Percy Jackson and the Olympians 1. Chapter 1

Selana Larane and the Demigod Adventures

By: Sheniqua Tiluna

Chapter I

The new arrival

When I woke up in the morning I was lying on the cot in cabin three and some part of me told me that one of my relatives was here but I didn't recognize his aura. I then heard a knock on the cabin door and I decided to get up and answer it. I walked over and I prayed to the Gods it wasn't Clarisse daughter of Ares. When I opened the door standing there was a sandy haired boy, with Elvin features and blue eyes and a scar on the side of his mouth.

"Hey Luke, what's up?" I asked him. "Hey there Selana sorry for the rude awakening, I was sent by Chiron. There is someone who he wants you to meet." He said to me timidly. "Alright, are they still at the Big House?" I asked him. He nodded his head and turned and left for the eleventh cabin. I sighed as I watched him leave. Why did everyone but Annabeth, Grover, and Chiron treat me so differently? I wondered if it was because of what I could change into. But I never told them let alone showed them.

I left the cabin shutting the door behind me. I walked down the path past the first and second cabins—which always remand empty. I continued down until I saw the Big House come into view. It was a ranch style looking house with a white railing trimming the outside. I looked over towards the right where Half-Blood Hill sat and standing there was Thaila's pine tree. She was a daughter of Zeus who had sacrificed her life in order to save the lives of her friends. I continued down the path taking in the scenery. The arena, volley ball court, and forest veered off towards the left. The mess hall was farther up the hill and just beyond that Long Sound Bay.

When I came into view of the Big House Grover stood up so quickly that his little goat legs hit the pinochle table. I groaned a little as Chiron was trying to calm down an overly appojectical Satyr. I came over and leaned against the railing. "I was summoned?" I asked sarcastically. "Yes," He said ignoring the sarcasm. "This is Percy Jackson he just arrived." He gestured to a boy no more than twelve years old. He had brown hair and deep sea blue-green eyes. "Hey welcome to Camp Half-Blood." I said to him as happy as I could.

He nodded solemnly and gave me a weak smile. I wondered if something happened on the way up here to make him so miserable. "Selana I was wondering if you could keep an eye on him just for a bit, just until he has a hang of things." Chiron said to me. I cursed silently in my mind. "Yeah sure I don't mind doing that. I mean I do owe you for like three hundred and sixty favors." I said to him looking disgusted. He chuckled and nodded his head. "Well I have to go and do my daily duties now." I said before I could lose control over my temper.

I quickly walked off and headed down towards the canoe lake passing by campers who gave me wide eyed looks as they saw where I was coming from. When I reached the lake I turned and ran down towards where all the campers sit and watch fireworks for the fourth of July. I reached there and found the place completely dirty still. A nymph and a naiad—nature spirits—had already started cleaning up but when they saw me they ran away.

I was used to it by now but still it sort of hurt. I picked up a bag with a sigh and a little stick with a poker at the end of it. I went around and started to pick up the trash that had floated in. I was only halfway up the beach when I heard someone sniffling behind me. I turned around and saw Grover sitting on a sand dune crying. I looked around to see if anyone else was there but it was just me standing there. There was no one else but me and Grover. I decided to walk over to him and try to make a friend. I walked over to him and cleared my throat. He looked over at me and started whimpering again which was slightly annoying. "Sorry I just needed someone to talk to. I'll go if you want me to." He said getting up.

I placed my hand on his shoulder. He looked over at me and I smiled at him. "I'll listen to whatever you have to say." I said to him smiling. I could tell he was shocked because he tilted his head at me. "Seriously you will listen to me?" He asked me shocked. "Don't worry I'm not as cold hearted as I seem." I said to him still smiling.

I sat next to him as he explained to me how much of a failure he was for not being able to protect Percy and his mom. So I was confused about that so he explained that to me and how it was his second chance and he had failed. "Grover don't worry about it too much you'll be able to make it up with a quest. I'm one hundred percent sure that Percy would want you on his team instead of someone like me." I said to him. He looked at me and I could tell he wanted to ask me something but he didn't know how to.

He nodded sadly and looked away. "They are true." I said to him. He looked at me confused. "The rumors about me being able to change into a water dragon are true." I said to him. He looked at me wide eyed and I felt worried that he would scream and run away. But instead a wild smile spread across his face and he tackled me down to the sand.

"That is so awesome! Thank you so much for telling me!" He said enthusiastically. "Alright, alright just swear on the River Styx you won't tell a soul Grover." I demanded of him. He got off of me and nodded his head and then he helped me up. He even stayed around and helped me pick up the trash until the horn for dinner blew. We dropped our work stuff and ran to the dinner pavilion.

I sat down at the third table and Grover went and sat down next to Mr. D and Chiron—who was a centaur—and the other satyr's. I turned around as the other cabins of Athena, Ares, Apollo, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Hermes all filed in. As Percy passed my table I and he caught each other's eyes and I continued to follow him with my eyes until he sat down. I looked forward as Chiron stepped forward and pounded his hoof against the marble and everyone fell silent. He raised his glass and said, "To the Gods!"

Everyone followed his example except for me. I never followed the gods even though my own farther was Poseidon. The wood nymph's came out then bringing platters of food out: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. The nymphs avoided my table completely because I rarely ate after a newcomer arrived.

I watched as campers rose and walked up to the fire pit and scraped off a piece of their food for the Gods. Some part of me was envious but another part of me could careless, That part of me won whenever I saw this. I saw Grover walk up and he waved happily at me. I smiled and half-heartedly waved back.

Then I saw Luke and Percy went up and I had really hoped he would get claimed right away so I wouldn't be alone at this table or in the cabin anymore. When Percy turned around I looked away. When everyone sat down again and finished their dinner Chiron pounded his hoof on the marble. Mr. D-a.k.a. Dionysus-stood up with a huge sigh."Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly yells and cheering came from the Ares table. I just sighed not really caring about it. I just wanted to go to bed.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." Chiron murmured something.

"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on." Everybody cheered and they all headed towards the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin would lead them in a sing along.

As Percy walked by I looked at him straight in the face and I could tell I made him nervous. It was like that with everyone. They didn't even know me yet they judged me and way too harshly. But instead of ignoring me he smiled at me. I couldn't help but smile back at him. He encouraged me to follow and I did up until the point where I saw the cabins and I veered off towards them.

I was exhausted for some weird reason. I climbed the stairs to my cabin and opened the door. I walked over to my bed and the second I laid my head on the pillow I was out cold. I had no dreams but I felt even more alone than usual because of that.

4


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Son of Poseidon

I heard a knock and it startled me so bad I slammed my head against the upper bunk and I fell out of bed. A girl with blonde hair and storm gray eyes came rushing in with Percy.

"Are you ok?" Annabeth asked me cautiously.

"Yeah nothing like a good head slam to wake one up in the morning. What can I do for you?" I asked her sitting up.

"Well you could say hello to your brother Percy." She said to me a little hard.

