Over the next couple of days, Harry, Katie and Annabeth stood vigil by the unconscious Percy Jackson's bed. Even Grover stopped by from time to time, as he continued his own recovery. Fortunately, Percy seemed to be improving, as he kept drifting in and out of consciousness. At one point, Percy was awake when Annabeth began grilling him about the summer solstice.

Harry had to haul her out of the Big House and gave her a ticking off. He snapped, "Ease up on the bloke! It sounds like Jackson doesn't have a clue of what we're talking about. You didn't see him out there against the Minotaur. He barely knew anything about being a demigod. What makes you think that he'll know about what happened in the Solstice."

She had the decency to blush and he walked back in, just in time to stop Percy from dropping his glass of nectar. Harry chuckled, "Whoa! Easy there, mate. That stuff isn't cheap."

Percy slurred and began to get up from his bed, "W-What's going on? Where am I? This isn't our cabin in Montauk? Where's Grover? Where's my mom? What about your cousin and that other girl?"

Harry gently pushed him back down, "Whoa! One at a time! Katie's alright, she's a tough girl. Mackenzie's a little shaken, but she's okay. I think Grover's on his way here to the Big House."

Right on cue, Grover burst in bleating frantically, "Percy! Oh thank the gods that you're okay! I-I owe you a lot. Y-You saved my life!"

Then he offered a seemingly ordinary shoebox to the prone boy. Grover stammered, "Harry and I went back to the hill and managed to recover this. It's the least that we could do. Sure, he helped with the kill, but you delivered the final blow."

Harry piped up, "In short, this is yours by right of conquest. Go on, mate… take it, it's yours."

Percy's reluctant hand reached in and pulled out a white horn with a black tip. He blurted, "Is this the Minotaur's horn?!"

Harry grinned, "You bet your arse it is, Jackson. You have questions, I'm assuming? Are you up for a short walk to the patio? Come on… Chiron and Mr. D are waiting. Even Katie and Mackenzie are there. I promised my cousin that I would explain everything and I didn't want to repeat myself."

Harry and Grover looped Percy's arm around their shoulders and helped him out of the room. Along the way, Grover mournfully bleated, "I'm the worst satyr in the world! I promised to protect Sally, and I failed."

Harry snapped, "Quit beating yourself up, Grover! It wasn't your fault. We tried our best, but that damn beast was too strong."

Percy interjected, "He's right, Grover. Did Mom ask you to protect me?"

The distraught satyr moaned, "No, it's literally my job to protect people like you."

He was puzzled, "What do you mean, people like me?"

Harry interrupted this time, "Look Jackson, I promised I'd explain everything, we're almost there. Just be patient for five minutes."

Then, they finally stepped out of the house and Percy uttered an audible gasp. Spread out in front of him was a scene out of an architect's wildest fantasy. The landscape was dotted with various Greek-styled buildings. There was also an open-air pavilion, an amphitheatre and a circular arena. Somewhere nearby, a group of satyrs and children in orange T-shirts were playing volleyball.

Then, Harry led them to a porch, where Annabeth, Chiron and Mr. D were waiting. Katie and Mackenzie were also with them. Harry positioned himself between Katie and Mackenzie and the others got settled as well. Mr. D drawled, "Well I suppose I have to say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now don't expect me to be glad to see you."

Katie murmured, "Wow, he makes Snape sound polite."

Harry had to suppress a snort, "How do you think I was able to handle Snape in Potions class. He's got nothing on Mr. D."

Then he got serious, "Hey Jackson, do you believe in gods? What about you Mackenzie?"

They both nodded, "Well, the short version is that the Greek gods are real and often roam among us. Sometimes they fall in love with mortals and have children. Those kids are known as demigods, Annabeth and I are demigods, as are you, Jackson."

Percy looked at him weirdly, "Dude… what's with the last name? My name's Percy."

Katie piped up, "Harry and I know another Percy. It's easier for us."

He shrugged, "Fair enough. Wait, what about Katie and Mackenzie? Are they also demigods?"

Harry replied, "Technically no. However, Katie is a Hunter of Artemis. The Hunters are maidens who are the companions of the goddess Artemis. Mackenzie isn't a demigod, but she is a witch. Katie is also a witch, and I'm a wizard. Mackenzie is here because I was going to offer her asylum. Her parents abhor magic and treated her badly. Since I'm her cousin, she'll be staying with me for most of the time."

"Right… Hey Mr. Brunner? Do you work here?"

Chiron chuckled, "Actually, Mr. Brunner is a pseudonym that I use when in the mortal world. My name is Chiron, and I must say, I am pleased that you reached here safe and sound. I do not normally handle demigod affairs personally, but Grover sensed some great potential in you. I'm surprised that you're taking this very well."

