Well... I said it would be long. And it is.

I would have updated yesterday since I was nearly done, but yesterday I pulled a muscle in my back. And for anyone who hasn't done that, let's just say it hurts. A lot. And I wouldn't suggest doing it since every position you're in hurts. I'm getting better though so yay

Anywho... enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annabeth

They elected me, along with Luna, to go talk to McGonagall as we were less likely to get detention if she said no. I wasn't sure to take offense a that or thank them.

I was nervous but also excited. If she said yes, Magnus could heal Percy and the nightmares would stop.

I had talked to Piper about it recently because she was often there to help calm him down after particularly bad ones. She seemed worried about it, but whenever I talked with Percy he acted like it didn't bother him.

I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts. We had arrived at her door, and Luna shared a quick, nervous glance with me before knocking.

After a second or two, a voice said, "Come in," and I opened the door.

The professor was at her desk, grading papers by the looks of it. She looked up tiredly to see who it was, and she looked shocked for a second. I guess we weren't the people she was expecting.

"Miss Chase, Miss Lovegood. What are you doing here?" she asked us, putting her quill down.

"Well, we were wondering professor," I started, but stopped and turned to Luna. It might seem silly, but I had never lied to a teacher before. I thought it rude to lie to someone who works so hard for such little pay, to give you free education.

Thankfully Luna took it up, "There's this big fancy event back at our school in America. It's only for the 8th and 9th years, so we were planning to go but forgot about it until we got here. Could we maybe take a few days off? We really miss our friends because we only see them during the school year," Luna said and took a breath to continue, but McGonagall cut her off.

"Of course you can go. I assume you're not the only one who wants to go?" She said with a knowing smile. How do teachers do that? Can they read minds? Or expressions like satyrs?

"Um yeah, some people just go for the summer program. There's Luna Lovegood, Draco Malfoy, Connor... uh I don't actually know his last name. Oh, and Snape," I said, mentally promising myself to give him a nice bruise later for faking his death.

McGonagall (once again) looked shocked at hearing Snape's name on the list. I guess she thought she knew her coworker better than she does.

"Severus?" she said, curiously. "But he went to school here, taught here. I've never heard of him going to a school in America."

"Oh," I said, my mind rapidly thinking of an excuse, "He came over the summer to teach a potions class. Some people stay for the summer to get extra help and study if they don't have a place to stay."

She nodded and waved us out, seemingly tired from late nights grading papers.

----Fred is back boiiiiis. He has been keeping a close watch on his family and has decided to possess spiders to scare Ron until he stops being a git. Forward to an empty classroom (the whole gang's there)-----

"So she said yes, we can go. I told her we'd be gone for three days, and we leave tomorrow. A bunch of summer campers are coming to meet you guys and see Skittles and Sev. That includes the Stoll brothers, so pack extra underpants and sheets. Any questions?" I looked around at the group of 12 nodding their heads toward me. (I think it's 12, may be wrong. Anyone know what day it is? I sure don't)

"Right then, if anyone asks you why you're leaving, you know the story. See you at 8 tomorrow morning, don't be late or you're not coming."

I signed what little I remembered from when a satyr brought in a deaf Athena kid, and we all learned it to make her feel welcome. She had died to save a little boy who was surrounded by monsters.

I looked down, remembering how I had taught her how to use a knife when I was only ten. And how she couldn't save herself with the knife I'd given her.

"Annabeth?" Magnus said in a gentle voice. I looked up and realized everyone had left except him. He was looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine," I said with a soft sigh as I tried to focus on other things. He smiled understandingly, obviously not convinced, and hugged me.

"Don't worry about Percy. I'll get the nightmares out of his head, and he'll be back to his old 'keep that butt clenched' ways in no time. Night cus," he said reassuringly, walking out the door but leaving it cracked open.

I felt guilty as I watched him go. How could Magnus always think of others before himself? Even when he was nervous, tired, and probably a little scared, he still was the one comforting me. I guess that's just who he is. Like Percy...

My mind trailed off, lost in thoughts of tomorrow when I could see my Seaweed Brain again. But first, sleep.

I walked out the door and started heading towards the Ravenclaw common room when Ginny grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down the stairs. If it wasn't for my years of training, I probably would have fallen over.

She dragged me over the nearly empty library to where Hermione and Harry sat. She kept a firm grip on me as she sat down, as if I would run away if she let go. This made me roll my eyes and sit down next to her.

"Can we come with you?" Hermione asked, getting straight to the point.

I chuckled, "Um, not really. Unless you've been to camp before. We're going back for a school event, and for some of our old friends to get caught up," I answered, wishing they could have saved it for the morning. I was really tired.

"But what about Luna? Draco, Connor, Snape? They all go to this camp?" Ginny asked skeptically, and I thought for a second. Technically, Conner and Draco haven't been there before, so what if they questioned them about it? We're leaving tomorrow morning. It's not like they can get much questioning in before then, I thought.

"Yeah," I answered, too tired right now to muster up more than that.

"Well, you'll tell us about it?" Hermione pressed, "I've never even heard of the place, and I can't find it in any books!" She sounded annoyed that this was the case as if books had finally let her down. I took it that she could usually find anything she needed from books, so to not find anything about a topic must be frustrating.

"Yeah. And we want to prove to Ron that you guys are awesome and trustworthy," Harry added, looking wistfully at his former friend who was sulking in a corner, trying to finish homework.

"I'll bring a souvenir if you want. And I'll tell you all about it. But first, I need to sleep. See you guys in a few days," and I made my way to my bed. After a quick shower, brushing my teeth, and running a comb through my hair, I collapsed on my bed, smiling at the thought of tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luna

I woke up feeling groggy, typical for a demigod. One time I was so tired, I almost got my head taken off by a hellhound on my way to breakfast.

I got changed, brushed my teeth, and checked my bag to make sure I had everything. Then I threw in a couple more random pieces of clothes; Annabeth wasn't kidding about the Stolls pranks.

When I came down to the common room, I found Conner nervously sitting in a corner with his trunk, tapping his foot, and reading a book. Unlike most demigods, he was only blessed with ADHD and could read perfectly fine (so unfair). He wasn't wearing his robes, like me, so he stuck out like a rainbow thumb.

Annabeth and Blitzen weren't there, so I guessed they'd already gone to breakfast.

I walked up to him, tapping his shoulder to get his attention. He looked at me, nodded, then put a bookmark in his book before sliding it into his bag.

"Hey, let's go," I said. He got up and together we went through the portrait hole to breakfast.

I had eggs and waffles, a normal breakfast for me back at camp. It helped settle my nerves and make my knee stop jumping up and down. After breakfast, we got our stuff, said one last goodbye to our friends, and went to the Headmaster's (Headmistress's?) office. We opened the door and everyone else was already there.

Annabeth was talking to Mcgonagall, probably about arrangements. 'Floor 19' was arguing in another corner, and I think I heard one of them say something about waffles being better than pancakes, although that's a ridiculous argument.

Pancakes are way better.

Hearth and Blitz were having a conversation in asl, and though I didn't know what they were saying, they kept pointing to a statue of a shiny, black, bird on McGonagall's desk. Hmm, weird.

Snape and Draco were kind of awkwardly standing in the middle, facing each other but not saying anything, listening to the conversations around them.

As we walked in, Annabeth turned to us, "Oh finally. Now we can leave. Everyone grab hold of this shoe." I knew perfectly well what she was talking about, but the demigods looked utterly confused. They didn't argue with Annabeth though I noticed. Smart move.

We appeared outside a sunny cafe that Annabeth had described (in much detail). We had to go here first so McGonagall wouldn't suspect anything.

McGonagall wished us well, and popped off, brisk as always. A car door nearby opened, and we turned to see a man step out of a white van.

"Argus, how are you," Snape said. To our surprise, Argus smiled and nodded in reply, his blue eyes crinkling all over.

We all piled into the back of the van, and Annabeth explained some more things about camp as we bumped along the road.

She told the group a bit more about her adventures with Percy, although I already knew most of it. I wasn't that surprised at learning of the Roman gods, I mean, I was the daughter of a goddess who went to a school for wizards.

I was only a bit nervous about how the camp would react to seeing me. Would they be mad? Would they hug me? Would they curse me? (I heard of the tales of the Apollo curses) Would they miss me? But most of all, would they even remember me?

These questions (and more, thanks ADHD) ran through my head as we turned a corner. I smiled as I saw the large familiar pine tree in the distance.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Jason (A/N he's alive, cuz I say so, and ToA didn't happen cuz I didn't finish it yet...)

A/N *from the future when this book is completed* After completing the series... I can conclude that the Burning Maze was UNNECESSARY AND CRUEL.

I looked skeptically at Leo as his hands flew over the mess of bronze gears and metal pipes. He had that manic grin across his face, which did not help convince me that this would work. Although he recently came back from actual death, so I've decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Ok! I'm ready," He said, his eyebrows set in a familiar determined line. He placed his fingers on the different levers and blew into them. It was beautiful, I could see why Apollo would want to master this instrument, being the god of music and all. I wasn't into music much, but when he stopped playing I was sad. I think I even saw Peleus, who was nearby, droop his head at the last note.

"So," Leo asked no one in particular, "How was it?"

Piper looked at the instrument dubiously, "Hmm, I don't know Leo. It was just... AMAZHANG! No wonder the Apollo cabin gave you 20 drachmas for it, it was worth it."

At her words, Leo's usual quirked mouth grew into a genuine smile as he shoved the Valdezenator into his toolbelt. "Thank's Beauty Queen. That means a lot. Now, I have to go help Harley with a prank for the Ares cabin, so see ya!" He turned to walk down the hill but stopped and turned to us with his momentum, his grin even wider.

"Annabeth's back."

He pointed towards the bottom of half-blood hill, where a white van had just parked. Argus got out and went to open the back. Sure enough, the first person to climb out the back was a familiar girl with blonde curls who was running up the hill, dragging another boy behind her. He also had blonde hair, but it was hard to make much else out from where we stood.

We watched as she ran up to us, a wide grin on her face and her stormy grey eyes filled with happiness. I hadn't seen her like that since Tartarus, not unless she was with Percy or some of her oldest friends. It was nice to see them full of something other than melancholy; she deserved never to be sad again.

Piper cut off my train of thought as she hugged Annabeth. Leo high-fived her, and I nodded in hello.

"I missed you so much," Piper said into Annabeth's shoulder as she hugged her again.

"Capture the Flag is not the same without you to strategize. And Percy is sad, I even caught him crying himself to sleep on the beach once. He'll be glad to see you. But, who are you?" she asked the other boy, "A wizard? I think Annabeth mentioned bringing some wizards back with her."

I looked more closely at him, trying to figure him out. He had blonde hair that almost reached his broad shoulders, practically glowing in the sunlight. Blue-grey eyes that looked a bit like the Athena cabin, but more soft than calculating. He had the muscles of a swordsman, but didn't seem to have one on him. But overall, he looked like an Apollo kid.

He chuckled a little at Piper's question. "No I'm not a wizard, I mean, not really. Hecate blessed me though so I guess I'm an honorary wizard?" he said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at her awkwardly.

"My name's Magnus, I'm Annabeth's cousin."

"Yeah. Lots of people are. We're all related in some way, although the godly family is a bit messed up so..." I trailed off, thinking of all the technicalities of our family.

"No, I mean on the mortal side. My mother was her father's brother. My full name is Magnus Chase." This news made all of us stare in shock at him until Piper's face filled with recognition.

"Ohhhh. Percy mentioned something about your cousin on the mortal side, and I think you did too at one point," she said, gesturing to Annabeth.

"Well welcome to the family, my name's Leo *Mcshizzle* Valdez, but you can just call me Uncle Leo," Leo said seriously, wiping his grease-stained hand on his suspenders before extending it to shake.

Magnus grinned and took it, "Ok, Repair Boy," which made Leo pout.

"Seriously? Piper saying it is bad enough, but having a stranger say is just disgraceful at this point," he said, jokingly pouting and glared at Annabeth, "You should have taught him better," which made her and Piper roll their eyes.

"I know all about the big trip you guys made, Annabeth told me. I have to say, I ship Brason," he said, grinning at me. I rolled my eyes as the others laughed. I really hated that joke.

Then the rest of the group arrived, lugging their suitcases behind them. A tall, lanky guy who looked about 20 was nervously looking at Peleus, as if expecting him to either talk or eat him.

