𝐈𝐈. 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐀 | 𝐏𝐉𝐎 𝐗 𝐇𝐏

four

There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. "Percy!" he stammered. "Annabeth ... on the hill ... she ..."

The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Annabeth had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened-Percy ripped off the covers, his blood like ice water in his veins.

Percy threw on some clothes while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. "She's lying there ... just lying there ..."

Percy ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind him. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas.

They heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim."Is it true?" he asked Grover.

Grover could only nod, his expression dazed. He tried to ask what was going on, but Chiron grabbed him by the arm and effortlessly lifted Percy onto his back. Together they thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.

Percy expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was bloodred. "Curse the titan lord," Chiron said.

"He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy. "What do you mean?" Percy asked. "The Fleece," he said.

"The Fleece did its work too well." They galloped forward, everyone moving out of their way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.

Annabeth had been attacked? But why was the Fleece still there? The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece."It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged.

"And poison was not the only thing it purged." Then Percy realized Annabeth wasn't the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw them, she ran to Chiron. "It... she ... just suddenly there ..."

Her eyes were streaming with tears, but Percy still didn't understand. He was too freaked out to make sense of it all. He leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: "Percy, wait!"

The boy knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like along-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth-a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of bands.

She wasn't a camper. Percy didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet he had the strangest feeling he'd seen her before...."It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill.

"I can't believe ..." Nobody else came close to the girl. Percy put his hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but his fingertips tingled as if they were burning.

"She needs nectar and ambrosia," The son of Poseidon said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. He could sense that just from one touch. He didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared.

Percy took her by the shoulders and lifted her into sitting position, resting her head on his shoulder. "Come on!" He yelled to the others.

"What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House." No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned. Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes. Her irises were startlingly blue-electric blue. The girl stared at Percy in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed.