"Well?" Travis Stoll, a Son of Hermes, gestured around them. "What do you think?"

The sight in front of Bree left her speechless. Inside the arena that she recently looked at from the inside, was a group of about twenty demigods split into groups of twos. They fought against each other. Some used swords and daggers while other preferred to fight with spears. Despite seeing teenagers sparring with real weapons that could actually harm them, Bree still had a hard time believing it was real.

"It's-uh-shocking," She admitted, looking around with wide eyes at the mythical sights around her.

Just last week, Bree had a normal life with her mom, step-dad, and half sisters. She was at a high point in her life, finally doing good in school, making friends, and getting along with her family. Then of course, all good things must come to an end and her life was flipped upside down.

She remembered it all to clearly. Bree was walking home from a long uneventful day of school when she heard a low growl coming from all directions. Then, last thing she knew a giant dog hurtled itself at her then some kid with goat legs was dragging her to some camp.

So, here she was, standing amidst other mythological beings and sights at Camp Half-Blood that simply should not exist. Bree couldn't wrap her mind around that the gods were real. All of them! And all those myths she heard about at school when she was younger? Yup! All those were real too.

She still had a hard time getting the shocking news that she was a demigod to stick inside her head. A child of a god. At first, Bree tried to deny it, telling everyone that they were insane and needed to see a psychiatrist. But then she met Chiron. Yes, the Chiron from the myths and legends people read their kids.

He kindly explained that her father was, indeed, a god. He brought her to the blue building, called the Big House, and showed her a video. It pretty much explained everything in grave detail. It took some more convincing but soon enough, Bree gave in and accepted the fact that she was now apart of this crazy world.

"Yeah, it's shocking at first," Connor Stoll, Travis's brother, told her. "You'll get used to it."

Bree nodded distractedly because she noticed someone approaching them after noticing her and her tour guides near the entrance. When he was close enough, she hoped that her face stayed the same pale color and didn't turn red. The first thing she noticed about him were his eyes, a color between blue and green. His dark hair was windswept like he just took a long walk on the beach and his smile was lopsided; welcoming.

"Hey, guys!" The guy greeted them excitedly then he turned to her. "I'm Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon. You're Bree, right? New daughter of Hephaestus?"

Bree nodded, surprised. "Yeah, How did you-?"

"Word travels pretty quickly around here." Percy shrugged. "Heard you got caught up with a hellhound walking home from school?"

Again, she nodded. "Yeah, I guess things do spread very fast."

Percy whistled appreciatively and looked her up and down with an eyebrow raised. "How'd you get away?"

Her face heated up and she hoped that no redness was too noticeable. Come on, can you blame her? A super hot guy just gave her a one over. Any girl- or guy if they roll that way- would blush. "I outran it."

"Wow, you must be fast, huh?" He asked, leaning against his sword.

Bree cleared her throat. She really hoped he didn't have a girlfriend. "Oh, yeah, I guess." She looked over at Connor and Travis, or The Stolls as they called themselves, through the corner of her eye to see them whispering to each other as they glanced at her and Percy. Her cheeks turned pink again.

Percy nodded, giving her one last smirk before he also cleared his throat. "When would you like to start training?" He noticed her confused expression. "Oh, I'm the swords trainer for camp, well any weapon but mainly swords."

Bree took a look around and she finally realized how she did want to fight like the other demigods around her someday. The sooner the better right? "Um, could I start right now?"

"Sure," He replied, walking around the sparring teenagers and grabbed two wooden swords off the rack. He came back and handed one to her. "Normally you'd use celestial bronze weapons but since you're a starter, we'll begin with these."

"Okay." She reached for the weapon and slowly grabbed it out of his hand.

He pointed down at her feet. "Always make sure that your feet are shoulder width apart when you start to fight. It keeps you balance." She did as he said. "Okay, now, you strike whenever."

They circled each other until Percy took a jab at her and she surprisingly blocked the sword from hitting her across the chest. She pushed with all her strength and shoved the wooden sword away from her body. "How was that?" She breathed heavily.

He smiled. "Really good, actually, for you first try," He told her, retracting the sword from between them. "But one thing, you're leaving your stomach exposed. Your enemy could easily take a jab and you'd be dead. Be careful and always cover your abdomen."

Nodding, she started to circle around him again. Suddenly she took a stab at him but his reflexes were too fast and he blocked her strike. Percy did a complicated arm maneuver that sent her sword flying out of her hands. "Wow," She whispered.

"I know," He agreed. "Anyway, I'm noticing that you're really tense. Don't think about it too much and relax. Trust your instincts. That's what your ADHD is for, to boost your energy and reflexes."

"Noted." She tapped the side of her head with her index finger. "What next?"

Percy looked down at his bronze watch that wrapped around his wrist. "Actually, I promised Annabeth I'd help her with something before Capture the Flag tonight." He smiled at her apologetically. "So, I actually have to go but we'll practice another time, okay?"

"All right," Bree said, trying not to sound too disappointed. "See you later."

He nodded, waved, and ran off in the direction towards the cabins. She watched him until his body disappeared from view and she turned back to The Stolls. "Capture the Flag?"

"Oh, it is so fun," Connor said dramatically. "We play it on Friday nights after dinner. The campers are-"

"-split into teams based on their godly parents. It's pretty cool and it gives campers the opportunity to practice and learn new fighting techniques."

Bree bit her lip and nodded. "Sound interesting."

"It is," Travis informed her matter-of-factly.

"Oh, and who was that girl he mentioned?" Bree asked, feeling bad for being so noisy. "When he had to leave he said he needed to help-"

"Annabeth?" Connor piped up. "Oh, she's nothing you need to worry about."

"Yeah..." Travis gave his brother a mischievous look. "They're just friends. Don't worry."

Connor scoffed. "They hate each other. Annabeth's mom is Athena so they're rivals. They don't get along very well. At each other's throats most of the time."

"But-" Travis turned very serious. "You didn't hear anything from us, got it?"

"Hear what?" She played dumb, raising an eyebrow.

Connor pointed at her. "Exactly."

Travis wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Now, let's go to show you the lava wall."

They led her out of the Arena.

-----

Bree tried so hard not to stare at Percy throughout dinner. It didn't help that his table was literally right in front of hers and it was just so easy to peek over her sibling's heads to watch him. Okay, that sounded creepy but she was really attracted to him.

"What are you staring at?" Her brother, Leo, asked.

Bree blinked a couple times and shook her head. "Nothing. Just thinking."

"Oh, I do that all the time." Leo nodded in understanding.

-----

Once the conch horn sounded, all the campers quieted down and turned to face the front of the pavilion where Chiron stood. Everyone stood, looking very eager to begin the game, and Bree stood as well.

The campers all began cheering when two sons of Iris ran back into the pavilion, holding up grey and green banners; Athena and Poseidon. At the sight of the green banner, Percy stood up and walked to stand next to Chiron, a girl with blonde curly hair following him; Annabeth.

"Silence, children," Chiron voiced over the cheering. "These are our team captains, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase."

Bree heard whispers all around her.

"This is going to be a good game."

"Oh, Athena is gonna beat your guy's ass!"

"This is gonna last forever!"

"The teams are: Athena, Ares, Hermes, Iris, Nike, Zeus..." Chiron started to stay but Bree stopped listening to focus on Percy who was leaning over his table, staring intently at a map.  "The next team is: Poseidon, Apollo, Haphaestus, Hades, Aphrodite..." And a few other cabins that she couldn't quite hear over the cheering.

Chiron once again gained everyone's attention by banging his hooves on the ground. He explained the rules of the game briefly before everyone scattered to arm themselves. Bree grabbed a sword, a real sword this time, off the rack that was about the same size as Percy's.

Her brother, Leo, handed her a shield, breast plate, and a bronze helmet with blue plumes. She smiled in thanks and followed the crowd of demigods down to the woods.

As she neared the crowd, she noticed that they were all watching something with amused smiles on their faces. Wanting to see what they were looking at, Bree squeezed her way through the crowd and came face to face with an arguing Percy and Annabeth.

"-I could beat you in my sleep," Annabeth sneared, holding her helmet with red plumed back her side.
Percy scoffed, clad in celestial bronze armor. "I'd like to see you try."

The crowd, well, mostly Percy's team howled with laughter and a few people made a couple comments about how he's got Annabeth beat.

Annabeth just smirked. "Then watch me." Then, she spun around, walking towards her team who whooped and gave her high fives.

Percy had his team all huddle up. He instructed that some hide in the trees, ready to jump out at anything. He ordered that some demigods stood along the river so no one could pass them that way. He told other campers on his team to surround the flag on the forest. He assigned a few demigods to go and get the flag.

Bree, of course since she was new, was on border patrol. She walked back and forth along the trees, glancing back at the flag that hung from one of the trees. Bored, she sat down and picked at the rocks, throwing them at nothing once in a while.

Then, she heard something, A rustle in the bushes. Quickly, she stood and unsheathed her sword, her brown eyes sweeping across the border trying to find any sign that a person was lurking around but found nothing. She heard something snap behind her. For one second she turned her back to the banner to inspect the forest behind her.

What a dumb move she made.

She heard a thump behind her. Bree whipped around so fast, her heart beating wildly, and she held her sword in front of her.

Annabeth stood there, dagger unsheathed, and the banner in her hand. She stared at Bree with a raised eyebrow and tutted. "You know-" She inspected her dagger. "-never turn your back on the flag. Ever."

"How did you-" She shook her head. "You weren't just-"

"Invisibility cap. Comes in handy." Annabeth waved a blue yankees cap in the air then pointed her dagger at Bree, glaring. "Now, get out of my way."

"N-no," Bree stammered. Why did this Annabeth girl seem so..mean? No one else at camp spoke to her this way. New camper or not. Did she just really want to win or did she just not like anyone?

Annabeth glared harder and stepped forward, causing Bree to take a step back. "What did you just say to me?"

Bree was bracing herself to charge at Annabeth with her sword, knowing it would not end well for herself, but someone else stood in front of her. "She said, no."

Percy stood there, in front of her protectively. His sword was drawn and they glared at each other, staring into each other's souls. They circled around the other, waiting for one of them to strike.

It all happened so fast. Annabeth lunged and soon enough they were a mob of blonde and black hair. It was a blur of blades being swung and thrusted and the clink of their weapons colliding. She stood there in awe, wondering how long it took them to even get remotely close to being that good. She remembered Percy talking about ADHD and she thought, that's probably how they were going that fast.

Then, in a flash, Percy's sword was at Annabeth's throat.

They breathed heavily, sweat glistening from the moonlight on their foreheads. Their faces were a couple inches apart but if Annabeth made the slightest move, she would have a red gash along her throat.

Bree took notice at how calm Annabeth looked. She knew for a fact that she would be a trainwreck of a sword, or any weapon, was being held against her. It was like Annabeth new that Percy wouldn't dare to hurt her.

During the fight, Annabeth managed to keep the banner in hand and hold it against her back, not giving it up. Time seemed to slow and Bree watched in anticipation, wondering if Annabeth would surrender and drop the flag. She didn't think so.

Bree kept a close eye on them and watched as Annabeth did something that surprised her even more than finding out that the mythology word existed.

Annabeth smiled smally and carefully leaned over his sword, pressing her lips to his. In no time, Percy lowered his sword and lifted his hand to bury it in her hair. He kissed her back, his eyes screwed shut but Annabeth kept hers open, making sure Percy was completely defenseless.

She then pulled away, pushing Percy away from her by the chest. Annabeth smirked at Percy before running across the border, shouting a victory cry as she held the banner high into the air.

The conch horn sounded, signalling the end of the game. The banner that Annabeth held high slowly faded from green to a silver, the symbol of athena appeared in the middle.

"Did you really think you could beat me, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth taunted, waving the banner in his face which Bree thought was very rude and uncalled for.

Percy stared at her, mouth hanging open, and a confused expression painted across his face. "What did you- how-?"

