I DO NOT OWN ANY OF TH PERCY JACKSON BOOKS. ALL RIGHTS GO TO RICK RIORDAN.

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"Mr.Carter, do you have the answer?" I could here my teacher speaking, but my body refused to lift my head from my desk. "Mr.Carter?" That was defenetly my name. Quickly i raised my head up, shouting out a random answer.

"Medusa's eyes turn you too stone!" I called out. giggles traveled through out the class.

My greek mythology teacher, Mr. Wright, smiled. "The question was: What is the name of the lion-like beast with a spiked tail and multiple rows of teeth."

"Erm..." I was stumped. I thought hard."Manticore, I think." Mr.Wright scooted over to me in his wheel chair. He removed a gold star from his pocket and placed it on my shirt. I ripped it off, hurling it to the ground. "Just because I have ADHD and dyslexia doesnt mean im freaking retarded. I dont need your damn stars." The dismissal bell rang and I stormed out of the room. I hated it when my teachers treated me like I was a baby. I don't need stars to let me know im right. I heard quick footsteps behind me.

"What a meltdown, Zephy." let me introduce you to the generic school bully. There was no reason he needed to pick on me. He had all his football team friends and all girls wanted him, yet he chooses to make my life a living hell.

"Shut up. Im not in the mood for your bullshit right now." I spat at him.

His...lackeys chuckled. " Im sorry. Here, take a gold star as a token of my apology." They all cracked up. You wouldn't believe how badly I want to punch his teeth down his throat. But i did the "right" thing, and ignored him. 

The rest of the school day blew by as usual. No one spoke to me. My teachers acted like royal fools, and I occasionally flicked my glances at Astroid. If you dont know who Astroid is, let me give you a brief discription. She is the prettiest girl I have ever seen in my entire life. You probably think with the name Astroid she would probably be some geek or nerd or something. But thats sort of the opposite. She has bright crimson, flowing hair compared to my jet black, uncombed mess. Her eyes matched mine, green like a rain forest. But her eyes seemed to glow with with power. It made my heart throb. She was in all my classes, too.

The school day was done, yet my troubles weren't over just yet. I was reluctant to go home. I always was. I threw my book bag down on the floor loudly. As usual, no one was home. I didn't even bother reading the rushed note that my aunt left me. She wasn't even related to me and she forced me to call her ma'am. She was never home either. she only really came by ever so often to check up on me. I yanked open the fridge an pulled out anything that was still remotely etible. That day went by like any other day in my life.

Friday, April 6th. That's the day my boring life changed. That's the day everything change.

It's first period, Language arts. My teacher begins to write on the board right away. She turns around after finishing, a fake smile plastered to her face. "Would anyone care to translate this sentence for me?" Her eyes glided across the room for a victim. She momentarily stopped at Astroid, then as if she purposely did it, she stopped on me."Zephyros. Would you care to translate this sentence for me." The class breathed a relieved sigh.

"Uh, I guess." I looked at the board. Why the hell would she ask a dyslexic to try an read this garbage. I had a hard time enough reading english...but thats when it got freaking amazing. The symbols on the board began to move around and distort into english letters. Letters that I could see and read. What the heck was going on? I thought to myself. "Its says Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Is--is that right?" She smiled and reached into her drawer for a gold star. "Dont bother with the star. Please."

"Zephyros, are you sure--"

"Please." I let on a weak smile. " I dont need it." I noticed Astroid staring at me intrigued. So someone has finally noticed me, eh? This day better keep getting better. Next period, was gym class. Long story short, I murdered everyone in dodgeball. I left Steven Bradford, that douche that you met earlier, with a bruise to the face. That was enough to make my day. Now it was Greek Mythology class. Possibly my most tolerable class in this asylum known as the school. The reason I say this is because something that I would never forget happened to me.

I sit down in my seat, all the way in the back of the room. im the first one to enter. As usual. Mr. Wright waves to me. "Ah, good morning, Zephyros."

I sigh. " Alright im sorry for going off yesterday. Its just that these stupid stars are, well, stupid."

Mr. Wright strokes his beard. "I see. Just understand, we do everything to help you."

