Author's Note: HERE YA GO. In case you all hadn't realized by now, I have no real update schedule for this story. Or any of my stories. My Schedule of Life is too wack for that, so I get writing when I can and when I complete something, you all get it. I've also noticed (and keep forgetting) that you guys ask questions in the comments about specific parts of the story. Since I always forget, just PM me any in depth questions you have and I'll get back to you that way. BUT KEEP REVIEWING. I like those. Those are nice.

On another note, I've played Skyrim for 42 hours in the past 3 days. I need help.

And that's about it! Go read and review this chapter, follow and favorite if you feel so inclined, and have a wonderful day!

Rating: This'll be a solid T rating for action sequences and language.

Disclaimer: All rights to the PJO and HoH universe go to the man, the myth, and the legend, Rick Riordan himself. I take claim to my OCs (aka, Kate, Mitch, and KP [I think that's all of them]).

Editing: All editing is done by me, all mistakes are mine.

Chapter Seven

Chiron and Will led me over to the basketball court. We weaved through campers, who were mainly composed of teenagers, in the same orange T-shirts. There were a few girls with greenish skin that were kind of freaking me out. I'm pretty sure I also saw a bird lady with wings and claws that looked vaguely life threatening.

I was really starting to question the safety of this camp.

Percy was playing basketball with seven other guys. They were playing shirts and skins, and of course, Percy was skins. They seemed to be taking a break and Percy was talking to a blonde girl. Annabeth. The other campers seemed to be annoyed that they were taking a break and a couple of girls were glaring at Annabeth pointedly and practically drooling over Percy. Go figure.

Percy and Annabeth caught sight of us and his smile seemed to vanish from his face. He tossed the basketball to one of the other campers, picked up his shirt off the ground, and signaled to Annabeth before jogging over to meet us while pulling on his cutoff.

"Mitch! You're awake!" he exclaimed. Annabeth actually smiled at me, which was kind of off-putting.

"It's great of you to notice," I drawled. "Were you having fun playing basketball while I was in a coma?"

Percy rolled his eyes and shook his head before biting the inside of his cheek. "How are you feeling, man?"

I shrugged. "To be honest?" I asked. "Like a million bucks."

Percy looked relieved, but a bit nervous at the same time. He glanced at Annabeth, who shrugged and said, "Leave me out of this. I'll be…somewhere far from here."

I watched as she walked away and wrinkled my nose up. "What'd she mean? Where's she goin'?"

Percy looked conflicted. "Will, you wanna take my place?" he asked, gesturing to the court.

Will grinned mischievously as he tugged his own cutoff off and tossed it aside. "I'd love to, Perce. Break the news to him easy, killer." Without an explanation of what he meant, Will jogged over to the basketball court and the game resumed.

"What's he talking about?" I asked again.

"Chiron, can I talk to Mitch? You know, alone?"

Chiron nodded and his tail flicked, the fibers smacking me in the back of the head. Percy snorted and Chiron lightly smiled down at me. "Sure. Don't let him burn down the camp, okay?" he asked Percy.

Percy just nodded with a weak smile in return and the centaur galloped off. I watched him go before turning back to Percy. "What's going on?!" I asked a bit more forcefully.

Percy sighed. "Let's walk." So we did. Percy started leading me through the camp. He pointed to buildings and told me about each one and what they did until we came to a stop in front of an archery range. He gestured to it. "You ever shoot before?"

I looked around before I shook my head. There were a couple of lawn chairs out and a bow on a table with a quiver of arrows. "I wanted to when I was younger. Dad said I'd put an arrow through my foot. Never got the chance."

"Ever heard of Apollo?"

I racked my brain for a moment. "Uh…Greek god of music…and archery, right?"

Percy waved his hand. "And poetry, and healing, and the sun, and…well you get it. Among other things. Most importantly here…healing." Percy sobered up, which I had a feeling was a rare thing. "You were almost dead, Mitch. Nico, uh, he's a son of Hades. He could feel your life force draining into the Underworld."

"Oh, that's comforting," I said sarcastically. "Thank you, Mr. Sunshine."

Percy smacked me upside the head. "Be serious for a second!"

I rubbed my head and glared at him. "Okay, fine, yeah. I got stabbed by my ex-girlfriend and almost died. There are better ways to dump a guy…"

"You were going to die and I couldn't let that happen," Percy said. He seemed almost sorry and I tensed, my eyes narrowing.

"What'd you do, Percy?"

He took a deep breath before letting loose a torrent of words I could barely follow. "Will had a vial of Apollo's blood that Apollo, his dad, gave him for his birthday. It was rumored to have healing properties. Anyone who received the blood would be guaranteed a full recovery of any illness or wound. Well, for demigods anyway. But mortals…we weren't sure. But Will offered to let me use it on you. Annabeth was already healing up and you were almost gone and Paul would have killed me so I let Will inject Apollo's blood into your system."

"You what?!" I exclaimed.

"Don't be mad! It saved your life, actually. But now…now you're a half-blood. Sort of."

"A half-blood," I repeated dumbly.

"Yeah. That's why you feel so invigorated. Apollo's blood is mingling with yours. We aren't sure of the long-term or short-term effects, so Will wants to keep an eye on you. Personally."

"I'm part god." I was freaking out. I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust. A half-blood?! That meant I was vulnerable. That meant monsters could smell me. Oh god, what was Dad gonna say? Or was it gods now?

"So…I can't go home," I summarized. "And now monsters can hurt me. And smell me. And I'm basically on the radar for everything mythological."

Percy smiled at me weakly. "Pretty much. The good news is that being a demigod comes with its perks. Reading Ancient Greek. Swordplay. Enhanced battle reflexes. You're ADHD anyway, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah," I muttered, collapsing into one of the chairs. "Just gotta sit for a minute."

