Annabeth led the tour. She was explaining all the cool things camp offered. I was quiet a majority of it. My mind was racing with theories and questions. Why did Hera send me a dream? Where did she take Percy? Is he okay?

"Camp Half-Blood is mostly a summer camp, but some kids stay here year round. Just like Ivy." Annabeth glanced at me. "Right, Ives?"

"Hmm?" I looked at the two to see they were staring at me. Annabeth frowned, looking at me in concern. "Oh yeah, I'm a year round camper. It's pretty fun."

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you a year rounder?" Piper asked as we started to climb Half-Blood Hill.

"My mom dumped me here when I was ten." I shrugged. "We didn't really get along. I've been here ever since."

"Oh." Piper got quiet after that, sinking into her own thoughts.

Piper looked at the camp as we got higher up the hill. The view was better to see all twenty cabins. They were laid out to make a Greek omega.

"The valley is protected from mortal eyes." Annabeth explained. "As you can see, the weather is controlled, too. Each cabin represents a Greek god- a place for that god's children to live."

Annabeth and I studied Piper. The girl held a calm appearance. She didn't seem to be freaking out or thinking we were making this all up.

"You're saying Mom was a goddess."

"If your dad is mortal, then yes." I confirmed.

"You're taking this awfully calmly." Annabeth nodded in agreement.

"I guess after this morning," Piper took a shaky breath, "it's a little easier to believe. So who's my mom?"

"That, we don't know." I shrugged.

"We should know soon." Annabeth said. "You're what- fifteen? Gods are supposed to claim you when you're thirteen. That was the deal."

"The deal?"

"They made a promise last summer...well, long story..." Annabeth glanced at me as I frowned, staring at the ground. Percy came to mind, and I fiddled with the hoodie strings. "They promised not to ignore their demigod children anymore. To claim them by the time they turn thirteen. Sometimes it takes a little longer, but you saw how fast Leo was claimed once he got here. Should happen for you soon. Tonight at the campfire, I bet we'll get a sign."

"That's at least one thing the gods respond to." I grumbled under my breath.

"Why thirteen?" Piper asked.

"The older you get, the more monsters notice you, try to kill you. 'Round thirteen is usually when it starts. That's why we send protectors into schools to find you guys, get you to camp before it's too late."

"Like Coach Hedge?"

"Yeah, he's-he was a satyr: half man, half goat." I told Piper.

"Satyrs work for the camp, finding demigods, protecting them, bringing them in when the time is right." Annabeth added.

"What happened to him?" Piper asked. "When we went up into the clouds, did he... is he gone for good?"

"Hard to say." Annabeth's expression was pained. "Storm spirits...difficult to battle. Even our best weapons, Celestial bronze, will pass right through them unless you can catch them by surprise."

"Jason's sword turned them to dust." Piper remembered.

"Then he was lucky." I said. "If you hit a monster just right, you can dissolve them, send their essence back to Tartarus."

"Tartarus?"

"A huge abyss in the Underworld, where the worst monsters come from. Kind of like a bottomless pit of evil. Anyways, once monsters dissolve, it usually takes months, even years before they can re-form again. But since this storm spirit Dylan got away- well, I don't know why he'd keep Hedge alive." Annabeth furrowed her brows. "Hedge was a protector, though. He knew the risks. Satyrs don't have mortal souls. He'll be reincarnated as a tree or a flower or something."

Piper frowned. She gazed at the cabins below. She tucked her hands under her arms, trying to stop them from shaking.

"It'll be okay." Annabeth promised. "You have friends here. We've all been through a lot of weird stuff."

"No kidding." I snorted.

"We know what you're going through." Annabeth finished.

"I've been kicked out of five different schools the past five years." Piper said. "My dad's running out of places to put me."

"Only five?" Annabeth didn't sound like she was teasing. "Piper, we've all been labeled troublemakers. I ran away from home when I was seven."

"Seriously?"

"Oh, yeah."