Annabeth must have seen this too because she rushed up to the guy and made some quick motions with her hands as she talked in what I'm assuming is sign language, although I don't know it myself.

"I'm so sorry Hearth, I should have warned you about Peleus. He's harmless unless you try to steal the fleece," Annabeth said, pointing to what looked like a glittering golden bathmat, draped over a low branch.

I saw Leo wrinkle his nose and Piper shiver, and I guessed they were remembering King Mitas's mansion in California. I grabbed Piper's hand and pulled her into a side hug.

"I forgot about your father and..." Annabeth trailed off her hands hovering in the air as if she didn't really know what to do with them.

He signed something back at her, and she nodded. I didn't understand. Why would a dragon remind him of his father, and why does he look so spooked? The guy next to him took his hand and squeezed it before letting go.

"Yeah, he's just sad that the song is over," Magnus said, tilting his head as if listening to something. "Uh, what song?" looking at the dragon as if it was talking. It wasn't.

"Ohhh ok. Leo you'll have to play it sometime if it's half as good as Peleus says it was," he said, turning to find me, Piper, and Leo staring at him as if he was crazy.

"Right! Sorry, I can talk to animals, a little bit," he mumbled, singing along, "But don't worry Hearth, he's nothing like him and was born a dragon." I didn't understand that last part, but he can talk to animals? Like Coach Hedge?

"That's awesome! I wish I could talk to animals, although Festus is enough. He's my metal dragon," Leo said. At this Hearth signed something and Annabeth chuckled.

"Yeah, there's two dragons here. Both are gentle, but you don't have to interact with either of them if you don't want to," Annabeth told Hearth, still signing. He nodded and the shorter guy next to him, who also looked in his 20s, took his hand again which seemed to calm him down.

"Ok, let's go find Per- some other people," Annabeth suggested, scanning the camp, not very subtly looking for her boyfriend.

"He's teaching a class right now, but a bunch of people are in the Big House," Piper said, and Annabeth nodded, a slightly embarrassed blush on her cheeks.

"There's a tournament going on right now, and they're counting the points there," I said, grimacing at the thought. We didn't sign up for the tournament because we had had enough adventure to last us a few years, so we just helped out in some of the contests.

We started walking towards the Big House, and the rest followed. Annabeth briefly introduced everyone as we walked, the girl now known as Luna rolling her eyes when Annabeth called her Skittles. The nickname made sense, her being a daughter of the rainbow goddess.

We got to the living room to find about 20 campers milling about, trying to do something quiet while Chiron tallied up the points. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up when the door opened.

"Annabeth! You're back!" a little girl I recognized as an Athena kid ran up to her and hugged her. Annabeth smiled as she picked up Ava and placed her on her back with her arms around her neck.

"Yup. I can't wait to see everyone again. Have you managed to beat Percy yet?" she asked with a grin.

"Almost. He's just so good with that sword," she said with a pout. Annabeth chuckled at that.

"It's good to see you again Ava, and I promise I'll help you beat him next time," at this the little girl smiled and slipped from Annabeth's back, landing with barely a thud on the wooden floor. (I'm thinking of Rue... and I'm crying she was my favorite)

The next few minutes consisted of Annabeth getting hugged a couple million times while people said hi. A few of the older campers said hello to Snape and Luna, who had apparently disappeared during the Titan war, so everyone thought they were dead.

Annabeth introduced everyone again, and all the campers said their name and godly parent. By the time that was done, the horn blew for lunch and everybody filed out, leaving me, Piper, Leo, Chiron, Annabeth, and the others. We walked out more slowly, Annabeth explaining how lunch worked and the different tables and such.

The sound of running feet made me turn to see Percy sprinting full speed across the grounds towards Annabeth, who turned to see who was coming. She started running as well, meeting him halfway, Percy picking her up, spinning as they kissed.

*click*

Everyone turned to see Leo, who was holding a small camera that had appeared out of nowhere.

"Leo! How long have you had that...?" Annabeth asked. He grinned evilly as he looked at the red faces of the couple.

"A while. And don't worry, only EEAC's get to see the Percabeth-Shrine the Aphrodite cabin set up in the woods," he said while clicking around his camera, making Piper snort and Magnus try to muffle his laughter.

"What does EEAC stand for Leo?" Percy asked nervously.

"Everybody Else At Camp," he replied casually as he looked up to see their reactions, making Annabeth roll her eyes and Percy groan.

"Uncle Leo has many pictures of you two, ever since we first got to New Rome. There's a silent option so ya'll didn't notice me. Hazel and Rachel drew quite a few from memory and descriptions, so we have like 76 in all," Leo said.

A short silence followed this announcement until Luna raised her hand.

"Can I see it? I really want to know just how good of a kisser Annabeth is, given that I missed the whole thing. And if you don't, I'll find it anyway," she said, slightly glaring at Leo, who stepped back (out of hitting range) before answering, still smiling.

"Yeah sure. But we can't let the two lovebirds in question find it, Percy would probably get everything wet and Annabeth might blow a fuse. I'll tell you later, but right now, I'm hungry so let's go!" he said in a stage whisper to Luna before starting off again towards the pavilion, dancing to a tune only he could hear.

Which probably meant he was either crazy, had a song stuck in his head or somehow made a minuscule machine to play music in his ears wirelessly that was really overly complicated and had a disco light option. Knowing him, it could be any or all of the above.

Before we got to the dining pavilion, Will and Nico walked up. Annabeth said hi and they began talking as we walked.

Magnus walked up to them. I noticed as he reached out his hand for them to shake, Annabeth's eyes widened and she moved as if to stop him.

"Magnus Chase, Annabeth's cousin. On the mortal side," Magnus said.

"Nice to meet you. You look like Will's twin. Are you Apollo's-" Nico cut himself off when his hand touched Magnus's, his eyes wide as he froze.

"You're dead," he said plainly.

What the Hades?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Annabeth

Oh schist.

Magnus pulled his hand back, looking nervously at the pale boy in front of him.

"Um, what do you mean he's dead. Like dead dead? Or like Hazel kind of dead?" Leo asked, looking confused at Nico's statement, and taking a cautious step away from Magnus, as if afraid he might crumple to the ground with an arrow in his back.

I had a quick, silent argument with Magnus which went something like this:

Magnus: You didn't tell them?

Me: No their heads might explode from godly overload

Magnus: But they'll probably find out anyway...

