Son of Neptune: All rights to Rick Riordan.

1: Percy Gets a Tattoo

Percy woke up feeling as though someone had decided it was high time to hit him over the head with a boulder and then let a very long train take its revenge out on him. He moaned very quietly as his limbs all told him that they felt the exact same way. Slowly, grimacing at the light, he opened his eyes and tried to take in everything. He closed his eyes almost immediately though. He wasn't really in the mood to be blinded.

His eyes popped open.

Where was he?

More importantly, who was he?

Slowly, his whole body screaming "I HURT! CUT IT OUT!" and his senses tingling, telling him to look for danger, Percy sat up and found himself nose to nose with a girl.

"Ahh!" Percy flung himself back down on the cot, his eyes wide. The girl giggled happily behind her hand and hopped up with too much agility to be held to Earth's gravity. The girl was tall and deeply tan. Her eyes were a beautiful sea green and her hair was midnight black and wavy, reaching her waist. Her eyelashes were much too long to be real and were as black as her hair. She giggled at him again and began to adjust the sheets on his cot. Percy continued to gape at her as if she was a mirage.

"You know, I won't disappear if you touch me." She finally said, her laughter more open. She held her hand out to him, as if coaxing a wary horse, but he just continued to gape at her. She laughed and let her hand drop. "So, you're Percy?"

That snapped him out of his daze.

"How'd you know that?" he asked suspiciously. The girl just laughed.

"You talk in your sleep. Who's Annabeth?"

"I…don't know." For a second, Percy had thought he'd had something, but just as quickly it had skipped out of his reach. He sighed, depressed that he only knew his first name. "Where am I?" he asked the bubbly girl hesitantly.

"First Legion." She replied. Her good humor and sparkling smile faded, as if she wasn't allowed to laugh or show such strong emotions. Her face was a mask. No emotion showed. "Where did you come from?"

"I…don't know." Percy felt miserable. How stupid must he sound to this girl? She probably wasn't smiling because she was bored and was tired of having to take care of him and listen to him talk in his sleep and answer "I don't know" constantly!

"Hmm." The girl replied. Her face didn't budge. Her eyes were lifeless.

"What's First Legion?" Percy asked.

"It's a camp for people like you and me, Percy. It's a safe place for demigods to come and learn how to fight all the monsters in the world. Do you know about all that?"

"Yes."

The girl looked at him skeptically.

"I think I've fought some of them…my mom…" the memory slipped away from him again. But he'd caught sight of a beautiful blonde haired woman who's eyes changed color and who was serving him blue waffles. That's different. He though good naturedly.

The girl smiled at him again.

"By the way, I'm Guinevere Jackson."

"Jackson?" Percy chewed on his lip. That name sounded so familiar? Why? What was he missing? What was he forgetting? He was going to go crazy very soon!

"Chill, Percy." Guinevere told him, her mask gone, her eyes lit with a sparkle that looked like the sun catching choppy waves. "When we found you, just outside the borders, you were pretty beat up. Apparently, whoever dumped you here, didn't like you. Must've pissed off some god—but that's weird because gods are very detached. They hardly ever talk to their children…" Guinevere sounded sad, "Anyways, you'd been dumped on your head pretty hard. They really worked hard to make sure you didn't do anything—you've been out of it for months. I bet it was Juno!" she nodded her head sharply, "There was a peacock feather next to you."

"Juno?" Percy asked, feeling fairly bewildered, "You mean Hera?"

"Yes," Guinevere said slowly, cautiously watching him, "That's her Greek name. But we go by Roman names here, Percy, so get it down or you'll confuse people."

"Right, sorry, Guinevere."

"You can just call me Gwen, Percy." She giggled once more.

"Sounds good, Gwen."

Gwen stood up and dusted off her purple shirt. Percy caught sight of something of her arms.

"What's that?" he demanded. Feeling sheepish and rude as soon as he'd blurted it out. Gwen's eyebrows knitted together.

"What's what?" she replied looking down at herself.

"Those things on your arms."

"Oh!" she laughed and sat back down on his bed, " well, these," she pointed to her right arm that had a thick thing that could have been a sweat band if it wasn't made of leather. There were sixteen thin bars on it that looked like someone had slowly burned them into her bracelet, "symbolize how many years you've been here. Normally they're burned into your skin, but, uh, I'm an exception."

"You've gone to First Legion for sixteen years? How old were you when you first came?"

"I've been here since birth, Percy. My mom never even got to see me. She thinks I'm dead, I bet. Or something horrible like that." Gwen sniffled, Percy was very worried, this girl wore her emotions on her sleeve, " and these," she pointed to her left arm's bracelet that had a SPQR on it, "symbolizes Senatus que Populus Romanus—or the Senate and People of Rome and this," she pointed to the silver tattoo of a rearing stallion on her left forearm, "Represents my god parent. It helps me stay connected to him." Gwen blew her bangs out of her eyes, "So, Percy, how are you feeling?"

"Like a world champion." He fibbed, trying to smile but giving a horrible looking grimace instead.

"Liar!" Gwen laughed again. "You should rest, get your strength, I'll give you some ambrosia and nectar when you wake up again."

"Food of the gods…" he murmured, thinking how nice it would be to just go back to sleep…No!

He realized he'd bellowed "NO!" as loud as he could and had scared Gwen out of her wits. She had two swords out, twisting this way and that, searching and listening for the danger that had caused Percy to yell.

"Whoa! Sorry, Gwen, I'm trying to keep myself awake, I just was yelling at myself and I kinda, uh, became verbal. Chill, nothing's coming to eat you."

Gwen looked at him for a half a second then nodded shortly, her face a mask, and twisted her hands backward. It looked like she was twisting the hilts around so that she could stab at someone behind her but, to Percy's amazement, the swords vanished mid-twist. Two rings on her middle fingers glinted dangerously. Gwen saw Percy stared and smirked.

"Gift from my father, or rather my half-brothers."

He waited for her to elaborate, like he hoped the bubbly part of herself would, but the explanation never came.

"Get some sleep, Perseus, you look tired." Gwen told him stiffly, then she swept out of the long tent. His body giving him no other choice, Percy obeyed and was instantly sleeping.

When Percy opened his eyes again, his body said it still hurt. He decided he didn't want to listen to it. He sat up and slowly swung his legs over the edge of the cot. How long had he been asleep? A second? A day? A week? He didn't know. But not knowing was beginning to become a normal occurrence with him, he hated to admit.

He stood up and the ground got really close then really far away really fast. He clutched his stomach as it threatened to make the plain dirt floor more interesting.

"Whoa, there, boy!"

cool hands were suddenly on his shoulders, steadying him. Percy glanced back to see Gwen's worried green eyes. He tried to laugh it off but he ended up choking on the air.

"Musta—" cough, cough"—stood up—" cough, cough, cough" –too fast!" cough, cough, hack, hack. When he was done embarrassing himself at that moment, Gwen threw back her head and laughed. Percy felt compelled to do the same and instantly felt better.

"Well, do you think you can handle taking a tour around camp without setting someone on fire?" Gwen teased.

"I'm not making any promises." He replied seriously. He felt he had a bit of a streak of bad luck when it came to things. She laughed again.

"Well, this is the infirmary." She swept her arms out grandly around the goat skin tent. There was about fifty cots in it. Only one other bed was occupied. One camper swaddled in bandages that smelled like the inside of a dirty pair of socks. The camper had chortled at the way Gwen had introduced the place.

She waved at the injured individual then swept out of the tent, Percy in tow. As soon as they stepped foot outside the tent, Gwen's mask came back. It unnerved Percy as she lifelessly dragged him around, pointing to various things and telling them what they were.

"Uh, Gwen, can I ask you a question?"

"You already did, but go ahead."

"Are you bipolar or something? Because," Percy added quickly, " you're like really, really happy and you like show your emotions like clothes but then you like put on this mask randomly and its like you died or something." He wondered if she would hit him. To his surprise, her mask had ebbed away to show her brooding slightly over his words.

"I guess I put on a Roman Mask. You know, Romans are supposed to be fearless and emotionless. They're supposed to be cold and calculating in some ways. I guess I just get so used to having to do that to please Lupa, all my pent up feelings just come out in a tidal wave that's dangerous for anyone too close…" she sighed dejectedly, "Maybe I am bipolar."

"Why do you have to be emotionless? Sometimes it's good to show your feelings. Sometimes it helps." Percy told her. Gwen let go of his wrist and turned around so that she was totally facing him. A smile lit up her face. It was natural but so bright and cheery, Percy would have believed she was a daughter of Apollo.

"You think so Greek, Percy. It's really hysterical. Just remember, don't show your battle-winning emotions in front of Lupa, or she'll eat you."

"Huh?" he asked intelligently, his jaw hanging open.

"Lupa. Will. Eat. You. If. You. Show. Fear. Or. Emotion. Got. It?"

"Uh, yeah, just, uh, who's Lupa?"

Gwen just laughed and began to more cheerfully show him around the camp.

The camp was pretty cool, Percy had to admit. The cabins that housed the demigods each represented an individual god (he knew this already though, he didn't know how) and they were all positioned into one huge circle. There was an archery arena, a good sized stable, a library, a fighting pit that held fist fights and boxing to sword duels and spiked metal balls on chains. There was a pavilion on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea with large Roman columns.

Gwen dragged Percy down to where the cabins were.

