CHAPTER FOUR
( CAPTURE THE FLAG EXCITEMENT )

KALI WAS ONLY SOMEWHAT ashamed to admit that she avoided Percy to the best of her abilities after that slight revelation at the campfire. She didn't immediately bolt from there, no, but she did drop her s'more from the shock it gave her. Percy was nice enough to split his with her. It made a small mess but neither of them minded that much, though Kali still used it as an excuse to leave so she could wash her hands. She ended up going to the beach instead.

There, she had crouched on the balls of her feet in the shallow shore and asked the water in shocked indignation, "I have a half-brother?" Her volume had apparently been too loud because not even a second later, a wave larger than the calm ones that washed up around her, crashed onto her and sprayed her face. The message was clear: quiet down. Or 'shut up'. Kali decided to pick the nicer of the two mental translations.

It's been three days since then.

Turned out, avoiding him was easier than she thought it would be. It took very little work, in the end. Their camp schedules were different for the most part. Kali really only saw him during the hours everyone ate, or during the free hour before dinner, or just passing by as they headed in different directions. At those times, Kali still smiled and waved just to be polite. He mostly stuck with Grover and sometimes Annabeth, and Kali didn't bother to drift away from her own group of friends.

The real struggle was during the campfires. He kept inching away from the Hermes cabin to sit or stand with her so he could get more marshmallows and s'mores. Kali didn't mind at all – her friends did the same thing when their siblings were being too stingy to allow seconds or thirds – but it was hard to not blurt out the truth to him. He deserved to know it, but she had a feeling their dad wouldn't take kindly to not being able to properly claim Percy – dramatics and all. That was, if he did. Poseidon might not because of the pact.

Kali just hoped that Percy couldn't tell that she was hiding something from him.

It was now Friday afternoon, and in a couple of hours Capture the Flag would begin after dinner. Kali, Arianna, Grant, Adelaide, and Oliver were hunkered down in Poseidon's cabin for the simple fact it was always guaranteed to be empty during this time of day. It was starting to become a tradition of things: gather together during the free hour before Capture the Flag in Kali's place and hang out, playfully goad each other, and share some laughs. It started last summer before her and Grant's first game. The idea had been Oliver's to calm down their nerves, and it's kept on since then. It was one of Kali's favorite times with them.

Well, the others were doing that. Kali stood in her bathroom and stared at her reflection to see if there was any resemblances between her and Percy. From what she could see, there wasn't. Where Percy had white, barely tanned skin, Kali's was naturally light tawny brown. He had their dad's sea green eyes, and she inherited Amphitrite's dark eyes that even she herself couldn't tell if they were dark brown or pure black. Both of their hair was as black as midnight, though. His was straight and a messy; Kali's hair was messy in a way like it couldn't decide if it was wavy or curly (her bedhead was horrendous most mornings).

She leaned forward to inspect her features more, but soon got distracted by the new scar just under her eyes along the highest part of her cheek.

Lee hadn't been wrong when he said it would scar, she realized. It wasn't a shock, really. More like a disappointment. There had been little hope in her heart that she wouldn't have a reminder of that awful fight that night. Her lips shifted down into a slight frown, and she poked at it. It was pink and new, an inch and half or two inches long, and it was the first time she had really looked at it.

Kali decided she hated it.

"Kali, did you die in there?!" Grant shouted above the others laughing about something.

She jumped at the suddenness of it. "Uh, yeah– I mean no, I'll be out soon!" Their laughter grew at her slip of tongue. She rolled her eyes even though they couldn't see her, and couldn't help but laugh a bit as well. "Oh shut up!"

"You died?! Oh no, guys, the cabin's haunted," Oliver joked in mock fear.

"Guess it's time to call the Ghostbusters," said Arianna.

Kali walked out the exact moment Adelaide asked, "Who?" She glanced at Oliver, but he shrugged. He didn't know who they were, either.

The four of her friends sat in a circle on the floor amongst the empty cabin bunks, and Kali walked over and sat between Grant and Oliver. Arianna stared at their two friends with bafflement and confusion until Grant said, "Oh, right! You guys never leave. Okay, so, the Ghostbusters are these four dudes from this eighties movie called, wait for it... Ghostbusters! They hunt down and capture and, uh, bust evil ghosts."