Percy groaned, "Oh believe me, I'm actually going to have a private freak out afterwards."

Mackenzie visibly flinched when he said the word 'freak'. Harry noticed and bent down, "What's the matter, 'Kenzie?"

She murmured, "Mummy and daddy u-used to c-call me freak b-because of my magic."

He hugged her, "Don't listen to them, love. You're not a freak. You just have magic, and they clearly hate it. I have magic too, and so does my friend Katie."

Mr. D coughed, "Anyway… Grover Underwood, come with me. We must discuss your less-than-perfect performance in this assignment."

Grover gulped and trotted after him nervously. Chiron turned to Harry, "Mr. Potter… I trust you know where to put Mr. Jackson and Ms Dursley? Ms Bell will be in Cabin Eight with you."

Harry saluted, "Yes sir! Come on Jackson, let's get you settled in."

As they walked, Percy asked, "So, you're both a demigod and a wizard? How does that work?"

"Well, both of my parents were witch and wizard. Sometime before I was born, the wizarding world was caught up in a civil war. They were fighting against a wizarding dark lord. My parents were among the good guys, during one skirmish my mum was hit with a spell, rendering her barren. So they looked for a fertility ritual. One of their friends found something but he mistook a summoning ritual for a fertility one. When mum and dad performed the ritual, the closest deity answered. In this case, it was Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt. She helped out with a ritual, but the caveat was that she was also counted as my mother. One of the Hunters told me that my birth was a technicality and does not go against her oath,"

"That's cool, man."

Soon, a pretty girl with long dark hair came running over to them. She came up to Harry and beamed at him, "There you are Harry! Firstly, Beckendorf wants to talk to you. Also, I just wanted to let you know that you've officially earned life-time entry privileges in our cabin!"

Harry laughed, "life-time entry privileges? Any reason why, Silena?"

"You just fulfilled the dreams of every little girl with your new equestrian addition. Also, Beckendorf didn't tell me anything, he said that you have to meet him at the forge."

He was surprised, "They made it back to camp? That took longer than I thought."

"They came over last week. They're very picky about their riders, though. In fact, they only let girls ride. However, one of them refuses to let anyone ride her."

Percy made a timeout gesture, "Hold up, what are you guys talking about?"

Silena noticed Percy for the first time, "Hi, I'm Silena Beauregard, Daughter of Aphrodite. Harry rescued a herd of unicorns from some dark wizard. Half of the herd are with the Hunters, and the rest are here. All of my half-sisters have been dreaming of unicorns since they were little, and the herd had made their wishes come true."

Percy whistled appreciatively, "Damn, dude! Major props to you."

Harry chuckled, "Thanks bruv. Right… I'll go see what Beckendorf wants. Katie, why don't you come with me. I'll ask him to craft some weapons for you, so you don't have to keep borrowing mine. Jackson, feel free to explore a bit, but report to Luke in Cabin Eleven. Take care of Mackenzie and tell Luke that she is a guest. Also, ask him to tell the Stoll brothers that she is off limits for their pranks. Also, from what we've heard about unicorns, they prefer a woman's touch, but the younger ones don't mind males."

"You got it, man. Come on, Mackenzie."

She shyly followed him away, while the two Hogwarts students went in a different direction and Silena ran off elsewhere. Eventually, Harry reached the forges and met with a huge beefy camper who would not have looked out of place in an NFL squad. He grinned and waved at Harry, "Hey Harry! Come on! I've got a surprise for you. It just needs a few finishing touches. Can I borrow your wand for a sec?"

Harry shrugged and handed it over to the son of Hephaestus. Beckendorf took out a length of measuring tape and wrapped it around the wand. Then, he turned around and tinkered with something before handing it to Harry. He proudly said, "Worked on this baby with a little bit of help with Lou Ellen. As you can see, it's a wand holster, but she added a charm that will transform it into a shield. The charm is voice activated and will just be keyed to your voice and a specific keyword. According to her, the spell is called, 'Mutatio'."

Harry high-fived him, "Thanks bruv, I owe you one."

"Think nothing of it, Harry. Wait, let me craft a few weapons for your friend here."

Back with Percy and Mackenzie, Grover was back from his discussion with Mr. D, and was giving them a tour. Mackenzie raised a hand, "Hey uhm… Grover? I couldn't help noticing, why are three cabins empty?"

He smiled down at her, "Well… campers are decided according to who their godly parent is. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades made a pact to not have any children. It's a long story, though Lord Hades doesn't have a cabin here."

"Why not?"

Grover stammered, "Well uhm… he usually sort of does his own thing in the Underworld, and doesn't really have a throne on Olympus."

