Hello there, welcome to my forum page. I accidentally messed up on posting, being new and stuff, however, the first three chapters of this little tale is in this post.

Anyway, here is a small description of the story.

North America is in trouble, again.

Interested? Well, scroll down for the full summary and story.

The first three chapters are within the first post, the others are in the comments below. Please take your time to read, I will update about twice a day. Depending on reviews too, I will update more if there is more demand. Thanks very much, I really appreciate your support :)

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SUMMARY:

North America is in trouble, again.

And no, it isn't because of some lost demigod this time, or any other demigod as a matter of fact.

It's Zeus.

He's been causing all these storms, these floodings, and there's one problem.

He can't stop it.

Now a journey begins, with a new hero emerging, Michael. An ordinary boy, suddenly plunged into a world of Greek mythology, with his best friend, Joey. He has to save the world, before Zeus accidentally causes a minor complete destruction of America.

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DEDICATIONS:

Gumbee - for introducing fanpop to me, couldn't have done this without you mate :)

hollistergurl - for constantly supporting me everytime I post, therefore i reward her with a monkey

And to everyone else who commented and/or read this story, thank you :)

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Chapter 1: The Beginning

It all started on the day Michael had googled the gorgons.

The weather was the same as the past few days: rainy. The whole of the United States and parts of the Atlantic had been experiencing torrential rains for over a week. The unrelenting rain showered the library windows, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Michael and Joey, his best friend, were sitting at one of the computers in the library, arguing over their history project.

They were both had ADHD, which meant they could not stay still for more than two seconds. Michael knew that both of them paired up was not one of his smartest decisions, but still, he and Joey were the best of friends.

As usual, everyone in the class had decided to leave their project right until the day before it was due. Michael had been pestered by Joey to start the project, but he had squeezed his way out every single time. Michael knew that he had no choice since this was fifty percent of his grade, and with his current astoundingly horrible marks in history, he had to do a good job.

Michael and Joey sat in the quiet library, where the whole class was also doing their last minute assignments. Michael stared at the computer screen blankly.

"Ah damn, how are we gonna finish this by tonight?" he exclaimed, responded by a bunch of 'Shhh's from the other students around them.

"We haven't even thought of what we're going to do!" Joey told him. "We've been here watching you play Pacman for over an hour."

Michael had to resist the urge to do it again, but for the sake of his failing history marks, he pushed the thought aside.

"I've heard of some 'gorgons' before, I think they were Medusa and her sisters or something?" Michael suggested.

"Well, we could try that. But hurry up, I've got to reach home by seven."

"Why's your mom so strict?"

"I don't know, maybe it has something to do with my dad leaving me?" Joey responded, irritated. "Can we please start on the project?"

Oh man, I forgot, Michael thought as he clicked the browser icon.

Joey's dad had left her years ago, before she was born. Michael had been to her house many times and could see her mom's carefree face on the pictures, smiling and laughing. But now she looked different. There was always a sad look on her face now, and she was extremely strict. If Joey was out late or something, she would instantly ground her for a month. Michael's mom, although his dad had left him and his mother years ago, his mom never spoke of him. Whenever Michael brought the subject up, he was met with a hardened face refusing to tell him anything.

Michael stared at Joey as she tried to do some research on Greek mythology. Her long brown hair flowed down her back like water, and her face reflected a silent confidence and beauty. Her eyes were like coffee beans; warm and brown. To Michael, she was beautiful.

"Michael, you're dreaming again!" Joey whispered angrily.

"Huh, what?"

"Come on, we've got to finish this stupid project."

"Fine, fine…" Michael snapped out of his daze and went to google.

He typed "gorgons", and pressed enter.

Who knew a google search could cause such chaos in his life.

He, a fifteen year old boy, had experienced really weird stuff before. Once, he and Joey had been mobbed by a bunch of gangsters. Only they didn't look like gangsters, and he could swear one of them had horns on his head. He had dismissed this as a weird encounter, although many close shaves happened again not long after.