Me: We can't tell them yet, not if we can help it. I don't think the gods would like that

Magnus: So what do we do?

Me: Follow my lead. And improvise. A lot.

He nodded, somehow getting my message and I pulled Nico aside, looking back at the others. "I need a minute with Nico, I'll be back with explanations. Enjoy lunch," I said, pushing a grumbling Nico towards a nearby bench.

"They are dead then? Let me guess: Einherjar?" Nico asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Uh yeah, how did you know? Did Percy tell you?" I replied because I can't think of another way he could have figured it out.

"No. After the war with Gaea, my father gave me the title of Ghost King. He said not to say anything, but I trust you won't tell anyone. The title means I help my father out with stuff occasionally, and go to the death meetings."

I raised an eyebrow. "Death meetings?"

"They're meetings once a month about anything wrong with death in the world, and gods from different mythologies are there. Anubis, my father, Thanatos, Hel, and somehow Pluto is there separately from my dad. Sometimes others show up, but those are the main ones from each set of mythologies that are there every time. That's how I know," he finished, his glare daring me to ask questions. I decided that was enough information.

"Well, should we tell them or not?" I asked, and he thought for a moment.

"We shouldn't tell them. Remember the whole reason the gods separated the Greek and Roman demigods? Because every time they met, they fought. Maybe over time, we can tell people, but right now? While the whole wizard quest is going on? I don't think it's a good idea," he finished solemnly.

I nodded in understanding and he moved to go.

"What should we tell them?" I asked, "Only the five einherjar, Chiron, Hearth, and Blitz know."

"How about what Jason suggested? He died and came back, like Hazel. I won't say anything else about the others, it will be fine. Also, sorry I said anything in the first place. I was surprised since I've never personally met one, but Hel is always complaining about them messing up her death count." Nico responded, sounding calm despite the situation.

We walked back to the dining pavilion in silence, Nico sitting down alone at the Hades table while I headed towards the Athena table where my siblings sat.

We talked for a bit until everyone was there and seated. Chiron stomped his hooves against the stone and the chatter died in seconds. Everyone looked towards him as he started to speak.

"As some of you probably know already, Annabeth is back with her questing companions and a few old friends. I'll let her explain the rest," he gestured at me and I internally glared at him. How hard could it have been for him to let me finish my pizza?

I walked up to the center and looked at the crowded pavilion. I spotted my Seaweed Brain in the crowd, also eating pizza (although blue) and giving me a thumbs up. I smiled and started.

"Alright, so we already have one of the seven items the gods sent us to find. Hearth has it, I believe. We know where another is and we hope we'll find the others as soon as we can. This is Magnus, Alex, Hearth, Blitz, Halfborn, Mallory, and TJ," I said, gesturing to each of them as I spoke.

"They're from a very small camp called camp Holy, which is in Boston. We didn't know about it until recently due to the fact that it's very well hidden and they don't interact with the mortal world much. They're mostly demigods, and all are intertwined with the gods in some way shape, or form. We'll be staying here for a few days, but then we have to go back on our quest.

"To answer the question from before, Magnus died a few months ago to save a bunch of mortals on the Longfellow Bridge, and came back from the underworld a few days after. I guess you could call him an escaped soul, much like Hazel Levesque. You can ask them more about it later if you want.

"Draco is a legacy, grandson of Hermes, but was born and raised in England so he never saw camp. Skittles and Snape here both helped in the second Titan War, but were thought dead when they were sent to a school for wizards by the goddess Hecate," I glared slightly at the Hecate table, all of whom looked anywhere but at me, guilt evident in their body language. I'll ask them about it later.

"Finally, Connor here is a wizard at this school, but also a demigod. I know this because he was able to get through the barrier when we arrived. We believe his father is-" I was cut off by a chorus of gasps as a blinding light shone from Connor's head.

Everyone was looking at the light coming from the holographic image hovering above him, a fiery hammer. Connor was cautiously trying to touch the fiery light, unsuccessfully.

"-Hephestus," I finished, gesturing at the fading light. "Connor, you can go by that table over there, with your half-siblings. You'll sleep in cabin 9, and Leo can show you around-"

I was again cut off, this time by Leo's whoop as he punched the air and proceeded to drag Connor off towards his table, talking a mile a minute. I just sighed, prayed to Hephestus that Leo didn't accidentally kill Connor, and turned towards the others still standing.

Everyone started eating and I headed towards the extra table where everyone was sitting. I was trying to decide who should sleep where.

"Right well, most of you will have to sleep in a cabin so the big house isn't too crowded. Magnus, Apollo cabin, number 7. Alex and Draco, Hermes, cabin 11. Blitzen, you can go with Connor and Leo or the Aphrodite cabin, your choice. Halfborn and Mallory, Ares I guess, cabin 5. Hearth you can stay in the big house, or stay with the Hecate cabin. Whichever is more comfortable for you. Same for you TJ.

"Skittles you can go to your cabin, now that you and your siblings actually have a cabin. And Sev can go with Nico, you explain it to him. Now, I'm hungry," And with that I sat back down in my seat, finishing my pizza which was only slightly cold.

There were many murmurs, a few whispers, more than one blank stare as people tried to comprehend what I had said. And of course, an unnecessarily loud slurping that came from Percy as he sipped something from his cup, his feet on the table, and controlled some water to brace his chair as he leaned back. Thank god he doesn't own sunglasses...

My siblings questioned me for a bit, before giving up after I just kept eating my food. I was tired from today and quidditch practice yesterday, and I really was hungry; British food did not include, and in my mind could not beat pizza and a cup of root beer. (I don't really know what they eat at Hogwarts so I may be wrong)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Magnus

After lunch, Will and his siblings were about to lead me away to their cabin, but Annabeth grabbed my arm, making them stop.

"Can you do that thing? For, uh, Percy?" her voice cracked as she looked at me, concern in her eyes.

I nodded and squeezed her hand, "Of course cus, where is he?"

"Still eating pizza," she answered with an eye roll, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder to where Percy was indeed still eating (blue) pizza at his table.

Will said he'd find me when we were done, and he headed off somewhere, the rest of his cabin also leaving.

We walked up to Percy, who leaned his head backward to look at us, his head upside down and his mouth full of food. When he saw who it was, he swallowed and jumped up, kissing Annabeth on the cheek which made her blush.

