Andromeda Jackson (Yup. Going back to her.)

If you think I'm crazy for freaking out, you try driving through New York as it's blowing up.

At every explosion, Natalie screamed, making Leo swerved. And I was going to get carsick any second.

"Leo, please. Andromeda is turning green. Slow down!" Ryan begged. Why was he begging? Natalie was the one in my lap.

"You try driving through Armageddon!"

"Leo, just make an attempt to slow down," Piper said. It was quiet, yet still strong. I felt my breathing slow. I shook my head to get rid of the dizzying feeling her words gave me.

Leo slowed down right as we left Manhattan. I usually loved the woods outside of New York, but today, covered in smoke, they gave me an uneasy feeling. Dad wasn't coming home anytime soon. He would be stuck wherever the army sent him. Forget coming home alive. I wasn't even sure I would make it to Camp Half-Blood alive. I held Natalie close to me and cried. My home was just destroyed.

After what seemed like a year, we pulled into Camp Half-Blood. As soon as we walked past the boundaries, my mom crushed me, Natalie, and Ryan into a hug.

"Thank the gods, you're okay!"

"The gods had nothing to do with it," muttered Naomi. Tears poured down her face. Today was not a good day for her. She found out her dad died. Her home (and mine) was destroyed. She found out her late father wasn't even her father at all! But it kind of explains a lot. Naomi looks nothing like either of her parents.

Then, my mom pointed above Naomi's head. There was a lyre above her head, spinning and turning.

"Apollo, huh?" Naomi said. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Referring, perhaps, to the fact that I just lost my real father and I can play a-"

"Wicked guitar?" Ryan guessed. "And, no, Naomi, it's not a joke. Your father is Apollo, the god of music. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, old friend!"

Leo chuckled. "Should've known. I heard her singing in the car."

"You were singing?" I asked Naomi.

"Yeah... Safe and Sound. I remember you trying to calm Natalie down with that song."

"Okay, anyway." My mom shook her head. "Ryan, Andromeda, why don't you show Naomi around while I talk to Piper and Leo." We nodded.

"Come on, old friend. We've got lots to show you."

Naomi Peterson

Okay, so I was a daughter of Apollo. So what? I would later learn that I had plenty of brothers and sisters (geez, Dad had a pretty busy social life) and a glowing cabin that hurt my eyes.

At the end of the tour that Ryan and Andromeda gave (to which I paid no attention), Andromeda took me to the shed behind the Athena cabin.

"Okay, so you're probably going to get a bow. Apollo and Artemis are archers, so the Apollo children are too." Andromeda handed me a long, glossy wooden bow that seemed to have gold ingrained in it. "Those sparkles are Celestial Bronze. It makes the bow stronger. Let's go try it out." Andromeda led me to a target range, and I pulled the arrow back. It hit the target... next to mine.

"I don't like this weapon." Andromeda raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

"Okay... well, you should get used to it soon enough... it just takes practice. I've been coming here for four years, and I'm still sucky at archery."

"Way to give me a moral booster."

"Until then, I guess you can use a sword," Andromeda continued without noticing I'd spoken. She dragged me back to the shed and handed me a sword. Was it just me, or was the hilt tingling in my hand?

"I like this one," I whispered. Andromeda smiled and left. I noticed a black armband in the corner.

I used to live in Texas, and we took Texas History in some grades instead of plain old history. I loved living in Texas, and I was proud of it. Our flag could be the same height as the U.S. flag, because Texas used to be its own country.

Anyway, I remembered a random fact Ms. Konvalin had taught us: at the Convention of 1845, delegates wore black armbands in honor of President Andrew Jackson. I didn't remember why it was black armbands, or why they were honoring Andrew Jackson, but I thought, "Hey, my best friends are Jacksons. Why not?"

So I slipped on the wristband and hid it under my shirt. I went to my cabin so I could meet some more of my siblings. I took one step inside and was immediately in heaven.

There were instruments everywhere. Being the second biggest cabin, the room was pretty huge. There were a couple of beds left over in the corner, and I saw one with a package on it that said, "Naomi." I sat down on the bed and tore open the package. Inside was a golden harp and a note that said, "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood! Love, Amy Richardson (your head counselor)." I smiled. Who knew demigods could be so nice?

"Hi, you must be the new girl," someone said, walking in. I turned and saw a girl with waist length blonde hair and brown eyes. "I'm Amy."

"I'm Naomi. Thanks for the harp."

"It's actually a lyre. The symbol of Apollo. And your welcome. Do you play any instruments?"

"Um, yeah! I play guitar, violin, piano, cello, and viola."

"Wow. Most kids come in here not even knowing how to read music. Myself included. I would ask if you needed a tour, but Andromeda seemed to have you fixed up. That's really cool how you're her best friend."

"She's pretty awesome."

"She is, but her parents are Camp Half-Blood legends. Defeated Kronos when they were sixteen."

"You don't bring her dad up all the time, do you?" I asked nervously. Andromeda's dad was a sore subject for her.

"Oh, gods, no. Everyone knows how Percy's been drafted, and they know Andromeda's sensitive about it. Well, most people. There's a couple-from the Ares cabin, you know-who bring it up all the time. The Ares cabin and Percy Jackson do not mix, so neither does Andromeda."

"YOU!" a familiar voice shouted. Me and Amy ran outside to see what was going on. A redhead had just pushed Andromeda into the dirt. Andromeda stood up shakily.

"Me," Andromeda agreed. "And there's about to be a hole in that wall the exact same shape and size of your big curly red head!"

Then, before Andromeda could follow through with her promise, everything went cold.