Chapter Title: I Get Deja Vu

(A/N: This chapter contains appearances by the OCs of -JASONSGRACE (Belle) and Imaginebooks (Aruna and Aurora), goddessofwisdom- (Alex and McKaley), and Az56796743 (Adriana), so this is a shout-out here to all of them.)

The sound of the crash had Lee and many of the other campers all running down to the lake, hoping that no one had been hurt. When they all got down there, Lee sighed in frustration.

It looked like a mess. The chariot Clarisse had given the Apollo Cabin as a gift of forgiveness over their feud that had nearly led to defeat in the Battle of Manhattan earlier this year had it not been for Colton being the Monster King and having so many unexpected allies was in ruins. Butch stood in the lake, cutting the wrecked harnesses off the pegasi. Fortunately, the horses looked okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere. Kayla was helping a couple of kids onto the shore, with another one, a black haired dude, finding his way up onto the shore himself. Annabeth was helping two other kids do the same, with one of them holding one of his hands up to his nose. Then out of the water came another person, a girl, tossed up gasping and shivering onto the shore.

In moments, some of the other campers rushed past where Lee was standing, going to Annabeth, Kayla, and the newcomers and helping them out. Katie and Travis gave blankets to Annabeth and the two guys with her, as younger campers around them all asked questions, while Miranda and Belle did the same for Kayla and the two girls she helped out of the water while Connor did the same and handed a blanket out to the dude with the black hair that in Lee's opinion, looked unsettlingly familiar for some reason. He didn't know why to be honest.

Another detail of campers now ran up with big bronze leaf blower–looking things and blasted the girl that had been tossed out of the water with hot air and in about two seconds, she was now dry. That girl now looked back at the water and simply watched as the strange girls that had helped her out of the cold lake weave around just below the surface and then disappear. A second later, since Butch was now leading the pegasi out of the lake and thereby now a safe distance from the ruins, the wreckage of the chariot was tossed from the lake and landed nearby with a wet crunch.

Lee absolutely sighed in pure frustration now, harder than he had before. Will is not going to be happy about this, he thought. His younger brother, Will Solace, was the one who had loaned the chariot to Annabeth because of that vision Hera had given her. From what it looked like honestly, it seemed like deja vu all over again to him — a near repeat of Percy telling them all earlier this year that Beckendorf hadn't survived the mission he and Percy took to destroy the Princess Andromeda, where Beckendorf had sacrificed his own life to complete the mission while Percy escaped. He was alive once more now, thanks to Colton, but still.. what was going on in front of him felt way too familiar to that event in Lee's opinion.

It was then that he locked eyes with the blonde newcomer that was with Annabeth and the other guy that was drying his nose off — and also looked like he had been punched in the face and got a bloody nose as well, and Lee would swear on his life that he was staring at a statue when he looked at this guy. This guy was very tall, with sharp and regal features that made him look like he was a god in the flesh in Lee's opinion. He was also incredibly built and lean in a way that reminded Lee of how Colton, Percy, and Luke had similarly been like that. But what made Lee really question exactly who he was looking at was the scar on his lip, as well as those electric blue eyes — eyes that Lee had only seen on one other demigod that he knew.

Thalia Grace.

Lee was puzzled. There is no way that this guy is a child of Zeus, he thought to himself. But before he could move his body forward and ask that guy some questions, the sound of Will's voice had him turning around instead.

"Annabeth!" shouted Lee's younger brother, pushing his way through the crowd that had now gathered with a bow on his back. "I said that you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

Lee looked back at Annabeth, who simply sighed. "Will, I'm sorry," she said. "I'll get it fixed, I promise." Will scowled at his broken chariot, while Aruna, Victoria, Kelli, and Aurora ran past to hug and comfort Kayla, who was crying now. Lee's heart sank. If she was crying, that it only meant one thing. They didn't find them. He knew full well that since Michael hadn't been found, Jake wasn't likely going to handle this all that well. Not in the condition he was currently in.

