Percy's POV

I shoved my face into my hands. Why do you need to make people touch the computer? Ugh. Now I have to go outside and fight a monster army. Life is so hard. I turned to the Electroclan.

"Just stay inside," I whined, "Don't come out no matter what happens. This is a demigod problem." They nodded obediently and I took out Riptide. I turned back to them, "You can watch out the window or something. Just so you know, this is what happens when you make Percys touch the computer." I walked out the door, whistling. 

A cloud of dust was moving toward me in on the desert. I knew they were monsters. Two of them were ahead of the rest. I grinned, "Hey! It's Kelli and Bullface! How are you two doing? Long time no see!" Kelli bared her fangs at me, "You are going to pay, Perseus. Three times in the last couple of years is totes lame." She charged latched onto my neck, so I slashed upwards with Riptide, turning her to dust as the Minotaur roared. I held my arms out, "Bro! Are those new tighty whities?" The Minotaur took off running at me. This guy never learns. I grabbed onto his horns like I did the first time I met him. He struggled and I released a wave of fire into him, watching him disintegrate.  

Empousai came at me a dozen at a time. Every time I killed one more took their place. I slashed and rolled and suddenly I had an idea. I focused and the ground split open. An army of Greek undead surged out of the crevice. "Greeks!" I shouted, "Let's fight stuff!" It was a massacre. The snake people didn't stand a chance. I was standing in the middle of piles of gold dust, grinning like a maniac. The skeletons had retreated back into the ground. 

I yelled, "Anyone else? I'm just getting warmed up!" Suddenly a trio of feminine voices rang out behind me. "You know what, girls? I think I should take him up on that offer," said the first voice. "I could go for a Percy-kabob right now," agreed the second one. "I'll just wait here for those slow poke boys. You two go ahead," the third one yelled. Oh no. They found me. I'm a goner.

I turned around, "Come on, girls. Isn't there a diplomatic solution?" The first voice scoffed, "Since when have you ever been diplomatic?" I gulped, "You know, when I don't want to die." I turned and ran through the door to the ranch. I was breathing hard, not from exertion but from fear for my life. I haven't felt this way since Tartarus.

Abigail looked worried, "Who are those girls?" I shook my head, "You guys don't need to worry about them. It's me they want." Jack took out the knife Gervaso gave him, "We can help you fight them off, Perce!" I smiled weakly, "Nah, that's okay. I'm gonna have to face them sooner or later. You guys can come out with me, though." Michael nodded, "Alright, Electroclan. Let's go see what kind of monsters are out there." Little do they know, the three biggest threats to my existence aren't actually monsters. 

They're Piper, Calypso, and Hazel. 

Oh, well, you know, Frank, Leo, and Nico are here, too, but they're definitely not as terrifying. Not even close.

I walked out, my new friends in a single file line behind me, like we're on a grade school field trip or something. I waved at the group of six people here to kill me. Frank whispered quietly, "Percy, I'd tell you to run for your life, but I kind of want to beat you up right now." Leo nodded in agreement, "Same." "Not me," Nico said, shaking his head, "I'm gonna send you to my dad, Aquaman." I snickered, "It's good to see you, Death Breath. But I'm not too worried about you guys. It's the Furious Three that I'm scared of." The said Furious Three advanced solemnly.

Jack started forward, "Hey! You don't get to hurt Percy." Ian stepped forward, "Yeah! What he said." Ostin stuttered, "Statistics show that everyone is sadder without Percy." I looked over my shoulder at them, "Aww, that's nice. But I'm pretty sure they'll only maim me. Don't worry about it." Tessa and McKenna paled. It's fun teasing the Electroclan. They don't get hurt nearly as much as demigods.

Piper's knife slashed a cut on my cheek. Cool. If that scars, I'll look just like Luke. Except dark haired and much handsomer, of course. Hazel was mounted on Arion, who was cussing at me loudly. I put my hand on my chest, offended, "Stop talking like that! One day, I'm going to seriously feed you soap." He nickered some more words. Frank tilted his head, "What did he say?" I looked at him, "One, you're supposed to be beating me up, not talking to me. Two, without all the cussing, the gist of it was that Hazel and the others are going to murder me. So basically he was laughing at me. But he also said that I shouldn't worry about being killed by the Mr. Chinese Canadian Baby Man because he can't hurt me." Leo chuckled and elbowed Frank, "Yeah, Chinese Canadian Baby Man." Arion snorted. I smiled, "He also says that I should gag the elf boy because he's annoying." Leo grinned, "Being annoying is one of my best qualities."

