Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

When one of your closest friends goes missing for eight months, most people would see it as a cause for concern. And, please don’t get me wrong, I do care about Percy, but when when he went missing, I honestly wasn’t too surprised. I’ve only known the guy for a few years, but in that time, he’s gone missing tons of times. It only started to concern me when I realized a month had gone by. Then, it was two months. Then I started to worry he wasn’t coming back this time. 

Theories on why he had gone ranged from a simple move, to being arrested, to kidnapping (it’s already happened once apparently). You’d think that with Percy’s stepdad as a teacher here at Goode, someone would have gotten a piece of actual information, but Mr. Blofis either was very good at keeping secrets, or didn’t know any more than we did. 

So now that you’ve read my point of view, you can understand why I didn’t expect Percy to be there when I came back for the second semester of my Junior year. 

I got to school that day a bit early, so I took my time going to my locker, stopping to talk to a few people, and searching for my friend Miri. She was nowhere to be seen - and neither were our other friends, Leah and Henry. 

By the time I got to my locker, I was starting to wonder if all my friends had disappeared, and if I would be the next victim of some mysterious monster that ate highschool kids. But just when I finished shoving a few books(and some extra snacks) into my locker, a girl grabbed my arm and started pulling me down the hall. 

“You won’t believe what’s happened! I’ve been looking for you all over! Where were you?” hissed Leah. She was chewing a piece of gum like normal, and her frizzy dark brown hair was pulled back from her face in two braids. 

I was about to remind her that she was the one who hadn’t been in any of the normal meet up places, when I saw why she was so excited. 

In the midst of a small crowd of students ahead of us was the one and only Percy Jackson. He looked mostly the same. The same ruffled black hair, and sea green eyes. He still had way more muscle than I did. But he was different, somehow. He didn’t seem as laid back as before, and standing the the crowd he looked tense and uncomfortable. 

I shoved my way through the crowd. I think I may have pushed some of the smaller students over, but they were probably freshman and had never known Percy anyway. 

When Percy saw me, he smiled, and said, “hey.” 

“You come back from being missing for months and all you say is ‘hey?’” I respond.

The guy has the nerve to laugh a little. But it’s a sad laugh. A meaningless echo of how Percy used to be. I wanted to spend more time finding out what had happened to him, but he shook his head. He wasn’t disclosing anything in front of the crowd. 

It’s about then when Henry joins us. “Well, well, it’s Percy Jackson, back from the dead, is it?” he asks sarcastically. Although Henry and I are on pretty good terms, though we’re not close, he and Percy were… well let’s just say for the moment that they were frenemies. 

“You wouldn’t believe how accurate that statement is,” Percy says. Murmurs rippled through the crowd at that. I’m sure everyone was eager to hear the follow up to that, but fortunately for Percy, and unfortunately for everyone else, the warning bell rang, and reluctantly, the crowd dispersed.

“You have a lot of explaining to do Perce,” Leah told him. 

“I know.” 

Those two words ‘I know’ aren’t promising. Percy has never given us a good reason for his disappearances before, and I doubt he will this time, or he would have done so already. I can only hope that one day we’ll find out on our own. Somehow. 

Chapter Text

“So.” I slammed my lunch tray on the table, and sat down across from Percy. “What’s your explanation?”

“I went for a short trip with a group from the summer camp I go to, and I fell and hit my head pretty hard. I got amnesia, and I couldn’t come until my memories came back,” said Percy. His hands twitched as he talked. Was it because of his ADHD or because he was hiding something? 

“Right,” Leah whispered. “And, will we ever meet any of these mysterious camp friends, or are they all just a myth like your girlfriend ?”

Percy looked kind of hurt. I guess I could kind of see why, but I could also see our side of the story. The side where none of us ever got the whole truth, even though, as far as we knew, we were his closest friends.

“My girlfriend isn’t fake, and neither is camp, I promise! I’d take you there but -”

“- we don’t qualify to get in, we get it,” Henry interrupted. “We know. Can’t you tell us something new? Anything at all?” 

Percy avoided all our eyes when he said that he couldn’t, and he was sorry. After that, none of us were sure what to say, so as Leah continued to try and make Percy talk, Henry and I pulled out our smartphones. 

My friend Savannah has sent me a text. Savannah and I haven’t seen each other in person since we were 13, when she moved to San Francisco, but we keep in contact, mostly through videogames, but occasionally we have actual conversations as well. 

Savannah: Hey, my parents have decided we’re moving back to Manhattan! Not sure what school you go to, but a friend suggested Goode.

Me: You should go to Goode, it’s where I go. Who’s your friend? 

Savannah: A girl here that’s moving as well. You’ll meet her when we get there. 

Me: Ok. When’s the move? 

Me: Hello? 

Apparently Savannah had been forced to leave her phone, because I didn’t get a response after that. 

I looked up from my phone, and tried to focus on the ongoing conversation held by Percy and Leah. 

“So, are there any other names you can tell us besides this mysterious ‘Annabeth?’” she asks. 

“Um, yeah I guess so,” Percy mutters. “There’s Hazel and Frank, they’re from another camp that my camp associates with, and then there’s Jason, Piper, and Leo. But those are just names. What do they matter to you?”

“I was just seeing how fast you came up with them. I’m guessing they’re real by the way you listed them off pretty quickly, and they aren’t common names,” Leah explained. 

Only Leah would do something like that as a test, at least in this group of friends. I almost laughed at the smug look on her face. 

“So,” I addressed the other three at the table. “Now that Percy is back, we have to go celebrate somehow. Suggestions?” 

“Let’s invite all the people we know to my house this weekend,” suggested Henry, just as Leah said, “Let’s ask Percy’s mom if she can teach us to make those blue cookies she gave us.” 

“I vote cookies,” Percy said. 

“Well, that’s decided then,” I got up from the table. “It’s Percy’s celebration after all. Perce, let us know when your mom’s available, okay? I’m guessing you still don’t have a phone, so just tell us tomorrow.” 

“Well, actually I do have a phone. As of a couple weeks ago.”

We all stared. A Percy that was up to date in tech? No way! He showed us his phone. It was a silver smartphone from a brand I hadn’t seen before. It had some greek letter or symbol engraved in the back. 

After we were all done staring at the phone, we all exchanged phone numbers and separated to go to our classes.

Chapter Text

When I first met Annabeth, I thought she was normal. That she, like other people would ignore me. But Annabeth didn’t ignore me, she became my friend, even though she could have just as easily been popular. 

Annabeth is, in my opinion, great at just about everything. She’s incredibly smart, she’s athletic, and excels at everything I’ve seen her try. But for some reason, she can’t seem to stick to the school schedule. She’s been absent from school enough to be considered truant, if she hadn’t put up all these ‘reasonable’ excuses. She was a favorite of most of the teachers, and since she always caught up with her work, some of them didn’t always mark her as absent. 

A few months ago, Annabeth’s attendance became even rarer, apparently because of ‘family issues.’ Then she stopped coming entirely for months. Now she’s been back for only a few days when she finally told me that she’s moving to New York. 

“It’s closer to camp, and I’ll be able to see my boyfriend more often,” she reasoned. “I’ll really miss you. But now that I have a phone we can still talk.” 

I could only stare at her, with what I’m sure must have been a really creepy grin on my face. I knew Annabeth felt bad - she knew that she was my closest friend, and although I had still had my friend Jackson while Annabeth had been gone the last time, it hadn’t been the same. But I continued to smile. 

“Er, is that okay?” Annabeth asked. 

“Yeah, actually I was going to tell you that my mom got that new job in Manhattan. The decision to move is final now,” I said. 

“Yes!” Annabeth basically launched herself over the table to give me a hug. “What school are you going to?” 

“I’m not sure yet,” I said. I tried not to get Annabeth’s hair in my mouth or eyes as I talk. 

“You should come to Goode. That’s where I’m going with Percy.” 

I nodded, even though I didn’t know if I’d be able to go to Goode. 

I reached into my pocket for my phone. “Have to share the good news!” I said. 

Annabeth laughed. I did too, not quite understanding why until I realized that what I had said could have been taken as a pun. 

I texted my friend Andrew who lived in Manhattan, and apparently, I found out, went to Goode. 

“Here, hand me that,” Annabeth yanked the phone out of my hands, and I gasped as I made a swipe to get it back. 

Annabeth easily dodged by leaning backwards and started to text someone on my phone. 

“Who,” I tried to twist myself in a way that I could see the screen, “are you texting? And why aren’t you using your phone?” 

“My phone’s all the way over there,” she pointed at her backpack sitting only a couple feet away. “Yours was closer. I’m texting your mom -” 

“- What?” 

“To convince her to let you apply to Goode.” 

She gives me a look that says ‘What else would we do? Just let her choose?’ and continues to type. I feel like this violates some unspoken privacy rule, but I don’t say anything. Annabeth on a mission is something I wouldn’t try to stop for anything.

Chapter Text

On our way out of school, Annabeth stepped to the side for a few minutes to talk to someone on the phone (her’s this time). She came back to me looking kind of irritated. 

“My plane ride to New York got canceled. Do you think your family has room for me?” 

“Um, yeah, probably,” I told her. “But wouldn’t they just put you on another flight? Not just cancel the flight completely? I mean, you did pay, right?”

“No, my friend’s dad has a private jet I was going to borrow, but it turns out he’ll need it for a few weeks,” muttered Annabeth. 

“Your friend has a private jet?” 

“Yes,” Annabeth said, matter of factly. 

“I need to meet your friend,” I murmured. Annabeth heard the whisper, and laughed. 

“You probably can meet her. Chances are, she’ll come visit me in New York. You’ll like Piper, I’m sure.” 

At that moment, Annabeth and I heard the sounds of people tripping over each other, and grumpily telling someone to look where they’re going. We both turned around to look, and saw Rian Mathers heading full speed towards us. I groaned.

“Do you think he’ll stop trying if we just keep walking?” I ask Annabeth. 

“Unfortunately, I think not. It’s probably best to just wait and get it over with.”

Rian finally caught up to us. Before speaking, he ran his fingers through his golden curls, a move that supposedly caught girls everywhere. 

“Hey, Annabeth,” he started. 

“Hi, Rian,” she replied, her feet already starting to inch towards the exit. 

“Some friends and I are going to the movies this weekend, would you want to come with me? I mean, us?”  

“Sorry Rian, I’m not interested. And I have a boyfriend. And I’m moving out of state this weekend, so I won’t be here anyway,” she said. Her eyes never met his after initial ‘sorry Rian, I’m not interested,’ but were instead glued to her cell phone screen as she texted. Rian was forced to walk sideways and backwards to try and get her to look up. Eventually, she slipped the phone back into her pocket, and added, “Thanks for the offer though,” and walked on.

“Wait, did I hear you correctly? You’re not really moving, are you?” he asked frantically. 

“Yes, I am,” Annabeth carelessly threw the words at him. 

“Where to?” was all he asked. Like it would matter. He probably wouldn’t be able to follow her to any state at all, especially not all the way across the country. 

“New York,” Annabeth said, as we stepped into the parking lot. We left Rian mournfully watching us from the doorstep, and hopped into my sister’s car, where my sister was waiting for us. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Saturday afternoon, my family was all packed up, and ready to leave. The moving vans had already left, and we had some of our things in our car and minivan. All we had to do was pick up Annabeth, who had promised us that she didn’t have much to take, even though she wasn’t coming back any time soon.

I rode with my older sister Lara (short for Larissa) in the car, and my parents drove the minivan with my younger siblings Molly and Christian. Lara and I are only two years apart, me at sixteen, and she’s eighteen. Molly and Christian are twins, and they’re only nine. 

When we stopped at Annabeth’s house, she was sitting on the porch sipping lemonade from a straw. She carried only one duffle bag. That’s it.

“Where’s the rest of your stuff Anna?” My sister asked. Lara is probably the only person that I have ever seen get away with calling Annabeth nicknames. Probably because she makes up for it by being almost as interested in architecture as Annabeth is. Lara and Annabeth get along better than I get along with either of them. Sometimes I wonder if Annabeth is friends with me just to talk to my sister. It would make more sense than her actually liking me 

“Oh, this is all of it. I already have some clothes there, and I like to travel light.” 

Lara shrugged, and unlocked the backseat so Annabeth could get in. 

“So what’s your plan for living in Manhattan? You got family there or something?” Lara asked, as she drove. Did I forget to mention how cool Lara is? She’s always been popular, even though she’s kind of a nerd. In everything she does, she just oozes confidence, even just driving down the road in her toyota with her sunglasses on, she looks like she could be in a movie. 

“No, I’m going to live with my boyfriend’s family. I already stay there sometimes, so I have my own room, and that’s where those other clothes I was talking about are.” 

“You’re staying with your boyfriend’s family? That’s cool. My parents would never have let me do that.”

Annabeth only smiled sadly in response. Not that Lara could see Annabeth smiling sadly, she was busy casting insults at the guy who had cut across the lane in front of her. 

“Do they like you?” Larissa asked. “Your boyfriend’s family, I mean. And, does he have a name so I can stop just referring to him as ‘Anna’s boyfriend?’”

“Yeah, his name’s Percy. He lives with his mom and stepdad, who are both pretty great. I’ve known Percy and his mom since I was twelve, and they’re both great. His stepdad is nice, but I don’t know him that well yet to be honest.” 

“Wow, you’ve known him that long? That’s impressive.” 

After that, the conversation turned to school, and which college to go to (Lara was taking a gap year, so she wasn’t in college yet) and most importantly, architecture. I could only vaguely hear their indistinct voices saying ‘Savannah? Vannah? I think she’s asleep, talk more softly! Sorry…’ before I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

“So, Henry, what news is there pertaining to Percy Jackson?” I asked. I stood on one leg, elbows propped up against the kitchen counter as I watched my brother search for snacks in the cupboard. Even though he and Percy would never admit to being friends, I knew they admired each other. At least a little bit. Normally I wouldn’t have even asked Henry for this information. After all, I was the one that was Percy’s friend. But unfortunately, being home sick on the day Percy Jackson returns means that you miss out on some things. 

Both Henry and I are Juniors, just like Percy is, and I always thought that Henry kind of resented me for it. At almost two years younger than him, I could have been one of the older freshman, but I had started school early enough, and then skipped one grade to end up in the same year as he was.  

“Still has a girlfriend, Mira,” Henry growled. He knew about my crush on Percy, and had known from the time we started going to Goode. He’d made it clear to me on multiple occasions that he didn’t think Percy was good enough for me, not to mention that I was too young to be thinking about it anyway, even though he had been the exact same age (15) when he and Leah started dating. 

I didn’t let his comment change my composure. It wasn’t what I had been going to ask about anyway. “If you say so! Do you know anything about where he went?”

“Not really,” Henry said. “Look, why don’t you ask him yourself instead of bothering me?”

“Fine, maybe I will.” I executed the perfect pivot on my toe as I left, probably hitting him across the face with my hair as I went. Either way, I didn’t care. 

~o~O~o~

“Hi Percy!” I said, waving. 

Percy and Andrew turned around and waved back. I hadn’t seen either of them all day outside of one or two classes. I had missed lunch for a doctor’s appointment, which cut out most of the time that I could have used to ask Percy questions. Now, Andrew, Percy and Leah were leaving school to go to Percy’s apartment and make cookies, which Henry had conveniently forgotten to tell me about until the last second. 

“Do you mind if I come?” I asked when I got a little bit closer. 

“Of course not,” Percy told me. “Just you, right?” 

I nodded. I knew Percy was probably thinking of Henry - who had decided not to go, thankfully. 

The three of us only have to wait a couple seconds before Leah pulls up to the curb and we hear the click of her car’s doors unlocking. I call shotgun, and Andrew and Percy slip into the backseat. I look over to Leah sitting beside me. I like to think that Leah actually likes me as a person, even though my brother doesn’t seem to, but you can never really tell with Leah. She’s not expressionless, but she seems to embrace anything that comes along, good or bad, with ease. I’m pretty sure her life’s motto is to go wherever the wind blows. Or at least, that was the usual style of her hair. I don’t know how she could see to drive with it blowing everywhere. But I couldn’t help but to admire Leah, even as I talked to Percy.

~o~O~o~

When we got to Percy’s apartment building and climbed the staircase to his floor (the elevator was full, and who wants to wait for the next one?) Percy’s mom, Sally Jackson was waiting for us. She gave every one of us, even Leah who she had never met before, a hug and ushered us inside the kitchen. 

“I got everything you need for the cookies, but are you sure you want to make them yourselves? Leah, Andrew and Percy all nodded. I shrugged. I would have been just as happy eating the cookies without having to make them myselves. 

“Do you want me to stay and help?”
“I think we’ve got it, Mrs. Blofis,” Leah answered. 

“You can call me Sally, Leah. I’ll just be over in the office if you need me.” 

We all watched as she left, and as soon as she was gone, Leah gave a task to each of us. She wasn’t kidding when she said we were going to do this. I wasn’t sure how many cookies we were making, but from her instructions, it was somewhere between three dozen, and a feast for 10 Percys. 

“So, Percy, can you tell us more about camp? Are you sure I couldn’t get in?” I asked. 

“I’m pretty sure. But camp is pretty nice, we uh, have canoe races and horseback riding, and other activities. It’s Greek themed.” 

This was probably the only new information Percy had given us since we first asked years ago, so now everyone is listening. 

“Greek themed?” questioned Andrew. 

“Yeah. Each cabin has one of the Greek gods or goddesses as their - I guess as a sort of mascot. You don’t get to choose your cabin though, you get put there according to your talents -” 

“So you sleep outside then. Cause I don’t know what talents you’d have that would -”

“I sleep in the Poseidon Cabin. I do have talents and you know it Leah,” Percy said, pretending to be mad at her, but we can all see he’s laughing. 

Andrew takes the cookie sheet from my arms, and puts it into the oven beneath the others. 

“All done. Let’s go sit in the living room,” Leah said. 

“Actually, can we stop at Percy’s room first? He borrowed a movie from me a while ago and says he lost it in there,” asked Andrew. 

Percy shrugs, and leads the way. 

Percy’s room is average sized, with a queen sized bed, and sea green decorations everywhere. It’s not very neat, but you can still see that everything has a general area it’s supposed to go in. 

“I think your movie is,” Percy dug in a container of electronics. “Somewhere -” he reaches further back, “In here!” He pulled back his arm revealing a CD case. “This what you’ve been looking for, Andrew?” 

“Yep. I don’t see how you couldn’t have done that earlier though.” 

“Sorry.” 

Typical Percy. I still hadn’t seen the history notes I had lent to him before he disappeared. I had needed to make a whole extra copy for myself when he never returned them. As a joke, I asked, “any chance of finding those notes I gave you, since you’re apparently so organized?” 

He startled me by saying he knew where they were. We followed him further down the hall into another bedroom that I had always supposed must be for guests, or be a storage room, but it was fully furnished in grey and light blue. Judging by the way there was very little dust, and freshly washed laundry sat in a basket next to the bed, someone had recently stayed there, or was going to arrive.

“Guys, this is Annabeth’s room. She stayed here a lot when I was gone, and since I got back as well. She just had to leave to go back to school.” A small smile had come across Percy’s face when he had looked at a picture with about twelve teenagers, many of them in orange t-shirts. He had just finished naming everyone there - it was becoming more and more likely that Annabeth was a real person, Percy wasn’t that good with photoshop - when his mom called us to eat. I didn’t realize she had ordered us all pizza. The cookies were done as well, so we could have dessert whenever we wanted. 

Sally ate with us, and I noticed her face kept breaking out into a tiny smile, before she hid the expression again. 

“Percy,” she said when we were all done eating the pizza. “I got a call from Annabeth about an hour ago.” 

Percy stopped chewing his cookie and stared at his mom. 

“She’s coming to attend Goode next week. She’ll be staying here.” 

A lot of things happened in that moment. Percy’s eyes widened, and he yelled ‘yes!’ at the top of his lungs. Leah looked a bit surprised, and intrigued, and continued chewing her cookie thoughtfully. Andrew looked a bit uncomfortable, like he’s not sure if he should leave the room, clap, or start dancing with Percy. From the way it felt, I guessed my own face was turning red. Percy’s girlfriend in Manhattan. Percy’s girlfriend at my school! I forced my frustrations down and pulled out a fake smile when percy looked at me. After all, one way or another, all of us are going to have to learn to put up with Miss Annabeth Chase, whatever she may be like.

Chapter Text

After a weekend of driving, in which I drove on the interstate for the very first time ever, we arrived in the city of Manhattan. Even though San Francisco was big, it didn’t have the same feeling as the new place did. 

Since Annabeth had volunteered to help us bring everything into our new apartment, we headed straight there without dropping her off. 

“Annabeth, honey, if you ever need someplace to stay,” my mother, Maya, tells her when we’re mostly done. “You’re always welcome with us.

Annabeth Smiles. “Thank you Mrs. Bell, but I’m pretty sure I have my living space all settled out.” 

My mom nods, but I can see in her face that she doesn’t believe that at your boyfriend’s place should be your only plan. In most cases, I’d agree with her. It’s never bad to have a backup plan. 

Sunday evening, Lara, Annabeth, and I sat in the lobby of our new building, waiting for Annabeth’s mysterious boyfriend to turn up to take Annabeth home. 

Lara was examining her just-painted galaxy nails, Annabeth had her head in a Greek book that I couldn’t really read, and I was staring at the two of them, trying to come up with something to say. 

I finally decided on: “Is that They Odyssey?” Pointing at Annabeth’s book. 

“Yeah, how did you know?” 

I frowned. I wasn’t actually sure. “I guess The Odyssey was just the first Greek book I could think of. And the title looks a bit like it could be those words.” 

Annabeth still looked a bit confused, but nodded, and we were all pulled into a conversation about what classic or mythical stories we all enjoyed. 

We were so wrapped up in conversation, none of us really payed attention when a teen guy started walking towards us, so all of us jumped when he put his arms around Annabeth. I could see Lara reaching for the bronze dagger I knew she had hidden in her belt, and I was about to do the same, when Annabeth smiled and kissed the boy on the cheek. 

It was her boyfriend. Of course, why did Lara and I have to be so defensive all the time? Percy was exactly as Annabeth had described, but he managed to look even more handsome in person than in the pictures on Annabeth’s phone. We exchanged brief greetings, then Annabeth made sure we had Percy’s phone number and address and told us to stop by sometime. 

The couple left, leaving Lara bug-eyed. “They look like models or something,” she said. 

~~~~~~~~~~~

Maya Bell (Savannah’s mother)

I watched out of a window of our new apartment as Annabeth and her boyfriend left the building, hand in hand, and chatting exuberantly. 

Although it might seem like it, I wasn’t completely against them living together. Not yet, anyway. I knew nothing about what they had done together. 

My husband, Ben, and I had known each other since the age of 10. Both of us basically without parents, although Ben still stayed for the most part at his dad’s place, we stuck together. Finding Ben was the best thing that ever happened to me. Finally I had someone who didn’t think I was crazy when I told them about the monsters. Who didn’t think I was paranoid to carry weapons with me when I could. Together, we were able to stay sane, and protected. 

“Would you like some ice cream, mom?” Savannah was offering a dish with vanilla ice cream. 

“Thanks,” I said, and took it from her. Both Larissa and Savannah got most of their looks from me. Beautiful girls that had dark brown hair, and brown eyes. I, myself, thought I had brown eyes, but had been told by many that they were blue, or green, or some other color. 

The younger twins looked more like their dad. They had the same facial features, and blonde hair, although not the grey eyes. 

Taking a spoonful of ice cream, I joined my family in the living room, which still lacked some furniture, and was full of more boxes to unpack later. 

Lara made her face look very solemn before raising a scoop of ice cream and saying “to our new home!” 

We all laughed, and repeated the chant. Little did we know how moving would change our lives in the long run.

Chapter Text

Don’t think I don’t know what you might think of me by now. Some few of you are probably on my side, because you’re sorry for me or something (because my brother is an idiot). Most of you probably think I’m going to try to split Percy and his lovely Annabeth apart. 

Here’s news for you: I’m not. It’s high school, I’ll get over it eventually, but what is more likely, is that they will eventually break up. And when they do, both of them will have been friends with me. Percy will turn to me, and Annabeth will have no grudge against me, because I will offer her my full friendship when she gets here. If they don’t break up, there’s no loss really. I’ll still have them as friends. 

Who am I kidding, I’ll be pissed if they don’t break up. But I will try my best to be friends with them no matter what. 

I ran over those thoughts over and over on my way to school that Monday. It was dreadful, I’d never wished for anything more than I wished for Annabeth to disappear. Okay, maybe I’d wished more for a perfect ACT score, but Annabeth disappearing was pretty close. 

“You’re not going to do something stupid, are you?” Asked Henry. If you asked me, Henry was the one who did the truly stupid things, so he couldn’t judge what I did. 

“Of course not. When are my plans not well thought out and reasonable?” 

Henry shrugged. I knew he thought of me as little and childish, he doesn’t have to say it out loud. 

“I did notice the makeup though,” he finally said. “But, you know what, I couldn’t care less about what you decide to do with your life, so -” he shrugged his shoulders in indifference.  

I blushed. I did put a little more effort into my appearance than usual. I had chosen to wear a lavender colored blouse tucked into my black skirt instead of shorts and a T-shirt like usual. I had also added eyeliner and eyeshadow to my morning routine. 

That was as far as we reached in our conversation before arriving at school. I watched longingly in the direction Henry walked, knowing that Percy and Annabeth would probably be in his first class, but since we had walked, not biked, that morning, I didn’t have time to go after him. But when I walked into my math class (who cursed me to have math first thing in the morning again??) I was surprised to see a girl sitting at the desk next to me. The desk next to me that had always been empty. 

After putting my stuff down, I turned to the girl. I was sure it was her - curly blonde hair, grey eyes, and the same facial features from Percy’s picture. “Are you Annabeth?” I asked her. 

“Yeah,” she answered. “How’d you know?”

“I’m a friend of Percy’s. He said you’d be coming to Goode this week.” 

Annabeth nodded, and smiled. It looked like plan ‘Befriend Annabeth’ wouldn’t be so hard after all.

~o~O~o~

By lunchtime, I’d gotten verification of all of Percy’s facts. He had met Annabeth when they were twelve. Annabeth knew, and went to camp with Percy. Everything Percy had ever told us had checked out. 

“Annabeth! There you are,” said another girl. I’d never seen her before either, and she hadn’t been in the photo of Percy’s friends. She could've been a relative to that girl in the picture that had choppy brown hair, but I doubted it. 

“Savannah, this is Percy’s friend Mira. Mira, this is my friend Savannah. She also just moved here from San Francisco.”

Savannah and I shook hands, and politely greeted each other. 

“Now come this way, we usually sit over here,” I guided the girls to Percy’s usual table. He, Andrew, and for some reason Leah and Henry, were already there. The table was a bit small now, for the size of our group, but someone could just pull over a chair. I did so, and sat myself between Leah and Savannah, barely concealing emotion when I turned around and saw Percy and Annabeth exchanging a quick kiss. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked Henry. 

“Eating lunch.”

“Last time I checked you had your own friends. So get.” 

“If I remember correctly, during the months Percy was gone you often sat with other friends as well. You were such a great friend to leave Andrew without any,” Henry said. “But you know, I don’t really care what you choose to do with your life, so…” His voice was kept low, and no one else at the table heard, but I winced anyway. Ditching Andrew for the chance to be ‘popular’ wasn’t something I was proud of. 

I stayed seated, and kept eating my sandwich. I noticed Annabeth and Savannah turn in our direction once they were done talking, and decided to do some introductions. 

“This is Henry, my brother,” I told them. They nodded, and some kind of conversation started but I’m not listening. I’m looking between Annabeth and Percy, not at them. There, behind them, is that other table with my “friends.” The ones that I often sat with, but also the ones that didn’t seem to really care. They all sit at that table for the popularity, and I may look like one of them - but I’m not. I was the nerd faking a lifestyle to fit in.  

At least Andrew and Percy noticed when I was gone. Heck, even Leah noticed when I was gone. What right did Henry have to take that friendship away from me? And what right did Annabeth have to come and mess up my future?

Chapter Text

As an introvert, I generally stayed by myself quite a bit. But when Mira insisted that all of us girls, her, Annabeth, and I, spend an afternoon together, Lara wouldn’t let me refuse. 

Lara’s brown eyes lit up when I told her about it, even though it wasn’t a big deal. 

“You already have friends?” She had asked. “Maybe there’s hope for you yet!” I’m pretty sure if Lara could get paid for it, she’d spend her whole time setting me up with girls she thought I’d be friends with, and guys she thought I should date. She’s always been that way - like my social conscience: omnipresent, and always whispering irritating suggestions in my ear. 

Thank goodness it’s not possible to earn a salary that way. 

Anyway, that’s how I ended up here, at Mira’s family’s penthouse, sitting on a luxury lounge chair, and sipping a cup of lemonade. Let me just say that describing what I felt as feeling ‘out of place’ can’t encompass my feelings at that moment. I’d dressed up a little bit more than I usually would (Lara’s doing, of course. She wouldn’t let me out of the house in what I wanted to wear.) but I still felt extremely inadequate. 

Annabeth and Mira herself fit in perfectly, their elegance matching that of the scenery around her. We’d had a surprise visit from Leah, who had come to pick up a sweatshirt she had forgotten at the penthouse, and then decided to stay once she saw us all there. Leah was more casual than I was. She had her feet kicked up, pink socks on the armrest of her loveseat, slurping her lemonade loudly, and not caring. Mira seemed to be looking at her with beaming admiration - but that couldn’t be right. 

“Isn’t there anything else you can tell us about camp?” Mira asked for the fiftieth time that evening. “Perhaps its name?”
Annabeth smiled mischievously. “No, sorry. It’s a secret.” even though she sounded sincere, something in her face didn’t match. I got the feeling that this was a secret that Annabeth wasn’t sorry she had to keep. 

“Let’s go eat then,” Mira started to usher us out of the living room, when we heard the sound of something hitting the window. 

We all froze. Annabeth said, “Probably just a bird hitting the glass. You all go on and start eating. I’ll catch up, I just have to go to the bathroom.” 

Annabeth waited in the same spot while we walked towards the kitchen, which was odd. Why wouldn’t she just go? I went back and watched from around the corner, after she thought I was gone and saw her pull out a bronze dagger. I gasped, and covered my mouth. Luckily, she was too focused on whatever was outside the window to hear me, so I left and went into the kitchen. 

Why would Annabeth be carrying a knife? Specifically, that kind of knife. The kind I had associated with my worst nightmares - or at least I had thought they had only been nightmares. But if they had been real, that would explain why they were still so vivid. 

Five-year-old Savanna and seven-year-old Larissa sat on a park bench together, holding hands and swinging their legs that didn’t quite touch the ground. Their mother stood behind the bench, waving to their father, who walked towards them from the pond where he had been fishing. 

“Momma, can we get some ice cream,” Larissa asked, pointing at the ice cream truck that had just come around the corner. It had stopped just near them, even though they were the only ones in that area of the park. 

“Of course Lara,” Maya said to her. “It is your birthday, sweetie.” 

Their father, Ben, arrives and scoops Lara into his arms. Walking up to the truck he said, “Now what would you like, birthday girl.” 

It was then, when everyone was focused on the list of delectable frozen treats that Savannah saw what no one else did. The already gruesome face of the lady in the truck begins to morph, or maybe it had always been that way, but now that she had come up to the window, it became clear. The scales, the serpent-like tongue. Savannah did what anyone in that position would do, and screamed. 

Larissa whipped around, scowling at her sister for making a racket, but Ben looked up. His smile was wiped off his face as he shoved Lara behind him, and whipped a bronze dagger from his belt. Beside him, Maya was doing the same. 

“This hasn’t happened forever - why now?” Maya asked her husband. 

“I don’t know. Stay back Lara, Vannah.” 

The two of them fought the monster together, until she screamed and disappeared as shimmering dust. 

Savannah in the present shuddered at the dream she now knew to be true. After that day, there had been several other similar occasions. But not a single one since she had turned nine, which was when their parents had started to leave more often. They said that eleven was old enough for Lara to take care of them. When their parents were around, it was only one of them at a time, the only exceptions were for birthdays, and they sometimes took the twins with them, wherever they went. 

So what did it mean? Where were the monsters from, and why did Annabeth also have to fight them?

Chapter Text

To be honest with you, not that I hadn’t missed Percy, but I missed the normalcy of life before his sudden reappearance. Percy’s a good guy, and I like him, but his return had caused such a stir in school social circles. People I’d never given more than a nod during my life came up to me, in school and out, to ask if I knew anything that confirmed or created new rumors. 

That’s why I was relieved to hear that Percy and Annabeth wouldn’t be coming to the park with us that afternoon, even if Savannah was coming with us. Spending time with Mira and Savannah didn’t seem like it would be too bad. Yeah Mira could be annoying, fickle and way too full of herself, but I know that she’s not always like that. I’ve seen her at her most vulnerable. And besides, there was no way I would go to a park with just Savannah, who I barely knew. 

The only reasons I wished Mira hadn’t come with us, are that A, it meant Henry might turn up with Leah, and B, that all she wanted to talk about was Percy. Percy and Annabeth this, and Percy and Annabeth that was all I could hear as I lay in a field of flowers. Generally, laying in a field of flowers is supposed to be relaxing. This was not. 

I sat up and looked at the others. Mira and Savannah sat propped against an old oak tree, while I relaxed in the grass that was shaded by its branches. The leaves on the tree were just barely visible, having just begun their return from winter, and the grass was thin and new. 

“Why don’t I make a deal with you, Mira,” I told her. 

She narrowed her eyes and waited for me to continue. 

“Savannah and I participate in your conversation about your two favorite people for ten minutes, and in exchange-” 

“You’ll shut up about it for a whole week,” Henry interrupted. He had turned up finally, seemingly on their way back from their ice-cream date, or whatever they had gone to. 

Miranda frowned. “I want thirty minutes.” 

“Fifteen,” Henry bargained. 

“Twenty.” 

“Fine.” 

Miranda looked genuinely pleased with this arrangement. “I want all of you to help me figure out how to get to their camp.”

Savannah spoke for the first time in the whole conversation. “I actually tried to find it yesterday. I searched the internet for hours - couldn’t find a thing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never heard of the camp’s name, only that it’s greek themed. I think if you want to find the camp, you’re going to have to contact someone who knows about it already.” 

“So, we get them to bring some other camp people here - it’s almost spring break, we could do something as a group,” said Mira. 

“You want us to invite strangers on our Spring Break camping trip?” I asked incredulously. “ Percy never even goes to that, he always goes to his camp. What would be different this time?” 

“He’s only been back for two months, that’s short enough for us to make him feel guilty about leaving for so long, isn’t it? And if he can get his camp friends to come too, there’s really no reason for him to refuse.” 

The rest of us don’t bother to point out the flaws in this plan. We let her talk out everything for her remaining time, and then move on. The next day, we let Mira ask Percy to invite his friends, and we all received a surprise. 

“Sure, sounds fun,” Percy said. He threw us all a smile and nods his head. “It might be fun to go camping and not to camp.”

Annabeth turned a shocking shade of pale and whispered something to her boyfriend. Percy frowned for a second, then shrugged. 

“We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.” He gave Annabeth a quick kiss on the forehead. 

She pulled her head away from his, and kept talking. “But bringing the others, Percy? That’s a really, really bad idea.”
Percy shrugged. “We wouldn’t have them all there at the same time. Maybe just two of them could come, or they could take shifts. Besides, I doubt all of them would be available. Frank has his work at - at the other camp, Hazel will probably stay with him, Jason was going to visit Thalia -” 

“I get your point, Percy,” Annabeth said. She pushed past him to grab a bag with two blue cookies that she had inside her locker. 

Percy eyed them with a sudden loss of will to argue, following Annabeth’s hand as she shoved them in her backpack. 

“Get your own snacks, seaweed brain.” And she let herself fall into the river of students passing by. 

Percy reluctantly turned back to the rest of us. “So, who else is going? Me, Annabeth, Andrew, Mira, and are Leah and Henry going?” 

Mira shrugged, and I took it upon myself to answer. “Neither of them are sure they are going. And we’re still supposed to find an adult to go, because Mira’s mom won’t let her go otherwise. Usually she comes with us but…” 

“My Dad and sister might come, if you want them to,” Savannah said. 

I looked at her. She was already blushing - for what reason, I don’t know, but she seemed to act nervous anytime she spoke when no one had asked her anything. That, or maybe she was just thinking about how embarrassing family members could possibly be. 

