After the final exams, Percy feels like he could breathe again. He immediately loosened his tie and took his glasses off. "Which way are you headed, Percy?"

"Towards Hagrid, I'm going to feed Archie."

"You're going to feed the squid again?" Cedric asked.

Percy nodded, "Wanted to do one last thing before I go back home." He shrugged.

"I liked the exams, they were quite nice." Cedric said as he fell into step with him.

Percy, nodded in agreement. "I'm doing much better at a magical school rather than a muggle one. Although I felt quite stressed."

Cedric looked at him, confused. "You went to a muggle school?" He questioned.

"Mom is a squib, it took my uncle to find out that I was a wizard." He snorted.

"I've always thought you went to a magical school." Cedric admitted. "You really have a weird bond with the squid." He noted.

"I know." Percy grinned.

—

They sat at the dinner table with the Weasley twins and Cedric. He had invited them out for dinner at his house. It was weird seeing them in their everyday clothes rather than their robes.

"So you're going to America?" Fred asked, "Again?" George added.

"For a summer camp." Percy said and smiled, "I'm looking forward to it." He definitely looked forward to fighting with actual people with powers, while centaurs are great, Percy's back is hurting from looking up all the time.

"Bring me a souvenir that doesn't scare me, please." Cedric chuckled as he stuffed his mouth with Sally's cooking.

Sally laughed, "I tried to convince him to get something normal but I suppose that doesn't fit his vocabulary." The three boys laughed as well.

"That's a shame." Fred said, "I wanted to show you the girl by the paper shop." George nodded, "She's a beauty, Percy. Real shame you had to miss it."

Fred turned to Cedric instead, "You want to go instead of Percy?"

Percy snorted and Cedric shrugged, not saying no. "You dogs!" Percy chuckled. Sally quickly excused herself from the table, stating that she was going to go over to Molly. "Who wants to see muggle tapes?" He questioned and they all stood up.

"You've got muggle movies?" George asked, "Do you have Titanic?" Fred continued, "I heard that there was a woman who le-"

Percy shook his head, "I don't have titanic."

— —

Moody felt reluctant about letting Perseus go to his summer camp. "You better not use your wand too much." Moody said as he prepared the fireplace. "My pal in America says that their students have to leave their wands at school. But I'm assuming that it is different for a Brit."

Perseus nodded and held his duffel bag in his hand. Paired with his usual leather shoulder bag. His mom suddenly stood in front of him. "Do you have everything?" She asked. "Your glasses?"

"Yes, but why should I read at camp?" He questioned, ignoring the weight of his new potions book that he put in his bag. Some light reading wouldn't be bad.

"Your wand holster."

Perseus patted it, no way that he was going anywhere without it.

"Remember what not to do?"

"Never fly on a broom."

His mother nodded, proudly.

Perseus turned his head towards his uncle, "Are you sure you're not allowed to put an extension charm on my bag?" He asked, giving him the puppy eyes.

His uncle rolled his eyes and shook his head, "Very strict rules. It can cause a breach in the International Statute of Wizarding."

Perseus raised his eyebrows and looked at him, "I don't even know what that means." After a few more seconds of staring, the boy shrugged. "We're leaving." He said as he looked at the clock.

Moody looked at his remaining family members. "Be safe." He said.

Percy smiled and nodded, "Always, uncle." he said and stepped into the fire. "The camp has a direct Floo-Powder network right?"

His uncle nodded, "From what your mother said is that there are quite a bunch of wizards going there as well." Percy stepped into the empty fireplace and smiled at his family.

"Camp Half-Blood!" he exclaimed and he disappeared in green flames. Sally turned to her uncle.

"I'm just hoping he won't destroy the camp." She sighed out and Moody laughed.

"Don't jinx it dear." He said and nodded at her, "I've got to go to work now." Sally nodded and watched her uncle disappear with a crack. She sighed and walked over to the wine cabinet and pursed her lips.

"I should do some volunteering or something."

—

Percy coughed as he walked out of a dusty basement, he patted the dust off of his t-shirt. He walked through what seemed like a farmhouse. He walked out of the front door and looked at the two men playing cards.

"Ah, you must be Perseus." The guy in the wheelchair said and looked at the duffel bag. "You've come quite prepared I see. Is the fireplace working properly?" He asked and motioned to come sit down.

"I don't see any problems with it sir." He said politely and looked over at the cards. The bag discarded at his feet.

"Your mother told me that you know of your heritage already." The man said, "And that you've been trained."

"By a group of centaurs, sir. Firenze."

The man in the wheelchair hummed, "The ones associated with magic are quite different from the ones associated with the gods."

The man in the tiger print snorted.

"While we know of your heritage, we can't let you sleep in his cabin until he claims you." Percy frowned; he didn't really understand the terms they were using, but that is just the way it is. He nodded and looked beside him.

"You called for me, Chiron?" She asked. Percy was surprised and blinked when he realised that was the girl who had winked at him when he visited New York for the Christmas holiday. She turned to look at Percy and seemed to have a similar reaction with her widened eyes.

"Yes, could you show the new camper around?" He asked.

Percy stood up and held his hand out, "Percy Jackson." He introduced himself.

"Silena Beauregard." She cocked her head, "Percy stands for?"

"Perseus." He answered and looked at her, wondering how she knew. She nodded at him and motioned for him to follow her. He nodded at the men at the table before picking up his bag and quickly following after her.

They must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, Perseus needed a minute to process everything.

The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture, an open-air pavilion, an amphitheatre, a circular arena but well, except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun.

In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school–age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, some of them were pegasus'.

"You'll be put in Cabin Eleven." Silena said.

"What is cabin eleven?"

"The cabin for the unclaimed."

They passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. "New kid." one whispered to another.

He looked back at the farmhouse, and noticed that it was huge. Four stories, sky blue with a white trim. In a flash he saw something move. A shadow, he felt the hairs on his neck stand up once again, he was being watched.

"What's up there?" Perseus asked Silena.

She looked where the wizard was pointing at, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."

"Somebody lives there?"

"Don't think so," She shrugged, "Although Luke says that there is a skeleton there."

"A skeleton?"

She looked a bit annoyed, "He didn't tell me why when I asked."

They walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. "It pays for our expenses, strawberries take close to no effort." She informed and walked past the fields. "And these are the woods." She said and smiled at him.

He smiled back almost immediately, "So what were you doing in the Empire State building?" Percy asked as they walked in the direction of the forest.

"We were visiting Olympus." She said casually and smiled sheepishly as she put her hands behind her back. "Sorry about Clarisse again, she can be a bit abrasive."

"I wasn't looking around either, it wasn't her fault."

"So, English?"

Percy smiled, "Yeah."

As they got closer, Percy realised how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.

"The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."

"Stocked with what?" He asked. "Armed with what?"

"You'll see. Capture the flag on Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"

"Yes." He said and rubbed the back of his neck, "No need for a shield."

Silena looked at him curiously. "You've already had training?" She asked. Percy nodded. After taking a look at the forest she continued walking back to the Cabins. "Do you want me to hold onto your bag?"

"Why?"

"Because Cabin 11 happens to also be the Hermes cabin." And Percy nodded. "Yeah, you'll be fine. Luke will look out for you." They stopped by the bathrooms and passed the bigger girl that he recognized.

She also recognized him, "English." She cocked her head, "You're a demigod?" She questioned, "You didn't look special at all, except for your old fashioned clothes."

Silena rolled her eyes, "Be nice, he's new."

"Don't care, you know our initiation." She grinned like a menace and walked closer to him. Percy cocked his head at her and frowned.

"I knew that Americans were rude." He sighed and dropped his duffle bag on the ground. With a tug in his stomach he had water from a nearby puddle slowly come over the ground to Clarisse. He was not getting his head put in a toilet. It looked like she wasn't going to back down.

But then he remembered something Albus had said, to not reveal your biggest advantage at the first turn. He stopped attracting the water and instead decided to go face to face with the daughter of Ares. Instead when she threw a punch, Perseus swiftly avoided it. Before he knew it, he laid down on the ground. He rolled to the side and stood up, avoiding the kick that could've potentially knocked him out right there on the ground. "C'mon, English." Clarisse sneered.

Perseus just holds his hands up in a defensive manner, he knew that he wouldn't win. The girl was followed by her brothers and not to forget she is a daughter of Ares, Ares, the literal war of god.

"Hope you're better at war than fighting." Perseus blurted out and before he knew he had to duck to avoid another punch. This punch was sloppy, and less accurate than her last one. Oh, she was angry.

She bellowed in a sound that Perseus could not describe. He grabbed her wrist as the punch was thrown and he pushed her onto the ground. "Can you not?" He said.

The girl looked up glaring but it turned into an evil smile, "You're decent, English."

"You're good as well…" He wasn't really sure if that was her name

"Clarisse." Silena said from the side.

"Clarisse." He said and held his hand out.

She slapped his hand away and shook her head, "Not there yet, England."

'England' is a nickname he never had before, probably because he was from the UK. Where everyone can be 'English'. She walked off after giving him a nod, Silena turned to him, slightly in disbelief. "Did you just get the nod of approval?"