I looked at her dumbfounded.

"Huh?" I asked like an idiot.

She just sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Percy was claimed last night while you were asleep. We all agreed to wait until the morning to tell you. You kinda needed the rest seeing as how you slept for two days straight." She said to me.

"Oh, well then welcome to cabin three. I'm Selana and I'm obviously the one in charge here." I said trying to smile.

Percy nodded and he looked sad for some reason. Annabeth left us alone and went to her mom's cabin.

"So where do I sleep?" Percy asked looking cautiously at the floor.

"Anywhere you'd like bro." I said lightheartedly.

He looked at me weird and I knew he heard the rumors about me.

"So what did you hear about me?" I asked not really wanting to hear.

"Just some people saying you're a monster." He said a little scared.

"Do you believe them?" I asked worried.

He hesitated which was never good.

"I don't really know. I'll just ask you one question before I decide to trust you or not." He said sternly.

"Then go ahead and ask." I said to him.

"Are you a monster?" He asked me.

I shook my head no. He seemed to calm down after that. We stayed together in the cabin talking until Luke came and got Percy for a private sword fighting lesson.

After they left I looked inside the shoe box that Percy carried in with him. Inside was the horn of a Minotaur. Was Percy stupid enough to go up against one of them? I didn't know but still it was impressive that he survived the attack. I pulled out a string and tied it down on either side and hung it up on the wall. Hopefully he'll feel welcome, and then I left the cabin and headed into the woods but I could feel a storm coming.

I picked up the remnants of last night's capture the flag and I wondered if Percy was claimed out here. I threw everything into a wheel barrel and took it over to the armory. As I was coming out of the forest I saw Percy on the rock climbing wall and honestly he looked like a deformed satyr as he tried to avoid the lava and boulders being flung at him. I just chuckled and shook my head.

He was completely different from the old Perseus but I wondered if that was because of their godly parents. I continued down the path towards the armory. I went back to the cabin out of habit and when I got there I saw Percy throwing out a newspaper. When he saw me he turned his head away.

"I don't want to talk about it." He muttered to me.

I went over to the trash bin and looked inside of it. The crumpled up newspaper was for a missing person named Sally Jackson and Percy with the number for the missing person's information circled in red marker. I sighed in annoyance for whoever decided to do this to him. I walked over to his bed, sat down on the edge, and placed my hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about your mother Percy." I said sincerely.

He just curled up even tighter and closed his eyes.

"Lights out little brother," I whispered to him.

I got up from his bunk bed and headed over to mine. I sat down on my bed and opened up the top drawer to my dresser. I pulled out a photo of me and man standing with each other smiling at each other. The man had blonde hair and blue eyes.

He also had a scar across his left eye. I knew this person very well. He was one of the many people who I had to leave in order to try and unite dragons and demi-gods thus becoming a traitor. I laid down on my side and fell asleep until morning. I woke up to someone shaking me nervously. I opened my eyes and Grover—a young satyr with acne and a wispy beard starting—and Percy was staring at me.

"And everyone's staring at me because?" I asked groggily.

"Mr. D wants to talk with us." Percy said.

I looked at him and he looked scared, really scared. I sat up and my picture fell into view. I quickly grabbed it and hid it in my jacket pocket.

"Can he wait five minutes while we get dressed?" I asked Grover.

He nodded his head and left us alone. Me and Percy got dressed in silence. Then we followed Grover down to the Big House. Meanwhile it felt like someone or something was trying to get in my head. I fought off whatever it was thus draining my energy. When we got to the Big House Mr. D and Chiron were playing pinochle with two invisible opponents. I was so nervous about the sky and trying to get a hold of me that I couldn't focus on Mr. D's conversation with Percy.

After a while Mr. D left and Chiron told all three of us to sit. I was now feeling that strange sensation again but I forced myself to pay attention.

"Tell me, Percy," Chiron said. "What did you make of the hellhound?"

I wondered when a hellhound got in but I was a bit more preoccupied at the moment. Grover kept looking at me worriedly.

"It scared me," Percy said. "If you hadn't shot it, I'd be dead."

"You'll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you're done."

"Done…with what?"

"Your quest, of course. Will you accept it?"

Percy glanced at Grover who had his fingers crossed and me who could not even sit in a damn chair right now.

"Um, sir," Percy said, "you haven't told me what it is yet."

Chiron grimaced. "Yes well that's the hard part, the details."

I couldn't sit anymore. I stood up so quickly that my chair fell over. Everyone looked at me. I didn't and couldn't explain right then. I ran to the end of the porch and away from my friends holding my head. I managed to make it to the beach before I collapsed. I was trying hard to push the intruder out.

_"Get out of my head!"_ I shouted in my head.

_"And here I thought you missed me."_ Said a male voice.

I opened my eyes a little bit as I realized who it was.

_"Kyle? Is that really you?"_ I asked.

_"Well, duh! Who else would it be? By the way you're getting rained on."_ He said to me.

Rained on? I then realized it was raining and I also heard someone yelling my name. I looked around for Kyle but I didn't see him. Just then Grover, Percy, Annabeth, Chiron, and one other person came around the hill. I stared at the boy because he looked familiar. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a scar across his eye.

My vision blurred and I fainted before they even got to me. I could feel when they got to me but I couldn't hear them. Eventually I drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The quest begins

When I broke up I was in the van for Camp Half-Blood. I was really stiff and someone had their arm on my shoulder. I looked over and it was the boy from before. I looked in front of me and Annabeth, Percy, and Grover were holding onto the sides of their seats for dear life as the harpies drove like crazy bats out of Hades. Or was that Argus? I was still a little fuzzy and weak. It had been months since that happened. Annabeth and Percy were arguing about their parents and Argus found it amusing.

We slowed down in Queens because of traffic and I decided to move then. I stretched and the blond boy moved and everyone looked at me worriedly.

"You ok Selana?" Said the boy next to me.

Hearing that familiar voice made me shudder.

"What are you doing here? I thought I told you never to come find me." I said weakly.

"Geez and here I thought you'd be happy to see me but I guess not." Kyle said with feigned hurt in his voice.

I actually managed to slug him in the arm instead of the face. He cursed under his breath and I laughed.

"Selana are you alright?" Percy asked me.

I lifted up my head and looked at him. He looked angry yet not at me.

"Yeah I'm fine. So, where are we going exactly?" I asked as we pulled up to the Greyhound Bus Station.

"Fill you in on the bus. Come on." He said to me.

We all piled out but Kyle had to catch me so I wouldn't fall.

"Can I just lean on you for a while?" I asked him feeling sick.

"Of course you can. And I'm sorry that I hurt you. I was just trying to through to you quickly." He said to me.

I looked up at him and he looked concerned for some reason.

"Why? What's going on?" I asked him.

"Your brother will tell you." He said dragging me into the bus station.

Argus unloaded our stuff and I noticed that there was a bag for me with my sword's but sticking out.

