Notes:

This is an alternate universe that has both the Percy Jackson and Harry Potter worlds in it.  I don’t own either of these franchises.

It is set to be during our modern time, not during the time periods of the original books for either one.

This story goes through frequent rewrites.  Things that you read now, might be changed in later.  Sorry in advance.

Only somewhat canon.  Some things will change, while others stay the same.  It’ll probably snowball into other changes throughout the books.

Please feel free to comment with grammatical or spelling errors.  Also if you wish to write something for me to add to my story, feel free to do so, and I will put it in, if I like it.

Chapter 1

               Since I can remember, I’ve always been living in foster care.  Life was difficult.  I learned early on the adults weren’t reliable, whether it was a caretaker that took me in for the money, or a kind couple that just never listened or believed in me.  Sometimes, it was worse—far worse, but we don’t need to go down that rabbit hole. 

I knew I was a tough child to handle.  The doctors said I had conditions that needed to be handled with “special education” and medications.  I learned early on that no one was going to help with it.  They were all talk and no action.  It was always, “the state doesn’t have enough money”, “I don’t know how to help you”, or “we just don’t have that kind of time to help you out individually”.  I understood early on that I could only rely on myself.  I was shuffled to at least one foster home every year, so nothing was ever permanent either.

               So here I was, on the way to the library after the last day of school.  What?  I had no friends, and nothing better to do.  Making friends was just too hard for someone like me.  I was a foster kid, overweight, and on top of my…conditions…well, making friends at school would be like winning the lottery.  I had both ADHD and dyslexia.  What was the odds of that happening?  Apparently, high enough that it’s not considered unusual.  Lots of kids have been reported to have both conditions.  I find that to be comforting and strangely disturbing at the same time.  Maybe it’s something genetic?  Or maybe it’s something in the water.  Who knows?

Anyways, I was lonely, and I had struck up a tentative friendship with the local librarian.  She never said it explicitly, but I could tell she was just as alone as I was.  I wanted to get better at reading because it has always been a struggle for me, so I asked her to find me some good books to practice on so that the other kids wouldn’t make fun of me anymore.  Ever since then, she has been helping me out by choosing appropriate books, finding me some old workbooks, and answering my questions, all so I could get better.  I’ve been improving ever since.  Even though I stumble now and again, I’m not too much worse than anyone else.  It was leaps and bounds better than before.  I wish my other teachers and schools would have taken the time to help me, but what can you do.

               My life this year was the most permanency I have ever had.  Even with the large age gap, hanging out with her was a lot better than being alone.  My life was getting better, so maybe, just maybe, they would let me stay where I was.  I haven’t caused any major problems.  I’m not failing any classes.  Maybe this time, things would finally go my way.  Maybe this time—

               “Well, well, well.  Look at what we have here.  It’s our local terrorist.”

               Damn.  It was Brent and his cronies, the local bullies.  For a short moment, I had forgotten about them.  I went to a school that was kindergarten through the 12th grade, and these guys were in the 12th grade.  They looked like your typical jocks, but you would be very wrong if you thought that.  Saying that they were just jocks would be a disservice to all jocks out there.  There are a lot of really nice jocks out there.  Those guys just love the sport they play, and put all of their energy into it.  They don’t pick on other people just because they can.  I admire that kind of person.  They have their own goal and work hard towards it.  No, these guys were sadistic, and in my personal opinion, deserved to go to hell.

               “I’m not a terrorist.  I’m not even Muslim.  Don’t you guys have anything better to do?”  It was frustrating to deal with this crap every day. 

               “I’m never too busy to put the freak in his place,” Brent grinned maliciously.  “Come on guys, you know the drill.”

               For some reason, they disliked me a lot.  I don’t even know what it was.  Sometimes I wonder, do bullies really even need a reason?  I guess they just like the power trip that they get from doing it.

