Percy's sleep was suddenly interrupted with a pillow hitting his face. He woke up to see Harry and Luke grinning at him, "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty. Today's the day for Capture The Flag. The Athena Cabin is facing off against Ares. So, Annabeth and her siblings have allied with Apollo and Hermes. Meanwhile, Ares have allied with Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, Artemis and Hephaestus. I know it sounds lopsided, but Apollo and Hermes are two of the biggest cabins, so it evens out."

Percy scrambled out of bed to get ready, while Harry left to prepare. Luke waited and once Percy got changed, he escorted him to the forges to get his armor. As they walked, he leaned in and whispered, "In a way, I'm glad that Annabeth and Harry aren't on the same team. She's got a cap that makes her invisible and he has an invisibility cloak. Kind of evens up the odds."

Soon, Percy was kitted up in a classic Greek armor, which he had to admit was quite heavy. He also donned a helmet with a blue horsehair plume and got his hands on a shield that was the size of an NBA backboard. Harry jogged up, "Looking good, Jackson. I know that we're friends but I won't go easy on you. Though I'll try and rein in Clarisse and her siblings, they're pretty much on the warpath."

Soon, he left and Percy joined Luke, Annabeth and the other members of the blue team. The blonde girl was going over strategy and assigning various duties. She pointed at him, "Hey Percy, you're on border patrol. Got it? Just stand by the creek and don't let anyone from the red team over on our side. Not even Harry. Trust me, Athena always has a plan. Oh, and one more thing, try and avoid Clarisse's spear, don't let it touch you at all."

He gulped, "G-got it. Glad you wanted me on the team."

Just then, Chiron clopped forward and delivered his usual pre-game speech. As usual, he declared that magical items were allowed and no one was allowed to kill or maim. Then he blew his conch and Percy mentally guessed that it was to start the game.

With a war cry, Annabeth, Luke and several others surged forward, leaving Percy all on his own. The other campers on border patrol were out of his line of sight as well. He grumbled to himself about missing out on the fun. Suddenly, there was a low canine-like growl that made him almost jump out of his skin. Percy frantically looked back and forth, trying to find the source of the sound. At the same time, he had a horrible feeling that he was being watched, and not by a fellow camper with invisibility tricks.

Just as suddenly as it started, the growling stopped. Unfortunately, it did not put Percy at ease, because he saw the answer right in front of him. Clarisse and four of her siblings had burst through the foliage and were making a beeline for him. She yelled, "Cream the punk!", and swung her spear threateningly. One Ares kid swung his sword, but Percy managed to dodge it sideways. Unfortunately, he quickly realized the difference between a Minotaur and five trained demigods out for blood. They soon surrounded him and Clarisse thrust her spear at him. Luckily, he used his shield to deflect it, but felt a painful tingle all over his body. His hair stood on end and his shield arm grew numb. A horrible realization struck him; the damn spear was electric!

One of her brothers took advantage of the brief moment of incapacitation and whacked Percy with the butt of his sword. The impact sent the boy tumbling and he tried to raise his sword arm. Unfortunately, Clarisse swung her electric spear and immobilized that arm as well, rendering them useless.

Percy tried to distract them, "The flag's that way, if you're interested."

One guy sneered, "Screw the flag, our focus is on the guy who made our cabin look stupid. Did you seriously think that you wouldn't get what's coming to you?"

Percy sassed back, "I made you guys look stupid? You did that yourselves, I just helped out."

That prompted two of them to advance, and Clarisse to poke him with her spear again. A fourth one slashed him in the arm, leaving a nasty looking gash. Percy snapped indignantly, "Hey man! Chiron said no maiming."

The guy smirked, "Oops… I guess I forgot.", then he shoved the boy into the creek. Somewhere behind them, Harry had finally managed to catch up to Clarisse's troop. It was times like these when he was a little jealous of Annabeth, because her invisibility cap could make her move faster. Meanwhile, he had to make sure that he didn't trip on his own cloak. He spotted the camper push Percy into the creek and went to get them to back off. However, what happened next made him pause and watch the scene with interest and the pieces began falling in place.

When Percy got dunked, the tables were turned. It was almost as if something had awoken in him and his senses were in overdrive. The five Ares kids waded in to continue tormenting him when he recovered very quickly. He pounced and the first guy had his helmet knocked off and he was downed soon. Two others were dealt with pretty easily, and the fourth was just beginning to realize that they were screwed. However, Clarisse kept advancing and thrust her spear again. This time, Percy was ready for her and caught the shaft between his sword and the edge of his shield. With a bit of pressure, he snapped it, and in the background, an invisible Harry winced, 'this could either end well or end pretty badly'.