"Who went through my stuff?" I asked sharply.

"I did, sorry. You were so out that we couldn't wake you." Annabeth said.

I nodded my head wondering what she just happened to pack of mine. However, I recognized the bag and I was happy she chose it, because it could hold all of my stuff and then some and still feel and look empty. Argus left us as we got our bus tickets and drove away keeping the eye on the back of his neck on us. As we sat there waiting Percy, Annabeth, and Grover got bored and started playing hacky sack with one of Grover's apples while me and Kyle sat on a bench.

"Feel any better yet?" Kyle asked me.

"Somewhat, I still have no idea where we are going or why I was forced to come. And I still feel exhausted as all get out." I said sleepily.

The others game ended when Grover caught the apple with his mouth and promptly ate it. He tried to apologize but Percy and Annabeth were laughing too hard. Finally the bus came and Kyle helped me stand up. I grabbed my bag and slipped it over my head resting it across my chest.

We stood in line behind Percy and the others. While standing there I could have sworn I heard a laugh so I quickly turned my head around but there was nothing out of the ordinary. I grabbed Kyle's wrist and immediately forged an empathy link with him that was stronger than that of a satyr's. He wouldn't know about it until later, much later. When we got on the bus we sat right behind Percy and the others.

Everyone else stored there bags but I kept mine. After having it on my back I could feel all of the magical items in there. Annabeth paid no expense packing some of the really powerful ones. As soon as the last passengers got on the bus Annabeth grabbed Percy's knee. "Percy."

An old lady had just boarded the bus. She wore a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadowed her face, and she carried a big paisley purse. When she tilted her head up, her black eyes glittered, and Percy tensed up hard.

I figured that he recognized the Furie as somebody she posed as, which must have really sucked for him. Percy scrunched down in his seat and I could tell he was trying to hide from her. Behind her came two more old ladies one with a green hat, and one with a purple hat. Otherwise they looked like the first Furie old and really gross. Triple demonized Grandmothers.

They sat in the front row right behind the bus driver. The two that sat next to the aisle crossed their legs making an X over the walk way. It was pretty subtle but the message was clear: nobody leaves.

The bus pulled out of the station, and we headed through the sleek streets of Manhattan. Kyle very carefully grabbed his bag from where he stored it. I started rifling through mine while the three demigods thought of a plan. I pulled out two amulets that looked like watches but in fact they were consealers. They were meant for dragons but I thought the others would find better use of them.

"Put these on Annabeth and Grover, and Annabeth give Percy your hat." I said as we approached the Lincoln Tunnel. Annabeth and Grover put on the amulets but Annabeth didn't give Percy her hat.

"Annabeth give Percy your hat now." I hissed as we closed in on the tunnel.

"No, don't you have something similar to this?" She asked me.

"No a god's magic is unrivaled by anything even the things that you put in here."

"Well why do I have to?"

"Just trust me please!"

We hit the tunnel and the bus went dark besides the emergency lights that illuminated the aisle. The first Furie with the orange hat stood up and announced to the bus in a flat tone: "I need to use the restroom."

"So do I," said the second sister.

"So do I," said the third sister.

Annabeth scowled but reluctantly gave Percy her hat. "Take my hat Percy." Annabeth said.

"What?"

"You're the one they want. Turn invisible and go up the aisle. Let them pass you. Maybe you can get to the front and get away."

"But you guys—."

"There's an outside chance they may not notice us," Annabeth said. "You're a son of one of the Big Three. Your smell might be overpowering."

"I can't just leave you."

"Don't worry about us," Grover said. "Go!"

Percy was trembling but he took the hat and slipped it onto his head within seconds he was no longer there. Me and Kyle gripped our swords as the Furies came closer. However, they stopped for a second and looked at an empty row. When they saw nothing they continued down towards the four of us. I was hoping those charms would allow Annabeth and Grover to escape unscathed.

Thankfully they ignored Annabeth and Grover and paid more attention to me and Kyle. They revealed there true ugly forms and their purses melted into whips.

They surrounded us whipping us with their fiery whips hissing: "Where is it? Where?"

We couldn't say anything we were more worried about getting burned. They raised their whips once more, getting annoyed with the silence, and I grabbed my sword pulling it out. Then all of a sudden the bus jerked left and the Furies hit the window. As for the rest of us we fell onto the floor, but I also fell onto my sword.

"Hey!" I heard the driver yell. "Hey—whoa!" I looked up towards the front and the bus driver was fighting with an invisible Percy. I felt something warm on my side and I looked down. There was a large gash in my side that was bleeding. We managed to make it to a rural area right outside of New York near New Jersey heading towards the Hudson River.

Then I heard the tires screech as they were forced to stop all of a sudden and we did a full circle on the wet asphalt and then we slammed into some trees. I fell onto my wound as I slammed back onto the floor.

Everyone followed the bus driver's example by getting off of the bus. By this time the Furies had regained their balance. What in the gods name was Percy doing?! Then as I struggled to get up I heard Percy yell: "Hey!" I looked up and saw he wasn't wearing the cap anymore. The Furies all turned their attention on him. One stalked up the aisle like she was going to give him a bad grade or something which was weird.

Then her sisters got up on either row of the seats and crawled their way up to him. Annabeth and Grover moved up behind the Furies cautiously, hoping for an opening. Kyle came over to me and helped me up. My side was giving me problems. I looked back over and Percy was holding Anaklusmos, Riptide, a source of really bad memories for me. Apparently it did for the middle Furie too. Kyle and I walked to the front but I didn't want to get to close to Percy's sword.

"Percy, look out!" Annabeth cried.

The middle Furie lashed out her whip around Percy's sword hand while the other two lunged at him. I jumped in the middle and kicked her right in the gut toppling her back into a seat. Percy swung Riptide and it connected with her neck making her burst open with gold dust. Annabeth had the middle one in a wrestler's chokehold. Grover ripped the whip out of her hands while complaining how hot it was. The fury that I had kicked in the gut came at Percy again, but he swung Riptide across her stomach and she burst open like a piñata.

I looked over at Annabeth who surprisingly still held onto the fury even though it was biting, hissing, and clawing at her. I made a mental note of never to piss off another child of Athena again in my life time no matter how annoying they were. Grover had tied the whip around the Furies legs with the help of Kyle. Annabeth pushed the Fury into the aisle and it struggled to stand.

"Zeus will destroy you!" She promised to us. "Hades will have your soul!"

"Braccus meas vescimini!" Percy yelled.

I wasn't one hundred percent sure where or what the Latin meant but I was pretty sure Percy said: "Eat my pants!"

Thunder shook the bus then and I knew we were in deep trouble.

"Get out!" Annabeth yelled. "Now!" We so did not need any other encouragement.

We quickly ran outside and found the other passengers losing their minds. A tourist in a Hawaiian shirt snapped a photo of Percy with his camera before he could recap his sword.

"Our bags!" Grover realized. "We left our—"

BOOOM!

The windows on the bus exploded and the passengers ran for cover. Lightning shredded the top of the bus. While an angry wail from inside told all of us that the Fury wasn't done. My sword also flew out of the bus during the explosion and landed tip first in the grass. I quickly grabbed it as the others ran into the forest. I ran after them as the rain poured down, with the bus in flames, and nothing but soulless darkness ahead of us.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A visit with Medusa

I swear sometimes that if there weren't gods out there I'd go in sane. Because one of the nice things about gods existiting is you can blame someone when something goes completely wrong like the bus incident. Gods tend to screw around with demigods and dragons just for the Hades of it and it really ticked me off some times. Anyway Percy, Annabeth, and Grover walked in front of me and Kyle arguing about what happened on the bus.

Finally I just grew impatient enough to the point where I did one of my best taxi cab whistles that got everyone's attention.

"Alright on an account you could not explain a single thing to me on the bus, I want a full explanation of what we are doing out in the woods and why those _things_ attacked us, right now." I demand to everyone.

They hesitated slightly, but finally Percy told me everything—including the part where some dragons were coming to get me—and I found myself to be rather annoyed and angry by all of this. I looked at Kyle mystified but he couldn't meet my eyes.

"Are you one of those dragons Kyle?" I asked him.

He looked at me with a mixture of emotions—guilt, hurt, anger, and sadness—but he just sighed and quickly looked away. We were completely silent except for the rain that was steadily healing my wound from my sword—which was now back in my bag of tricks.

"Kyle? Are you one of them?" I asked scared and on the verge of being hurt.

"I—I was at first." He said slowly.

"Kyle?!"

"But the moment I learned I'd be coming after you I abanded my duty!" He shouted at me.

I just stood there waiting. Percy and the others were just staring at us in disbelief. No one really saw me raise my voice or see me scared so this was semi-interesting to them.

"I didn't want to hurt you, and destroy your trust, so I left everyone and I came to find you to tell you." He said not meeting my eyes.

By this time the rain had stopped and the only thing that I could see of him was his sandy blond hair. I walked over to him and placed my hand in his. Only then did I realize that he was crying. I was momentarily shocked by this. The man who I'd never ever seen cry was Kyle.

"Kyle I'm sorry about losing my temper. But I truly am happy that you are finally by my side again." I said to him.

After that we stumbled around in the dark while Grover attempted to find us a path with his reed flutes, but it was not working at all. Eventually we saw some lights up ahead so we headed towards it. Wow that sounded really ominous, didn't it? Anyway, not only could I see some lights, but I could smell some food cooking as well, and I'll fully admit that I was starving. I mean I hadn't eaten at camp for a couple of days so I was kind of hungry.

We continued to walk until we found a deserted two-lane road, with a closed down gas station, and only one business with bright neon lights. However, I did not like the feeling I got from the place. I had an excellent sense of smell on an account I was a dragon, and I could smell that there was a monster inside, but not just any monster, it was one I had encountered before. I didn't say anything in hopes I was wrong, but that didn't stop Percy from running across the street with Annabeth on his flank. Me, Grover, and Kyle cautiously brought up the rear. Grover freaked out at seeing a satyr statue that was playing reed pipes.

_"Bla-ha-ha!_ That looks like my Uncle Ferdinand!" He said terrified.

I grabbed Kyle's hand as we stopped in front of the warehouse door. We exchanged looks and he was confused as to why I grabbed his hand. While the demigods fought about whether or not to go in I quickly mouthed the name of the monster I thought that lived here. His face instantly showed shock, but when the door opened up it went flat. I looked over and saw a Middle-Eastern woman wearing sunglasses and what looked like a turban over her hair.

As she was talking to Percy the very sound of her voice sent ice down my spine. They then started to go in, but me and Kyle stayed out. Percy turned around and looked at us confused.

"Aren't you guys coming?" HE asked sound a little offended.

"Nah, we were going to go look for a phone to call our ring master. You go on ahead." Kyle said smoothly.

They went inside and we quickly went back across the street and into the woods. My legs buckled under from me and I dropped to the ground shaking. I really don't know why I was, but I couldn't help it. Kyle knelt down next to me and hugged me to try and help me feel better, but it only made it worse. I just sat on the cold ground for who knows how long until I heard Annabeth's voice back outside.

"Look away from her!" I heard her shout.

Me and Kyle quickly stood up to see Percy on the ground dazed, Grover running off somewhere, and Annabeth invisible. However, the thing that scared me the most was knowing my hunch was correct. Medusa was really here and she was trying to turn my friends into nothing more than statue's.

"Go and help them now!" I shouted at Kyle.

He ran across the street leaving me behind. I took a couple of deep breathes with my eyes closed. I was going to break my one rule for myself and changed into a water dragon. After my third deep breathe I opened my eyes. I knew I was in my dragon form because every one of my senses were enhanced, and I saw a scene that scared me to no end. Grover crashed into a statue and Medusa was about to kill him. Luckily I moved pretty quick and I managed to get to Grover before Medusa got to him. I released a blood thirsty snarl from my throat which made Medusa stop dead in her tracks.

"What in the name of Zeus is that?!" I heard Annabeth ask some where off to my side.

I ignored her and went into a protective stance over Grover, who had his eyes closed and quivered fearfully underneath me. I really hoped that he was afraid of the monster and not me.

"You! What are you doing here?!" She hissed at me.

The only response I gave her was a growl. Part of me was really glad I was immune to her petrifaction abilities. However, another part of me held a very strong fear for the monster. As I was distracting it Percy came up from behind and chopped off its head with Riptide. Percy had the point of it at me, but I just easily walked away from him and Grover.

I stood off to the side while the slowly approached Medusa's head.

"Oh yuck," Grover said with his eyes still closed. "Mega-yuck."

Annabeth wrapped the head in a black cloth and then they made sure everyone was alright before redirecting their attention back to me. I lowered myself down to the ground to try and _hopefully_ show them I was harmless. Apparently it didn't work because Percy raised Riptide again and Annabeth pulled out her knife, and Grover hid behind Percy fearfully. Kyle on the other hand just walked right up to me. He placed his hand on my head and I couldn't help but to give a satisfied rumble in my throat.

"Kyle who or what is that?!" Grover asked carefully.

"She is a dragon and she is Percy's sister." He said to them calmly.

"That's Selana?!" All three asked confused.

I lifted up my head just enough to give them a slight nod. Grover gave me a wicked smile and ran over to me giving me a hug around my muzzle as odd as that sounded.

"That was so amazing! Thank you for helping us!" He said happily.

Grover backed up from me and I sat up. Annabeth came forward carefully, but I lowered head so she could touch it. However, when Percy approached I stepped away from him. He still had Riptide out in full view.

"Why is she backing up when I approach her?" Percy asked annoyed.

I looked at Kyle and made soft gurgling sounds. He looked at Percy's sword with slight anger in his eyes, but I was the only one who noticed it.

"It's not you Percy, but more or less your sword. She has felt that sword's sting once before, but that is a story for a different time and place. For now I suggest we go back inside to think of a plan." Kyle said somewhat stern.

I pushed him slightly with my head and he looked at me confused. I looked back at Percy and the others and then looked at Kyle. I tilted my head at him and he looked at me shocked.

"If you're sure then I'll ask," Kyle said to me. I made a few growling noises at him. "Alright…uh, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover, Selana here wants to forge a mental connection with you guys. It won't hurt or anything it will just allow you to talk to her when she is in her dragon form. She just needs your permission first."

The three of them exchanged looks, but they gave me a reluctant nod yes. I reached out with my mind and touched their minds.

_"Can you all hear me?"_ I asked them in my mind.

They all looked shocked, but they nodded their heads towards me. I changed back into my human form and they just stared at me. Regardless of the questions in their eyes Percy recapped Riptide and Grover snatched his flying shoes out of the air. We went back into the warehouse, and they wrapped up the head in a plastic bag that were behind the counter and then we sat at a table. Everyone was way too exhausted to speak and I did not blame them.

"Well we have Athena to thank for this monster." Percy said annoyed.

"Your dad, actually. Don't you remember? Medusa was Poseidon's girlfriend. They decided to meet in my mother's temple. That's why Medusa wanted to slice me up. But she decided to preserve you as a statue. She's angry at my mom for turning her and her sister into the three gorgons." Annabeth said angrily.

"Oh so now this is _my_ fault?" He asked her furious.

"'It's just a photo. Annabeth what's the harm in that?'" She said in a mock impression of Percy's voice.

"Forget it, you're impossible." Percy said flustered.

"You're insufferable."

"You're—"

"Hey!" Grover interrupted. "You two are giving me a migraine, and satyrs don't even _get_ migraines. What are we going to do with the head?"

Percy stared at the head with a very deep hatred in his eyes. I wasn't one hundred percent sure what he was mad at, but he was mad.

Percy got up. "I'll be back."

Annabeth called to him, but he just ignored her. He went to the back and riffled through Medusa's stuff. He was grabbing things here and there and I wasn't entirely sure what he was doing or planning. However, when he came back with a box that looked like it could fit a head in it. I couldn't help the smile that slowly spread over my face. He packed up Medusa's head and filled out a delivery slip and sent it to the Gods.

"They're not going to like that," Grover warned. "They'll think you're impertinent."

Percy poured a couple of gold drachmas into a pouch and when he sealed it there was a sound of a cash register closing. Then the box floated off the table a bit and then disappeared.

"I _am_ impertinent," he said.

He looked at Annabeth just daring her to say something or to criticize him for what he just did. She didn't tough, which was probably smart. Apparently Percy had a better talent of ticking off the Gods than I did.

"Come on, we need a new pan." Annabeth said.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A poodle gives us advice

Everyone was pretty miserable the rest of the night. We even had to sleep out in the woods from the mainland. Annabeth instantly fell asleep on some blankets after we decided to sleep in shifts. Grover went up to a low tree branch and Percy stayed on the ground. Me and Kyle laid on the ground next to each other. As Kyle was tracing different designs on my arm I stared up at the stars. I was vaguely aware of Percy and Grover's conversation until I heard Percy call my name.

"Selana," Percy called softly.

"What is it Percy?" I asked him.

"Remember how you said back at camp that if I had any questions I could ask you? Does that apply out here as well?"

"Yes Percy I do remember Percy, and yes it does apply out here as well. What's your question?"

"Why don't you like Riptide?" He asked me carefully.

I sat there for a while staring up at the stars and I saw the constellation of Hercules, and a large part of me filled up with deep hatred.

"Back before the sword was given to you it belonged to another demigod. He is pretty famous towards the mortals, but not to us dragons. When he found me in the woods at the base of the mountain that lead to Olympus, and he attacked me for no reason. Granted there were dragons out there that would kill humans for the pleasure, but that gave him no reason to attack me. He stabbed Riptide very close to my spine so I was barely alive after he left me there to die." I said slowly.

"How were you able to survive?" He asked stunned.

"Another dragon saw what happened and called for help."

"How old are you Selana?"

"In human years or dragon years?"

"Both."

"In human years I am thirteen years old. In dragon years I'm well over a thousand years old." I said calmly.

I heard what sounded like Grover falling off his tree branch and onto Percy. The argued for a second before returning their attention to me.

"How old are you exactly?" Percy asked me again.

"One thousand and thirteen years old." I said still staring up at the stars.

"What?!" Percy and Grover asked in unison.

I chuckled a bit at them, but I was worried about how much to tell them.

"Percy listen to what I'm about to tell you. I have lived a very good portion of my life hating demigods, but then I met Chiron and I slowly began to wonder if my hatred towards demigods was rational. Dragons have isolated themselves from everyone to the point where we are believed to be nothing more than myth. I no longer hate demigods, but I am still cautious around them. So I need to find some reason to trust you first before I tell you anymore." I said to him.

"Alright, I understand." He said sadly.

"Get some sleep you two; me and Kyle will keep watch." I said to him.

Before they could protest I started singing a lullaby that is taught to all young dragons. Once I was done with the song both Grover and Percy were out cold. I was still watching the stars when I felt a hand on the side of my face. My face was rolled over until my eyes met Kyle's eyes. He had a very serious look in his eyes, the scar across his left looked very scary in the dark. He moved his hand from my cheek to the back of my neck.

"Kyle? What are you doing?" I asked blushing a bit.

The way he answered me was pulling me into a kiss. I put my hands on his chest, but I didn't push away from him. We pulled away and we were both breathing hard. Instead of stopping there Kyle, lifted me up, shoved me up against the tree, and looked at me intensely. I had almost forgotten how much he loved me. Although we never really officially went out he loved me and I loved him.

"Selana I am going to ask you something, but I don't want an answer until this quest is done, understand?" He asked me.

He was so close to my face that when he spoke I could feel the warmth of his breath on my face. I just nodded my head seeing as how I was unable to speak at the moment.

"Will you—will you go out with me?" He asked sternly.

My face felt hot and I swear if I wasn't a dragon I would not have been able to see him blush. I was glad he gave me until the end of this quest to answer him, because in all honesty I had no idea what to tell him.

"Think about it first please," he said pulling me into a hug.

I then realized that he was probably being serious for the first time. We used to joke around about him asking me out, but now that it's actually happening I felt…scared.

He released me from my hug and then sat down next to me again. We sat in awkward silence for about an hour. I was lost in my thoughts. I couldn't tell if this was some sort of joke, or was he serious. What should I do if he was teasing me? What if he was serious? What would he do if I said no? What would he do if I said yes? I was so lost in thought that when I felt Kyle grab my hand I jumped a little.

I looked at him from the corner of my eye, but he wasn't looking at me. He had a tight grip on my hand and I knew something was wrong. I wondered what I could say to him to tell me what happened.

"Kyle?" I finally asked after another hour of silence.

"Yes Selana?" He asked me carefully.

"What…what did the king order for me?" I asked scared.

"The king believes you're safe so he didn't give the order to attack you. However, when I told him another dragon ordered me to hunt you down he gave me a new order. He sent me plus two other dragons to find and protect you." He said to me.

Ok now I was really, really confused. Why would the king of the dragons, the same man who banished me, would finally believe me?

"What happened while I was away?" I asked him a little stern.

"A dragon tried a mutiny against the king, but we don't know who ordered it. Then a few years ago several dragons turned traitor. So the king sensing his mistake deemed him safe." Kyle explained to me.

"Where are the other dragons that came with you?"

"We split up in Vegas. They should still be in the hotel I left them in, but I don't know."

"Who came with you?"

"Flare and Castile came along with me. They miss you a lot."

"Flare is the only daughter of Ares that I can stand, but why Castile? No disregard to the son of Hades, but why does he miss me?"

"Because you were the only one who was stupid enough to fight the orders of people you didn't like." He said smiling a little.

After that comment I couldn't help but laugh. He was right Castile did respect me for that, but he was—how should I put it?—a little cold at times.

"So who is the traitor?" I asked trying to not sound like I care.

"You should know you hate his guts." Kyle said annoyed.

"It's Ceil isn't it?"

"Yeah it is. I just wish I knew why he was doing this. Despite him being a son of Athena he's really, really stupid."

"That is what I've been telling you guys all this time. He may be smart, but he is the world's dumbest child of Athena." I said joking.

"Oh really? You kept telling us that? Please you just kept calling him an ass for making you feel stupid." Kyle said smiling.

"Well fine whatever he's still an idiot and an ass." I said annoyed.

After that we noticed that the sky was becoming a bit brighter. We were silent as we watched the sun rise. As I was watching it I couldn't help, but think that there was something big coming. I also felt as if there was someone at Camp Half-Blood that has silently betrayed those who trusted him or her. I then felt angry at myself for thinking that. Why would one of them betray the gods? Didn't all of the Half-Bloods love their godly parents? I mean I can partially understand why Ceil would betray the dragons and the gods.

Dragons used to be hunted by demigods to the point were when Greece and Rome fell the English demigods were called knights and found sport in killing us. The English portrayed us as creatures who hoard gold and other treasures. By the way that is so not true. We hate gold and gems, we only tolerate them if we use them as swords.

I looked over at Kyle who was still not meeting my gaze. In the dawning light his blond hair slowly started to glow like it was absorbing the sun's light. When the light touched Kyle's eye he closed it a little. One of the things that I did forget about him was that he was partially blind in his left eye due to the scar. He got that scar fighting another dragon in order to protect me. I wasn't there when the fight occurred; I was off doing a job with Castile and Flare for the king.

When I got back from the three day journey the first thing I saw was Kyle with a bandage over his left eye. I freaked out big time, mainly because he was my best friend and I also had a huge crush on him. All he told me was that he was in a fight and lost. I was never able to get him to tell me what happened, but I stayed by his side for the three weeks he had that bandage on his eye.

When I looked back over to the others Annabeth, Percy, and Grover were all awake. Grover had some kind of poodle in his arms. I got up and went over to them with Kyle following behind me.

"So what's with the pink poodle?" I asked curious.

"Morning, and this is Gladiola. He's going to help us get further west." Grover said calmly.

"How?" I asked confused.

Grover explained to me how he found the pink fuzz ball in the woods, and how they started talking. He also told me how the pink thing ran away from a rich family and that there was a two-hundred dollar reward for it. We decided to turn in the dog for the reward and take the west-bound train to Los Angeles. The train left at noon and the plan sounded simple enough, but I still wondered if we really could make it all the way there without getting attacked by any monsters. However, regardless of my concerns I agreed to the plan, cleaned up our camp site, and headed to give back the poodle to its family.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

We destroy the Gateway Arch

We spent two days on the train heading west. We went through hills, past amber grains, and over rivers. Luckily we weren't attacked once while on the train, but that didn't help me or Percy relax any. It was like riding in a big display case going a hundred miles an hour. We were like sitting ducks unable to do anything.

Percy tried to keep a low profile, because of his name and face were plastered on every newspaper. I ignored what they said because I could only imagine that Percy's stepfather was twisting it around to sound like he was innocent and had nothing to do with it, which only made me angry. Me and Kyle sat in silence, and if I wasn't watching Percy walk the entire train I would be deep in thought about Kyle's question. I just couldn't shake it from my mind. I guess I shouldn't let it bother me so much, but for some reason it did.

The reward money could only get us to Denver and we couldn't get any of those fancy tram cars with those beds so we crashed on the seats. Once when I fell asleep I started out on Kyle's shoulder, but when I woke up I was on his lap. I sat up quickly so no one would notice. Kyle was out cold with his head against the window. He was resting on his left side which was bad because it would mess with his eye. I carefully grabbed his head and placed it on my lap. When I looked at his face it seemed so quiet and peaceful, but I resisted the urge to kiss him.

He slept like that until we got past the Mississippi river and into St. Louis as the Gateway Arch came into view. He sat up slowly holding his left eye. Crud I didn't get to him soon enough.

"Are you ok Kyle?" I asked truly worried.

"Just forgot not to sleep on my left side." He said with pain in his voice.

"I'm sorry," I blurted out after a few seconds of silence.

He looked at me confused and his hand dropped from his left eye showing me his scar.

"Why are you apologizing to me Selana?" He asked confused.

"Because it's my fault that you got hurt. I may not know what happened, but I do know that other dragon to protect me and…" My voice chocked up.

For the last past two hundred years I've been holding back my guilt for what happened. I felt the train stop and I looked at Annabeth who was motioning for us to follow her. I guessed she wanted to go sightseeing.

"Come on let's go." I said grabbing my bag.

Kyle followed me off the train in silence and we all headed towards the Gateway Arch. Kyle didn't speak to me and I did not try to break the silence. When we got to the Gateway Arch we got into an elevator and we headed up to the observation deck. There was a woman in the elevator with a little yapping Chihuahua that kept growling. I had a bad feeling about her.

We stayed up in the observation deck until it was five minutes to close. Percy steered Annabeth and Grover towards the elevator while me and Kyle followed behind. There wasn't much room in the elevator when Annabeth and Grover were shoved into it with two other tourists, so there really wasn't any room in it when Kyle shoved me in there before the doors closed. I whirled my head around as the doors were finishing up closing and I saw a very serious look on Kyle's face.

_"Don't ever tell me you're sorry for a decision I make."_ Kyle said to me in my head sternly.

The doors closed and we went down in silence. I looked at Annabeth and Grover who were staring at me. I semi-glared at them, but they just continued to stare at me.

_"What is it?"_ I asked them sharply through the mental bond.

_"What was that all about?"_ Grover and Annabeth asked me.

_"Nothing I just…made an error in judgment."_ I said to them.

They still had questions, but they didn't push me any further. When the elevator reached the bottom floor, the doors opened, and we headed for the exit. The second we got outside an explosion came from the observation deck. My first initial reaction was fear. Kyle and Percy were up there fighting what smelled like a damn Chimera. I figured Percy would be fine, but Kyle was having trouble seeing out of his left eye so his field of vision was cut in half. Luckily Kyle has fought the Chimera so much that his blood was immune to its poison. Second initial reaction: great we just blew up a side of a national monument.

Grover and Annabeth tried to get back as I stood paralyzed watching helplessly. I saw a golden sword fly out of the observation deck. Fear slowly wrapped its fingers around my heart as I realized that, that was Percy's sword. He was weaponless now and probably hurt. I took my attention away for a second to see if Grover and Annabeth were coming back when I heard the sickening sound of two bodies splashing into the water. I whirled my head around just as the water was settling back down.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Percy becomes a fugitive

I guess you want me to tell you that I was just faking the fear to add more suspense, and that I was completely calm, right?

Wrong: It took Grover and Annabeth at least three minutes to calm me down before we went and looked for Kyle and Percy. I was shaking so hard from the fear that Annabeth had to keep telling me it was ok. Eventually she just held my hand. We finally saw Kyle—who was sopping wet—and Percy—who was dry—were looking around for us. I was so relieved that I nearly started crying.

However, as we approached them after Grover gave them a great big goat hug I tried to look angry, but I don't think I fooled them. Percy and Kyle seemed rather calm for falling off something six hundred and thirty feet in the air. Then the crowd parted as a woman on a stretcher passed by saying something about a fire breathing Chihuahua. That's when Kyle and Percy told us about Echidna and her Chimera which was just lovely, and to top it all off Percy needed to go to Santa Monica because Poseidon's water spirit summoned him there.

Grover was all for it, but I wasn't. However, before Annabeth could speak a news caster was giving a description of Percy and then we all ran back to the train avoiding cops along the way.


	8. Chapter 8

p style="text-align: center;"Chapter 8/p  
p style="text-align: center;"We get cheeseburgers from a god/p  
p style="text-align: left;"We managed to make it onto the train just before the doors closed. We all sat in silence for the rest of the train ride, but I did get a few mental questions from Percy though. He was mainly wondering if I was angry at him or if I was OK. As we got closer to dinner time I realized I hadn't eaten in a couple of days so I was pretty hungry. When dinner did come around we all headed to the dinning car to eat our last meal on the train. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"That's how the rest of the train ride went until we reached Denver; we were silent. Not only did we have our last meal somewhere over Kansas we also hadn't had a shower since Half-Blood Hill so it was pretty obvious, and I was honestly trying to ignore the smell of it. /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Let's try and contact Chiron," Annabeh said. "I wanna tell him about your talk with the river spirit."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""But we can't use phones, right?" Percy asked confused./p  
p style="text-align: left;""I'm not talking about phones." Annabeth said./p  
p style="text-align: left;""After you guys contact Chiron I need to contact someone then. It that's alright with you guys." Kyle said to them calmly./p  
p style="text-align: left;""That's fine Kyle. Why are you asking for permission?" Annabeth asked him a little confused./p  
p style="text-align: left;"He just shrugged his shoulders, but I knew that it was hard wired in his brain to ask for permission first before doing anything. It was like that for all dragons, but after a few years at Camp Half-Blood I just stopped doing that for somethings because it just got old real quick. As we made our way to a car wash in Denver Percy and the others kept looking at us./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Alright, I'm getting annoyed now. What is it you three?" I asked them. /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Who is Kyle's godly parent?" All three instantly asked in unison. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"I looked at Kyle nervously, but he wasn't looking at me, again./p  
p style="text-align: left;""His godly parent is the main god." I said somewhat truthful. /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Wait, his father is Zeus?" Percy asked worried./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Relax Percy. I don't think you stole my dad's lightning bolt. I think someone else did it." Kyle said quickly./p  
p style="text-align: left;""So why do you believe me?"/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Innocent until proven guilty I guess, and I also have been alive for a while so I don't like to blame people out right."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""How old are you?" /p  
p style="text-align: left;""How old are you Percy?" /p  
p style="text-align: left;""12 years old."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Same age just add a thousand to it." Kyle said calmly./p  
p style="text-align: left;"We stayed quiet the rest of the way to a car wash. Finally we found one that was empty and a do-it-yourself one at that too. Percy and the others went into the farthest one while me and Kyle stayed outside watching for any police cars. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"Once I heard the spray go on I looked at Kyle who was staring at the clouds. His eyes showed hints of sadness and anger, but his face was emotionless./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Why aren't you looking me in the eyes anymore?" I asked Kyle angrily./p  
p style="text-align: left;"I guess the anger in my voice shocked him because for the first time in weeks he actually looked me in the eyes./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Huh?" He asked confused./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Come on Kyle ever since that night you asked me that one question you've been avoiding looking me in the eyes." I said really angry now./p  
p style="text-align: left;""No I haven't you've been avoiding my eyes."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""What?! No I haven't! Every single time I look at you, you're either staring at the stupid clouds or not even looking at me!"/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Same with you Selana," Kyle said staring at me like I was crazy. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"I would've probably yelled at him again, but a Lincoln Continental pulled into the other side of the car wash with his music booming and the bass turned up way too high that it made the pavement rattle. I was about to go and yell at them when someone slammed their hand on the wall by my head. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"I looked up and saw Kyle there, looking at me intently. I was about to ask him something when he gave me a quick kiss on the lips. I blushed so hard that I felt the heat all the way into my head. He smiled calmly at me and I just sighed. He knew the rules about dragons dating just as well as I did. However, he knew that demi-gods didn't worry about things like that. They just made sure that you didn't date one of your siblings. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"He then pulled away from me, but stayed by my side easily holding my hand. Some part of me just really wanted to kill him, but another part of me wanted him to kiss me again. I didn't realize that the others were done with the spray until Grover came and got us. Kyle put in seventy five cents and asked the others to hold the nozzle. He asked for Flare and Kastielle, threw in a gold Drachma, and waited. In a few seconds I saw Kastielle glaring at the floor while I heard Flare screaming somewhere off screen. Kyle got in front of me for some reason unknown and then whistled to get Kas's attention./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Kyle," I heard Kastielle say so I guessed it got his attention./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Where the heck is Flare?" Kyle asked over the noise./p  
p style="text-align: left;""In the casino, why?"/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Cause I have a surprise for you two." Kyle said beaming./p  
p style="text-align: left;"During a short pause I punched Kyle in the arm. I thought he already told them he found me but I guess I was wrong. /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Kyle!" I heard Flare shout over the noise./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Hello Flare. I believe we talked about you being in a casino." Kyle said smiling./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Bite me. Now what are you hiding from us?" She asked happily./p  
p style="text-align: left;"Kyle moved from in front of me to my side. When Flare and Kastielle saw me broad smiles spread across their faces./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Selana!" They shouted excitedly./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Hey there you two," I said laughing. "Been a while hasn't it?" /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Are you seriously asking that? It's almost been two hundred and seventy-five days." Flare said annoyed. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"I couldn't help but laugh at that. I knew everyone was shocked but at that moment I could careless./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Sorry about that." I said when I finally stopped laughing./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Why are you apologizing? It's fine if you laugh a little bit." Kastielle said to me smiling./p  
p style="text-align: left;""So are your traveling with anyone other than Kyle?" Flare asked interested./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Yes we are traveling with two demi-gods and a satyr. Why do you ask Flare?" I asked tentatively./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Just wondering why your in a car wash is all. By the way there is this really bad storm coming in towards New York. Have any idea what's going on at Olympus?" Flare asked truly worried./p  
p style="text-align: left;"One thing about dragons is that even if we hate our godly parents with a passion we still pay attention to what happens on Olympus. I looked at Percy and he was glaring at the ground./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Someone stole Zeus's lightning bolt." I said looking at Flare./p  
p style="text-align: left;""What? Who was it?" She asked serious./p  
p style="text-align: left;""We don't know, but Zeus is blaming a child of a Big Three member." I said truthfully./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Who," they both asked me./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Percy Jackson, he's a son of Poseidon. However, he does emnot /emhave the bolt." I said fiercely./p  
p style="text-align: left;""We'll come and meet you. Where are you guys at?" Kastielle asked just then./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Were in Denver," Kyle answered./p  
p style="text-align: left;"They nodded their heads just as the water shut off. We then decided to leave the car wash before we drew too much attention. /p  
p style="text-align: left;" /p  
p style="text-align: left;"Eventually we made it to a diner and we were fresh out of money. I wasn't really paying any attention to what was going on, in fact I was completely out of it until I heard a female say: "Four double cheeseburgers, a vegetarian pizza, and seven milkshakes please." I whirled my head around to see a girl with brown hair and bright red highlights. She had brown eyes and another person standing next to her. He was pale as a ghost with black hair and deep dark eyes. I was so stunned that it took me until Kyle got up and hugged them that I realized I was staring at Flare and Kastielle. Flare smiled warmly at me and then looked at the others./p  
p style="text-align: left;""I hope you guys don't mind what I ordered for you three. I can never remember what you demi-gods like to eat let a lone satyr's. So if you have any problems just let me now, 'kay?" She asked them smiling./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Flare you forgot to introduce yourself." Said Kastielle smiling./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Oh duh right. My name is Flare Sparks, and this is Kastielle Nightingale. I'm friends with Selana and Kyle, well we both are. I'm also a daughter of Ares." She said smiling./p  
p style="text-align: left;"That got their attention. They are all so used to Clarrisse that when Flare said that she was the god of war's child they were shocked. I just laughed under my breath./p  
p style="text-align: left;""So Flare curious minds would like to know how you're exactly going to pay for everything you just ordered for us." I said smiling./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Please Selana you doubt me far too much. I have money from those lovely little things that the mortals created called casinos. They are so easy to beat." She said smiling at me./p  
p style="text-align: left;"The waitress came back with our food then and we chowed down, but we had to make sure we didn't chug down our milkshakes too fast or else we'd get one heck of a brain freeze. Everything was going fine until a motorcycle big enough to pass off as a great dane pull up to the curb. The diner went deathly quiet./p  
p style="text-align: left;"The motorcycle's headlight blared bright red almost like fresh blood. I heard a low rumble come from Flare and I quickly looked at her. Now don't get me wrong, I was going to yell at her for growling like that, but when I saw her face I knew why she did that. That biker was Ares and she loathed him to no end./p  
p style="text-align: left;"As Ares came in I got up, grabbed Flare's arm, left the diner, and found a nice wooded area. She instantly changed into a long, but very slender bright red dragon with wings made out of flames. She could also breath fire if you pissed her off really good. Only me and Kastielle knew why she had such a deep hatred towards her father./p  
p style="text-align: left;"Back when I was still considered a baby dragon my mom went off to war. Only thing was is that she never returned. No one knew if she was alive or not but that didn't stop Flare from blaming her dad. She knew what it would mean if the gods went to war almost as well as I did, but still there wasn't anything we could do except help Percy on his quest./p  
p style="text-align: left;"em"Kyle can I talk to Flare about that one question you asked me? Its just to calm her down."/em I said to Kyle mentally./p  
p style="text-align: left;"em"Yeah that's fine, but keep her there. Ares is sending us on a little chore."/em Kyle said back to me./p  
p style="text-align: left;"That promptly ended our conversation. I looked back at Flare and she looked ready to shoot fire-quiet literally in fact./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Hey Flare," I called to her. "I need to tell you something." /p  
p style="text-align: left;"She didn't look at me, but she gave me a deep rumble which meant she was listening to me./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Kyle asked me out." I blurted out to her. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"She whipped her head around-which is pretty hard to do if you want to avoid hitting your head on a tree-and looked at me. She changed back into her human form, but she was still steaming. /p  
p style="text-align: left;""What did you just say?" She asked me./p  
p style="text-align: left;"Instead of just answering her question I sort of blurted out everything that had happened after we got out of Medusa's lair. I tried to not give her too much detail about the amazing kiss he gave me, but it just spilled out with everything else. When I finished I was staring at a very stunned Flare./p  
p style="text-align: left;""Well say something already!" I shouted at her./p  
p style="text-align: left;""What do you want me to say?!" She shouted back at me./p  
p style="text-align: left;""I don't know! Just anything to help me decide."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Wait, you haven't decided yet? Even after he kissed you twice?!"/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Well no not yet. I'm worried about the rules of when dragons date; and I know that it shouldn't matter, but it does." /p  
p style="text-align: left;""Do you love him?"/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Yes. Of course I do, but it doesn't matter."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Tell him you accept his offer then."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Are you listening to me at all?"/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Yes; I'm just ignoring the pointless thing of the dragon rules."/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Why?"/p  
p style="text-align: left;""Because that doesn't apply all the way out here with the demi-gods. You've gone through enough Hades. Now it's time for you to be happy." Flare said oddly serious./p  
p style="text-align: left;"I was going to argue further with her, but Kyle told me they were back from their little job from Ares. I told Flare and we left the woods. /p  
p style="text-align: left;"When we got to them they looked like walking billboards for an amusement park. I went to Kyle and Flare went to Kastielle. I ignored Ares and Percy's conversation and just stared at the pavement thinking. Why was I so worried about what the other dragons would think of me? Why would it matter any way? Kyle grabbed my arm and dragged me towards a big eighteen wheeler with this weird logo on the side that I just couldn't read. We all piled in the back and shut the door behind us. /p  
p style="text-align: left;" /p  
p style="text-align: left;" /p 


End file.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians