You're Not Getting Away From Me

CHAPTER ONE: Back at Camp

Percy's POV

It's good to be home. It's good to be able to relax, you know, no homework that consumes every minute and hardens your soul (Annabeth says I'm too dramatic about homework, but it's awful!). It's good to breathe in the scent of strawberries, to hear the ocean behind me. It's good to be back at Camp Halfblood.

Don't get me wrong, college in New Rome was awesome. Camp Jupiter is like a second home. Er, third or fourth home I guess. But I missed New York, and I sure don't miss going to college. I don't know who was more surprised, me or Annabeth or my mom, that I graduated. Even though Annabeth and I can now go get jobs or do whatever people do after college, we decided to come back to camp. Maybe for the summer, maybe for years. But we had to come back.

So the day started off great. Wise Girl and I pulled up over Halfblood Hill early this morning, soaking in the sight of camp. We might have stood there forever, watching the Golden Fleece shine in the sunrise, the volleyball nets blowing in the wind, the lava wall looking as dangerous as ever, super psyched to burn some holes in campers' shirts, but we were interrupted by the blowing of the breakfast horn.

"Race you," Annabeth said, smirking.

"Prepare to lose then!" We tore off down the hill, almost tripping over our own feet. We finally slowed down when we reached the dining pavilion, having a near miss with the Hermes table. Annabeth might say differently, but I totally won.

"Aquaman! Owl Brain!" the Stoll brothers yelled and pulled us into a hug. Guess Leo must have given them a few nickname ideas.

"Hey guys!" When we pulled away, I checked my pockets. Keys? Yep. Wallet? Uh-huh. Then the whole camp practically attacked us, but Grover and Tyson pushed everyone out of the way and knocked us to the ground with their hug.

"BROTHER! ANNABETH!"

Next we were met by Jason, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Juniper, Nico, Clarisse, and lots of others. Finally Chiron came over and acted like he was going to say something, but he never got the chance because just then Mr. D screamed in annoyance.

"Just because some campers are back does NOT mean you can give me a Zeus-sized headache!"

"Sorry about him," Chiron whispered to us. "He's been in an especially bad mood lately."

After a few more minutes of chaos (and us being bombarded by Jason and Piper and Leo), everyone returned to their tables and started eating. Annabeth headed over to sit with her siblings, and Tyson, Grover, and I crashed at the Poseidon table.

"We missed you so so so so much!" Tyson nearly squealed.

"Yeah man, camp isn't the same without you two," Grover added.

"I missed you guys, too. College is worse than a drakon with a sinus infection. Annabeth loved it, of course," I said lightly. The best part about being in New Rome was that we got to see Frank and Hazel a lot. I was already starting to miss them, but I was so happy to be back with all of my Greek friends.

Grover and Tyson laughed. Before I could even "order" a stack of blue pancakes with extra syrup, Chiron stood up to make an announcement.

"I have some exciting news, so listen up heroes," he started. "Camp Halfblood is hosting the first annual Summer of the Heroes!" There was lots of murmuring from the campers.

"What the Hades is the Summer of the Heroes?" I asked Grover. He just shrugged.

"This means," Chiron continued, "that the legionnaires from Camp Jupiter, the Hunters of Artemis, and the Amazons will all be staying here this summer. War games, competitions, and other fun will ensue. Hopefully, every three years another Summer of the Heroes will take place, the location rotating between the home courts of the groups participating."

Chiron barely got to finish before the camp erupted in excitement. I looked at Grover and Tyson, then at Annabeth. We all had the same expression: this summer was going to be awesome.