“That would be great,” I said. “Text details later?” 

“Sure.”

Chapter Text

“Ben,” the man said, introducing himself as he shook my hand. It was day one of our planned camping trip, and Savannah’s family had pulled through and offered to be chaperones. 

“I’m Lara,” said the girl that must have been Savannah’s sister. 

“Nice to meet you,” I muttered. I hoisted my bag and sleeping bag into the back of their van, and leaned against the door as I waited for others to arrive. Savannah was already there of course, but Mira, Percy, and Annabeth had yet to show their faces. 

“So,” I began awkwardly, “How’ve you been liking New York?” 

Lara shrugged. “It’s okay I guess. I’m trying to find a job, and look at college opportunities while I’m here.” 

“While you’re here? You’re not planning to stay?” 

“I’m not sure.” Lara gazed off into the city. “I think I might go somewhere on my own, you know? I love my siblings, but, I think I’m ready to get out.” 

“Yeah, I get it,” I said. 

I didn’t have to think of any other topics for conversation, because Percy and Annabeth showed up, walking down the sidewalk towards us with their miniscule bags, both dressed in jeans and t-shirts. 

“You two know we’re camping, right?” Lara asked them. 

Percy laughed. “Yeah. We camp a lot. We know how to travel light.” 

It still seemed somewhat sketchy to me, but I went along with it. The two threw their bags in the van. 

“When are your friends getting here?” Savannah asked. She’d finally popped out from inside the house, a bag full of unhealthy snack foods looped over one arm, and a cooler with drinks held in the other. 

“Piper and Leo will be meeting us at the campsite. Hither Hills, right?” Annabeth confirmed. “They were already closer to the park than us, so they decided to drive separately.” 

“Well, I’m here,” Mira said from behind the van. She was wearing deep green cargo capris with a black crop top and, compared to the rest of us, she looked seriously overdressed. She, too, threw her bags in the back. 

“Let’s get going, then!” Ben cheered. He took the driver’s side of the van, and waited for us to decide how to split up. Percy and I ended up in the van with Ben and all the camping gear, while the girl went in Lara’s car. 

~0~

Nearly three hours later, we arrived at our reserved spots in the park.

“Do your friends know where to meet us, Percy?” Ben asked him as we pulled up. 

Percy leaned out the open window. “Yep. They’re already here.” He pointed at the silver volvo* parked behind us. A volvo. To go camping. Who were these people? It looked like an older model, but still very nice car. On top were two kayaks, orange and labeled ‘CHB.’

Ahead of us, the girls got out of Lara’s car and walked back to the van. Behind us, a boy and girl stepped out of the volvo. Once everyone was out, we gathered around the rear of the van, and looked towards Percy and Annabeth. 

“So, guys,” Percy said. “This is Leo and Piper. Leo, Piper, meet our school friends.” He left off without telling the two everyone's names, whether because it was just too many to list, or because he had already told them about us before was uncertain. 

I didn’t get to talk to Piper until later that day, but I spoke briefly to Leo while we set up the boys tent. 

“So, what’s your name again?” Leo asked me. He had opened the tent bag and had started putting together the poles. 

“I’m Andrew.” 

“Right,” he said. “Styx,” he seemed to curse as one of the poles snapped. “Well, what could you expect.” He looked over at me and rolled his eyes. “It’s made of plastic. Who Makes tent poles out of plastic?” 

“Er,” I mumbled something about not knowing, and how it was a bad idea before I walked away to help with the part of the tent that wasn’t broken. 

Even with a broken piece, which Leo had soon fixed, we finished setting up our tent long before the girls did. 

“No, it says that we put that over here,” I heard Mira say. She and Annabeth were in an in-depth debate on how to most efficiently set up their tent. 

“Forget efficient, you two,” I said. “We’ve already got our tent up.” 

Leo asked the two of them to explain their sides one more time. “You realize that you’re both saying the same thing, right? If you’d just listen to each other, you would know that already.” 

Mira and Annabeth froze, and looked at each other. 

“You mean?” Mira questioned. 

“You wanted to do this ?” Annabeth turned the flattened tent around and started putting it together. 

Mira scratched her head. “Yeah. Thanks Leo.” 

With the girls in agreement, they finished putting up the tent and organizing their belongings in only ten minutes. 

*No, the demigods do not each have their own fancy car as in many fics, but Piper does. I sort of picture her dad doing all sorts of things trying to make it up to Piper, and so yeah, a car. But she’s the only one that I think would even have their own car, fancy or not. 

Chapter Text

It was still daytime after we had finished putting up tents, organizing our stuff, and taking a break to eat some sandwiches. 

    “We should go swimming,” Mira suggested. 

    I shrugged. “I was kind of hoping to go hiking or something first.” I wasn’t much of a swimmer, although I knew that both Percy and Mira loved to swim. I just had to hope that one of the others was of the same mind as I was. 

    “I think I’d rather hike as well,” Piper agreed. 

    I looked over at her again. At first glance, I had guessed that Piper would be more of the Mira type than the Leah or Annabeth type, but there she was, proving me wrong. Mira would never have agreed to hike unless everyone else was going. 

    “I’ll stay with whoever wants to go to the beach,” Lara said, “And Dad?” 

    “Yeah?” 

    “You wanna lead the hiking group?” 

    Ben nodded. “Let’s get this stuff cleared up first though.” 

    The hiking group ended up walking to one of the marked trails, while the beach group drove a little farther from the campsite so that they wouldn’t have to carry the kayaks. Piper’s car, with Annabeth driving it, vanished down the dirt road as we began our trek. 

    Ben led us as we walked two by two down the path, Leo with Savannah, and me next to Piper. 

    “So,” I asked. “Where do you two live?” 

    “We’re year-rounders at camp,” Leo said. “Sometimes Piper stays with her dad for a while, but mostly, it’s just camp.” 

    “And that’s… legal?” I think of all the times Percy went missing for a time, and then had claimed to be with family or at camp. If it truly was okay for someone to stay at camp year round, why had he ever come back? Miri and I were friends, but I had never gotten the impression that he enjoyed spending time with us any more than with his camp friends. We couldn’t be the reason why. I supposed it could have been for his mother and stepdad. 

    “Of course!” Piper assured me. “We still get an education there.” 

    “So it’s like going to a boarding school?” I asked. 

    “No, no, definitely not.” Leo shook his head. “It’s way better than any boarding school. It’s…” 

    “Specialized,” Piper finished.

“Does it cost a lot?” Savannah asked. “I mean, I know that Annabeth mentioned that you have a private plane, Piper, and I think he said something about his dad paying for him to go to your camp.” 

Piper hesitated before responding. “It’s not expensive. I suppose getting in is more about who you know and are related to than anything money related.” 

“That seems kind of unfair,” I said. 

“I suppose it would when you haven’t been to camp.” 

“As for your private plane?” Savannah followed up. 

Piper sighed. “It’s my dad’s. You know, Tristan McLean?” 

I snickered, and then felt guilty when Piper glared at me. I didn’t know too much about the actor. He was just one of those guys that so many girls I had seen had posters of, or just generally admired. After talking to Piper and finding that she seemed pretty down-to-earth, Tristan McLean just didn’t seem to fit. 

Savannah obviously recognized the same too, as her eyes widened and mouth opened to ask more questions. When Piper seemed to avoid giving detailed answers though, Savannah seemed to catch on that it wasn’t a topic Piper liked talking about much. 

    After a while, we got into the rhythm of walking in comfortable quiet. The forest was quite thick around us, but not thick enough to stop a trickling stream from breaking through our path. Ben crossed first, walking along the stream for a short time to find the place where it was easiest to hop off the miniature canyon it had carved, presumably when it had swelled during a heavy rain. Piper, Leo, and I followed. Savannah was just about to hop across when something made a loud snapping noise ahead of us. 

    Savannah gasped, her foot slipping on a tree root as she tried to cross. By finding a foothold for her other foot, and with Leo’s support, Savannah caught herself before she fell into the muddy water. 

    “Thanks,” she told Leo. She put her right foot down again and winced. 

    “No problem,” Leo said. “Is your ankle okay?” 

    “You’re not putting any weight on it,” Piper pointed out. “You probably shouldn’t go any further.” 

    Snap. A brief silence followed, then growls that sounded as if they were coming nearer. 

    We all turned towards the noises this time. Savannah’s dad was a couple of feet away already, looking into the forest where the sound had come from. 

    “You all start heading back,” Ben said. “I’ll go look and see what the trouble is.” 

    I shook my head but didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what kinds of wild animals lived in the woods in that area. I figured that it couldn’t be anything too big, not when we were only less than two hours away from the city, but that didn’t mean that it would be a good idea to go looking for whatever it was. 

    Ben headed off into the trees anyway. I looked at the others. Piper and Leo were looking at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation before speaking to Savannah and me. 

    “We’ll follow him. He might need some help,” Leo said. He slowly moved away from Savannah, making sure she could stand on her own before fully stepping away. 

    “How would you two be able to help?” I asked. 

    Piper shrugged. “We’ve been in situations like this before. Trust me.” 

    Savannah frowned. “My dad’s done stuff like this before too. He can take care of himself.” 

    “I have no doubt that he can,” Piper responded, “but it can’t hurt to have a backup.” 

    As they walk after Ben, I heard Leo whisper “He won’t be hurt, right? He’s mortal.” And Piper murmured back “I’m starting to think he might not be.” 

    Mortal? Wouldn’t mortal mean that he could be hurt? After all, it was the opposite of immortal. 

    I helped Savannah walk over to a tree stump so that she could sit while we waited. It would be pointless to try to go back with just the two of us, especially with Savannah’s twisted ankle. 

    Only a few seconds after we had made it to the tree stump, Piper and Leo returned with Ben behind them. 

    “That was quick,” I said. 

    “There wasn’t anything there,” Leo said, frowning. 

    Not oblivious to Leo’s evident confusion, I said “good.” What else was I supposed to say to that? 

    Piper and I helped Savannah as we walked back, but the walk wasn’t filled with chatter as it had before. Everyone was more alert, and when we reached the road without meeting any trouble, Leo and Piper looked relieved and confused. 

    But not as confused as I was. 

    What had they been so afraid of?

Chapter Text

“You alright?” Piper asked me as I slumped into a fold-out chair. 

I shrugged. “I’ll be fine. Won’t be running during this trip though.” 

“I know. It’s too bad. We could have played volleyball or something later.” 

“You can still play.” I look up at the sky. There’s still enough light out. “I’ll just sit and watch. Keep score. Do whatever.” 

“Maybe.” 

Piper sat down next to me, and we looked over at the rest of our friends. Annabeth, Lara and Percy had just come back up from the beach, Miri walking slightly behind them looking slightly miffed. 

“So what’s the big deal about keeping the camp secret?” I asked bluntly. I had only known Piper for less than a day, but I already felt that asking outright might get the best answer from her. Not a full one. She wouldn’t break the rules any more than her friends, but maybe she’d say something less cryptic. 

“Safety,” she said. She went silent for a moment, pulling her fingers through a knot in her hair. “Safety for both the campers and for non-campers. It’s better if no one knows.” 

“Why?” 

“Why does your dad carry that… unusual… dagger? Was it a gift? What does he do with it.” 

I stiffened. “I don’t think you’d believe me.” 

“And I don’t think you’d believe me about camp. I get the feeling that I’ll be seeing more of you soon, Savannah.” Piper stood. “Do you want a hotdog?” 

I look over at the others who are now gathered around a blazing fire. 

“That was fast,” I said. 

Piper laughed. “What do you want? I’ll get it for you.” 

I gave Piper my order and watched her walk off. I did get more information from her than I ever had from Annabeth, but it wasn’t the kind that I thought I should share with Andrew and Miri. I didn’t want to lie to them, either. But sometimes, secrets had to be kept. 

I winced when I realized how much I sounded like Annabeth. Maybe their secret was really something I shouldn’t meddle with. 

0o0o0o0

“I’ll take the corner,” Annabeth and Piper said at the same time. They split up and set up their sleeping bags on either side of the doors to the 6-person tent. 

Miri, much too quickly, took a place next to Piper, and I found myself swallowing disappointment I didn’t know would be there. 

I ended up getting the spot between Annabeth, and Lara, who was in the center. 

“Anyone want to hear some scary stories?” Lara said into the dark. 

“Scary stories are overrated,” Annabeth muttered. “Someone tell a happy one.” 

“Something that ends in happily ever after,” Piper agreed. 

Lara laughed. “You guys are weird.” But she told a story anyway. It was suspiciously similar to the plot of Mamma Mia combined with Cinderella, but I held back my judgement in favor of finishing the story sooner. 

I never did hear the ending of the story. I woke up to sounds out in the trees, and voices. 

“I’ve got it!” I heard Percy yell. 

A roar sounded, and I reached for the knife tucked at my side. 

“Just wait,” I heard from in front of me. Lara was awake too. 

“Just wait for what?” another voice asked. Mira was awake too. “Whoever that is to hurt our friend?” 

What, I wanted to say. Not who. 

Whooshing noises and the sounds of objects hitting each other continued for a few more minutes, and then the tent door unzipped. 

Lara and I got ready to defend ourselves, but it was only Piper and Annabeth. I hadn’t noticed in the darkness that they weren’t in the tent with us anymore. 

Before I could open my mouth to speak, Lara covered it with a hand. The message was clear enough to me: don’t let them know that we were awake. Miri must have caught on as well, as she only shuffled slightly in her sleeping bag, but didn’t say a word. 

“I knew that all of us coming would be a bad idea,” Annabeth whispered, “but I didn’t think it would be this bad.” 

“Neither did I. You’d think there were more of us than just four,” Piper responded. 

“Leo told me what happened on the hike,” Annabeth continued. 

“Are you thinking what we are?” 

“It’s unlikely that they would have survived into adulthood alone like that, but I don’t see another explanation.” 

“What should we do? We have to say something.” 

“No,” Annabeth said. “We can’t risk it when we’re not sure. We have to talk to Chiron first.” 

    “Alright.” 

    The two girls climbed back into their bags. For a while, I was quite sure that no one in our tent was asleep, and I wondered how many of the boys were awake as well. 

0o0o0o0o0

    “What’s the plan for today,” my dad asked the next morning. He looked calm and refreshed, enough so that I doubted he had woken up in the middle of the night as we had. 

    “Er,” Piper began, “ Mr Bell.” 

    “You can call me Ben.” 

    “Ben. I got a call this morning from camp. They need all counselors there ASAP”

    “And you’re a counselor?” Ben guessed. 

    “All four of us are,” Percy agreed. 

    “I’m so sorry to have to cut the trip short,” Annabeth added. “But it really seemed like an emergency.” 

    Lara and I shared a look. Strange fights in the middle of the night, and a supposed emergency, huh?

    “It’s okay, Anna,” Lara said. “We’ll have to try again sometime.” 

    Everyone agreed that there wasn’t much point in staying any longer, so everything was packed away into the vehicles. The four campers piled into Piper’s car and left first. 

    Andrew got into my dad’s van and looked like he expected Miri and I to follow. I didn’t want to be unfriendly, but I did want to have some time to talk to my sister. Preferably, alone. 

