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PERCY WATCHED ANDROMEDA. despite how creepy that sounded, he wasn't doing it like that. he just watched her silhouette as she moved around her house.

yeah, no. that definetly sounded creepy. a moment later, she walked out and marched towards them, flicking on a leather jacket.

"where are you going?" a girl's voice shouted from inside the house. "i thought you canceled on daniel!"

"i'm not going with him!" andromeda turned around just long enough to say that, and got into the backseat of the car.

"hey girls, hello ms. jackson, and little jackson." she greeted, rubbing ber hands.

percy smiled, just a little. his nerves forgotten for a moment. the tension in the car depleted.

"hey, dear," his mother greeted, a much wider smile on her own face. "oh, you've grown so much! the last picture percy showed me of you, you would've barely reached the roof of my car,"

andromeda looked at him. "do you have pictures of me, hero?"

percy didn't get a chance to defend himself.

"ooh, yes," his mother continued. "he carries them around with him. especially the one you two took after last summer,"

"mom!" percy whined, feeling the need to step out of the car already.

"sorry," sally whispered. "was she not supposed to know?"

he sighed. covered his face.

andromeda laughed. "don't worry. i don't mind that you've got a crush on me."

he glared at her through the rearview mirror. "i do not have a crush on you."

"no offense, though, jackson," andromeda went on. "but i'm generally into guys that don't annoy the crap out of me."

annabeth giggled. "i guess daniel doesn't, huh?"

"who's daniel?" percy asked.

"no one of importance," andromeda shrugged, pushing her hair back.

"have you cut yout hair?" he noticed.

she went quiet for a moment. "um. . .yeah,"

"why is it so choppy?"

"i chew off the ends,"

his mom laughed. "i can see why you like her,"

he flushed red. "i don't like her!"

"aw," andromeda smiled. "you're cute when you blush,"

"isn't he?" he mom chuckled in amused agreement. "he's been like that since he was little. one time —"

and then she started talking. telling him every embarrassing baby story there was to tell over the span of eight hours that took them to arrive from new york to bar harbour, maine. and through the mirrors on the side of the car, percy could see andromeda smiling, or struggling to hold a laugh.

he wanted to bury himself in the snow and freeze to death by the time they arrived at the new boarding school his mom had packed for the first day of winter break.

westover hall looked like an evil knight's castle. it was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. it stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.

"are you sure you don't want me to wait?" his mother asked.

"no, thanks, mom, i don't know how long it will take. we'll be okay."

"but how will you get back? i'm worried, percy."

he hoped he wasn't blushing. it was bad enough he had to depend on his mom to drive him to his battles.

"it's okay, ms. jackson." annabeth smiled reassuringly. her hair was tucked into a ski cap, her dark eyes were reflecting the snow. "we'll keep him out of trouble."

his mom seemed to relax a little. she thought annabeth is the most levelheaded demigod ever to hit eighth grade. she was sure that annabeth and andromeda often keep percy from getting killed. she was right, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

"all right, dears," his mom sighed. "do you have everything you need?"

"yes, ms. jackson," thalia assured. "thanks for the ride."

"extra sweaters? you have my cell phone number?"

"mom —"

"your ambrosia and nectar, percy? and a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"mom, seriously! we'll be fine. come on, guys."

she looked a little hurt, and he was sorry about that, but he was ready to be out of that car. andromeda, annabeth and thalia followed outside. the wind blew straight through his coat like ice daggers.

"don't worry," percy heard andromeda say to his mother through the window. "i'll keep him safe,"

"so," he said to her once she'd joined the other three. "back with the savior's syndrome, are you?"

"it's hard not to when you're accompanying someone with a hero complex," she shook his hair to get the snow out of it. "let's go,"

"your mom is so cool, percy." said thalia once the two had approached them.

"she's pretty okay," he admitted. "what about you? you ever get in touch with your mom?"

as soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't. thalia was great at giving evil looks, what with the punk clothes she always wears — the ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry, the black eyeliner and those intense blue eyes. but the look she gave him now was a perfect evil ten.

