Hailee's POV

The next few days went well, I kept up with my training, sneakily worked on my powers, and helped teach Percy Ancient Greek. Percy quickly realized that I was right about him being able to read in Ancient Greek. I'd kept an eye on him as he struggled to figure out what he was good at, I remember that struggle and even now I have to work twice as hard as everyone else to train my powers and I have to be extra careful. I spent a lot of time with Percy, I could see that even though he'd been getting used to camp, he was still struggling. Thursday afternoon, Percy had his first sword-fighting lesson. I sighed as the cabin gathered in the arena (I'm not one for large crowds, which is why I'm only in the cabin at night) Luke as always was instructing us even though I am better than him.

When we were going to get ready I clicked the gem in my ring and started with the basic stabbing and slashing some dummies, I saw Luke look my way and I pretended to yawn as I twisted my sword in my hand. He walked over to me, "Are you trying to show off?" "Nah, I'm just proving that better than this." I looked over to see Percy struggling with his sword. "You should go help him," I said to Luke pointing to the Percy. He walked over to him to try to help him find the right sword. We finally switched to dueling in pairs. "Hailee," Luke called to me. I walked over to where he and Percy were standing. "Yes," "I want you to be Percy's partner." "Okay." "Good Luck," Lily told Percy, "Hailee's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years." "Maybe she'll go easy on me," Percy said which caused Lily to snort. I showed Percy thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. He wouldn't learn if he didn't go up against the best. With every swipe, Percy got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," I'd say before whapping him in the ribs with the flat of my blade. "No, not that far up!" Whap! "Lunge!" Whap! "Now, back!" Whap!

"Break," Luke called and everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. I walked over to a tree, grabbed my pack and took my water bottle out. I stretched and poured a little bit on my head. "Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo." We all gathered around, many people were suppressing their laughter. "I am going to demonstrate a disarming technique." He explained how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so they had no choice but to drop their weapon. "This is difficult," he stressed. "You should know, I've pulled this move on you." I snarked. Luke rolled his eyes. knowing I'd be the only person to sass him. "No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have years to master this technique." He demonstrated the move on Percy in slow motion and the sword clattered out of his hand. "Now in real time," he said after Percy retrieved his sword. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?" He nodded and Luke went after him. I was surprised to see that Percy was keeping up him. I was even more shocked when he tried to disarm Luke and succeded. Everyone fell silent. "Sorry," "Sorry?" Luke broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!" This time though when he tried Luke instantly took him down. "Beginners luck," someone called out. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword..."

I woke Friday morning prepared to fight. I know I had to wait until the afternoon, but I could start getting ready, I spent the morning training, stretching, and strategizing. Once the afternoon rolled around, I was walking around the camp and I saw Percy and Grover sitting on the pier. I smiled seeing them together and I walked over to see what they were talking about you "Hey guys," I said as I sat next to them. "Hey," Grover smiled at me. Percy looked to be in thought, "What's with the four empty cabins?" he asked. "Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," Grover responded, "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So, of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad." "Yeah okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?" Grover looked at me and tensed. This was not a subject I enjoyed. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," I said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course, she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job. When we say Big three we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos." "Zeus, Poseidon, Hades." "Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what." Grover said. "Zeus got the sky," Percy said. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld." "Uh-huh." I rolled my eyes. "But Hades doesn't have a cabin here." I looked at Grover and I could feel my skin heat up, and I looked down to see the grass yellow. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm down and went a little ways away. Grover continued the conversation. "No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here..." I saw Grover shudder. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."

I walked back over to them. "It's good to know how you really feel, Grover," "I didn't mean you, Hailee. You know I don't blame you, I'm not Annabeth," "I know. It's just this situation is hard for me." "I know, Hay, I'm sorry." He hugged me. Percy looked between us confused. "Remember, when we talked about my father when you got to camp?" "Yes?" he said skeptically. "My father is Hades," I whispered to Percy. "Please don't tell anyone, only Luke, Grover, and Annabeth know." he was silent for a moment. "I won't tell anyone," he said, but he looked slightly skeptical. "Anyway, Zeus and Poseidon--they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?" Grover looked to me and I nodded. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx. " Thunder boomed. "That's the most serious oath you can make," Percy said and Grover and I nodded. "Obviously, they didn't keep their word," I said as I pointed to myself. I then sighed and looked to Grover sadly."Also, seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo-- he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia... well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter." "But that isn't fair! It wasn't the little girl's fault." Grover hesitated before saying. "Percy, children of the Big Three we have powers greater than any other half-blood. We have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When my father found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. He let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thailia. A saytr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill." I pointed across the valley to a pine tree. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a hoard of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her saytr to take the other half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The saytr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of the hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill." I finished, I felt so bad. I also missed Thalia, she gave her life for me and my father was the reason she was dead. "Guys," Percy said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?" "Sometimes," Grover said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini." "And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?" "No. Never. Orpheus came close... Percy, you're not seriously thinking--" "No," he lied. "I was just wondering. So... a saytr is always assigned to guard a demigod?" I saw Grover give Percy a wary look. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them. since they could cause really huge problems." "And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special." "I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were--you know--you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"

Finally, it was time for Capture the flag, once the plates were cleared we the conch horn sounded and we all stood from our tables. We all yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying their flag, after this Clarisse and her buddies ran in with their flag, "Those are the flags?" I heard Percy yell to Luke. "Yeah." "Ares and Athena always lead the team?" "Not always," I said. "But often." "So, if one cabin captures one, what do you do-- repaint the flags?" Luke grinned. "You'll see. First, we have to get one." "Whose side are we on?" I saw Luke give Percy a sly look, and I rolled my eyes. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we take the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."

The teams were announced, Athena made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins for certain privileges. Ares had allied themselves with everyone else. I wasn't too worried though, my team had some of if not the strongest campers. Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble. "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 referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" He spread his hands, and the tables were then covered with equipment. I clicked the gem in my ring turning it into soulstinger. I grabbed some "Whoa," Percy said. "We're really supposed to use these?" Luke and I both looked at Percy as if he was crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here--Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol." Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!" We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off north. I saw Percy run up to Annabeth and I rolled my eyes. I was on patrol, Annabeth and I may not have agreed on a lot, but there were some things we couldn't argue about. Including how much we wanted to beat Clarisse. Finally, the conch horn blew the battle had begun. As I ran by the creek I shot a smirk at Percy. I felt kinda bad that he wouldn't be able to do much, but he also wasn't quite ready for a real battle. Before I got too far from Percy I heard it. There was a low canine growl, somewhere nearby. I turned to see Percy raise his shield. The growling stopped and I hid behind a bush as I saw Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark. "Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed. I watched as they surrounded Percy and took him down I was too far to hear, but what I could see didn't look good. Percy fell in the lake and I was about to rush to go get him when he stood up as he did I noticed the cut on his arm was healing. I watched him knock off the first guy's helmet, as the next few came at him he hit one with his shield and used his sword to shear off the others plume. Clarisse was going at him with her spear but he caught it between his sword and shield and snapped it like a twig. Then I saw him hit her between the eyes with his sword-butt. I heard elated screams and turned around to see Luke and a bunch of others running towards the boundary line with the red teams banner. "A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick!" I ran from my spot and went next to Luke as he crossed into friendly territory. Our team exploded into cheers as the red banner shimmered and turned to silver and the boar and spear changed into a huge caduceus. All of the blue team picked up Luke and carried him around. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch. The game was over and we won.

I heard the growl again and ran to where Percy and Annabeth were. I held my sword ready to fight I looked forward and standing there on the rocks was a hellhound. It was looking directly at Percy, "Percy, run!" I yelled as I moved to step in front of him, but it leaped in over me and landed on Percy. 'I can not lose another friend because of my father. ' I thought to myself. I turned around and lunged my sword at the hound I hit him directly and he fell down dead. "Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... They're not supposed to..." "Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp." Luke came and stood next to me. Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!" "Be quiet, child," Chiron told her. We all watched as the hellhound melted into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared. "You're wounded," I told him, "Quick, Percy, get in the water." "I'm okay." "No, you're not," I said, "Chiron, watch this." I knew he was Big Three and it's bittersweet, but he can help me get some answers. A lot of the campers gasped. "Look, I--I don't know why," He said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry...." What he didn't realize was we were all looking at the trident floating over his head. "Percy," I said, pointing "Um..." He looked up at it. "Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good." "It is determined, " Chiron announced. We all began to kneel, even the Ares cabin though they weren't happy about it. "My father?" Percy asked, seeming shocked. "Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer. Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Later that night I snuck out of the cabin after everyone was fast asleep. I walked around to the back of the cabin hiding in the shadows. When I got to the point I wanted to I focused on where I wanted to go. I watched as the portal opened then I stepped through--this wasn't my first-time shadow traveling--I walked into the underworld and looked around as I made my way through to the throne room. "Daughter," Hades said as I stepped forward, "Why do you want to kill all my friends?" I demanded, I knew it wasn't smart to come in here like this, but I'm impulsive. "I would be careful if I were you," He warned. "I know, but first Thalia, now Percy," I said in distress. "You will understand one day," he said. "Now, go!"