    “Why don’t I take Savannah with me,” Lara requested. “We could use some time together.” 

    “That sounds like a fine idea,” Ben agreed. 

    “But -” 

    “Miri, just let it go,” Andrew told her. “Besides, we can watch a movie or something to pass time. There’s a tv in here.” 

    Lara let our dad leave first, and when we got out onto the highway, it was clear why. 

    “Where did you set the GPS to?” I asked as we turned in a direction our dad certainly hadn’t. 

    “A while ago I acquired a GPS tracker. The expensive one that we were going to put on Marlo’s collar, remember?” 

    “Yeah.” I did remember. Our old dog had gone missing so many times that Lara had invested in a collar that would track his live position and send it to her phone. Unfortunately, Marlo hadn’t lived long enough for the collar to be of use. 

    Lara cleared her throat and took another turn. “I might have turned it on and put it in Annabeth’s bag.”

Chapter Text

Lara pulled over to the side of the road once they had reached the place the GPS had directed them to. 

“They’re not here,” I pointed out. There wasn’t anyone, or even much of anything, where we had stopped. Some grass, some trees, some kind of crop fields in the distance. 

“Annabeth must have gone on foot while Piper parked somewhere,” Lara guessed. She took the key out of the ignition and got out. 

I hesitated. “You’re really going to follow on foot?” 

“Of course.” 

“What if this isn’t something we should mess with? You’ve seen how odd they act. You know that they see the monsters too. Maybe it’s like it is with mom and dad - being near them draws them to us.” It would make sense with everything that we had seen recently. As much as I loved having friends, putting my family in danger just to be friends with Annabeth and Percy didn’t seem like a good idea. 

When Lara turned and saw that I still wasn’t following, she walked to the passenger side of her car and opened the door. 

“Get out. I’m not leaving you in the car.” Her mouth was in a straight line, and it was one of the only times I could remember Lara ever being this serious about anything. 

“Don’t you see that this is our chance?” 

“Chance to what?” 

“Can you really not see it? They know. Savannah, they know. That’s the point! They see the monsters, they fight them, and they must know why! Wouldn’t you like to know why all of this happens to us?” 

I got out of the car. 

Lara and I climbed the hill and looked over it. Past the tall pine tree that we stood near to, there were only more fields. 

“Still convinced something is here?” I asked Lara. I wasn’t. The GPS probably just stopped working. It wasn’t made for you to track people with, after all. And Annabeth was smart. Maybe she had spotted it and tossed it out the window. Maybe we should have been looking for a dog collar lying in the ground somewhere. 

Lara raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. “We can’t risk not checking.” 

She took a few steps forward, then stopped. 

“What is it?” I asked. 

“Come see.” 

I went to the point where she stood, and looked out, expecting a similar view. But it wasn’t. I could see a house down in the valley, and more open fields without crops. I tried to take another step forward, but something stopped me. 

At first, I thought it was just nerves, but after a minute, it became clear that it wasn’t. My hand wouldn’t make it forwards either. 

“How has this not been spotted before?” Lara whispered. “Someone would notice a magical, super advanced, invisible barrier standing in the middle of nowhere.” 

“Most people can’t see it.” 

Piper had turned up. I still didn’t see her car anywhere, but Piper herself stood as if she had come from the trees to our left. She was still wearing the same clothes, but her appearance was altered by the dagger that hung visibly at her side and her intimidating posture. 

“I told Annabeth, we should have just brought you with us, but she wanted to talk with Chiron first.” She turned towards the big house in the distance. “Since you’re here now, though, you might as well come inside. Welcome to camp. I give you, Lara, and you, Savannah, permission to enter.” 

Lara and I exchanged a glance. Was that it? No… scans or something. 

I tried stepping forwards again. There was no barrier this time. And when we walked forwards, more was revealed: some kind of dragon-like creature wrapped around the huge tree, teenagers appearing in orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirts and armor, smaller buildings behind the house we had seen. 

“Everyone here,” Lara said, dazed, “has weapons like ours?” 

“Yep.” 

“And you can tell us why?” 

“Probably,” Piper agreed. “I don’t know for sure, but I’m sure Chiron and Annabeth will figure out what’s going on with you.” 

Piper kept on talking about how weird our situation was, and how we might be better suited for this other camp, but to be honest, I wasn’t paying that much attention anymore. I had just seen a guy walk by without pants, revealing fur and hooves instead of normal human legs. 

Up ahead of us, I could see that the person Piper pointed out as Chiron wasn’t human either. He was a centaur*. 

“These are the two you were speaking of?” He asked. I wasn’t sure how to respond, and then I realized that he wasn’t addressing me, but Piper. 

“Yeah. Chiron, meet Savannah and Larissa, Annabeth’s friends.” 

Chiron said it was a pleasure to meet us, but he had an odd look in his eye. 

“Piper said we’re weird,” Lara said directly. 

Chiron smiled slightly. “Indeed you are, although not in a bad way. How old are you?” 

“I’m eighteen,” Lara said. “Savannah is sixteen.” 

“Strange indeed,” Chiron mused. He appeared to search the space over our heads for a few moments. I turned to see what he was looking at, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

Or at least, probably not ordinary for camp. A teenage girl running across the campground in battle armor wouldn’t have been considered ordinary anywhere else. 

“The problem’s been resolved,” Annabeth said. Sweat made her hair stick to her face, and there were splotches of blood on her jeans, but she didn’t seem concerned. “The Aries cabin finally jumped in, the hellhounds are gone, and the harpies have gone back to… normal. Savannah?” She turned to Piper. “I thought I told you we’d talk to them after we talked to Chiron!” 

“They’d already found the camp, Annabeth.” 

“ How? ”

“Tracker,” Lara said. “In your bag.” 

Annabeth looked momentarily stunned. “You didn’t bring the others with you, did you?” 

“It’s just us,” I told her.

“Good. Now, how much do you two know about Greek myths?” 

“A decent amount. We both liked reading about them when we were younger. Why do you use them as the basis for your camp?” I remembered that it had been mentioned at some point by Andrew or Percy. The cabins were divided by the attributes of the Greek gods. 

“Every camper here,” Chiron began, “Is a halfblood. Half mortal, half god. Piper tells me that you live with your father. Whatever story -” 

“They live with both of their parents, Chiron,” Annabeth interrupted. “They’re not demigods.” 

“Ah. That would explain why they haven’t been claimed yet. But the fact that you have had to face monster attacks suggests that one of your parents is a demigod. Come.” He gestured to a table and chairs indoors. “Take a seat.” 

Larissa and I took seats across from Piper and Annabeth. I wasn’t sure how Chiron would join us, but he walked towards a wheelchair, and his horse legs seemed to magically disappear. He wheeled himself in next to the table like this was an everyday occurrence. 

“Now, tell us, what do you know about your grandparents?” 

I looked at Lara, and she shrugged. “We don’t know much about them. Neither of our parents ever met their mothers, and our dad isn’t very close to his father. Our mom’s dad, Grandpa Charlie, comes to visit every year though. Never talks about our grandma. They were never married.” 

“That doesn’t narrow it down much,” Piper muttered. 

“But it does. It would explain why Savannah and Larissa get attacked more often than other legacies with one demigod parent. If both of their parents are half bloods, that would make sense. And, they can’t be the children of anyone immensely powerful, or they wouldn’t have made it this long. So no big three kids. Since they’ve never been to camp, they could even be Roman demigods instead of Greek.”

“Wait, what?” Lara asked. 

“Nevermind, we’ll get to that later.” 

“The best method of confirmation at this point would be to bring your parents here,” Chiron suggested. “We can arrange for them to have better protection, and maybe a more normal life for the four of you.” 

“Six of us,” I said. “We’ve got two younger siblings.” 

“For the six of you then. Why don’t you have Piper walk you out, and we’ll speak again once the six of you are all present and accounted for.” 

“No way,” Lara said. “I came here for more answers than that!” 

“It’s okay, Lara,” I grabbed her arm and guided her outside. “We know where they are now. We can get answers anytime. Let’s just hope that Andrew and Miri won’t find out that we’re in on the secret too, now.”

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe that they just left ,” Miri said. 

It was the first hint of normal Miri since we had left the campsite. She had been more than a little bit irritated that all the other girls had gone and left her with just me and Savannah’s dad, meaning that her responses towards conversation had been minimal. It seemed, however, that a stop at the gas station to refuel the car and grab some snacks was all that was needed to start her talking again. 

“I’m sure it was something important,” Ben told her, eyes still on the road ahead of them. “I know that Annabeth gets really involved in her camp events, but that doesn’t mean she cares for her her friends any less. I’m sure it’s the same with Percy.” 

“Maybe, if he’d just tried to include us in any way,” Miri responded, “But we don’t know anything.”

“I’m sure they have their reasons.” Ben said this nonchalantly, but his mouth dipped down slightly at the corners. “Where do you want me to drop you off?” 

“My dad can come get me where we were dropped off,” I said immediately. 

“Okay.” Ben turned his head to look out the window for a moment. “And you, Miranda?” 

“I’m not sure yet, give me a minute.” She typed rapidly on her phone, chewing her lip. “I forgot my key, and my parents are busy, but my brother might not be.”  

We’re entered the city and Ben’s driving got slower as the traffic increased. Luckily, their apartment wasn’t in a particularly busy area, and we got there soon enough. Sooner than I had expected. 

“My dad won’t be here for at least ten minutes,” I said when we arrived. 

Ben parked the car and got out. “That’s no problem. Miri’s ride won’t be here for a while after that, so if you’d like to stay a while, that’s fine.” 

I figured hanging around with Miri wouldn’t be so bad, so I agreed to stay for an hour to keep her company. 

The Bell’s apartment was sparsely furnished. There was a couch and TV, and a dining table, and a kitchen of course, but no decorations out in the open. Of course, they had recently moved, but I had expected a little bit more chaos. 

I received only a little of this expected chaos when I stepped on a tiny blue lego piece behind the couch. I yelped, and Miri looked at me like I was an unexpected fee tagged on to the price of a shirt she particularly wanted. 

Ben looked at me with sympathy and amusement. “Sorry about any toys lying about. Christian and Molly haven’t quite got the organizing down yet.” 

“It’s quite alright.” My voice came out strained, and a desperately tried to keep a tear from coming out. 

Lego’s should be used as torture devices. 

As if I didn’t know this already, Ben continued to prove himself as a cool guy. He let Miri and I watch Netflix on their TV and brought us some cookies that they had in the cupboard. He even sat with us for a while as he worked on some sciency thing on his computer. 

“My brother will be here in ten,” Miri said at last. 

Ben checked the clock on his phone. “It’s been that long already?” He frowned. “Lara and Savannah should’ve been back by now.” 

Ben was about to call using his phone when the apartment door slammed. “Dad, you won’t believe what we found out at camp — “ 

Lara bounded into the room, an extra bounce in her step, and then she saw us. 

“I mean, the camp site , you know, er, because we went back to pick up something ‘Vannah left.” 

That day I learned that Larissa Bell was not good at telling convincing lies. 

I would later learn that Savannah, surprisingly, was. But that was another day, and another story. 

“You found it? You found camp?” Miri jumped up and looked ready to hop back in the van and go immediately. 

“No,” Lara said, much too quickly. 

Savannah sighed. “You don’t think before you speak, Lara. And you’re a really bad liar.” 

“Tell us everything,” Miri coaxed. 

“Sorry,” Savannah said. “We can’t do that. We had to promise.” 

I had to admit that it didn’t make much sense anymore. Could you only be allowed in on the secret if you found it yourself? If Miri and I went on our own to find it, would we be let it? Were those the special requirements to get into camp? 

“You were going to tell your dad about it,” Miri pointed out. 

“That’s different,” Lara said. “They let parents in on everything once the kids are.” 

“Oh.” Miri was oddly curt in that one word. 

“Yeah,” Lara confirmed. 

Silence took over the room. Ben was the only one still sitting. Miri and I faced Larissa and Savanna across the couch, all four of us having a stare down that seemed to last forever. 

“We’ll be going then,” Miri finalized. She grabbed my hand and laced her fingers with mine like we hadn’t done since we were little kids. Her hand was cold, and it held onto mine with a grip like steel. Then she marched out of the apartment, dragging me behind her. 

She stopped once she got into the hall and let go of my hand. “We’re out of the loop. Again . Again, damnit, what do we have to do to make this work?” 

She looked close to tears, and she pulled her fingers through her hair over and over. 

“Whatever it is, I’m sure pulling out your own hair won’t help,” I said. I couldn’t claim to know why this made her as mad as it did. I mean, sure, I was kind of upset, but it wasn’t as if I couldn’t have expected something like this from the likes of Percy Jackson. 

I guessed that Percy Jackson was probably at the root of it all, though. Miri hadn’t mentioned her crush on him for nearly a year, but that didn’t mean it was gone. I tried not to feel annoyed with that Idea. 

“What?” she stopped moving her hand. “Oh.” Her hands moved to one side, tugging at her jacket sleeve instead of her hair. 

“I say we follow them sometime.” My own suggestion surprised me a little. 

“You’re finally getting serious about this?” 

I nodded. “I think we deserve to know.” 

“Meet me tomorrow, at the juice bar? I’ll text you the time.” 

“And I’ll be there.”

Chapter Text

“Pineapple-mango for Miranda.” 

I walked up to the counter and grabbed my smoothie from the counter just as Andrew arrived. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he said. 

“Not a problem.” 

He nodded his head slightly and turned to make his order. He requests a medium strawberry banana smoothie, pays for it with cash, and then joins me in taking a seat on the bar stools facing the window. 

“Maybe we should just forget about camp,” Andrew suggested. 

I laugh, once. “Just forget when we might be closer than ever? Lara just proved that this isn’t an impossible task, we can figure this out! We’re just as smart as she is.” 

“I wasn’t doubting our intelligence,” he protested. I wait a moment while he goes to grab his drink. “I just think that they’ll be on their guard for tricks like that now. It won’t be as easy.” 

“I never said anything about easy, I just said it was possible.” 

Both of us turned as the door to the shop opened. A familiar face walked in. 

“I thought they had an emergency at camp,” I whispered to Andrew. It certainly couldn’t have been much of an emergency if she could be here on a date, or at least that’s what it looked like. 

Andrew did look suspicious after that. However, he had a more straightforward way of dealing with the problem. I was going to suggest we just watch from afar, but he went for the confrontation. 

“Hey, Piper!” He called out. 

Piper turned around with surprising speed, holding her milkshake out like she might throw it at whomever had called her name. “Oh, hi!” she pulled herself into a more relaxed position and walked over, pulling the blond boy over with her. 

“Andrew, Mira, this is my boyfriend Jason,” she introduced. 

