~Playlist: "Story of Us" by Taylor Swift~

"How'd we end up this way, see me nervously pulling at my clothes and trying to look busy"

Piper's POV

Jason walks over, and holds out his hand to me. I eye it, and raise an eyebrow at him from where I'm sitting on the ground.

"What?"

"Claiming," he responds. "Downstairs."

"Already?"

He shrugs. "They move fast around here, apparently. Who am I to judge?"

I take his hand, and he pulls me off the ground. We walk together, in silence at first.

"So, how are you? I haven't really seen much of you," he says, his eyes focused on the ground.

"I'm good," I say. "You?"

"Good."

We continue our walk, the awkwardness so thick that I can feel it.

I want to talk to him, but I'm not sure if I really want to. We haven't had a normal conversation in ages. Everything has been turned upside down too many times to know what's right-side up anymore. I don't know what I feel towards Jason, and I don't know how to act around him.

Finally, we reach our destination, and we rush to sit down so that we don't have to suffer through anymore periods of awkward conversation.

I take a seat next to Leo, who is messing with scraps of metal that disappear once I sit down.

"So, what do you think about this place?" Leo asks me.

"I don't know," I answer honestly. "I mean, it seems safe and all, but we still don't really know who these people are."

"Yeah. And what's with all of this 'claiming' stuff? Does it hurt? Not that I'm scared or anything," Leo adds hastily. "I'm just curious."

I smirk at him. "No, it doesn't hurt. At least, it didn't for me. But Jason ended up getting knocked out and a needle to the neck, so maybe it's a different experience for everyone."

Seeing that Jason, Annabeth, and I already went through the process, we were asked plenty of questions from the others. Leo has the most questions, which surprises me. He usually does something, and asks about it later.

I wince, and shift in the uncomfortable metal chair in which I'm seated. Despite these people being half god, they don't provide comfortable seating.

"Don't worry, Valdez," I tell Leo. "You won't be first. In fact, you'll be pretty much last, in front of Frank, of course."

"Great," he grumbles. "It'll just be me and grumpy Zhang."

Luckily, Frank is seated far away from Leo, so he didn't overhear his jab.

"Sit down, and stay down!" Esmerelda's voice calls out suddenly. "Or at least until I tell you to."

For the first time, our normal group has grown to include a few other teenagers who, according to Ana, had been waiting to be claimed for a few weeks. Doing us all together would be easier as opposed to waiting even longer.

"We're going to do this alphabetically by last name," she says, her green eyes scanning us. "Which means that Nico and Bianca di Angelo are going first. Do you two want to go together, or separately?"

"Together," Bianca says at the same time Nico tells her, "separately".

They exchange a pointed look, both siblings glaring at the other. Bianca is the first to relent. "Separately," she sighs heavily.

Esmerelda nods, and holds her hand out to the other girl. "Follow me, then, Bianca."

The two girls disappear into a door while Ana turns on a television screen that I didn't notice before.

"What we'll see is what Bianca sees," Ana explains.

"Isn't that invading her privacy?" Nico asks, his dark eyes boring into the smiling girl.

"Some may see it that way," Ana says cheerfully. Whether she simply doesn't see Nico or if she's just ignoring him, I don't know. "But the serum can cause the Fates to send advice or hints as to what the future holds. It's for the best interest of all demigods for us to watch."

I feel a pair of eyes watching me from my left. Without looking, I know that it's Jason. I ignore him, and continue to face forwards.

Suddenly, the screen comes to life. It shows a beautiful field of flowers and green grass that is sprawled out under a bright blue sky. And there's Bianca, standing in the middle of it. She's looking around, amazed. Not that I blame her: I'm in awe as well.

"What is this supposed to tell us?" Leo whispers to me.

"Who her godly parent is," Jason says impatiently to him.

"Oh, duh. How silly of me to forget," Leo says sarcastically. "Of course we're talking about gods."

"Shh!" I hiss. "What is that? Behind her?"

"What's what?" asks Jason, squinting at the screen. "Piper, there isn't anything there."

"No, I see it, too," says Leo. "It's small, but there's something behind her."

I watch as the small dot grows into a large, shadowy mass. Bianca still hasn't noticed it, but everyone else in the room has.

"What is that thing?" Percy asks to no one in particular.

What scares me is when I look at Ana, her eyes hold as much confusion as Percy's do. My stomach twists into an uncomfortable knot.

Then, Bianca turns. She looks startled, but she doesn't react. Instead, Bianca stares at the dark shadow, the blight on the landscape.

"What are you?" she whispers.

She reaches out to touch it. Leo, meanwhile, smacks his forehead with his hand.

"No!" he softly exclaims. "You never reach out to touch the weird, dark thing. Does she not watch any movies?"

Nobody answers him, but it wasn't a question that needed to be answered.

Bianca's hand connects with the shadow, and it melts away. No, it doesn't melt; it burns.

The shadow erupts into a dark blue flame, and Bianca jumps back to avoid getting burned herself. She watches as the oddly dark flame grows, and spreads across the scenic landscape. The once flower-filled meadow transforms into a burning and empty scene.

Then, the screen goes black.

"What the hell?" Nico storms to Ana. She's much taller than he is, but that doesn't stop him from glaring her down. "What was that?"

Ana barely spares Nico a glance before dashing to the room where Esmerelda and Bianca are. Nico angrily follows her.

"What do you make of that?" Annabeth asks, sliding into a seat behind me.

