( Chapter Two )
I've Seen You in a Dream

DAYS LATER NANAMI SAT IN THE GRASS WHILE MICHAEL PRACTICED HIS ARCHERY. A girl with shoulder length hair was beside her, hazel eyes narrowed on their shorter friend. Remi Utsumi. They'd been out there for hours just watching the Apollo cabin while they were supposed to be doing their own activities. The Aphrodite kids were weaving baskets while the Hermes cabin was out on the lake in canoes. Both had decided watching Michael go head to head with Lee Fletcher was more important at that moment.

Nanami usually wouldn't have ignored her duties — if you could even call them that — but she always did have a hard time telling Remi no to things. It had nothing to do with charm speak since her friend didn't inherit that ability, it was simply a Remi-thing. She had a way of convincing Nanami to do anything she wanted. It could be a problem sometimes, especially when it comes to slacking off. But there was no harm in having a little fun. Chiron was too busy with Percy to come check on them to make sure they were with their cabins so they were in the clear. Mr. D definitely wouldn't be watching them since his few moments of piqued interest were spent on his two sons.

Remi pulled a blade of grass from the ground while faking a yawn. She stared at the space between Michael and Lee that gave both her and Nanami a clear window of the targets. The younger boy had hit the red middle zone twice and Lee had three. But neither of the two seemed all that into the challenge as they had been earlier. The spark was gone by the time the rest of the Apollo kids lost interest in them. Not being the center of attention puts a damper on their moods.

Michael lazily shot another arrow at his target before shrugging. "It's not as fun when these two aren't good cheerleaders." He gestured to his friends.

Lee glanced down at them with his infectious smile that felt like a thousand suns shining down on them all at once. "I thought Nanami's thumbs up was encouraging."

"You would." Michael rolled his eyes while holding his bow at his side. "You preen under any attention."

"I do not." Lee narrowed his eyes on his younger brother.

Nanami hid a smile behind her hand. It was a known fact Lee did like attention. It wasn't that he begged for it but eyes naturally fell to him. It was hard not to stare and admire him with his blinding beauty and talents in not just archery but music and healing. There were many occurrences where Nanami would catch other campers watching him with pink coated cheeks and hearts in their eyes. Lee was as close to Apollo as any of them would get.

"Nanami." Lee called for her attention. "Don't you think Michael is more of an attention seeker?"

"Only in competitive things." Michael was more lowkey with his love for the spotlight compared to the rest of his siblings. Though that wasn't to say he tried staying out of the center of attention — he just did not go looking for it like Lee did.

Remi nodded her head along in agreement. "But he gets attention anyways cause he doesn't know how to shut up." She grinned at the boy now glaring at her. "He's constantly running his mouth."

Michael kicked her knee while scowling. "You're one to talk! You never think before you speak!"

"When you have a face like mine you don't need to think."

"That makes no sense and you know it!"

"So?" Remi laughed. "Its so easy to set you off you'd think your dad was Ares."

Michael gasped while crossing his arms over his chest. "Take that back." He bossed.

Remi shook her head, still grinning. "You and Clarisse can bond and stuff."

"I hate you." Michael sighed. "I lose all brain cells around you. See when it's just Nanami and me, I have clear thinking but with you." He leaned over her from where she sat. "You make me stupid."

"You're always stupid." Remi shrugged.

  Unable to hide his amusement, Lee laughed. It was like a melody to a song you just couldn't get out of your head. Like a tune to your favorite song. It had Nanami giggling along — though she didn't know what she was laughing at. Something about the older son of Apollo was like an illness spreading, except you were happy about it.

  However, his laughter died when he saw Chiron approaching them. He quickly sobered up and cleared his throat while nudging Michael with his elbow. The dark haired boy followed his line of sight and quickly turned his back to his friends while Remi muttered, "Rude."