"Wow. They really got creative with the name, there," Adelaide deadpanned.

"Hey, it's a good movie," Grant said.

Arianna nodded. "My dad made me watch it last Halloween. I thought I was gonna hate it, but there are actually some funny parts."

"The theme song is catchy too," Kali added. She watched it last Halloween too for the first time; Ruby let her watch it with her after Naia and Makoa had gone to bed that night and while they were still waiting for Ralph to come home. It had been a good time.

"A movie about ghosts can't be that good," Oliver doubtfully said over the sound of Grant humming the theme song. He got ignored. Adelaide and him shared a look and shrugged.

"Who you gonna call?" Grant asked and leaned into Kali's space.

She grinned. "Ghostbusters!"

He pumped his fist in the air. "Yes, I knew I could count on you!"

"Hey, what about me?" Arianna asked.

"You're currently the enemy," Grant stated. "I mean, siding with the Ares cabin and not Hermes? I'm hurt, Ari. Wounded. Heartbroken–."

She rolled her eyes at his dramatics and cut him off. "It wasn't my idea to. Katie might have done differently if Conner and Travis hadn't pranked her again last week."

"But it was funny!"

"She had green hair for three days!"

"...So?"

"You don't mess with a girl's hair color," Oliver butted in. "You don't mess with girls' hair, period."

Arianna gestured to him. "See? He gets it!"

"He does have a point," Adelaide agreed.

"What color green was it?" Kali stage whispered to Grant.

"Army green," he stage whispered back.

"Puke green," Arianna corrected.

She immediately made a sound of disgust. "Ugh, gross. That's such an ugly color."

Grant groaned. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"For Capture the Flag tonight? Yeah. For anything else? It depends."

"I'm feeling so attacked," he complained.

Adelaide smirked. "And it's only gonna get worse! We're gonna beat you guys to a pulp in two hours, just wait. Red team is definitely capturing the flag before you." She held up both hands up, and Oliver and Arianna gave each one a hi-five in solidarity.

"No, no, no," Kali said quickly. She motioned to herself and Grant. "We have Athena's cabin on our side. Blue team is winning, no doubt. Plus, we also have Luke! He's like the best sword fighter at camp!"

"You have Percy, though. He's new – it's a total disadvantage," Oliver said.

Grant crossed his arms. "I dunno, Ollie, you didn't see him yesterday in sword training. After Luke showed us the disarming move, Percy tried it on him and succeeded."

"There's no way he's that good," Adelaide scoffed. "You're lying."

"I'm not, but sure."

"It is kinda hard to believe," Arianna said hesitantly.

Grant didn't get to respond because the conch shell blew in the distance.

Kali abruptly shot up to her feet and shouted, "Last one to the mess hall is a rotten egg!"

Protests and indignant shouts came from her friends as they scrambled to their feet to catch up. Kali just laughed, joyous and happy and momentarily forgetting anything that stressed her.

(They might have gotten into a little trouble because they didn't head there with their own cabin mates, and that Kali started it in the first place, but the impromptu race had been much too fun and the five of them were too giggly and arguing about who really lost to actually pay attention to an annoyed Mr. D.)

(...They each got stable cleaning duties for a week.)

+++

After dinner, the conch shell sounded for a second time. But instead of heading to the amphitheater for the nightly campfire, it was time to get ready for Capture the Flag.

The air was filled with excitement. As Annabeth and two of her siblings ran in the pavilion with a ten feet long silk banner, everyone yelled and cheered. It was a shimmery gray with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. On the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and two of her siblings ran in as well with another banner of the same length. Only this one was a flashy and vulgar shade of red, and had a boar's head painted on there alongside a bloody spear.

The teams were announced for those who had yet to know about them. Athena made an alliance with the two biggest cabins and the only one with one member – Apollo, Hermes, and Poseidon. Certain privileges, such as chore schedules and the best slots for activities, had been traded in the former two's cases to make the alliances happen. Kali just agreed, no questions asked. Despite the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena, she trusted the goddess' kids to make up good strategies so their team would win. Between Annabeth and her siblings, the Apollo cabin's archery skills, and all types of skills that came from the Hermes cabin, she actually had a good feeling about this particular game.

The Ares cabin had everyone else. Aphrodite, Demeter, Dionysus, and Hephaestus. Adelaide, Clarisse, and their siblings were tough and fighters through and through. It came completely natural to them unlike the Aphrodite kids. They usually didn't fight unless absolutely necessary, but that wasn't everything. Kali knew from Oliver that they could be tricky and deceiving, and were great at distracting others in any way, shape, or form. Then Arianna and her siblings had the upper hand for this whole thing, what with their nature and outdoor skills and abilities. The only problem was that none of them were aggressive. They would fight if they had to, though. Next were Castor and Pollux; they were good athletes, but they were the only two kids of Mr. D. Finally there were the four Hephaestus kids: big and buff with the potential to be intimidating when they wanted to be.

Before they could get too rowdy, Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble flooring. "Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as a referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

Chiron spread his hands and the tables became covered with all sorts of battle equipment. She still had her dagger that Argus gave her, secured at her ankle just like always. She was going to only use that but then she remembered what Beckendorf had said and how Luke told her yesterday that he agreed with him about training, and reluctantly searched for a sword she could use. It wasn't easy. None of the swords felt right – off balance or too long or too short – so she searched for one that felt the most okay-ish. Once she did, Kali found the smallest sizes of armor.

Lee came by and made sure she put it on correctly. He grabbed one of the smaller helmets with a blue plume and put it on for her, wiggling it after just to be annoying.

"Hey," she protested. She swatted at his hands. "Lee!"

Lee laughed, but seriously said, "Keep it on. And don't forget a shield."

Kali rolled her eyes. "Yes, dad."

He laughed again, and after wiggling the slightly too big helmet again just to annoy her, he left to make sure none of his younger brothers and sisters needed any help. Grant took his place immediately.

"You ready?" Grant bounced on his feet, hazel eyes bright underneath his helmet, and he was physically unable to contain his excitement. "It's our first game of the summer!"

"So ready," she replied with a grin. "You're gonna kick some butt, I know it."

He grinned back. "So will you," he said. "I believe in you."

"I don't, so thanks."

"Blue team, forward!" Annabeth shouted. Kali turned, and right before the blonde walked off, they made eye contact. Annabeth motioned her over.

The team cheered and followed Annabeth down the path to the south woods. The red team journeyed to the north woods while they taunted the blue team, but Kali tuned them out as hurried over to Annabeth – after, of course, belatedly grabbing a shield. She got there just a second before Percy, who looked to be struggling in the equipment, yet he didn't trip once.

"Hey," he said.

"Hi," she replied after a beat.

"So what's the plan?" Percy asked when he realized Annabeth wasn't going to say anything. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol, whatever that means."

"It's easy. Kali can show you, she's doing that too."

At his glance towards her, Kali explained, "We just have to stand by the creek and keep the red team away." In the back of her mind, Kali decided to quit the 'avoid her secret half-brother' thing during the game. It wouldn't be smart to keep it up right now.

"Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan," Annabeth said. Then, she pushed forward and left the two of them behind.

"Okay," Percy mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."

Kali led him the rest of the way to the creek. It wasn't a far walk at all, but it was a quiet and slightly awkward one.

Truth be told, Kali hated border patrol. Not because she missed all of the action, but because it was guaranteed someone from the opposite team would try and pass through. And with her fighting skills lacking, putting her there wasn't the best choice even it was by a body of water.

Just for the heck of it, Kali stood in the shallow creek. It calmed her down, and washed away some of the nerves that had began to build up. She might not like border patrol but it did give her an easy shot at keeping an eye on Percy. Kali knew she didn't have to do that – he was a year older and it sounded like he was a better fighter, too – but now that she knew they were siblings, half or not, it was hard to ignore that instinct of making sure he didn't get majorly wounded; to ignore that anxiety she always felt when there was even a slight chance of her siblings being in harm's way. And with Percy being a son of Poseidon? His life was at such a huge risk. It was a surprise he was even still alive.

At that thought, she kicked the water lightly and glanced over. He was already looking at her, eyes stuck on her feet in the water.

"Grover, uh... He explained the Big Three pact to me before dinner," Percy said. He looked at her, then away at enemy territory. "Still very confused about it."