"I wish they could be a little more individual—like the gods! But that's Greek thinking. Roman is orderly and very, very similar. We're lucky to have the remote differences." Gwen sighed then waved a hand dismissively at the cabins. They really were all the same. They structure and size was the exact same. They were all fair sized buildings with Roman columns (Percy noticed this place really liked its Roman columns). There were some differences…like the Mars (Ares) cabin had barbed wire wrapped orderly around the columns and hog blood splattered in fairly neat lines along the visible walls. The Venus (Aphrodite) cabin had been turned pink and smelled strongly of perfume. The Ceres (Demeter) cabin had neatly trimmed grass leading to the entrance and orderly flowered vines eeking up the columns. The Neptune (Poseidon) cabin was made of a greenish sand stone that had little marine life fossils. And so on.

Everything screamed neat, clean, orderly.

Percy didn't like it.

Suddenly a memory hit him of a girl with stringy brown hair in a red bandanna. She was smirking over her shoulder at him, replying to a comment he had made, while she splattered on blood red paint and helped her cabin look ready for a vicious war. Nothing about it was neat. It was strung out quickly but with love and purpose. The memory left him but he called back to it and looked again at the daughter of Ares that looked like she would make full grown monsters run away screaming.

"What was her name?" Percy mumbled to himself. He grabbed a lock full of his hair and pulled. Gwen was watching him, a little worriedly, so he decided at least he had something and released his hair. He still came out with a few strands wrapped around his fist. Gwen laughed. Imagine that.

After showing him a few more places, she stopped and sighed deeply before turning back around to face him, a smile on her face. It was fake. It looked like a normal person's smile, but on her, it was as fake as the feet fauns woke in public. Percy decided to act like he didn't notice.

"Well, I'll show you some people to hang out with. The gods know they need someone to lessen the hurt of no Jason."

"Jason?" Percy asked.

"Jason Grace—"

"Grace?" he mumbled to himself. Why did that sound so familiar!

"Yeah, he's the son of Jupiter—"

"Zeus." Percy interrupted again. Gwen rolled her eyes and clapped her hand over his mouth. She laughed again.

"As I was saying, he's the son of Jupiter and he disappeared, well, the very same night we found you. He just went to the bathroom and never came out. We all began to search for him after an hour of bathroom break. While we were looking for him, we found you." Gwen's eyes narrowed, "I wonder, I wouldn't put it past the gods to have some fun and mix some people up. But then where did you come from and where did Jason go?" Gwen flexed her fingers then realized she was squeezing Percy's face and released him. "Come on, I'll show you Jason's friends."

Percy followed her, wishing he knew where he came from. For the first time, he looked down at himself and realized there was a lot of information just by his clothes.

He wore blue jean shorts with sturdy sneakers and an orange T-shirt that said "Camp Half-Blood". Around his neck was a leather necklace with five clay beads. On his left wrist was a watch. In his pocket was a plain old ball point pen. Maybe he'd been in the middle of class when he disappeared. Nervously, Percy patted down his black hair that seemed intent to stand up in funny directions. Gwen laughed at him again.

"Chill, Perc, you look fine."

Percy nodded mutely, wondering what he would do to accidentally embarrass himself in front of Jason's friends. They were probably going to laugh themselves silly at Percy. Joy.

"Gwen?"
"Hm?"

"What's Camp Half-Blood?"

"Dunno. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me—but seeing as you can't even remember your last name…well…" Gwen shrugged but he could tell she was disappointed. Percy felt like a great big let down. Silently, he continued to follow her back to the cabins.

He began to notice the campers. He'd been so busy trying to intake all the places and match them to his horribly empty memory, he hadn't even noticed the people. Now he realized that they were all staring at him, their faces identical Roman Masks. Percy wondered if he'd eventually become like that: cold and calculating, as Gwen had put it. He found himself inching closer and closer to her as they walked.

"Gwen, where are the satyrs?" Percy asked, a memory of a curly headed goat boy barely coming into focus at the back of his head.

"Fauns, Percy! They're either recruiting demigods or searching for Jason."

"Oh."

"Dakota! Hey! Dakota!" Gwen was waving. Several people threw her nasty glances from the group she was obviously addressing. One boy stepped away from the crowd that was obviously his siblings. They all had blonde hair and cool gray eyes. Dakota grinned slightly at Gwen's cheery manner then looked at Percy and his face changed. Roman Mask was back—his gray eyes glittering dangerously, studying him, choosing what his weaknesses were and how best he could rip Percy's head off. Which was kind of surprising since he was four foot eight or nine.

"Dakota is son of Minerva." Gwen told him, her Roman Mask completely gone. Percy liked Gwen more and more, especially that she seemed more inclined to chuck her mask into the bin most of the time.

"Athena." Percy automatically interpreted. Dakota's siblings hissed at him.

"He likes Greek names." Gwen told Minerva's children defensively, "Mind your manners, Smart Ones, he's new!" Grumbling, they returned their attention back to the map they were playing with. Dakota's lips twitched, fighting a smile.

"What do you want, Guinevere? Or have you just come to tease my siblings and flaunt your new friend?" his voice was deep and smooth—unusual for a fifteen-year-old. Percy felt a pang of jealousy: his voice was still cracking. Dakota smiled at him slowly, as if he knew Percy's thoughts. It wasn't a friendly smile. Percy leaned closer to Gwen, hoping to wrap her friendliness around him like a shield.

"Actually, Dakota, I had an idea that I thought you might be interested in."

"Really?" Dakota sounded like he was used to Gwen. He sounded like he really didn't care what her idea was. He didn't like Gwen very much. Percy felt his hands curl into fists. Dakota didn't like him either.

"I think that if we can figure out where Percy came from, we'll find Jason." Gwen bubbled at him, seemingly unaware at the way Dakota was pointedly trying to ignore her.

"What do you mean, Guinevere?" Dakota responded slowly, as if he just realized that she expected him to listen and respond. Percy decided he would like to rip the son of Minerva's head off. As if sensing his violent intentions, Gwen stepped in front of him, pointedly on his foot.

"Did it not cross the Wise One's minds that when Percy appeared, Jason disappeared? That when Percy disappeared, Jason appeared. I think Percy came from another demigod camp and I think that's exactly where Jason went. Help me look into it. There's one thing you can't deny, Brainiac, Percy is the key to this puzzle."

"Sure, Guinevere, I'll think on it." Dakota rolled his eyes and returned to his brothers and sisters. Percy noticed how very stiff Dakota's muscles were. He didn't get to think on it before Gwen was pulling him away.

"I don't think Dakota likes you or me at all." Percy announced to her when they were well out of the gray-eyed ones' hearing. Gwen laughed again.

"Percy, if you can remember, Minerva and Neptune have never really liked each other at all. They've always been battling for something. Minerva's children just take it upon themselves to remind me of that simple fact. Besides, even though happy people make people happy, Romans are supposed to be in control of their emotions and it especially bugs the Wise Ones, the Perfect Ones, the Rule-Conscious Ones that I just don't apply that too often to my appearance. Then, of course, everyone's depressed about Jason evaporating and Dakota doesn't really like new people. He just takes a while to trust. Don't let him get under your skin." Gwen smiled at him.

"Then why did he act like a total jerk and keep calling you Guinevere?" Percy demanded, not wanting to dismiss Dakota's actions to Gwen.

"Trying to remember that our parents really don't like each other and act all big in front of his siblings. Get him alone and you'll like him. He'll grow on you, you'll grow on him…" Gwen told him.

"Do you usually get him alone?" Percy couldn't help but ask.

"No," she laughed, "Roman's are uncertain about me, Percy. They see too much, well, Greek in me." She laughed again but it was half-hearted and forced.

"Gwen, why did your mother never get to see you?"

"Uh, another time, Percy, another time…look! There's Gwendolyn!"

Gwen was skipping to a solitary figure, dragging Percy along. As soon as he saw Gwendolyn, a pang of distrust surged through every cell in his body. He'd just met the girl and he already didn't like her! He decided he better pull himself together otherwise he'd be no better than Dakota.

"This is Gwendolyn. She is a daughter of Mercury."

"Hermes." Percy said thoughtfully. The girl raised an eyebrow at him but otherwise made no comment on his Greek use of her father's name. "Does that mean that people call you Guinevere and her Gwen?"

"No," Gwendolyn told him in a strong Georgia accent, "They call her Gwen and me Lynn. I pre-fur it that away."

Lynn was short and had some extra pudge on her frame. She was brown haired, brown eyed, and intensely freckle-fied. She wore a purple shirt like everyone else in the camp with blue jeans, flip-flops, and a straw hat. Her eye brows slanted in such a way that gave her the appearance of a very ornery person who one should hold extra tight onto valuables around. Hermes was also the god of thieves. Go figure. Percy was glad he didn't have anything on him worth stealing.

"I'm Percy." Percy announced to Lynn. She gave him a ornery smirk and he was startled to remember two boys with the same smirk and eyebrows that appeared to be twins. Stole…Like the memory of the daughter of Ares, the two sons of Hermes remained in his mind: another remembered memory. Percy wondered if Jason was having as easy of a time getting his memories back. For some reason, he doubted it. Jason probably wasn't dumped on his face and rendered unconscious for months on end. Juno or Hera or whoever she felt like being probably liked Jason more. But, Jason was the son of her husband, so…?

"Ya al-right thare, Percy? Ya kinda went outta it for a sec."

"Yeah, just, uh, got brain damage from hitting some rocks when I got here."

"I think you had that problem before you got here." Gwen told him, her wide smile showing her pearl white teeth.