  The last the three messed around when they were supposed to be doing their camp activities with their cabins, they were assigned to stable duty. Since they wanted to ignore training to be together so badly, it then became mandatory for the following week. Safe to say neither of them wanted to do that again. Especially not Remi who just recently got her nails painted by her older sister Selina.

  Chiron was not alone. Flanked at his side was Percy who had his brows furrowed together and a clueless expression on his face. Almost like he was second guessing everything he knew. Which is honestly a normal reaction for someone who had a normal life up till this point.

  He had been staring at Nanami as if he'd seen her before — which he had right before he passed out three days ago. She looked different now. Completely dry and in dark blue shorts that had bronze buttons on them, a tan button up with flowing sleeves, and a bronze belt with a seahorse in the middle. Annabeth had said she dressed like a pirate but right now he couldn't see it. She looked out of place since everyone else was wearing the orange camp shirts but other than that she was pretty in his eyes. If not a little weird for wearing a long sleeve with shorts. Her hair was kept in two braids resting on her shoulders with silver starfish charms.

  Nanami looked like the type of girl who got dressed in a dimly lit room with temporary blindness.

  The corners of her lips tilted into a downward smile that could have been mistaken for a frown if it wasn't for her eyes holding that friendly glimmer that Percy thought only existed in movies up till now. But she was looking at him with wide blue eyes, not at all appearing to be nervous with him and Chiron walking closer and closer toward her.

  Nanami knew she was supposed to be with the Hermes cabin, she was breaking the rules and would accept any punishment Chiron thought necessary. Whereas Remi was sitting as still as possible in hopes of disappearing into the mix of Apollo kids.

  "And this is the archery range." Chiron told him, though his eyes fell to the two girls at the back of Michael and Lee's feet. He raised a brow in silent question. All he got in return was a sheepish grin from Nanami and complete silence while subtly shifting behind her friend. "You'll do activities with your cabin and will have time to make friends outside of designated activities."

  "I think that's the most normal thing I've heard all day." Percy commented while scratching at the back of his neck.

  Michael chanced a look at the new boy and couldn't help the curl of his lips as he scowled in his direction. He knew of Nanami's speculations of Percy being who she was meant to protect and while he wasn't a believer in her dreams he also knew his friend was rarely wrong when it came to her intuition. Did he have a reason to outright dislike Percy on a personal level? No. Did he care? Also no. Michael knew what this meant for Nanami and he wasn't happy about it — neither was Remi who promised to curse his entire bloodline — or well have her mother do it with lots of bribery.

  It wasn't that Michael wanted to hate him. He might be a nice person but the point stands that there was a high probability of Percy being Poseidon's secret son. Now, he wasn't going to out the guy when he didn't know for certain and hadn't even been claimed — it would be bad for everyone if he was. Michael just wanted his friend to be safe and breathing. Not another statistic among demigods.

  Percy caught his look and suddenly felt even more awkward than before. Not even awake for more than a couple hours and he already had someone hating him. He was used to it, of course, but this guy didn't know him. None of them did. "Let me guess. Apollo." He gestured to Lee who was firing more arrows like it came naturally. And for him it did.

  Chiron nodded his head, strands of brown hair falling in his eyes till he pushed it back. "Come along Percy, much to see." But the boy was rooted in place while Nanami stood from the ground, helping Remi as she went.

  "I'll come with you!" She peered up at Chiron. "Luke and them should be back by now. That's where he's staying right? Y'know since he isn't claimed. And I'm convinced he's not a son of Hermes, he seems squeaky clean." Nanami blubbered while a crease formed between her brows. "In the way that he doesn't seem like he'd steal and get away with it."

  Percy mirrored her expression. "Claimed?"

  "You should have been with them." Chiron said to Nanami before looking at Remi. "And you are supposed to be at arts and crafts."

  "Michael dragged us over here."

  The smallest of the twelve year olds quickly turned to face them with his jaw practically on the floor. "I did not! She's a liar!"