Jason looked like what I had come to see as the typical camp kid. Fit and muscular seemed to be one of the things that qualified a person to get into the mysterious camp, and even those that didn’t seem to be particularly athletic, like Leo, still looked like someone you would lose a fight with. Both Jason and Piper were wearing t-shirts so thoroughly splattered with paint that you could barely see what the original color was. Their jeans hadn’t escaped the paint treatment either, although they were less colorful. 

“Nice to meet you, Jason.” Andrew held his hand out and Jason shook it. Jason looked over at me for a moment, hand half outstretched to shake mine, but I didn’t take it. Jason dropped his hand looking uncomfortable. 

“What was the emergency?” I asked Piper. 

She smiled, a little too knowingly. I probably hadn’t covered my irritation very well. “Fire in one of the cabins at camp. They wanted counselors to help move some of the younger kids. Nothing we couldn’t take care of. Leo and Annabeth stayed though, and I’d guess that Percy did as well.” 

“Everyone got out safely?” Andrew asked politely. 

“Everyone was fine, thank you for asking.” 

She and Jason stood there a moment longer before Jason took Piper’s hand and started towards the door. “Nice meeting you two,” he said. “Sorry for interrupting your date.” 

My mouth dropped open to throw some kind of retort back, but I changed my mind. Had Jason’s comment been directed at how we had interrupted their date, or had it been genuine? I really couldn’t tell. Either way, it didn’t really matter what Piper’s boyfriend thought. 

“Back to plans, then?” I asked Andrew. 

“Yeah,” He agreed. “I don’t think using some kind of tracker would work again, as I was saying. I wouldn’t be surprised if Annabeth starts doing daily checks through their belongings just to make sure we don’t follow them.” 

“But why keep us out now? Lara and Savannah already know.” 

“By accident.” 

“What else are we supposed to do though? Tail their car?” 

“If that’s the only idea we’ve got.” 

We looked at each other seriously for a minute. I stared into Andrew’s brown eyes without blinking. My eyes started to water, but in the end, he was the one to give in. 

“I win,” I said without thinking. 

“What, was that a for-real contest?” 

I rolled my eyes, but I was still smiling. Andrew laughed, and I couldn’t resist joining in. A couple of people gave us weird looks, but that only made us laugh harder.

“Okay, okay,” I get out between laughs, “back on track!” 

That was when Andrew’s phone started to ring. He really did stop laughing, and picked it up. After two words of conversation over the phone, he told me he had to leave. 

I won’t tell you that I wasn’t disappointed, because I was. It had been a long time since I had felt like I had a reason to laugh that much. And, what happened after Andrew left wasn’t anything joyful. 

I drank the rest of my smoothie there by the window, and tossed the cup into the trash on my way out. The cafe where we got our smoothies wasn’t too far from my apartment, and was about halfway between Andrew’s home and my own. We had both walked there. 

Unfortunately, the cafe wasn’t far from the homes of multiple other students at Goode either. 

“Hey! Miranda! Wait up!” Someone called. 

Maddie Graft, my longtime friend, and persistent irritation. She was the first person I made friends with back when I skipped a grade. We sort of fell out towards the end of Freshman year though, mostly because I didn’t like the other people she chose to hang out with. Neoma and Leta’s idea of who you should be didn’t align with my own. 

“It feels like forever since I’ve talked to you,” Maddie said when she caught up to me. “I was just heading to Leta’s. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you came with.” 

I’m sure Leta wouldn’t mind. She never seemed to, anyway. Leta never seemed to have caught on that sitting around gossiping wasn’t for me. In that way, Neoma was better. When it was just the two of us, she’d try to change the subject to something that I was interested in. This usually failed, as Neoma didn’t know enough about my interests to keep a conversation going. 

“Sure,” I said anyway. “I’m not busy.” 

Maddie grinned. “Great!” 

I should have said I had to get home. 

When we got to Leta’s apartment, she acted equally delighted to see me as she was to see Maddie. Leta’s just the type of person who, at first, seems to like everyone, but when you spend a lot of time with her you find out how much she doesn’t like. And then everyone agrees with her. 

“How are you, Mira? It’s been a hot minute since we’ve spoken,” Leta said. 

“I’m good,” I said. 

Leta guided us to sit on chairs in the apartment sitting room, where Neoma already sat, flipping through Netflix’s recommended list on the TV. 

“What have you been up to?” Leta asked. 

“Not much. Camping trip got cancelled early. I went to the cafe and got a smoothie, and met Maddie on my way back.” 

“Nice,” Leta noded. “What kind of smoothie?” 

“Pineapple mango,” I answered. 

“Oh, thank God. If you had said strawberry banana I would have been so disappointed in you. They’re disgusting, don’t you agree?” 

I didn’t answer, but Maddie and Neoma readily agreed with her. 

It’s the little things that made me dislike Leta, and her way of getting people to agree with her on something as ridiculous as a strawberry banana smoothie was one of them. Constantly asking for affirmation was another. It just seemed so immature. 

“How about The Office?” Neoma asked, talking about the TV. 

Leta shrugged. “Why watch fictional office drama, when we have our own? Right, Mira?” 

“Yeah.” This one I actually agreed with. 

“Percy Jackson went on your camping trip, didn’t he?” Leta asked. “You’re pretty good friends with him.” 

I bit my tongue and fought the urge to stand up and walk right out the door. I should have known she’d want information. 

After all, it’s what I would have wanted had our roles been switched, and though I hated to admit it, Leta and I weren’t completely different in more than one area. 

“Yeah. Percy did go. He invited a couple of his camp friends as well.” 

“Was Annabeth there?” Neoma asked. “What do you think of her ?” 

I nodded my head. “I think she’s nice. And she’s smart. I think we could be friends, eventually.” 

Neoma scrunched up her nose. “Really?” Looking back, I guess that if I’d said Annabeth was terrible, that would have somehow made Neoma feel less guilty for what was about to happen. 

“Do you think they’ll still be together by the end of the school year?” Maddie asked hesitantly. 

Did I? I had hoped not. Originally, I had desperately hoped they wouldn’t, but I suddenly hoped that they would, just to get on Leta and Neoma’s nerves.

“Definitely,” I said. 

“Don’t be silly,” Leta laughed. “It’s high school, and Annabeth will probably have to go back to Chicago or wherever she came from eventually. But we could use your help, Mira. Neoma wants to ask Percy to go to prom with her.” 

This time I laughed. “Good luck with that.” I stood up. “I should probably get home. No one’s there to feed the dog, and I have some work to do.” 

“Really? You’ll stop by later this week though, won’t you?” Maddie asked. 

I told her I’d try. 

I didn’t, though. What would have been the point? Besides, not one of them knew enough about me to know that I was allergic to dog hair. 

Chapter Text

“How many people did you say?” 

 I sat in the midsection of my family’s van, my parents seated in the front, Lara beside me, and the twins in the back. We had decided that going back to comp as soon as possible would be the best option, seeing as nothing was more important than safety, and we had time available during spring break. 

    The question of how many people they had seen at camp had come from my mom, Maya. She sat in the passenger seat nervously tapping her foot and grabbing onto the armrest every time the vehicle turned a corner. 

    “I don’t know, mom, hundreds probably,” Lara answered. “And they all had weapons like our own - except better. They were organized, and they all knew how to fight the monsters.” 

    “I don’t believe it,” Maya muttered. “I just don’t believe it.” 

    Dad reached an arm across to take his wife’s hand. “Isn’t it amazing? Maybe we’ll be able to send the kids there and finally get a vacation to ourselves,” he joked. 

    “Hey,” Lara interjected, “you get plenty of time to yourselves when Vannah and I take Molly and Christian with us.” 

    “And we don’t need that much attention,” Molly said. “We take care of ourselves!”* 

    My mom laughed lightly. “That’s true. I was hoping that finding this place would mean that we could be together more often without so much risk.” 

    No one said anything then. That was everyone’s wish and something that seemed much too good to be true. 

When we finally got to camp, the sun was low in the sky. Lara and I stood together behind our parents and watched them take it all in. Neither said a word as two satyrs walked by carrying a large piece of machinery. They only watched, eyes wide, as a group of teens walked towards the cabins, two dressed in jeans and t-shirts, and one in full battle armor, carrying a sword. Their silence was only broken when Christian expressed his exuberance in a sentence that made our parents scold him for his language, and made Lara laugh. 

“Savannah!” I heard a voice call from behind me. I turned. Annabeth was already at the big house, beckoning to us from the front porch. 

“Let’s go.” I walked towards my friend, making sure that my entire family was following. 

Everyone but Lara and I stepped backward when Chiron came into view in full on centaur mode. 

“Hello,” Chiron said. “You must be Mr. and Mrs. Bell. I’ve been very interested to meet you.” He held out a hand to Ben, who shook it, smiling and nodding. Maya didn’t do such a good job looking normal, staring at Chiron’s hooves and tail as she shook his hand. 

“I’m Molly,” Molly piped out, offering her hand. 

“Nice to meet you as well, child,” Chiron said, accepting her hand. “And you are?” He turned to Christian. 

“You’re a centaur.” 

Chiron chuckled. “Of that, I am quite aware. I was wondering who you might be.” 

“Oh, I’m Christian.” 

“Good, good.” Chiron turned back to our parents. “Have you been filled in on how our camp works? The cabins? The gods?” 

“We’ve heard everything you told Larissa and Savannah when they were last here. We were hoping for more,” Ben said. “Is it possible for us to be claimed as adults? Will our children be claimed?” 

“No,” Chiron answered. “Your children will not be claimed as they are not direct children of the gods. However, I have no reason to suspect that you can’t be claimed. If you are to be claimed, it is likely to be at the campfire, which will take place momentarily. Annabeth will lead you there, and when you return, you can stay at the big house for the night, or cabins if you are claimed.” 

“Thank you,” I said. 

We watched as Chiron trotted away towards a building in the distance, and then turned to get directions from Annabeth. 

“I’m sorry I kept this from you all,” was the first thing she said. “I didn’t realize until recently that you might belong here at camp, and even then, I wasn’t sure if my deductions about your legacy were correct. Camp has to be a protected secret, and I think I was too strict in keeping it from you.” 

I smiled at her, although I wasn’t sure if she could see it clearly. It was starting to get quite dark. “I understand.” 

“I don’t. But I forgive you anyway. Take us to this campfire,” Lara said. 

“Will there be smores?” Molly asked, and at the same time, Christian asked “Will there be more mythical creatures?” and Mom asked, “So, how long have you been going to camp, Annabeth?” 

We all laughed, and Annabeth guided us to walk along a dirt path while she answered. 

“Yes, there will be smores, and if you’re lucky, you might see some nymphs.” 

Christian and Molly shared a look, both adjusting their pace so that they were at the front of our family pack, placing Annabeth between me, Lara, and our parents. 

“I came to camp when I was seven, which is unusually young. In more recent years, a rule was set in place so that all children must be claimed by the time they turn 13, which allows us to send satyrs or older demigods out to go help them get to camp.” 

“That would have been helpful,” Maya said. I noticed a pinch of bitterness in her voice that I had only ever heard before when she talked about the past. 

Annabeth smiled sadly. “I know it came too late for you, but it has helped quite a few people.” 

“I’m sure it has,” Ben agreed. 

Then we had run out of time for conversation, as the campfire was in view. We took seats to one side, trying not to draw attention, but it soon became apparent that a middle-aged man and woman trying to join in singing campfire songs that were only seen as normal in such a place as this one, was not something easily hidden. Molly and Christian quickly left us, Molly talking with the girl we had seen in armor earlier, and Christian joining a group of well-dressed teens seated near the s'more supplies. 

Lara went to chat with Leo, who she had spotted around the rising fire, and my parents were still talking to Annabeth. 

“It’s nice to see you all here,” Piper said, taking a seat next to me. 

“It’s nice to see you here,” I said. “I don’t really know where I should be right now.” 

Piper followed my gaze to all of my siblings, each one finding their place among the others with ease. 

“It can be hard at first,” she said. “Finding where you fit in.” 

“Where’s your group?”

Piper pointed to the group of kids Christian had sat down with. “Aphrodite’s cabin. I’m the head counselor. Looks like your brother thinks he belongs with us.” 

“Goddess of love and beauty, right?” 

“Yep, that’s my mother in a nutshell.” 

Christian does look like he belongs there, with a lock of sandy blond hair flopped over in his face, leaning elegantly against a table. Even the speck of marshmallow goo on his nose doesn’t disguise the kid’s looks. Even the fact that he’s only nine doesn’t disguise his good looks. 

“And me?” I asked Piper. 

Piper shrugged. “There’s no way to know for sure until your parents are claimed. But I’d be glad to have you.” 

“Attention, please ,” a girl in the center of the clearing was trying to get everyone’s attention now that the singing was over, and by the irritated look on her face, I guessed that she’d been trying to get people’s attention for a while now. She wore jeans under an extra long shirt that had dried splatters of paint all over it. “Does anyone have any announcements?” 

“That’s Rachel,” Piper whispered to me. “She’s the oracle.” 

“The what?” I whispered back, but Piper didn’t answer. Instead, she turned around to see what everyone else was staring at. 

A bit late to catch on, I did the same. 

My dad was there, looking a bit confused about why he was getting so much attention, but there above his head was a partial answer to where I belonged. The owl glowed a shimmering silver above his head, and at last, he looked upwards to see it. 

Looking back on it, I should have guessed that his mother was Athena. He had always been the brainy one in our family. He had also been mistaken as Annabeth’s father when he took us places in public. It made sense knowing that they were actually related. 

The group of Athena kids applauded, and Rachel let them cheer for a moment. 

“Congratulations! I’m sure Annabeth and Chiron will help figure out your living arrangements. Anyway, are there any more announcements?” 

No one else stepped forwards, so Rachel dismissed everyone and reminded everyone to get to bed if they didn’t want to be caught by the cleaning harpies. 

“Goodnight.” Piper gave me a hug before going to join her cabinmates. 

“Goodnight,” I said back. 

I squeezed my hands into fists and then let them fall. It shouldn’t matter that I wasn’t in a cabin with Piper. I had Annabeth now. Then I wrinkled my nose. Annabeth was technically my aunt. 

That was going to take some time to comprehend. 

0o0o0o0o0o0

    “I know we just moved here,” Dad said to us as the six of us sat around the living room the next day, “but Mom and I were thinking that maybe we’ve found someplace better.” 

    “You want to move us right when we’ve started to adjust?” Lara said, outraged. “I mean, it doesn’t impact me much, but Savannah finally has friends at school, and it’s hardly fair to Molly and Christian to make them change again.” 

    “We understand where you’re coming from, Lara,” Mom said. “But give us a chance to explain.” 

    Our dad continued to explain. “Chiron explained to us that your mother might not be a Greek demigod, but a Roman one. That brought up the subject of New Rome, a city for demigods and legacies of all ages. Your mom and I could find jobs there. Christian and Molly could grow up there without having to worry about carrying weapons as you did.” 

    I squirmed uncomfortably. If they were taking this much time to make sure that we were okay with this, that meant that there was something that they thought we wouldn’t like. 

    “I wouldn’t be able to keep going to Goode, would I?” 

