𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜

Another Killer Quest. How Fun.

"KODY, GET YOUR ASS OUTTA THE CABIN. You're gonna be with me when Annabeth gets back and you have no say in this. You need to get outside, you've been in here for two and a half days, come on." Will was tugging my guitar out of my hands.

"Will, I really don't want any social interaction right now." I let him take the guitar, otherwise we would break it, and I really liked that instrument.

"You've been using that excuse since Percy went missing, it's bull. I understand you're depressed about some things, but you can't lock yourself in your cabin playing your guitar until your fingers bleed."

I frowned. "Fine."

Will dragged me out of the cabin. We had gotten about two steps out of the cabin before we heard a large crash from the lake. I rolled my eyes. "Such a dramatic entrance, c'mon Will, let's go greet them."

We went over to the lake.

"Annabeth!" Will and I pushed through the crowd. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth sighed. "I'll get it fixed, I promise."

Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up the three new kids that were standing there. "These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed?" a dude with curly brown hair and pointy ears asked.

Before Annabeth could explain, Will said, "Any sign of Percy?"

"No," Annabeth admitted.

The campers muttered. I frowned. Percy was my best friend, living a life without him, even though it's only been a few days, is absolutely terrible and I hate it.

Drew stepped forward. Somehow she managed to make jeans and an orange T-shirt look glamorous. She glanced at the curly haired boy, fixed her eyes on the tall blonde dude like he might be worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at the girl.

"Well," Drew said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."

The dude with curly hair snorted. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding," Tall blonde said. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew"—she frowned at the glamour girl— "all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"Hey," the girl said, "we didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

The girl stepped forward, ready to smack her, but Annabeth said, "Piper, stop."

She did.

"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. Glancing at the latino elf guy. Floating over his head was a blazing holographic image —a fiery hammer.

"That," Annabeth said, "is claiming."

"What'd I do?" the latino backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.