I woke up, looking at the ceiling.

That's not the ceiling of the cabin of Montauk, I thought. I looked over to see a blond surfer looking dude with eyes all over his body.

I promptly fainted.

I woke up again, feeling a lot better rested before I fainted. Of course reality kicked me in the gut when I remembered that my mother was dead. Then I sobbed like the little bitch that I am.

My life was over. I was officially an orphan. I was going to live with Gabe. No, screw that. I'll never live with that guy. I'd rather live under a bridge somewhere than live with Gabe.

I tried to think of all the bridges that I know in New York.

"Addie?" called Annie.

"Yeah?" I replied back.

Annie asked, "Are you done crying?"

"Yeah," I replied.

Annabeth walked in, and looked at us, "Oh, good, you're up. Chiron wants to talk to you two."

I was confused, "Chiron?"

Annabeth sighed, "He's the one in the wheelchair."

"Oh, you mean Mr. Brunner?" asked Annie.

"His name is Chiron," said Annebeth. "He's out on the porch. Do any of you know what's happening on the summer solstice?"

There was that term again. I shook my head, "No."

Annabeth turned to Annie, who also shook her head.

"We better get going," I said to Annie. She nodded and together we left the infirmary.

Percy was still unconscious and I hoped that he wasn't too seriously injured. We had survived the car getting struck by lightning, we almost got ran down by a man-bull, and Percy smashed his head on a rock. He did deserve rest.

We found the table. There was a portly man with a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly black hair that looked almost purple. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt.

Then I noticed Mr. Brunner – er – Chiron? Was that what Annabeth said?

"Mr. Brunner!" exclaimed Annie happily. I guess all bad feelings about Mr. Chiron evaporated.

"Ah, good, Addie, Annie," said Mr. Chiron, "Glad to see that you two are up. Please have a seat, we now have four to play pinochle."

"Is Percy going to be okay?" Annie asked as we took our seats. I tried to stay away from the man in the tiger-pattern shirt. I had a feeling that if I kept looking at it, I would go blind from how hideous it was.

"He should be, we're giving him ambrosia and nectar," said Mr. Chiron.

I acted like I knew what he was talking about. Annie did the same.

"That's good," I said.

"Mr. D," said Mr. Chiron, like he was prompting the tiger-print man.

"Find, Welcome to Camp Half-Blood," said Mr. D. "There, I said it. Don't expect me to be glad to see you two."

"I'm glad that you three made it here in one piece," said Mr. Chiron. "Grover sensed your brother was something special, he alerted me as soon as he could. What he didn't know was that he was in a set of triplets, until a bit later. It's been a long time since I've made a house call."

"A house call?" I asked.

"Honestly, at first I wasn't sure about Percy, and then I found out you were a set of triplets. We contacted your mother to let her know that we were keeping an eye on you three, in case you were ready for Camp Half-Blood. You three had a lot to learn. Nevertheless, you three made it here alive, which is always the first test," explained Mr. Chiron.

"You two do know how to play pinochle?" asked Mr. D.

"Never heard of it 'til now," I admitted. I added, "Sir."

"I'm sure that they will learn," said Mr. Chiron.

"What are we doing here?" asked Annie. "Our 'dad' wanted to send Percy here. Mom said that once she sent us here, we wouldn't be able to leave."

"Are we demigods?" I asked, remembering the conversation in the car with Grover, who was freaking out and cutting me off before I could even say anything.

"Yes, you three are," said Mr. Chiron.

"Is that why Mrs. Dodds tried to kill us?" asked Annie.

I wanted to scoff and deny it all, but I thought about the guy that had eyes all over his body, Mrs. Dodds trying to kill us, and the Minotaur coming at us. Why the hell would they do that if we weren't?

"Yes," said Mr. Chiron sadly.

Since the Minotaur that came at us was Greek...

"Does that mean that the Roman gods and goddesses exist?" I asked.

"We don't talk about them here," said Mr. D grumpily. "I would put them out of your mind."

"What about the Aztec deities? The Celtics? The Slavic deities?" asked Annie.

"The Slavic deities are mostly gone," said Mr. Chiron. "And we're not here to discuss the others."

"What about the Norse deities?" asked Addie. "Is it true that Thor once wore a wedding dress?"

"How about the Egyptians?" I asked.

"If I were you two, I would stop asking questions that has answers that you wouldn't be able to handle," said Mr. D, glaring at us.

"Sounds like we have a deity infestation," I muttered, taking that as confirmation.

"Young lady, I would be careful with what I say," said Mr. D. "Although I wouldn't mind it if you got struck down for your carelessness."

"Noted," I said.

"Any more questions?" asked Mr. Chiron.

"Do you happen to know who our dad is?" asked Annie.

"No," said Mr. Chiron. "You have to wait to be claimed."

"How long will that be?" I asked.

"Days, weeks, months...years," said Mr. Chiron.

"Years?" I almost shrieked.

Mr. Chiron looked almost sad, "Yes. Sometimes it's for the best."

"Do you have any guesses?" I asked.