"if that was any of your business, percy —"

"we'd better get inside," annabeth interrupted. "grover will be waiting."

thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "you're right. i wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

percy stared up at the dark towers of westover hall. "nothing good,"

the oak doors groaned open, and the three of us stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow.

all he could say was, "whoa."

the place was huge. the walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. he knew westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. literally.

his hand went to his pocket, to reach for riptide. he could already sense something wrong in this place. something dangerous. thalia was rubbing her silver bracelet, her favorite magic item. he knew they were thinking the same thing. a fight was coming.

annabeth started to say, "i wonder where —"

the doors slammed shut behind us.

"ooo-kay," he mumbled. "guess we'll stay awhile."

andromeda raised a hand, with a flick of her finger, the doors opened, and closed again. she looked over at the others. "just the wind," then she focused in on him. "have you been watching a lot of horror movies by any chance?"

he rolled his eyes. "been living one for my whole life,"

andromeda laughed. and he felt a little pride in him. she never usually laughed at his jokes.

in the silence, he could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. it sounded like dance music.

they stashed their overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. they hadn't gone very far when he heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept them.

they both had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. the woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to him. they both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.

"well?" the woman demanded. "what are you doing here?"

"um. . ." he realized he hadn't planned for this. he'd been so focused on getting to grover and finding out what was wrong, he hadn't considered that someone might question three kids sneaking into the school at night.

they hadn't talked at all in the car about how we would get inside. he said, "ma'am, we're just —"

"ha!" the man snapped, which made him jump. "visitors are not allowed at the dance! you shall be eee-jected!"

he had an accent — french, maybe. he pronounced his j like in jacques, he was tall, with a hawkish face. his nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors — one brown, one blue — like an alley cat's.

percy figured he was about to toss them into the snow, but then thalia stepped forward and snapped her fingers. the sound was sharp and loud. maybe it was just his imagination, but he felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. it washed over all of them, making the banners rustle on the walls.

andromeda stepped forward. "oh, but we're not visitors, sir," she said. "we go to school here. you remember, i'm andromeda. this is thalia and annabeth. and percy. we're in the eighth grade." she flashed him a card.

the male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. he didn't know what andromeda was doing. but he trusted her. he had ever since she tamed that hydra. he watched as the teacher looked at the card she showed him. he was hesitating.

he looked at his colleague. "ms. gottschalk, do you know these students?"

despite the danger we were in, percy had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. a teacher named got chalk? he had to be kidding.

the woman blinked, like someone had just woken her up from a trance. "i. . .yes. i believe i do, sir." she frowned at us. "andromeda. thalia. annabeth. percy. what are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

before they could answer, more footsteps sounded, and grover ran up, breathless. "you made it! you —"

he stopped short when he saw the teachers. "oh, mrs. gottschalk. dr. thorn! i, uh —"

"what is it, mr. underwood?" said the man. his tone made it clear that he detested grover. "what do you mean, they made it? these students live here."

grover swallowed. "yes, sir. of course, dr. thorn. i just meant, i'm so glad they made. . .the punch for the dance! the punch is great. and they made it!"

dr. thorn glared at them. percy decided one of his eyes had to be fake. the brown one? the blue one? he looked like he wanted to pitch them off the castle's highest tower, but then mrs. gottschalk said dreamily, "yes, the punch is excellent. now run along, all of you. you are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

they didn't wait to be told twice. they left with a lot of "yes, ma'ams" and "yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do.

grover hustled us down the hall in the direction of the music. percy could feel the teachers' eyes on his back, he walked closely to andromeda. then he remembered something, "what was that finger-snap thing?"

"you mean the mist?" andromeda asked, the card that she'd shown to dr. thorn in her hands. "it's one of my abilities,"

"and that card you showed him?" he asked.

andromeda smiled. "mistform," she showed the card in her hands to him. it had her name, grade, age and year of admission on it.

"how. . ."

andromeda said something in greek, and misty wisps emanated from the card, then it looked like a tarot card, three four-pointed silver stars were on it's face in front of a deep purple background.