  "I swear, Chiron." Remi feigned a frown. "He told us if we didn't praise his archery skills he would make his siblings curse us to always speak in rhymes."

  Michael wanted to strangle her. Better yet, send her off sailing into the lake with nothing but a miniature raft without food or paddle to make her way back. "I never said that!"

  Chiron stood there patiently waiting for the kids to be done with their back and forth. He knew what Remi was doing, the same thing she always did when caught doing something she wasn't supposed to. Place the blame on someone else. And that was usually Michael. Nanami had the decency to admit when she was in the wrong and took full accountability though he had to guess that had to do with the way she grew up. Being raised by a god is like rolling a dice and not knowing what you'll get.

  "Enough." Chiron sighed. "Remi join your cabin, Michael turned around, and Nanami —" He stared down at the wide eyed girl. "Come along, you can help Annabeth acclimate Percy to cabin eleven."

  Remi ran off in record time, anything to escape a possible lecture, leaving Nanami to follow the centaur and boy with seagreen eyes.

  They'd passed the climbing wall, circled the amphitheater, and walked through a crowd just to get to the cabins over by the mess hall. Percy hadn't been used to that much moving around in awhile. His classes were usually spent cooped up in a room and stuck at a desk with the occasional bathroom breaks. Camp was much bigger and you needed to maneuver around the place like a maze just to get from point A to point B.

  He kept staring at Nanami's side profile trying to put his finger on where he knew her from. He'd seen her before and not just in the woods that night. No, he had a strange sense of deja vu around her. It was weird. But he tried brushing it off. If she wasn't acting strange around him then why would he?

  "We haven't seen any other centaurs," Percy voiced curiously.

  "No," Chiron shook his head. "My kinsmen are wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."

  Nanami was like an encyclopedia for creatures and monsters from myths. She could tell you any random factoid on them and how they came to be. Ixion was a mortal king and tried to seduce Queen Hera of Olympius and later fell into a trap by Zeus, King of the Olympians. Stories of mortals and gods never end well and while Nanami wasn't much of a Zeus sympathizer — a total lie actually, she thought he was interesting with all his flaws — she would have clapped for his plans of dealing with Ixion. He slept with a cloud shaped like Hera and from that centaurs were born.

  It was a cautionary tale Brizo told her daughter. Warning her not to go past what the gods have planned for her. Don't wish for more, don't forsake them. It left Nanami paranoid to the point of banishing all ill thoughts of the gods to prevent her from being cursed or tricked. But Nanami knew she was a good person who would never take the gods for granted. Or so she hoped.

  "Are you really...y'know?" Percy asked.

  "The Chiron from the stories?" He glanced down at him. "Trainer of Hercules? Yes, Percy. I am."

  "Shouldn't you be dead?"

  Nanami looked at him quizzically from the corner of her eye, trying to put herself in his shoes. To someone who did not grow up knowing the stories of gods and monsters were real, it would sound strange for someone thousands of years old to be walking the same earth as him. She knew all of this must have been beyond confusing for Percy. So, Nanami gave a sympathetic smile, though she didn't think Percy liked it since his eyes were now narrowed as he stared at her. Like he was glaring and not from the blinding sun.

  The rest of the conversation between Chiron and Percy had been blocked out — not because Nanami was uninterested in why the director of camp became immortal, but because she knew the story. She was an inquisitive child who wanted to know everything. Chiron's journey through the last three thousand years was one of the first things she asked him about when she got to camp. Along with why she was in Hermes cabin if she was already claimed by her mother.

  Chiron had been hesitant with his response, unsure how the ten year old would react. Lady Brizo did not have a cabin. Neither of the minor gods did. There might have been an exception to Nanami's sleeping quarters with destiny weighing heavy on her shoulders — one many among demigods knew from Nanami constantly searching for the hidden boy — but she chose to stay in cabin eleven. Not wanting favoritism.