"Gross." She still managed, wiping her cheek with her sleeve. "Please swallow you're food before kissing me."

"Aw, but I like kissing you. I'll try though. What's up?" He asked.

"Well Dr. Magnus here is going to heal your mind with his awesome Frey powers," Annabeth said teasingly. I rolled my eyes but nodded, looking around for a spot to do it.

"You can do it in my cabin, that way no one can disturb us. I don't really know how it works, but I'd do anything to get the nightmares out. Let's go!" he said, and started running down the hill, pulling Annabeth behind him. It oddly reminded me of when Alex hauled me through the barrier at Platform 9 ¾.

When I got there Percy's head was lying on Annabeth, who was sitting on the one bunk that looked inhabited in the place. It was way too blue, it needed some yellow. Or green.

Or rainbow, Jack whispered from his chain, sounding sleepy from a long day of nothing. I smiled at the thought, imagining a prank where Percy woke up to find his entire cabin turned rainbow. I was definitely suggesting that to Leo later.

I went up to Percy, who sat up straighter and tensed as I placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Uh, should I grab a chair?" he asked as I readjusted so I was standing kind of right in front of him.

"Sure. Doesn't really matter, I think."

Percy took the chair from the desk and placed int eh middle of the room, sitting down in it. I stood behind him and placed both hands on his head.

I reached into his head for memories of Tartarus, the emotions, and found just as many as I had from Annabeth. It was worse, I think, than when I had healed her though.

She had just gone through it all again, a fresh wound. Fresh wounds are easier to heal, but scars are much harder. That is what it felt like, healing his mind from an old scar. He had many scars, but Tartarus was the biggest and deepest in his memory.

I didn't know how long it took, but Annabeth told me afterward it only took about a minute. It felt like days. I understood now why the hat had started screaming. I wanted to scream too. I might have.

I saw everything again, but not flashes and dimmed horrors as Annabeth had shown me. I had to scrape it out, using more of my dad's power than I might have ever used before, leaving me exhausted physically and mentally.

There was so much. So much loss and guilt and pain that I now held Percy in even higher regards, if that was possible. He survived all this and is still sane. I felt the last of his memories fade, felt his heart cry as his friends sacrificed themselves so he and Annabeth could escape. Then I pulled my hand away. It was done.

My hand was shaking, and so was the rest of me. Annabeth and hands I didn't recognize caught me. I faintly remember my hands glowing so brightly it made my head hurt. Or maybe that wasn't the light. Then I blacked out.

---Fred is amazed at Camp Half-Blood and wishes the Stolls could visit his joke shop. They might help his twin get out of his grief enough to prank some poor soul again---

I woke up and opened my eyes.

I was laying in what seemed to be a hospital bed, with similar details around the room suggesting I was in the infirmary. I felt deflated, like a party balloon that's been sitting on the ground for a month after the party.

As my vision cleared up, I saw Percy, Annabeth, Nico, and Will talking nearby in low voices. When they saw I was awake, they rushed over. Will dug out a square of yellow food and passed it to me. I took it and looked blankly at him. Was it supposed to do something?

"It's ambrosia. Eat it, it will heal you. You're a son of Frey, so it shouldn't kill you. And don't worry, Annabeth explained the Norse gods and I won't tell anybody unless one of you guys or the others say it's ok, swear it on the river Styx. Although, Nico already knew which is extremely annoying," he said with a fake glare at his boyfriend.

I nodded slowly before eating it. It did not taste like lemon bars, as I was expecting. Instead, the taste of spaghetti and meatballs filled my mouth. I almost spit it out. What the heck?!

After I swallowed, I felt a strong and warm feeling spread through my body, like when I healed myself. I looked to Annabeth for an explanation.

"Well, you didn't die so I'm assuming it worked. Ambrosia is the food of the gods, it reminds you of something pleasant you once ate, usually connected to a fond memory. What does it taste like?" Annabeth asked, her voice surprisingly soft like she knew my answer.

"Spaghetti and meatballs. Like my mom used to make after our weekend hikes. I haven't had any in more than two years, ever since the wolves came... Although, I would have preferred some nice falafel," I finished with a smirk.

It was true though, the Fadlan's food was just as much comfort food, keeping me alive for the two years on the streets. They could probably rival even that of Saehrimnir, and he's a magic regenerating goat.

Percy nodded and smiled, "You should meet my mom sometime, from what I've heard she's a lot like Natalie." I nodded, although privately thought that my mom was not like anyone else. She was one of a kind, like Jack, but better.

Hey Señor, that was uncalled for. I bet I'm way cooler than this Natalie character.

Mmhm. Right Jack, right. You don't even know who it is.

Of course, it was kind of expected. Jack didn't really pay attention to my conversations or thoughts until his name was mentioned.

Will led me to his cabin, which was pretty cool, although it hurt my eyes a bit. The Apollo kids seemed chill and laid back for the most part, and reminded me a bit of my dad. If Frey was really a bunch of half-god teenagers going to a camp that trained them to kill monsters.

Will talked to me about being a healer and showed me some practical ways to heal someone without using my powers. I nodded and listened because it was surprisingly interesting.

By the time he had tested me on how well I knew broken bones, I was an expert. In exchange, I had described healing them to him and the best conditions to use magic to heal somebody.

The sun was going down so we headed back to the cabin to relax for a bit before dinner. I wonder how the others are doing. I hope they haven't killed anyone yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mallory

Halfborn and I sat down at the table Annabeth pointed to. It was full of a bunch of mean-looking buff kids, like the table of bullies in a school cafeteria. Add Loki and a few giants, and it would really complete the look. I sat down at the end, while Halfborn sat next to me. I realized that dating your half-brother would be weird, so I decided to make it clear.

"Halfborn and I aren't actually siblings. He's the son of who knows, but I am a daughter of Ares." Although from what I've heard, even Ares would be better than stupid Frigg. Or my real da. Ares sounded like a jerk, but at least he has cool powers and could fight.

"I just wanted to make that clear since we're dating, and that might seem a bit odd if you all think we're siblings," I finished, picking up my plate.

After we got our food and scraped a portion into the fire ("To the gods, even though some might be jerks"), we headed back to their cabin.