I sighed and put my head down. He wasn't taking me seriously. No one does. Astroid was the first person after me to enter the room. I felt my heart skip beats in my chest. She walked towards Mr. Wright and wispered something, just out of earshot. But then Mr. Wright glances at me suddenly. What did Astroid tell him. I began to grow suspicious. Mr. Wright wispered something back and sent her off. That's were my day reached it's climax. Astroid sat right next to me. She glanced at me.

"Hey." she said cooly.

I will never know why, but my whole face glowed like hot iron. I felt suddenly really hot. I managed to squeeze out words. "Uh...hey, Astroid." I said equally calmly. My voice deceives the look on my face.

"So you already know my name. You're Zephyros, right?" I nod. She smiles warmly, sending shivers down my spine. She was so beautiful. "Hey nice save in LA class back there."

"Hey, I survived the frying pan. I just hope this class isn't the fire." I had a feeling something was gonna happen. Something important.

She leaned back. "You never know," she stuck her hand out to me. " Nice meeting you." I took her hand. It was soft. My face must have been redder than her hair. Soon all the kids filed in. The class began. 

"Good morning class! Today we will learn about various ancient greek monsters. Let us start with my personal favorite, the centaur." I tuned him out as he went on about centaurs and junk. I already knew everything about them. Half-man, half-horse, acidic blood et cetera. "Next up is a truly feared beast. The Manticore." My ears switched and my brain turned on when I heard the manticore. Something actually cool. " The Manticore was a terrible, man-eating creature. It had the head of a man with rows of shark-like teeth. Together with the body of a red lion and a iron clad, spiked scorpion tail." This thing sounded freaking awsome. "Its voice is said to resemble that of a trumpet or a reed pipe. It was said to be able to fire off toxic spikes from its tail, paralyzing or even killing its prey." This thing sounded menacing. Truly terrafying. The bell rang and all the students ran out. I dragged my feet, taking in the image of the manticore on the white board. " Ah, so you find interest in the manticore."

"Uh, yea. Its pretty cool." I said.

Mr. Wright stroked his beard. "So, how would you defend yourself if you were to be attacked by it?"

I didn't miss a beat. "Celestial Bronze is the weakness of all monsters born from Echidna. I would either use a bronze sword, or bronze bullets. But they didn't have guns in ancient times." I laughed.

Astroid clapped. I hadn't even noticed she was still here. "Looks like someone would make a good monster hunter." 

I blushed "Erm, thanks." I said

Mr.Wright laughed. "Hurry along kids. You mustn't be late for your next class." 

"Oh, right. Later, teach." Astroid and Mr.Wright exchanged glances. Something was definetly up. something that I didn't know. Something that I wanted to know.

"Hey, wait up, Zeph." Astroid called out.

"Is that my new nickname?" I asked.

She smiled. "Hmm, why not? Did you know your name means west wind?"

I smirked. "And did you know your name means Space Rock?" We both laughed. I couldn't believe out of all the students in my Junior High School, Astroid was the first to become my friend. Eventually I noticed the halls were empty except for me and Astroid. "I think were late." I said.

"It would seem so. We should probably hurry--"

"What's the hurry?" The moment i heard that voice, I wanted to beat the crap out of the owner of it.

"The hell do you want, Steven. How's that bruise doing for ya, buddy."

He scowled. "Oh, you're gonna see alot of bruises, you little shit."

He walked towards me. "Astroid, you should get out of here. It's about to get really ugly up in here."

She smirked. "Seems like someones trying to be cool." Steven walked closer. I wanted so badly to knock him out. But obviously i couldn't. He was two times my size and ten times my strength. He would beat me to a bloody pulp. He charged at me, fist raised. The only thing I could think about was making sure Astroid was safe. I pushed her behind me and closed my eyes, preparing for the hit....but nothing happened. It was silent, except for a slow drip. "Oh....crap."

When I opened my eyes, im pretty sure i was scarred for life. A gleaming metal spike, three-feet around and five-feet long, petruded from Stevens chest. Red liquid dripped from the tip of the spike. Blood. I slowly backed up. Fear overtaken me. "What's the hurry, children?" A tall, skinny man walked from behind Steven. He put his hand on Steven's head, and with one swift turn and a sickening snap!, he broke his neck. Steven's lifeless corpes fell towards the ground in a pool of blood. It was like a murder seen. The tall man looked towards us. A verticle scar slashed down his right eye, almost obscured by his silver hair. "I couldn't allow that ignorant mortal to..." He sniffed the air. "...to damage such a delicious Demi-god."