  As they approached her cabin she saw Annabeth and couldn't help the small frown tugging at her mouth. Now, Nanami was civil with the blonde girl but they were not friends in the slightest. It was no secret that Annabeth liked being the smartest in the room and felt strong blows to her ego when someone else could be intelligent or even as strategic as her in battle. That was Nanami. Her rival of sorts with her love for learning and the years of training under her belt from living with her goddess mother.

  It doesn't help that Annabeth was jealous of the attention Nanami got from her mother when she herself only got slivers.

  Nanami wasn't a hateful person or even someone who liked thinking badly of others. But something about the daughter of Athena irritated her. And the feeling was mutual. Now that wasn't to say the two wouldn't ever be friends but it wasn't likely.

  "Annabeth, Nanami." Chiron said. "I have a masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

  "Yes, sir."

  Nanami nodded her head while wrapping her hands around Percy's wrist and dragging him forward. "Yeah, duh."

  "Cabin eleven. Make yourself at home." Chiron told Percy.

  Cabin eleven wasn't anything all that exciting with the way it looked like any normal cabin you'd find in the woods. It was painted brown and appeared older than all the others. That just meant it was well-loved in Nanami's opinion. She thought it added a sense of charm to it, made it feel like a home. Not the kind of home she was used to but it brought comfort to be surrounded by so many people. Living in the undersea could get lonely when all she had was her mother and fish.

  From the outside it looked like it wouldn't be able to house more than ten people but it became wider and expanded once inside. Rows of bunk beds lined the walls. While the cabin dwellers ceased their conversations at the sight of Chiron outside the door. They bowed to the camp director who genuinely cared for each and every one of them. It was a sign of respect.

  Chiron left after that. Leaving Percy with one girl who looked like she wanted to unveil every single one of his secrets and another who still hadn't released his wrist from her death-grip.

  He could feel the scrutinizing stares of the Hermes kids as he just stood there. He gulped under the tension in the air. Was it too late to hightail out of camp and try his hand at living on the streets or going back to Gabe? Actually, scratch that, anywhere was better than with his step-father.

  "Well?" Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Go on."

  Nanami walked into her cabin, dragging Percy behind her. Though it seems she was pulling him too fast because he tripped on his way in. Nanami grabbed his arm to stabilize him with a sheepish expression and an apology rolling off her tongue at lightning speed. But the Hermes kids had seen it. And they were dead silent.

  Annabeth looked eager as she said, "Percy Jackson meet cabin eleven."

  "Regular or undetermined?" Travis Stoll asked from his spot on the top bunk while his younger brother sat on the bottom sizing Percy up from the distance.

  "Undertimined." Annabeth answered.

  Nanami's frown only deepened when her cabinmates groaned. She may not have known what it felt like to have someone new entering her godly parents cabin who wasn't even their's, but she doubted that made Percy feel any better about being there. "Don't take it personally." She told him.

Luke Castellan stepped forward with a welcoming aura around him that would have made Percy feel less awkward. But the older boy had a scar that ran from his right eye down to his jaw, it made him look intimidating. If his muscles weren't enough. But he looked friendly in the way a grizzly bear would so long as you don't try getting too close. While the rest were wearing short-sleeve camp shirts, Luke's had the sleeves ripped off and had a knife strapped to the belt around his shorts.

"Now, campers. That's what we're here for." Luke chastised the others while Nanami looked up at the nineteen year old with her wide eyes full of wonder. He had an air about him that demanded respect and the girl could admit she was jealous. "Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor right over there." He gestured to the floor over by the Stoll brothers who were eyeing his Minotaur horn.

"This is Luke." Annabeth said with her cheeks gaining a pinkish hue that made Nanami internally gag. "He's your counselor for now."

Percy's eyebrows furrowed. "For now?"