               They surrounded me before I had the chance to run, and even if I did run, what was the likelihood of actually escaping?  None.  I wasn’t even close to being fit enough to take on the local jocks.  One of them pushed me down, and the others all started punching and kicking on me.  I was literally their punching bag. 

People around us noticed what was happening, but they did nothing but look on uneasily and then walk away.  Before, I originally used to think that a passerby would help me out by breaking it up or calling the cops, but it never happened. 

My current foster family just didn’t care as long as I was alive and not causing them problems.  I wished they would have done something, but they didn’t really care about me beyond food, shelter, and not causing any problems.

The school chose not to intervene as well.  Who were they going to choose, the high achieving jocks that were up for sports scholarships and made the school look good, or the overweight, ADHD, Dyslexic child that’s barely passing school?  The school swept it under the rug without batting an eye.  Hell, the school even tried to charge me with property damage because the bullies tore apart some of the borrowed school books.  I put my foot down there, stating that I didn’t mind the police getting involved.  Those guys would definitely lose any chances of sports scholarships with pending investigations of assault and property damage.  I even casually mentioned that it would probably even show up on the local news.  The school backed off right away to keep their reputation clean and even replaced everything to keep me quiet.  After that, those bullies never destroyed any of my stuff again.  I bet someone in the administration talked to them.

Of course, the attacks started escalating after that event.  In the beginning, they would just push me around.  It started getting worse once they noticed that no one would stand up for me.  I was just wondering how long it would take before something more serious occurred and the police would finally be forced to intervene.

“Everyone back off!  I want to show this fucker what happens when you mess with us!”  Brent had this crazy look in his eye.

Everyone backed off.  Brent grinned viciously.

“You know, it’s interesting how nobody even tries to stop us.  It seems people feel like we’re doing a public service.  Everyone wants you to go back to your own country.  Go blow up stuff there.  But you know, you got us in a lot of trouble with the school when you threatened to call the cops on us.  I’m the mother-fuckin top dog of this school, and no one tells me what to do.  I’m going to show everyone what happens to a terrorist, when they come into my town.”

He stomped hard on my arm.  There was a loud crack and I cried out in pain.  He broke my arm.

“There’s more where that came from!  What?  You think someone is going to come and help you?  Look around!  Not a single person around is doing anything!  No one cares about you!  I can do whatever I want to you, and nothing is going to happen to any of us!”

“MY ARM!”  I was crying at this point.  “YOU!  You’re going to be in so much trouble!  How the hell do you think you’re going to get away with this?”  I spat out as I gritted through the pain lancing through my arm.

“I bet you didn’t know my dad’s a cop!”  He grinned like crazy when he saw that I was shocked.  “Don’t you know?  Couple other kids here also have parents that are cops.  Who are they going to believe, the son of a cop, or a troubled foster kid?”

Shit.  He was right.  An “investigation” would occur, but my history would make it so any case against them would be dismissed.  When I younger, random things would just happen sometimes around me.  There was one time when a microphone exploded when I didn’t want to go up on stage to recite a poem in the 2nd grade.  There was another time that someone made fun of my hair, and they came bald to school the next day.  There were other events like that, but no one every believed me, and somehow, in my file, I was listed as being a liar, even though there was no proof of any wrongdoing.

“I bet you feel so proud of yourself.”  Brent just shrugged and grinned.  “I bet you think you’re so awesome.  I bet you think it’s so cool to beat on a 10 year old with ten of your buddies and break his arm.  Wow, you all are so cool…”  I mocked them.  The rest of them seemed to show a little bit of shame, but Brent’s face contorted in anger.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”  He stomped on one of my legs and another long crack was heard.  Obviously, I cried out in pain again.

Simultaneously, nobody noticed that the grass was growing taller all around us.

“You think I give a shit that your 10 years old and I’m 18?  I don’t give a crap!  I’m going to break you, you little terrorist bitch!”

One of the guys decided that he had enough.  “Brent, let’s stop now and get the hell out of here.  It looks like those people are calling the cops!  I think some of them are videoing us!”