Lee noticed Alec and McKaley now standing nearby, both of them looking on disappointed. He didn't blame them. He was too, and he was sure that the rest of camp would be too.

Will now sized up the newcomers. "These are the ones?" he asked Annabeth. "They all look way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

The Latino kid who had the bloody nose now looked up at Will. "Claimed?" he asked, confused.

Before Annabeth could explain, as it looked like she was about to do so, Will interrupted. "Any sign of Percy, Colton, Luke, or Michael?" he asked. Annabeth's face dropped in shame, and she lowered her head.. just like Percy had earlier this year. Gods, Lee hated this deja vu so damn much right now. He really did.

"No," Annabeth admitted, causing a lot of sad and disappointed muttering to occur amongst the other campers. From the expressions on the newcomers' faces, Lee could tell that even though that they mostly had no idea who any of their missing campers were — except Colton since the statue, the unsettling black haired dude, and the two girls Kayla brought out of water's eyes went wide in fear for a moment — they could understand just how much of a big deal their disappearances were here.

The sound of footsteps behind him had Lee turning around again and he groaned. Exactly the last person that could possibly show up to this had arrived. That someone was Drew Tanaka, the head counselor of Aphrodite Cabin after Silena had decided to step down from the position after the brawl Colton and Kayla had with the rogue Giants earlier this year. A tall Asian, she had her dark hair in ringlets and also wore plenty of jewelry and perfect makeup. Somehow she managed to make both jeans and an orange T-shirt look glamorous. Lee had no idea how, and he didn't want to even ask.

Drew simply glanced at the Latino who had the bloody nose, looked at the blonde Kayla had helped out of the water like she would be a good friend, fixed her eyes on Jason like he might be worthy of her attention, looked about as unsettled as Lee himself had been when she looked at the dude with the black hair, seemed to be reminded of someone else when she looked at the other girl Kayla had helped out of the water, and finally curled her lip at Piper as if she had been some trash picked out of a dumpster.

From the look on Piper's face, it seemed to Lee as if Piper had been around Drew's type before and also knew instantly then and there that they were going to be enemies.

"Well.." Drew said. "I hope they're worth the trouble."

The Latino simply snorted. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?" he asked back sarcastically.

"No kidding," the blonde statue said in agreement. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

The other newcomers looked like they had the exact same kind of questions.

"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew"—she frowned at the glamour girl—"all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

To be completely honest, the fact that the blonde statue's name was Jason made him sound all the more familiar to Lee. It reminded him of the story of Thalia that Luke had told him and some of the others one of the days that had occurred before Percy came along. He was definitely familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on it for now.

"Hey," said the girl who had been tossed out of the water, "we didn't ask to be brought here." Lee had to admit, he couldn't really argue with that. For the most part, none of them had asked to be brought to Camp Half Blood in the first place when they first came here. Fate simply had other ideas.

Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

The girl Drew was talking to now stepped forward, her hand now raised and ready to smack her, but then Annabeth said, "Piper, stop." So this girl's name with Piper then, Lee thought to himself.

"Yeah.. Piper.." said the blonde that Kayla had helped out of the water alongside the other girl who simply nodded along. "..she isn't worth your time. You're better than her."

So Piper did stop. She didn't seem to be scared of Drew though, from what Lee could see that is.

"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Fine by me.." said the black haired dude. "I'd at least would like to know where we are honestly."

"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked. She definitely seemed very confused.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away from the Latino, as a blazing holographic image — a fiery hammer, the sign of Hephaestus, now fluttered over the Latino's head. Lee cursed under his breath — he definitely felt bad for this kid. Sure, Beckendorf wouldn't mind having a new sibling, neither did Jake or the others mind, but Cabin 9 wasn't exactly all rainbows at the moment.

"That," Annabeth said, "is claiming."

"What'd I do?" asked the Latino, backing up towards the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving as he did so which made his actions look like as if he was trying to write something in flames with his head.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse—"

"Butch, shut up," Annabeth said. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"

"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"

All eyes turned to him. The fuck was up with this guy?