Michael was daydreaming again. He snapped back to usual and even before he could click the first link, the school librarian walked over. Michael saw her usual pointy nose and long neck as he turned around to face her. Suddenly he didn't feel so safe.

"Uh, Joey?" Michael started uncertainly.

"Yes?" she answered, her eyes glued to the screen.

"Why is the librarian walking over to us?" Michael asked.

"I don't know, why don't you ask yourself that?" She continued to click on more links and Michael heard her mouse taps.

"I haven't really done anything serious right?" Michael inquired. "Usually she just sits at her boring old seat and never gets up."

"Hey look, I found something about Daedalus and his nephew Icarus…" Joey said, having not heard what Michael had said.

The librarian unsheathed her hands. They were made of brass.

"Uh, Joey?" Michael said urgently.

"What?" she asked, finally turning around, her eyes looking at the librarian with an irritated look on her face.

Michael and her eyes widened, and they jumped aside as the librarian ran headfirst at them. She ran through the table, breaking it cleanly into half. Splinters flew everywhere as students started screaming in the library.

Michael and Joey got a face full of splinters. They scrambled to find a place to hide and were able to hide under tables as the librarian shook her head. Most of the students had evacuated, but some really daring ones had decided to stay behind to take pictures. Michael did not think pictures of an insane, brass-handed librarian was worth to lose a life over.

"Come out!" she called. Strangely enough, her voice was loud and clear although throngs of students were rushing out of the library in chaos. "Don't let auntie Euryale waiting!"

The look Joey gave Michael told him that name meant this was not good.

Euryale ran around the area, toppling computers and destroying tables. Splinters continued to fly everywhere and torn books fluttered toward the ground. Half the library gone in about ten seconds. A new record.

Michael decided to try and crawl out of his hiding place, which was a pile of books. Even before he could stand up, Euryale turned around swiftly and charged.

He jumped aside just in time; if he had stood there he would have been shish-kebab.

"Joey, RUN!" he yelled as Euryale got ready for another rush.

"No, stay behind! I only want to kill you!" Euryale shouted back happily.

Yeah, like that will happen, thought Michael as he ran through the remains of the library, pulling a shocked Joey behind him. Euryale got ready for another deadly rush, but right before she could make a move, Michael took a computer and hurled it at her. So much for the warranty.

"Joey, while we're running, can you tell me what the heck that thing is?" Michael asked, with the air of asking about the weather.

Joey was still in shock, but she responded nonetheless. "She's one of the ancient Greek gorgons. You know, Medusa's sister. But I think she's alone, her sisters don't seem to be with her."

Michael thought she was joking. They ran through the deserted hallways, desperately looking for an exit. The only way out seemed to be the main entrance of the school. Cold wind blew through the hallway, adding to the obstacle of avoiding puddles of water.

"Come off it, those Greek legends are just that. Legends," Michael answered, but he was a little uncertain. How could Greek legends even be present in real life? More unlikely, in the U.S?

"Well, the other reasoning is that she's an insane madwoman with metal for hands, and has somehow sneaked her way into the school and hid as the librarian for over half a year. Moreover, what are the chances she targets us and why?" Joey said as they slid out of the school entrance. They slowed down and heard Euryale shrieking behind them.

Giving each other nervous looks as they got drenched in rain, Michael asked, "So you think we should run?"

"Definitely."

They continued running for about ten blocks, arguing over Greek mythology. They stopped for a break, but when they looked behind, guess who they saw. No prizes for correct guesses.

Euryale was running toward them, approaching fast. They could not run away from her forever. Michael and Joey just stood there in the pouring rain, staring at Euryale rushing at them. Michael knew that this could be his final breath, but he had to act. For Joey, for himself, for his mom…

Michael quickly took a cable from a nearby trash can, and found it was quite strong, able to hold back a strong person well.

"Michael, what are you doing?" Joey asked as Michael tied one end of the cable to the lamppost and the other to a pipe on an apartment. He didn't respond to Joey's question.