Annabeth just laughed and walked away towards her team. They lifted her into the air, cheering and clapping. They exchanged fist bumps and high fives, congratulating each other about their victory.

"Percy, bro!" An Apollo camper exclaimed, walking over to them. "What happened?"

"I don't.." Percy scratched the top of his head, cluelessly.

"What did you do?" Leo asked, running over and punching Percy lightly in the arm.
"She tricked me!" He shouted and all that was heard after that was Annabeth's laugh.

Bree's eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. How did Annabeth just kiss him so casually if they weren't dating? She thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that it was simply just an easy diversion.

Chiron interrupted everyone's cheering, complaining, and train of thoughts when he galloped over and halted. "The winner for Capture the Flag is, Athena!" More cheering. "Well done, Demigods. Annabeth, good...um job."

"Thanks," She muttered, face tinted pink.

He cleared his throat, clasping his hands together. "Lights out in twenty minutes. I advise all of you to go get ready for bed." With that, he galloped away back to the big house.

Right as he left, Percy's team turned on Percy.

"Dude!" A Aphrodite camper shrieked. "What were you thinking?"

"Yeah!" An Apollo camper exclaimed. "What was that!"

Annabeth held up a hand to silence everyone and it worked. What? Did she own the place or something? "Leave him alone and go get ready for bed."

"Thank you," Percy muttered, heading back to his cabin.

Bree followed her siblings back to their cabin to get ready for bed.

----

Bree tried falling asleep, she really did. But with all the events that happened the day before, it was almost impossible. Whenever she closed her eyes, images of the hellhound flashed through her brain. The sharp teeth...red eyes...pitch black fur.

She needed some fresh air. As silent as she could, Bree left her cabin and leaned against the railing on the porch, looking around camp. She set her eyes on the cabin across from hers; Poseidon. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.

Bree spotted Percy sitting on his porch swing, gently swinging back and forth. She smiled and was about to head over when someone shimmered into visibility in front of Percy. Her smile vanished and was replaced by a frown when she realized who it was.

Annabeth Chase.

Squinting, Bree got a better look and was surprised at what she said. Was Annabeth...crying? The strong crazy warrior teenage girl she saw out during capture the flag was crying? Why?

Without being seen, she quickly ran across camp, hiding behind some bushes to listen in on their conversation and to watch them. She wanted to know why rivals were interacting with each other off of the battlefield.

"I-it was so real," Annabeth said, sniffling.

Bree peaked above the bushes and saw Annabeth standing in front of Percy, clad in pajamas, and hugging herself tight. She noticed that her golden hair hung loose around her shoulders and was slightly frizzed from sleep.

Percy sighed sadly. "I know, Wise Girl but we're okay now."

Annabeth nodded. "I can't keep doing this, Percy." She gestured around camp wildly. "The nightmares, they're so bad."

Percy patted his lap and Annabeth sat down on it, leaning her head on his shoulder. "I know, I can't either. They're terrible." He wrapped his arms around her waist.

Annabeth turned her head and buries her face into the crook of his neck. "We're going to Chiron tomorrow to get permission to sleep together," She informed. "I'm not taking no for an answer. The only way we can both sleep is together."

"I know, Annabeth," Percy whispered. "It's okay. We're together and that's all that matters, right?"

She nodded against him. "I love you, so much. Like, more than you could ever imagine."

Bree's heart squeezed painfully in her chest.

Percy pressed his lips to her hair. "I love you too. More than you will ever know. More than anything in this world."

A ghost of a smile appeared on Annabeth's face. "Can we go to bed?"

Percy nodded, picking Annabeth up and bringing her into his cabin, shutting the door behind him.

Bree stood, tears rolling down her cheeks as she made her way back to her cabin. Percy and Annabeth didn't hate each other. They were absolutely and utterly in love with each other. But The Stolls said-

Wait, they were the Sons of Hermes.

She never should have believed those idiots. Of course they would try to prank her on her first day at camp. They probably did it to everyone.

Well, The Stolls are going to get their beating in the morning.