Not Quite Mortal • HoO

XII Savannah Bell

Lara pulled over to the side of the road once they had reached the place the GPS had directed them to.

"They're not here," I pointed out. There wasn't anyone, or even much of anything, where we had stopped. Some grass, some trees, some kind of crop fields in the distance.

"Annabeth must have gone on foot while Piper parked somewhere," Lara guessed. She took the key out of the ignition and got out.

I hesitated. "You're really going to follow on foot?"

"Of course."

"What if this isn't something we should mess with? You've seen how odd they act. You know that they see the monsters too. Maybe it's like it is with mom and dad - being near them draws them to us." It would make sense with everything that we had seen recently. As much as I loved having friends, putting my family in danger just to be friends with Annabeth and Percy didn't seem like a good idea.

When Lara turned and saw that I still wasn't following, she walked to the passenger side of her car and opened the door.

"Get out. I'm not leaving you in the car." Her mouth was in a straight line, and it was one of the only times I could remember Lara ever being this serious about anything.

"Don't you see that this is our chance?"

"Chance to what?"

"Can you really not see it? They know. Savannah, they know. That's the point! They see the monsters, they fight them, and they must know why! Wouldn't you like to know why all of this happens to us?"

I got out of the car.

Lara and I climbed the hill and looked over it. Past the tall pine tree that we stood near to, there were only more fields.

"Still convinced something is here?" I asked Lara. I wasn't. The GPS probably just stopped working. It wasn't made for you to track people with, after all. And Annabeth was smart. Maybe she had spotted it and tossed it out the window. Maybe we should have been looking for a dog collar lying in the ground somewhere.

Lara raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun. "We can't risk not checking."

She took a few steps forward, then stopped.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Come see."

I went to the point where she stood, and looked out, expecting a similar view. But it wasn't. I could see a house down in the valley, and more open fields without crops. I tried to take another step forward, but something stopped me.

At first, I thought it was just nerves, but after a minute, it became clear that it wasn't. My hand wouldn't make it forwards either.

"How has this not been spotted this before?" Lara whispered. "Someone would notice a magical, super advanced, invisible barrier standing in the middle of nowhere."

"Most people can't see it."

Piper had turned up. I still didn't see her car anywhere, but Piper herself stood as if she had come from the trees to our left. She was still wearing the same clothes, but her appearance was altered by the dagger that hung visibly at her side and her intimidating posture.

"I told Annabeth, we should have just brought you with us, but she wanted to talk with Chiron first." She turned towards the big house in the distance. "Since you're here now, though, you might as well come inside. Welcome to camp. I give you, Lara, and you, Savannah, permission to enter."

Lara and I exchanged a glance. Was that it? No... scans or something.

I tried stepping forwards again. There was no barrier this time. And when we walked forwards, more was revealed: some kind of dragon-like creature wrapped around the huge tree, teenagers appearing in orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirts and armor, smaller buildings behind the house we had seen.