"Quickly, come here and hide!" Michael grabbed Joey and pushed her into an alley, and whispered, "Get some kind of weapon."

Euryale slid the last few feet and landed right in front of the cable. The hat she was wearing slipped off and Michael saw a head full of snakes. Interesting, thought Michael.

"Why are you chasing us? Don't you have anything else better to do?" Michael asked.

"Not only you, other demigods too. Me and my sister, Stheno swore to attack every demigod in our range when that idiot boy Percy Jackson 'killed' my sister, Medusa. She still hasn't returned from Tartarus, but luckily we picked up the trail of the boy and we're trailing him now. I sensed you two demigods near us and I decided visit you," Euryale smiled evilly.

Michael momentarily forgot what the plan was. "Joey and me… demigods? You must be joking. You're probably not even real."

"Oh, am I? Want me to punch through you, then you make judgement?"

"Not today, hag-woman!" Joey shouted. Euryale turned around just in time to see a sledgehammer slamming down on her. She got knocked out cold and slid to the ground before she could utter another word.

"Where did you get that sledgehammer? I was expecting something like a trash bin," Michael asked, amazed.

"I just found it down the alley; I took it, boom, and one unconscious gorgon."

"Absolutely amazing. I'd applaud you if my hands weren't covered with splinters."

"Stop joking, this is serious," Joey said as she looked at the unconscious gorgon… only it wasn't there anymore. It had turned to dust.

"Weird… so what do you think is happening to us?" Michael asked Joey as he slowly lifted his gaze from the dissipating dust.

"I think I may be able to answer that," said a person from behind. Joey and Michael both turned around and saw a boy with jet-black hair, green eyes and an orange shirt that said "Camp Half Blood".

"Hi, I'm Percy Jackson. I saw how you took down that gorgon, it was awesome!" he said.

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So what did you think? Leave your comments below and depending on your comments I will continue to post more. Hope you enjoyed it! If not, I welcome criticism.

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Chapter 2: The Camp

Michael thought that Percy looked extremely familiar. He had seen him somewhere before…

Percy grinned at both of them. "Must have been a heck of a day," he said, looking at their dirty and drenched clothes.

Joey rolled her eyes and said, "You wouldn't believe half of it."

Michael was a little suspicious. Defeating a mythical Greek creature, then after that meeting up with a guy who looked like he should be in school? Definitely weird.

"Who are you?" Michael asked as he eyed Percy.

"I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon," he answered, still smiling as the rain continued to drench both of them. For some reason, Percy remain perfectly dry.

"When you say Poseidon, do you mean…" Joey started.

"Yeah, I'm the son of a Greek god. You guys don't know about Camp Half Blood yet, right? Come on, I'll brief you on the way to Blackjack, Guido and Porkpie."

"Who are they?" Michael asked, still trying to remember Percy's face.

"The camp's pegasi."

"Wow!" Joey exclaimed. Percy started explaining stuff about Greek gods all being real as they, about how they migrated to the United States walked past the quiet apartments, but Michael did not really listen. He was still confounded by the fact that monsters existed, and all those odd experiences he had had were actually real.

When Michael was eight, he remembered seeing some boy in a purple shirt in Detroit running toward a warehouse. He could still remember its name: Monocle Motors, and the weird eye design on the O's. He also remembered seeing the people chasing the boy; two giant men, and he could've sworn both of them had only one eye. His mother was with him at the time and saw nothing.

Michael had told his friends and his mother about these, but this only made them think he was a raving lunatic. The only person in his school who listened to him seemed to be Joey, and she had told him about her weird experiences before. She once had seen some arch on a hill when she was driving through Long Island Sound, but only caught a glimpse of it. She asked her mom to turn back but they were pressed for time, her mother being late for work.

Now that Percy had explained everything about the Mist and whatnot, it seemed that everything they had seen, normal mortals couldn't see it. Joey and Michael had once discussed about why they could see stuff others couldn't, and had come to the conclusion that it was all happening in their heads.

"Okay, that is surely an imagination," Michael muttered under his breath when he saw Blackjack. Pure-black, he didn't flinch when Joey patted his head.

Guido and Porkpie stood next to him, and Michael went to pat them. Their soft hair flowed under his hand smoothly.

"Yeah, so these are the camp pegasi. Blackjack is this one, Guido is that brown one and Porkpie is the one on the end. Joey, get onto Guido…"

"Wait, what? We're gonna ride these pegasi to your camp?" Joey asked, a mingled expression of shock and excitement on her face.

"Duh, what did you think? I brought these pegasi here for a reason you know."

"Um, aren't you supposed to be in school?" Michael pointed out.

Percy's smile got wider. "Yeah, but we had a gas 'accident' a few days ago. Long story short, school is cancelled for a week and I thought it'd be nice to go to camp for a few days."

They heard a distant roar.

Percy's smile turned to an expression of fear. "I think Euryale's reforming, hurry!"

Joey and Michael got onto Guido and Porkpie respectively. We could hear Euryale's fuming noises getting closer.

"Okay, giddy-up!" Percy yelled.

The pegasi spread their wings and took flight. As they ascended hundreds of feet into the air, Michael looked back. He could see Euryale gazing at them, raging around the area. Michael heaved a sigh of relief. They finally got rid of the crazy librarian-gorgon thing.

Michael hadn't taken a plane before, so there was no way he could've known that he had air-sickness.

"Michael, you don't look so well," Joey commented as they soared above the rain clouds, catching a small glimpse of the blazing sun. At least no rain fell on them up here.

"Nope, he doesn't. I think he has air-sickness. His face's all green," Percy yelled over the loud blast of wind. He didn't look too good either.

After about two minutes, he said, "We should be landing soon, Brooklyn isn't far from Long Island Sound."

"Wait, is the camp on some hill and has an arch?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I saw it before…" she went on to explain her story to Percy.

Michael was completely unprepared for landing. When Porkpie jerked downwards, he nearly flew off his back. Second close shave in one day, Michael thought. Another new record.

"Hold on!" Percy yelled. The three of them re-entered the dark clouds and passed through. As rain showered them once more, Michael was able to see the dark outline of buildings, and a… dragon guarding some tree? Was it another figment of his imagination?

After today, I think I'll believe anything, he told himself.

They landed smoothly on the ground, near the stables, and campers wearing raincoats came out to meet the new arrivals. One of them led the pegasi back to their stable, but not before Michael stroked Porkpie. Porkpie gave a snort that probably meant "no problem".

Percy smiled and introduced the newcomers to the other campers.

"Hey guys, meet Michael and Joey. They've just defeated Euryale, and I think they'll need some rest," he told them.

"Okay Percy, I'll bring them to the infirmary," a boy in the crowd called out. A tall boy with blue eyes stepped forward and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Will Solace, from Apollo Cabin. Follow me, I'll bring you to the infirmary."

"But we feel fine," Joey and Michael said in unison.

Will waved it away. "Nah, you're probably not. That's what they all say."

Will had struck gold, Michael was lying. He was horribly tired after all that running and battling Euryale, and he could bet Joey was feeling the same. Will led them and they didn't make any more protests. He pointed out the landmarks: the Armory, where all the weapons and armor was kept.

"They keep guns there too, not to mention rocket launchers and other stuff like that," Will explained as they walked past. He pointed at the Arena, and said, "That's usually where we duel, that's one of the camp activities…" He then continued to tell Joey and Michael about all the other activities the camp had, which included Archery and other stuff like that.

Michael realised the area wasn't wet at all. In fact, it was perfectly dry, although dark clouds hung overhead.

"Hey Will, why isn't it raining here?"

