts the sea brought me. How it reminded me of my dad. And how it always had protected me from mortal danger. How it was a constant, no matter where I was, the sea would always be there. Somewhere. Beyond the horizon, waiting for me.

I gathered everything good I felt about the sea, before pushing it down through my hand into Caroline.

Instantly, she began to glow green for a few seconds, before she went back to normal.

"What did you do, Percy?"

I turned back to Nike, and shrugged. "I think I can help her. I mean, it makes sense, right? As a child of the sea, I remember Lupa telling me there were legends that children of Neptune could bless others with removal of their sea sickness. And I guess it works."

"It does, Percy."

I turned to see Caroline smiling. She seemed a lot more at ease now, especially because she didn't look like she wanted to vomit her guts out anymore.

"Thank you."

I grinned. "Any time, just remember to give SSS Percy a five star rating on Trivago!"

She punched my shoulder.

"Now where are we headed?" Haniel asked, and we all looked towards Caleb, who frowned.

"Don't look at me. I don't have a sea map. Only a land map. Percy should tell us."

"We're 37 degrees, 37 minutes North and 126 degrees, 16 minutes west," I fired, before closing my mouth and frowning. "How did I know that?"

"Must be a power of yours, Percy," Haniel said, shaking his head in amazement. "You are the son of Neptune. You can never be lost at sea."

"Too bad he's almost always lost on land."

"Hey!"

Caleb took out a divider and scale from his pocket (did he have that the whole time?) and quickly calculated something on the map. He grimaced, so I figured we were quite off course.

"We're running in the wrong direction. We need to go a little more south, and of course, head back to land."

"But that doesn't make sense, Caleb," Eleanor argued, "we can't just approach the monster camp from the sea. They would see us a mile away."

Everyone nodded. It made sense the the monster camp had scouts- especially ones looking for a group of demigods on a boat screaming death to the titans.

"Well, the only land entrance is a narrow gorge. I know they've guarded that- reports have made that very clear. So unless we find some way to climb down thirty feet of smooth stone, we're going to have to go with either one of the routes."

"Are you sure there's no other way?"

Caleb nodded. "I'm sure. I've….uh, well I've been to Half Moon Bay before. A long time back, before I knew I was a demigod. I don't want to talk about it."

I kept quiet. I figured Caleb probably had a semi-decent family life before the gods had come and ruined it, so he probably resented them a little for it. I couldn't blame him- I felt the same way.

Caroline wrapped her arm around his waist. "It's okay. We're there for you. We'll get through this."

"We're together. We're a team."

Everyone nodded.

I glanced over the map, taking in the intricate detailing and the various ports and locations etched into it. I could picture them all in my mind, but still couldn't think of a way to land the sailboat close enough to launch an ambush, yet far enough to stay out of monster detection range. The bay was surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs. On the right, the forests continued. To the left was a large corn field. Beyond that, houses dotted the landscape, but I doubted we could go to any of them. It wasn't like we could walk up to one and say, "Hey! We're demigods going to kill a whole lot of monsters- have any climbing gear you could spare?"

I sighed, thinking about how to get past the rocks, when a shout interrupted my line of thought.

"Guys, I found an old radio!"

I turned to see Nike yelling and waving from a door. Steps led down from it, to a cabin below deck. I hadn't really explored the ship, since there wasn't really time, but I figured now that it would make a good place to spend the night, especially as we were all tired from the intense cardio session.

I quickly headed towards the door, before looking down below deck.

The cabin was pretty small, but it had enough place for five of us to sleep at a time. There was a row of cabinets at one end, but they were all rotting, and open- there was nothing inside them besides termites and some form of mold. A few Marvel comics, a really, really bad smelling cracker and a Rubik's cube with the colours peeling off sat on a shelf. Two windows on either side of the cabin allowed a little light into it, though if I had to guess, there were several lantern stands around the place, meaning most of the light was by oil lamps. We didn't have any though.

I walked back up.

"Two of us will have to sleep on deck. The rest of us can camp down. I'll sleep on top, I have to control the ship either way."