"Well, I gotta go practice. I'll see ya around, Percy. Gwen." Lynn heaved herself up and left them, silent as a ghost. Percy's eyebrows rose at her silent flight, vaguely remembering some Hermes children who had absolutely no talent for stealth… Gwen was off again, intent on dragging Percy to his death. She took him to the The Pit, as Gwen told him it was called, the pit that held all the fights.

"Oh, Bobby!" Gwen called happily. Percy's eyes popped open as a hulk of a boy turned around to respond to his name. The boy could only have been fifteen-years-old, but he was so big, he could have just accidentally stepped on Percy and squished him flat, as dead as a door nail.

Bobby was well built, his purple T-shirt's sleeves ripped off, just to show that. His hair was big and curly, a section of the very back allowed to grow very long and braided. His eyes were tiny but pretty smart. Instantly the daughter of Ares came back to him but he'd made his own background for her: fire everywhere while she laughed ruthlessly and stepped on bones and skulls…

"Bobby is the son of Mars, or Ares."

"Bobby, this is Percy. We don't know who his parent is yet. I think we will soon, though." The hulk of a person was looking over Percy carefully. A small smile livened up his lips—the only break the Roman Mask allowed on normal Romans.

"Welcome, Percy. We'll have to match my skill to yours sometime."

"Yeah, sounds good, Bobby." Percy felt angry, he wanted to sock someone right in the nose. Gwen was close enough…what was he thinking! In fury, he realized a talent Bobby possessed. Bobby laughed at Percy's anger.

"Yeah, dear old dad and I can make you want to kill someone. Real good in a fight, Percy, because when they get mad, they get stupid. Basic fighter's 101. See you around." With that Bobby turned back to his group of friends.

"I don't think these people like me any more than they like you." Percy mumbled to Gwen while she began to search for Jason's two other friends.

"it's just that they sense how much Greek you have in you. Greeks are pretty cool with differences, but, well, Romans? I've already told you about their need to be the same." Percy nodded quietly.

"Who are the other two?" he asked her.

"Hazel and Reyna. Reyna was really close to Jason. He liked her, she liked him, they were always on quests together…I think they were about to really become boyfriend/girlfriend then Jason went and disappeared….i think you had someone special too, Percy."

"Really?" he asked her. He patted his hair again, wishing it would just work with him.

"Annabeth…Chase." Gwen recalled. She smiled hesitantly at him, "The way your tone got when you spoke of her…I think she'll be really happy when we can get you back to her." She swept her hair suddenly in front of her face so Percy couldn't see it anymore. "I think I see Hazel, come on."

Her voice was slightly wobbly, but Percy acted, again, like he couldn't tell.

Hazel was withdrawn, even more so than Dakota had been, not allowing even the slightest smile when Gwen came bounding up to her, Percy being dragged along like a plastic bag caught in a hurricane. She was slender and her hair was a bright red while her eyes were a pale green and brown. She wore a floppy garden hat with a daffodil in it. She made it very clear that she didn't like Gwen and Percy either. Hazel didn't utter a word to either of them, despite Gwen's vain attempts at conversation. She dragged Percy away quickly in search for Reyna, an apologetic frown on her face for Hazel's behavior.

"She really doesn't like new things or Greeks—which she believes you are—and she really doesn't like salt water because it kills plants. You know, she did the daughter of Ceres, or Demeter, if you will. She may warm up to you enough to utter a few words but she really doesn't like salt water. Maybe she'd like you better if you weren't with me." She nodded thoughtfully then dragged Percy forward yelling, "Reyna!"

A slender girl turned her attention to them. She was about fourteen, Percy guessed, and was a dead knock-out. Her hair was to her waist and was thin, straight, and the color of pure sunlight. She wore her hair in low, even pigtails. Her skin was perfectly tan, as if she had gone to a tan salon, and her eyes were a fierce caramel color. On her back was a bow and a quiver of arrows. The only flaw to her perfection was the slight puffiness of her eyes. Percy remembered Gwen saying how Reyna was Jason's girlfriend.

"Are you a daughter of Aphro—I mean, Venus?" he asked, awed.

Reyna allowed a slight smile to curl the tips of her thin lips.

"No, I am a daughter of Apollo." With that she nodded Gwen's way and left them.

Gwen huffed irritably.

"At this rate, you'll be as friendless as me."

Percy opened his mouth to say something around the lines that he was her friend when a loud horn sounded. He jumped, nearly out of his skin, and caused Gwen to go into such a fit of giggles, she collapsed on the grass, trying to control herself and breathe. Quickly, she regained control of herself and whispered, "Run." to Percy. They high-tailed it to the pavilion and made it inside just as the horn blasted again. They were the last ones, but they weren't late. Percy would have to remember that Romans enjoyed being punctual. They also probably didn't approve of surprises.

Gwen found Lynn again and told Percy to stay with her during dinner. Percy mutely nodded, remembering Herm—Mercury gave shelter to travelers. Lynn spoke to Percy only to remind him of what to do and what to grab and what to avoid. She guided him over to a large Roman column in the center of the pavilion and they shoved off a portion of food as an offering to the gods. The column had a large hole in it and Percy could see a fire crackling happily in the heart of it.

He sat down with Lynn at the overly crowded Mercury cabin and saw Gwen sitting all by herself at the Neptune table. Her hair had been swept in front of her face again so that no one would see her weakness. With a pang, he realized she'd sat alone at her table for a long time. Neptune had probably claimed her when she'd been able to walk and talk and start to fight. She'd been alone and friendless for too many years.

"How much trouble would I get in," he asked Lynn quietly, " if I went over and sat with Gwen?" Lynn glanced over at him.

"I don't think thare's any written rule that says ya can't. people just don't. Ya better hurry right back over here if Lupa tells ya ta."

"Right." Percy said. Who's Lupa? He wondered again. His limbs feeling like lead, he grabbed his food and strolled over to Gwen's table in what he'd hoped to be a nonchalant way. He sat down and was instantly glad he did by the award-winning grin she granted him. He could feel the stares on the back of his head. The whole room had gone quiet as they stared at him, the new guy, the boy who dared.

Percy slowly chewed his food.

Eventually, people went back to their conversations.

Percy heard two campers get up and walk by the Neptune table.

"Oops!" he heard the fake cry of alarm. But he'd sensed the full glass of water coming down to hit him before anything else. A tugging pulled his gut, yet he knew what to do. The cup almost reached his head when he made it stop, mid-air, cup, water, and all. Gasps filled the pavilion.

"Guinevere!" some campers chided.

"I'm not doing anything!" Gwen cried in glee.

Percy winked at her then sent the glass back into his owner's face. With a roar, the camper grabbed his friend's water and smashed the cup over Percy's head. He let it happen. Slowly, he brushed the glass out of his hair. He was totally dry, like he somehow knew he would be.

"You really shouldn't waste glass cups like that, brick brain." He told the Mars camper coolly.

"Why you—"

"Rowley, calm yourself. Is that not what we teach here? To control your emotions?" the voice sent the whole room into a spasm of silence. Percy felt chill bumps race up and down his spine. He dared not look behind him.

"We should be nice to our new camper, as Greek as he is. Yes, he is Greek. I smell the stench on him." Percy felt offended. He didn't think he smelled. On the contrary, he thought he smelled like the fresh, open sea. "So, we will see how things play out with a Greek here, but he will be accepted like he is a normal Roman demigod. Perseus, your twin will aid you while you prepare for the Three Tasks."

"Twin?" Percy was so confused, he looked over his shoulder. Every face in the place looked like it had been carved from stone. The hair on the back of his neck stood up as he looked at where all their attention was directed to: the huge white wolf in the center of the pavilion. A sense of understanding went through him like a shock of electricity: Lupa. Before the shock could settle on his face, Percy tried to rearrange his features in such a way that they didn't show too much emotion.

Lupa's lips curled back but it was more of a wolfy smile than anything. Slowly, she padded over to Neptune's table, the picture of grace. Her fur brushed against Percy's arm. It was as hot as a furnace and thick as double bronze armor.

"Greek and Roman demigods do not get along, Perseus. Sometimes, powerful enough twins cause one twin to be mainly Greek and the other to be mainly Roman. But that does not mean that they can stay together and cause everyone else to figure out the Greek and Romans' secrets. Why do you think you and Guinevere's mother never saw her?"

Percy stared at Gwen who stared right back at him. Her mask was secure, but her eyes were free—dancing and shocked, pleasantly. He swallowed hard and talked to Lupa, unable to take his eyes off his sister or speak above a whisper.

"What Greek and Roman secrets?"

"That they exist." Lupa announced. "The Greeks don't know the Romans exist and the Romans don't know the Greeks exist. Of course I knew and Chiron did too, but, we were told never to speak of this. However, giving light to your appearance and Jason's disappearance, it seems that they will become aware of our presence very soon and I really see no reason to keep it from anyone here that we have a Greek.

"The Greeks will try to contact us but, they will not be able to. They cannot pin-point our location, even if Jason were helping, and we cannot pin-point their location. We know about what areas we are in, but that still doesn't help. I trust Minerva's descendants will come up with a useful plan?" her attention was taken away from Percy and Gwen to look at Minerva's table.

Dakota stood proud and as tall as he could, the obvious leader.

"We will." He responded in his deep voice. Percy still didn't forgive him for being a jerk to his sister.

"So it is decided then. Guinevere will help you prepare for the Three Tasks. You will start them the day after tomorrow. Romans! Welcome Perseus, son of Poseidon!" Lupa sudden bellow caused Percy to jump but not as much as seeing every Roman besides Gwen, who really seemed too shocked to do anything, jump to their feet and bang their cups on their tables or pound their fists on their chests and bellow "Rah!"