"Haha! You got me! This is some stupid prank! You can come out now, Mr.Wright!"

Astroid's expression was serious. A fire burned bright in her eyes. "I knew it was about time before they came. Thank the gods I was here with you today." Astroid gripped my hand tightly, making my face flush.

"Come on! Your in on it too! My whole life is a joke to everyone, isnt it?"

Astroid looked me right in the eyes, her expression completely serious. "This isn't a joke, Zeph. This is real. That kid is really dead. And that guy really killed him."

The man chuckled."I see, so no one has told him yet." The man licked his lips and pointed at me. " Your a demi-god. A really powerful one at that. and...a tasty one." For some reason, this made sense. I didn't know if it was because of how open minded I was, but the moment he said that, I believed it. Except the tasty part. That was pretty weird.

"So...if im a demi-god...then who are--" It hit me like a punch. The spike, the frequent voracious comments. This man wasn't a man at all. "Oh....damn..."

The man laughed. " I am Manticore. And your looking very delicious." Out of all the crap that could attack, why did it have to be a Manticore. And what's crazy is that Mr. Wright just taught me about this thing. The only thing was, he looked like a normal guy...more or less.

"Yep. Your a demi-god. Or, a Half-Blood as we call it. So am I. We've been anticipating an assault for months now. Your a late bloomer." she said, patting me on the back. I took this all in. Most people would think there going crazy or think there being messed with. But for some reason, this felt obvious to me.

"So, I guess he's gonna eat us now, if im correct."

"Hasty are we? The prey doesn't taste half as good if there's no hunt."

"Tha' hell does that mean?" I asked.

"Im giving you a head start." he held up 5 bony fingers, "But after 5 minutes, the hunt begins." There was no way i was letting him eat me. I bolted the opposite way, dragging Astroid along with me.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Away from him! You want to get eaten!?" 

She stopped and put her hands on my shoulders. "Chill out. There is a place, near here where demi-gods go. It's safe there and they'll teach you how to fight monsters--" 

"Ok, let's go." I interrupted

"Really? I mean, most people question or even freak when all this stuff is weighed on them. You seem perfectly comfortable with this."

I tugged her hand. "Yeah,yeah,yeah, we've already burned like 30 seconds, let's get a move on."

she smiled and took her phone from her jeans pocket. She flipped it open and punched in numbers with lightning quick speed. "Yo, Mr.Chiron, they found us. Meet at the specified place." she clicked the phone off and threw it down and stomped on it with full force. The phone exploded into a million tiny pieces.

"What? Do you hate Android or something?" I asked, puzzled.

"Phones attract monsters. Only use them for emergencies, then destroy them" She motioned me to follow her. "Mr.Chiron's gonna meet us at your house. We gotta be quick. When we're about half-way there, start sprinting." I didn't need her to tell me why. I would have ran regardless. I kept track of the seconds going by. Each second possibly shortening my life. By I wouldn't let that furry metal bastard eat me or Astroid, that was for damn sure. 

We raced outside the school. one minute gone by. We made it down the street, towards my house. two minutes gone by. I felt like I was running on wind. Another two minutes passed by. only one more left. I began to sprint early. Astroid followed close behind, pacing herself. I could see my house. Only a few blocks away. 

Our time was up.

"Don't panic, Zeph. It will just make you more tired. We're way ahead of him."

"R--right!" it took us another 30 seconds to reach the house. I kicked the door in. It unexpectedly broke of it's hinges, flying inwards. Since when could I do that.

Astroid put her hands on her hips. "Yep. Definetly half-blood. No mistaken it."

I scratched the back of my head. "Well, I guess I won't need that door anymore." I looked around. "So where is this Chiron dude?"

"I see your getting used to your powers, Zephyros." That voice was oddly familiar. I turned around and Mr. Wright was looking back at me, stroking his beard deductively.

"Well, this explains why you're a greek mythology teacher. Should have seen this coming." I muttered.

Astroid wiggled anxiously. "With all do respect, Mr.Chiron, but let's skip the reunion or whatever."

"Quite right, Astroid. If im not mistaken, the Manticore has already begun the hunt." He turned to me. "Zephyros, quickly gather anything you may need. You may not be coming back to this place anytime soon." I only needed one thing. I rushed to my bedroom and tore open my dresser drawer. A portrait of my mom and dad stared back at me. They were on there wedding. Now that I think about it, one of my parents were gods. It had to be my mother. She was beautiful and kind and always kissed me goodnight. My dad was never there. He left us and never returned. Eventually my mom did too, saying she was going to find him. That was five years ago. Now im 14. But I still longed for my parents to see them together one day. God or not. I shoved the picture into my Back-pack and dashed back to Chiron and Astroid. 

"Ok. Im ready. Let's get up out of here before the Manticore eats us."

"What did you get?" Astroid asked.

"Ill show you later, when were not being hunted." I looked around the room and sighed.

"Take your time." 

"Hold up I just remembered something." I got a pen and a yellow sticky-note. I wrote as followed: Out with friends. Be back whenever ~ Zeph. Suddenly I felt a pang of guilt. My aunt was the only person I had for years. When my parents weren't here. Love you and thanks. I added to the end. I stuck the note on the fridge beside my 2nd grade picture. I felt like crying for some reason. It was hard to leave something that you knew for so long behind so suddenly. Astroid put a hand on my shoulder.

"Come on. Chiron's waiting for us outside."

I gave my house one last look before stepping outside. Ill miss it. That's when I realized something odd. How did Astroid know were i lived?

Astroid lead me to around the back of the house. My heart skipped a beat. I definently saw Mr.Wright, that was for damn sure. But after seeing what I saw, I could see why his favorite mythological creature was a centaur. Because....Chiron was a centaur. He had the body of a normal dude, but his backside was a white stallion.

"This reminds me of an experience i had a couple of years ago."

"Err, really? With who I might ask?"

"It's obviously his favorite student, the famed Percy Jackson."

Chiron seemed to gaze into the sky, remeniscing old times. "Talk and ride." he said.

I grinned. This day was really getting cooler and cooler by the minute. I hopped onto Chiron's back. The horse spine was extremely tough and uncomfortable, but I didn't care as long as we got as far as possible from the Manticore. Astroid hopped on behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist for support. I gave a silent prayer to Cupid or whatever god controls this stuff. Chiron took of down the road without warning. Astroid held on to me tightly, nearly squeezing the air out of my lungs. " Hey, Mr.Wright--"

"Call me Chiron, Zephyros." he corrected me.

"Uh, Chiron, what will people think when they see two kids riding on a man-horse?"

"Haha. That's a common question. Astroid, would mind answering that."

She opened her eyes. " They can't see it because mortal eyes are obscured by the mist."

"The mist. Oh yeah we learned about that a few days ago. Poseidon poured some Mist on Achilles eyes or something."

"Yep. The Mist is a magic veil made by the godess Hecate to make sure mythological event's are replace with normal things. Like for instance, right now, the neighbors probably see two kids riding a tandem bike."

I cringed. "I would prefer them seeing me riding a man-horse, to be honest."

Astroid laughed. I felt calmer now. We probably left that Manticore in the dust. But I couldn't get the image of Steven's dead corpes laying in a pool of blood out of my head. That was the first real death i've seen. I was snapped out of my thoughts when i noticed we weren't in my neighborhood anymore. We seemed to be in the middle of the woods. That's when I felt something sturr in my gut. Not like I was about to barf, but like if you were to drink a whole bunch of ice water and you can feel the coolness in your stomach. That's what it felt like. 

"It's gonna rain in like three minutes." I blurted out.

"How do you know?" Astroid asked me.

I shrugged. " I dunno. I felt a weird feeling in my gut. I feel like it's telling me it's gonna rain." Chiron looked back and Astroid grinned at him.

"Looks like you owe me some drachma's" she said.

"The winner hasn't been decided just yet, who ever claimes the child will be the grand decider." I didn't know what they were talking about, and I didn't even bother asking. I was to focused on a looming hill. Atop the hill, I could make out a large pine with a bright, golden coat hanging from it beside a gate like structure, but the fence was missing. I pointed to it.

"Is that it? Is that the place?" 