Percy interjected, "That's a little messed up. I mean, he is their brother, right? What about the other one?"

"There's Hera's Cabin, which is an honorary one. She's not really the type to sire children with mortals. She's the Goddess of marriage, so it kind of goes against her principles to have affairs with mortals outside her marriage to Lord Zeus. Admittedly, Artemis' Cabin used to be empty, but like Harry said, he was an exception to her oath."

Percy spoke up again, "So what was this about a pact between Zeus, Poseidon and Hades?"

Grover gulped, "W-well, nearly 50 years ago, after the Second World War, they vowed not to have children. This was because their kids were getting way too powerful and often affected the course of mortal history. WWII was basically a fight between the children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, the children of Hades on the other side. Because of the devastation and the losses on both sides, the three eldest gods took the vow. Ahh… here we are at Cabin 11! We'll talk later Perce."

Grover peeped inside, "Hey guys! You have company!"

A voice called back, "Regular or undetermined?"

"One undetermined, the other is a guest."

"A guest… That's new."

"One of them is Harry's cousin, where's Luke?"

"I'm here, Grover!"

A tall muscular guy with sandy blonde hair and a friendly smile came over. He looked like he'd pass off as a fairly handsome guy in a roguish way, but a thick white scar from his right eye to his jaw, ruined the image. He stuck out a hand, "Hi, I'm Luke. I'll be your cabin counsellor until you are determined."

"Hey dude, I'm Percy and this is Mackenzie, she's Harry's cousin. I actually have a message from Harry. He wanted me to tell you to tell the Stoll brothers that she's off limits for their pranks."

"Got it buddy" Luke shivered slightly, "Harry's pretty scary when he's mad. I remember when they pranked a kid from the Apollo Cabin. She was a newcomer and they shut her in a closet as a prank. They didn't realise that she was claustrophobic and had a huge meltdown. Harry was furious and pranked them back viciously. Honestly, sometimes he makes me forget that he was the son of a prankster, and two of his uncles were pranksters as well. Don't worry, I'll let the Stolls know. I doubt they'd want to feel his wrath."

Percy led Luke away from Mackenzie, "From what Harry mentioned, Mackenzie was abused by her parents. So she might still be a little traumatised."

"Got it. Anyway, this is where you will be sleeping. You'll be here until your godly parent claims you. It's kind of our duty to take in visitors and unclaimed demigods because Hermes is the God of travellers."

A few days passed and Percy soon managed to fall into a steady routine. He tried to learn archery, but sucked at it. Harry still wondered how he managed to shoot an arrow into Chiron's tail when he was right next to him. So, after that happy accident, Harry asked Katie to teach him, as she was getting pretty good at archery. Meanwhile, he taught Percy the art of fighting with daggers.

Later on, Harry and Percy sparred with Luke, as the former was hoping to improve his swordplay. He and Annabeth also fielded questions from Percy about life as a demigod child. The boy asked him what made everyone so sure that he was a demigod.

Harry replied, "Firstly, you survived the Minotaur and even helped kill it. Second is the stuff we've been feeding you to help you heal. That's called Ambrosia, and the drink is nectar. Regular mortals cannot consume them or else their bodies will burn up. Admittedly, demigods can't have too much ambrosia, or their bodies will burn up as well. Being who we are, our tolerance is higher, but it could still kill us."

Their conversation was interrupted by a raspy voice hollering, "Potter! Blondie! Newbie!"

Clarisse and a few of her siblings were sauntering up. Annabeth sighed, "What do you want Clarisse? Don't you have better things to do, like polishing your spear?"

She sneered, "I'll get to it in sometime, so that I can run you through it."

Her face morphed into a more serious one, "Also Potter, Chiron has asked me to train you to use spears and javelins. Luke will continue training you in swordplay. Chiron wanted you to be more well-rounded in your battle style. Also, I'm looking forward to maiming you lot on Friday"

Percy asked, "Who's Ms Sunshine and Daisies?"

Annabeth scowled, "Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

Clarisse fixed Percy with a look, "You got a problem with that, punk?"

Before anyone could stop him, Percy blurted, "Nah, it just explains the bad smell."

Harry pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Suddenly she grabbed Percy by his collar and dragged him off to the toilets, "Come on Prissy, we got an initiation ceremony for newbies."

Annabeth made to grab him, but Harry held her back. She whirled around and snapped, "What are you doing! She'll make his life miserable!"

Harry was unfazed, "Let's wait and see. I doubt Jackson wants us to fight his battles for him. We'll hang back for now, but if she goes too far, we'll step in."

They followed the group and watched as Clarisse taunted Percy. She attempted to give him a swirlie and claimed that the Minotaur probably died laughing after looking at his pathetic face. To his credit, the boy was kicking and punching as much as he could.