As if responding to Lupa's claim, Percy felt a tingle on his left forearm. He looked down to see silver lines suddenly forming. When they were done, he had a silver tattoo of a three-pronged Trident.

2: Percy Forgets his Pants

Percy liked Neptune's cabin after all.

Gwen had made the inside original and wonderful and strangely familiar. In the center of the spacious cabin, their was a white marble fountain that had a stallion rearing and twisting in midair with salt water pouring out of his mouth. Percy noticed someone had delicately carved a Trident into the right thigh of the stallion. Inside the fountain, salt water foamed and waved, keeping the silver pictures carved beneath it clean. It was only Neptune, conquering Oceanus, but Percy could tell that the fact that Neptune had even sent a fountain with pictures of himself made Gwen bubbly.

The ceiling had been criss-crossed with seaweed that somehow was staying moist and green. The bunk beds had seaweed wrapped down their posts. Star fish, conch shells, sand dollars, and so many other shells were hung from the ceiling, placed around the beds, and decorated the edges of the fountain. On the very back wall was a wide window with edges that appeared to have been eroded by water. A wonderfully salty breeze blew into the cabin and a breathtaking view could be seen. Deep sea plants and urchins that glowed in the dark had been placed on the window seal and seaweed was stuck around the edges, forming a crude but perfect frame.

Sand glittered on floor—from powdery white to coral pink to corn yellow—and a treasure chests that looked like they had been unearthed from sunken pirate ships were at the ends of each bed. Percy gaped at Gwen who just blushed and said:
"I just added a few personal touches, that's all. Here, let's try to make you some friends, shall we?" she held up a purple T-shirt quietly. Feeling a little awkward but aware Gwen wouldn't leave his side, Percy took off his orange T-shirt that was a little roughed up and let it slowly fall to the sandy ground. He put on the purple cotton shirt and approved of the sea-breeze smell.

"What should we do with my T-shirt?" he asked, looking at it on the floor in a crumpled mess.

"Keep it!" Gwen replied happily, scooping to pluck it off the floor. She dusted it off then folded it in a way that looked fine to Percy but was disgraceful for a Venus child. She put it in Percy's pirate chest. "So, considering everyone's really going to keep their distance from you because you're officially 'Greek', we better just start practicing. Got your sword?" Automatically, Percy pulled out his pen then felt silly. Gwen raised her eyebrows expectantly and Percy plucked the lid off of the pen. Part of him went 'Holy Fish!' while the other went 'This is kinda boring. Can we get to the battling now?'. A huge celestial bronze sword had grown in his hand from the pen.

"Anaklusmos. Riptide." He told her proudly. He put the lid on the tip of the sword and he was just standing there with a ball point pen, grinning stupidly at his sister. She grinned stupidly back.

"What about your shield?"

Percy hesitated for a second, his mind blank. Then his hands seemed to take over for him. They pressed the dial in on the watch and then he was holding a large round shield. It was decorated with some interesting pictures, one of which was of a Cyclopes fighting a Hydra with a box of Monster Donuts held over his head. It was strangely familiar…

"Tyson." That was who the Cyclopes was. But he didn't know who Tyson was or why he was fighting a Hydra and eating donuts at the same time. But he knew the Cyclopes's name was Tyson…

Gwen brushed her slender fingers over the bronze. She met Percy's eyes.

"Did your brother make this for you?"

"My brother? Oh!" Percy remembered suddenly that Cyclopes were the children of Poseidon. Tyson was his half-brother, even though he couldn't remember a thing about him. "Yeah, I guess he did. I can't really remember." Percy furrowed his brow like looking mean enough would scare the memories back into his head. Needless to say, that method did not work. Gwen rubbed the line furiously in between his eyebrows.

"It will come all in good time. Sometimes you just have to see things to remember things. The good news is, Juno didn't steal your memories, Percy. Though, if she went through all that trouble to make sure you didn't remember anything…maybe that's why she dropped you on your head. She didn't want you to know everything, so she buried your memories so that they'll come back, little by little. I wonder if Jason's memories were stolen, or if he was just like you. Juno was his patron god, though, so maybe he had to do something, help her, to get him memories back. It would be a good reason to help her. But why erase his memory? Why switch you two? Maybe she's in trouble. Maybe that's why you still have your memories hiding in your subconscious. If she was trapped, she wouldn't be able to do too much! She would have switched you guys, stolen Jason's memories, then she didn't have enough strength to do that to you so she dumped you on your head so you'd be unconscious for most of the time! Percy, I think you got it!"

"Me? I didn't say a word!" Percy argued, staring at Gwen.

"Stop fusing, come on, we got to practice before we get into some trouble. I only have a today to get you all good and ready for the Three Tasks!" Percy was dragged out of Neptune's cabin and led to the vast green field that most people just lazed around in. Right now, no one was there. They had seen Percy and Gwen and had taken off like someone had set fire to their pants. Percy realized the Romans didn't like them because he and his sister were too Greek. He ground his teeth. He began to grasp Gwen's frustration with Roman ways. Romans were ridiculous!

Gwen let go of his hand and stepped away from him. She walked a few yards away and crossed her arms, Roman Mask on. Instantly, Percy was irritated. He hated the Roman Mask, especially on his sister. It made her cold and dull and was just not her. It made her eyes go dead and her limbs to hang stiffly by her sides.

"Control, brother." Gwen told him in a detached voice. "The Three Tasks consist of Organization, Control, and Skill as a Fighter. One will seem stupid: that will be organization. One will be painful and hard: Control, Lupa will test you physically or emotionally. One will be challenging but I think you will enjoy it: Skill as a Fighter.

"I want you to breathe, Perseus. I know this face annoys you so—it angers me as well—but that is why I am using it. If you are to be a Roman, you must not show emotions as best as you can. You must detach your mind away from your body and go to a different place. You must disregard anything Lupa says to you, no matter how true, because it does not matter. You will not be there to face music and confess all your weaknesses. You will be there to stay focused and unfazed and able to fight with a clear mind. You will be smart!" her voice was rough right there.

Percy nodded, forming his face into what he hoped looked stone-like.

"Organization…well, we'll fold some clothes and try to make things straight when we get back to the cabin…" When Gwen's mask slipped ever so slightly, allowing a thoughtful look to pass over her face, Percy fought the urge to relax and smile. He made all his muscles rigid. He forced his head up and down.

"Then there's Fighting. Ready yourself, Percy!" he hardly had time to think before Gwen had her two swords out, twirling them dangerously, and Percy was surprised to find Riptide and his shield were already out, ready to fight. Instantly, he was looking everywhere at her, noticing and analyzing every twitch her fingers gave, every half blink her eyelashes engaged in, every flaw. The trouble was, Gwen was solid. She knew her weaknesses and her defenses and had probably been working on them since she was old enough to hold a stick and wave it around. Percy felt that he didn't nearly have as many years under his belt.

He quickly tried to take in the pros and cons of his situation with his sister. Gwen was slimmer than him so he had the advantage with weight. But that meant she was probably a little quicker and had less body to protect from his offense. He was taller than her but it was only by an inch so they were on pretty even footing there. He was stronger than her. But, if she knew and preformed her moves well enough, he wouldn't be able to throw his weight and strength on her. This was literally skill against skill. Greek against Roman. Brother against Sister. He didn't like that thought.

"Stay focused, Perseus!" she yelled. And then the air was full of the sound of blade against blade, bronze against bronze. Percy was glad that he was fast and that Riptide was sturdy and so well balanced, but Gwen was just as fast and knew her bronze just as well, if not better. A gift from my brothers…she'd said. She'd been playing with her swords for a good long time.

Incredibly, she found ways past his defense. She slashed his shirt but he didn't bleed, he didn't get the slightest graze. His clothes could not sing the same tune, however. Percy watched Gwen take in his impenetrable skin and he watched her eyes narrow just the slightest bit. She continued to fight like he could be hurt.

She hit him hard with her blade, not worried about hurting him anymore, knocking him off balance and barking instructions at him. He felt the pain but it was dulled and even though it felt as though he was going to have dozens of bruises, he knew he wouldn't—couldn't. When he listened and preformed as she told him, Percy did better. One mistake on her behalf—she reached too much to knock him off balance again while giving him instructions and she'd left a part of herself unprotected. Percy struck hard.

Riptide came down on her arm. She moved it just before he sliced it off but there was a deep cut. Caught off balance by her quick reaction, Percy remembered every little piece of information she gave him. He jumped forward, swinging his shield around to break her nose. She flung her swords up to stop his attack—which would have worked had he not thrown all his weight and strength into the blow. It was a gamble, but he knew it would work. Gwen hit the ground hard, Percy, unbalanced, falling with her.

He put Riptide to her throat and pushed a little too hard, a thin stream of red trickled down her throat. Her eyes glittered unreadably.

"Impressive." She murmured, "But always stay balanced. You see what it did to me? Do you see what it did to you? You fell on me, perfect for a kill, but notice—" he looked behind him where her knife was, resting only a centimeter from where his soul was anchored to his body. A cold trickle of sweat fell off his forehead. "You must be very careful, Percy." She took her knife away and Percy stood up, instantly feeling bad about hurting her. Not only had he tried to slice off her arm and crush her, he'd almost decapitated his own sister.

"Don't worry about me, Percy. I feel fine. Nothing a little water won't fix." She laughed her jubilant laugh then her face settled into a curious look, "I wonder, since you took a dip in the River Styx, how Juno rendered you unconscious. She must have done something to knock you out like that. I had assumed you had major head trauma, but, now, I don't think you could have possibly had that." She smiled once more at him. "This means you were messed up in the brain before you took a dip and before you got here!"