It was hideous, and made me miss my room back in Valhalla or even the dormitory at Hogwarts. It looked like a cabin for a group of sociopath war veterans who love to fight just for the fun of it. I would know, I've met more than a few.

When we walked in, I saw how untidy it was. There were dirty clothes strewn around, unmade beds here and there, and a general bad smell coming from everywhere.

A large girl approached us and studied us as we did the same. I took in how she looked, calculated her age, predicted how she fought by her stance. I knew Halfborn was probably doing the same thing next to me, he had taken all the same classes. Or he was thinking about something stupid like donuts.

"I'm Clarisse. Counselor of the Ares Cabin. You the two newbies from that camp?" she asked.

"Yeah, although I wouldn't call us newbies," Halfborn said, chuckling at his own joke. I elbowed him in the ribs and he bent over in pain, still laughing a little.

"My name's Mallory, and this idiot somehow standing next to me is Halfborn. What test or initiation is there? I can tell you're waiting for Clarrise to start it," I said, making a lot of them look at me surprised, but Clarrise just quirked a smile.

"Rude, I like it. The initiation is simple. If you can beat me at a fight, I clean the whole cabin. If you lose, which you will, you clean the cabin for the next week. Now which one of you wants to go first?" She said it mockingly, but with a clear threat in her eyes. Talk about peer pressure.

Halfborn looked at me with a raised eyebrow, clearly not threatened. He was asking whether I wanted to go first or not. Of course, I want to go first. I'm gonna knock her out, then maybe she'll apollogize. (Apollogize? nvm...)

We went to the sword area, where Clarrise purposely pulled out a spear and shield. She grinned as she put a helmet on, a bloodstain still evident on one side. The whole cabin was there, gleefully watching. I could have sworn money was exchanged.

I returned the grin as I pulled out my twin daggers. I had had years and years of practice, years of dying in every possible way, and years of killing in every way. Now, I wouldn't aim to kill her. Just give her a bad headache. But a few scratches couldn't hurt, right?

The fight began and I immediately lifted my heels, ready to move as I waited patiently for her to charged. I noticed she relied on strength when she thrust her spear at me. So I decided to tire her out, have a bit of fun.

I dodged all her strikes and deflected a few with my daggers. Finally, when she was sweating and panting from the effort, I caught her spear shaft between the two blades.

I looked her in the eyes, smiled, and pulled both blades violently in opposite directions so all she was left with was a long stick and a shield. I quickly disarmed her so she dropped the shield and held up her fists instead. I stepped back, twirling a knife as I circled her, looking for an opening. There.

I attacked like a demon, slashing at her with both daggers, the tips of which quickly turned red. She blocked some with her shield, which she had recovered at some point, but I got a hit in every few blocks. I'll admit, she was good.

But I was better.

I grew tired of the fight, and seconds later I ducked her fist and slammed the hilts of the daggers into her helmet, which vibrated as she crumpled to the ground.

I had gotten a few cuts and bruises, but nothing too bad. Not nearly as painful as dying. I re-sheathed my daggers, walked up to Halfborn (who was smiling like the handsome idiot he is), and took his hand as we walked out of the nearly silent arena.

"You sure showed her," he said in his gruff voice, pride for my win showing in his voice.

"You know it," I remarked as we walked back towards the now empty cabin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alex

I wasn't really sure what to make of Draco. He seemed like a good person, and it's pretty ironic how to keep the scar-faced boy alive, he became his literal bully. It was practical. And fun.

We were being led by Travis and Connor Stoll, who I had found were not actually twins. They looked like it, but Travis was about an inch taller which helped. When we walked into the Hermes cabin, the first thing I noticed was how untidy it was.

Now, I'm not a neat freak. I can deal with a little chaos. But when there are two pairs of muddy underpants on the empty bed I'm supposed to sleep on, I think I'm allowed to be a little grossed out.

Travis must have seen our faces because he quickly cleared off our beds and threw the underwear at a passing camper's head. They just threw it back at him, and he caught the now smushed ball of dirty cloth and threw it towards a particularly messy-looking bed.

I sighed and sat down, unceremoniously making the bed and locking my trunk with a neat trick Bliz had taught me. I was taking no chances with this cabin; I had heard the stories, and I wasn't dumb. I was literally in a cabin of thieves.

Travis and Conner then led us on a quick tour of camp, and more than once I caught Draco's eyes widen silently as he marveled at the cool stuff. I had to smile at the rock climbing wall and pegasi; they were pretty awesome.

As we were passing the sword arena, I saw Mallory walk out with a couple of bruises and scrapes, holding hands with Halfborn as what seemed to be the rest of the Ares cabin stood in shock behind the open door. I smirked at their faces, they looked ridiculous.

A few cool sights later, Annabeth ran up to us. She looked a little stressed, and I wondered what could have occurred.

"What's wrong? Did something happen? Is someone hurt?" I asked, and my mind first went to Magnus. Did someone hurt him? Is he dead? He always had a knack for trouble, but it hasn't even been half an hour since lunch.

"It's Magnus," she started, twisting her hands. She didn't look like he'd died, so I took that as a good sign.

"He was healing Percy, and he glowed all over. I thought he might explode. He started screaming and crying and then they both passed out. Percy woke up a few minutes later, but Magnus took longer. I had to tell Will about... you know. Why he died. I didn't want him to be freaked out too much," Annabeth said, glancing at the Stoll brothers and Draco. She took a shaky breath.

"But he's fine now. Or, he should be. Percy is back to normal and seems happier than he's been in a year. Your boyfriend is really something," she said to me with a small laugh.

"Boyfriend?" I heard Conner mutter to his brother from behind me.

"Yeah, apparently. Now shush, we have to finish that prank on the Demeter cabin before Katie gets back from her class," Travis whispered back.

I ignored them, and smirked at Annabeth, "Yes, I agree; Maggie is extremely weird. Is he awake?"

"He's still asleep. He used a lot of energy and it drained him pretty bad. Reminds me of Nico a bit, when he overuses his powers. He's in the infirmary," she said and started off.

"We. Have an important appointment with... Chiron. So, sorry about Magnus and all, but we have to go. Can't miss it," Travis said with a weary smile that I could see was fake.

"Mmhm. Send the Demeter kids my love, will you? I bet they'll be glad to talk to you at the 'appointment'," I said, smirking at them slightly.

