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What we now call the "Harvest" started on one fateful day in New York. I guess you could say it was all my fault. But let's back up a second here. I shouldn't rush into things. We have to start at the very beginning. The beginning of the path I started us on.

So picture this, the Second Giant War. You remember that, right? The Seven of the prophecy teaming up with the gods to defeat all of those bloodthirsty sons of bitches. Oh sorry, there was a female in there somewhere.

Anyway, we were kicking ass up until the point where my nosebleed started the apocalypse. Yeah, I know, it sucked a lot.

And then we went to Camp Half-Blood, stopped a demigod war from happening, and defeated Gaea, yada yada yada. Boring.

Leo came back with Calypso and that was all fine and dandy, but get this: Gaea didn't like being defeated. Big surprise there.

So as she was dying, she set a little curse on the earth. Well, I shouldn't say little since it pretty much meant the end of all life, but hey, I'm just trying to tell the story.

Alright, cutting to the chase, she damned the earth. She took just about all of Earth's resources and energy sources and disappeared with them. Just like that. The mortals were freaking out. To be frank, so were we.

People were already dying by the thousands, strange diseases were spreading, plants and trees were dying, fresh water sources were drying up. Animals were dying off. Everything was just descending into a hell on Earth. Nothing made sense.

We demigods tried to help where we could, but there wasn't much we could do without exposing ourselves. We knew that in times of crisis, mortals would stop at nothing to get what they want, or rather, what they need. At the time we didn't know how right we were.

I will now recount that faithful day, the one that eventually led to the "harvest".

It was just Leo, Jason, and I that day. We just went into New York City, a place that used to buzz with activity and light and power, but which now stood still.

Well, I shouldn't say still. It was more of a sinister feel to it. Buildings already look thousands of years old, though it had only been six months since it started. The sun was scorching, as per usual.

We hadn't heard from the gods since Greece, and we had had suspicions about the conditions of the earth. We knew they usually didn't like to help us, but considering the severity of the situation, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that they would be helping us right now. Something was wrong. And I wouldn't find out what for a very long time.

New Yorkers and tourist that had been stranded here bustled about, holding scarfs and towels over their heads. I remember seeing a screaming child just sitting on the sidewalk.

We had come that day to try and aid the mortals. Since the water supply was depleting, I would purify water from the Hudson and the East and leave it for the mortals. Jason would provide them with some rain and clouds and Leo would try to fix things and build things and provide fire in the nights.

That's another thing. Days were hot but nights were so freaking cold. The people who didn't die of heat stroke or dehydration would surely freeze to death if caught outside during the night.

And I know it was my fault we ever got caught in the first place. I should have been more careful. Looking back on it, I remember seeing the agents. I remember them, those horrible people who worked for HARVEST: Human. Administered. Rescue. Vitalize. Earth's. Supply. of the Taken. I hate those guys so fucking much.

So anyway, we were just walking along minding our own business, when this outbreak starts. This woman and her child are being threatened by a mugger. He's waving a gun at them and though Jason and Leo are yelling at me, I went over there.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, put the gun down," I said. The mugger has just kind of looked at me. Then he pointed the gun at me. I cocked my head like, really?

Jason and Leo had already moved the woman and her child out of the way, trusting me to handle it on my own. Mistake.

"Hey pretty boy, think your so special? Saving a maggot? Huh? Who's gonna save you, hm?" I remember him spitting at my feet. I had looked down for just a split second, my ADHD guiding my attention to the spot on the ground, when he pulled the trigger. On me.

I wasn't even thinking. My hands flew up and the bullet stopped. My eyes were squeezed tightly shut and I heard breaths being held all around me.

Opening my eyes, I saw a sheet of ice hovering in front of my hands with a bullet lodged in it, still steaming. The bullet melted out of the ice and clattered to the paved road. The ice fell as well and shattered. I was shaking. I hadn't known I could do that.

Jason and Leo were staring in shock. The mugger was too stunned to shoot again, so I used that moment of hesitation to knock the gun out of his hands. I stepped on it and broke it and he went running.

I should've seen the agents.

Jason and Leo ran up to me. I was still kind of in shock, but that doesn't excuse my mistake. The mistake that exposed us all.

We were running, trying to get back to the Pegasi we had waiting for us around the block when I crashed right into a guy wearing a Kevlar vest. That should've set off so many alarms, but alas.

He was a big guy and he knocked me right on my ass. Jason and Leo kept going for a couple more feet before noticing I wasn't behind them.

The man mumbled a gruff apology and held out a hand to help me up. I debated grabbing it for a few seconds before accepting the help.

He patted me on the back, so hard I almost fell over. I looked down to see my hands were still shaking. Leo gestured for me to hurry up and I jogged over. Looking back, the man was talking into a walkie talkie, stealing glances my way. I could swear his eyes were burrowing into my soul. I shivered and whistled for Blackjack.

I wish the fates had shot me out of the sky right then and there. I wish I'd never made it back to camp.

*****

"—and he froze the bullet right in front of his hands! It. Was. Awesome!" Leo was telling everyone at the campfire, waving his hands around and raising his voice so the whole amphitheater could hear.

I put my face in my hands. This was not supposed to happen. He was not supposed to advertise my strange new ability. I had seemed to be discovering a lot of strange new abilities. It seemed that instead of just controlling water, like I had always thought, I could manipulate anything that had anything to do with water, which was everything.

Oh and the earthquakes. That was new and definitely cool.

Leo was interrupted by lights. Blue lights shining down on the amphitheater. Those blue lights that were seared into my mind. Silence from Leo.

The sound of helicopter blades cut through the air and my hair was blown out of my face. The helicopter landed and the lights got brighter, filling the night with artificial light. I could see everyone clear as day.

I also remember seeing the giant air vehicle thingie behind the original helicopter. We would come to call them "sky canoes" for some odd reason. I'm pretty sure it was Leo who dubbed them that.

All Hades broke loose though, when the men in uniform started pouring out of the helicopter and the sky canoe.

And they were waving guns. I stood up and walked down the aisle to where the leader guy was standing. "Who are you, and how did you get into my camp?" I asked menacingly.

The man just laughed and walked to the fire, where everyone could see him. He wasn't much to look at, I guess. I mean, he was handsom for the average middle aged guy, and he had sandy blond hair that was graying at the edges. His wide smile showed off his perfect teeth and his blue eyes glistened in the firelight.

He spread his arms wide, taking in the sight of all the teenagers around him. I noticed Clarisse stand and take out her spear. Several other demigods followed suit until we were all armed and threatening all the other soldiers in the perimeter.

The man's blue eyes took on a darker tint and he frowned. He pulled out a gun of his own, a pistol, and rested the barrel on my temple.

"It would do you all well to drop your weapons," he said, his voice bellowing over the crowd. I was screwed. I knew it and he knew it. I couldn't stop a bullet that close to my head. Not enough time. And I didn't even think I could do that whole party trick again.

"I'm going to ask you again," I said through gritted teeth, testing my luck, "who are you and how did you get into my camp?"

He laughed again and moved the gun from my temple, but still had the thing pointed at me. "You've got spunk kid. Now if you don't mind," he said, waving at the campers, "you can all sit down now, I'm going to explain all my evil plans."

My eyes danced threw the amphitheater, searching for Annabeth. She wasn't there. I didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Ever since the world has gone to shit, the government has been trying to find a way to restart the ecosystem and whatnot. But it's not so easy. We'd heard about a group called the 'demigods' and we established the Harvest Trials. I come from Harvest. My name's James Everette.

"And until this afternoon, we had never witnessed any demigod activity. Until this one revealed himself and all of you," he said, gesturing to me with the gun.

"Agent Ross tracked you all the way to your little friends. And now, may Earth's salvation begin!" He cried and the agents started ushering us to the sky canoes.

No way in Hades was I gonna let them come into my home and take my people. The ground started to rumble and a geyser of water shot out of the ground, dousing the agents.

That gave the campers their fighting spirit back. Until Everette shot Malcom Pace in the head.

Well, it didn't quite happen like that. He was aiming for me but an invisible force yanked me back and the bullet missed, finding a home in the son of Athena's skull. He fell to the ground soundlessly and someone screamed.

Annabeth yanked off her Yankees cap and slapped me. "Hey snap off of it. What are we going to do?" She asked. All I could see was the blood dripping down Malcom's face.

"Hey! Seaweed Brain! We have campers to protect!" She screamed at me. "I-I don't know," was all I could manage. Over the chaos, Everette yelled, "Tranq em'! I want all of them!"

Jason ran up to us. "Dude, what do we do?" He asked. I heard another gunshot. Apparently these Harvest people couldn't decide between tranquilizers or actual bullets. And I knew even then that getting on that vehicle would mean the end. I knew that I couldn't let that happen. And yet I failed all the same.

I remember thinking 'thank the gods Frank and Hazel were all the way in California', but looking back on it, it really didn't make much of a difference.

The soldiers started tranqing everyone, and I watched as demigods fell one by one. Jason fell beside me, a tranquilizer dart in his arm.

I took cover behind a bench as a wave of darts penetrated the area. Annabeth took one to the stomach. Leo was running towards as, hauling Calypso along with him.

That's when I felt a dart pierce my thigh. I looked down, dazed, and yanked it out of my jeans. My head swam, and I felt dizzy. It must be a strong tranquilizer if it can knock out so many powerful demigods in one go.

I felt myself falling, my eyes slipping shut as Leo yelled my name, still too far away to do anything about it.

I woke up two hours later alone and scared.