Percy's laugh joined hers.

The rest of the day was spent trying to organize different things while Gwen attacked him from behind occasionally, testing his reflexes, barking advice, scolding him when his Roman Mask slipped up. Meal times were a whole different matter, however. Gwen smiled like nothing could possibly dampen her mood and no one dared go near them. They were much too Greek and they were the only children of the Big Three in camp.

When Gwen had told him that, Percy could have sworn a memory of a girl name Clarisse and the smell of awful toilet water danced on the edges of his consciousness. Even though Percy wanted to glare at his food because of his evasive memories, he took a deep breath and remained in Roman form. Gwen nodded approvingly.

Percy woke up to the sound of a snarl. He was on his feet immediately, sword out, ready to defend—Gwen put a hand on his arm. She had jumped out of bed too and her swords were out.

"Good morning, Lupa." She called calmly in her detached voice that told Percy she had her Roman Mask on. He followed her example, clearing his mind of emotions, which was hard and he wasn't very good at.

"Perseus, are you ready for the Three Tasks?"

"I've been ready, Lupa." Percy answered. Gwen pushed him and he realized his voice had way too much confidence for emotionless. He huffed then tried to clear his mind. He stepped out of the cabin.

Lupa lunged at him. Percy pulled out Riptide and held it defensively in front of him, his face smooth, with an effort. Lupa chuckled deep in her throat.

"I'm impressed, Greek."

With that, she began to trot away. Percy followed, his gut twisting itself into knot after knot. He glanced behind his shoulder to look at the dead camp and saw Gwen's silhouette in the doorway of Neptune's cabin. He saw her raise her slender hand in good luck then Lupa turned a corner and he could no longer see his sister. He ran while Lupa jogged leisurely. He was out of breath, but tried not to show it too much. He preoccupied himself with looking around, trying to distract himself from how early in the morning it was and how his lungs were beginning to ache in the crispy air.

That's when he realized he'd never changed into some actual clothes. He was in a thin white T-shirt and green boxers. Lupa must have heard his sharp intake of breath, because she chuckled her deep laugh.

"I was wondering when you'd notice, Greek. It's funny how your age classifies 'ready'." She taunted him, hoping to get a rise out of him. Percy just mumbled something that sounded like "moldy socks" and then wished he hadn't. No shoes or socks. No Riptide. His hair probably looked like it had been in a tornado…Percy chewed on his lip then took a shaky breath, as deep as he could while he couldn't breathe, and put on the Roman Mask. At least he had Tyson's watch.

Lupa stopped suddenly and Percy was glad to follow her example. Then he saw where they were. It was a place where the ground was flat and bare. A small stream flowed swiftly by the bare ground, sending chills up and down Percy's back. No life was in the water. No life at all. Nothing green grew by the river. Nothing grew at all. Everything was dead, as if life had been sucked clean out of it. As if something were trying to suck life out right now…he breathed slowly. He had to calm down. He had to remember Gwen's words. He would just ask Lupa what she wanted him to do. He looked over to where she was, standing much too close to the stream for comfort.

And that's when she disappeared.

She just shimmered out of view as if she hadn't really been there at all. Despair filled him. He was all alone in a horrible place.

You're going to die. A whispery voice said. Percy's heart beat like crazy. You're never going to get out of here. You're going to die here in misery because you didn't do anything good. You're going to perish here in pain because that is what you deserve. You shouldn't have left Annabeth. She's so lonely now. So vulnerable. So open to attack. What if someone hurt her? Life is such a delicate thing after all…Percy couldn't remember who this Annabeth person was, but he did not like the way the voice spoke about her. Like it was threatening her. Something in him told him to stay dormant, wait for the perfect attack. He grudgingly obeyed.

You don't deserve to have Guinevere. She needs someone who will protect her. But you didn't. you don't. you tried to KILL her. What kind of brother are you? How could you live with yourself? What if she wasn't fast enough? What if you were faster than her? She would have died and it would have been all your fault! How does that make you feel? Do you acknowledge that you're a cold blooded killer at heart? You have no control! None! You are angry and mean and you will kill your sister! Your own flesh and blood! What are you? What monster made you? How can you live with yourself?

Percy felt like crying. The voice was so right. Something in him urged him to ignore it. To hold on a little longer. He obeyed. He didn't know what else to do. His face remained as hard as a rock.

YOU'RE A DISGRACE! YOU'RE A MISERABLE PIECE OF SCUM THAT IS ONLY LUCKY ENOUGH TO CRAWL ACROSS THE EARTH! YOU BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS! YOU MURDER YOUR SISTER IN YOUR MIND! YOU DESERT ANNABETH! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? WHAT CURSED YOU TO BE SO HEARTLESS? WHY DON'T YOU JUST END THE MISERY? WHY DON'T YOU JUST STOP HURTING THE WORLD, POLLUTING IT WITH YOUR HORRIBLE PRESENCE? WHY DON'T YOU JUST END IT!

Percy opened his eyes and he was in a field. A girl was screaming at him, her voice no higher than a whisper. She was about seven-years-old and her eyes were completely black. No white at all. Her teeth were extra sharp and her nails were like claws. She had lost control trying to make Percy loose control. She had gotten into Percy's mind, making him feel useless, hopeless, horrible, deserted.

Lupa stood a few feet away from the little girl, carefully watching her break-down.

"Greek," she addressed Percy, "You have passed your first task. It is with great disappointment that I not eat you now. Go eat your breakfast with your sister. You cannot change. You said you were ready and you will remain in your Greek ready state until the end of the day, when all your tasks are either passed or you are eaten. I hope you are not too salty." Percy decided that was as good a time as any to high-tail it away from the yellow field and the crazy little girl and the wolf who was discussing to him how he might taste.

"She had Ester test you?" Gwen demanded angrily, the waffle she was about to stuff into her mouth falling off her fork and onto her syrupy plate with a splat.

"I guess." Percy answered, relieved to stretch his muscles but unhappy that his face was still rather stiff. "What's her problem anyway?"

Gwen gave a dark laugh. Percy jerked back in surprise and his blue waffle narrowly missed his boxers. He still blushed as all the Venus girls giggled at him. The Romans had no problem with laughing at a Greek in underwear.

"She's the perfect example of why you don't intermingle within your own cabin."

"You mean…?" Percy left the sentence unfinished, feeling a little sick.

"Yeah, her mom and her dad were both from the Trivia cabin."

"Trivia?"

"Hecate, Percy, really, you need to get these names down!"

"Sorry."

"It's fine, anyways, Esther is what happens when you marry and such with a half-brother or sister. It's not pretty. She has dozens of health problems. She's actually twenty years old. Truthfully, I can't believe she hasn't died yet, she has enough malice in her to do the trick for this camp and your camp." Gwen nodded firmly. Percy decided it was safe to say that Gwen did not like Ester at all.

Lupa was waiting for Percy when he stepped out of the pavilion in his boxers with his sister. Her lip curled. That was Lupa's sneer. Percy's face, however, remained smooth. Like with the field, he followed the huge white wolf, but this time, Gwen followed them. He glanced back at her, his Roman Mask breaking so he could look at her like "What are you doing? This is my second task!" Gwen ignored him, the corners of her lips pulling up ever so slightly that if Percy hadn't been watching, he would have missed. Lupa took Percy and his tag-along past the field to an edge of a cliff. A huge white marble library stood there. Tall and imposing. The sea roared down below them. It was comforting. He waited while Lupa looked at him and Gwen, as if gauging how long it would take them to die if she sunk her teeth in them.

"It seems that all the books have been knocked off their shelves and piled mysteriously at the front of the library. You and your sister will organize them, without mistake. You have exactly three hours and 3,769 books to organize. I suggest you get started." Lupa flicked her tail and loped away.

"She's joking right?" Percy spun around to demand of Gwen.

"I wish she was. Romans must be able to organize efficiently and quickly under great means of stress. It's good battle practice. Look on the bright side, Percy, you have someone. I had to build this library in six hours all by myself."

"You built this…?"

"Percy, stop wasting time!"

The library was huge. The inside was well furnished and all the long book shelves were empty. Completely. The books were all piled, as Lupa had promised, at the front of the library. Percy was suddenly grateful that he had Gwen there with him. She was like a little sun, making him look on the bright side no matter what. He had to doubt their combined ability to put the library back in order in three hours, perfectly. Neither he or Gwen was too ecstatic about organization. They would be lucky if they got a hundred books organized…

Something sharp and heavy slammed against the back of his head. He was positive that it would have cracked his skull open if he'd been a normal person and hadn't taken a dip in the River Styx (the river that Achilles dipped in to become a better and indestructible warrior). Percy glanced down at the huge book that must have weighted about twenty pounds. He looked up to see Gwen glaring at him.

"Reflexes, Percy." She scolded, "Stay bright. Stay focused. If you think we can't do this, we won't be able to. Lupa's tasks are designed to make a person look out of the box and summon inhuman strength to complete things. Most Romans can't complete all these tasks but they give it their best Roman shot and she lets them slide. You're Greek and a son of one of the Big Three. She's just itching for an excuse to gobble you up, even though she knows it's not very smart." Gwen smiled lightly at him, as though she was discussing what color sheets to put on his bed.

"Percy, here's the thing, I'll try to help you as much as possible, but I can only be a prop. You're in charge. You're the boss. It's your task and you must figure out how to solve the puzzle."

"Puzzle?" Percy demanded, "What puzzle? I just have to stuff a bunch of books into a bunch of shelves in a fairly organized manner!"

"Perseus." Gwen replied sternly, her face one of a very annoyed looking statue. "You will organize this perfectly, just as Lupa specified. You will organize about four thousand books in the way you are supposed to in three hours. If you think you can simply roam around thinking A-B-C-D, you're screwed. This is not only about organization but about strategy. Think about it, Seaweed Brain."

Percy jerked back, away from Gwen. A beautiful girl was wrapped in his arms. Her hair was a golden blonde and curled as if she was a princess. Her eyes were a stormy gray. "Seaweed Brain…" she said warningly, her voice warm and teasing. Every cell in Percy's body reacted to her words….

Suddenly he was back in the library, Gwen looking at him worriedly, no beautiful girl in his arms. He ached for her to come back. Annabeth. He realized with a sudden surety that that was the beautiful girl's name. Gwen snapped her fingers in his face. He growled at her. She seemed undeterred by his unfriendliness.

"C'mon, brother, Annabeth will be depressed if you fail and Lupa eats you." Percy nodded slowly then his brain kicked into high gear.

"Gwen, start sorting genres. We need to get those down then alphabetize each individual section. Get to work! Try to use any abilities you may have that I don't know about." He ordered. Gwen sniffed at him, apparently offended in some way. Percy didn't care. He waited for her to obey. Delicately, she spun on her heel and glanced at the huge mountain of books. She snapped her fingers.

To Percy's surprise, all the books flipped around so that they were in straight lines, cover up. He stared at his sister. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm manipulating the water in the ink." He could tell she wanted to say something cutting to him, but she remained silent and stiff.

"Gwen, I—"

"Time is of the essence." She interrupted his apology shortly and rudely.

He sighed and saw no other way but to agree with her.

With a few minutes of careful concentration, Percy found that he could sense the thin amount of water hiding in the thick ink of books. He started to make them float around, but he wasn't nearly as good or delicate as Gwen was. They both read every single title of every single book and put them in neat stacks according to their genre. Then they alphabetized them by their author's last names (or first, depending on how old the book was) and then began to sort them. Percy found everything dull but at least he could make the books fly around with some concentration. Several times a particularly heavy book would fall on his head. There was no doubt in his mind that Gwen purposely did it, but he just rubbed his slightly sore head and continued to sort books.

Then Percy had to fly through all the bookshelves, making sure no book was out of place. He really hated that. His dyslexia made all the words float off the page and spiral around his head. Eventually he fell over and Gwen took over. She told him she'd been learning to read tirelessly since she got to First Legion.

Percy threw himself onto the well carpeted floor. He dared himself to look around at the library and left a strange bubbling pride. The pile of books was gone. Every single book was in the correct place. Every single book was accounted for. Gwen was a life-saver and he was hungry again. Congratulations, he told himself, you just organized a library! That sure deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. He had to admit, the organized feel of everything was beginning to grow on him, but Percy knew there would be no place like home when he was plopped down into Neptune's cabin with its perfect smell, perfect looks, and his happy sister.

The doors to the library burst open and Percy was on his feet. Gwen was at his side, her whole body so stiff, he was worried she'd break a bone. Regardless to the health problems the stance would probably give him, he followed her example and stared forward blindly as Lupa padded into the library.

"You've been hard at work." She sighed. "It seems Guinevere was a very good choice for you, Perseus. She really pulled you together. Oh, well, I guess I have to admit you passed this task. I feel that everything was just as it was before I had Mars's children rip out every book. You and your sister may go eat your lunch. I will not eat you this time. It appears that you are determined to be a pup of mine. I have to admit, I do like heroes, even salty ones." Lupa wrinkled her nose and turned her back on the twins. Percy grabbed Gwen's hand and ran out of the library as fast as he could, dragging Gwen most of the way.

The whole time they ate their lunch, Gwen was whispering to him tactics and last-minute reminders. He might have been irritated had the words not been so well thought out. Gwen knew what she was doing. She was an expert in swords and battling, that was certain. Percy felt a wave of warmth for having her as a sister who cared enough to tell him little bits of useful information.

They had stepped out of the pavilion, Percy becoming quite aware that he was still in his underwear thanks to all the Venus girls giggling his way, when Lupa appeared before them. Her face was suddenly serious. Every Roman gathered around and eagerly waited for her words.

"It is time." She announced.

Percy stood very close to Gwen, hoping her experience would wrap around him like a soft, fuzzy blanket. They were standing in a place that looked like it had once been a great house. However, all that was left of it was its stone ruins. A lonely stone skeleton howling in the wind. Chills raced up and down Percy's arms and a cool wind swirled around his leg and up his boxers. He bit his lip to keep from yelping in surprise.

Gwen told him this place was called the Wolf House.

She said that Roman demigods were sent here and here they were told by Lupa that they must complete the Three Tasks to be a true Roman. They must complete these Three Tasks and become her pup or they will be eaten. Death or baby-hood.

"Perseus, ready yourself. It is time for battle." Gwen held out Riptide in pen form. She must have taken it out of his shorts. Gratefully, he took it. "Remember, protect yourself. Don't get off balance. But, most importantly, stay focused! Don't let emotions or taunts get in your way!" Percy slowly nodded. His tongue felt like it had swollen in size and was a giant pickle in his mouth. He was disappointed it didn't taste as good as a pickle. It just tasted like his tongue.

"Romans!" Lupa announced, "And Greek." Laughter echoed around the Wolf House, "Perseus Jackson will complete his third and final task here, in battle, against Robert Fulmer. Normally a newbie would fight our best, which is Guinevere, but seeing as they are twins and she has taught him, this would not be a fair fight." Percy glanced at Gwen who had become quite interested in how her purple shoes were so clean, "The battle is over when one is knocked to their feet and is unable to get back up." Percy noticed she didn't say anything about it being bad to kill someone. He was very glad he could only be killed in one spot…Bobby grinned at him from the other side of Lupa, apparently glad that she hadn't said anything about it not being allowed to maim or kill or beat the pulp out of his opponent. Percy readied himself to take on his mammoth sized partner.

A fury welled up inside him and threatened to burst and overtake him. Percy fought it back, realizing, with a whole new wave of his own fury, that he'd forgotten that Bobby, like his father, could make a person feel very, very angry. "It makes them stupid." Bobby had told him when they'd first met. That's why Gwen had told him to remember how to control himself. She had wanted him to stay in control because it was bad to let emotions totally fight a battle but mainly to keep his feelings at bay so that the unnatural, Bobby-induced anger couldn't leak through too and cause him to fail and be eaten. Percy was sure that with a few crunches, Lupa would find his weak spot, his Achilles heal. And then Gwen would watch as her brother was chomped up by giant Roman wolf. He refused to subject her to something like that. He refused to loose.

"Begin!" Lupa barked, jumping out of the way. Riptide was already uncapped and Tyson's shield was out. Bronze and bronze clanged together almost musically. It made him think of yesterday when Gwen had been teaching him…all her scolding came back full force. Percy's ADHD kicked in and he saw everything about Bobby. Unlike his sister who had been utterly flawless, Bobby had some flaws that Percy was confident he could work in his favor to bring him down with.

Percy thrust and jabbed and ducked and blocked and never stepped in such a way that threatened to get him off balance. The only real problem with fighting Bobby was his uncanny ability to make his opponents' anger run wild. Percy was fighting against the horrible urge to just let his fury fight the fight but he knew he would sign a death warrant that way. Bobby wasn't as good as his sister, but he was definitely good and a fair challenge.

Percy lept forward, taking Bobby by surprise, and attacked him with a series of quick jabs that Bobby deflected with a roar of rage. Percy was just a little bit faster than Bobby. But Bobby was also the god of war's son. Battle was Bobby's middle name.

"It probably makes you mad, huh?" Percy challenged through clenched teeth, fighting and dancing away from Bobby's huge sword when its owner tried to use his massive strength and weight against Percy.

"What?" Bobby demanded, his eyes watching every move Percy made.

"That my sister's better than you. That my sister is a better fighter than you, a son of Mars. Do you disgrace your father, Bobby? Is your father ashamed that you can't compete with a girl?"

"ARG!" Bobby snarled. He lunged forward. Percy side-stepped and swung his sword forward. Bobby didn't have a chance. Percy heard the sound as the nose crunched under his shield. He slammed the flat part of his sword against the back of Bobby's skull and Bobby collapsed in an unconscious heap at Percy's feet.

"It is done." He announced coolly. He glanced around at all the shocked faces. Only one was not shocked. Gwen was beaming at him. Literally radiating her joy and pride. It made him think of a mother watching her little boy do something semi-important and her twittering away, "That's my son! That's my baby!"

Gwen looked over to Lupa expectantly. The huge wolf nodded ever so slightly. Everything happened at once. Percy was thrown on a huge shield and held high in the air. He was very aware that he was still in his underwear. He was vaguely aware that people were uttering a bunch of words in a language he didn't understand at all.

Then he was next to Gwen again. She had a hold of his arm firmly and made him feel protected. He had two leather sweat band things around his wrists, just like Gwen. One was plain. The other had SPQR on it. That one was pushed up more on his arm so his watch could still fit on his wrist.

"Romans!" Lupa yelled. Everyone looked at her. "Welcome your new brother! Perseus Jackson! Son of Neptune!"

3: Gwen Shares her Soul

Percy was having demigod nightmares. Demigods usually had dreams that told them about the future or what was happening at that moment with their enemies or their friends. Usually they meant trouble.