Hazel's sword slashed my newly resewn shirt. I turned to Nichelle, "You might need to sew this thing again. Hazel's not being very cooperative." Nichelle groaned. There was a slight red stain spreading across my shirt, but I wasn't too worried about it. I only felt sad for my shirt.

Leo approached me with fire blazing in his hands. Calypso put a hand on his arm, "Are you going to burn him to ashes? Because we're just supposed to be putting him in the infirmary for a few days." Leo smiled, "Don't worry about it, babe. I'll just give him second-degree burns and it'll all be cool." I relaxed. Leo's in for a surprise. The fireballs raced toward me, and I didn't even move, making Tessa scream. Actually, I think that was Frank, but I can't be too sure. The fire blazed for a little on my arms, so I swatted them out like killing a mosquito. When the smoke dissipated, the demigods were astonished.

"H-How?" Piper stuttered. I grinned, "There are things about me you don't know. We have a lot of catching up to do." Leo rolled his eyes, "No schist. Are we just supposed to ignore the gawking people behind you?" I spun around, "These are my new friends!"

Hazel facepalmed. "Nooo," she said sarcastically, "They're evil people who try to protect you because you turned to the dark side." My mouth hung open. I pointed at them accusingly, "Okay, which one of you taught Hazel sarcasm?" Leo grinned sheepishly, "Why don't we just hear your new story."

A minute later, the demigods were on one side of the table and the Glows were on the other. I rubbed my hands together in anticipation, "Alright, introductions. Electroclan first. I'll do it." I pointed them out one by one, "These people are on a quest to save the world from the Elgen, an evil organization, well, trying to take over the world. Michael is their leader, and can pulse shockwaves and stuff. Taylor is his girlfriend and is kind of a mind reader. But only if she's touching you. That's Ostin, basically the brains. Jack is the brawn, but has no powers. Ian is blind but can see. That makes sense. Abigail can take away pain. McKenna is like Leo but cooler and more sophisticated." Leo stuck his tongue out at me. I grinned, "See? Okay. Grace is a human flash drive. Tanner takes out flying vehicles. Tessa enhances powers. Nichelle takes away powers. Hmm. Who am I forgetting?" I tapped my chin thoughtfully, watching Zeus frown. 

I know that I keep on picking on him whenever some of my demigod friends come, but I can't help it. It's too funny. I pointed, "His name, my dear friends, is Leo Frank." Leo slung his arm around Zeus's shoulders. "Well, Leo Frank, you are named after one of the coolest, hottest, people alive," Leo shouted, "I am Leo McSchizzle Valdez and I am epic! Frank Zhang over here, not so much." Calypso and Piper said at the same time, "Don't listen to him. He's an idiot." The Electroclan laughed.

I continued, "He's called Zeus." My friends snickered. "He can shoot lightning out of his hands." Zeus is actually a lot like, well, Zeus. But Greek Zeus is a cheating drama queen whose sons make my life miserable. Cough, Jason, cough, Brayden, cough, Mr. D. You get the point. 

I clapped my hands, "Now, the demigods. That's Piper, daughter of Aphrodite, can talk you into doing anything she wants. Hazel, daughter of Pluto, can summon precious metals and rocks. Frank, son of Mars, can shapeshift. Also, his life is tied to a piece of firewood. No big deal. Leo, son of Hephaestus, is a scrawny and annoying inventor and is immune to fire. He can also shoot fireballs. Calypso is the daughter of the titan Atlas and has amazing cooking, singing, and planting and healing. Nico is the son of Hades and the Ghost King. He can raise the dead as skeletons. Also, shadow traveling makes him really grouchy." As if to prove my point, he pouted and stuck his tongue out at me.

I looked at my friends, demigods and Glows alike. I didn't know what to do about this. I mean, I'm trying to save some people and suddenly my past knocks on the door. I slam my hands on the table, startling everyone. Nichelle rolled her eyes, "What is it, Jackson?" Piper looked at her, "Wow, just like Clarisse. A very gothy, dark, Clarisse." I grinned, "At least she doesn't call me Prissy." Nichelle smiled evilly, "I'll start, Prissy. Try me." Calypso intervened, "We still need to hear the story. I'm kind of wishing those fireballs did burn Percy." I shot her a lopsided smile, "It's nice to know you care."