It looks like getting your arm and leg broken does meet the requirements for bystanders to call the cops.  Go figure.

“Fuck!  This isn’t over freak!”  God, I can’t believe Brent said something so cliché. 

I just laughed at him.  “Video evidence.  Your dad won’t be able to save you from that, will he?”

All of a sudden, he started grinning like a maniac again.  “Maybe, I should just finish the job then.”

“What are you—”

I didn’t even get to finish my sentence before he kicked me in the head.  Pain just exploded everywhere and I started seeing stars.  When my vision cleared up half a minute later, I saw the rest of his friends trying to hold him back.

“How’d you like that you little shit!” He screamed at me. 

At this point, I was finally scared for my life.  Then it got worse.

I heard cackling in the background and what I turned to was something completely insane.  There was a pair of these…creatures.  They were small, black and hairy, with burning red eyes, with donkeys' ears, monkeys' arms, tongues that hang out and had a long black tail.  The only way I could describe them was as ugly little black devil.    

               “I thought I smelled the scent of a half blood.  It’s really weak.  Looks like he just manifested the scent too.  Such a fatty one too!  It’s our lucky day boys!  Looks like we’re gon’ta have a feast tonight!”

               “What the fuck is that thing?”  Brent stared at it.

               I was still in shock.  What the heck?  I don’t even have any words.  What is that thing?  It can talk?  That thing isn’t human!  WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON????

               “Hey, ugly!  Yeah, I’m talkin’ to you!”  Brent was taunting it.  “What the fuck are you??”

               The creature lifted an oversized axe behind them and said, “I’m hungry.  You all look delicious.  Thanks for being the meal.”  It gave him a large, sharp toothy smile and started running towards us with a few others.

               “Oh shit, let’s get out of here guys!”  Brent and his friends ditched me here and ran away.  I mean, I didn’t expect them to help me or anything, but still. 

Turns out, the rest of the crowd ran away too leaving me behind.  I was still panicking because I had a broken arm and leg, and I wasn’t able to run or even remotely able to defend myself.  It wasn’t until they were swinging their axes that I finally snapped out of it.  I was able to roll out of the way in the nick of time, but it caused lancing pain through my arm, leg, and head.

               “Hold still!  Dinner isn’t supposed ta fight back!”  Yeah, that’s going to happen…

               “How about you give me that axe, and hold still?  I think that’s a much better arrangement.  Yeah.  We should definitely do that.  HEY, WHAT’S THAT?”  I pointed behind them, and they fell for it hook, line, and sinker!  Wow, I honestly did not expect that to work. 

               “What’s back there?  I don’t see anything…”  He turned back at me crawling away.  “Wait a second…you tricked us!  KILL HIM!”

               AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!  Crazy murdering creature trying to eat me!!!!!  Someone save me!!!

               That ugly demon caught up to me easily and swung his axe.  At that moment, I had accepted death and made peace with it.  I know you hear people say that their life flashes before their eyes before dying, but that didn’t happen to me.  I didn’t see anything.  I only felt regret.  The only thing I regretted was not knowing my parents.  I admit, I guess I also regretted not finding a way to ruin Brent’s life for putting me in this predicament.  The axe was were almost upon me when all of a sudden there was a jarring sound of the axe being block by another blade.

               “Looks like you’re in a bit of a pickle, kid!  How about I give you a hand?”

               All of a sudden, a short guy carrying a huge sword came out of nowhere and cleaved one of the two monsters in half with one swing.  I was just left there gaping at the scene.  He cut it in half.  Who does that?  Even weirder, the monster just turned into dust afterwards.  It was just so unexpected for something so dangerous to turn into dust.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

               “How dare you disturb us while we are in middle of a meal?!  Leave before I feast upon your soul as well!”  I could tell the monster was bluffing and was scared out of his mind.  Whoever this dude was, it was someone that monster couldn’t afford to mess with.

               “I’m afraid I can’t do that.  The kid is one of my allies.  Return from whence you came!”

“Damnit!  If I go down, you’re coming with me!”

“Return to dust!”  Faster than you could blink, the chopped that monster in half.

“Dammit!  I’ll remember this!  My name is Kenny and I will get my revenge!  Remember it, because I’ll be the one to kill you in the future!”  He exploded into dust, and disappeared.  Kenny the demon?  Pick a better name!  You’re ruining your image as a bloodthirsty monster!

With casual waves of his sword, and he cut the rest of those things in half.  All of the monsters he killed just exploded into dust.  Shit, I’m not next, am I?  No, he said I was an ally.  I’ve never met him before though…why did he lie to that thing?  This dude is suspicious!

“Hey kid!  Are you hurt?”

I rolled my eyes at him, while cradling my arm.  “What do you think?”

He started rummaging through his pack.  “Hold on, I have just the thing to help with your injuries.”

I gave him my “you are so stupid” look.  “I think my arm and leg are broken.  And my head hurts a lot too!  I don’t think a Band-Aid is going to cut it.  Call 911!”

He gave me a funny look.  “You should know that people like us can’t use phones.  Never mind, I should have some ambrosia and nectar here somewhere.”

“Ambro-what?  What’s going on?  What the hell were those things?”  Things are so weird today.  Maybe I should go to home and go to sleep, and pretend that nothing happened.  Yes, that’s a good idea.  Let’s just pretend that none of this happened.  This is all some messed up dream that I won’t even remember.

He ignored me.  “Ah-ha!  Here it is!  I found it!  I knew I had it!  Here, take a bite of this.  It should make you feel a little better.” He handed me some cube shaped food.  Yeah, this was started to sound more like one of those stories about taking candy from strangers…

“No thank you.  I think it would be better if you called the cops for me.  Or left.  You leaving is good too.”  I was starting to breathe funny and my chest was starting to hurt a lot too.  I think I was hurt a lot more than I thought.

“Dammit, you’re getting worse!  There’s no time to explain!”  He took the cube from me and shoved it down my mouth.  I was going to resist, but I was too hurt and weak.

I tasted like, I can’t even describe it to you properly.  It tastes like the most delicious milk chocolate that you’ve ever tried in your entire life times a thousand.  I could feel it running down my body to the places it hurt a lot and making them feel better.  I wonder what kind of drugs he gave me.

“Dammit, it wasn’t enough.” He tsked.  “Those monsters did a number on you.” 

“It wasn’t those monsters.  It was a bunch of bullies from school.”

“What?”  He was shocked.  “That’s insane!  Once we’re done here, I’m going to get the authorities involved with this.”

“Good luck with that.  I doubt the authorities would do anything without proof.  Without the videos people were taking around us, we don’t really have anything.  Forget that, what kind of drugs did you give me, you creep!”

“How don’t you know what Ambrosia is?  Never mind about that.  I’m going to give you some medicine to drink.  It’ll make you feel better, but it’ll knock you out.”

“What?  No way!  Stay away from me your pedophile!”  It probably not my smartest move, insulting the man that just took down all the monsters that almost killed me, but well, foster care drills fears into you.  It never happened to me, but I knew a girl, and it broke her.

“Look kid, if I was going to do something to you, do you think you could really stop me?  We’re here together alone since I defeated those monsters.  You’re injured, weak and defenseless.  If I wanted to do something, I’d just do it.”

He had a point.  I resigned myself to do as he said.  “Alright, give it to me.”

“What I gave you before was Ambrosia.  Taken in small amounts, it can help heal your body, but in larger doses, it can kill you.  I can’t give you any more of that.  I’m going to feed you some nectar which should help a lot with your injuries.”

“I don’t know how drinking some of this nectar will help at all with broken bones, but I’ll drink it if you really want me to.”  I couldn’t help giving him another sarcastic remark before taking a sip of the nectar. 