Sure enough, Clarisse went ballistic and called him every insult under the sun. She raged, "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm! You-", then Percy bonked her hard with the butt of his sword.

Suddenly, there were more whoops and cheers coming from behind the group. Luke and a few Hermes and Apollo kids burst through the undergrowth with a red banner in Luke's arms and a blond daughter of Aphrodite in pursuit. Harry quickly shucked off his Invisibility Cloak and charged at the group, but Lee Fletcher broke off from the group and engaged him. This bought Luke enough time to sprint over the creek and back to friendly territory. When he was safely through, the red banner turned grey, the colors of the Athena Cabin. Chiron's conch blew and the entire blue team burst into cheers. They mobbed Luke and carried the teenager on their shoulders.

Clarisse was fuming, "It was a trick! It was a dirty trick! They tricked us!"

Percy quickly moved away to avoid her wrath. Meanwhile, Harry collected his cloak and walked over to Percy, "Nice one, mate. Didn't know you had it in you."

The other boy scowled, "You were here the whole time? Why didn't you help me?"

"We were on opposite teams, bruv. Also, when you were in the creek, it looked like you had it under control."

Then, Annabeth materialized next to them, taking off her cap. She hip-checked Percy, "Nice job, hero. Where did you learn to fight like that? It was like the other day when you were able to disarm Luke once, but couldn't do it again."

Harry chipped in, "That's what I'd like to know, too. Also, what's the deal with your arm?"

Percy shrugged, "Sword cut. Should we call a medic?"

Annabeth's eyes widened and she stammered, "Umm… Percy, it was a sword cut. Past tense."

Confused, he glanced down, and she was right. The scar had faded dramatically and there was barely any blood. He blurted, "Whoa! I didn't know demigods healed so quickly."

Harry shook his head, "Actually, they don't."

"Then wha-"

Annabeth interrupted, "Percy, just step out of the creek for a second."

Still puzzled, he did so and almost stumbled. Luckily both of them steadied him and let him lean on their shoulders. Harry mused, "Well… I did not see that coming."

She was less amused, "Oh Styx! This is not good. I thought it would be-"

Annabeth never finished her sentence, because a piercing howl tore through the forest. Chiron hollered in Ancient Greek, "Stand ready! My bow!"

Everyone drew their weapon and faced the direction where the sound came from. The bushes in the distance rustled and a massive Hellhound stepped out. Its glowing lava-red eyes were trained on Percy.

Instinctively, Harry and Annabeth moved in front of Percy. Then it pounced, leaping straight over them and right on top of a stunned Percy with its jaws snapping away. Percy tried to wrestle the beast, but it got a few good bites in.

Harry immediately drew his bow and fired a few arrows at the monster. More arrows from the Apollo campers joined him and embedded themselves in the monster's neck. The creature was killed and its dead body slumped over a struggling Percy. Eventually, he managed to lug it off him, and it dissolved into shadow.

Annabeth was in shock, "Di immortales! That was a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. How did it get in here?"

Clarisse screamed, "It's all Percy's fault! He summoned it!"

Harry snapped back, "Oi! The bloody thing was attacking him! Why would he summon a monster that would try and kill him, you bellend!"

Annabeth grabbed Percy and led him to the creek, "You're injured! Come on!"

Almost as soon as he stepped in, he began to feel much better, and the crowd gasped as all of his wounds healed. However, they were not watching his wounds, but looking at his head. Percy joked, "What? Is there something on my face?"

Harry called out, "More like something above you, mate."

He looked up and saw a hologram of a sea green circle with a trident on it. Everyone knelt as Chiron announced, "It is determined! Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Harry uttered, "Bloody hell! This just got interesting."

Over the next couple of days, Percy was moved to Cabin Three. One could tell by looking at him that he was miserable. One morning, Percy woke up from a particularly vivid dream. He was on a beach and nearby there were two muscular bearded men clad in Greek-style tunics and they were fighting like wrestlers. One of them was shouting at the other to give something back.

Percy tried to run towards them to stop the fight, but his legs felt like lead. To make matters worse, a very creepy voice chortled evilly and it crooned, "Come down, little hero, come down", and the earth opened up and swallowed him.

The son of Poseidon woke up and was just contemplating whether he should even turn up for training. Besides Harry, Luke and Annabeth were the only ones treating him normally. Though Luke began pushing him much harder and Annabeth slowly began acting a little weird around him.

