It was a nice day in New York. The sun was shining but it wasn't exactly hot. It was perfect for a short visit to camp. 

Instead, I was being hounded by my girlfriend. 

"So when are you going to get here?" She spoke over the phone, longing clear in her voice. I could never get tired of hearing it -- and I heard a lot of it on a daily basis. 

I chuckled a little as I made my way down the street, heading toward home having just bought some groceries. "Three days or so. Definitely during the weekend because I have to start my classes on Monday." I explained. 

"Tell me again why you didn't come with me?" 

I slowed down as I reached the apartment building and looked up at the overcast sky as I responded to her. "Because I almost died a while ago and my mom wants to spend time with me before that becomes a possibility again." 

"You mean by staying with me?" At this point I knew I shouldn't continue where I had originally been heading. 

"No, no, of course not." I said with a laugh, and upon hearing her chuckle a little, I sighed in relief. 

"Just... Come here soon, Seaweed Brain." She said after a short pause. 

I stopped outside the building and leaned against the brick wall. I could feel how rough it was through the blue t shirt I had on, but it didn't bother me. "I will." 

Glancing up to find the balcony to my apartment, I spotted the silver moonlace I had planted what felt like ages ago. It wasn't blooming now. I knew it was best visible only at night. Shifting my gaze, I noticed the balcony door was open. It shouldn't have been odd, but I suddenly felt a little uneasy. Given everything I'd gone through, I figured it was a natural reaction. 

"I'll call you later in the evening okay?" I told Annabeth, moving away from the brick wall and proceeding to walk to the entrance of the building. 

My tone must have changed because Annabeth immediately got suspicious. "Is everything okay?"

I nodded for a second, still moving inside and making my way to the elevator before I realised she couldn't see my confirmation. "Yeah," I said. "Don't worry, everything's fine. Love you." 

"Love-" her voice cut off as the connection ended. 

I tossed the phone to the staircase before pressing the button for the elevator to come. If there were monsters around, the cell phone just added to how easy it was for them to find a demigod. It was why I never bothered with keeping a phone for too long. Disposable ones were the best way to go, and I only used it to talk to my mom, and when needed, Annabeth. 

The elevator was taking too long so I decided to take the stairs. I lived on the third floor anyway, so it wasn't too far up to climb. Once on the floor, I glanced both ways down the corridor. The dim lights over head did little to illuminate the brownish coloured walls, but it was enough for a person to get to their apartment, considering there were only four apartments on each floor. I spotted the familiar looking wooden door that led to the inside of my place, and it was slightly ajar. 

No, not ajar. From the bottom it looked fine, yet from the top, it was practically off its hinges. It was still somehow intact with the bottom part of the door, but it was clear that the damage done was irreparable. 

My hand instinctively went to the pocket of my jeans where my sword Riptide was. Well, technically it was a pen at the moment, but as soon as I pulled it out and uncapped it it grew into a long bronze sword that did more to light up the area than the tube lights above me. 

"Mom?" I called out as I crept toward the door. I knew it was a stupid move on my part, and it probably just alerted any monster in the area of my whereabouts, but I needed to check. If she could give me some sort of sign that she was okay, that would be enough for me to run in and try to make the situation better. 

When I got no reply though, my feet moved faster involuntarily, till I was at the front door in seconds, nudging it open with the tip of my blade. The living room... didn't really look like my living room. For a second I wondered if maybe I'd stumbled into the wrong building by accident and found the wrong house. But then I noticed the kitchen counter, and the plate full of blue chocolate chip cookies that looked like they had come fresh out of the oven.

That plate was the only thing in the area that looked untouched. 

The sofa was ripped to shreds, or at least parts of it were. I recognised some of the books my mom studied from sprawled across the floor as if someone had either tossed them aside, or used them against the attacker. 

There were marks on the wall and the floor, that looked like they'd been scorched, and I immediately thought of Leo and Festus, but upon looking closer, it appeared more like somebody had thrown acid around everywhere. 

My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. What kind of monster does that? 

I knew there were a few, some I had even encountered, but even while most of my memory was back now, certain bits were a little hazy and I could hardly remember the names of such monsters. If it was a monster. 

My head snapped to the right at the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. It had come from my room. 

Gripping the hilt of my sword, I walked toward it slowly, till I was inches away from the open doorway. I paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and sprung inside, ready to attack, when I noticed not a monster, but a person. 

My arms stopped in mid air, just seconds before it would have struck whoever was in front of me, but the stranger didn't seem one bit fazed. 

Standing like a statue, I stared, until a pair a striking blue eyes were staring back with me. Together with the jet black hair, the first thing that came into my mind was Thalia. 

But Thalia had straight hair, and she was taller than this girl before me whose hair reached the middle of her waist in waves. She was dressed entirely in black. Black jacket, black jeans, even black combat boots. She was by the window, looking at the moonlace, till of course something else piqued her interest. That something else being me trying to attack her. 

She stood up from the window ledge just as my arms fell to my sides, and some of her hair moved away to reveal a strange black marking on her neck. It looked kind of like the letter Z but with a squiggly dash across the middle. After a second I noticed there were many more black markings, like tattoos, each one very different, yet still somehow similar. They weren't like ordinary tattoos. 

"Who are you?" I asked, remembering the situation at hand. "Where are my parents?" I lifted the sword a little higher, more in a defensive stance rather than an offensive one. I wouldn't attack unless I had reason to. 

"I don't know where your parents are." She responded in a strong, clear voice. She had a different accent. It wasn't American, it sounded more British. "As for who I am... Well that depends on who you are." She added, reaching toward her back pocket. 

"I could be a friend," she said, pulling out three glowing knives and pointing them at me. "Or I could be your worst nightmare."