It was another explosion of deliciousness!  This time is was like drinking the most delicious mango lassi in the world.  Mango lassi is an Indian drink I got to try once when I was 4 or 5 years old when one of my neighbors at that time had a birthday party at their home and my foster family was invited.  It was amazing.  I felt like I was drinking a version that was a thousand time better than that one.

I could feel that the nectar was stronger and I felt the energy pulsing towards all of the injured areas and making it feel better.  On the other hand, I was feeling uncomfortable and my body was starting to heat up.

“Dammit, you’re starting to get feverish.  Listen to me!  Just focus on getting better and staying together!”

I was starting to get sleepy, and fighting it wasn’t working.  “Sorry…I don’t think I can stay awake enough for this…”

The guy was shouting at me, but I knocked out like a light.

I woke up sweating and screaming.  I had a nightmare where I was rejected by everyone.  My parents were telling me that they could never love a problem child like me.  Brent and his crew were hurting me over and over again, telling me that even my parents were okay with breaking me.  My foster family and school just watched on as I was being broken over and over again.  It was a very intense dream.

“Feeling better?”

I finally noticed the guy that saved me in front of me.  I examined myself, and found that I wasn’t feeling any pain.  I tried standing up and I could!  My arm and leg weren’t broken anymore.  They seemed to be as good as new!  My head didn’t hurt as much either!

“No way!  You fixed everything!  That’s so cool!”

He looked satisfied.  “It was touch and go there for a while.  You almost didn’t make it.  Nectar is some dangerous stuff.”

“Dangerous?  What do you mean?”

“If you drink too much, it can cause a little bit of…spontaneous combustion.”

“What’s spontaneous combustion?  Is it like diarrhea?”

“It when you explode.”  I feel like he took intense pleasure in saying that.

“WHAT?  That chocolatey stuff could have killed me?  No way!”  Don’t talk bad about the delicious!

“You know how you were feeling really hot before you passed out?”  I nodded.  “That was the power of nectar building up.  If you had any more, instead of fixing you, you would have blown up into pieces so small, no one would ever have found you.”

I could feel sweat started to drip down my back.  “You could have killed me?”

He looked me straight in the eye.  “That’s right.”

“You should have just taken me to the hospital!”  I could have died!    

“You never would have survived a trip to the hospital.”

“What are you talking about?  That doesn’t make any sense!  It was a few broken bones!  I’ve seen people handle worse!”  One of my foster dads was put into a body cast from all the broken bones he got from defaulting to his bookie.

The man sighed at me.  “Look kid, you’re not in Kansas anymore.  Everything you know means nothing in this world.”  He got this serious look on his face like he was contemplating something.

I looked around me.  We seemed to be in a forest of some kind.  “Where are we?  Are you kidnapping me?”

He rolled his eyes.  “Sure kid, whatever floats your boat.  We’re in Central Park by some trees a few miles away from where we were.  We’ll be safe here temporarily.”

I needed answers and the best way to start was always to introduce yourself.  It shows respect and people respond in kind.  “My name is Krishna Khanna.  Thank you for saving my safe and fixing me up.”

“Ah, yes.  Where are my manners?  The name’s Quinn Gallagher O’Riley, at your service!  Nice to meet you and your very welcome.  You’re really lucky you had me around.  You had trouble with a kallikantzaros, which is pretty low on the list of baddies out there.”

               “Kallikantzaros?  Is that the thing that was chasing me?”

               “That’s right!  You can think of it as a goblin or like a small minor devil.  They like to eat people like you.  By the sound of it, you’re recently manifested, meaning you’ve never been to the camp, nor have you ever gotten any kind of survival training from anyone.”

               “Awakening?  Survival training?  What are you talking about?”

               “Hasn’t your parent told you anything?  I suppose they might not have believed.  Many times, the parent chooses not to believe.  We always know where that leads…I guess it’s hard for normal humans to grasp these things…” 

               “I never had parents, so they haven’t ever had the chance to tell me anything.  Tell me what?  Is there something I should know?”