Patiently, Luke explained since he knew Annabeth wouldn't have been too kind about needing to break things down for him. "You're undetermined. They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes newcomers, all visitors. Naturally we would." He shrugged like it was no big deal. "Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers. We also take in the ones claimed by minor gods like Nanami over there."

"And I appreciate it." Nanami gave the older boy a thumbs up.

Connor, the younger of the Stoll brothers at thirteen, was grinning at Percy — or more so the horn in his hands. He had that stupid look on his face that always told Nanami when he was plotting, that mischievous quirk of his top lip that showed his glimmering canine. Travis had the same look but he had the decency to at least wait till Percy wasn't staring at them before mirroring his brother's grin.

Nanami was shaking her head at him with a disapproving furrow of her brows. The kind of look she learned from Luke when he was getting after his siblings and the unclaimed. Mimicking speech and mannerisms had been one of her odd little quirks since she was a toddler. It started out with Brizo's sauntering walk and the deepness of her voice from lack of use, then it was the puffing of her cheeks like the fish. When she got to camp it only got worse. She once galloped after Chiron while tripping over her own feet and even called the other campers by the wrong names like Mr. D did.

Sometimes it would happen on its own but then she began observing them more and redirected her approach to a more strategic one. She mirrored people like a reflection. Movements, like she could predict what was coming with her eyes closed.

It was how she knew Annabeth would be annoyed and cross her arms with the next question flying out of Percy's mouth. "How long will I be here?"

"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined. Sometimes even then." He was looking at Nanami with soft eyes he always seemed to have when around the younger campers.

"How long will that take?" Cabin eleven laughed which only left Percy annoyed.

Nanami turned to him with a sympathetic shine to her permanent smile — seriously did this girl have to be so bubbly. Was that the right word? "It could take days, weeks, months, sometimes years. The gods are very busy." Her words had Luke looking down at his sandals and biting the inside of his cheek. She held too much faith in the gods who couldn't give a shit about them. Whether they lived or died, so long as they did quests in their honor. "Or if you're lucky, hours."

"Come on." Annabeth grabbed his wrist. "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I've already seen it."

Annabeth was already dragging him outside while Nanami's cabinmates continued to laugh behind them. The young girl shook her head with a sigh and followed after the two. They stopped just a few feet away from cabin eleven before Annabeth released him with a scrutinizing stare. The very look that always pissed Nanami off. That girl was too judgemental sometimes. But Nanami guessed when you hate parts of yourself you direct that judgment at others.

"Jackson, you have got to do better than that." Annabeth huffed.

Nanami moved to the boy's side with her hands on her hips. "If you say something mean —"

"What?" Percy asked cluelessly.

The blonde rolled her eyes with a deep breath leaving her nose, her shoulders tense. "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

Nanami wanted to tell Annabeth to leave Percy alone, wanted to scream at her that he didn't know what was happening. But she knew screaming wouldn't help anyone. She doubted Percy would be comfortable with the shouting from two girls he didn't really know. He needed time to adjust before anyone showed just how crazy they could get. He needed to be eased into their world.

"What's your problem?" Percy's face was turning red as his fingers dug into the fabric of his shirt. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy —"

"Don't talk like that! You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

Nanami grimaced at her words. It was an insensitive thing to say to someone who lost their mother in that fight. "Not everyone is as obsessed with glory as you are." She quipped with her eyes moving up to Annabeth who was glaring at her. "It's true. Percy lost someone important to him and you're over here talking to him like he's supposed to know everything off the bat. Before this he had a normal life."

Percy wasn't sure how to feel about someone actually seeing things from his perspective. He'd been getting looks from everyone like he should just know the complete mythos behind the gods and didn't even pay attention to the how of him getting across the magic barrier. He wanted to bury himself deep in the ground and pray to whoever is listening that all of this is some sick dream and not his reality. If he pinched himself would he wake up?