Ostin spoke up, "Wait. Why are some of you guys Greek and some of you guys Roman?" Leo shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe because some of our parents are Greek and some of them are Roman?" Ostin blushed, embarrassed. I swatted Leo's arm, "Hey! Only I get to tease the Electroclan." Piper smiled diplomatically, "The gods have different forms for the different cultures they've influenced over the years. Roman and Greek are basically aspects of the same god, but they sometimes have different spheres of power and/or personalities." I popped in, "Yeah! Mars is the Roman form of Ares, and he can read and write! It's amazing. Especially considering Ares is about as smart as a four-year-old." Abigail smiled, "So are you." Nico grinned, "Finally! You've made a friend who gets it." 

Frank waved his hands impatiently, "On with the story! We don't have all day. Seven powerful demigods and nothing to mask the scent is only going to attract monsters." Leo shook his head, "No, six powerful demigods and one Frank." Frank turned red. Calypso shoved Leo. "Stop being so mean." Leo grinned, "Only for you, babe." So Calypso finally found someone who stayed. That's sweet. Why it's Leo, I have no idea.

I rolled my eyes, "Fine, Frank. You don't needa be so pushy. Anyways, after I ran out on the Greeks, I went to Olympus, where I tried to kill myself and all of the gods blessed me with powers and blah blah blah and blah blah blah. And Apollo, being a complete idiot, sent me to the rainforest where I met these guys and blah blah blah. So yeah. Now, we're trying to save a couple of teens from the Elgen before, wait for it, the evil Dr. Hatch kills them with a bunch of electric rats. He's such a great villain." The demigods were practically rolling on the floor, howling with laughter.

Michael paled, "I wouldn't laugh about Hatch if I were you. He's a very powerful man." Hazel wiped away a tear, "Sorry. It's just, we've fought off evil earth primordials and titans and giants. Nico and Percy killed the titan lord. Percy's done more than all of us combined and now he's fighting against a bad guy named Hatch? I mean, at least Kronos and Gaea sound menacing." Leo smirked, "Not to mention they're practically our grandparents and great-grandparents. Plus, electric rats? There are much more efficient ways. You could pull a Kronos and be a powerful fighter possessing another awesome fighter, thus cutting you to bits with a scythe and time controlling powers. One the other hand, you could pull a Gaea and suck us into the earth. Or spill our blood on ancient grounds to rise from the dead and control everything that touches the ground. See? Evil. Rats? Just plain pathetic." 

Michael looked at us seriously, "As someone who almost had death by rats, I find that very offensive." Frank shrugged, "I'm sorry, man. Some things just sound cooler. For instance, I almost died trying to free Death from his chains using the Fire of Life, watching Percy fall off a cliff taking out hundreds of undead warriors and Hazel fighting the oldest titan with her speeding demon horse Arion. On the other hand, you almost died escaping from a Starxource plant after you destroyed a bowl full of rats. Do you see the difference?" Jack glared at the demigods.

"We might not have some ancient Greek monsters to fight, but we lost a lot of good people for this cause. Do you want New York to lose all of its power?" I shrugged, "Honestly, we don't use electronics because it attracts monsters. Also, if Hatch takes over the world he'll never find us 'cause he's a mortal." As the Electroclan narrowed their eyes at me I put my hands up innocently, "But, that doesn't matter. Come on, guys. Let's just stop fighting. My other friends can help, too, right friends?" They nodded hastily. I put my hands down, "Leo, how far are you on that chicken nugget cloaking device? We're gonna attract a lot of monsters if we don't take care of our smell soon." Leo laughed, "You mean that thing I was joking about on the Argo II?" Piper leaned forward, "I saw him in Bunker 9 after you left. He wasn't joking. He actually made them."

Leo scratched the back of his head. "I did a couple. But they're still in testing. They might enhance the smell instead." I nodded, "Alright. Give me one. Tessa and Nichelle can smell us like monsters can. They can help us test them." Leo took a fingerless glove out of his tool belt. "Here, Perce." I put it on. Nichelle scrunched her eyebrows together, "I can't smell anything. Only sixteen scents. There are seventeen people here with powers. I think that weird glove thing worked." Tessa nodded her agreement. Leo took five more out of his tool belt. "I don't have enough for everyone. We're going to have to deal with it."

Calypso raised her hand, "I don't need one. Technically, I'm a demi-titan, so I smell like a titan. Monsters won't be attracted to the smell." Leo grinned maniacally, "Let's get this party started! Let me build another flying warship and it'll be just like old times." Grace printed out the documents from before, "Alright, since we'll be working together, I might as well show you guys what I meant to show you before, well, the monster stuff." Michael nodded, "What did you find?"