               “Ohhhh.  You don’t know.  Oh wow, it’s been a really long time since I’ve done this.  Not since I’ve become a Searcher…damn.  There isn’t any easy way to say this, so I’ll just rip off the Band-Aid.  You, my little friend, are a demigod.”

               “A what?  A demigod?  You mean half-man, half god?”

               “That is correct kid.  You have the blood of a god flowing through you.”

“…”

We stare at each other for a short while.  Clearly this person has some mental issues.

“Uh huh…Yeah…sure, I totally believe you.  Of course I am.  So what, am I like Jesus?  Can I walk on water?  Or turn it into wine?  I am the great son of God, and I shall smite thee if you disobey me!”  I snickered.   “Dude, I think you need to go to a hospital and have your head checked out.”

               “Don’t be so quick to dismiss what I speak of.  You don’t have any parents around to deny what I’m saying, so you best listen, as it has to do with your survival.  Let me ask you a few questions.  Do you find yourself seeing things that aren’t there?  You’ve never seen anything else before that was unusual?”

               I hesitated to give a response.  I had in fact seen things before.  When I was little I saw ghosts.  I would point them out, and everyone would just shake their heads at me and tell each other that I was just imagining things.  I kept insisting that there was something there and shortly, I was moved to a different, less tolerant family.  That was the last time I bought up the ghosts.  Another time, I could have sworn I saw a tall guy with only one eye in the center of its head.  I read a story about it, and it turns out it was called a cyclops.  After the episodes with the ghosts, I had learn not to bring up seeing anything unusual ever again.  I’ve always seen random things like that, but I choose to ignore and forget them after a while.  I was already an outcast and a troublemaker.  Why would I make it worse on myself?  It was easier to believe that none of it was real, and that I might be crazy.

               “I can see it in your eyes.  I know you’ve seen things that you can’t explain, and then ignored them, because what else could you do?  Another piece of proof is the ambrosia and nectar.”

               “What about them?”  I want more of the delicious…

               “If you were a normal human, you’d never be able to consume them.  Even the tiniest drop would make a normal person explode.  Only demigods can have a little, gods withstanding of course.”

               “What?  That doesn’t prove anything.  You could point at anything and say normal people can’t eat that but I can, because “I’m a Demigod”, and I wouldn’t know if your lying.”

“Fine, here’s another question for you.  Have you ever had trouble reading or writing?  Or problems concentrating on the tasks at hand?”

               “Well, yeah I’ve always had problems reading and writing.  It’s because I have dyslexia and ADHD.  If anything, that should disqualify me from being a demigod in the first place.  Demigods should probably be superior to normal humans.  A son of god that finds reading and writing hard, isn’t that like a bad joke?  Shouldn’t I have super powers or something?” I looked at him suspiciously.

Has this guy been watching me?  How long has this been going on for?  I thought he was a good guy for saving me from those creatures, but maybe he’s also a stalker!  The facts that I have dyslexia and ADHD are known by the state.  Who knows if he was able to get my records somehow?  Maybe he found out from the school, or the librarian.

“It’s always the same thing with you kids.  No, I have not been watching you or following you around.  Not only do I have better things to do with my life, I have my own job.  The reason I know that is because all demigods have the exact same problems!  What you consider a lack of an attention span is actually your battle instinct.  It’s being hyper aware—you react to all the changes in your environment in case of attacks.  It’s what keeps you demigods alive.  As for your reading and writing problems, here, try reading this.”

He passed me a book, and the words were definitely not English.  I can tell that much even with my dyslexia.  Dyslexics can tell the difference between languages, in case you people thought we were really dumb.

“I can’t read this.  It’s not English.”  I tried passing him back the book, but he refused.

“Try again.  No need to rush.”

               I looked at the book again and just stared at it.  There’s no way I can read this.  That would be crazy.  This guy is out of his mind—

               All of a sudden, the words started shifting, and I could read the title.

“Survival Lore for the Aspiring Traveler…how can I read this book?”  It’s official.  I’m nuts.  I think now the time to just walk away, and pretend that none of this is real.  I want to, but I know I can’t do that.  He might know who I am—where I come from.  This guy is the closest I’ve ever been to getting some answers.  I can’t just walk away.  This might be my only chance.  Maybe…just maybe, he might be able to point me in the direction of my birth parents…

“Demigods like yourself are hard wired to read in Greek.  That’s probably the most effective way to prove whether you’re a demigod in the field.  It doesn’t get more obvious, since you’ve probably never studied ancient Greek before.  So do you believe me now kid?”

“How do I know it isn’t some sort of trick?”

“Why would I trick you?  What would I gain?”  He was pretty offended, but I have to make sure.

“What if you’re some kind of deranged lunatic?  I don’t know!”  If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that there is no limit to how weird or crazy people can be.

“Stop being annoying.  Deep down, you know that everything I’ve said is the truth and makes some sort of weird sense.  Stop fighting me, because we have more important things to talk about.”

“More important?  What can be more important the talking about the fact that I’m half god?  What could possibly be so pressing that we can’t talk about this more?”

“You’re demigod powers are beginning to manifest, which means you’re releasing a scent that all monsters will hone in on.”

“But you just destroyed the monsters!”  This is giving me a really bad feeling…

“Yes, I did, but those were just some weak monsters that stumbled upon you!  You scent will start attracting every monster in the vicinity!  That’s why I couldn’t take you to the hospital.  You never would have made it there, unless you were lucky.  Even if you were lucky enough to make it there, you never would have made it out.”

I imagined more of those monsters and I started shaking in fear.  “No way…”  I whispered.  “There can’t be that many monster in the area, can there?”

“Kid, you have no idea how many monsters live in this world hidden by the Mist… at this rate, you’re going to die so listen up if you want to live!”  This is sounding more and more worse the longer I listen.  “There is only one place that’s safe for demigods like you!  That’s Camp Half-Blood!  You have a choice ahead of you.  Either you stay here and take your chances on your own against the hordes of monsters, or you come with me right now to Camp Half-Blood.”

               “But…I can’t just leave!  What about my life here?  Won’t people be looking for me?  Won’t I cause problems by leaving?”

               “The camp will probably take care of the details, but seriously, let’s be honest, do you really have anything to lose?  Your aura gives off a feeling that you’re a loner.  I bet you don’t have anyone to leave behind.”  I didn’t have anyone, but he didn’t have to point it out.  “The question that you have to answer is this:  Is your life here more important than your life itself?  You need to give me an answer fast.  Time is of the essence.”

               Damn!  I need more time!  How do I know anything is true?  Damn it!  If everything he says is the truth, then I don’t really have a choice, do I?  If I don’t want to die, I have to go.  I guess I can trust him.  If he wanted me dead, he could have just let me die.  As the guy that saved me, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.  What’s the point of going home to a place that’s just going to ostracize and hurt me anyways?  In my heart, I knew I wanted to be with other people like me.  Where I wasn’t crazy for seeing things, because they actually did exist.  I wanted to be some place I might actually be able to fit in.

               Fine.  I’ll just take a leap of faith here.  I’m feeling really tired all of a sudden and better to process in safety than in danger.  “Alright, let’s go.  Where’s this camp?”

               “Lucky for you, it’s only two hours away on Montauk, on the end of Long Island.  Good thing that you live in New York City.  If you lived somewhere else, it would have been a pain to get you here.  I remember doing some cross country travelling with demigods, back when I was on the circuit.  Those were some exciting days…” 

               “It’s on Long Island?  Wouldn’t everyone know where it is then?”

               “Nah, it’s hidden by the gods.  No mortal would be able to find it or set their foot upon that land.”

               “Cool…”  There a moment of silence, and then I suddenly remembered to say something important.  “Thanks Mr. O’Riley.  For everything.”  What?  I’m not a savage!  I know how to be grateful!  Jeez.

               “Call me Quinn.  And you’re welcome.  Let’s go!”