Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in HoO, but I own Aubrey and Zach so... yeah.

Hope it doesn't suck! Review if you don't get attacked by a hydra first!

CHAPTER ONE

~~~Aubrey Sally Jackson~~~

I THINK I GO INSANE.

I have a normal life. Or so I thought.

I always knew my parents were hiding something, though I didn't know what.

I was under the impression I had a normal life in Manhattan, New York, with my dad, a marine biologist, and my mom, an architect.

But the little things gave it away: my mom and dad would both scream in their sleep sometimes. The way my mom scanned each room as she entered, as if searching for attack. The alert posture my dad always kept, as if suspecting an ambush.

My adventure began like this:

The Graces were coming over for dinner tonight. Mr. and Mrs. Grace, who I now call Uncle Jason and Aunt Piper, because they are so close with my parents, have a son named Zachary (well, Zach, actually) whose my age (fourteen).

Zach and I have known each other literally since the second day of my life. Since then I guess we've just been best friends… until we got to middle school where that was unacceptable, to be best friends with a boy and not like-like him, if you know what I mean.

We've grown apart, I can always tell, and I miss him. I always got along with him better than anyone else. Now, when I hug him, he blushes, and is all fidgety when he talks to me. And really rude or grumpy.

Zach is the perfect combination of his mother and father. He has his father's hair and eyes, but he is a mama's boy, through and through. He has the same laugh as Aunt Piper, the same smile. In a way, even though he's a boy, the same beauty as his mother.

I, on the other hand, have my father's sea-green eyes and my mother's naturally curly blond locks. As Dad calls them, our "princess curls." My mom always tells me how, though I'm smart like her, am too much like my dad for my own good, with my mischievous smiles and knack for trouble.

My older brother, Lucas, named after a dead friend of my mother's I'm told (whose name was actually Luke, but whatever), is my opposite, instead with Mom's gray, intimidating eyes, and Dad's messy black hair. Lucas is eighteen, and, being the school freak that he is, went on and on about being able to vote, going to college, etc.

Ever since Zach and I got to an age where girls and boys were into each other, we have barely talked. He's always so nervous around me, yet so flirty around other girls, and too-cool-for-school around his jock friends. It kind of hurts, to be ignored by your ex-best friend.

I can tell that Mom sensed this, and so the Graces are coming over, and I can already feel the awkwardness.

Lucas passes by my open doorway. Seeing me sitting on my bed gazing out the window, thinking, he stops.

Lucas smirks. "Nervous seeing your boyfriend, Bri?"

ONE THING ESTABLISHED. Only two people are ever allowed to call me Bri; that's Lucas, cuz I couldn't get him to stop, and Zach, though he doesn't do it anymore.

I would've glared, if I'd been anyone Lucas was teasing me about, but Zach, my boyfriend? No way, Jose. Lucas liked to joke though, and I didn't really mind, since I didn't like Zach that way, so whatever.

I shrug. "Not really. But what are you wearing to this thing, anyway? Is it formal?"

Lucas laughs at me. "I don't know, Your Majesty. Just wear something moderately nice."

He leaves me there, groaning at his words. He knows that I don't really care what I wear. I just don't want to show up in jeans and a tee when everyone else is in ball gowns and suits.

I pull on a deep emerald shirt with a tan-colored belt that was closer to a string, really, braided and small, for style, not holdin' up pants. I wore some nice jeans and tennis shoes, though. That's moderately, nice, right?

Normally, like my mom, I put my hair in a lose ponytail, but today, I let it down, keeping it out of my face with a brown headband only.

I skip down the hall of our apartment (it's a huge apartment, more like a penthouse, actually, with two floors), and down the stairs.

Down stairs, Dad is in a button-down shirt and tan trousers, groaning at Mom.

"Do I have to wear this?" he moans like a five-year-old.

"Yes, Seaweed Brain, you do. Piper said they were dressing up, too," Mom says, sternly, but also sounding like she's trying not to laugh.

Dad snorts. "That rhymed."

"You are so childish."

"When are the Graces coming?" I interrupt.

Dad looks at me, then frowns in mock-shock (ha ha, that rhymed, too), "Why do you look so much like a girl?"

"Percy!" Mom scolds.

I smirk at Dad. "Why do you look so much like an adult?"

Dad nods his head, "Fair enough."

Lucas enters sometime during our conversation and is sitting on the kitchen counter.

"When are the Graces coming?" he repeats my question.

Mom glances at the microwave clock. "Any minute now."

While Dad and Lucas start to talk about football or something, I watch my mom stir whatever she's cooking.

That reminds me: "What are we having for dinner?"

"Tomato soup and grilled cheese."

I probably should explain: neither of my parents is all that good at cooking, plus Dad doesn't eat seafood, and plus Aunt Piper doesn't eat meat. That limits our choices for tonight.

My only problem is I hate grilled cheese and tomato soup is definitely not my favorite. Oh well.

"How was your day today?" Mom continues the conversation.

"Fine," the typical answer. And my day was fine. Nothing bad happened, but nothing out-of-the-ordinary happened to make my day qualify as good.

The doorbell rings and I volunteer to go get it.

I open the door, smiling widely, spotting Aunt Piper first.

She swoops in, hugging me like she hasn't seen me in years. (In reality, it's been two days.)

"Aubrey! How're you doing?" she asks.

I'm still grinning. "Good, thanks! I managed to survive the whole eighth grade."

I'm going into high school when summers over. By the way, school ended about a week ago.

Uncle Jason returned my smile, also hugging me. It's been a week or two since I've last seen him, but he's same as ever.

"Hey, Aubrey," he greets, as I show them into the room.

Zach walks in last and I keep my smile on him. He may not like me anymore, but I can still be nice, right?

He looks at me and blushes, as I say, "Good seeing you again."

"Um, yeah," he replies. He's taller than me by a few inches. It's only been a week since I saw him on the last day of school, but he seems to have grown an inch.

Why does he have to make everything awkward?!

I close the door behind him and follow his family into the kitchen.

I wait for a bit while greeting were exchanged, smiles all around, blah, blah, blah.

Mom announces dinner's ready and everyone sits down to the neatly set table. Dad pulls out Mom's chair for her, and Uncle Jason does the same for Aunt Piper. Dad and Uncle Jason go and get the food, setting the food in the center of the table for a sort of serve-yourself thing.

Uncle Jason is some sort of atmosphere-studying scientist, with a name I can't spell nor pronounce, but he somehow works with dad. I don't understand it, either.

They talk about work, the moms talk about something or another, and Lucas strikes up conversation with Zach about school. Zach, like Lucas, is a committed student, honors and whatnot.

I'm a good student, but I got ADHD and dyslexia from my parents (it bypassed Lucas), so it's difficult for me to keep my all A's honor roll, but I maintain it. Barely.

But I'm not committed, not like my brother and Zach anyway. I hate homework and schoolwork. And work.

"You doing any summer camps this year?" I ask Zach at some point, remembering how he used to love the camps we'd go to. It seems like a valid question to me, but the look Zach gives me is confused, slightly ticked off, like why are you talking to me? Who are you again, midget? He has turned into a jerk. I miss Zach. The old Zach. The real Zach.

"I'm going to a football camp with a few of my friends," he shrugs, then turns away, completely ignoring me again.

I hate being flicked off. Fine then, Zach, be a jerk. Typical boy teenager.

Good ol' Lucas senses my discomfort, and tries to include me in their conversation but Zach, none too subtly, makes it clear he doesn't want to talk.

This ticks off Lucas and he turns away from Zach, joining our dads' conversation and I join our moms'. Now Zach's the loner. Hee, hee.

When dinner is finally over, we gather in the living room as Dad brings out ice cream sandwiches.

He and Uncle Jason see how fast they can eat one before the brain freeze catches up.

I mean, I've always had my father's stomach for eating, but when it comes to brain freezes, than I stop.

Mom and Aunt Piper laugh, shaking their heads, muttering, "Boys. They never change."

I hope they do, because if this Zach-being-a-butthead-to-just-me lasts any longer, I know I will not be able to stop myself from joyfully punching his face inside-out.

I eat my own ice cream sandwich slowly, watching my father in wonder as he wins the contest, stuffing a whole sandwich in his mouth and swallowing it, but then jumps around screaming, "BRAIN FREEZE! BRAIN FREEZE!"

I laugh at them. Despite Zach, I always have a good time with the Graces.

Along with the Zhang family, the Graces are one of the few families that my family actually gets along with easily. With every other family (with a few exceptions), they are tense, as if waiting for attack.

Another reason I like the Graces, though I don't understand it.

I wish I did.

After the awe of watching our dads be pigs, everyone kind of does their own thing, Uncle Jason and Dad sitting down to play video games, and the moms are going into the kitchen.

Lucas suggests we go for a walk.

Zach, Lucas, and I slip on light jackets (still cold at night in New York) and we exit.

Walking along the streets, we are all silent, though the streets are not in the city that never sleeps.

After ten minutes, Zach says to Lucas, "I need to tell Aubrey about something. Real quick, if you don't mind."

I can tell Lucas's brotherly instincts are taking over, but he complies, walking into the nearby bakery, leaving us on the street.

Zach looks at me bashfully, then blurts, "I'm going to ask out someone."

I blink. What is he expecting for my reaction? Advice or something?

Hoping that excitement is what he's looking for, I grin, "That's awesome, Zach! Who's the lucky gal?" I wiggle my eyebrows at him and he blushes. But for some reason I can tell he's disappointed. Was excitement not what he wanted?

"Um, Jessica Zinc."

I continue to smile, not sure why he's disappointed. "That's so sweet, Zach! Jessica's a great friend to everyone. You guys will be great together!"

Zach is frowning and trying desperately to hide that he is, but I'm not that much of an idiot.

"What the matter?" I question.

He starts to blush and he opens his mouth to speak.

He is cut off when a hand covers his mouth, dragging him away.

I'm about to yell when the same thing happens to me, and I'm following them.

My heart's hammering and my body shakes with fear.

We are dragged into a dark alleyway.

My murder-mystery-show-trained brain is telling me, perfect place for a murder– an abandoned alleyway.

I feel the tears spill over.

We are pushed up against the wall, and in my panic, I grab Zach's arm and hold it tight, paralyzed in terror.

Swords (swords?) are at our throats when I hear a voice: "Get away from them!" Lucas!

One of the kidnappers turns to Lucas and smiles, "This adventure does not concern you, Lucas." Everything is black. I am alone.

When I wake, I am lying on a white cot, in some sort of hospital room.

I groan, rubbing my eyes and sit up.

"Whoa!" a voice warns, "Careful, there, you might still be a little dizzy."

I rub my eyes, and take in my surroundings. It's a small room, wood walls, a few cots, shelves with medicine and bandages, and the swaying motion gives away that I'm on a ship.

I spot Zach, out cold on another cot.

"Zach," I say, beginning to get up, but a strong hand pushes me back down.

I look at the owner of the hand and gasp. "Dad?!" I half-yell.

"Um, no," the guy says nervously, "Uh, guess again?"

I stare at him in awe. No, I decide, it's not Dad. This is a teenager. He is about sixteen years, by the looks of it.

But he could be my dad's twin. He has disheveled black hair, the same facial shape and expressions, and the same eyes as Dad. My eyes.

He seems to notice this, too, because his forehead is scrunched up in confusion, like my dad's often is.

"Where am I?" I half-beg, half-demand him.

He looks at me, "You appeared on deck unconscious with that guy." He points to Zach. "You are on the Argo II, a demigod ship. Um, are you a demigod?"

I look at him, my head tilted. "Like the half-god, half-mortal people that don't exist?"

He shakes his head, "They do exist."

I step off the bed, swaying a bit. "No, they aren't. My parents have an obsession over Greek stuff, but at least they know it's not real, you freak."

Harsh, I know, but I'm scared.

The guys stands, palms out, in a gesture of peace. "I know it's a lot to take in, but this ship has seven demigods, children of mortals and gods."

"What are you then?"

"Huh?"

"What's your 'god' then?"

The guy smiles. "I'm a son of Poseidon."

Again, I think of my dad. He always told me he thought it would be cool to be a son of Poseidon.

Maybe this was an asylum, and this guy was here with me. I don't know.

"What's your name?" he asks me.

"You first," I demand.

"I asked first!" he whines. Again, a tug at my heart, reminding me of Dad.

I stay where I am, silent.

He sighs. "I'm Percy. Percy Jackson."

I stare at him. I feel myself sway on my feet. He reaches out to help me, but I smack him away. This is not my father.

My father is in his forties. He is kind, and doesn't believe silly myths.

I feel the tears come. He looks like Dad, he smiles like Dad, and he has the same name as Dad.

I sit down, staring at him as I cry a river.

He seems confused by my reaction, and leans his head out the door, calling for someone.

I can no longer see, but I can make out someone grabbing me and carrying me out onto a place where I can feel the wind.

I am set down on the floor and I rub my eyes.

I look up at the guy who claims to be my dad, fear running through me.

"Don't hurt me," I whimper.

A girl with choppy brown hair and eyes like Aunt Piper approaches and says in a soothing voice, "We aren't going to hurt you."

I don't think they will hurt me anymore, but I'm still freaked out.

I stare at the seeming-to-be young Aunt Piper.

"I'm Piper McLean," she says, and I feel relief wash over me. McLean, I comfort myself, not Grace.

But then I inwardly slap myself. Aunt Piper got married! Of course she doesn't have the same last name.

I look up at the guy claiming to be Percy Jackson and say, "You aren't Percy Jackson," my voice shakes, "You c-cant be Percy Jackson."

He looks confused, a little at loss for words.

"Um, sorry?" he apologizes.

I feel like throwing up tomato soup.

A different girl steps forward with an intimidating stare. She has the same hair as me, but gray eyes. Like Lucas's… like Mom's.

"What are you doing here?" she demands.

"Mom?" escapes my throat before I can stop it, but it's quiet and scratchy, and I hope she didn't hear it.

Her face softens, and she offers me a hand. I take it, and she pulls me up.

I look at her. "We'll get you home as soon as we can, okay? What is your name?" the girl asks.

"Aubrey," I whisper.

She smiles, "Well, Aubrey, I'm Annabeth Chase."

Mom's… maiden… name…

And here comes the tomato soup. I ran to the side of the boat and made a few unappetizing sounds as the food fell out of my mouth, into the sky, and through the clouds.

A guy speaks up, "Wow, Annabeth, I didn't know your name was that bad."

I look at him. Uncle Leo… he looks like…

And I know that…

I'm insane.

Or I'm dreaming.

And I'm also hungry (not a huge surprise there).

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asks.

No. I'm not. I just met the teenage version of my parents and am on a flying ship, and hey… while we're at it… LET'S ALL BE DEMIGODS, TOO! YAY!

Not.

I shake my head, but I say, "Who are you people?"

Annabeth steps back and everyone introduces themselves. At every name I flinch and step back a little farther.

"I'm Piper McLean, as I said. Daughter of Aphrodite."

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter."

"Valdez. Leo Valdez. Call me Leo. Son of Hephaestus."

"Frank Zhang, son of Mars."

"Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto."

"Gleeson Hedge. Couch Hedge to you, though, cupcake. I'm a satyr."

"Um, Percy Jackson, if you still remember. Son of Poseidon." I turn green; I'm sure I'm probably visibly sick by now.

"Annabeth Chase. Daughter of Athena."

And I threw up again.

Leo laughed. "The magic words are 'Annabeth Chase' then?"

I leaned against the rail and looked out at all of them.

Without meaning to, I said aloud, "So I've gone insane."

They all stare at me.

"No, Aubrey," Piper says gently, "You're not insane. I know this is a lot to take in, but…"

"WHO THE HECK ARE YOU?" a voice roared from the stairwell. Zach.

His icy blue eyes were wide as he saw his young parents, and he let out a strangled scream.

I walked over to him, grabbing his hand and drawing him away from the group.

"Look, Zach," I say, urgently. He doesn't look at me. He is staring at his dad, who, now that he's not in his forties, looks like Zach's twin, though slightly older. I grab Zach's face and pull it so he looks at me. He looks so young and scared.

One time, Zach broke his arm while learning to ride his bike. He looks like that now, in pain, full of confusion, and innocence.

"Aubrey," his voice is hoarse.

"I know this is a lot to take in but either I'm dreaming or we're both insane, but these people claim to be demigods and our parents. Well, a young version."

"Huh?" his voice is high-pitched and strangled; he stares at me like I'm insane.

He is crying, too, along with me. "I want to go home."

"Me, too," I say. But I have to be strong for Zach, so I continue, "But until we can, we have to befriend these people. But don't tell them your full name, okay? You are just Zach."

His vulnerability makes my heart ache, but he nods, trusting me. I feel him grab onto my hand, his palms sweaty. I also feel his hand shake, trembling with terror.

I pull him over to the group of people, and he and Jason stare at each other, Zach crying silently.

"You know, Jason," Percy said, "He looks like you."

Zach flinches, "Your name is Jason?"

Jason nods slowly.

Zach looks green. He turns to me, "What… the… hell?"

I squeeze his hand.

"I think I've gone insane, Bri," he whispers hoarsely.

I shake my head, "I think we've both gone insane."

Piper steps forward, "We don't want to hurt you. We just want to be friends."

I immediately know that they don't want to hurt us and are friends, but Zach looks unsure. "How do we know that?"

Everyone stares at Zach in awe.

I whisper to Zach, "What happened? What did you do?"

Zach glances at me, "I don't know."

"He can resist charmspeak, Pipes," Jason tells her, "They might be dangerous."

Zach steps farther back, pulling me with him.

"Are you a son of Aphrodite?" Annabeth asks Zach.

Zach stares at her. He whispers so quietly, only I can hear, "Bri. Bri, that's your mom."

I nod, feeling lost. But I swallow my nervousness.

"Look," my voice comes out hoarse, so I clear it and say, "I know you guys are 'demigods' or whatever, but we aren't. We both know both of our parents, and they are both alive and well. We don't know why we're here, except that we woke up here after we were kidnapped by someone. Do you, by any chance, know someone named Lucas?"

Percy chokes, "Luke?"

I don't look up at him; instead I look at Frank, who looks least like his "older self" and say, "No, Lu-cas."

Frank shakes his head, as does everyone else and my heart sinks.

Zach squeezes my hand, "I'm sure he's okay."

I nod. I wipe my final tears from my eyes, deciding that I won't be seen as the wimpy little crying girl to these people.

I am strong. I am the daughter of Percy and Annabeth Jackson.

That makes me want to cry all over again. What if we travelled into the past and can't get home?

Logic, I must stick to logic.

But nothing about this is logic.

Hope y'all liked it. :) btw should Zach and Aubrey fall in love or nah?

I'll update as soon as possible!