Then it happened... Inexplicably the plumbing in the toilet exploded. The toilet water lurched and blasted Clarisse and her siblings in the face. Oddly enough, all the other toilets, showers and sinks blasted them with water. The water eventually shoved the Ares campers out, drenching everyone, including Harry and Annabeth. Percy was the only one who was as dry as a bone.

Harry blurted, "Bloody hell, mate! Are you sure you're not a wizard?"

Percy looked lost, "Not that I'm aware of, dude."

Outside, Clarisse shot Percy a look of pure loathing. She swore, "You're dead newbie, you are totally dead by the time I'm through with you."

Unfortunately, Percy chose that exact moment to be petty, "I'd suggest you close your mouth, unless you want to gargle toilet water again."

Enraged, she flew at him, intending to pummel him into the ground. Fortunately, her siblings saved Percy from her wrath and dragged her away. Annabeth grinned, "Percy, you're going to be a big help in Capture the Flag."

Harry also clapped him on the back, "Congratulations mate, you just found yourself your very own Malfoy!"

He was confused, "Who's Malfoy?"

"Thinks that he is bane of my existence, but the reality is that he's just an annoying prat who runs to his father to fight all of his battles for him. Nine times out of 10, the first thing he says is, 'My father will hear of this!'. Although, he did manage to get three of my friends in detention. Though if we're being honest, Clarisse is a lot tougher and can fight her own battles. As the daughter of Ares, fighting is in her blood. Yeah I know that she can be a bit of a bully, but if you can give as well as you can take, she'll respect you."

Percy didn't know what to say, "Right…"

Soon, word spread of the confrontation, like wildfire. With that, the boy earned a lot of respect from campers who were often bullied by Clarisse. A few days later, Katie decided to part ways with Harry and re-join the rest of the Hunters. As she hugged him and Mackenzie, she promised to keep in touch and would meet them at Diagon Alley before the school year began.

On Thursday evening, a day before Capture The Flag, Percy and Harry were sparring, while Annabeth was supervising. Suddenly, the demigod asked, "So, when do you think my dad will claim me?"

Harry charged and clashed swords with him, "No clue, mate. There are lots of demigods who often go unclaimed for a long time. It may happen soon, or after a long time. Sometimes the gods can be very busy, so it takes a while. For them to notice their kids and claim them."

Percy drew back and prepared to charge again, "Again… That's messed up. They're definitely not winning Parent-of-the-Year. Also, are you sure we're safe here? I mean, if the Minotaur exists, there will definitely be other monsters, right?"

Annabeth answered him this time, "Normally, the Camp wards will keep them out. So this is pretty much a safe haven. Also, the ability to attract monsters depends on how powerful the demigod or their parents are. For a a child of Demeter or Aphrodite, they will largely ignore them. In Harry's and my case, we are a medium threat, since children of Athena, and Harry himself is pretty powerful. Admittedly, sometimes Chiron can intentionally stock a few monsters in the forest for practice fights, but that's it."

Eventually, the two boys stopped sparring and walked around with Annabeth. Percy queried, "You've been here for long?"

She fingered her camp necklace, "I'm one of the year-rounders. I've been here since I was seven. Two weeks after I came, Lady Artemis and her Hunters dropped off Harry when he was six."

"Hey Harry, you've been with the Hunters, right? What about your mortal parents."

Harry scowled, "Some wannabe wizard dark lord murdered them when I was a one-year-old baby. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go meet Luke to improve my swordsmanship."

He walked away and Annabeth whacked Percy on the back of his head. She snapped, "That was extremely rude, you idiot!"

Percy paled, "Right… I'll go apologize."

She grabbed his arm, "Not now, let him calm down a little. If you went now, you'll only make things worse."

He changed the subject, "When you were feeding me that ambrosia, you mentioned something about a summer solstice."

Annabeth appreciated the shift, "You know something about it?"

He shrugged, "Not a thing, though I happened to overhear Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned a deadline, what's that all about?"

She led him away to a fairly private area and looked around for eavesdroppers. Deciding not to reveal everything just yet, Annabeth explained, "Something got stolen. Something belonging to one of the gods. They've been pretty up in arms about the whole thing. The last time we went to Olympus, things were just so… normal. There was myself, Luke, Clarisse, Harry and a few others, who attended the Winter Solstice. Sometime after the visit, the weather started acting funny. It even spread as far as Scotland, because Harry got in touch with me to report it. According to some satyrs, if whatever was stolen wasn't returned by the Summer. Solstice, the consequences were dire. I was hoping that maybe I could get a quest so that I could find what was stolen and bring it back. Maybe…", she trailed off.

On that happy note, she and Percy split up and went to their respective cabins.