Sun kissed - Apollo.

9: my dinner goes up in smoke.

Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever we went, campers pointed at Percy and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.

I made friends with everyone i saw along the way, waved at them and greeted them. Sometimes Annabeth and Percy had to drag me away because i was asking the kids what they were doing and stuff like that.

Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.

"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets." Percy said.

"Whatever."

"It wasn't my fault."

She looked at Percy skeptically, and I realized it was his fault. He had made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to him. He had become one with the plumbing. I just didn't understand how it wasn't wet.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.

"Who?"

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

I realised something. "The Oracle as in Apollo's prophecy seeing Oracle."

Annabeth nodded her head. "Yes."

I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once. Even though i could figure things out on my own by the knowledge that i know of this place. I still feel like people are trying to avoid saying things to us.

I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.

I didn't know what else to do. I waved back. Enthusiastically, because i like making friends with everyone. I saw Percy do the same with a smile on his face.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

"Hey!" I said excitedly. "I'm named after one."

"Naiads," Percy repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."

Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?" Percy replied to her.

"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."

"Half-human and half-what?"

"I think you know." I say to my twin, which earns me a grin from Annabeth.

He looked like he didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid he did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.

"God," He said. "Half-god."

Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."