"Well, the camp has some sort of power that keeps the place from raining, but sometimes, when Zeus is in a bad mood it can hit the camp," he said. He looked nervously at the clouds. "To tell you the truth, the weather has been strange lately, I mean like, nobody has done anything to offend Zeus, yet almost the whole country is raining cats and dogs. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Well, anyway, there's the cabins, all decorated according to their gods, blah blah… you can go check them out later, but right now we have to get you to the Big House. That's where the infirmary is."

Will strode down the hill and pointed at a large house. "There's the Big House, it houses our camp director, Dionysius, known to us as Mr. D."

"You mean the god of wine?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, who else? Anyway, he's kind of strict, so don't get him into a bad mood. He may turn you into a raccoon or something."

Michael snickered, but realised that gods really did have that power. Joey and he continued to follow Will toward the Big House.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Will turned around and faced them. "How old are you guys?"

"Um… Joey and I turn fifteen this winter, why?" Michael questioned.

"Fifteen? Oh gods, you haven't been claimed yet right?"

"Nope, I guess not," Joey said. Michael remembered what Percy had said about claiming, and nothing like that had ever happened to them.

"Damn, don't let Percy know. It's not the first time this has happened."

"First time what has happened?" Michael asked.

"Well," Will said, "Percy made a deal with the gods that they have to claim their children when they hit thirteen. He made them swear on the River Styx, and if he finds out another god hasn't claimed his or her child, he's gonna be mad."

"You mean this has happened before?"

"Yeah, he flooded the entire cabin area. Water wouldn't recede for days."

"Oh. Well then, don't tell him about this."

Will laughed. "I'd be mad to do that. So yeah, welcome to Camp Half Blood. Hope you're in Apollo. Aaaand… we're here! The Big House!"

Michael looked forward and the giant house faced him. He was awestruck, it was beautifully built, and much more bigger than that small apartment he and his mom lived in. That reminded him… he needed to make a phone call to his mother.

"Hey Will… could you lend me a phone? I need to contact my mom."

He froze for awhile and turned, smiling mischievously.

"Come closer," Will told them. When they were close enough, Will took out an iPhone, coated with some sort of bronze plating.

"See this? It isn't your ordinary iPhone, its one with celestial bronze plating. I bet Percy has explained everything about how demigods can't use electronic devices, 'cause they send out signals and stuff?"

"Yeah," Joey said. "Isn't it dangerous to carry a phone around , then?"

"Ah, that's the beauty of it. It's covered with celestial bronze, which is a great monster repellant. The Stoll brothers from Hermes' cabin were experimenting with it. They had to take a big risk, celestial bronze is really hard to get. Anyway, they tried coating this phone with it and it didn't send out any monster signals! They had to get out of camp to test it, but no worries, nothing went wrong."

"So can I use it?" Michael asked.

"Yeah, sure," Will tossed the phone to Michael. Michael caught it perfectly in his hand.

"Ooh, nice catch."

"Thanks," Michael said as he tapped the numbers of his apartment's phone number.

His mom picked it up on the first ring.

"Hey, mom?"

His mom sounded hysterical. "Michael, where have you been? They say you've disappeared from school after something happened there? Those crazy schoolmates of yours keep saying 'The librarian destroyed the library.' Can you believe that?"

"Yeah, she really did."

His mother sighed. "Okay, anyone but you, I wouldn't believe it. Where are you? Do you know how worried I am?"

"Actually, I have no idea. Anyway…" Michael saw Will gesturing to him. It clearly meant he didn't want Michael's mom to know the truth about gods and Greek mythological stuff being real.

"Anyway what?" Michael's mom inquired.

"I'm going to have to come to a camp for school stuff every weekend, are you okay with that?" Michael asked. Will had told Joey and him that they would have to return at least every weekend.

"Well, I'm fine with that, but come home now! It's already eight o'clock and you still haven't done your homework!"

"Fine… fine… yeah, love you too, bye."

He hung up and saw Will and Joey snickering. He knew they had heard the entire conversation and felt his face turn red. He tossed the phone back with a word of thanks and Will caught it neatly in his hand.