"Why?" Kali asked.

"I mean, aren't you a Big Three kid? And after that story he told me about that other little girl..." He trailed off and awkwardly shrugged. "Shouldn't you, like, not exist?"

She stared at him, and was confused (he was the one who shouldn't exist, technically) until she realized something. No one had told him everything about her parentage yet. "Oh! Yeah, I'm not a half-blood," she said.

"I'm sorry, what?" Percy asked, baffled.

"I'm a demigod, but not a half-blood," Kali repeated. "Kind of." The confusion in his expression was funny, but she continued instead of drawing it out. "My parents are the rulers of the oceans. Poseidon and Amphitrite."

It took a moment for things to click, but when they did his expression turned into pure shock. It was hilarious, and Kali did her best to hold back her laughter. "Wait, so– are you... You're a goddess?"

"Not exactly. I was–." Kali cut herself off.

The uneasy feeling of being watched crept up her spine, and for a moment she thought it was an Ares kid or two who were lurking around until a low, animalistic growl met her ears. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw as Percy raised his shield. Kali gripped her sword tighter. The same feeling she got when she fought the Kindly One started to form, when suddenly the growling stopped.

Kali and Percy shared a look. Neither had a chance to speak because right then, on the other side of the creek, six Ares campers exploded from the underbrush. Each of them yelled and screamed as they ran over.

"Cream them!" Clarisse screamed. Four of her siblings followed, while the fifth one went straight for Kali.

Kali managed to lift the heavy shield to block the other's sword. She peered over the edge of the shield and immediately recognized her friend. "Seriously?" Kali complained.

Adelaide grinned dangerously. "Get ready to get your ass beat, Beaumont."

Her brows furrowed and she grunted, shoving Adelaide away from her with all her strength. Adelaide stumbled back one step. "You're in my territory, Rivera. I'm not going down easy," she said.

Adelaide looked down at the creek they were in, her face twisting into a bit of anger. "Crap," she hissed.

Sure, Kali didn't fight well, but put her in any type of body of water and she was much, much harder to tire out. She was able to dodge and parry and be on the defense for far longer than anyone else. They tested it out last summer out of pure curiosity. Unfortunately, Adelaide knew that, so Kali had to make sure she didn't back her onto solid land. And, despite her advantage of being in the water, Adelaide was a good fighter no matter what.

For a second time, Adelaide charged at her. Kali side stepped and blocked the next hit with her own sword. It went like that for the next minute or so. Adelaide attacked, and Kali did her best to defend herself. During the fight, she would glance over to make sure Percy was doing okay. It wasn't a smart move. Adelaide was able to do a maneuver that cut the leather strap of the shield she had; it slipped, and Kali tried and failed to righten it. Quickly, she gave up and let it drop into the water. She took a step back as she lifted her sword, only to stop as she felt the water become more shallow.

Kali decided to try to do offense instead of the usual defense at that point. It worked for about three seconds. Adelaide's sword hit Kali's so hard, that hers flew from her hand and landed too far away for Kali to simply dodge and grab it. Then, Adelaide slammed the butt of her sword into Kali's helmet. The force of it was hard enough to stun her in surprise and Adelaide used that to her advantage by using the sword to make Kali trip backwards onto the bank of the creek. Her helmet slipped off as she pushed herself onto her elbows.

On the other side of the creek, Percy stood against Adelaide's sister and brothers. He still had his sword and shield, but Kali could tell by the way he held himself that Clarisse already hit him with her electric spear. Kali watched as she did it another time the exact moment her brother slashed at Percy's upper arm. A protective burst of anger flared in her chest and Adelaide appeared above her, feet splashing in the water.

"My apologies, Your Highness," she jested.

Kali's brows twitched into a small scowl. She moved her legs minutely, which were still in the shallows of the creek, and focused on the water. "Yeah," she said slowly. "You probably should be."

Adelaide paused, confused. "Wha– ah!"

With the help of the water, Kali made Adelaide fall backwards into the creek. She jumped up to her feet and just as Adelaide sat up, sputtering and coughing, and Kali snatched her friend's sword. She dashed over to the other side right when one of the Ares guys shoved Percy into the water.

"Hey!" she shouted.