"So you're all just waiting to die?" Percy ignored Nanami coming to his defense — not that he didn't appreciate it, but how was he supposed to respond to that? Kiss the ground she walked on, give her one of those meaningful "bro" looks?

"No!" Annabeth yelled. "To fight the Minotaur. What do you think we train for?"

Nanami slowly raised her hand. "I train because it's fun." And because it was expected of her.

"Unbelievable." Annabeth grumbled.

Percy looked between the two, completely uninterested in all of this. All he wanted was his mother back. "Look, if the thing I fought was really the Minotaur, the same one in the stories —"

"Yes."

" — Then there's only one."

Nanami nodded her head along. "Well, you never know."

"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth so..."

"Yeah and like a tool he abandoned his girlfriend on an island after she helped him escape said labyrinth." Nanami had a strong distaste for heroes of myth. They were all idiots. And frustrating when it came to their love lives. "But now she and Mr. D are happy so I guess things worked out just fine."

Percy furrowed his eyebrows while staring at her. "Huh?" He wondered if this girl had an off-switch.

"Anyway," Annabeth cut in while side-eying Nanami. "Monsters don't die. They can be killed but they don't die."

"Oh, thanks. That really clears things up."

Nanami bounced on the balls of her feet, her attention traveling over to the other campers running around. Her eyes followed Pollux Angevin, the younger of Dionysus' twin sons. "What she means is they don't stay dead like we would. Sometimes they can stay gone for years, decades. But not forever."

Annabeth's jaw clenched, the muscle twitched and all the while Nanami wasn't paying her any attention. Her focus was on everyone else around them. "They're primal forces. Chiron calls them arche-types. They re-form."

Percy looked deep in thought as they stood in momentary silence. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally with a sword..."

  "The fur — I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there, you just made her very mad."

  Nanami hadn't known about his teacher. But then again she didn't go full stalker mode on him. She gave him the space he needed, after sitting with him in the infirmary. Digging into people's personal lives wasn't all that interesting to her. A lie. Nanami actually did enjoy the drama in everyone's lives as long as it wasn't her own. She had enough to deal with. "Oh yeah, she's gonna come for you Percy. The kindly ones are pretty vengeful."

  Percy's face said it all. He was weirded out. Though Nanami couldn't tell if that was because of her or Annabeth. "How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

  Annabeth shrugged. "You talk in your sleep."

  "You have weird hobbies."

  She turned to Nanami in offense. Her arms came up to cross over her chest. "And you dress funny."

  "You look funny."

  "Uh, guys." Percy waved a hand between them. "You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

  Annabeth looked behind her like she was paranoid that someone was listening. Nanami, however, was back to her bouncing in place. "You shouldn't call them by name, even here."

  "It's like in Harry Potter how Voldemort is referred to as He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named."

   "We call them the kindly ones, if we have to speak of them at all."

  Percy complained, "Is there anything we can say without it thundering?" He got no response from either of them. "And why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of bunks right over there." He gestured over to the other cabins. Poseidon, cabin three. The one Nanami was convinced he did belong in. All because of a feeling.

  Nanami shook her head. "Sorry, Percy. But you don't get to decide which cabin is yours. It's based on your —"

  "Parents. Well, parent." Annabeth cut her off, staring at Percy expectantly. Hoping he would finally understand what they were saying.

  "My mom is Sally Jackson," Percy said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. Well, she used to."

  "I'm sorry about your mom, Percy." Though Annabeth did not look like it or even show sympathy for the boy. "But that's not what I meant. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."

  "He's dead." Percy swallowed. "I never knew him."

  Nanami had a complicated relationship with her own father but knew she had it better than most at camp. She got to have a relationship with both her parents while others were begging for scraps. The smallest sliver of attention. And they got that by going on quests. The reason why Annabeth is so eager to go on her own.

  Annabeth let out a breath, annoyance and frustration clear on her face. "Your father's not dead."

  "How can you say that? Do you know him?" He got defensive.

  "No, of course not."