Will brought them into the house, where they saw swords and iPads mixed on the coffee table. A leopard's head hung on the wall, and was actually roaring. Michael saw a PacMan arcade and had the mad urge to play a game on it.

"Okay, you guys just go lie on the bed and rest, I'll come and get you when it's time for dinner. You'll probably get claimed by then, or maybe during campfire night. I hope its tonight," Will laughed nervously and left. Joey and Michael both climbed into their beds and looked at each other.

"What do you think so far?" Joey asked, barely suppressing a smile.

"I think I'm going bonkers," Michael smiled back. He lay back and fell asleep.

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I decided to post the next chapter, let me know your thoughts! :)

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Chapter 3: The Activities

Letting Percy find out was NOT Michael's idea.

He had tried to keep his mouth shut, and luckily he and Joey had to go home before dinner started. His mother was nagging him about "safety" and "kidnapping", but that seemed a lot less dangerous than what he had went through the past few days.

On Saturday morning, he left the apartment for Camp Half Blood, planning to meet Joey at school before they left. He thought that his toothbrush and wallet would be enough, so he was quite empty handed when he met Joey.

Joey had done the same, but she had combed her hair and wore the Camp Half Blood orange tee.

"Ready?" Joey asked nervously as Michael approached her. Rain continued to pour all around them.

"Yeah, let's go," Michael replied. He was feeling excited and scared, not knowing what to expect at camp. Although Will had explained everything, he still had a sense of dread, and he had a feeling that things were going to get worse.

Joey stuck out her hand and a taxi appeared; no wait, materialised out of thin air in front of them. Inside sat Argus, the multi-eyed guard of Camp Half Blood. Percy said that in order to get them safely there he had asked Argus to pick them up. Michael was sure that Joey too did not want to get attacked by some random mythical Greek creature and die before he could experience the camp. He and Joey got in and Argus drove off, toward New York.

Michael took the newspaper in front of him and the front page said: "LIBRARIAN DESTROYS LIBRARY". Really ironic.

He scanned the article and saw that no injuries had been reported, but the Stellar Middle School library had been completely demolished. The principal had made a statement that made Michael's heart leap: School was cancelled for the next week. He punched the air happily.

Joey saw his actions and looked at the newspaper.

"What are you so excited about?" she reached the part of no school. "Oh yeah, no school for a week? Now we don't need to hand up our stupid history project, the week after next has no history lesson."

Michael was happy; happy he could spend more time at camp, and with Joey.

They reached the camp boundaries, and to their surprise saw Percy waiting at the entrance. He was wearing a full suit of armour, and he didn't look happy. Will was sulking next to him. It didn't take a genius to tell what was going on.

As soon as Joey and I got out of the car, he yelled, "YOU GUYS HAVEN'T BEEN CLAIMED, HAVE YOU?"

We walked up the hill, Argus trudging along behind us. Percy was glaring at Will, who tried to ignore his gaze but looked guilty. Michael and Joey shifted uncomfortably.

"Well?" Percy asked angrily. "Yesterday before you left, you both had told me you'd already been claimed. Then I asked Will here, and he also said you'd been claimed but he didn't know what cabin you should've been in. What a joke."

Will smiled weakly at them but they were unable to return the smile, too afraid to talk because Percy could explode at any given moment.

Percy sighed. "Can't help it now, the number of unclaimed are growing rapidly. Olympus has been a bit quiet lately, the gods haven't been claiming kids as fast."

Will looked up and asked Percy, "So you're not unhappy or anything?"

Percy looked at the sky and said, "We can't help it, you know how the gods are. Unpredictable. But I'm still angry you lied to me. You'll have to do a forfeit tonight."

Will's face turned white. "No, not a forfeit. Anything but that."

"Okay, why don't you help clean out the stables?" Percy grinned evilly.

Will looked at his hands, they were absolutely clean. "On second thoughts," he started, "I think I'll do a forfeit."

"Great, man! Tonight, after dinner. On the Apollo table."

"Fine, fine…" said a defeated Will.

"Okay, I have Archery now, and Chiron won't let me drop it even though I fail miserably… but nevermind, I've gotta go, see ya later!" he waved at them as he ran toward the Archery area. Michael and Joey waved back while Will tried, but his hand slumped back to his side.

"A forfeit, damn it. A forfeit," Will muttered to himself.

"Will, what's a forfeit?" Joey asked.

"Well, uh… it's sort of an embarrassing thing… you'll see tonight… oh gods, I'm going to be a laughing stock!" he shook his head.

He tried to get himself together, but his face still had a look of defeat. "We need to get your schedules from Chiron. Come on, he'll be at the Big House."

They reached the Big House, and Chiron was on the front porch, sitting in a wheelchair.

"Ah, these must be the newcomers. Welcome to Camp Half Blood," he told Michael and Joey.

"Thanks," they said in unison.

Will was about to tell Chiron something when he raised his hand and said, "Percy's already told me about it."

Will looked slightly taken aback but he stepped back nonetheless. "Okay, I've got Sword Fighting now, I'll see you later." He ran off toward the Armoury.

"Dark times approach fast," Chiron said sadly as he looked at the bleak sky. It was almost completely overcast, except for a few spots of sunlight passing through slits in the clouds.

"No matter, here are your timetables. They tell you where, when and what you're supposed to do at any given point of time, except night time, where it is customary to sleep. Lights out at eleven, mind you. Now, any questions?"

Michael and Joey looked at their timetables. His first lesson was Archery and hers was the same. Apparently Chiron had given them the exact same timetables. Michael silently cheered.

"Only one, sir."

"Go ahead, Michael."

"Are you really disabled or what?"

Chiron smiled at them. "No, I am not. I would show you, but it is extremely annoying and tiring to get out of these fake legs. I'm sorry."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

"Hurry along, you don't want to be late."

Joey and Michael left at a run, toward the Archery area. Michael looked through his timetable and saw that he had Sword Fighting, and he had a "Free Choice", which said he could choose what he wanted. He thought that sword forging would be kind of fun, but Joey told him she was choosing wall climbing. Michael decided to take the same as her.

They reached the Archery area and saw many kids and teens shooting arrows. Percy was one of them, but his aim was terribly off. He shot one that even Michael thought he would be able to shoot better.

Percy saw them and smiled. "Well, you should be able to tell I'm not the archery type. I'm more of melee, but whatever, practice makes perfect. I'm hitting the other campers less than before though, that's a start!"

Joey and Michael took a step back.

A small boy with brown hair walked over. "Hello! You guys are the newcomers right?"

"Yeah, we are," Michael said.

"Okay, Chiron asked me to help you today, my name is Jerry, by the way. I'm from Apollo cabin. Anyway, you both have used a bow before?"

They both shook their heads.

"It's okay, more than half of the newcomers never tried before. Anyway, why don't you pick up those two there…" he pointed at the bows on the table. "Take a quiver and come back here."

They got their equipment and although it was cold out, the bow felt warm in Michael's hand.

Jerry taught them how to load the bow and shoot, and Michael completed it faster than Joey. She took a bit more time but got it in the end.

"Okay, it's time to shoot. Just pull back, aim, and fire. Don't aim too long, your hand may slip," he told us. "Joey, why don't you go first?"

"Sure," she said. She pulled the string and the arrow, aimed, and shot. It hit the target, but it was not a bullseye.

"Nice shot, most people don't hit the target on their first try. Okay Michael, you next."

Michael pulled the string, clutching it tightly. He realised he needed a lot of effort to hold the string and arrow in place to aim. He aimed and shot in a split-second, and heard Jerry's squeal of excitement.

"A bullseye! Perfect shot, mate! Okay, try that again!"

He shot another. It hit near the bullseye, missing it by about an inch.