The guy turned. He rolled his eyes when he saw her, and Kali stopped momentarily. She shifted the sword in her hand and then threw it straight at him as if it were a spear or a trident or something. It didn't harm him. The sword just hit him in the chest plate armor and bounced off, nicking part of the metal, and then landed in the dirt. It did surprise him, though – so much so that he took a startled step back.

He looked up and scowled angrily.

"You scrawny little brat!" he yelled. He stalked forward after her.

He didn't get to do anything. The flat of Percy's sword suddenly whacked him in the side of the helmet so hard it got knocked off, and the guy fell into the water.

Kali snapped her gaze over to Percy. She watched as he slammed another Ares camper in the face with his shield, while the third one got the red plume of his helmet sheared off. They both backed up. The next one didn't move. Clarisse, though, continued towards Percy. When she thrusted her spear at him, he caught the shaft of it between the shield and sword, and snapped it.

"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breathed worm!"

Before she was able to shout anymore insults, Percy used the butt of his sword to hit her similarly to how Adelaide hit Kali. Clarisse stumbled back and out of the creek. Kali moved closer to Percy just to be on the safe side of things, and saw Adelaide trudge her way through the water to her siblings.

Elated shouts abruptly filled the air. Kali looked away from the members of the Ares cabin to see Luke as he ran towards the boundary line. The red team's banner was lifted high, and he was flanked by Grant and Travis as they covered his retreat. A few Apollo kids followed directly behind them, fighting off the entirety of the Hephaestus cabin. Adelaide's brothers and sisters began to stand up; she tried to help, but they stubbornly refused it.

"A trick!" Clarisse yelled. "It was a trick."

They made a move to go after Luke, but it was too late. He made it across the creek and into friendly territory. Everyone converged in the area, and the blue team erupted into cheers. The red banner shifted with a shimmer as it went from red to silver, the boar and spear now replaced with a giant caduceus, Cabin eleven's symbol. Anyone and everyone who was strong enough picked up Luke and started to carry him around on their shoulders in celebration. 

They won, just like Kali figured they would.

Kali relaxed, only to jump in surprise when Annabeth's voice sounded from the other side of Percy, "Not bad, hero."

Percy looked around aimlessly for her.

"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" Annabeth asked. The air shimmered as she took off her baseball cap. "And you, Kali – you did great, too. I didn't think throwing the sword would work like that."

Kali smiled. That was the one thing she was kind of proud of. "Neither did I."

"You set me up," Percy said angrily. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."

Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me and Kali pulverized."

"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but..." She shrugged for a second time. "You didn't need help." Then, her eyes landed on his wounded arm – or what should be. When Kali looked too, the cut was healing. "How did you do that?"

"Sword cut. What do you think?"

Kali laughed a little at his sarcasm.

"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it," said Annabeth. They all did. As they watched, even the white scratch began to fade until it disappeared completely.

"I– I don't get it," said Percy, dumbfounded.

Annabeth thought hard, so much so anyone could look at her and see the gears turning in her head. Her gray eyes went from his feet, to Clarisse's spear, and then to Kali's unsurprised expression. She said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"What–"

"Just do it."

Percy did as told. He stepped out of the creek and consequently nearly keeled over. The two girls steadied him, though Annabeth honestly did more of the work than Kali. The sudden lack of strength wasn't nearly as strong for her as it was for him, seeing as though Clarisse never hit her with the electric spear, but it was still there. The second she was sure she had enough strength to do so, Kali put Percy's arm over her shoulders to help stay on his feet. He accepted the help gratefully.

"Oh, Styx," cursed Annabeth. "This is not good. I didn't want... I assumed it would be Zeus..." Hey eyes flicked between them rapidly.

"Well, it's not," Kali muttered just loud enough for the two of them to hear.

Just then, they heard the animalistic growl from before. It was much closer than earlier. A howl then ripped through the forest and sent chills down her spine. Everyone's cheers died instantly.

Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek, "Stand ready! My bow!"

Kali lifted her foot and drew her dagger while Annabeth pulled out the sword she had grabbed for the game. Then, she saw it.

On the rocks above them stood a hellhound. It was as large as a rhino, at least, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers that glinted in the moonlighting. It stared straight at them. It was hard to tell if it was at her or Percy.

