---

I feel myself swaying, but I can't move a muscle. People are muttering, but I can't make out any words. I hear a squeak, and a gentle slam; then I'm on something soft.
"Liam brought her in," a man says quietly. "Do you know her godly parent?" A girl asks. Silence.
"No. I'm afraid I don't. I've never smelled a demigod like her."

Slowly, I'm able to force my eyes open. The girl was looking down at me. "Hi," she starts. "I'm Annabeth." She smiles. I try to sit up as I say "Haley." I'm so dizzy it hurts and my head falls back against the pillow. Annabeth looks concerned and grabs a juice box from a mini fridge in the corner. "Here, drink this." She places the juice box in my hand. "This isn't a trick, is it?" "What do you mean?" "Liam gave me a brownie that tasted like macaroni." I say, disgusted. Annabeth laughs. "Just think of what you want it to taste like and it will." I stare at the juice, then poke the straw in and chug it. Peanut butter cookies. I can start to feel my legs again.
"What did it taste like?" Annabeth asks as the throws the box away. "Peanut butter cookies." "Oh, that's a favorite of mine." I can sit up now. The room I'm in is cozy, wood walls and tons of pictures on a cork board. Annabeth is sitting in a desk chair next to a ping-pong table. "So Haley, where are you from?" "Colorado Springs." "I love Colorado! So many awesome buildings." Um, okay. "How about you?" "California, originally. But Camp has been my home since I was 7." "Wow." "Yeah. Long story," she says, looking down and fiddling with her beaded necklace. "Think you can walk now?" I try and stand. "Yeah," I put my hand to my head, "for awhile."

Annabeth decided to give me the grand tour. Showed me the lake, Long Island Sound, a pile of rocks once called Zeus' Fist, and a whole bunch of crazy cabins. "One of these is yours," Annabeth stated. "Which one?" "We don't know yet." She says, puzzled. We walk down a path to the Big House (the one I woke up in), and there's a man in a wheelchair watching me. "Who's that?" "That's Chiron. He's the camp supervisor." We walk up the porch steps and sit in rocking chairs facing Mr. Chiron. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Haley. I'm glad you made it." "Um, thanks. Where's Liam?" Chiron and Annabeth exchange looks. "He's in the camp infirmary. He'll be alright," Annabeth assures me. "Have you met any monsters, Haley?" Mr. Chiron asks. "Two, actually. Sharpie and Kayla the Vampire." Annabeth and Chiron both laugh. "Those would be a Harpie and an Empousa. Did you kill them?" "Kill them? Well, Liam trapped Harpie in tree roots, and then we flew here, then Kayla stuck a knife in Liam, I grabbed it and stabbed her." They share another look. "So she didn't even defend herself? You just stabbed her?" Annabeth asks. "Well, I was mad. I just imagined myself stabbing her in the back just like she did Liam, then I was right behind her. I stabbed her, then I blacked out." They both look at me. "What? Was I not supposed to?" "I've never heard of a demigod with that power." Chiron says. "Um, what power?" "Describe what it feels like, please." "Uhh, I just think of a place in front of me and I hear a WHOOSH, then I'm there. Things become a blur. It's kinda like that scene in Lord of the Rings when Frodo is looking down the road in the first movie." "You don't fly?" "Fly? No. More like glide.. hover maybe." Both Annabeth and Chiron have a "don't-bother-me-I'm-thinking" look on their faces. "I can't think of a god with that power," Annabeth addresses Chiron. "Nor I. Haley, is your mother or father mortal?" "A.k.a. not a god?" "Yes," Chiron says with a chuckle. "Then my Dad." "Then your mother is a goddess. Have you thought of one yet Annabeth?" "No..." "Well, until your claiming, you must bunk here." Chiron says, motioning to the Big House. That's okay with me. "Can I go see Liam?" "Chiron..." Annabeth starts. "No, Annabeth. It's best to get it over with now. Take her to Liam." She sighs, and stands. "C'mon Haley. It's not far."


We walk side-by-side down the trail in silence. Annabeth looks at me out of the corner of her eye. "Haley, do you know what happens to satyrs when they die?" Die? "Nooo..." She sighs again. "Well, depending on what all they did in life, they get reincarnated as some form of plant. A laurel is great, but a flower isn't the best thing ever." I stop walking. "Did Liam die?" Annabeth stops a few paces in front of me. Her shoulders drooped, she turns and looks me in the eye. "Yes. Liam died." I'm too shocked to move. I race past a teary-eyed Annabeth as fast as I can, and I see the large cabin in front of me. I *whoosh* and I'm at the front steps, Annabeth jogging to catch up. I open the door and look around. There are a few campers in there, mashing roots and stirring pots. Probably Apollo's kids, from what smash-course lesson I got when I woke up.
Then I see him. Oh, Liam... He's a sapling. A little, two-leafed sapling glowing in a tiny pot. Annabeth places a comforting hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry, Haley. There was nothing we could do." Silent tears stream down my face. I turn to face her, and by her expression I knew she said the truth. As I take in a shaky breath, and Annabeth speaks again. "I was almost killed by that same poison. I took it in the shoulder to save my boyfriend, Percy. That was 2 years ago." I wipe my face, looking nowhere in particular. "Percy? I know that name." Her face becomes a mass of confusion. "How?" "I think... I think I know you too. I had to make a diagram for school earlier today for ancient history class. The topic was Greek myths, and I had Odysseus and Polyphemus. But I added in 3 people. A boy, with black hair and a bronze sword, a blonde girl with a hat and dagger, and a satyr. That was you, wasn't it?" It was her turn to be silent. "That was 5 years ago, yes." Her face was one of unbelief. I turned back to sapling Liam, and pick him up. "I'm so, so sorry Liam. I should've gone first... I should've..." I turn and race out of the infirmary, towards what was called Zeus' Fist.

---

I don't even know why I went to Zeus' Fist. Somehow it comforted me.
"I'm sorry I insulted you," I say under my breath, "I didn't really mean it." I hear a distant thunder clap and look up. "I take it that means you forgive me."

I was sitting on a large, rectangular boulder, swinging my feet over the edge.
I watch the camp, the swarms of campers in orange t-shirts, and wonder how this could all be here and nobody noticing. "It's Mist," called a voice. I look around, scanning the treeline for a person. A boy about my age steps out of the shadows of a humongous boulder. "Mist basically warps our reality for mortals so they can understand it. So if they saw my sword, for example," he whips out a deathly black, rough sword, "would come across as a stick of an umbrella." I just look at him. "Why are you up here?" I ask. "I come up here sometimes. This is where I found my godly parent." "And who would that be? Zeus?" The black could account for that. "Hades," he says, matter-of-factly. He climbs the boulder I'm sitting on and settles himself next to me. "Nico." "Haley." We sit in silence until a distant gong sounds. "That would be supper," he says.
"Oh, okay. Thanks." He glances at me and slides down the rock, landing easily. Warily I glance down the side, and attempt to imitate him. I start sliding, and manage a mild squeak as I do so. Apparently he wanted to accompany me to dinner, because he noticed my situation and deftly caught me and lowered my feet gently to the ground. His face was awkward and he blushed, immediately letting me go. "C'mon, they'll be angry if we're late." He starts walking down the trail, and I jog to catch up.

Notes