already the third chapter I hope you enjoy already the beginning of Kassandra's adventure my , for the first time, she fights alone to save her life and the lives of others, like the heroine she is.

Confession time: me and Percy left Grover as soon as we arrived at the bus terminal. Very rude and disrespectful. But he made me anxious, looking at me as if I were in a terminal phase and muttering "why does this always happen."

Percy and I noticed that when he was nervous, Grover's bladder exploded, so as soon as we got off, he made us promise to wait for him. We snuck off the bus. Percy took his cab to Sally Jackson's house (aka the coolest mom in the universe) and my driver arrived in my BMW M5 (yes, mine was just a birthday present).

Marcus a man in his forties in a black suit got out of the car, and took my suitcase.

"What a pleasure to see you again Miss Knight" he greeted me with a big smile.

I rolled my eyes," Marcus, we've known each other since, like, birth. You can call me Kassi."

"Bad habit but you know me miss."

He opened the door for me and we got into the car. We drove for a good three hours until we arrived at my usual place, a rather isolated seaside house in Montauk.

Compared to our other mansion, it was quite a chic house, originally a vacation home built here at my father's request, a little before I was born, he said, as I recall, that it was the closest place to safety. It was built on two floors and contained 5 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom, a large dining room and a veranda overlooking the beach.

One of the house's guards opened the door.

"Welcome, kassi," it was Aunt Carmen.

In truth she wasn't really my aunt; she was a lady of Dominican origin who worked for my uncle. She was my surrogate mother, to tell you the truth.

I gave her a quick hug. "It's good to be back, Auntie."

"Come on inside," she said with a warm smile. "I had your favorite dinner prepared, pasta carbonara just the way you like it."

"It looks delicious. But, uh, is Uncle Jonathan home yet?" her warm smile turned a little sad.

"He's still at the office, darling. He said he might not be home until very late."

"Oh. I'll just eat later, then. I'll be in my room if you need me.

My uncle always does his best to spend time with me and raise me himself, but he's usually never home, always stuck at work or on a business trip. I guess that's also why I've gotten into as much trouble as possible in the past. He spends a lot more time with me afterwards.

Now that I think about it, I feel a little guilty for all the trouble I've gotten into in the past. I mean, some of them are all accidents, but some of them are also on purpose, but I can't believe I've given my uncle so much stress. After all, Uncle Johnny was only so busy because of me. My father founded "KNIGHT INDUSTRIES" which means that as his daughter, I'm the heir to all his businesses. But as I'm only eleven, my uncle takes care of the business, being my legal guardian and all, until I graduate from university and am old enough to take over. Big pressure.

I went into my room, which hadn't changed since Christmas: the same bookcase filled with books and scented candles. A large bed with a white and gold bedside table beside it, with a photo on it.

It was my father and me, three years old, my father, Andrew Knight, to describe him to you, was a tall, muscular Afro-American man, his hair curly, and when you saw him and me together you could clearly see a resemblance, the same full lips, a resemblance in the face, but that's where it ended, I was much lighter than him, and while he had strangely enough inherited completely brown, almost black eyes, mine were brown.

Dad had told me that his eyes came from my mother and that made me even more beautiful. At the time it made me even happier, but now how can you be happy looking like someone you've never seen before in your life?

I lay down on my bed and turned on my bedside lamp and saw a little piece of paper under the lamp, on it it said 'PREPARE YOURSELF' in big letters if I understood correctly, with dyslexia you know.

"Aunt Carmen!"

She rushed into the room as if worried, "what's the matter darling? Is something wrong? "

I showed her the little paper.

Aunt Carmen looked relieved, she smiled at me, "Kassandra rest, you and your uncle are leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow."

"But why?"

And I remembered it was the beginning of summer and it was also the anniversary of both the death of my father.

"Ah," was the only thing I could answer.

"Get some rest and call me when you want to eat or if you want anything else."

She kissed me on the forehead and left the room. I did what I could while waiting for my uncle, lay down and watched TV.

A few hours later I saw headlights outside my uncle's car arriving, I went down to greet him he looked tired but when he saw me his face beamed with joy.

"Kassi!" he greeted me.

My uncle was a tall black man much darker than me or even my father, quite thin he had glasses that mostly went down to his nose a beginning of graying beard and a hairless skull.

I went up to him and hugged him with all my might.

"I finished much earlier," he said, hugging me even tighter.

"Great." I said enthusiastically.

"Have you had dinner?" asked Uncle John.

"No, I waited for you. I wanted us to eat together.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go to the dining room. So we went to dinner.

"So, was your year at Yancy instructive Kassandra?" he asked.

"Not so much, the classes were interesting but nothing more."