If he was being honest, Percy was getting sick of the staring, pointing and whispering. His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

He moaned petulantly, "Go away. If you want to treat me like some stupid museum piece, the least you could do is pay me."

Harry's voice replied back, "Doesn't get any easier does it, mate? Welcome to my world. I know what you're going through, I've been there before."

Percy continued sulking, "Stop lying buddy. If you're trying to make me feel any better, you're doing a bad job."

Harry was having none of it, he entered the room, dragged Percy's legs off and sat on the bed. He coolly replied, "Actually, I have been there before. I'm the son of Artemis. I wasn't technically supposed to be born. So, to the campers, I am still an anomaly. It was worse back in magic school. Remember that dark wizard I told you and Mackenzie about? The wanker murdered my mortal parents and tried to kill me. Somehow the Killing Curse rebounded back to him, thanks to my mortal mum invoking the blessing of Aphrodite."

Percy sat up, "Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! The Killing Curse? Who was the idiot who invented that? They actually teach you about that in school?"

"Don't be silly! That spell is actually forbidden and anyone caught using it is sent straight to the wizarding prison of Azkaban. Anyway, as I was saying, the curse reflected back on him and destroyed his body. Because I survived, the Wizarding World calls me the Boy-Who-Lived. Honestly mate, when I first entered the school and my name was announced, I was subjected to stares and whispers for weeks. Some crazy witch who was in her Seventh Year also tried to drug me with a love potion, because she had dreams of marrying the Boy-Who-Lived, fortunately it didn't work. Later on in a dream, Lady Aphrodite told me that since my mortal mother invoked her blessing to protect me from the dark wizard, I'm kind of immune to love potions. I was never so thankful in my entire life. Her blessing also means that I'm an honorary child of Aphrodite."

Harry paused for a breath, "My point is, you're going to have to bear it for a few days. Afterwards, something new will come up and everyone will move on. By the way, who's Gabe? And what kind of last name is Ugliano? I'm asking because one of the Hermes kids smuggled in a newspaper about this bloke reporting that his 'deranged' stepson abducted his wife."

Percy scowled, "He's my stepfather, if I can even call him that. Dude is a Grade A jerk and sometimes I wonder what mom saw in him."

Harry clapped him on the back, "Alright mate, up and at them! We'll plot revenge on Mr Ugly, later. Get dressed, Chiron and Mr. D want you in the Big House ASAP."

Five minutes later, the duo walked out of the cabin to see overcast skies sprawled out before their eyes. Grover joined them and they nervously walked to the porch of the Big House. Chiron, Dionysus and Annabeth were waiting for the trio. Mr. D drawled, "Well, well, well, if it isn't our resident celebrity…"

Percy flinched, and Harry's eyes narrowed. Mr. D was reminding him too much of Snape. The god continued, "If I had my way, I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. Unfortunately, Chiron has insisted that this goes against my 'mission' to safeguard all the brats in this accursed camp. There is an option for you, my colleague shall flesh out the details. As for myself, I'm needed at Olympus before Barnacle Beard and Thunder Beard begin a grudge match."

The overcast sky rumbled, but Dionysus looked unrepentant. Instead, he somehow pulled out a security card and vanished into thin air, leaving an after-scent of fermenting grapes. Chiron sighed and gestured for everyone to sit down. He said, "Percy, what did you think of the hellhound?"

The boy stammered, "It scared me. If Harry and the others hadn't shot it, I would have been dead. Thanks dude, I owe you."

Harry patted his back, "You're my friend, of course I'd save your arse."

Chiron looked grave, "I'm afraid that the hellhound is just the start of what you with face in the near future. Especially before you are done."

"Done? With what?"

This time it was Annabeth who spoke, "Your quest. It's pretty much a rite of passage for most demigods."

Chiron picked up where she left off, "Of course, the details are still a little vague. What do you think it entails, Percy?"

Percy haltingly said, "Zeus and Poseidon are fighting over something. I think something was stolen."

Harry turned to him and raised an eyebrow. Percy flushed, "I-er… I had a dream about it. Also, Harry and Annabeth told me about something being stolen. This was after I accidentally overheard you and Grover talking about a deadline. Though I don't know what was taken."

Chiron nodded, "Allow me to clarify, your father and Lord Zeus are having their worst quarrel in centuries. This was because Lord Zeus' lightning bolt got stolen."

Percy choked, "His what!"