They just looked at me for a second (that seemed to be a common theme here) and scurried off. Draco started laughing as we made our way to Annabeth, and I joined in.

When we got to the infirmary, Magnus was laying on a standard hospital bed while a blonde boy checked his pulse and scribbled something down on his clipboard. He looked a lot like Magnus, just with shorter hair and, in my opinion, a less handsome face. I mean, he wasn't ugly, but Magnus was mine so, sorry not sorry dude.

I smiled down at Magnus's sleeping form, he looked so peaceful when he slept. Not that I watch him sleep or anything, he's just unreasonably adorable when his cheek is smushed against his pillow, or how some loose strands of hair kept getting blown when he breathed out.

We talked to the blonde boy (Will) and his boyfriend (Nico), who seemed to radiate death. And that's coming from a dead person.

After a few minutes of this, it became boring so I asked if there was a pottery wheel somewhere. Annabeth answered yes, and brought me to the arts and crafts building, introducing me to her half-brother Malcolm, who was teaching a class there.

I sat down and started spinning a simple cup shape. I didn't really have an idea in my mind, so when I looked down at the final product, I smiled.

It was a pot (I know, descriptive), with the face of a boy in sunlight engraved on the side. He was squinting at the light, and the simple design portrayed him as I see him: a stupid, beautiful, sunshiny boy who made me feel normal and accepted.

I put it in the kiln (?? I don't know pottery) for firing and sat down. While I was waiting I listened to the conversations around me. I had nothing better to do.

There was only Malcolm, teaching his class of kids on the open space in the corner, and two girls behind me, whispering. I could still hear them. They weren't at all good at whispering.

"Hey, what do you think of the new kids? Like, do you think that any of the boys might like me?" one of them asked (girl #1) while her friend giggled. I rolled my eyes and watched the fire, trying to ignore the two idiots behind me.

"Yeah, like why are all the cute guys here either taken or dead? I think I'm gonna go for that TJ guy, he's pretty cute. What about you?" girl #2 asked her friend.

"I don't know, I like the big muscly one. What's his name? Halfborn?" I smirked to myself. Yeah right. Mallory would gut her like a fish before that happened.

"What about the Apollo kid. Magnus? He's pretty cute."

Ignore them Alex, not worth it.

"But did you hear that he fainted? I thought he might be pretty smart, but I guess he's kind of dumb. I want a guy who's strong and emotionally stable, ya know? Like, what a weak, fainting piece of sch-"

She was cut off by my arm, which was pressed against her windpipe before I could think. My garrote was out and pulled taught, an inch away from her makeup covered face and her blonde curls

"Say that again," I said in a low, slow voice that shook with anger. Only I was allowed to make fun of Magnus, and I would never call him weak. He may have cried when Mufasa died, but he's not some fainting Victorian lady. He's Magnus fudging Chase.

The girl (#1) looked plain terrified. I kept a relatively calm poker face as I glared at her as I might my father, who was hard to beat in the hating department.

"I- I said- he's- He's a weak piece of schist!" she squeaked but ended with a defiant shout as she spit in my face.

Oh. So she's stupid as well as ugly.

I glared at her as I whipped my garrote against a nearby statue which she and her friend were making, judging by their clay stained hands. It cut clean through the head, making it sail across the room. By now, Malcolm's class of 13-year-olds was silent, watching with wide eyes, one boy eating pretzels from a bag.

"Let me make it clear," I said, still deadly calm, articulating each word.

"Magnus Chase is not weak. He has faced gods and giants, almost died many times, and has returned from the dead. So. If you want to keep insulting him, you can go through me. I'm his girlfriend and his boyfriend. You do not want to end up like your statue. Got it?" I spat, still glaring at her with my brown and amber eyes.

She nodded (slowly so the wire didn't cut her) and I pushed her to the ground where she fell on her butt. Her friend backed away, helping her up as they scampered away from me like large, overgrown rats. (R.O.U.S anyone? XD)

"Sorry Malcolm, but those two lovely ladies were bad-mouthing my boyfriend," I said, my voice sweet. Then I sauntered out, smirking at the memory of their stupid red faces, fear in their eyes.