"mistform card," she answered his unasked question, a satisfied smile on her face. "hecate gave it to me on my birthday. the way the mist can make false images, it can make false objects too. they're temporary, but worthwhile. they're called mistforms. and they can be made from a mistform card."

"your birthday?" percy asked.

andromeda's smile dropped, an eyebrow raised. "that's what you focus on from everything else i told you?" she rolled her eyes. "yes, hero, my birthday. december thirteenth,"

"it was two days ago?" he asked in a hushed whisper. "why didn't you say anything!"

"it wasn't important," she shrugged.

he didn't get a chance to respond, they were already at a glass door that had gym written on it. even with his dyslexia, he could read that much.

"that was close!" grover said. "thank the gods you got here!"

annabeth and thalia both hugged him, andromeda gave a verbal greeting. percy gave him a big high five.

it was good to see him after so many months. he'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human — a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. he was wearing a black t-shirt that said westover hall: grunt. percy wasn't sure whether that was just grover's rank or just the school motto.

"so what's the emergency?" andromeda asked.

grover took a deep breath. "i found two."

"two half-bloods?" thalia asked, amazed. "here?"

grover nodded.

finding one half-blood was rare enough. this year, chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. these were desperate times. they were losing campers. they needed all the new fighters they could find. the problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there.

"a brother and a sister," he said. "they're ten and twelve. i don't know their parentage, but they're strong. we're running out of time, though. i need help."

"monsters?"

"one." grover looked nervous. "he suspects. i don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. i'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. it may be our last chance! every time i try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. i don't know what to do!"

grover looked at thalia desperately. percy tried not to feel upset by that. used to be: grover looked to him for answers, but thalia had seniority. not just because her dad was zeus. thalia had more experience than any of them with fending off monsters in the real world.

"right," she said. "these half-bloods are at the dance?"

grover nodded.

"then let's dance," thalia said. "who's the monster?"

"oh," grover said, and looked around nervously. "you just met him. the vice principal, dr. thorn."

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weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. maybe because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something.

there were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each others faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup, spaghetti-strap tops, brightly colored pants and shoes that looked like torture devices.

every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face.

some of the older guys looked more like him — uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. of course, in his case, it was true. . .

"we're powerful half-bloods." thalia said. "our presence should confuse him. mingle. act natural. do some dancing. but keep an eye on those kids."

"dancing?" andromeda asked with distaste.

thalia nodded. she cocked her ear to the music and made a face. "ugh. who chose the jesse mccartney?"

grover looked hurt. "i did."

"oh my gods, grover. that is so lame. can't you play, like, green day or something?"

"green who?"

"never mind. let's dance."

"but i can't dance!"

"you can if i'm leading," thalia said. "come on, goat boy."

grover yelped as thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

annabeth smiled.

"what?" percy asked.

"nothing. it's just cool to have thalia back."

annabeth had grown taller than him since last summer, which he found kind of disturbing. she used to wear no jewelry except for her camp half-blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls. she pulled off her ski cap, and her blonde hair tumbled down her shoulders.

"so," andromeda spoke up. "you two go on and mingle, dance, or whatever. i'll just be here."

"you won't dance?" percy asked.

andromeda shrugged. "don't know how to,"

"or you're just sad your boyfriend isn't here," annabeth nudged her.

"he's not my boyfriend," andromeda said. "and even he doesn't know how to."

"didn't you have, like, school dances?" annabeth tilted her head.

"i was more of a di angelo at dances," she gestured to the two siblings sitting on the bleachers.

"you and me both," percy chuckled humorlessly.

"really?" andromeda asked him with genuine surprise.

"yeah, really." he pressed. "does it come as a surprise to you that i'm not liked?"

before she could talk, thalia intervened. "hey!"

she was slow dancing with grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. atleast his feet were fake, unlike percy, he had an excuse to be clumsy.

"dance, you guys!" she insisted. "you look stupid just standing there!"

and they drifted away.

"right, go on you two," andromeda repeated. "you two need to mask your scent more anyway, i'm sure i'm barely noticeable here —"

"'scuse me?"

the three turned to the sound of the voice. a guy stood there with his hand crawling through his unkempt hair. he wore a suit, but he'd ditched the blazer, and his tie was hanging loosely around his neck.