Percy was in a dark place that looked like a cave. The ground rumbled slightly, as if a giant was sleeping. But, for some reason, Percy knew that no one was sleeping in the bone-lined cave. He could hear a horrible weeping. Slowly, he searched the cave until he found its source. He gasped.

The man was bent over as if he might have been bowing. His hands were curling and uncurling, uprooting the dirt as he wept. He had big, blonde curls and his skin was lily white. Around his waist was a pink loin cloth and his wings were folded tightly against his back. This was a god. Percy didn't know which one, but he knew it was a god.

"Please!" the god choked out, his voice sounding like harp's music, "Please! Give her back! Please!"

A deep, rumbling laugh caused the whole cave to shake horribly and several skulls to come unglued from the wall and fell down.

"You will get Psyche when you deserve her. You must complete a few chores for me, little god."

"I will not betray the gods." The minor god's voice was strangled but defiant. A sudden screaming filled the air. Percy froze, his heart pounding a million miles a minute. "NO! STOP HURTING HER!" the god roared furiously. The screaming declined to a miserable whimpering.

"You better give me something useful to work with…or we'll see how much pain your wife can take!" the evil voice threatened. The screaming began again, just as horrible as the first time.

"No! Please! Stop! I'll do anything!" the god whimpered. The screaming stopped and the horrible laughter started again.

"Tell me something useful, little god. Tell me something I could work with, or—"

"No! Please! Jason Grace and Percy Jackson! They are Greek and Roman demigods! Hera switched them when she was captured…"

The dream changed.

"We cannot allow Esther to grow anymore. It's been twenty years and she still looks young. Much too young."

Percy couldn't see the owner to the voice. Whispers were everywhere. Ghosts floated around. He shivered.

"Tomorrow she will become immortal at noon. If that happens, she will gain an incredible amount of power. Her soul and mind are rotten and evil, we must protect ourselves. We must pull her out of her world." A deep voice said.

"Kill her?" the first voice, a rather bored voice, slurred. "Your own brains have been turned to mush. To kill someone like Esther when she is almost immortal will require a place holder. Someone will have to leave the Underworld for Esther to get in."

"Alright, so that's not a problem. Let's kill her now—"

"Calm yourself! The only souls worthy enough to hold her place have been dead for many years. They will require another soul to latch onto. To feed off of until their own soul can independently sustain life. This could kill the host soul which would mean the first soul would come back to the Underworld. We need a soul that is strong. We need a soul that can heal quickly."

"One of Poseidon's brats?"

"Perfect. Guinevere will be the one. Tomorrow, it will be done."

Percy woke up screaming. He fell out of bed. Instantly, someone's arms were around him, hugging him, calming him. He sighed, listening to the beat of the waves against rocks, the feel of the powder smooth of the sand, the comfort of having someone just sit there next to him and hold him, not caring how old he was. It was almost like a mother.

Gwen didn't ask him why he'd jumped out of bed, screaming like a baby. She just sat with him, whispering calming things, reminding him to listen to the sound of the waves…he had to warn her that someone was going to try to latch onto her soul and suck her dry, but he couldn't focus while she held him tight. He finally had no choice but to slip back into sleep. This time though, no demigod dreams plagued his mind.

In the morning, Gwen was already dressed and combing her hair while perched on the edge of the fountain their dad had given her. Percy got to his feet and stretched as far as he could. He sat down next to her sleepily and glanced into the water. Instead of seeing Neptune right away, he caught his own reflection. He looked like a mess. His hair was sticking up in all different directions and his eyes had some light but definitely present circles under them. Then he saw Gwen's reflection. She was as gorgeous as usual, not looking the tiniest bit tired even though she must have spent half the night calming him down.

The strange thing was, when he saw their reflections, side by side, Percy felt almost handsome. He and Gwen really were twins. They both had the wavy black hair, the naturally tan skin, the height, the sea green eyes, the long lashes…if Percy were turned into a girl, he'd look just like Gwen. When Percy was just looking at himself, alone, he saw all the flaws, all the bad things, just like any old person did. But when he was put next to Gwen, he could only see the good things. If he looked really close, he could see the flaws he had, but they didn't seem as important, they didn't seem to really matter.

Gwen radiated a brilliance Apollo alone could barely outshine.

Something at the back of Percy's head nagged at him. He tried to remember what it was, who was in danger…but he'd slept since he'd figured it out. He decided that if he couldn't remember it, it couldn't really be all that important. It was probably just a memory, trying to pry free, to make him remember some other Greek demigod.

"Ready to go have some blue waffles?" Percy asked in good spirit.

"I am," Gwen laughed, "But you aren't. Why don't you try for some actual clothes or do you just want to make the Venus girls fawn over you even more? I swear, if I hear one more word about how hot you looked in your boxers, someone's going to have an unplanned haircut. And it won't be pretty!"

Gwen taught Percy some new sword moves but she dominated him continually. It was a rare and surprising occasion when Gwen actually made a mistake and she usually was quick enough to block or roll away from his offensive attack on it. Gwen made training seem like real life fighting. It should be like that but because Percy couldn't actually bleed (unless someone hit his Achilles heel then he would just bleed and die like someone had stabbed him straight in the heart) Gwen attacked him with full force, not worried in the least about hurting him. Percy was surprised that he couldn't get bruises—she certainly hit him hard enough.

Usually the duel ended with Percy flat on his back, sword in Gwen's hand, shield knocked about fifty feet away from him. Sometimes they had to call it a tie when meal time came around. Then occasionally Percy managed to get the best of his sister and knock her to the ground. It always resulted in a lot of blood spilt on her behalf since Percy usually got so focused he would forget that Gwen was his living, delicate sister and not an immortal enemy.

That day, it seemed as if the duel was going to be a tie. They'd been fighting for two hours straight with no let ups and lunch was beginning to threaten to end their battle. Percy was getting a little worried because his arms were starting to ache and Gwen showed no signs of feeling the wear of the fight, of course, Percy didn't allow his weakness to show either. He was getting pretty good at the whole "don't show your emotions" thing even though the actual Roman Romans could do it flawlessly for days on end. Not even Gwen could pull that stunt off. Well, she actually might, if she wanted to try. But she didn't which was perfectly fine with Percy who still got irritated when she went all disconnected and addressed him as "Perseus".

It was about that time when the screaming started.

"Stop!" Gwen ordered him. He pulled Riptide and his shield back and listened to the wails of pain. He didn't realize Gwen was gone until he saw her running away from him, toward the screaming. Percy scrambled after her, weapons ready. She ran until she came to Trivia's cabin. There she joined the ranks of the frightened Trivia siblings. Percy pressed up against her, as if fused to her side, refusing to let her venture into their terrified mass alone.

They let Gwen pass easily. Inside the ring was Gwen and Percy's least favorite person: Esther. She was writhing in pain around on the ground, screaming curses and insults.

"Go get Lupa!" Gwen screamed behind her to Esther's frightened siblings. Then she did something that condemned her. She touched Esther's shoulders and whispered "Esther?" Percy was frozen as the little girl's face flew up and she glared at Gwen with blood red eyes. Her little clawed hands grabbed Gwen's forarms and Percy watched, stunned, as his sister's skin began to smoke and burn.

"They think they can kill me?" she spat at Gwen, acid green spittle slipping down her chin in a very gross way. "Help me, Guinevere! Save me! Please don't let them take me!" then the loudest scream of all shook the camp. Ester melted, right there, while clinging to Percy's sister. Her liquid remains seeped into the earth, making a terrible sucking noise. Before anyone could react, something black soared out of the ground. It rocketed upwards until in turned around and flew back down to earth, back towards the shocked demigods.

That was when Percy remembered his dreams.

"NO!" he bellowed. He was only a foot away from Gwen but as he leapt forward to shield her from the spirit, it was already where he wanted to be. It flew into Gwen's heart, knocking her backwards. She was thrown back a good twenty feet. She lay on the ground, still and dead looking. "GUINEVERE!" Percy bellowed. He was by her side in a moment's time. Her green eyes stared at nothing. A horrible feeling raced through every vein in his body. He refused to say that the spirit had killed her.

His heart aching horribly, he grabbed her limp body and began to run with it. He was back at their cabin, the closest place to sea water. He jumped into the three foot deep fountain and let her body float completely under water. The cut Percy had given her healed. Gwen's hand twitched ever so slightly. Slowly, Gwen's green eyes met Percy's. They were dazed but alive. He jerked her upper half out of the water so that he could crush her with a hug. He didn't want to admit it, but he felt rather misty eyed. He really couldn't imagine life without his happy sister who was the only demigod who could whip his butt at sword duels.

She screamed a long, horrible scream.

Percy nearly jumped out of his skin as he released her from his hug, worried he'd gotten too carried away and had started crushing her. But her face was full of so much pain, he realized it wasn't a too tight hug that had caused her cry. The spirit was ripping her apart. He dunked her back into the water. It didn't seem to help—only speed up the process. She curled herself up in a ball and screamed underwater. Then there was something dark on her back. Like something was growing out of her.

Percy realized that's exactly what was happening.

Another form was pulling itself out of Gwen, taking bits and pieces of his sister to grow and live. Percy pulled Riptide out of his pocket. His pen always returned to his pocket after a few minutes. He would kill the person as soon as they were out of his sister. If they thought they could just cause her pain and use her body as a free usage pile, they didn't know him, her, or their father. The person was out of Gwen. It was a girl and she was struggling underwater, trying to breathe but unable to inhale the water.