I don't usually like causing pain. But to insulting, hideous, and vile creatures like them? Yeah, no problem. I felt bad for TJ if gossip girl #1 ever ended up asking him out.

~~~~~~~~~~

TJ

Hearth and I were heading towards the Big House. It was obvious why it was called that, since it was... you know, a big house.

I had decided I would rather hang out with Hearth and the old horse-man than sleep with kids who thought I was weird. Even though Alex had convinced me to wear regular jeans and a T-shirt, I guess carrying a Civil War bayonet around wasn't what people considered, 'Normal', even in a camp for demigods.

Anyways our tour guide to the Big House was a goat man, no, what did Annabeth call them? Satyrs? Yeah, I think that's it. He looked scrawny and seemed to have a nervous twitch. But whenever we passed a camper they would nod their head in respect, and some other satyrs actually bowed.

Hearth looked at me and signed, Is he a god or something? I nodded in agreement and asked his question aloud, to which he bleated softly.

"Nah, I'm not a god. My name's Grover, by the way. The old god Pan, the god of the wild, faded a year or two ago. Before he faded, he gave me some of his life force. After the second Titan War, I was named the Lord of the Wild and helped rebuild a lot of nature. Although, it wasn't just me so people need to stop bowing every time they see me!" He directed that last part at a nearby nymph, who was bowing from the shade of her tree.

"They respect you, enough to bow when you walk by. I would say that you earned it, Grover," I told him, which made him smile a little.

"Percy said something along those lines to me. More than once. Here it is," he said, gesturing at the Big House.

We walked in and Grover led us to a separate room that held two couches, both of which we pulled out. We made the pull-out beds with some nearby sheets. After that was done, Grover told us to wait for someone to come get us for dinner, or something.

He left quickly, which I assume was due to the fact he was trying to bring back the wilds, which in this world and time, must have been a tough job.

Hearthstone decided that while we were waiting, he might as well practice his rune casting, so he pulled out the leather bag Magnus said they had found at Hogwarts.

He beamed in awe as he pulled out a rune, which looked like a small red sun. Beautiful and dazzling. Much like my bayonet, except somewhat redder.

He practiced on me a few times, and let me just say, I'm kind of tired of falling on my face. Although I guess it was quite amusing since Hearth cracked a smile. Which for him is like full-on laughter.

We were stuck waiting until someone came to get us, so while Hearth continued to practice I opened and looked out the window at all the stuff going on.

There was an archery class, a spear-throwing class, loud clangs from what I guessed was the forges. Some people and satyrs were picking strawberries, apparently making them grow bigger with magic. There was a volleyball match, a small basketball game, and one or two private sword fights in the grass.

There were also people watching the events or lessons, walking from one place to another, and other such stuff. As I watched I cleaned my bayonet, which I had stored in my bag, just for something to do.

I was so distracted by a nearby sword fight that I didn't realize two girls walking up to my open window before they were there.

"Hey. TJ, right?" one of them asked. I looked up to find the two right next to me. The one who had asked had chocolate brown hair pulled into two braids down the back of her head. I quickly hid my bayonet beneath a nearby pillow.

"Yeah. Thomas Jefferson Jr., but TJ's fine. Who are you?" I asked, extending my hand.

She smiled and took it, "Cathrine, and this is-"

"Lory. Daughter of Aphrodite, the love goddess," the other girl answered, the one with curly blonde hair. The two girls had a quick glaring contest, which neither seemed to win. I thought they were friends, why are they glaring at each other?

"Uh, hi. My dad is a minor god, I think. I don't really know him," I answered truthfully. I didn't really know Tyr that much and had only spoken to him twice. Does a note count?

"Oh that's too bad. My mom's Demeter, and it used to be that way for a lot of kids. At least until Percy showed up and turned down immortality in return for the gods swearing to claim kids by the time they turn 13," Cathrine said with a sigh, "All the good ones get taken, don't they."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Lory asked me, with a curious smile but an undertone that made me warry.

"Um, no. I don't. I'm a single man, unlike my friends. But that's fine because I can tease them to no end," I grinned at the last part, thinking of how true it was.

"Hey, want to help me-" Cathrine grimaced as Lory kicked her shins, "Fine, us, with a project later? We have to pick strawberries for the camp and it's boring as death," Lory said with a playful smile. I wanted to tell her just how not-boring death was, it was actually quite eventful.

Well, it's not like I have anything else to do. "Sure, if I can. See you later," I said, giving them a small smile which they returned with big grins and odd little hand waves, Lory smug and Cathrine a little flustered.

They slowly walked away, whispering angrily with big hand gestures, and occasionally looking back at me. I turned to see Hearth looking at me with his eyebrow slightly raised. Really? He signed.

"What?" I asked, confused about what he was asking. He made the sign for stupid and went back to practicing. What was that about?

I shut the window, glad that I had two new friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Blitz

I had chosen the Aphrodite cabin since Freya was like her Norse counterpart and also I don't want the Hephestus kids to think all I can make are ducks. I may be a dwarf, but as I have proven more than once, I cannot craft much, other than ducks, under pressure. Or in general.

Piper was leading me to the pink cabin, which looked more like a barbie doll house than a summer cabin. I noticed her grimace at the sight for a second, before opening the door and walking in.

Piper seemed alright. She had shown me her dagger, which was pretty cool, and told me about the previous two counselors, one who had turned out to be a spy but died a hero. And the other, meaner one, was still alive and still a total jerk.

As I stepped into the insultingly pink building I was hit with a waterfall of conflicting scents, some pleasant while others not so much, all of them mixing together and making my eyes water.

"Guys!" Piper said in a slightly exasperated voice, "I've told you more than once, it smells like a supermodel's tomb in here! Now open the windows to let it air out, it stinks. And I'm officially making it a rule to never let it smell like that again." She went to the nearest window and threw it open, plugging her nose as she fanned air out with a clipboard.

After a minute or so of this, I coughed softly and she looked over at me, slightly startled.

"Oh, sorry. Guys, this is Blitz. As those of you who were actually listening at lunch probably heard, he is going to be staying with us. He's, uhh... I don't really know much about you actually," she said, turning to me.

"Well, for starters, I'm 26 but they put a glamor on me for school. My, ah, village didn't approve of fashion. So when I went to college I created my own major so I could get my degree and start my own clothing line," at this, many campers nodded in appreciation and understanding.

"Well, they just laughed at me. Around that time, a guy crash-landed near my house and almost died because he used too much magic. I built him a healing table, which is how I met Hearth. He's my boyfriend," just saying it made my toes tingle, and I smiled at the thought of him. There were a couple of 'awwws' from around the room, including Piper.

"We became friends and sought help from a minor god, who required years of service in return for knowledge. The god sent us to look after Magnus, the boy out there. He's a good kid. A jerk of an immortal sent wolves to kill him when he was 14. His mom saved him but died in the process. He lived on the streets for about two years, and we helped keep him alive.

"In return, he helped us. He helped a lot of homeless kids, even though he was one himself. When he died, we thought we had failed our mission. Then he came back, we went on a few quests, saved the worlds once or twice. Ya know," I finished, remembering our adventures and my awesome friends.

"Anyways, after that, I bought a store in Boston, Blitzen's Best. I make and sell my own designs with Hearth. It's amazing. Then I got pulled into this wizard crap so now I'm here. Which bed is mine?" I asked, looking at Piper who stared at me for a second before answering.

"Over here. Here's the bathroom schedule, and I'll tell you all about the daily stuff tomorrow, I guess," she said, pointing to a whiteboard next to what I assumed was the bathroom.

"Thanks," I said, starting to unpack. She left halfway through to do her afternoon activities or something.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, "Why are you wearing that netting? You know it would look better if you took it off. Maybe burn it for good measure," a voice behind me asked. I turned to see a girl standing there, examining my outfit.

"Don't get me wrong, the rest is fashionable, but the netting doesn't make any sense," she continued.

"It's a, curse," I lied, "if I'm in sunlight for too long I turn to stone. Please don't ask." I turned my back on her and finished unpacking. I flopped on my bed, which smelled surprisingly good and was kind of comfortable. Better than the floor.

My 'siblings' asked me questions for the next hour or two, silently judged me, and tried to give me fake fashion advice. I gave them some in return, making two girls tear up and one jerk go red after I caught him insulting Hearth. I sighed.

This was gonna be a long three days.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

END CHAPTER TWELVE (CHB PART 1)

Don't know when the next chapter will come, but considering it took a week to write this one, probably longer than previous ones.