"It doesn't make any sense," Hazel pipes up. "Well, none of this makes sense, but this more so. Was that what your claiming was like?"

"Not at all," Annabeth and I say at the same time. We smile at each other, and I motion for her to speak.

"For me, I was aware that it was all because of whatever Esmerelda put in my neck," she explains. "But I also saw a bunch of things that even she didn't understand. There's something not right about this whole thing."

"Okay, yeah, there's that, but what about these people?" Percy asks. "Do we trust them?"

"Do we have a choice?" says Frank. "I mean, they're the only ones who can really provide us with any answers. I don't know about you guys, but that's what I want."

"Frank is right," Jason says, nodding in agreement. "We can't leave. At least, not now. We go along with what they want, we get answers, and we decide after that."

"How about we meet somewhere after everyone has been claimed?" Annabeth offers. "We'll know more then than we do now."

"Who do you mean by 'we'? Because there are a lot of us." Hazel's eyebrows crease together as she speaks.

"Just the seven of us," Annabeth clarifies.

I nod in agreement, my eyes focused on the door Nico went through minutes ago. "Do you think Bianca is okay?"

Hazel frowns, and bites her lip worriedly. "I hope so. She kind of just got better from what happened with Willow."

The name alone is enough to make the seven of us shiver.

"What do you think happened to her?" Percy asks. "She kind of disappeared."

"She does that a lot," Frank observes. "She disappeared for a long time between the whole ball attack and when she held you and Thalia captive. Where was she doing that time?"

"Better yet, what was she doing?" I say.

The door opens again, and only Esmerelda and Ana emerge. There's no sign of Bianca or Nico.

"Where are they?" asks Jason warily.

"They both wanted some privacy," Esmerelda says carelessly. "So we gave it to them. Now, who wants to go next?"

Nobody answers. Then, "I thought we were going alphabetically."

Percy was the one who said it, and the look he gives Esmerelda is close to a glare. This is the most hostile I've ever seen him.

"Change of plans," the girl says breezily. "Was that you volunteering yourself?"

Percy shrugs. "I guess."

"Then, come on. We don't have all day; there are other people waiting, and there are still things we have to get done."

Percy releases Annabeth's hand, and stands up from his metal chair. He follows Esmerelda back into the room.

It doesn't take long for the television screen to come to life. This time, however, we all are much more tense, especially Annabeth. We know Percy much better than we know Bianca, and Annabeth looks worried.

"He'll be fine," I whisper to her. She looks at me, surprise playing across her face. "You said so yourself: it doesn't hurt."

Annabeth swiftly rearranges her features into a calm look. "I'm not worried," she tells me coolly.

I don't believe her. But, Percy's claiming is happening, and it's not my place to challenge her on it. So, I smile and nod at her, as if I believe her, and watch.

Percy is standing alone. Everything around him is completely barren and still. He's looking around, seemingly confused. For the longest time, he's just standing there, completely alone.

Suddenly, he's no longer in the barren landscape. Instead, Percy is standing next to an ocean-- no, he's standing on the water. Somehow, he's impossibly standing on top of rushing waves of water.

Annabeth gasps, and her fingers reach for mine. I take her hand into my own, and squeeze it. I don't need to face her to know what her face looks like.

A glint of something bright is visible amidst the waves. Percy grabs it, and pulls a long sword out of the water. He gapes at it for a few seconds before wrapping his hand around the hilt.

"Poseidon?" Ana says, her voice loudly juxtaposing the heavy silence I hadn't previously noticed. Now that she's spoken, however, I can tell that we were completely silent before. "But that isn't possible."

"It could be something different," Ajax offers weakly, sounding as if he doesn't believe it. "Maybe a minor god of sorts."

"No," a voice sounds from the back of the room. I swivel my head, and see a girl leaning against the doorframe. She's short, and has a blue streak in her hair. The girl looks familiar, but I can't place where I've seen her. "It's definitely Poseidon. But you're right, Ana; it shouldn't be possible."

The girl sauntered past our chairs. Though she was short, that didn't stop her from looking down at us. Her head was held high, and she stood up straight.

"The question is," the girl continues. "How did it happen, if it isn't possible?"

"Rowen," says Ana, sounding relieved. "You can find out."

The girl, Rowen, snorts, a mixture of laughter and disbelief. "I don't just have Poseidon on speed dial, you know. It would take a while."

"But you could do it," Ajax presses.

"I could do it," Rowen says slowly. "But there's a big chance that he won't bother to answer me."

"It would be really nice if someone bothered to tell us what they're talking about," says Leo, his voice irritated. "Or at least acknowledge us. You know, there was an entire rescue mission just for us. Why bother rescuing us if you're not even going to tell us anything?"

Rowen raises an eyebrow at us, her face cool and calm. "Why should we tell you anything? You haven't yet earned the right to know anything."

Annabeth flushes red, and she promptly stands up, releasing my hand.

But before she can say anything, Rowen continues.

"You think that just because you're demigods that you've earned the right to know everything? Well, that's not how the D.I. works. You have to work to get to that privilege."

"They're a special exception, Rowen," Esmerelda calls out. She walks towards us, Percy in tow.

"And what makes them so special?" Rowen scoffs.

"Things," she responds. "Anyways, I'm glad you came. It seems that Percy Jackson is the son of Poseidon."

"But that's impossible," Rowen insists.

"Exactly. Which means, things are much more complicated than what I thought."