"I have some, but it's wise not to go around making assumptions," said Mr. Chiron.

"Okay," replied Annie.

"Come, let's take a tour," said Mr. Chiron.

He rose from his wheelchair, but it looked weird. The blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move.

His waist kept elongating, rising above his belt. At first I thought he was wearing thermal pants, but as he kept rising out of the chair, and I realized that the wheelchair wasn't a box, but some sort of enormous box on wheels, and it must've been magic, because there was no way it could've held all of Chiron.

A long, knobby-kneed leg with a huge polished hoof came out of the box, then another front leg and then hindquarters, and then the box was empty. It was now a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached to the front.

I almost fainted again, because my former Latin teacher was a horse. I looked at Annie, and it looked like her brain was getting fried from the sight. Then we got up to start moving.

I happened to look back at the farmhouse. It was a sky blue colored white-trimmed, four-stories tall house. It looked like it belonged on an upscale seaside resort than on a farm. The only thing that ruined the resort theme that the house seemed like it was going for, was the eagle weather vane that topped it all off. For some reason, seeing the eagle weather vane unnerved me.

"Come, Addie, we've got a lot to see," said Mr. Chiron.

We walked past the volleyball pit and older campers stopped what they were doing to look at us.

"Which one?" asked a girl.

"I think it's the taller girl," said a boy.

I think they were talking about me. Annie was a little shorter, but still...

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. A brown-haired girl looked up and smiled at us before going back to picking.

"It pays for our expenses, and the strawberries take almost no effort," explained Mr. Chiron.

"How's Grover doing?" I asked as we continued out.

"He has to talk to the council," said Mr. Chiron. "To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper, and bringing them safely to Half-Blood Hill."

"He did all of that! He found us!" exclaimed Annie.

"I might agree with you, but it's not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid that they might not see it as a success. After all, Grover lost you three in New York. Then there's the unfortunate...ah...fate of your mother. And the fact Grover was unconscious when Addie had the campers drag him over the property line."

I felt guilty for that.

We got to the forest, which took up at least a quarter of the valley. The trees were so tall and thick, (please don't take that out of context), and I could barely see any sunlight in the trees.

"The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed," said Mr. Chiron.

"Stocked with what?" asked Annie shrilly.

"Armed with what?" I asked almost as shrilly.

"You'll see," said Mr. Chiron as if he wanted to surprise us. "Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you two happen to have your own sword and shield?"

"No," said Annie. "If I did though..." She trailed off letting that go unsaid.

"No," said Chiron. "I shouldn't have asked. I think a size two will do for you both. I'll visit the armory later."

What camp has an armory? What camp plays Capture the Flag with a sword and shield? What camp even is this?

We continued on. There was an archery range (thankfully that was what seemed normal) the canoeing lake (I wanted to go canoeing with my siblings), the stables (that also seemed normal), the javelin range (which I thought was in-between normal and abnormal), the sing-along (which also seemed normal), and the arena where Mr. Chiron said they held sword and spear fights (which I thought was highly abnormal).

I asked, "Has anyone died during one of those fights?"

Mr. Chiron ignored my question.

"What are with those anyway?" asked Annie.

"They're for cabin challenges," said Mr. Chiron. "That's where we eat." He motioned to an outdoor pavilion that was framed in white Grecian columns. There were about a dozen stone tables.

"Where do we eat if it rains?" I asked.

"Outside," said Mr. Chiron looking at me like I started lecturing him about how unhealthy it is to wear the same underwear for five months straight without washing them.

I had found out that Gabe did exactly that: the wearing same underwear for five months without being washed, not the lecturing. The only thing he lectured me was me being vulgar.

The next part of the tour was the cabins. There were twelve cabins in a horse-shoe shape.

The cabins with the odd numbers were on the left and the even numbered cabins were on the right.

Number Nine looked like a tiny factory with smokestacks; Number Four had tomato vines on the wall with what looked like real grass on the roof. Number Seven seemed to be made out of solid gold that was so bright that I had to avert my eyes to avoid going blind.

Number Three was the one that caught Annie's attention.

It was long, low, and solid looking. The outer walls were made of rough gray stone that was studded with pieces of seashells and coral, looking like it was pulled from the floor of the sea. The door was open and I caught the interior. The wall glowed and there were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets. I caught a salty scent, which reminded me of the shore of Montauk. I almost burst into tears at the reminder of everything being peaceful being it went to crap.

"Come along, you two," said Mr. Chiron, putting his hand on my shoulder, and leading me away.

Number Five was bright red with a really bad paint job. It looked like someone just decided to do away with paint brushes and decided to splash the cabin with buckets of red paint and used their hands or fists instead. Nothing wrong with that, but the result was that...

There was about a dozen of mean looking kids inside, arm wrestling or wrestling with each other. I thought that Annie looked like she would fit in with them, but even she looked a little freaked out at the sight.

"Most of the cabins look empty," Annie said.

"They are," said Mr. Chiron. "Not everyone gets claimed right away. Some goes months or even years of not being claimed. Here's Cabin Eleven."