"Welcome to Camp Half-blood, safe haven to demi-gods." Chiron stopped suddenly. Astroid looked at him with suprise. "Mr.Chiron, what's up--" Astroid froze. What was wrong with them? That's when i noticed it. Atop the hill, was the biggest mountain lion I have ever seen in my entire life.

"Astroid, take Zephyros and run. Ill distract it." He removed a long wooden bow from its case. He knocked a arrow into it and took aim. Astroid hopped of and I followed, wondering what was going on. Why a mythological creature that has trained hero's in ancient times was getting so worked up over a common lion. A mountain lion at that, not even a king of the jungle type one. Astroid grabbed my hand once again, only this time her palms were sweaty.  

She lead me up the side of the hill, avoiding the lion. a flash of lightning and the boom of thunder caught me of gaurd, but it didn't scare me or anything. It made me feel braver. a light drizzle began. I could tell it was gonna get worse.

Astroid lead me to around the other side of the hill, Chiron was out of sight. Astroid put her hands on her knee's and took a breath. I felt as good as ever. 

"I smell tasty demi-gods." I quickly turned my head. The lion was right in front of us. Don't tell me it spoke. I backed up. gripping Astroids wrist and pulling her behind me protectively.

"How the hell, wasn't it just--"

Astroid stepped back in front of me, that same fire from before burned in her eyes. It was intimidating and me mesmerizing at the same time. "There are to of them. A cheap trick."

The lion licked it's lips, almost...human like. It parted it's lips to roar, but instead, a roar didn't come out. What came out made me want to curl up in a ball and hide in a corner. Words, english words, came out. "The hunt has ended. Now I feast."

"Wait a damn minute! This is a manticore!? What happened to the iron clad tail and rows of razor sharp teeth!? Your just a normal freaking mountain lion!"

Astroid looked at me like I was crazy, then face palmed herself. "The mist is obscuring your vision. Focus, focus real hard." 

I squinted. Nothing. The lion laughed. "At least you won't have a fearful death." It began to pour now. The rain beat down on my head and rolled of like I was water proof. It rolled of my scalp and into my eyes. My vision blurred for a moment and I blink frantically, trying to refocus it. Suddenly, I was in a whole new world. A world I wish I wasn't in. The mountain lion wasn't an ordinary mountain lion anymore. I was staring into the eyes of an identical copy of the image I saw in school. Rows of razor like teeth grinned at me, attached to a grotesque human-like face, many sizes to large and ugly to be considered "human". It's body was muscular and resembled that of a real "king of the jungle" lion. But the thing I was most focused on, was it's tail. The truly iron-clad tail swung from side to side in behind the manticore. The tip was metal and rounded like a mace. It was litterally a scorpians stringer, with the huge barbed spike on the end, but coated in metal with spikes cover the whole of it. But in know way was I scared. It was the opposite. Maybe I was just stupidly impulsive, but I wanted to fight it. I craved to battle it.

"So this is the true manticore. Sick." I grinned and crossed my arms, rain pouring down on me and rolling of my skin. Lightning flashed, striking the ground a few yards behind me. I could sense the static flow through the air. Astroid looked at me and muttered something unautible. The manticore didn't hesitate in the slightest. It launch a flurry of needles from it's tail with one quick swipe. I hit the deck as the needles, no bigger than average pencils, flew over my head. I quickly got up, making sure the manticore didn't advance. "Hey Astroid, was that sick or--" I rushed to her side. My chest rising and lowering in panic. One of the needles, just one, had caught her in the shoulder. "Oh shit! Astroid! Are you alright!"

"Calm down dummy. It's not gonna kill me." She tried to get up, but her body tightened and she fell back down.

"Don't tell me that needle is the paralyzing one." I said, my voice rising in panic.

She winced."Im sorry, Zeph. Just run, ok." Tears filled her eyes, "Im a failed daughter of Ares. Get to the camp, you'll be safe there. Your fast, so you can get there before the manticore finishes me off."

I slammed my fist on the ground hard. Thunder exploded in the air as my fist hit the earth. "Astroid. I don't want to be mean or anything, but if you think im just gonna let this piece of shit it you, then your way out of your damn mind. Now, tell me where your sword is." She stared at me differently this time. The flame in her eyes relfected my face. In my eyes, I saw an even greater flame. I may be mistaken, but I could have sworn I saw her blush.

"It's in my pocket. If your really serious, take it out."