Percy brought Riptide above his head. Gwen was in his face, her eyes frantic, tears racing down her cheeks. In surprise, he dropped Riptide on his head and it fell into the water. Gwen pulled the girl out of the water and she sputtered out water and sucked in air. Percy glared at the girl.

"Enough, Perseus." Percy turned his fury to his sister but he couldn't stay mad. She was thin and weak and hurting. Her face was pale but as he watched, it was slowly returning to its normal color thanks to the salt water she was in. "It's not her fault. They made her come. They just ripped her out of the Underworld and sent her up here."

"She didn't have to try to rip you apart!" Percy tried to snarl. It came out as a pleading whisper edged in accusation.

"It's something spirits naturally do, Percy. If they are allowed to live again, it's just something in their nature that tells them to. Even if they are the kindest spirit, they completely loose control. At least they chose me, a person who has a loving brother and a quick healing ability." Percy knew she'd laid the words out like that purposely, but he didn't care, they still got him, like Gwen had known they would. He hugged her, as gently as he could, wrapping his other arm around the other girl. Both were fragile and hurting.

Slowly, he let go of them both. The girl was just a little bit shorter than Gwen and looked to be about fifteen. Her skin was a rich olive color and her eyes were a pitch black. Her hair was bone straight and a shiny black and it went to her elbows. She was a quiet looking girl and Percy swore he knew her from somewhere. His eyebrows furrowed. Her eyes widened worriedly and she ducked her head, hiding a little behind Gwen.

"Percy," Gwen warned, "Be nice."

"Sorry, you just look so familiar." Percy laughed lightly, trying not to look so threatening, "Do you remember who you are? Or do you have amnesia like me?"

"Everything's a little blurry…" she whispered. "But I remember some things…I remember my name, my brother, my mother…a little bit of my father." She squinted at Percy, "I think I kind of remember you…but you were younger…" she shook her head, "I don't know."

"What's your name?" Percy whispered.

"Bianca di Angelo."

Percy suddenly remembered a little boy who looked just like Bianca. He was furious at Percy, screaming at him, tears streaking down his cheeks. It was snowing. Percy had told him his sister had died.

"Your brother in Nico." Percy whispered.

"How'd you know?" Bianca quietly asked.

"I did know you two. You died and I had to tell Nico. He was so mad."

Bianca and Percy stared at each other.

"Percy," Gwen slowly stood up, "Go away. Bianca needs some actual clothes." For the first time, Percy looked at what Bianca was wearing. It was like a black mist was swirling around her like a dark dress. Deciding that wouldn't last too much longer, he nodded quietly and stepped out of the water and walked out of the cabin. A flock of demigods swarmed him. Then Lupa was next to him.

"Did the spirit kill Guinevere?" she demanded, there was something wild in her eyes.

That's when Percy really realized that Lupa seriously meant that either you were eaten or her pup. She might actually eat a weak Roman, but she cared about her pups. She cared if a dead person killed Gwen because Gwen was her baby. She'd had Gwen since she was a newborn. The bond of a mother to her child was incredible. It made Percy wonder how much pain she had when one of her pups was injured or killed in battle or had just died of old age. She'd raised thousands of heroes and watched most of them die.

He realized he was just staring at the huge white wolf who was beginning to grow more and more frantic with his wide-eyed silence.

"Gwen's fine." He murmured reassuringly.

"And the spirit?"

"She's fine too. Her name is Bianca. I know her from Camp Half-Blood." Percy was feeling pretty dazed now that he could actually catch his breath. He'd just seen a girl grow out of his sister and nearly kill her. Now he could understand the mysterious voices' reasons for choosing Gwen and not someone like Lynn or Dakota. It still made him mad. If Percy hadn't been there, Gwen probably would have died.

"We're okay, Lupa." Gwen stepped out of Neptune's cabin. She looked just like her normal self, if not a little bit paler. Bianca was in a pair of jean kapris, one of Gwen's spare T-shirts, and a pair of black sneakers. She was a bean pole but looked happy and healthy while she held onto Gwen's hand. Lupa snarled but Bianca looked on in silence, not flinching like Percy knew she was doing mentally. How was Gwen so good at preparing people to meet Lupa? It truly impressed him. If it was left up to him, he'd probably give the wrong advice accidentally and get everyone eaten.

Percy stepped away from the staring people and found his place on Bianca's left, protecting and standing with her. Lupa's lip curled but she surveyed Bianca with indifferent black eyes.

"You say you knew her from your Greek camp?" Lupa demanded of Percy, her voice completely Roman.

"Yes. My friends and I tried to recruit them. We lost Annabeth…" Percy looked up at the sky, as if his memories were written there for his convenience. "Then someone came to help us…but I don't remember who."

"The Hunters of Artemis." Bianca whispered.

"Diana saw you and she didn't send you to me? Did she not smell your Roman blood?" Lupa demanded fiercely. Bianca shrank away. Percy and Gwen both tightened their grip on her hands and she relaxed just a little bit, standing even with them again.

"She had other more important things on her mind." Percy said, wishing his memory would actually be more useful.

Lupa was calming down, breathing deeply.

"You smell so dead, little Roman." She told Bianca sweetly. "It throws off my smell." Lupa stepped even closer to Bianca and Percy squeezed her hand tighter. It was ice cold. "But you're Roman. You're demigod blood pulses every drop of pure Roman. But your smell, what little I can get, is Greek. You were raised by a Greek god. Your brother must be Greek. How interesting." Lupa's nose wrinkled at Bianca, displeased with the blindness she suddenly had for the demigod. "Well, considering you'll be stuck to Guinevere for a little bit until your soul can completely sustain life without sucking her soul, I suppose you may remain in the Neptune cabin, regardless of who your god parent is, until that time comes. I can't wait for Neptune to figure out you're in his cabin and drown you. Then maybe he'll let me eat you. You could be rather salty though. Guinevere, get Bianca ready for the Three Tasks she'll face in one week. I don't think she's had much practice at being a demigod. Dismissed."

"I think she likes you." Gwen told Bianca. Percy glanced at his sister. Soul sucking was taking a toll on her brain he decided.

Gwen had a special way of teaching everyone. Her various techniques differed with various individuals. Because Percy was good and had experience and was almost impossible to kill, Gwen taught him roughly, slapping and scolding to mold him in the right direction. To the contrary, Bianca was delicate and shy and unsure and she had close to no experience with any kind of weapon. Gwen taught her with gentle words and slow movements, not afraid to repeat anything a bazillion times. She moved through different weapons, each time studying Bianca to see which ones she best fought with. She was okay with a knife (that meant she'd picked one up and had maybe thrown it at someone). Her archery was raw (that meant she had potential but was awful right now). Percy stayed with the girls the whole time, feeling like their designated protector.

Though Gwen would never actually admit it, she was still very weak after Bianca's rebirth. Percy could beat her much easier and Gwen could only go for certain lengths of time against him until her eyes started to water and Percy had to catch her when she collapsed. He made her take short naps throughout the day in Neptune's fountain. Whenever she got up, she was perky and her usual self for about half an hour. Then she wore down from bad to worse. Percy could tell Lupa was worried about her.

Bianca was awkward with everything, very nervous she'd mess something up or disappoint Gwen. Percy couldn't say he blamed her though. People just didn't like Bianca. It wasn't like with Percy or Gwen that they were half Greek. It was like they were afraid of her or something in her blood caused them to keep away from her and glare and whisper. He noticed that people were always a little friendlier (meaning they didn't whisper or glare obnoxiously) towards Bianca when Gwen was next to her.

It was killing Percy that he couldn't remember who her godly parent was. It was right on the tip of his tongue, dancing on the edges of his brain…Bianca sat at the Neptune table and ate with everyone and pretty much blended into the shadows that seemed very keen to bend towards her. After dinner, like usual, the Neptune cabin skipped out on "family time".

"Family time" was when all the cabins gathered together in the middle of the huge green field that was in the circle all the cabins made together. It consisted of a small fire and Roman stories about bashing Greeks together or funny tales about people they didn't like. Gwen had always skipped out. Percy, finding the stories very offensive, skipped out too. Bianca followed their lead because no one else liked her and she was Greek-raised. Whenever "family time" came around, it made Percy think of a huge bon fire that changed color depending on the mood of the company. The cabins all sang and laughed and roasted marshmallows. Everyone was literally a great big family.

Percy missed that picture.

It got better when Percy told Gwen and Bianca about what the Greeks did and Gwen decided they would do that too. Whenever "family time" came around for the Romans, the Neptune cabin would leave the pavilion and walk down to the sea where they sat by the sea and Gwen pulled out several glow in the dark urchins. And they would sit by the urchins and enjoy the waves (Bianca even enjoyed the tranquility) and talk about the day and the Greeks and Bianca's progress.

That was one thing Percy was very proud of. His adopted sister, as he chose to call her now, was getting more and more skilled at archery. Gwen couldn't teach her well, only point out the basics. So Reyna was volunteered unwillingly to help her. Gwen stayed right with them to keep the peace and whisper words of encouragement. Percy stayed right with his two sisters and glared harshly at any Apollo guys who were bold enough to eye Gwen's legs in her short cutoff shorts. He enjoyed looking intimidating and growling in his throat and occasionally pulling out Riptide and sharpening it. Gwen ignored him, kicking dirt at him sometimes when she thought he was getting carried away.

All in all, Percy was proud to call her his adopted sister when she managed to only grimace once at a Trivia camper's accusations, organize all the maps (color coded by date and place) in Minerva's cabin, and become the fifth best archer and exceptional knife-man.