  Nanami did.

  "Then how could you say —"

  "Because I know you." No she didn't. Not really. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."

  Percy glared at her. He was already fed up with everything from the past few days and here this random girl was telling him his father was alive. The man he believed was dead his whole life. His mom wouldn't lie to him. She wouldn't, right? "You don't know anything about me." He snapped.

  "No?" Annabeth raised a brow at him, thankful Nanami chose now to be quiet. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."

  Nanami wished she could go to school, a real one. Sure, she had private tutors thanks to her mother and her father, when he was actually around. But going to a mortal institute could have been fun. Making friends and living as normal people do. She was envious.

  "How did you —" Annabeth cut him off again.

  "Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD too."

  Percy's cheeks went pink while he scratched at the back of his neck in embarrassment. He didn't think it could have been that obvious. "What does that have to do with anything?"

  "Taken together it's almost a sure sign." Annabeth nodded her head. "The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD. You're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battle reflexes. In a real fight they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you to see them for what they are."

  Nanami planted her feet flat on the ground, her worn sneakers digging into the grass. Finally done with her light bouncing. "Everyone at camp has been through it."

  Annabeth continued, "If you weren't like us you wouldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

  "Ambrosia and nectar?"

  "The food and drink we were giving you to make you feel better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead."

  Nanami bit the inside of her cheek, having something to say. "Unless you're Demophoön, who Lady Demeter nursed in the myth and fed ambrosia before putting him in the middle of a fire. Blessing him — that's actually how she got one of her temples built. It was to honor her."

  Annabeth glanced at her thoughtfully. "Do you just have these facts on standby?"

  Nanami nodded. "I have a lot of things in here," She tapped her head. "I'm surprised you weren't the one bringing that up in your explanation."

  "I didn't think it was important."

  "Oh, well I did."

A new voice cut in. This one was not as squealy as the younger girls. "Well! A newbie!" Clarisse LaRue. Ares' daughter. She was taller and had sandy brown hair, more muscle than the three twelve year olds she was approaching. Her camo jacket — which was matching with her siblings — oddly enough complimented her well.

Nanami and Clarisse did not get along. Mostly because the older girl was a bully who more times than not, had something mean to say. And Nanami did not like people who were rude to people who didn't deserve it. "Here comes trouble. Clarisse." She grumbled and for the first time Percy had seen her gaze harden. The blue of her eyes became harsh, like sharpened blades and shoulders squared, making herself appear bigger than she actually was.

"Don't start anything." Annabeth warned her, though she should have been talking to Percy. As Clarisse approached she turned to her. "Why don't you go polish your gear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess." The muscular girl laughed, "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth cursed, which made Nanami smile a little. "You don't stand a chance." And they usually didn't. Not when Annabeth had Luke and Nanami on her team, who were the best swordsmen in camp. Though she would have done even better if Lee Fletcher was thrown in with his bow.

"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said.

Nanami scoffed. "Fat chance." She was beaming now. Her bright radiance almost blinded the boy staring at her. "We're going to send you weeping to your dad." She would have added a comment, if he even answered her pleas, but she wasn't going to instigate a fight between Clarisse.

Clarisse narrowed her eyes and bent down to Nanami's level. "Can you back that, Urchin?" When she got no response she smirked. Feeling accomplished with herself. She then pointed to the boy with inky black hair and his mouth curled into a scowl like he was displeased with this girl, not even knowing who she was. "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth introduced. "Meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

"Like," Percy blinked, "The war god?"

"You got a problem with that?" She got in his face with a sneer.

"No," Percy tried biting his tongue but he'd never been good at keeping his mouth shut. "It explains the bad smell."

Clarisse growled. A real one. Nanami wanted to call her a beast but that would be too offensive to the actual beasts out in the world. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy."

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse —" Annabeth tried saying but the older girl wasn't hearing it.

