~ ☼ ~

I woke up with a jolt, only to find I was in Cabin 7 at Camp Half-Blood, not the woods. The woman was gone. I was dreaming again.

Blinking a few times, I took in the scene around me. Every person around me was sleeping, including Riley, dozing away on the bunk beneath mine. But outside the window, dawn was breaking. I tried to figure out what time it was - 5? 6? - but, in the end, I didn't know. And I couldn't quite bring myself to flop back down and fall asleep again.

Although I'd been up late, I felt fully rested - or, as rested as I could be. My muscles were sore and my head ached like I was still at the peak of my concussion. I'm gonna have to talk to Alec about that, I reminded myself. If I'm still injured, I guess I don't want to make it worse.

But for now, I just had to deal with it.

I felt like I was back to the last morning I'd spent here, when I left the cabin early and ran into Lucas, the son of Athena, only hours before meeting Apollo on the beach. Riley had told me then not to go outside to early, else some sort of cleaning monster eat me, but even now... something within me told me I needed a breath of fresh air.

So, moving as quietly as I could, I got out of bed and crept outside to the porch.

It was slightly cold out, but my head felt a little better as I took in the sounds of the East Coast coming to life - birds chirping, the city humming somewhere not too far away, and... a voice, attempting to greet me.

"Well. If it isn't AJ Hood, slayer of beasts, hero of man."

The haze I had been in faded away as I turned my head to see Lucas Burgess walking towards me, a hesitant warmth in those beautiful gray eyes. He was wearing chinos and a wrinkled shirt advertising Connecticut.

"Hi, Lucas," I said with a smile. Coming down the steps to meet him halfway, I noticed his hair was really messy, like mine probably was, but... in the morning light, it almost looked nice.

"I, uh, heard about your conquests."

"You did?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "I know the spotlight is on Percy and Annabeth and Clarisse right now, but your quest sounded pretty heroic as well. If I ever led a quest, I'd recruit you."

My neck went hot. How am I supposed to reply to that? "Thanks..." I decided to say. "I appreciate that a lot."

All Lucas gave me in reply was a curt nod and a barely noticeable smile.

I looked away, beginning to feel the awkwardness set in. Thankfully, Lucas began to speak again: "Anyway, I know you just got back, but I was wo-"

The blare of a horn cut him off. It was so loud, my hands flew to my ears, and the throbbing in the back of my neck came back tenfold. "What the Hades?!" I exclaimed, looking around for the source. "That didn't sound like the dinner horn."

When I looked at Lucas again, I immediately knew the noise had to be the sign of something much worse than dinner. Lucas' eyes widened, and he said, "Oh my gods... That's border patrol. There's either a monster or-"

He was interrupted once again, this time by the sound of footsteps. We both whirled, and found 4 kids were running down Half-Blood Hill. Two of them flew towards the farm house, another towards the woods. The last one ran down past us, looking like a messenger about to die if she didn't get her news out.

"Hey!" Lucas shouted, reaching out to stop her. "Hey, wait! What's happening?!"

The girl - decked out completely in leather armor, her hand wrapped tight around the sword at her side - gulped. Sweat was running down her forehead, but she calmed down her forced, heavy breathing just for a minute to say, "The Golden Fleece has worked too well. The pine... Thalia Grace is alive. And she's on Half-Blood Hill right at this moment."

Lucas looked like he'd been smacked in the face. "What? You're joking."

"I swear on the river Styx, I'm not joking. She's there, right now. You can go see her if you want." The girl shook her head, muttering something to herself, before running off.

My neck went cold as I saw people begin to come out of their cabins, confused and concerned. I didn't understand. I knew that the reason Percy and whoever left was to find the "Golden Fleece". But who was Thalia Grace? And why was Lucas so surprised?

"I don't get it," I said to Lucas. "What's happening? Why was she freaking out?"

Lucas just shook his head. "It's a long story. But all you really need to know is that this... this is a surprise. This is like a bad omen or something."

"An omen of what?"

His face went dark, and his ever-stormy eyes turned into a full on hurricane. "A titan war."

~ ☼ ~ 

Finally, after so many years... I finish this book. I don't know what to say or how to react. But I want anyone who is reading this to know that I'd really, really like to make a sequel, so... read the next chapter (the author's note) to learn more about that!

But to everyone who's read this first book and supported it, I thank you so much!!! Please visit my profile and check out some of my other works too!!