The sun rose up over the field, illuminating the neat horseshoe pattern of the odd cabins. The scene was gentle and quiet, if not the normal sight for a valley in Manhattan, but the people typically avoid this place, almost as if a force field held them out. The pine tree was like the center of it, for even though it was a handsome tree, one that many children would have been tempted to try and scale, the rumors are enough to keep most away.

It is almost odd, the difference between the thought processes of the children within the border and the ones without. The ones that are in do not leave often, not because they are being restrained, but because it appears to them that their dreams are all coming true. They finally fit in and no one tells them they are odd, or dumb, or different.

The ones outside stay away for an entirely different reason; after all, who would want to come to a mental facility?

The first movement of the day comes from the darkest cabin, and the mover himself is only a little lighter than the building he departs from. His hair is jet black, just like his eyes and clothes, but his skin is pearly white. No wonder he likes to say he is the son of the god of death; the dark circles under his eyes make his face look almost skull-like, and his gaze is weary as he gazes around. Overall, though he is sickly thin and not particularly tall, he is an intimidating figure, and even the other children stay away from him.

Except for that one, that boy with black hair and bright green eyes, quite tan skin and a face that is always smiling. The first boy is here for obvious reasons; drug and alcohol abuse. The others, especially the amiable boy now wandering towards him, after having emerged from the blue cabin with nets draped over it, have already invented their own fantasy for him; it is dark and twisted, but to them, it is their reality.

“Hey, Nico!” The boy calls, and the dark-clad boy turns to him, his expression closed and his lips thinned. He inclines his head slightly; even if the others live inside their own world, Nico knows what’s real and what is not. All the more credit to him for playing along.

“Percy.” His tone is of forced friendliness; he’s tried cold before, but even that did not warn the other boy away. Percy doesn’t even notice. Before the exchange can go on, however, the rest of the camp seems to wake up.

Out of the plainest cabin stream a cluster of children dressed with neat dullness, all of them perfectly clean and set up, with hair that lies completely flat and clothes without a single wrinkle. All of them are here with extreme cases of OCD, so bad that they couldn’t be with normal society. After them are others containing the same disorder, but to a less drastic degree. They were sent here because of other things, mostly, though their main problem remains is the OCD that assigns them to that cabin. The children call it the Athena Cabin. Among them is a blonde haired girl with stormy grey eyes. As she walks, her face remains strictly down, her nose firmly planted in the book that is in turn glued constantly to her hands. She drifts off from the rest of the group, and over towards Percy and Nico, finally looking up only slightly to give them a nod of acknowledgement before returning to her reading, though she stands very still near them. Nico gives her a look of barely concealed annoyance.

“Annabeth!” Percy smiles largely at her but she doesn’t look up. Her mind is already completely absorbed in her book, but again the boy doesn’t seem to notice or care. He simply looks back at Nico a moment later.

“So, Nico. Have you heard about Luke? How he joined with the enemy?” Percy frowns. “I liked him. I thought he was to be counted as one of my friends.” Before Nico can respond, if he was going to anyway, Percy drifts off.

“Annabeth, it’s time to eat.” Nico coaxes the girl, and she looks up, her eyes unfocused.

“Oh, yeah, right.” She mumbles, turning her feet away from him but not moving. Nico steps forward and takes her shoulders, guiding her towards the mess hall. She tosses him an unfocused smile. “Thanks, Percy.”

Nico’s face falls, but he turns so she can’t see it. It only takes a second for him to cover it with a scowl, but it was visible long enough for anyone watching to see his disappointment. The girl, like all the others, lives in her own world, and the world she has made up involves the tall, black-haired, amiable boy, not the smaller, dark one.

As breakfast starts, anyone who did not know what was happening would be thoroughly confused. The children take turns throwing a part of their meal into the fires, whispering a name, before they start to eat. Their tributes to their ‘parents’ are just like what would have been done by the Greeks in ancient times, if the Greeks had had scrambled eggs and bacon, or cereal.

After they settle down to eat, it starts to look more normal. Most of the children start to talk and joke, and the hall fills with noise. It is now that the facility director, Mr. Chiron, comes to me, his wheelchair clicking mechanically. He smiles, his eyes kind and soft as he looks around at his charges.

“Would you like to see the main office? I might be able to explain some more to you there, Mr. -?” He pauses at the end, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

“Galileo.” I reply, returning his grin. We shake hands before he leads me back to the main house, up on a hill above the facility. He laughs when we are about half way there.

“Your last name is also a spacecraft, no?” He says, his shoulders still vibrating his the mirth of his own private joke.

“Yes, one that orbited Jupiter.” I say, still confused. “Why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Never mind my odd jokes and me. One must adapt if they wish to provide the best possible place for children like these to live.”

We do not speak again until we get to the house, and, wheeling himself up the short ramp onto the porch, Mr. Chiron presses a button, opening the door. We proceed inside, where we find a third man, one who wears a Hawaiian shirt and holds a can of coke in his hand. He does not smile to me, but gives me a nod of greeting.

“I assume that you are Mr. Galileo.” He states, his voice slightly toneless. “I’m Mr. Dee, the head director. Mr. Chiron will take you through the basics of this place, and I’ll answer any other questions you have.” After that, he turns and leaves, promising to be back in a bit. Mr. Chiron rolls his eyes, discreetly, but I still notice it as he leads me into the office.

“Please, take a seat.” He says, motioning to a high-backed chair as he wheels himself to the other side. Ruffling through the files, he pulls out a few papers and folders, pushing them across to me. “Those explain some of the basics. The activities we do, mostly obstacle courses and races of the machines that some of them build. Pretty basic stuff. We also provide classes like we are required to, though due to their conditions, many of them have been unable to pass these. We hold extra classes as well, such as swimming, art, and computers classes. The children sort themselves into the cabins that they stay in, and that paperwork shows which are the worst cases that have special conditions in which they stay here year round, and it also includes the official documents of the last building safety check.

“I have also included the profiles on some of our students. These are the ones that are most absorbed, or least absorbed in their own world. It can also be said as the worst and best cases. Just a few are Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Nico Di-Angelo. There are also a few files on miscellaneous others that do not hold as much support as the others, and are not quite as influencial as those three. Some of these are Clarisse La Rue, Thalia Grace and Grover Underwood.”

As he talks, I flip through the files. They read quite simply the name of the person, their disorder, and a few other facts.

• Percy Jackson o Psychotic Depression • Can’t decipher reality from fiction and goes into swings of depressive behavior, including no longer interested in food or activities, no longer responsive to others, and chaotic and dangerous actions

• Annabeth Chase o Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder • Mostly with books, but also with other objects. Treats them as if they are endowed with life themselves, and cannot perform even simple tasks without such things in their right and proper places, or being used in their right and proper way. Also has a strong need to read books, and sometimes goes into fits of anxiety if they are taken away.

• Nico Di-Angelo o Excessive Drug and Alcohol Abuse • Is much improved in his time here and has been dried out and his systems flushed thoroughly since installment. He now appears to have no desire to partake in any such indulgences, and will most likely be fully released soon. Has already been allowed leaves of absence, after which he is tested and has always been found to not have indulged in any undesirable consumptions.

• Clarisse De Rue o Schizoaffective Disorder • Experiences episodes of intense depression, and expresses these feelings by violence of speech and body. Often will sit silently for days, refusing to eat or accept any human contact and must be placed on a tube to retain nutritious and fluid necessity.

• Thalia Grace o Delusional Disorder and Extreme Acrophobia • Believes strongly that she is a tree, and mostly refuses to exit the tree at the border. Will not climb it due to acrophobia but instead sits, lays or stands at its base, mostly unresponsive until night, when she goes to the small hut that is build half-way around said tree. Only then does she eat and drink. Under full supervision.

• Grover Underwood o Schizoid Personality Disorder • Although less antisocial than most with this disorder, he lives in his own fantasy world and refuses to come out of it. Mostly aloof and uninterested in others, at which times he goes to the woods and walks around aimlessly. Shows the most interest in Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase, because of their interest/ interaction in his private world.

After I finish reading the profiles, Mr. Chiron talks only a little while longer with me before Mr. Dee returns. Having few questions, I conclude the meeting with a request to go and observe and interview the children for a short time. Mr. Chiron and Mr. Dee exchange a look.

“You have permission, but the children will most likely be unable to answer your questions after a bit.” Mr. Dee states. I smile humorlessly as I stand, shaking hands with them both.

“We shall see what they have to say. It will be very interesting, I think, to hear what they see in this place.” And with that, I stride back out, just as the children are finishing breakfast.

It takes me only a short while to find the first of the children I wish to talk to. Nico looks up, his eyes curious but guarded as I walk towards him. When he realizes that I wish to interact with him, he gives me a small smile.

“Nico, can I talk to you for a bit?” I question when I am near enough. “My name is Mr. Galileo.”

The boy looks at me indifferently, through a spark of curiosity and kindness shows though his black eyes.

“Sure, but may I ask why?” He responds. I give him a smile.

“Of course. I have come to inspect and observe the facility.” I answer. Nico nods. “So I want to ask you a few things. Firstly, what are the stories that they others have made for you?”

Nico looks like he is about to laugh, but the only noise that escapes is a burst of air.

“They pretend that I am from fifty years ago, and that I got locked in a hotel where people didn’t age. They say I’m a son of Hades, and that my dad hid me and a sister in the hotel to hide us from Zeus.” His eyes darken slightly before he says the next part, showing that even he thinks it is dark. “Then they say Percy and Annabeth brought us here, and my sister went on a quest with Percy, where Bianca, the sister, died. They act like that’s why I got so dark and pale.”

“What do you think of this place?”

“It’s cool enough. They made this by playing off of the fantasies of the other kids, so it’s pretty cool that some of the stuff is based off of Greek mythology, I guess. I used to play this silly little board game called Myth-o-magic, and a lot of the stuff here reminds me of the pictures on the board and cards.”

“Do you have many friends?”

“A few. I purposely made sure to distance myself from the others so I could focus on getting my problem under control and getting back to my mom and dad in Seattle. It’s been working well enough so far. Mostly my friends here are getting better too, and I hope we can all get out around the same time, so maybe we can see each other. They all live around where I live.”

“What do you think of Percy Jackson?”

“He’s alright, except you have to be really patient with him. He usually doesn’t listen to what you say, and he can’t read facial expressions very well, but he has some great ideas of how things work. It’s kind of annoying though, because in his world, my best friend Luke is a traitor to the ‘camp,’ all because he went back home early. You see, he had a similar problem to me, but less… severe… so he got out first. Now Percy has this whole story that he joined Kronos and is trying to destroy the camp and the greek gods, and goes completely mad whenever Luke comes to visit.”

“Anything else, about anything?”  I question, intreuged.  Nico shrugs nonchalantly.

“Not really. I have to get to class now.” He says, holding out his hand.  I shake it and he gives me a small nod before heading off, his stride quick but his shoulders hunched.

I watch for a short while as the boy walks off, before I go off in search of Annabeth. It takes me longer to find her, but when I finally do, it is from the help of several other kids. She is leaned against a tree a short distance from the rest of the camp, her head still stuck in her book. I now see that it is a Greek mythology book, and another story, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, is stacked inside. She seems to be flipping back and forth.

“Hello.” I greet as I walk up. She hardly responds, except to nod a bit, which might have her just switching between her stories. I walk closer and try again. “Annabeth?” 

“Huh? What? Oh, hi.” She says, still not looking at me, and still seeming absorbed in reading.