    “No. It would mean going back to California,” Mom said. 

    My parents looked into each other’s eyes for a moment, and then looked only at me. 

    “If you really wanted, you could stay here,” my dad said. “There’s an adult that went to Camp Half-Blood that lives nearby. She’s a daughter of Demeter. Her name is Claire. She’s young, only twenty, but she has a spare room in her apartment she says you could stay in.” 

    “Woah, wait a minute,” Lara interrupted. “You’re giving her the option to stay, but not me?” 

    “Can’t you just stay anyway?” Molly pointed out. “You’re nearly nineteen now.” 

    Lara stared blankly, and then looked at our parents, then back to Molly. 

    “I’m staying,” she said at last. “I’ll find somewhere to live, I have enough money, especially if I find a roommate.” 

    I looked around the living room at my family. I would have never expected to be separated from them so soon. The idea of it was thrilling and sad at the same time. I would miss so much of Molly and Christian growing up. But it would be worth it - it had to be. I had friends now. I could make something out of my life that I hadn’t dreamed possible. 

    “Let’s think on it for a few days,” I said. 

    “Of course.” My Dad nodded. “There’s no rush, after all. 

*I’m going to admit that I forgot the twins were 9 years old. In my head, I thought they were 5 or 6, but I went back to the first chapter they were mentioned, and yes, they are 9. Luckily, 9-yr olds can still play with legos, and can still make a mess by leaving toys around, so I didn’t have to change anything :)

Chapter Text

“You’re back,” I said, pointing out the obvious. 

First thing the Monday after spring break ended, here we were in math class again. Annabeth had her book open and was frantically scribbling out numbers as she hunched over its pages. 

“Mhmm,” she nodded. 

“Didn’t have time for homework?” 

“Nnn.” 

I took my normal seat next to her and wondered what I should do. I knew that Maddie, Neoma and Leta were up to something, but would warning Annabeth do any good when I didn’t know what would happen? I had done my best to avoid them out in the hallway instead of gathering more information from them. 

“Annabeth?” I asked. 

She didn’t respond. 

“Are you and Percy going to prom?” 

She finished the problem she was on and then looked at me curiously. “We haven’t talked about it. We don’t usually go to school events, though. Why?” 

I bit my lip. “I was just wondering.” 

“Are you going?” It was her turn to ask the question. 

I laughed. “I doubt it. You and Percy aren’t going, and I don’t think Andrew or Savannah will either. Why would I go without friends?” 

“You could ask someone to go with you,” she pointed out. 

I shrugged, and was saved from having to answer by the ringing of the bell, and the start of class by our teacher. I didn’t have to tell her that there would be no point in asking anyone when I didn’t know anyone who would say yes. 

0o0o0

“Miranda!” someone said my name as they looped their arm with mine in the hallway. I turned to face them, and was greeted by Leta’s beaming smile. She pulled me close to her group, and kept on smiling, her expression trying to tell me how important, how precious I was. 

Leta always made people feel like they were invincible, only to be disappointed in them later. And they all went back to her anyway, desperate to taste more of that invulnerable power. 

“Did you find out if Percy is going to prom with Annabeth?” 

“No,” I lied. I didn’t want to be their spy, and I didn’t want them to see this as an opportunity. 

It was too late for that, however. 

“I guess we’ll just have to trust in fate then,” Neoma said. I was surprised to see that she actually looked tense. Her fingers twitched slightly, and her smile seemed forced. 

Leta looked at her with sympathy. “Don’t worry, Neoma, I’m sure everything will go just as planned.” She turned to me. “We’ll fill you in at lunch, if you want. We’re going to eat outside, just meet us at the south entrance.” 

“I’ll think about it,” I said. I wasn’t sure I should get any more involved. I didn’t have to stop their plan - if they followed through, they would see just how foolish it was. 

Maddie grabbed my hand as I started to walk away. “Please,” she whispered. 

Maddie had always been a difficult person to resist.

0o0o0

Lunchtime, I stopped at the cafeteria to let my normal friends know that I’d been invited to eat out. 

Annabeth had this odd look in her eye when I said the words, and her mouth turned to a small smile. I realized that bringing up prom earlier and then being “invited out” might have given the wrong impression, but I didn’t correct her. It was better that she didn’t know I was associated with Leta, Neoma, and Maddie. 

I walked out the south door, and was immediately ushered to a bench under a tree next to one of the athletic fields. 

“What do you think,” Maddie asked, and she and Leta unfurled a poster, facing it away from the school so that only I could see. 

“Prom would be un bear able without you,” it said. I didn’t get it until Neoma walked so that she was in front of the sign, holding a toy bear that was wearing camping gear. 

I wanted to laugh. It was so… Maddie. This had to have been her idea, with the cute, hand drawn bubble letters on the poster, and a stuffed animal. Unfortunately, the other girls took my wide grin as a good sign saying they should go forwards with their plan. 

“I knew she’d like it!” Maddie cheered. She wrapped her arms around Neoma, who got more and more shaky as the day went on. 

“Perfect,” Leta said. “We’ll open the poster at the end of school as Percy is walking out.” 

“You realize he’ll be walking with Annabeth, right?” 

Leta shrugged, Neoma turned even redder, and Maddie looked at her toes. 

I sighed. “Well, thanks for showing me. I’ll be going now.” 

I wasn’t stopped from going back inside. I spent most of my lunch time loitering in the bathrooms, but five minutes before I had to get to class, I dropped back into the cafeteria. 

Annabeth, Percy, Andrew, and Savannah sat at our usual table with Leah and Henry. 

“How did it go?” Annabeth asked, smirking. 

“Yeah, how did my little sister get a date to prom and not tell me?” Henry blurted. 

I stopped in my tracks. “Wha - what?” 

“Yeah, well, she didn’t tell anyone it seems like,” Andrew said. He didn’t meet my eye when I looked at him. 

“You’ve got this all wrong,” I said. “I’m not going to a stupid dance.” 

“Oh.” Annabeth looked unsure, like I might not be telling the truth. 

I didn’t say anything to prove myself. I felt strangely irritated. It was a strange feeling, swapping from wanting to laugh until I couldn’t breath when I had seen Neoma’s promposal, and wanting to slap someone now. 

“See you in AP Lit,” I said to Savannah, and left. 

0o0o0

I should have been focused enough to know to avoid the front entrance when I left school that afternoon, but the day had only gone down hill since lunch, leaving me anxious to get home, and willing to think of little else. I didn’t even notice Neoma standing in front of the poster until I walked past and Leta grabbed my arm. 

“Don’t you want to see?” she asked. 

No, I didn’t want to see. I didn’t want to be there at all, I wanted to be at home, and then I could laugh with Percy about this whole thing tomorrow. 

“Stay,” Leta pressed. “You helped out, after all.” 

This was probably meant to make me eager to stay, but it only made me more eager to leave. 

Leta was still holding onto my arm when Neoma called out in a rough voice, “Percy!” 

Percy looked over his shoulder to see who had called his name. He saw Neoma, who looked a little bit more confident since she had covered some of her nervousness with makeup. Neoma smiled, and held the teddy bear in front of her. 

“Will you - prom?” she got out. 

Annabeth and Savannah had just noticed what was going on, and surprisingly, Annabeth didn’t look too angry. 

Percy smiled at Neoma. “Sorry. I have a girlfriend. And, we don’t know each other very well. I hope you have a good time though.” He turned to walk away. 

“Wait,” Neoma croaked. “I just - you’re not going with her , are you?” she pointed at Annabeth. That was when Annabeth realized that this was serious. 

“What part of ‘no’ didn’t you get?” she snapped. “Even if I wasn’t his girlfriend, he said no . Accept that!” 

“If he won’t go with me, he’ll go with Mira, won’t he. They’re close,” Neoma pointed out. 

Leta shoved me forwards. “Before you were here,” she said, “We all thought Percy and Mira were destined to be together.” 

This was completely new information to me. 

I couldn’t understand why Neoma and Leta were so desperate for Percy to go with one of them. But I supposed that they thought they’d stand a better chance with him if he spent more time with their group. 

Not a bad idea if they’d gone about it in the normal way of making friends. 

Using me as a pawn, however, was going to ruin my life. 

I didn’t look at Percy, I knew he’d say no. My eyes met Annabeth’s, and what I saw was utter disappointment. 

I felt guiltier than ever, and I hadn’t even done anything besides be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

“You? That’s why you asked if I was going to prom? I though…” her voice faded out. She didn’t look angry anymore. Her face was cold and expressionless, which was worse. 

“I’m not a part of this,” I stuttered out. “I was just passing by, I swear.” 

Annabeth took Percy’s hand, and pulled him away wordlessly. Percy gaped, looking between the two of us, confused, but he followed Annabeth away. 

Savannah was left behind them. She waved awkwardly before hopping into her sister’s car. 

I stood with Maddie, Neoma and Leta. 

Actually, by the time I turned around, I was only standing with Maddie. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sure he’ll forgive you,” she said. 

“It’s not Percy’s forgiveness I’m worried about, Mads,” I said. “It’s Annabeth’s”

Chapter Text

I took a deep breath and gathered my courage. I had debated calling Annabeth’s phone after I had left school the previous day, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I had never texted or called Annabeth before, aside from the “yep, this is Mira :p” text I sent so she had my number. 

So, that left a conversation with Annabeth during school hours. I hadn’t seen her in the halls before class, but I had seen Percy. 

“I just wanted to make sure you knew that I had nothing to do with… with what happened yesterday,” I had said. 

Percy had locked his eyes on his locker instead of me and said, “I think I know that. But, well,” he looked directly at me. “It did seem like something you might have done a year or two ago.” 

A year or two ago was when I was obviously crushing on Percy - and everyone knew it, including him. Percy’s right, too. I might have done something like this back then. 

“Maybe then,” I had told him. “But I know Annabeth now. I would never do that to either of you.” 

“I’m glad. I would have missed having you as a friend. I still think that maybe I should have been more sensitive to your feelings though.” 

I laughed. “We all know you’re not the best when it comes to girl’s feelings, Percy. Don’t worry about it.” 

And then, I walked to class, where the inevitable confrontation would probably start. 

“Annabeth?” 

I talked to the statue seated in Annabeth’s desk. She stared straight forwards, tapping the eraser end of her pencil on the desk to an unknown rhythm. 

“I wasn’t part of their plan,” I said. “Leta just pulled me in. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” 

“Why should I believe you? Everything fits. You were gone yesterday at lunch, but aren’t going to prom. Percy mentioned that you used to like him before I came here.” 

I was half panicking that I wouldn’t be able to convince her of my innocence, and half joyful because at least she was talking to me. 

“I admit, I knew about their plan,” I said. “But I thought they would just see how ridiculous it was when they failed, and leave it at that.” 

“But did you help?” 

“No. I promise, I didn’t.” 

Annabeth’s eyes narrowed, and her grey irises stared me down. 

I stared back for a few moments, but her gaze set off fear and discomfort that I couldn’t defeat with a staring contest. 

“Can we be friends again?” I bit my lip. Maybe I shouldn’t have said ‘again.’ I wasn’t sure Annabeth and I had even truly been friends before yesterday’s incident. 

“I don’t know,” she said. She went back to staring forwards and whispered, maybe to me, or maybe to herself, “ I don’t know. ” 

0o0o0

Percy glanced at Annabeth from the lunch line where we stood together. “Did you talk to her?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “I don’t know if she believes me though.

Annabeth was already sitting at our usual table. She was chatting expressionlessly with Leah while Henry and Andrew sat listening to their conversation. Savannah was getting lunch just behind Percy and I. She wasn’t close enough to hear our conversation though, not that I wouldn’t have minded. Savannah was the type of person I felt inclined to trust. 

“She’ll understand, once she pushes her feelings out of the way,” Percy said. 

I nodded. “I’m sure she will.” 

I sat down at our table between my brother and Savannah. 

“So,” Henry said. “I heard that yesterday, you asked Percy -” 

“- I did not , and if you keep spreading that, I’ll, I’ll.” I didn’t really have anything I could do to him. Maybe I could hide something of his in our apartment, like his video games, or dye all of his clothes bright shades of pink and yellow. 

Henry smirked. “Whatever you say.” 

The table fell into a silence that I’m sure everyone but Leah would have described as awkward. 

“So, what’s up?” Percy said. 

Savannah put her fork down. “I’m moving,” she said. 

Annabeth looked up from her food, startled, and not as expressionless as she had been most of the day. 

“Again? So soon?” 

“You’re one to talk,” Savannah teased. “My dad’s job moved him again. My parents and younger siblings will be moving away, but Lara and I met someone who will let us stay with them.” 

“So you’ll still be at Goode then?” Even though Savannah and I weren’t close yet, if I was going to lose Annabeth, it would be nice if she was still there so that I had at least one friend that was a girl. 

Savannah smiled. “That’s the plan.” She looked over at Annabeth. “I’ll be here for the school year at least. I might have some plans for the summer.” 

The look shared between Annabeth and Savannah made me feel as if I might as well just leave. I would be equally excluded either way. What would I have bet that Savannah’s summer plans now had to do with the mystery camp that Andrew and I had never found. After the break in my relationship with Annabeth, I figured snooping about trying to find out her camp’s secret would be even less welcome. I wasn’t about to risk that. This meant that my chances of ever being included in this particular secret were especially low. 

“I’m glad you’ll still be around,” I said anyway. 

Savannah tilted her head and cast her gentle smile my way. “Me too.”

0o0o0

“So what really happened yesterday,” Andrew asked. His facial expression was oddly neutral. 

We had somehow both ended up in the cafe again after school, neither of us saying explicitly what our destination was, but walking together there anyway, and ordering without a word said to each other. 

“I don’t feel like I really know,” I told him. I looked out the window at the people passing by. A young man passed by holding hands with a toddler as the little girl laughed and pointed at something across the street. A girl I thought I recognized from school walked behind them texting someone. She stopped and rubbed at her red, puffy eyes before turning around and walking back the way she came. 

I wondered what the problems in her life were, and if they were worse than mine. Had she been crying because of an argument with a friend, or had someone important to her passed away? 

Andrew didn’t push for more of an answer but I talked anyway after that. I told him about Maddie, how we had fallen apart as friends. Some of that he knew already, he had been there for a lot of it. Then I got to the events of the past couple days, how I realized that I didn’t feel the same way about Percy anymore, and how I had been dragged into Maddie’s friends’ plans. 

When I finished, I forced myself to look at him instead of the strangers walking down the sidewalk. He had a small smile on his face. 

“Why are you smiling!” I hissed. 

He tried to stop himself from laughing, but his start to a laugh had only caused me to smile. 

“It's just that I was all worried for nothing,” he said. “Well, not for nothing, but for the wrong reasons.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I don’t have any fancy way I planned to ask this, Mira, but, would you want to go to prom with me?” 