"I think?" Percy questioned his own sanity, "I did get a punch of approval as well." He joked. Silena laughed and shook her head.

"I've worked years for my nod of approval." She complained payfully. Percy looked to the side to see a blonde staring at him. He raised his eyebrow at her.

The blonde just shook her head and walked away.

Word of the fight spread immediately. Wherever he went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about approval. Clarisse didn't sneer at him when he walked past her cabin anymore.

Silena showed him a few more places: the metal shop, kids are actually forging swords which should be a safety risk. The arts-and-crafts room, and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough. Now that is a safety risk.

Finally they returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. "I've got training to do," Silena said. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall." She then disappeared after another wave.

He stood outside of the cabin where he was supposed to sleep, the same blonde as before stood next to him. "You need to talk to the Oracle," She said.

"Who?"

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

He stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give him a straight answer for once. He had never talked with his father, but by the way the man left him a sword and a whole vault. He knew he cared. He waved back at the naiads. "Stop flirting with the naiads."

Perseus looked at her with a weird look on his face, "I wasn't flirting, I just waved."

The girl gave him a pointed stare, "You might not, but they are."

"Who're you again?" He asked politely.

"Annabeth Chase."

"Nice to meet you."

"You as well." The conversation fell silent and the smell of barbecue came from somewhere nearby. He then turned around and walked into the cabin, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner.

For the first time, he noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to him as he walked over to an open spot on the floor and cringed.

The counsellor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. "First of all, welcome." He said with his hands full of items. "It looks like you came prepared. Did you miss anything?"

Percy shook his head, "I suppose a sleeping bag." He admitted. The older boy put it down in front of him.

"There you go."

"Thanks, Luke."

"No prob." Luke pushed his back against the wall and sat next to the new guy. "How was your day here?"

Percy shrugged a bit, "I already fought someone if that is normal here."

Luke laughed and nodded, "I heard about that, I also heard about the nod of approval."

"Seems like everyone heard about it." He chuckled.

"That's how some of us started. Did you know about the Gods before coming here?" Luke asked.

Perseus nodded, "Something in me still can't quite believe it."

"That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier." The bitterness in his voice surprised him, because Luke seemed pretty easy going. He looked like he could handle just about anything.

"So your dad is Hermes?" He asked. With a switchblade, Luke scraped the mud off of his sandal.

"Yeah. Hermes. Messengers. Medicine. Travellers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors." He figured Luke didn't mean to call him a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.

"You ever met your dad?" Percy eventually asked.

"Once." He said and Percy waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell him, he'd tell him. Apparently, he didn't.

He wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar. Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other." He seemed to understand how lost that the wizard felt, and Perseus was grateful for that, because an older guy like him, even if he was a counsellor, would've steered clear of a newbie.

But Luke had welcomed him into the cabin. He even stole a handful of items for him. Perseus decided to ask him his last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Annabeth said that I should talk to the oracle."

Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."

"What do you mean?"

His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. My quest didn't go all that well. But Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world, he said that she had a future that would be tragic." Luke shook his head, "I don't think anyone would want to know that."

Percy smiled sadly.

"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Come on, it's time for dinner." The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, he knew it was a conch shell, even though he'd never heard one before. Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"

They all walked to the pavilion and there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen wood nymphs and naiads. Torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple.

Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. Percy had to squeeze himself onto the edge of a bench with half his buttocks hanging off.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her grey eyes and honey-blond hair. Clarisse sat behind him at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over their little scrap, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her siblings.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!" Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food. His glass was empty and he wondered if it was just like it at Hogwarts. "Water." He said.

The glass is filled with cold water.

"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket. He loaded his plate and was about to take a big bite when he noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the centre of the pavilion.

He saw everyone scraping some of their food into the fire, Percy silently followed Luke, the older camper murmured in his ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."

This was something Albus hadn't told him, "The smell? Seriously?" He was surprised.

"Gods, do all Brits sound so dramatic?" Luke joked but his look warned me not to take this lightly. Percy chuckled and just accepted it for what it was.

Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes." He muttered.

Perseus was next. He wished he knew what god's name to say. Finally, he made a silent plea. 'Poseidon and Hermes, thank you for your hospitality.' He scraped the big slice of brisket into the flames.

When he caught a whiff of the smoke, he was pleasantly surprised by the smell. It smelled nothing like burning food. He smelled the brisket that he dropped in.