"yeah?" andromeda spoke up.

"can i dance with you?"

he held his hand out to her.

she looked at percy, and before her eyes could even focus, she looked at annabeth, who gave her some weird signal with her eyes.

"okay," she answered, taking his hand.

and he took her away.

"she's going?" percy muttered once they had gone to the dance floor.

"what?" annabeth asked

"she doesn't even know him!"

annabeth crossed her arms. "maybe you should've asked her then, if you care so much."

he glared at her. "i don't care."

annabeth pursed her lips. "you're not a good liar percy,"

"i'm not lying. i don't care."

"the same way you don't care who daniel is?"

he felt heat in his face. "how —"

"don't look now," annabeth cut him off. "but dr. thorn is watching us. we'd better get on that dance floor too."

he didn't look, though he felt the urge to. he sighed. "well, let's get this over with,"

he caught her hand, and let the free one sit on her waist. they shuffled around for a bit, and percy stared at andromeda and the other guy, dancing and making easy conversation.

"so. . ." he distracted himself, averting his eyes. because if he kept looking, he might just go over and punch him. "how's your new school?"

annabeth began talking, then. about the boarding school in brooklyn that and she and thalia were both attending, close enough to camp half-blood that chiron could help if they got in any trouble.

he noticed a bitterness in her tone. "are you having trouble at school or something?"

she pursed her lips. "it's not that. it's my dad."

"uh-oh." he knew annabeth had a rocky relationship with her father. "i thought it was getting better with you two. is it your stepmom again?"

annabeth sighed. "he decided to move. just when i was getting settled in new york, he took this stupid new job researching for a world war one book. in san francisco!"

she said this the same way she might say fields of punishment or hades's gym shorts.

"so he wants you to move out there with him?"

"to the other side of the country," she said miserably. "and half-bloods can't live in san francisco. he should know that."

"what? why not?"

annabeth rolled her eyes. maybe she thought he was kidding. "you know. it's right there!'

"oh," he said. he had no idea what she was talking about, but he didn't want to sound stupid. "so. . .you'll go back to living at camp or what?"

"it's more serious than that, percy. i have an idea but. . ."

suddenly she froze. "they're gone."

"what?"

he followed her gaze. the bleachers. the two half-blood kids, bianca and nico, were no longer there. the door next to the bleachers was wide open. dr. thorn was nowhere in sight.

"we have to get thalia and grover!" annabeth looked around frantically. "oh, where'd they dance off to? come on!"

she ran through the crowd. and percy looked around for andromeda. he instead saw bianca di angelo's green cap, lay on the floor just paces away from where andromeda was dancing. with an unexplainable heat in his chest, he walked over to them.

he grabbed the cap and tapped her on the shoulder.

she looked at him with utter disinterest. but when he held up the cap, her eyes widened. she looked at the spot on the bleachers the di angelos sat previously.

"hey, uh, listen," she told the guy. "i've gotta go, it was nice talking to you though,"

"no problem," he gave her a smile and took away his hands.

"you're a great dancer," andromeda walked away. "i'm sorry about stepping on your nice shoes too,"

he just laughed and shrugged. andromeda smiled at him.

"can you not?" percy said, an unexplainable anger in his tone. "those half-bloods are missing with a monster around her and you're getting all starry eyed for a guy you don't even know,"

andromeda smirked. "what? jealous?"

percy felt hot in the face. not because she was right, but because she even thought that.

"quick," she said again, her expression fallen now. "nine o'clock."

and for a moment, he searched for a clock in the gym, but as he turned right, he caught a glimpse of dr. thorn. hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.

he took out riptide.

"where are the others?" andromeda asked, turning to face the open door.

"annabeth went to look for thalia and grover."

"i don't think we should wait around for them," andromeda frowned.

percy was caught by surprise. he agreed, but he didn't think she would.

"what?" she asked. "don't stand there, hero, let's go!"

and she headed to the door. percy followed.

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