Cabin Eleven looked like it was the only that looked like what a cabin should be. It was also sad looking with peeling brown paint and the threshold looking worn down. There was a, what I think was, caduceus above the door.

When we walked inside, there were more sleeping bags on the floor than bunks.

"Regular or undetermined?" the blond guy, I think his name was Corey, asked.

Annie and I looked at each other, before looking back at the others.

"Um...undetermined," said Annie.

The others groaned.

It came to mind what Mr. Chiron said, "Not everyone gets claimed right away. Some goes months or even years of not being claimed."

A guy, who seemed older than the rest came forward. "Come on now, we just have to wait a little longer. Welcome..." He trailed off.

I took in the scar that marred the guy's face. It was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw. It kind of unsettled me and it seemed to highlight the guy's attractiveness.

"Addie and Annie," Annie said coolly. "Our triplet, Percy, is still in the infirmary, though."

"Triplets?" said the guy, looking a little surprised.

"Yeah," I replied.

A few others grimaced and I knew why. It would tack on another undetermined kid on top of the two that were going to stay in a very cramped space. It was embarrassing. No wonder why most of these kids looked annoyed already.

Oops.

"No matter," said the older guy. "That's what this cabin is here for. You two can have that spot on the floor, right there." He pointed to a very cramped space by the corner of a wall and a nightstand.

The only thing that we have was our backpacks to mark it as our own little territory. Annie took my hand and led me to the spot. It was going to be a very uncomfortable sleep tonight.

We plopped down on the floor together.

I felt wrong being in this cabin. It made my skin itch just being here. It was like I had fleas.

"Heads up, sword practice in twenty minutes," called Luke.

Well, this was going to suck.

Did we really have to have sword practice just as soon as we got here? It was like the gods were laughing at me.

They probably were laughing at me.

The gods were most definitely laughing their asses off at me now.

I sucked at sword practice. Honestly, how did the girls look elegant and deadly with it when they tried showing me how to do it?

The sword just felt big and floppy in my hand.

It didn't help that the blonde girl, Annabeth, was it? She was watching Annie and me.

She lurked by Luke, who's name I found out when Corey said that Luke was the greatest sword fighter in years.

Annabeth was just watching us...like she was expecting us to do something cool or amazing.

Of course, Nick, I think that was his name, knocked me on my ass once again. He had used his sword to knock mine out of my hand and knocked me down by hitting my chest with his arm.

While Nick wandered off, Annabeth walked up to me. She helped me up while criticizing me, "You have to do better."

"Clearly," I replied. "This is my first time fighting with a sword, you know."

I looked over at Annie, who, too, lost in a fight with Corey.

"Come on, you both are losing to those two star-kids," said a blonde haired girl, walking up to us.

"What?" I asked confused.

"They love astrology," said Annabeth. "They're our residential astrologists since they can easily map out the stars. And Johanna, please stop referring to them as star-kids."

"Are they undetermined too?" I asked.

"Yeah," said the blonde haired girl. "Nick's been here for a year and Corey's been here for two years."

"Chiron did say that it takes months or even years to get claimed," I said.

"How's our brother?" Annie asked walking up to us.

"He's still asleep," said Annabeth.

There was a free activity right before dinner, which was thankfully coming up quickly.

"Here, I'll show you the gift shop to get a change of clothes," said Annabeth, "And maybe some sleeping bags and toiletries."

"Okay," I said.

Annabeth led us to the camp store which was a low building with white marble columns in the front. It looked like a smaller Temple of Zeus at Olympia.

She let us in the building. It looked like a mini shopping mall, but more cramped.

Annabeth handed me an orange Camp Half-Blood tee-shirt and jeans. I didn't want orange. What did she think I wear? Bright primary colors?

But I had to wear the orange tee-shirt because it was that or nothing else.

We got another set of clothes, sleeping bags, and toiletries. Annabeth paid for everything in drachmas.

Annie and I dropped out stuff off at Cabin Eleven where the rest of our new cabin-mates was coming in.

We messed around for a moment when Luke came in. He seemed to smile at Annie and me, "Ah, good, Annabeth took you both shopping."

"So, how long do we stay here?" I asked.

"For the summer or all year-round," replied Luke. "It depends."

Annie looked shocked, "All year-round?"

"Yeah," replied Luke. "There are children of lesser gods or goddesses who can come here, get a few months of training and go back in the mortal world for the rest of the year, because they don't attract much or any monsters. The year-rounders attracts so many monsters that they have no choice but to stay here."

"Some just don't have a home to get back to either," said Corey.

"Some don't even realize that they're demigods either," said Nick. "But very, very few are like that."

He and Corey had sleeping bags next to each other, so they must be close friends; probably bound together by a mutual love of astrology if Johanna and Annabeth were to go by.

"Hey, Luke?" I called to him.

Luke came back over. "What is it?"

"Are we basically allowed outside the camp, like to go to town or something?" I asked.

"That's a death-wish," said Luke. "You're only allowed out with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. You used to go out freely on a quest, but I kind of screwed that up."

I waited for him to elaborate but he didn't.