Usually when I said that, Uncle Jonathan always made some remark about my grades being excellent or something, but here he was staring at the door as if expecting an enemy to burst in here with an assault rifle.

He reconnected his gaze with mine and asked:

"And little Percy, how is he?"

To this question I smiled, "Well, little Percy has grown up and is doing very well."

"I'm glad to hear it," he smiled back, then gave me a quizzical look and said, "Didn't anything happen between you two this year?"

When he said that, I almost jumped out of my chair, but... I didn't let on and said:

"haha, good joke uncle but what are you going to imagine?" I told him as I swallowed another mouthful of dinner.

"Ho, I don't know the fact that you've known him for a long time or that you kissed him as a child is making me ramble." he laughed.

He was laughing at me now, how dare my uncle.

"Oh no, I didn't kiss Percy when I was little, just a simple smooch on the cheek, nothing more!"

"Didn't you used to call him your hero too? " he said, pretending to think. "Your knight in shining armor you said."

He put a lot of emphasis on the knight in shining armor especially as he imitated a little girl's voice if it had been anyone else I'd probably have laughed but here it was me. I was about to answer when the doorbell rang. At that moment, my uncle's happy face suddenly went into worry mode.

Aunt Carmen went to open the door, then a few moments later she emerged at the top of the stairs with a small man, maybe about five feet tall, he looked like a sports coach, my coach, that was Coach Hedge, He worked at the school where I'd been enrolled before going to Yancy, as usual wearing a baseball cap, a bright orange polo shirt, nylon training pants, white Nike shoes and a whistle around his neck. The real question was, why was he here?

"Jonathan?" said Aunt Carmen. "This... man would like to talk to you."

Uncle Jonathan wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up.

"All right, then. Why don't we step out onto the veranda, then?"

"Sure." said the strange man. They both stepped out onto the veranda.

I spotted Uncle Jonathan and Coach Hegde arguing on the porch. My uncle looked angry, so I guess whatever they were talking about is pretty serious. Then, suddenly, high winds blew into the dining room through the open door and windows, sweeping away towels and knocking utensils to the floor, it looked like a hurricane was about to descend on us.

A bolt of lightning appeared, and immediately my uncle and the coach went inside, my uncle sweating like he was stressed to the power of a thousand.

"Carmen!" he called.

She arrived faster than she'd ever done without saying a word.

"Get the car ready, we're leaving immediately. "

She nodded and left.

"I thought we were leaving for L.A. tomorrow," I asked.

"Change of plan sweetie, we're not going to L.A. anymore, get ready."

I wanted to ask where we were going, but by the look on her face I could tell this wasn't the time to argue.

I hurried to my room to get dressed. Uncle John went into my room and said. "Kassi, it's time to go."

"Can you tell me what's going on first?" I said.

"I'll tell you what's going on, cupcake," the coach said.

"I got a message from your second-in-command protector earlier today..."

"Protector?" I asked. Then I remembered what Grover had said to me and Percy when we were on the bus to Manhattan.

"You don't mean Grover, do you? "

"That's him, all right. Called right after you disappeared at the bus station. Said you needed to be brought to camp ASAP, along with that other friend of yours. This would have been a done deal a good year ago as soon as I met you, but your fool of an uncle preferred to come between me and my mission."

At that moment he shot a look of pure anger at my uncle. I looked at him as incredulously.

"Kassandra I wanted to keep you close to me, as long as possible sorry," he said this to me but didn't even dare look me in the eye, he...was ashamed.

"Never mind then now, I'm here to take you to camp. Preferably alive and with all your limbs." I was beginning to think I might be dreaming all this.

"What are you talking about? What camp? And who are you?"

My uncle got down to my level," you're going to a summer camp where you'll be really safe."

Outside, the sky rumbled again. "Hurricane." I heard Coach Hedge mutter.

I knew it was crazy. Long Island never gets hurricanes this early in the summer. But the ocean seemed to have forgotten about it. Outside, it was really storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and knocks down houses. Over the roar of the wind, I heard a distant growl, an angry, tortured sound that made my hair stand on end.

"They found you," said Coach Hedge.

"Who found me? "

"Kassandra, we'll explain everything later, but right now we have to leave. You're not safe here anymore."

The three of us climbed into my BMW, with my uncle at the wheel and Coach Hedge in the passenger seat. We drove through the night on dark country roads. The wind slammed against the Audi. Rain lashed the windshield. I didn't know how my uncle could see anything, but he kept his foot on the gas pedal. Every time there was a flash of lightning, my heart doubled in tempo.

I had a feeling that all the lightning was following me, hoping to touch me at least once. The strange growl rose again from somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.

"The monsters are following us again," said the coach.

"Monsters?!" I shouted.

"Kassandra," said my uncle, "there's far too much to explain to you but we don't have time to explain it all to you we need to get you to safety first."

"Against who, AGAINST WHAT!"

"Oh nothing," said the coach. "The king of the gods, the lord of the dead and a good ton of monsters."

"The king of the gods? Lord of the dead? Monsters? I said. "Do you think I'm stupid? Gods don't exist. They're myths. Invented beings that were just used to explain things during ancient times, before there was science."

"Trust me, little one. They're not myths."

My uncle turned left. We swerved onto a narrower road, past dark farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.

"Does this have anything to do with those creepy old ladies I saw earlier today? "

"Those weren't old ladies," said Coach Hedge.

"They were the Fates. Do you know what that means - the fact that they appeared in front of you? They only do that when someone is about to die." I swallowed.

. "Wait, you mean... I'm going to... die, aren't I?"

"I'm not really sure, kid."

"Uncle, can't we please go home, ?" I pleaded. "I'm starting to get scared."

"We can't, Kassi," he said. "We have to take you to the camp."

Outside, nothing but rain and darkness-the kind of empty countryside you find at the tip of Long Island. I thought of Mrs. Dodds and when she'd turned into that thing with the sharp teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd wanted to kill me and Percy.

The hair stood up on the back of my neck. Then there was a blinding flash, a breathtaking boom right in front of us. Lightning. It was the only explanation. The explosion had narrowly missed the car. Uncle Johnny had managed to stop the car just in time. Uncle Johnny resumed driving. We were speeding along and the car didn't stop until we reached the base of one of the hills that had a huge pine tree the size of a Christmas tree.

"Hurry up Kassi ." said Uncle Jonathan. "Out of the car, now."

The three of us went outside. Uncle Johnathan took my suitcase out of the trunk and handed it to Coach Hedge.

"Take care of her, okay? " Uncle John said to Coach.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets to camp in one piece." Hedge promised.

He turned to me. "Here," he told me. He pulled something out of a small package, baking the... my father's gold ring in a leather collar I hadn't seen in years.

It's an object of great power," he said, "so don't use it until you've mastered all its tricks.

I took the ring between my fingers and said:

"But it's just a ring."

He smiled at me, then wrapped me in an overwhelming embrace. "I love you." he said. "Remember that. Now go."

I really didn't want to leave him, he seemed so sad that I was leaving.

"But-" Coach Hedge grabbed my arm. "Come on, little one. No time for chitchat."

He pulled me up and I caught one last glimpse of my uncle getting into the car. The coach and I walked painfully. After what seemed like an eternity, the pine was only a few meters away, but the hill was getting steeper and slippery. Then suddenly a tree crashed in front of us.

A wild voice shouted behind us, "Sang-mêlé!"

"He's found us," declared the coach.

Coach hedge dropped my suitcase, took off his shoes and pants and his cap, which had curly hair and little bumps like cartoon characters underneath it.

"Go ahead, kid, I'll protect you", he declared.

I was so shocked that I said:

"You've got donkey legs!"

The trainer let out an obviously irritated "Bee-e!". "Goat!" he yelled at me.

"What?"

"I should trample you for such an insult, I'm half goat," he said "but never mind you have to leave."

I turned around and a flash of lightning illuminated the figure, a giant man, it looked like he'd spent a good hundred years on the street, he had a smile made up of chunks of tooth the nightmare of dentists and above all he had only one eye.

I recognized the creature immediately. It was one of the first creatures I'd come across in the Greek stories my father had told me.

"It's a Cycl..."

"Don't say his name, names have power little one! "

The pine was still far too far away at least a hundred meters uphill. I glanced behind me again. The monster was still heading our way, his eyes completely drawn to me. Like the way a lion would look at an antelope, which, now that I think about it, is kind of what's happening right now.

Cyclops was the predator and I was his prey. I forced myself to look away and keep running. Another bellow of rage, and the one-eyed man began to scramble upwards. The pine tree was only a few meters away, but the hill was getting steeper and more slippery. The Cyclops closed in.

Coach Hedge cursed in Greek again, then raised his baseball bat. I glanced behind us and saw the monster closing in on us now.

"Climb up, cupcake, and run straight for the big farm," he instructed.

"Don't stop until you reach the gate."

"What about you?" I asked. Coach Hedge smiled at me.

"Don't worry about me, kid, I've faced tougher beasts than this. I'll be fine."

"But-"

"I'll wait, while you go get help. Now go!" said the trainer, seeming to prepare for a one-on-one with the Cyclops.

"This is going to be ugly." he muttered to himself. Honestly, I couldn't see how a satyr could hold off a Cyclops, but I decided there was no point in arguing and that my life was important to me, so I did as he said.