Caleb nodded. "Right. Who's staying up with the squirt?"

I wasn't surprised when no one raised their hands, because staying up meant it'd be harder to sleep. The constant splash of waves, the open night sky with sounds traveling much better, not to mention the fear of a sea gull pooping on you. I hoped that was the reason, and not that no one wanted to bunk with me.

Finally, Eleanor chuckled and raised her hand. "I'll do it."

"Hey, I'm not a chore, I can stay up alone too!"

"I never said you were one, Percy, calm down."

Once we decided who stayed where, things got into motion pretty quickly. Everyone was tired, and we just wanted to sleep.

Most of our stuff- that is, the weapons and food- was left on the deck. The food cans were stuffed into tires and kept around the mast. Several juice boxes were thrown into the fishing nets and lashed to one of the smaller masts. My bag was near them. All our weapons were kept in a crate which was padded with hay, which Melissa had found. Which meant, of course, that if anything happened to it, I would be in trouble.

Everyone quickly went below deck, and closed the door. Someone must have found a lamp of some sort though, because after a few minutes I saw a light flare up, illuminating the borders of the door. It seeped through the edges, around the hinges and through the logo etched on the door. It was one of those old fancy doors, with elaborate carvings around an opening.

I glanced at the shadow of the carving. I hadn't noticed it before.

It was a trident.

I smiled briefly. Maybe Neptune was watching out for me after all.

I walked back up to the deck of the ship, looking up at the stars.

The sky was….amazing.

Imagine the most starry sky you've ever seen, then multiply that by ten. Add the fact that you're on a boat, it's quite dark because there are no lights from buildings around, so its just the moon and stars. The salty sea spray and the occasional calls of creatures from the water.

I could easily get why people became sailors. This was so calm. So huge. So vast.

And so beautiful.

I sat at the stern of the boat, on a wooden shelf that was probably made to serve as a seat. Beyond me was a small hand rail, and after that was the outer hull of the boat. It tossed and turned with the current, but right now I was too tired and happy to really care about where the boat was going.

I'd later come to really regret that decision, but I didn't know it back then.

I heard the faint sound of footsteps, before Eleanor walked up to where I was sitting. She held a blanket in one hand, with a packet of crackers in the other.

She smiled, her eyes glowing in the moonlight. "Wanna have a snack?"

I nodded. "Thanks, El."

"El?"

"Uh…" I wondered if I'd crossed some kind of line here, "I heard Caleb call you that and though you preferred it. Though I could, uh, not call you that if you don't want me to."

She chuckled. "Nope. It's fine, Percy. I don't really mind what you call me."

She sat down next to me, and suddenly I realized how tired and sweaty I was. My shirt was covered with dirt stains, and my jeans were torn in several places from the running. Small branches and flowers still stuck to it, caught against the fabric. I blushed.

At least Eleanor looked similar. Her hair was still in a pony tail, but I could see a few leaves and a pine cone sticking out of it. She wore a white tank top, which was now ripped at the sleeve, exposing a cut arm, which was bleeding. Her jeans were dirty at the knees- she'd probably slid down somewhere- and frayed at the ends.

Basically, we both looked like demigods on a quest.

I slowly reached out towards her, ignoring her raised eyebrows, to take out the pine cone from her hair.

"Here," I said, "this was stuck on your hair."

She chuckled. "Well, what do you know, maybe I am a child of Demeter."

She kept it in one of her pockets, though I had no idea why you'd want to keep a pine cone in your pocket.

"I noticed you cut your shoulder-"

Eleanor waved her hand. "Yeah, but it's fine now. I tore it on some glass shards near the boat house. Some ambrosia and a bandage helped clean it up."

She waved it off, but I could see her wince in pain as she did. It was no small cut, and if it wasn't for the magical healing properties of nectar and ambrosia, and the fact that she was a demigod, it would have been a very serious wound.

"I have an idea-"

"Is this a Percy idea or a good idea?"

"Hey!" I protested, "I can give good ideas!"

She laughed. "I know. I was just messing with you. But go ahead, Percy. I trust you."