"Hatch has already taken over Tuvalu. He renamed their nine islands to better fit their purpose. They were also meant to be codenames. We can't make any sense of it. All we have is a map." Tanner said as he spread out the paper in front of us. The demigods squinted at it. "Oh, right. You guys are dyslexic. I'll read it for you," Ostin remembered. He pointed at different sections of the map, saying, "That one's Nike, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Demeter, Hades, Plutus, Ares, Athena, and Dionysus." I backed up a little, "Should I be offended that the evil people named an island after my dad, or grateful?" Leo, Nico, Hazel, and Frank shrugged, "He named some after our dads, too. Not exactly sure." 

Taylor raised her eyebrows at us, "Are you guys ever serious?" Piper shook her head, "We have ADHD. Well, Frank doesn't. He's just lactose intolerant. But anyway, we can't focus for long periods of time. You should see our war councils back home. Just a couple of teens around a ping pong table eating Cheese Whiz." Hazel looked wondrous and disgusted at the same time. "In the New Rome Legion, centurions have a war council with the Praetors and we go to war in a very sophisticated manner." Nico scoffed, "Yeah. Your augur gathers an army of monsters and tries to wipe out the Greeks. Then he shoots Leo out of the sky. So 

sophisticated." Michael waved his hands, "Alright, alright. Enough. Now, back to the point. We have no idea which island Hatch is holding Torstyn, Tara, and Quentin in. All we have is a couple of island names. But Hatch does everything for a reason. They aren't random. What do we think?" 

I pointed at what I thought was Demeter, "That one would be for farming, since Demeter is the goddess of agriculture. They'd plant crops and raise livestock there." Nico shivered, "Also, she's obsessed with cereal." The demigods rolled their eyes. Piper pointed at Athena, "That would be a research facility and/or war council room, since she's the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy." Hazel nodded thoughtfully, "Plutus would be for currency and stuff since he's the god of wealth while Hades is the god of the Underworld, probably the prison or the cemetery." Nichelle shook her head, "Hatch doesn't bury his soldiers. Anyone who dies or is disobedient gets fed to the rats." Calypso twirled her hair, "That's surprisingly graphic. And more than a little cruel." Zeus waved everyone back to attention, "Yeah. And if we don't rescue them soon, they'll be next, so pay attention." 

"Nike would be the capital or something, since she's the goddess of victory," Frank said, "And Ares will be the training facility and weaponry, since he's the god of war." Leo slammed his hand on Hephaestus, "That's where they'll build weapons and equipment. My dad is the god of the forge." He placed his finger on Poseidon, "That'd be fishing and docks, since Percy's dad is the god of the sea." Nico frowned, "Why someone named an island after Mr. D, I have no idea, but Dionysus would be for celebrating since he's the god of wine and parties."

Jack spread his hands, "There we go. If we just infiltrate Hades, we can get to Quentin and the others, maybe steal a ship from Poseidon and hightail it out of there." The demigods stared at him. "What?" he asked, confused. Nico scratched his head, "Nothing, it's just we don't need a ship. We can shadow travel." It was the Electroclan's turn to look at us. "I forgot to ask, what is shadow traveling?" I turned to them, "Basically we can step into shadows and come out of a different one, so we can transport people without anyone following. I got that power when I was blessed by Hades. Nico was born with it and while Hazel can't do it herself, she can help. Plus, I've got a dog that can shadow travel with us, too." 

I let out my best New York taxi cab whistle. McKenna clapped her hands over her ears, "Was that supposed to do something?" I grinned, "Just wait for it." A bark came out of nowhere. Jack brought out his knife again, "Was that a monster?" Nico shrugged, "While Mrs. O'Leary is a monster, the probability of her mauling anyone is very remote." Ostin nodded thoughtfully, "I see. So she's tame." Piper grinned, "Kind of. After Percy left, Mrs. O'Leary almost killed Brayden. Right after he got out of the infirmary, our not so tame friend Thalia came along and broke a couple of his bones." Ian tapped his fingers on the table, "Yeah, we met her. She's kind of evil in a protective, good way." Hazel raised her eyebrows at me, "When were you gonna tell us you saw Thalia?" I shook my head, "Never." Everyone laughed.

Mrs. O'Leary leapt from the shadows, startling everyone by knocking me over and licking my face. I forgot she was coming. Oops. I ruffled her black fur, whispering that she could leave. She bounded over to the Glows and sniffed them all, one after the other, and shadow travelled back to wherever she came from.

Michael pumped his fist in the air. "Well come on, then, demigods. We've got some Glows to save."