I started running. We had reached the crest of the hill. On the other side, I could see a valley and the lights of a farmhouse glowing yellow in the rain. I sprinted as fast as I could, but I didn't get very far. Because after I'd taken about six or seven steps, a car door flew at me from my left. I fell to the ground and the door flew past me. It crashed into a tree. I looked at the car door in shock, but mostly because it looked vaguely familiar.

"You're not going away that easily, little half-blood," said another savage voice, coming from the direction the door had come from.

I glanced in that direction and saw a second Cyclops heading my way. It looked a lot like the first one, although it seemed to be a little smaller and was dragging what looked like a big bag behind it. Behind me, I could hear Coach Hedge attacking the first Cyclops.

"What do you want from me?" I croaked as I slowly backed away from the monster.

"Return what you stole!" said the Cyclops. "Or you and your uncle will have it."

The monster lifted the huge bag he was dragging and threw it inches away from me, but I was wrong, it wasn't a bag. It was my uncle. He was half-conscious and had a huge mark just above his left eyebrow. I sobbed. That's why the car door looked vaguely familiar-it was the door to my Audi. I was about to run to my uncle's side, when the monster grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up. My uncle grabbed the monster's hand in an attempt to loosen his grip. I could barely make out Uncle Johnny moaning in pain and gasping for breath

"Stop!" I cried. Then I heard Coach Hedge let out a war cry from the other side of the fallen tree. Seconds later, I heard the first Cyclops bellow in rage and then nothing. The monster headed for me. I was surrounded. I stepped back, trying to get away from the monsters, but then my back pressed against another tree, preventing me from going any further. Lightning flashed again, this time striking a tree to my right, immediately setting it on fire. If I stayed here the fire would spread to me.

"Give it back, half-blood!" bellowed the first Cyclops. I swallowed my fear.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about!" In response, the second Cyclops tightened his grip on my uncle's neck, making him moan louder in pain. From somewhere in the valley, I heard footsteps heading our way, as well as the sound of clanging metal. My uncle groaned in pain again, then his arms went limp and fell to his side.

"No!" I cried. Anger replaced my fear. A newfound strength burned in my limbs, my body felt like it was tingling with power. I felt a tugging sensation in my belly, with a furious cry, I felt the power run through my body.

I was on the alert, I had to find something, something capable of killing, maybe the ring could kill this creature once and for all, but the real question was how to use it.

I took the ring in my hands, perhaps there was a mechanism to activate the object of great power as my uncle had said.

"Choose the weapon," said a voice in my mind, "the weapon you need most, choose it."

I really needed something else, I needed, like Percy, a sword. Suddenly, as if the object had obeyed my will, it transformed into a sword. Magnificent, the sword was very short and in the night, it shone with a double brilliance, a golden brilliance but if on one side the golden brilliance reflected like bronze, the other truly reflected pure gold as if the weapon were fighting with itself.

I took no time to admire the blade in my hands and charged, the Cyclops recoiling a little but unafraid, I think they were more amused to see me swinging a sword in all directions in the hope of killing them.

Trying to catch me, one of them came close and I managed to nick him. Maybe I shouldn't have, because after he became even more furious, I was distracted by his rage and suddenly the other Cyclops grabbed me.

"Let go of me with your filthy paws! "I shouted at him."How dare you touch me, you son of a bi-!"even in the face of death I was arrogant

He gripped me tighter and tighter, and with a cry of pure pain I dropped the sword. It was all for nothing.

"Their spirits, concentrate on them, destroy them like a twig! "that feminine voice had just given me advice once again.

I did as she told me and by touch I felt the spirit of the Cyclops holding me, its eyes shone with a silver light, it tried to fight, so I did as the voice told me - I snapped the twig. Immediately, the monster seemed panicked. He then let go of me, started punching himself and basically acting... crazy. His companion tried to stop him and they started attacking each other. They strangled each other and snapped each other's necks and then began to disintegrate like crumbling sand, blown to pieces by the wind, in the same way as Mrs. Dodds. The monsters were gone.

I nearly fainted, lying on the floor next to Coach Hedge, my head exploding. I was weak and full of mud, a figure appeared next to me it was a horse with a human body or the other way around I couldn't see too well.

"There's nothing to worry about, my child." The voice I knew was that of my Latin teacher.

"We'll take good care of you." I nodded,

"She's very weak Chiron." said a guy.

I looked at the guy who grabbed me, he was college-aged and tall, with an athletic, muscular build, he was rather handsome, with blue eyes and blond hair. My vision began to blur and I felt as if my head had been placed in a blender.

But I was still aware of Mr. Brunner said:

"Take her to the Big House, Luke. I'll take care of her there."

Without saying a word I felt him lift me up the hill and we ended up going down the valley. Then everything went black.