Eventually, the tiger print guy got up with a huge sigh. "Hello brats. Our activities director, Chiron. Says that Capture the Flag is Friday. Cabin Five holds the crown." A bunch of cheering rose from the Ares table. "Personally, I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

Chiron murmured something.

"Er, Percy Jackson," The man corrected himself. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

The next few days they were going to play capture the flag. He mostly followed what everyone was doing. Sometimes Annabeth would walk over and engage in small talk with him.

He had his Defence Against the Dark Arts book out on his lap, "You don't look like the type to study." Annabeth stated as she looked over at him.

"I like to be prepared so we're winning the house cup again."

"Is that a British thing?" She asked.

Percy shrugged, "I suppose it's a thing only our school has. Some kind of reward system." He said.

"Don't you get frustrated?" She looked at his books closely. "This is plain english."

He fished the glasses out of his bag and handed it over to Annabeth before randomly grabbing a book. "Put them on, and read." He said, Annabeth took it and put them on. He had to hold back a snort at how dorky she looked. She gave him a glare but read it anyway.

"What kind of book is it?

"Monster book." He said. "Have you seen Silena?" He questioned.

Annabeth shook her head. "I haven't." She said and handed the glasses to him. "She might just be at the Aphrodite cabin, you know, where she lives." Percy stood up and dusted off his pants.

He pulled his bag over his shoulder and walked alongside Annabeth until she parted and left to go get something out of her cabin. He stepped up to their door and knocked. A girl opened the door, she was Asian and her dark hair was curled. "What do you want?" She asked and squinted at him.

"Is Silena there?" He asked awkwardly, not having a single clue who the girl was.

The girl rudely rolled her eyes, "Leave the love notes in the mailbox." She started to close the door and Percy quickly put his foot between.

"I don't have a love note."

"What else do you want then? Sing her a song?" The girl was brutal. He cringed.

"None of that, can I just speak with her?" He argued.

The daughter of Aphrodite rolled her eyes and opened the door again, "Silena, someone's here for you." She called out lazily and walked away. He heard the girl yell that she'd come in a second.

She looked gorgeous as always. He smiled sheepishly, "I caught someone trying to steal my bag this morning." He held it out for her, "Do you think you could?"

"Keep it at my cabin?" she raised an eyebrow and nodded, "Sure." She accepted the bag and her hand shot down a bit. "Gods what do you have in here?" She questioned.

Percy shrugged. "Some books and enough clothes."

"Too bad that there is a dress code, huh." Silena teased and Percy chuckled. "I'll stash it. Sorry for Drew."

Percy shrugged, "I got what I came here for." He smiled and Silena waved before she closed the door.

For the rest of the day, the wizard would rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something that he was good at. Chiron tried to teach him archery, just like Firenze the centaur learnt that he wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. But the immortal trainer didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail.

Foot racing? A mess. They told Percy not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. He felt bad for them.

And wrestling? Forget it. Every time he got on the mat, Clarisse took pleasure in pulverising him. He would hold up for a few rounds and then get beat into the mat. "You're doing good for a newbie, England" she'd mumble after. They were on their way of becoming best friends, he'd bet.

The only thing he really excelled at was sword fighting. Some kids grumbled at seeing his sword while they only had the camp swords. Luke fought with him when Percy mentioned that he already had training. The two were on the same level, they kept clashing back and forth but eventually came to a stalemate.

After that particular spar, his name got spread around as a good fighter, but rather than his name, they called him 'England'. Everyone he had talked to called him that. Even an Ares kid that just sneered at him to get out of the way.

That day after lunch, there was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for capture the flag. When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and everyone all stood at their tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.

From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head. Percy turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?" Luke nodded.

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always," he said.

"But often." Perseus liked the difference between the two cabins. One is a child of war and the other is of war strategy. Sometimes brute force can overpower any strategy and sometimes the strength is accounted for and countered by strategy.

Percy assumes it is an endless debate between the two cabins whenever they talk about war.

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Ares had allied themselves with everybody else.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble and explained the rules. Percy felt concerned, centaurs are good healers but still, the rules in place meant that the rule had to be made. Meaning that killing was an actual issue at one point. He felt his stomach clench and nervous energy run through him.

He found Annabeth but she seemed preoccupied. "I'm on creek duty?" He questioned.

"I've only seen you fight once, don't think I'm going to put you on the frontlines now." She argued and Percy cringed but nodded eventually. "Then you're all settled. Keep an eye out for Clarisse's spear. She might want a friendly rematch."

"It doesn't sound friendly." He said.

"I'm just trying to comfort you." Stormy grey eyes kept staring ahead and continued to. "Athena always has a plan."

"I don't!" He called after her but she disappeared.

