•as the world caves in•

•we teach percy some new stuff•

"Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

"What about you, Coriane?"

"Annabeth lucked out on her father. Mine is some drunk who gets a new girlfriend every month. Haven't seen him since I was seven, don't plan on seeing him ever again."

A lie me and Annabeth knew I was telling myself.

Percy stood there and his face held sadness in it, almost as though he could relate to something in it. "I'm sorry."

"It's whatever. My mom, on the other hand, is Aphrodite. Goddess of love and beauty."

Percy still looked at me. "And my dad?"

"Undetermined." Annabeth sighed. "Like we told you before. Nobody knows."

"Expect my mother. She knew."

"Maybe not, Percy." I said. "Gods don't always reveal their identities."

"My dad would've. He loved her."

I paused before speaking. I didn't want to ruin his day anymore. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

"The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always... well, sometimes they don't care for us, Percy. They ignore us."

Percy seemed lost in thought for a while. He had done so much in one day, I wouldn't blame him if he just passed out.

"So I'm stuck here? That's it? The rest of my life?"

"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay here for the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force."

"Apart from me. I'm better then Annabeth." I added, making Percy smile.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but she had a smile. "Yes, apart from Coriane. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble. About ten or eleven years old. But after that most demigods make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and some become famous. Believe me, if we told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?"

I shook my head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"

"Practice fights, practical jokes."

"Practical jokes?"

"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"So... you're both year-rounders?"

We nodded. We pulled out our leather necklaces, both holding five beads.

"We've been here since we were seven." Annabeth started. "Every August on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. We've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

"Why'd you come so young?"

"None of your business." We both said.

"Oh." We stood there in silence. "So... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless..." I trailed off.

"Unless?" Percy pushed on.

"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time..."

I cringed at the thought, and so did Annabeth.

"Back in the sick room, when you were feeding me that stuff-"

"Ambrosia."

"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

I turned over to Annabeth, who looked at me shyly. "So you do know something?"

"Well... no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

Annabeth sighed. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time we were there, everything seemed so normal."

Percy looked at us in shock. "You've been to Olympus?"

I nodded. "Some of us year-rounders, Luke, Clarisse, us and a few others, we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"But... how did you get there?"

"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." Annabeth explained, as though this was common knowledge. "You are a New Yorker, right?"

"Oh, sure." Percy answered.

I decided to continue the story. "Right after we visited the weather for weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, we've overheard satyrs talking. The best we can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble."

Annabeth nodded and took over. "When you came, I was hoping... I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought us three could work together. I thought you might know something."

"She didn't go over this with me, me and you are in the same boat." I added, and we all slightly laughed, even in the subject we were speaking of.

Percy shook his head and I could tell Annabeth was breaking about possibly being wrong about something.

"Percy, it's best we let Annabeth think on her own. Let's go." I said and looked to Annabeth, who looked at me with thankfulness.

Percy nodded and we walked away, leaving Annabeth to her own thoughts.