•as the world caves in•

•percy blows up the bathrooms•

"You probably moved around from school to school. You were kicked out of a lot of them."

"How—"

"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Taken together, it's a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read right? That's because your mind is hardwired for Ancient Greek. And the ADHD— you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortals. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."

Percy took all of that in. I remember Silena telling me something similar, only way simpler for a seven year old who witnessed her friend turn into a tree. I wasn't claimed right away, but she was the first person I met who took her time to explain it to me.

"You sound like... you went through the same thing?" Percy asked.

Annabeth nodded. "Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't of survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

"Ambrosia and nectar."

"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better." I explained. "That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."

Percy had a look on his face where you could just tell he had a million questions in his head and he didn't know where to start.

Then Clarisse came up. "Well! A newbie!"

"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss. Princess. So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth spat at her, which was Greek for 'Go to the crows!'

I laughed. "You don't stand a chance."

Clarisse's hunger for a fight turned on me. "Oh don't worry, we'll pulverize you."

I glared up at her as she turned to Percy. "Who's this runt?"

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth sighed, "meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

"Like... the war god?"

"You got a problem with that?" Clarisse sneered.

"No," Percy said quickly. "It explains the bad smell."

He didn't even survive a day.

"We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy."

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse—" I started.

"Stay out of it, Lover Girl." She snapped at me.

I cringed. I looked at Percy and his face said it all, he didn't want my help.

He handed me the horn, and was right away getting dragged by the neck towards the bathroom.

He was kicking and punching at her, but she was too big for him.

We followed them into the bathroom, watching sadly as he was shoved to a toilet.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material. Yeah right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."

Percy fought against her shoving his face in the toilet, and he was actually doing a decent job.

My eyes widened as water shot out of the toilet, over Percy, right onto Clarisse, who started screaming like a five year old.

Her friends came to her rescue.

Until six other toilets started exploding.

As soon as the girls ran out, the water stopped.

And sadly, I was soaked. Great, now I would smell like toilet water the rest of the day.

Percy shakily stood up.

"How did you.." me and Annabeth trailed off.

"I don't know."

We walked outside to see the Ares kids sprawled in the mud where other campers gawked at them.

Silena made eye contact with me, her look saying 'you are so telling me about this later'.

Clarisse looked at Percy with hate. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."

"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse?" Percy asked, which surprised me. He had this tone in his voice that made him seem less scared. "Close your mouth."

She was dragged away by the others and I stared at Percy.

"What?" He demanded. His sea green eyes still held questions, but there was something else. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," Annabeth said, starting to smile. "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."