Before she disappeared, she called out. "This can be your chance, Percy. Impress him." He realised he was by the creek and stayed there, near the bushes. Just so he has to be looked for to be found. In the distance he heard the conch horn blow. He heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting.

Kids here must be a different breed because he wasn't looking forward to being targeted by Clarisse. But they must be whooping because they wouldn't be on Clarisse's end of the spear.

A canine growl, chills went up his spine and the hair on his body rose. He had discarded his shield a long time ago and held only his pen in his hand. The feeling of something stalking was eerie. He learnt to ignore it in a controlled environment, but this was everything but controlled.

Then the growling stopped. He felt the presence retreating. On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark. "Get English!" Clarisse screamed.

Something about the way that Clarisse brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords. They charged across the stream. Percy can stand his ground, it was his chance to impress. After all, first impressions are very important.

If he knew it would be like this, he'd wear a suit under all of the armour.

He sidestepped the first kid's swing. In a circle, they surrounded him. Clariss thrust her spear at Percy. "You enjoying this?" He called out as he deflected it with Anaklusmos. His body tickled, stupid electric spear.

"Definitely!" She replied, a shit-eating grin on her face.

The air burned, and he fell back. Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and he hit the dirt. Percy felt a familiar tug in his stomach as he willed for the water to come towards him.

While they were laughing, he got up to his feet and raised his sword. Two of them came at the young wizard, backed up to the creek. He was being toyed with by Clarisse's siblings, a sword slashed across his arm, leaving a cut.

His own blood made him a bit dizzy, warm but cold, all at the same time. He knew that 'no maiming' was a rule but he also knew that they didn't care. Before he knew it, Percy was being pushed into the creek.

He should really stop people from throwing him around, but they should stop throwing him off of his concentration. The pull in his stomach stopped as he landed with a splash. Energy coursed through him and his body stopped tingling.

Deciding to stop playing around he hit the hilt of his sword against the first guy's helmet, he crumpled into the water, knocked out. Then came the other two, one he slammed with his shoulder and the other he used his sword to hit the Ares' childs shield.

Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear mocking Perseus as it shone and cracked with energy. She was playing the long game. As soon as she thrust, he caught the shaft between the edge of his padded arm and riptide. Then, he proceeded to twist, snapping it like a twig.

She cussed, and he felt bad. Judging from the other's swords, this was her personal weapon. Before she could attack and wrestle him down, he smacked her between the eyes with the butt of his sword that sent her stumbling out of the creek.

Then he heard it, elated yelling and screams. Luke raced towards the boundary line, the opposition's banner, lifted high.

She probably would've said worse, but Percy smacked her between the eyes with the butt of his sword and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek. Then he heard yelling, elated screams, and he saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high.

"A trick!" Clarisse shouted. "It was a trick." They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory.

Their side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders.

Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. The game was over. They had won. He was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to him in the creek, said, "Not bad, england." He looked, but she wasn't there. "Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialised, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.

"At school."

"They teach you magic and fighting?" Annabeth questioned, it looked as if she was a bit jealous.

Percy shook his head, "He knows I'm a special case."

Before she could ask more questions, he heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. By the guarded look on Annebeth's face, she did as well. A howl ripped through the forest. The cheering died, and the campers with bows stood tense, holding the string back as Chiron barked out orders.

Annabeth drew her sword.

There on the rocks just above the two was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. It was looking straight at Percy.

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!" She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. Leaping over her and it just hit him. He stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through his armour, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows and he thrusted his sword into the mouth. The monster fell dead at his feet before disappearing into dust.

His fate was that he still lived, not wanting to look underneath his now shredded armour. His chest felt warm and wet, he assumed that it was all of the blood. Another second and his fate would've been different.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't…they're not supposed to…"

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone. An Ares kid yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! He summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child," Chiron told him. The body of the monster melted into a shadow, soaking into the ground.

"You're wounded," Annabeth told me.

"Get in the water, child." Chiron stated.

"I'm okay." He shook his head. He knew that he should get in the water, but really. It isn't that bad.

"No, you're not," Silena stepped out from the tree line. Clarisse shook her head as well and slowly cornered him back into the creek again. "Chiron, watch this." He was too tired to argue, grudgingly he stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around him.

Instantly, he felt better. He could feel the cuts on his chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped, but they weren't watching his wounds heal. They were staring at something above his head.

"Percy," Silena said, pointing.

By the time he looked up, the sign was already fading, but he could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"About time." He said under his breath.

"It is determined," Chiron announced. All around him, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. He knew who his father was but he still was completely bewildered.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."