Nanami stepped in front of Percy with her back straight, acting as a wall. "Out of the way. Don't make me pummel you again." Ah yes, the first year she had met the daughter of Ares. Fun times. But Nanami wasn't afraid of her. In fact she would welcome the fight. She'd been looking for a reason to use her sword for weeks. "I mean it."

"I know you bully people to feel better about yourself but this is just getting sad, Clarisse." Nanami feigned a frown. "Wanna take this to the amphitheater?"

Clarisse shoved her out of the way and into Annabeth like she weighed nothing. "Stay out of it, Urchin."

"That's just uncreative."

Percy did not want Nanami standing up for him, he was actually happy Annabeth was staying out of it. As the new kid he knew he'd have people hounding him and go the whole middle-school-bully route. He needed to defend himself and make his own reputation. Not one that relies on another person. Especially not a girl who was smaller than him. He went to say something but Clarisse already had him by the neck, dragging him to the bathroom with the two girls following behind. Though Nanami was running to catch up while Annabeth took more hesitant steps in their direction.

Percy was fighting — well, trying to. Kicking, punching, even biting. Which he wasn't proud of. But none of it was working. He wasn't sure what came with being a daughter of Ares but he had to guess it had something to do with being stronger than him and not just because of her muscle capacity.

Clarisse pulled him into the girl's bathroom with Nanami yelling after them. Demanding she leave Percy alone, even threatening to get Michael to curse her to rhyme again, but none of it mattered.

Her siblings were laughing behind her as she dragged him to the line of toilets. "Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse scoffed. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was stupid looking."

Nanami tried running forward but one of the Ares campers held her by the arm, halting her movements with a sneer. Annabeth peaked through her fingers as Clarisse bent Percy at the knees and pushed his head towards the toilet. They could see him struggle to keep his head up, his knuckles turning white as he pushed at the toilet.

Nanami was mentally praying for the boy to do something. For a miracle. Maybe some kind of magic to make itself known. She didn't want to witness this kid get a swirly and she tried fighting. Really she did, but they were bigger than her. Usually that wouldn't matter, not when she was fighting monsters, but there were more of them than of her.

But something was happening. The water in the pipes was rumbling. Loudly. Clarisse furrowed her brows, her hold on Percy faltering. And then it happened, water shot out of the toilet. It avoided Percy but shot out at everyone behind him. Clarisse was thrown back, nearly avoiding Nanami who was on the ground laughing gleefully. "Yes!" She cheered through her laughter.

Nobody else was laughing or even smiling. Not when the rest of the toilets erupted and began to flood the bathroom. Clarisse's siblings helped her up and together they ran out of the bathroom. The water shut down after that, but Nanami and Annabeth were still soaked. One on the floor and the other looking shocked and disgusted.

Percy looked down with a gulp. Unlike them he was completely dry and not a single drop of water was near him. His legs were shaking as he walked over to Nanami to help her up. She took his hand and allowed him to pull her, looking proud of him but he was just surprised — if not a little scared.

"How did you..." Annabeth trailed off.

"I don't know."

Nanami stared at Annabeth with her head nodding. Signalling to her that she knew.

From outside they could hear Clarisse screaming, "You're dead, new boy. You are totally dead!"

"Well at least she didn't overreact." Nanami shrugged.

Annabeth was gawking at Percy. Astounded by the boy, even though he couldn't tell her how or why the toilets exploded like that. Maybe it was bad plumbing? "What are you thinking?" Percy asked, confused.

"I'm thinking," She said. "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."

Nanami only felt the tug in her stomach getting stronger the longer she was around this boy. He is a child of the sea. She could feel it.



















NOTE!

And chapter two is finally done! It took days but it's here! I had so much fun writing for this, Nanami is different than what I'm used to writing which is honestly refreshing. And she's just a kid who ACTS like a kid and thinks like a kid.

Guys I actually love Clarisse, I can excuse her behavior. She's just a girl