I was dead serious. I reached into her pocket and pulled out a lead, mechanical pencil. I stared at it oddly. "Lemme geuss, it's a magical pencil that turns into a sword when i click it." She smiled and nodded. I faced the point away from me and pushed the eraser.  A gleaming, bronze blade extended from the tip of the pencil. In a mere 2 seconds, the pencil was now a celestial bronze Katana, which I found sorta weird since a Katana was a Japanese sword, not greek. On the side of the sword in ancient latin, it read Tempestate. Tempestate....Sea Storm. It fit nicely with the current weather. I smiled. I probably looked so cool in front of Astroid right now, even though I had no idea how to use a sword. 

"Zeph."

I turned to Astroid, who managed to stand up and lean against a pine. " Yo."

She made a fist and held it up high. "Destroy his ass."

I grinned. "That's the plan. Im not gonna let him eat me or you either!" I held the sword to my side, like in those old samurai movies, and charged like a Bushido warrior, screaming at the top of my lungs, Lightning crash down. Directly on me. I felt the static electricity flow through my body. I should have been dead, but I wasn't. I didn't care either, because now I had tamed lightning! My blade sparked with power. My feet carried me so quick that I felt the wind woosh by my face with so much force my eyes teared up. All that didn't matter. My mind was set and my goal was absolute. My sword would send the manticore to the lowest depths of tartarus. I could see the surprise in the manticores repulsive face. He moved just as my blade sliced into his shoulder. Black blood spurted out, turning to sand as it hit my face. The beast howled in pain then sent another flurry of needles at me. I don't know how I did it, but I in a slashing motion, the needles were sent of to the side by a powerful gust of wind. I could have sworn I did that. That's when a terrible pain exploded in my shoulder. A great weight pinned me to the ground. Tears formed in my eyes from the pain, but through them, I saw the manticore biting into the flesh on my shoulder. I heard the bone crack and blood spilled out down my arm and onto the beast's lips.

"The taste! I can't wait to devour you!"

Anger boiled in the pit of my stomach. My eyes burned from the immense rage. A bolt of lighting crash down directly on the manticore. It roared in agony, letting go of my, now useless, arm. With my free hand, I slash blindly into the beast's face. Thunder boomed as my blade cut it's face wide open. Sand poured out onto me. But I wasn't done. He would pay for trying to eat me. He would pay for hurting Astroid most of all! With all my strength, I kicked the beast of me. He flew farther than I expected. It struggled to get up, blood pouring from the gaping slash in it's face and turning to sand as it hit the earth. The beast's skin seemed to be cracked and the rain made it worse. It was dying. Turning to sand the more damage I caused. Ill finish it with the next move. I held my sword out to my side like before, squeezing the hilt with white knuckles. I didn't know how I controlled the lightning before, but I charged, screaming at the top of my lungs.

The manticore roared. "I swear on the river styx! I will devour you!" The creature burst into a full on sprint, it's brain was set on kill. So was mine. This clash would decide the battle. If I survived, I would definently ask Astroid to let me keep this sweet sword. I feel like it was made for me. For this moment.     Lightning flashed, filling me with more energy. I felt like a raging dragon, I couldn't feel the pain in my shoulder anymore.

The manticore cocked back it's armored scorpion tail as it charged directly at me. As my sword pierced the skin in the center of the manticores forehead, I felt a cold, wetness on my chest. I wasn't focused on myself, but I could tell the manticores deadly tail was inside of me. Let go of my sword as the beast's body convulsed and seized. It's body began to crumble as it roared out in rage. In mere seconds the great beast that once was, was now a wet pile of sand, blowing away in the strong winds. I smiled. I did it.

"I told you I wasn't gonna...let..him eat...us....." I coughed into my hands. When I looked at them, they were red. That's when I felt my chest. The cold wetness...it all made sense now. I lost my balance and fell on the wet grass. My breaths were shallow, my vision blurring. I couldn't die here. I wanted to see the amazed look on Astroids face when she finds out I saved her life. I laughed silently. "I won Astroid!" I cried. All I heard was ringing. At least I got to die a hero's death, maybe I would finally get to join my parents in olympus or whatever. VIP pass baby. I cried silently. Before I the world turned black, I saw a group of humanoid figures atop the hill. Where these the half-bloods?