I probably looked kind of strange, gawking at him as I had. Andrew, one of my closest friends for years, was asking me to prom? As friends?

“And maybe dinner before?” he asked hesitantly. 

I don’t know why I felt like crying, but I did. 

“I would love that.” 

Andrew smiled. 

We talked a while longer after that. Then we got up, threw our empty drinks away, and walked out. I held his hand as we walked. 

It felt completely natural.

Chapter Text

With all the tension going around at school, I was glad for an escape, even if that escape left room for me to think about the fact that I wouldn’t be living with my family anymore. Lara and I had gone to meet Claire the previous afternoon, and it was clear that the two of them would get along almost immediately. We hadn’t been planning to visit her two afternoons in a row, but Claire and Lara had it arranged as soon as we had left. 

Claire’s apartment had space enough for the three of us as long as Lara and I shared a room, and if we didn’t mind the occasional demigod popping in to say hello or receive medical supplies. 

Claire had slapped Lara’s hand when she had reached for the ambrosia. 

“Do you want to die? ” 

“Sorry,” Lara jumped back. “I thought this stuff was supposed to heal people!” 

“ Some people. Not everyone.” 

Aside from the magical healing food, nothing was off limits to us either, even though we wouldn’t be moving in until summer started. 

The rest of the school year went fairly smoothly. At home, everything that hadn’t been fully unpacked from our first move stayed unpacked since it was only a matter of time before everyone would leave again. The items that belonged to Lara and I gradually found their way over to Claire’s, where we ended up spending the night just as often as we didn’t. 

At school, tensions died down and things went back to normal. Once Mira and Andrew officially announced that they were dating, Annabeth relaxed around Mira again, and I found that hanging out with the two of them (and occasionally, Leah would join us) became one of my favorite things to do. 

To start with, I had only had Annabeth. Annabeth was smart and witty when she wanted to be, but she was serious, and sometimes her serious attitude could be exhausting. Now that we had a larger group, Percy could lighten the mood with humor, Andrew with an interesting conversation topic, and Mira with - well, Mira and Annabeth still argued. A lot. But their arguments were trivial and we usually all laughed at the stupidity of it all. 

The final school dance of the year crept closer as well. I wasn’t expecting anyone to ask me, and no one did, but I noticed that the others talked about prom as if I were going. 

“You know I’m not going, right?” I asked one lunch time. 

Mira looked at me, wide eyed. “Don’t be ridiculous. You have to go.” 

“Why?” 

“Because,” she leaned in to whisper, “Percy and Annabeth still aren’t going. I can’t go without a friend!” 

I laughed. “You have Andrew.” 

“That’s different.” 

I shook my head. 

“Please, just come?” 

“I’m not into being a third wheel.” 

Mira shook her head vigorously. “I promise you won’t be.” 

“Fine.” 

0o0o0

When the evening of prom actually came, I wasn’t a third wheel because Mira’s brother had gotten strep, leaving Leah on her own. 

Not to say I wasn’t sorry for Henry, but Mira and Andrew were so absorbed in each other, there was no way I wouldn’t have felt left out if I hadn’t had Leah there. 

Mira looked amazing in an a-line dress of deep blue that matched Andrew’s suit. Leah was sporting a much more casual purple sweater dress with half sleeves for warmer weather. I had chosen a simple dress in yellow that Claire had loaned to me since we were of similar size. 

Prom wasn’t anything outstanding in my opinion, but then again, I was never very fond of dances. The food was good though, and I was convinced to dance for a few songs by Leah and Mira. 

“To next year being a good one!” Mira yelled over the noise of people and music. She held up one of those fancy plastic cups in a toast. The rest of us raised our glasses and touched them to hers. 

“Cheers to that,” I said. 

At some point, Leah and Andrew were out dancing while Mira and I watched. This is when she brought up the topic I had thought she had forgotten about, or at least chosen to ignore. 

“You go to camp now, don’t you?” 

I shrugged. She didn’t need to clarify which camp she was talking about - there was only one that she could possibly be interested in.  “I will. I’ve only been there twice, but I’m going this summer.” 

Mira nodded, looking into her glass without focusing. “Do you think it’s worth trying to find? For me, I mean?” 

“You won’t find it if no one wants you to.” 

“You and your sister did.” 

“We could have searched forever and not found it had Piper not wanted us to be let in,” I said. I wasn’t sure how the rules of Camp Halfblood worked, but from what I had been told, I wasn’t lying with that answer. 

“So you’re saying I should have made a better impression with Piper?” 

I laughed. “No. I don’t think it would have helped.” 

Mira sighed. “I hate not knowing such a big secret.” 

“I know.” 

“Someday,” she said. “Someday one of you will tell me. I’ll wait.” 

I tried to give a genuine smile even though I knew no one would ever be telling her anything. The fact that she was willing to trust us with our secrets meant more than she could know.

Chapter Text

Leta Diaz

“Excuse me, pardon,” I murmured as I walked through the crowd of students in the auditorium. I carried my brother’s violin and several sheets of music in my arms, trying not to drop them as I rushed. 

Of course, someone didn’t hear me, and I ran into them, dropping music sheets in the process. 

“Oops, I am so sorry - Leta?” The girl looked up at me as she handed me the papers she had picked up. 

She wasn’t hard to recognize. Her features were ones I had seen regularly for years before college. 

“Hello, Mira,” I said. “What are you doing here?” 

“I came to see a friend,” she said cautiously. She looked at the violin I was carrying. “Do you play?” 

I shook my head. “I brought it for my brother.” 

Speaking his name seemed to summon him. My brother appeared from thin air, uttered a quick thanks, took his items, and raced off. 

“Late?” Mira asked. 

“Yeah. He’s always so scatterbrained.” 

Mira and I looked at each other for a few moments. I wondered if she still hated me after all of the time that had passed. We had never been friends. I knew that much. At some point during high school I had thought that we could’ve been allies. 

That had ended for sure after the ‘asking Percy Jackson to prom’ incident. Mira hadn’t tried to take any type of revenge or anything, but she’d made it clear where I stood with her, even without the rude gestures. 

True to Mira’s prophecy, Annabeth and Percy didn’t break up. Not that school year, over the summer, or during our senior year. I was stupid enough that I kept trying to make something work well into our last year at high school. Nothing ever came of anything I did, or at least, nothing good. 

I had promised myself that college would bring a new start, but breaking out of an obsession was hard. I’d done my best to forget Percy and removed everyone in my life that reminded me of my high school years, but for some reason I just had to find a guy to fill Percy’s place. 

When I found out the guy wasn’t single this time either, I let it drop. Jealousy hadn’t gotten me anywhere the first time, and it wouldn’t do any good here either. If only I had learned that lesson earlier. 

“Where are you sitting?” I asked Mira, hoping that we would be a significant distance away from each other. 

“24 B.” 

I looked down at my ticket. It said 23 B. Just my luck. “We have seats right next to each other!” I tried for a winning smile. “Isn’t that just the weirdest coincidence?” 

Mira nodded. I couldn’t tell whether or not she believed my enthusiasm. I never had been able to tell with Mira, and it had always made me nervous. 

“How do you do it?” I blurted. 

“Do… what?” Mira asked. 

“Conceal what you’re thinking, yet always seem so… authentic.” 

Mira didn’t say anything, but she gestured for me to follow her to our seats. Once we had sat down in our fold out red auditorium seats, she spoke.

“I guess I seem authentic because I am. I don’t care what most people think of me, and I guess it shows.” 

We sat in silence for a little bit. I tried to guess at what Mira might have been thinking about, but came up with nothing. 

“What about you?” She asked out of the blue. “How do you make people instantly like you, and instantly feel liked by you?” 

I looked at her in surprise. “You never liked me.” 

She laughed. “I’m naturally skeptical of people. In general, people like you when they meet you, though. I keep getting told I come across as bossy.” 

I didn’t know what to say. Could my jealousy of Mira’s situation possibly have been a two way street? All I did was try to make friends when I met a new person - it could never hurt to have another person who trusted you, at least a little bit, but I was never sure how well it worked. 

“I don’t know. I just smile and compliment a lot I guess. It helps to be genuinely interested in what someone’s talking about. Even if you’re not interested in the topic, you can learn a lot about a person by the way they talk.” 

“Why do you do it though? Just for the fun of manipulating them into doing what you want?” 

My shoulders tensed. I’d been trying to be less manipulative ever since my one true friend had pointed it out in me as the only thing she didn’t like. I couldn’t hide that part of my actions from Mira, though. 

“I don’t know,” I said again. “I just wanted to be popular.” 

I just wanted to have friends like Mira had, have a cute boyfriend like Mira had, even if it wasn’t Percy. I wanted to be in control over all of it, and all of my wishing had blocked me from looking at the world realistically. 

“You were popular,” Mira pointed out. 

“Not in the way you were.” 

She didn’t ask for clarification, but she seemed to get what I was talking about. 

We didn’t talk again after the orchestra started to play, but I did do something else. I unlocked my phone, opened the contacts app, and held it out to Mira with a new contact open. I held my breath. I didn’t know if she’d want to have any connection with me now that she didn’t have to. 

She took the phone and typed a number in. 

I smiled - and it wasn’t just pretend this time. 

Molly Bell

When one of your closest friends goes missing for weeks, most people would see it as a cause for concern. They would be right to show concern, too. And, please don’t get me wrong, I do care about Vivi, but when when she went missing, I honestly wasn’t too worried about it. Vivi and I had been friends for more than four years, ever since the two of us started spending our summers at camp. I knew that Vivi had gotten a quest during the summer - it probably had just gone on for longer than expected. Sure, I had my doubts every once in a while, but I knew she’d be back. 

On the fourth day of school someone ran straight at me and wrapped their arms around my neck as I exited the building, and I knew the waiting was over. 

Vivienne Clarke, 5 foot midget, daughter of Ares, and my closest friend, was back. 

“Sorry I missed the first week of high school,” she said. 

“It’s okay.” I looked her over. She walked with a slight limp, and wore a knee brace, but otherwise seemed to be okay. “As long as you’re safe.” 

She grinned. “Nothing I couldn’t handle. And I had Raine and Fiona as backup.” 

“They’re both okay then?” 

“Yep.” 

Vivi waited with me until Christian got out and then walked home with us. It had taken Christian and I a lot of internal debate to decide where we would go for high school. We could have stayed in New Rome, or decided to go to Camp Half Blood or Camp Jupiter year round, but in the end, we had decided Goode was the good way to go. 

Savannah had long ago graduated with her friends, and it was almost as if we had switched places. Savannah was now the one that lived in New Rome with our parents as she went to college to study psychology, and Christian and I lived with Lara and Claire. 

“Vivi!” Claire hugged my friend when she walked into the apartment. “Clarice said you were back. Congrats on a successful quest!” 

“Thanks, Claire,” Vivi responded. “Do you mind if I stay here tonight?” 

“Of course not, as long as you don’t mind a crowd. We’re hosting a bit of a reunion later this evening.”

I looked at her in surprise. “A reunion of what?” 

Lara entered the room to answer my question. “Savannah’s coming for a visit, and she’s bringing friends.” She walked over to pick up a book from off of the dining table and kissed Claire on the cheek on her way out. “Make sure to clean up your stuff, you two,” she said, talking to me and Christian. 

I looked at the pile of jackets and shoes by the door as well as books littered across the table. 

“I guess I have work to do,” I told Vivi. “You can relax though.” 

Christian and I cleaned up the mess, most of which was indeed ours, before we heard the door being unlocked. 

In walked Savannah, Annabeth, Percy, Mira, and Andrew. My role models of what a high school friendship should look like. 

At the moment, all I had was Christian, Vivi, and the guy who talked to me when I sat next to him in English, but we would get there. 

And of course, none of Savannah’s friends were in high school anymore. Annabeth and Percy were at college in New Rome, studying architecture and marine biology respectively. Mira and Andrew were both still in New York. Mira was studying law, and Andrew education. They weren’t at the same school, but aside from a brief period of time just after highschool when they temporarily broke things off and weren’t speaking to each other, the two were as close as ever. 

“Hey, Molly,” Mira greeted. I hadn’t spoken to her as much as I had spoken to Annabeth, but we had already found that we had tons in common. 

Annabeth nodded at me as well. I had seen her somewhat recently, seeing as I stayed in the Athena cabin at Camp Half Blood. It had taken some time for people to accept that legacies would be attending camp, but my cabinmates (which I suppose are technically all my aunts and uncles even though a few are younger than me) were all pretty nice. Once our mother had been claimed as a daughter of Venus, Christian had spent most of his time in the Aphrodite cabin. 

My brother seemed to like the Greek way of life better than I did. I, however, admired the structure of Camp Jupiter, and probably could have been just as happy there, but I wasn’t ready to separate from my twin brother just yet, even with our differences. 

Besides, this way I could stay close to Vivi. 

“Make yourselves comfortable,” Claire told everyone. Not that she needed to - no one present hadn’t already visited at some point, and most were already finding places at the table or on a couch. 

We all played card and board games for hours, and even though us younger teens weren’t included in all of the conversations (we didn’t understand some of what they were talking about) it was fun. 

Later that night, everyone had spent enough time gaming and we just talked. 

“How’s your first week at high school been?” Annabeth asked. 

I shrugged. “Okay.” 

Christian had more of an elaborate description, talking about all the classes in detail, which teachers he thought he liked, and which classes he guessed would be the hardest, concluding with the fact that he still wasn’t really a fan of the whole school thing, but he thought it would be okay. 

“Do you have any advice?” Vivi asked. 

The adults in the room smiled and glanced at each other. 

“I think,” Andrew said, “There are some things you just have to live through to understand. But have fun.” 

Mira shoved his shoulder playfully. “That’s not advice, idiot.” She turned to us with a more thoughtful expression on her face. “Academically, I’d advise you to take studying seriously, and when you get to college entry tests, study hard. And apply for college scholarships early. But that’s a long way off for you. In terms of people… “ She faded out, giving a place for Annabeth to jump in. 

“Don’t judge people too quickly. That was the worst mistake I made with people in school.” 

Mira nodded. “Join clubs you’re interested in, and don’t get too worked up over relationships that seem to be failing. They really won’t be significant in a month or two. I’d also advise you to respect other people’s boundaries, and not to take petty revenge.” 

Andrew nodded in agreement. 

“Try not to miss too much school,” Percy added. 

Everyone laughed. Out of everyone there, Percy had missed the most school. Although he still graduated on time, it had been a struggle. Everyone but Mira and Andrew knew the reason why, but even they seemed to understand that it wasn’t something he had absolute control over. 

“Thanks for the advice,” I said. 

“Don’t be afraid to ask for more,” Andrew said. “You have us all as resources.”