Percy sat next to me and rested a hand on my shoulder. "It's overwhelming, trust me, I know. I already called Paul and explained the situation to him. Just think about your time here as…step-sibling bonding time."

"Yeah. Something about lava rock walls, monsters, and Greek gods really screams bonding, you know?" I quipped.

Percy shook his head. "Are you actually, you know…pissed at me, or is sarcasm your default language?"

"No, I'm not mad. Okay, maybe I'm a little bit mad, but I don't see how I can be if you practically saved my life. I just…I'm not sure how to handle all of this." I raked a hand through my hair. I was downplaying my reaction to all of this. Majorly. On the inside, my stomach was doing backflips and my blood was on fire. Was it hot outside? It definitely felt hot outside.

"Well, for starters, you'll be staying here at camp for a while. Don't worry about talking to Paul. We can IM him."

"Instant message?"

"Iris message," Percy corrected.

"Which is…?"

"Communication via rainbow."

"Right. Communication via rainbow. Of course, what else would it be?" I grinned weakly.

Percy put a hand on my shoulder. "Trust me, it's not bad here. You and Will seem to be getting along and you'll be staying in his cabin, so if you have any questions and I'm not around, you have Will. Annabeth likes you, she's just…well, she's Annabeth. You'll get used to her. KP and Jake Mason are always around. Speaking of, we'll have to get you outfitted. Sword, too."

"Of course. Outfitted with what, armor, right?"

Percy grinned widely. "Now you're getting the hang of it! I've arranged for you to have study sessions with Annabeth everyday for the next few weeks to catch you up to speed on the war, the previous wars, myths that aren't actually myths, and Ancient Greek."

"You're gonna try and teach me Ancient Greek? Percy, I barely speak proper English."

"Trust me, same here, bro. I'll come with you for the first few sessions until you and Annabeth are all buddy-buddy." He glanced at the archery targets. "You wanna give it a shot?"

"You really trust me with a bow and arrow?"

"No, but you have Apollo's blood. You better be nothing less than a perfect shot."

"Yeah, so no pressure."

Percy snorted. "No pressure." He bent down and picked up the compound bow and held it out to me. "Here. Drawback weight of sixty pounds. Will recommended it for you."

I took it skeptically. "This is really fancy for Ancient Greece."

Percy rolled it his eyes at me. "We're still modernized, Blowfish."

I scowled at him and picked up an arrow. I fitted the arrow into the strings and pulled it back easily. Percy backed off immediately. "You know what you're doing with that thing?"

As I aimed down the sights, I put the white bull's-eye of the target dummy right in the crosshairs and grinned slightly. "Not a clue," I responded, and released the string. The string snapped the air where my forearm had been and the arrow flew through the air, wedging itself right in the middle of the torso of the dummy.

I stared. Wordlessly, Percy handed me another arrow. The same thing happened. Except this time, the arrow split the arrow I'd previously fired straight down the middle.

I stared again. Percy stared also. Neither of us said a word. Until there was a cough behind us.

Both of us turned, still stunned at the fact that I didn't completely miss the target and hit a tree or a person or…something. Behind us stood Annabeth, eyebrows raised. "Percy, uh, Chiron wants to see you. Preparations for Capture the Flag later tonight…" she trailed off.

"Capture the Flag?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Annabeth. "Except with weapons and armor."

"Weapons and armor. Like…actual dangerous stuff?"

"Actual dangerous stuff," Annabeth confirmed.

"Like…this?" I held up the compound bow.

"Like that. C'mon. Let's get you a sword and some armor for tonight."

I tensed. I really didn't like the idea of going anywhere alone with Annabeth. She was just…intimidating. And scary. And she looked like she could take off my head in a matter of seconds. Which, judging by the knife at her hip, she probably could. I gulped. "Uh, what about Percy?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, I don't bite."

"Annabeth, I don't—" Percy tried to interject.

"Percy! Go see Chiron!"

"I just feel like I should show him the ropes," Percy protested.

"We don't have time to argue about this."

"No, we don't, which is why you can go tell Chiron that I'll see him after I get Mitch set up for tonight."

"No, Percy, you're going to see Chiron now, and I'm going to get Mitch ready for tonight."

"Annabeth, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Mitch'll be fine, Percy!"

Their voices were rising progressively until both of them were shouting and I was feeling effectively very uncomfortable. "Does Mitch get a say in this?" I asked, raising my hand.

"No!" they both yelled at me.

I quickly put my hand down and locked eyes with Percy. We seemed to have a silent conversation.

Percy, man, I'll be fine.

You sure?

Go see Chiron before she kills us both.

Right. Good luck, man.

"Fine," Percy relented. "I'll be to the armory as soon as I can. Try not to kill each other."

Percy gave each of us one more look before sprinting back towards the blue farm house.

Annabeth and I looked at each other. No one said anything for a full minute. It was the most awkward minute of my life. Annabeth finally broke the silence after what seemed like a lifetime. "So have you ever shot a bow prior to Apollo's blood?"

"Nope."

She said nothing, which made me even more nervous. "Why?" I couldn't stop myself from asking.

She kind of smirked at me playfully, which was just weird, because she looked mischievous while doing so. "Remind me later to pick the Apollo cabin for Capture the Flag," was all she said before spinning around and walking off.

I just stood there, confused, compound bow still in my hand.

"You coming?" she called over her shoulder.

I opened my mouth to ask a question, but she cut me off.

"Bring the bow."

I shut my mouth and my nose twitched a bit. I figured it was best to just follow Annabeth to the armory. So I did.