The centaur chided, "Do not dare take this lightly, Mr. Jackson. This is a two-foot-long cylinder of high-grade Celestial Bronze, capped on both ends with god-level explosives. Zeus' Master Bolt is the symbol of his power and many lightning bolts are patterns after it. The Cyclopes forged it during the war against the Titans and it overthrew the king of Titans, Kronos. This weapon is so powerful that it makes the hydrogen bomb seem like a firecracker."

Percy winced, "Yikes! Who do you think stole it?"

Chiron paused and then told him, "Well… Lord Zeus seems to think that you did it."

Percy's jaw dropped, "But… But… How?! I've never been to Olympus! I can't even steal a slice of pizza, even if my life depended on it!"

Chiron nodded, "I understand that you are innocent. However, in Lord Zeus' eyes, his brother has some influence over the Cyclopes. Especially since their forges are underwater. Since your father openly claimed you as his son, his suspicion has fallen on you. The good news for you is that you can redeem yourself. Lord Zeus has demanded that his lightning bolt be returned by the Summer Solstice. That's 10 days from now, and as you can imagine, a civil war between the Gods will be devastating. Your quest is to find the lightning bolt and return it to Lord Zeus. Think of it as a peace offering from the son of Poseidon to return Zeus' property and uncover the real thief. Come Percy, it is time to consult the Oracle. Head upstairs to the attic. When you come back down, we shall talk more."

What followed next was an agonizing 15-minute wait, while a jelly-legged Percy trudged up the stairs. To pass the time, Harry, Grover and Annabeth played a few hands of pinochle with Chiron. Soon, a steady thumping sound greeted them and Percy stumbled in, his face in shock. Harry was at his side immediately, "You okay, mate?"

Chiron looked at him expectantly, "Well?"

The son of Poseidon breathed, "She said that I would retrieve what was stolen and see it returned."

Grover beamed," That's great!"

However, Chiron was not convinced, and neither was Harry. The centaur pressed further, "What else did the Oracle say?"

"Sh-She said that we would g-go west to f-face a god who had turned,"

"And?"

He stammered again, "Th-that's about it…"

Chiron scrutinised his face again before relenting. He spoke, "Very well, then. But know this: The Oracle's words often have double meanings. Best not to dwell on them too much. The truth is often obscure until the events have come to pass."

Percy had the feeling that Chiron knew that he was hiding some things. However, he wondered what the Oracle meant when she mentioned a sacrifice to save what mattered most in the end.

He changed the subject, "So, any idea who the god in the west is?"

Chiron adopted a thoughtful expression, "I might be overthinking this, but who stands to gain if Zeus and Poseidon fight?"

Percy guessed, "Someone else who wants to take over?"

Annabeth nodded, "It would have to be someone with a grudge. A god who got the short end of the stick when the world was divided. Someone who's kingdom could grow stronger with the deaths of millions."

Percy thought about the creepy voice from underground, "Hades"

Annabeth nodded, "It's possible. I mean, Zeus and Poseidon forced him to swear an oath to never have children. Now, he will be thinking that they are hypocrites, since both of them have sired children, while he followed the oath to the letter. Obviously he will be furious."

Grover spat out a scrap of aluminium, which was whatever was left of a Dr. Pepper can. He blurted, "What! How's that possible."

Chiron calmly said, "My dear Grover, as per your report to me, a Fury came after Percy. The Furies only obey Lord Hades. Hellhounds also fall under his domain. It's quite possible that he had a spy in the camp and once your lineage was revealed, he could strike. The gods are forbidden from directly taking each other's sources of power. So he must have acted through another demigod."

Percy slammed his head on the pinochle table and moaned, "Great… That's two major gods who want to kill me."

Harry rubbed his back, "Welcome to my world. This is me in the Wizarding World."

Then Percy sat up, "So let me get this straight, I have to go to the Underworld and confront the Lord of the Dead. Find the most powerful weapon in the universe. Then return it to Olympus in 10 days' time?"

"That is correct."

His mind was made up, "I'll do it then. I'll go."

Annabeth got up as well, "I've been waiting for a quest for a long time, Seaweed Brain. I'm in. I'll admit, Athena is not the biggest fan of Poseidon, but I'll have your back."

Harry piped up, "I've got some business with Lord Hades as well, so I might as well tag along. Also, just so you now, I was in Scotland for several months, I couldn't have stolen it."

Finally, Grover raised a hand, "Count me in, Perce. You're my best friend. I'll always have your back."

Chiron clapped his hands, "Excellent! The four of you shall head out this afternoon. Argus can only take you as far as the bus terminal. After that, the four of you are on your own. Now I suggest you all go and pack."