I nodded, before carefully pulling off the bandage around her shoulder. Eleanor winced a couple of times, but I stuck to it till I'd carefully peeled off the wraps of bandage. Below, an ugly wound looked right back at me. It was two deep furrows in her skin, still red with blood. The glass had been cleaned off, but the wound was still there- I was surprised at how she'd gone for so long without letting anyone know, because that wound looked painful. Dirt caked the side of her wounds, and I had to work fast, because though the bandage had compressed the blood there, I could see it coming back, seeping back out.

I closed my eyes and concentrated. The last time I'd tried this, I'd raised too much water, so I needed to focus.

I though about a small glass piece embedded on Eleanor's wound. How I needed just enough water to wash it off.

I opened my eyes.

A small whip of water rose up from the ocean, touching Eleanor's wound. She gasped in pain from the sting, but held her arm in place. I continued to use the water to close the wound, my muscles constricting as they always did when I used my powers.

I hadn't healed a lot of people using water. Sure, I could heal myself without even trying, but healing others? That was hard. I could do maybe minor injuries or a few deep wounds, but then I'd run out of juice.

Yeah I know. You can make earthquakes and storms but healing a shoulder injury drains you?

Trust me, I'm working on it.

Slowly, the wound began to heal. The cuts lessened in depth- I could see new healthy tissue grow in place. The tissue began to regrow, and the skin began to re-knit, the cut getting smaller and smaller till it was only a scratch, before even that closed. All the while, Eleanor's shoulder was covered in a sphere of water, that was slowly getting redder and redder.

I exhaled, tired, using the last of my energy to push the bloodied water back off the boat, before collapsing, exhausted.

Eleanor gasped, before testing her arm, moving it around in various positions to test if she could do it without hurting herself. She laughed in happiness when she could, and I smiled, feeling a warm feeling in my gut. I was glad I was able to make her feel better, for some reason. Making her laugh made me happy.

"Thanks, Percy," she said, smiling. "I think…I owe you this."

She leaned over and kissed my forehead.

My entire body turned bubbly, my muscles shivered- and it wasn't just from the kiss. I was covered by a golden glow, an aura that seemed to cover me all around. It felt warm, and I was suddenly reminded of home. Of mom. And blue cookies. I felt like all the good feelings of home and safety had been condensed into a single kiss, and they now covered me all around.

"What-what's this?" I asked, amazed, and Eleanor smiled. "It's one of my powers. I can offer demigods a small level of protection. Nothing major, but when the time comes, you will find it valuable." "How?" "Through my mother. She is the goddess of children leaving home. She protects them- well, she was supposed to," she said, frowning, "but you know tons of demigod kids get killed either way."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know. But on the plus side, you can, like, avoid major injuries and stuff?"

She smiled, shaking her head. "Not really. I can avoid injuries better than other demigods, but I'm still very killable, if you're wondering. I can help others though. I know it's not a lot, and that you're a literal child of Neptune but I-" I gently grabbed her hand, and Eleanor stopped talking. "Thanks, El. You're the best, I appreciate it."

She smiled, before sticking her tongue out. "Yeah, I know."

The two of us spoke for a while, talking about demigods, why gods sucked (that was mostly her) and why Andrew Garfield was the best spiderman. She told me a lot about Camp Jupiter, and I was excited to hear about the place I could some day hopefully call home. Eleanor didn't really tell me much about her past, only that Camp Jupiter was a good palce, with a lot of good demigods. And that was enough for me.

Tomorrow might have a lot of new problems, but I knew I could handle them, as long as I had my friends next to me.

We slept, cuddled together under the blanket and looking at the stars.

A/N: Thanks to one really nice guest review, I've decided to 'go with my gut' about the ships.

I hear y'all about Preyna. It IS one of my favorite ships, and I'll think about it, but to be honest one of the pairings for me really stands out as natural and really good for this story(I think people who can relate a lot end up liking each other) so that will be the character I will pair Percy up with. Obviously, it will take quite some time for it to happen, so stay tuned, I hope you this chapter!

Reviews appreciated, as always.