That ended up not mattering as a second hellhound stalked out from behind the first. Same height, same eyes, same teeth, with a lowered head and it's mouth snarled in a near silent growl and a jagged scar on it's snout.

Time seemed to still. And then–

"Percy, Kali! Run!" Annabeth yelled.

The first hellhound lunged just as Annabeth moved to stand in front of them. Percy barely did it in time but he shoved Kali towards the creek, causing her to fall on her butt in the water and lose her grip on her dagger. The second hellhound jumped towards her, not giving Kali a chance to be angry at being pushed away, and she grabbed her shield from earlier that had drifted down their way. She curled her body under it, unable to do much else, and hoped for the best. The hellhound's claws broke through the metal and scratched the sides of her arm and leg. A second later, Kali heard the sound of arrows hitting the hellhound as it gave a pained growl, followed by it's body falling into the water beside her.

Kali cautiously peeked from under the broken shield. Her eyes landed on the body of the hellhound as it melted into the shadows. She scrambled away, not paying any mind for her wounds as the water healed them for her.

On the ground by the creek stood Percy, stunned. At his feet laid the first hellhound, Chiron's arrows poking out of it's body as it also melted into the shadows. Percy's eyes were wide, and he looked forward intensely like he was refusing to look down. For only a split second Kali thought it was because of the hellhound, but then she noticed the shredded armor slowly becoming more saturated with blood.

Kali hurried back over to them; her hands hovered over the deep, bleeding cuts. Not knowing what else to do, Kali pressed her hands over the deeper parts, and grimaced. Percy hissed in pain. Around them, the others talked. She was only vaguely aware of Chiron now close by.

"Gotta stop the bleeding," she muttered. "Sorry."

He responded with a noncommittal, maybe slightly delirious sound at the back of his throat.

She eyed the blood soaking through and tried not to panic, breathing in and out carefully. She hardly even noticed when the bleeding slowed down much quicker than it should have.

Kali's mind went a mile per minute. She couldn't think completely straight. Couldn't help but think that there were two hellhounds in camp and that one attacked her brother. Someone had to have summoned them, that was the only way either hound could even be here in the first place.

Now, Percy was wounded and bleeding and whoever summoned the hellhounds was going to get a very angry Kali Beaumont on their ass. If it turned into a fight, it would have to be near water, though.

A lightbulb went off in her head.

Of course. The water!

"It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!" Clarisse yelled. The conversation finally registered in her ears.

Kali glowered over at her. "Shut up," she snapped. "You don't know what you're talking about." Her focus on stopping the bleeding was shot. It had slowed down tremendously, she noticed, but the moment she put her attention on Clarisse, the wounds started to bleed steadily again. Kai tried not to let her panic show.

"Quiet, children," Chiron said calmly, but Kali ignored him.

She began to gently yet impatiently shove Percy to the creek. "C'mon. You need to get in the water, Percy."

"I'm okay," he weakly protested.

"No, you're not," Annabeth said. "Chiron, watch this."

Percy tiredly complied, and Kali stayed where she was. Exhaustion suddenly filled her down to her bones but she didn't think much of it as Percy stepped into the water. Everyone watched where he stood there as the blood got washed away and the cuts started to heal before their eyes. It didn't shock Kali in the slightest – if she wanted, she could heal her own bruises and cuts like she did moments before – but it certainly was weird seeing it happen on another person.

The other campers gasped. A few, because of the now gone cuts, but mostly everyone gasped because of what now hovered above Percy's head.

"Look, I– I don't know why," he said. "I'm sorry..."

"Percy," Annabeth said, and pointed to the hologram of a green trident. "Um..."

He looked up just as it started to fade.

Kali felt eyes on her, and she looked to the left to see Grant and Arianna standing side by side some odd feet away. Their eyes were wide in the fading glow of the hologram, and they looked back and forth between her and Percy. Arianna pointed subtly and mouthed, "Brother?" Kali minutely nodded as an answer. Arianna's brows shot up and Grant's jaw dropped.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced. It caused a ripple effect of campers to kneel.

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered. He watched everyone kneel, which Kali finally remembered to do before Chiron spoke again.

"Poseidon. Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."