"I lost track of how many times my mom had to pull me out of schools because she would get embarrassed by my behavior." I shrugged. "I didn't know at that time that drinking Kool-Aid  or any sugary drink messed with me. That's all I had packed in my lunches and snacks everyday at school. I would be bouncing off the walls. Plus, my ADHD and dyslexia didn't help either."

"Most of us are diagnosed with attention deficit disorder or dyslexia, or both-"

"Leo's ADHD." Piper noted.

"Right. It's because we're hardwired for battle. Restless, impulsive- we don't fit in with regular kids. You should hear how much trouble Percy..." I trailed off as my face darkened and my heart clenched and ached.

"Anyways," Annabeth gave me a look, seeing if I was okay, "demigods get a bad rep. How'd you get in trouble?"

"I steal stuff." Piper said. "Well, not really steal..."

"Is your family poor?"

"Not even." Piper laughed bitterly. "I did it... I don't know why. For attention, I guess. My dad never had time for me unless I got in trouble."

"I can relate." Annabeth nodded.

"I can't." I breathed out a chuckle. I crossed my arms. "Once I 'ruined' the family business, my mother hated me."

"But you said you didn't really steal?" Annabeth continued, patting my back. "What do you mean?"

"Well...nobody ever believed me. The police, teachers-even the people I took stuff from: they're so embarrassed they'll deny what happened. But the truth is, I don't steal anything. I just ask people for things. And they give me stuff. Even a BMW convertible. I just asked. And the dealer said, 'Sure. Take it.' Later, he realized what he'd done, I guess. Then the police came after me."

"Interesting." Annabeth nodded. "If your dad were the god, I'd say you're a child of Hermes, god of thieves. He can be pretty convincing. But your dad is mortal..."

"Very." Piper agreed.

"Only goddess I could think of..." I shook my head at the thought. It couldn't be Aphrodite. Having another child with charmspeak within the same decade was unheard of. It was rare for a child of Aphrodite to even have charmspeak. "I'll have to look more into it. But if it's who I think it is..."

"I don't know, then." Annabeth shook her head, mystified at the thought. "With luck, your mom will claim you tonight. Come on. There's something else I need to check."

We hiked a little farther until we reached a cave near the top of the hill. Bones and swords littered the ground. Torches flanked the entrance, which was covered in a velvet curtain embroidered with snakes.

"What's in there?" Piper asked.

I stepped inside. There was still no sign of Rachel. I heaved a sigh and stepped back out. Annabeth looked at me expectantly. I shook my head.

"Nothing, right now." Annabeth sighed. "A friend's place. We've been expecting her for a few days, but so far, nothing."

"Your friend lives in a cave?"

"Actually," Annabeth almost managed a smile, "her family has a luxury condo in Queens, and she goes to a finishing school in Connecticut."

"When she's here at camp, yeah, she lives in a cave." I thought back to Apollo suggesting she live in one. "She's our oracle, tells the future, prophecies. I was hoping she could help me-"

"Find Percy." Piper guessed.

It was like it all hit me. All the energy I've been running off of was sucked out. A heavy tiredness fell on my shoulders. Exhaustion seeped into my bones. I sat on the nearest rock, feeling my knees grow weak.

I held back the tears in my eyes as the pain in my heart came back full force. If I thought him being gone for two weeks at Calypso's island and thinking he was dead was bad, this was me in the pits of Tartarus. The question of his safety and where he could be haunted me in my sleep. Annabeth placed a hand on my shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

I had to look away to try and stop the tears from pooling in my eyes. My focus drifted to the crest of the hill where Thalia's tree was. The Golden Fleece glittered in the sun. Peleus was wrapped around the base of the tree. Smoke swirling from his nostrils as he slept.

"That's-a dragon." Piper stammered. "That's the actual Golden Fleece?"

I nodded. My shoulders were dropping and my eyelids felt heavy. The lack of sleep from the past three days were catching up to me.

"Yes." Annabeth answered. She eyed me worriedly. "Ivy, you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." I rubbed my face to stay awake. "Just a little tired."

"You look ready to drop." Piper commented. "How long have you been searching for your boyfriend?"

"Three days, six hours, and about twelve minutes." I looked at Annabeth for confirmation of the timing, receiving a nod.

"And you've got no idea what happened to him?"

"Nothing." I shook my head miserably. "We were so excited because he started winter break early. He came to camp on Tuesday and wanted to spend his three week break together. It was going great. We walked his hellhound, ate dinner, and did the campfire together. He walked me to my cabin like he usually does, and he-he kissed me goodnight. He went back to his cabin, and when I went to go walk Mrs. O'Leary and wasn't there...I checked his cabin. He was gone. We searched the whole camp. We contacted his mom. We've tried to reach him every way we know how. Nothing. He just disappeared."

"How long were you guys together?" Piper asked.

"Since August. August eighteenth."

"Almost exactly when I met Jason." Piper said. Annabeth and I exchanged a pitiful look. The poor girl was going to be crushed. "But we've only been together a few weeks"

"Piper..." Annabeth winced. "About that. Maybe you should sit down."

"Look, I know Jason thought-he thoight he just appeared at our school today." Panic crept into Piper's voice. "But that's not true. I've known him for four months."

"Piper," Annabeth sadly said, "it's the Mist."

"Missed...what?"

"M-i-s-t. It's kind of a veil separating the mortal world from the magic world. Mortal minds- they can't process strange stuff like gods and monsters, so the Mist bends reality." Annabeth explained. "It makes mortal see things in a way they can understand- like their eyes might skip over this valley completely, or they might look at that dragon and see a pile of cables."

"Power of the Mist is strange and wonderful at the same time."

"No." Piper swallowed. "You said yourself I'm not a regular mortal. I'm a demigod."

"Like I said, strange and wonderful." I shrugged.

"Even demigods can be affected. I've seen it's lots of times. Monsters infiltrate some places like a school, pass themselves off as human, and everyone thinks they remember that person." Annabeth explained. "They believe he's always been around. The Mist can change memories, even create memories of things that never happened-"

"But Jason's not a monster!" Piper insisted. "He'd a human guy, or a demigod, or whatever you want to call him. My memories aren't fake. They're so real. The time we set Coach Hedge's pants on fire: the time Jason and I watched a meteor shower on the dorm roof and I finally got the stupid guy to kiss me.."

Piper rambled on, telling Annabeth and I about her whole semester at Wilderness School. How she'd liked Jason from the first week they'd met. How he was nice to her and patient. That Jason was even able to put up with a hyperactive Leo and his stupid jokes. Piper explained how Jason accepted her for herself and didn't judge her for the things she's done.

"Piper, your memories are a lot sharper than most." Annabeth pursed her lips. "I'll admit that, and I don't know why that is. But if you know him so well-"

"I do!"

"Then where is he from?"

"He must have told me, but,"

"Did you ever notice his tattoo before today? Did he ever tell you anything about his parents, or his friends, or his last school?"

"I-I don't know, but-"

"Piper, what's his last name?"

Tears welled in Piper's eyes. When reality hit her, the poor girl cried. She sat down beside me on the rock. I placed a hand on her back and rubbed soothing circles.

"I'm sorry, Piper." I told her. "This must really suck right now."

"Hey, we'll figure it out." Annabeth added. "Jason's here now. Who knows? Maybe it'll work out with you guys for real."

"You two brought me up here so no one would see me blubbering, huh?" Piper brushed a tear from her cheek.

"We figured it would be hard for you." I shrugged, dropping my hand from her back. Annabeth nodded in agreement. "I know what it's like to lose your boyfriend."

"But I still can't believe...I know we had something. And now it's just gone, like he doesn't even recognize me. If he really did just show up today, then why? How'd he get there? Why can't he remember?"

"Good questions. Hopefully Chiron can figure that out." Annabeth said. "But for now, we need to get you settled. You ready to go back down?"

Piper gazed at the cabins in the valley. Annabeth nudged me and raised a brow.

"You okay?" She mouthed.

"Just tired." I mouthed back.

"Yeah." Piper spoke up. "I'm ready."

Poor Ivy and Piper :(