Piper POV
Things were going pretty well. If anyone’s qualified to take over Chiron’s position it was Percy. Leo, Jason, and I were eating together after the ceremony. Well, it was more me and Jason than Leo. I mean, I see Leo everyday but Jason’s always over at Camp Jupiter so excuse me if I gave him a little more attention.
We were all chowing down on blue baked goods when I witnessed the impossible. Something more shocking than Gaea, Kronos, and Jason wearing panties as a speedo (long, long story) combined; Clarisse was actually being nice to Percy. I couldn’t hear what they were saying but I saw her pat him on the back, smile brightly, and Percy looked surprised enough so it couldn’t have been anything threatening. Of course when I went to talk to Clarisse about it later she denied the whole thing even happened.
Anyway the entire dining pavilion was a mass of social warmth until the blood curdling shriek filled the entire camp and then some. The entire night went dead silent save for the very distant sounds of leathery wings. Everyone substituted their cake for weapons and poured out towards the forest. It was dark enough, and misty enough, to where we couldn’t see from a distance but faint shadows of flying creatures, most likely harpies, were swooping around another humanoid figure. Leo was the first to take action and lit up his hands, giving enough light for Percy to jump into the fray and protect the figure.
“Get away,” he yelled, “She’s not a threat.”
She?
“Sneaky girl wandering the forest,” one of the harpies hissed.
“Good eating for harpies,” another exclaimed.
“I’m camp director now and I say this girl’s not food!”
The harpies looked angry but hesitated to attack. Eventually they all flew away and left us standing in front of this girl. Leo steeped closer and I got a clearer look at this girl.
At first I thought it was Thalia, then I realized this girl was younger and definitely did not have the powerful stature of a hunter. Her hair was cut short and died with streaks of blood red that looked fierce with the natural raven color. Her face was also peppered with piercings, something even Thalia would never do. She was clad in combat boots, baggy jeans, a My Chemical Romance Shirt, and a tattered flannel. Her left eye was slightly swollen and she had bruises up and down her arms. I couldn’t see what color her eyes were but Leo’s fire made them glow with an almost purplish hue. Percy had embraced her in a tight hug. She began crying into his shoulder.
“Andi,” Percy said, “What are you doing here? How did you get here?”
Leo chuckled.
“Andi? Someone Annabeth has to worry about I assume?”
Annabeth gave him the death glare but it didn’t seem to faze him.
“She’s just a friend of Percy’s, Leo,” Annabeth stated.
“Sure, just friends.”
It looked like Annabeth was about to slap off Leo’s smug grin until she turned toward Andi, who was crying less.
“So you’re Annabeth?” She asked nervously, “There’s nothing going on between me and Percy, I swear!”
Annabeth just laughed.
“Relax, I know what Percy’s been doing for you. I’m not going to hurt you just because my boyfriend is protective of his friends. I’ve heard so much about you.”
She extended her hand but Andi still seemed wary. Eventually though she broke away from Percy to return the handshake.
Chiron stepped forward.
“Well, I certainly have some questions,” he said, “The biggest is, how did you get here? This camp’s magic prevents mortals from finding it.”
Andi sized up Chiron but didn’t seemed too surprised to see a half-man-half-horse looming above her.
“Oh yeah, about that…” She began to look even more nervous than before, “I kinda overheard Percy and Annabeth talking about a camp they both went to. I go to the same school and heard them as they were cleaning out their lockers. Percy has been protecting me from bullies all year and I just didn’t know if I could survive three years without him so I decided to find this place.”
“But how?” Percy asked, “We never said where it was.”
“Yeah…um…Annabeth… You might want to guard your phone a bit better…”
She pulled out one of Leo’s demigod phones and tossed it to Annabeth, who looked stunned.
“You stole my phone?”
“I would’ve stolen Percy’s but your hand was on his pocket. Luckily yours was unguarded so I kinda went for it… sorry.”
Before Annabeth could reply, Percy stepped in.
“Andi,” he said sympathetically, “I know you’ll be fine without me. You just can’t stay here. This camp isn’t for regular people.”
“Oh I know,” Andi replied, “I read Annabeth’s texts. When I learned that it was a demigod camp I pieced everything together. It actually makes a lot of sense, I thought I was going crazy seeing Cyclopes and goat people. Just let me stay, please!”
“Wait,” Percy said, getting red-faced, “You read ALL of her texts?”
“That’s right, seaweed brain,” Andi replied with a wink, making Percy blush even harder.
“My dear,” Chiron said, “I’m afraid mortals are not allowed here. Yes we have Miss Dare but she is and Oracle. I’m afraid we don’t have any more positions for oracle available so you can’t stay here.
That just seemed to make Andi more desperate.
“How do you know I’m not mortal? What if I really am a demigod? I did find this place after all even though mortals supposedly can’t find it.”
Chiron started scratching his beard but shook his head.
“No, I’m sorry. The satyrs would have found you a long time ago and…”
“Wait Chiron,” I said stepping in, “Let’s just let her stay. Just for a little while until her next birthday. If she’s not claimed by then she’s obviously not a demigod and can return to the mortal world.”
I poured in as much charmspeak in my words as I could because I felt sorry for Andi, I truly did. If she was Percy’s friend then she shouldn’t just be cast aside. Luckily my words seemed to influence Chiron just a little.
“Ultimately it is not my decision anymore,” he sighed, “As camp director, Percy, you get to make this decision.”
“Oh, right,” Percy said, “Well, ummm. I approve. If Andi can see through the mist and made her way here there is a chance she is a demigod and the satyrs just haven’t found her. There’s room in the Hermes cabin so…”
“The Hermes cabin,” I started, “Nope. There’s no way this one’s being crammed into that tiny shack. She can bunk in the Aphrodite cabin, we have an extra bunk.”
Percy just looked stunned.
“Piper I’m not sure if…”
“Oh pshaw. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine and I won’t have her surrounded by thieves and pranksters like Travis and Connor.”
“I… I guess. I’ll go ahead and give her the tour. Everyone, do whatever you want to do but the campfire starts in half an hour.”
Everyone else dispersed while Percy and Annabeth led Andi around the camp. I eventually caught up with Jason.
“That was pretty noble of you,” he said, “Allowing a complete stranger to bunk in your cabin.”
“Can I be honest with you?”
“Pipes, we’ve been going out for about a year now. You can be as honest as you want.”
“I just want to see if I can get any good stuff about Percy from her. She did read his and Annabeth’s texts after all.”
“Piper Mclean, look at you. Embracing the Aphrodite side in you.”
“Well with Percy becoming the new camp director and all, it’s nice to have some leverage.”
Jason and I laughed and talked for the next thirty minutes. I’m not too ashamed to admit we did get a little frisky with each other. Give us a break, we haven’t seen each other for weeks! Anyway the campfire started pretty soon afterwards. I saw Andi sitting next to an assortment of other Campers while the Apollo kids an interesting assortment of instruments: Lyres, flutes, violins, even Janet from the Ares cabin was shredding on her electric guitar, giving the entire atmosphere an upbeat aura. I didn’t see Percy or Annabeth but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess what they were up to. My suspicions were confirmed when they slipped back into the crowd about fifteen minutes later. Percy had a lipstick smudge just behind his ear and I caught Annabeth pulling her collar up to hide and obvious hickey.
The rest of the campfire was pretty much normal and soon enough I was helping Andi get settled into the Aphrodite Cabin.
“So how exactly do you know Percy?” I asked when she came back from brushing her teeth.
“Well I started attending Goode high school this year as a freshmen. Obviously the kids didn’t like my style and started picking on me. Percy was kind of my guardian angel. Every time some kids thought they were hidden enough to beat me he found us and saved me.”
She had changed into some plaid boxers and taken out her piercings. I got a closer look at her eyes and saw that they were in fact purple. Not a deep purple like Bacchus (Dionysus as he was called here but I still called him Bacchus from our first meeting) but there were a light lavender, with tinges of forest green around the edges. She sat down her bag next to her bunk and climbed under the sheets.
“I have some extra pajama bottoms if you want to…”
“No it’s okay, I get too hot so I just wear boxers instead.”
“Oh, alright.”
“Thanks again for letting me sleep here. Glad to know I’ve got at least one friend besides Percy.”
“No trouble at all. Actually, there was something I was hoping to ask you.”
“Hmm?”
“You read Percy and Annabeth’s texts right? You find anything that might be useful in teasing him later?”
Andi’s grin stretched from ear to ear and I was just glad my siblings had fallen asleep so they couldn’t spread this information before me.
“Your name’s Piper, right? Well Piper, get ready to be up all night because I’ve got so much stuff you’ll love to hear.”

Notes