“I’m Mr. Galileo. I’m here to ask you a few questions.” Silence. “Who’s your godly parent?” Instant response. She looks up, suddenly interested.

“Athena.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because I’m smart and I read a lot and I can’t stand things out of place. Also, I’m really afraid of spiders.”

“How old are you?” It is a random question, just to see if she really is focused now.

“17.” She is interested, for this moment.

“What do you think about Percy Jackson?”

“Seaweed brain? He’s cool, I guess, though not very strategic. He’s brave though, and loyal, though I think he likes me, even though I only think of him like a brother. Anyway, he thinks he can breathe underwater, but I think he only got that from his dad. After all, he can’t really breathe underwater, just use the oxygen around him.”

“What about Nico Di-Angelo?”

“He used to be so much happier and nicer, but after his sister died, he got so sad and dark and didn’t want to talk to anyone.” I’m losing her focus at this point.

“Do you like it here?”

“Yeah. It’s my home, after all. I have to admit, though; after Percy got here, it got much more interesting.”

“How so?”

“Well, I always wanted to go on a quest, only they are for exclusive people, and I never got one, or got invited on one. Then Percy came, the focus of the major prophecy everyone’s been trying to decipher for years. And low and behold I got invited to go with him.”

“So what kinds of quests have you done?” I question, trying to keep her talking.

“Well, our first quest was to get Zeus’s lightning bolt back. It was stolen, you see, by Luke Castellan, because he was mad at his father and wanted revenge on the gods. Anyway, we won, and got the lightning bolt back. The next quest was actually Clarisse’s, but she’ll just deny everything if you ask her, so I wouldn’t. Percy thinks she’s stuck up and power hungry, but I know better. Anyway, we had to get the golden fleece then, to save the camp and Thalia. She came out of her tree, but she still has a connection to it, so she spends much of her time up there still. The third was actually Percy’s. Luke kidnapped Artemis and me and made us hold up the sky. See this streak of grey right here?” She pauses and shows me, and to my surprise I see one. “It’s from the strain of holding it. Percy has one too, because he let me have a break by taking my burden. Then he got the rightful owner of that position to take it back, and knocked Luke off a cliff; he survived the fall though.” She stops, a dreamy look back in her face. “And-and…” her head drops down and she is trapped in her book again.

“Annabeth?” I question. She doesn’t acknowledge me. With a sigh, I stand and walk away, leaving her to her book. It takes me a while to find Percy Jackson, but when I do, it is to find him by the lake, all alone, trailing his feet in the water.

“Percy Jackson, I’m Mr. Galileo. Would you mind telling me about your adventures lately?” I say, getting right to the point. I don’t have very much longer to be here, but if I get something good, I might be able to come back. Percy turns to me, an easy smile on his lips, and his eyes interested.

“You do? Usually mortals don’t want to hear them from me, because they don’t believe me.” He states.

“Ah, but I am no mortal. Do you know what Galileo is?”

“No.”

“It is a spacecraft that orbits Jupiter.”

“Jupiter-? So you’re… “ His voice is excited.

“A son.” Percy smiles widely.

“Well, Mr. Galileo, what is it you want to know?”

“Everything. I want to write a book, but I was hoping to use your story. It is most intriguing.”

“Ok… can I help?”

“You can speak it, and I’ll write it, if you’d like.”

“That’d be great! But you can’t keep your name. You’ll have to change that, or they might guess, the younger ones, that is.”

“Right indeed. What shall I call myself?”

“Rick. Rick… Riordan.” I smile. Such a sudden thought.

“Ok. When do you want to start?”

“Right now.”

“Ok.” I pull out a paper and pen, getting ready.

“… ready?”

“Yes.”

“… Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.

“If you’re reading this because you think you might be one, my advise is: close this book now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life.

“Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

“If you’re a normal kid, reading this because you think it’s fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.

“But if you recognize yourself in these pages- if you feel something stirring inside- stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it’s only a matter of time before they sense it too, and they’ll come for you.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”