"Jason," Annabeth said carefully, "how did you know that?"

"I'm not sure, and I'm not sure how Bryce, Alyssa, or Clara know either.." Jason replied, and Lee glanced to the other three kids whose names he had yet to know. Sure enough, all three were looking at Hephaestus' symbol as if they recognized it.

"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"

"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."

The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. "The god of what? Who?"

"Blacksmiths, Leo.." Bryce called out from the lake. "Then again.. you looking like a dumbass right now serves you right for asking Kayla out on the chariot when she already has a boyfriend."

A lot of gasps and shocked murmurs arose from the crowd, and Lee honestly now felt like he wanted to bury Leo alive. He was very angry.

"Lee.. chill.." he heard a voice from behind him. He turned, and there next to him now, was none other than Clarisse La Rue, Colton's older sister and head counselor of the Ares Cabin. "I say.. we let Colton find out.. and have him deal with Leo himself.. fair?"

Lee wanted to argue, but couldn't. When it came to Clarisse, she knew Colton like the back of her hand. So he could do nothing but reluctantly nod.

Turning back around, calmer now, Lee noticed that Annabeth had now turned to Travis, as Will was still glaring holes into Leo right now. "Travis, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in Cabin Nine" she asked him. Travis simply beamed.

"Sure.. at your service, Annabeth.." he said, grabbing Leo's hand. "Come on Katie."

"Right behind you Stoll.." Katie giggled as they walked off.

"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

"Come on, Mr. Spock, we'll explain everything.." Katie joked, putting a hand on Leo's shoulder and both her and Travis steered him off toward the cabins.

With that done, Annabeth now turned back to Jason as Bryce stepped closer to him. Annabeth simply studied both of them — plus the two girls other than Piper when they walked up — more like as if they all were complicated blueprints. Finally she said, "Hold out your arms."

Lee was stunned with what he saw. On the inside of their right forearms was a tattoo, unlike any he had ever seen before in his life. The tattoo itself was darkly etched, impossible to miss: a varying number of straight lines for each tattoo like a bar code, and over that an eagle with the letters "spqr".

"I've never seen marks like this before," Annabeth said. "Where did you all get them?"

"Lady.." Bryce said, before Jason could open his mouth. "We told you all before, we have no clue."

The other campers pushed forward, trying to get a look at the tattoos. From what Lee could see, it seemed that the marks seemed to bother them a lot—almost like a declaration of war.

"They look burned into your skin," Annabeth noticed.

"They were," Jason said. Then he winced as if his head was aching. "I mean ... I think so. I don't remember."

"Neither do any of the rest of us.." added the blonde with Jason, Bryce, and the other girl.

"Yeah.. like I know Alyssa is a fashion girl and all, but when she says she don't know.. she don't know.." said the other girl. "I'm Clara, by the way."

No one said anything. They — Lee and the others at camp — simply just waited for Annabeth's verdict.

"They need to go straight to Chiron," Annabeth decided. "Drew, would you—"

"Absolutely." Drew laced her arm through Jason's, and Lee gagged. He didn't miss the look of jealousy on Piper's face or Bryce's annoyed look at Drew though. "This way, sweetie. I'll introduce you to our director. He's ... an interesting guy" Drew said, flashing a smug look at Piper as she led Jason toward the big blue house on the hill. As she walked off with Jason, the other three just like him now started jogging to catch up with them.

The crowd began to disperse, until only Annabeth and Piper were left. Kayla had walked off with Belle, Kelli, Aruna, and Aurora by now - calmed down a good bit now. Lee, however likewise stayed behind, still interested in the conversation.

"Who's Chiron?" Piper asked. "Is Jason in some kind of trouble?"

Annabeth hesitated. "Good question, Piper. Come on, I'll give you a tour. We need to talk, and now."

With that, Lee left.. not content at all to even stick around the lake for much longer.