"Ooh, you're good! You in Apollo cabin?" Jerry inquired.

"I don't know yet," Michael answered.

"Oh, I forgot you guys are still unclaimed. But you're probably in Apollo, with an aim like this. Most of the people who shoot good are from Apollo, there was this one kid…"

Joey snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "Oops, sorry!" he said. "Sometimes I ramble a lot, and I can't stop, like this one time…" He continued to ramble on.

It took Joey a few more snaps before Jerry came back to reality.

"Okay Joey, now it's your turn to shoot."

Archery lasted for about an hour, and at the end Michael had shot about twenty more bullseyes, attracting a small crowd around him. Joey had achieved about ten, which Michael thought was already quite good. They left, Joey complaining about how her aim was worse than Michael's.

"You know what, Michael? Jerry may be right, you might as well be in Apollo with an aim like this," Joey told him.

"I don't think I am, I'm not really athletic, am I?"

"Yeah, I guess not," she replied.

It was true, Joey was always more athletic than he was. She was the fastest runner in school, nobody could beat her.

Sword fighting was a complete disaster.

Michael and Joey had Percy's girlfriend, Annabeth, coaching them, and Michael lost to Joey almost all the time. The only time he won was when Joey tripped over his sneaker by accident.

Annabeth was laughing at the end of the session, the cold wind blowing a blonde hair. She looked at them with her grey eyes and grinned. "Ah well," she said. "Practice makes perfect. You'll have another session tomorrow, don't worry Michael."

"Yeah Michael, don't worry about it," Joey comforted him.

"Whatever, I guess I was destined to suck at it anyway."

They made their way to the climbing wall. There they met a satyr named Gleeson Hedge.

"You can call me Gleeson, though. You two kiddos, here's what you've got to do. Climb the wall, but beware of lava."

Michael and Joey were stunned. "Lava?" Michael asked. "Isn't that like, dangerous?"

"Nope, this lava only burns your clothes, but it doesn't hurt you. Oh, I forgot, there's also going to be boulders and if you don't reach the top in time you may get squashed."

This was not what Michael had expected.

He looked at Joey. "You sure you want to do this?"

Joey had a twinkle in her eyes. "Definitely."

"Okay cupcakes," Gleeson said. "Rules: there aren't any. Let's see if you can beat the fastest demigod record, set by Annabeth Chase. Thirty four seconds flat."

"What's the satyr record?" Joey asked.

"Ten point three two seconds."

"Oh gods, that's impossible to beat."

Gleeson rolled his eyes, and his hooves shook slightly. "It's impossible for demigods, obviously. Let's see if you can beat Annabeth."

They walked in front of the tall Climbing Wall with the other campers. It was really intimidating, it looked like a normal climbing wall, but it was not.

"Okay ready? Set… go!"

Joey shot up and reached halfway within fifteen seconds.

Gleeson whistled. "That is fast. Oh, if you don't reach the top within forty five seconds, lava and boulders will fall."

Michael continued to climb as fast as he could, but it was impossible. He was not sporty at all and had no stamina.

Joey reached the top first. Gleeson looked at his watched, surprised.

"That's a new record!" he yelled.

Joey was cheering Michael up, and other campers cheered them. When the timer hit forty-five seconds, lava started pouring, and boulders fell from above.

"Crap, crap!" Michael shouted as he avoided boulder by boulder. Lava continued to pour down and he had to take a dangerous route up. The gap between the walls was getting smaller, and other campers had already been doused by the lava. A few campers had already fallen onto the soft surface below, defeated, but Michael struggled on. Eventually he arrived at the top, with angry burns and stings all over his body. His shirt and jeans had holes in it too.

They climbed the ladder back down, and Gleeson congratulated Joey on her achievement.

"Twenty nine point six four seconds, not bad. That's how fast our slowest satyr moves. Annabeth will be thrilled to find out her six year old record got beaten by a newcomer."

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Next chapter, was overseas without internet :/
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