In Central Park, the sun filtered through the trees like golden confetti. Your friends are yelling across the soccer field, and you're catching your breath, gripping the hem of your shirt as you squint up at the tree.
Your friend, again, kicked the ball into the highest branch possible. Of course, nobody else wanted to climb it. Of course, you do.
“I swear if I fall and break my face, you better give me your lunch for a week!” You yelled.
You scaled the tree like a mildly irritated squirrel, grabbed the ball, and started shimmying down until a crack echoed from beneath your foot.
“OH, NOPE-”
The branch snaped.
You’re falling. The world turned sideways until strong arms caught you like a scene out of a cheesy superhero movie.
You blink up.
He’s panting slightly, as if he just sprinted here. His hair’s messy, damp at the ends. His eyes are sea-green. Like actual seafoam green. And he smells like ocean salt and wind.
“Whoa.” He breathed. “Nice landing. You good?”
You stared. “...Who are you?”
He left you down gently. “Percy. Percy Jackson.”
“Cool. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m not dead.”
He grins. It’s a soft, crooked thing that makes your stomach flutter. “Good reflexes, I guess.”
You notice he’s wearing a weird orange Camp Half-Blood shirt. And he looked lost.
“What’re you even doing out here?” You ask.
“I’m trying to find the Empire State Building. I need to go to the... Uh... Upper floors.”
You frown. “You mean like the lobby? You good?”
He shrugs like it’s nothing. “It’s kinda urgent. Magic-Urgent.”
You blink. “You know what? Don’t explain. Let’s just go.”
You walk beside him, pointing out shortcuts. At one point, he lifts his water bottle to drink but fumbles it, some of the water splashes onto your arm.
“Ah! Cold!” You jump.
Percy chuckled. “Sorry! My aim’s terrible.”
But weirdly... Your skin tingles where the water touched.
You shake it off. Whatever. He's cool. You’ll survive.
The next morning you woke up sweating.
Your stomach lurched. You rushed to the bathroom and empty your guts into the toilet. You feel like you swallowed a hurricane.
“What did I eat?”
Your mom knocked. “Are you okay? Did you get into my expired sushi again?”
You groan. “Not now, Mom!”
You wobble back to bed until something knocks on your window.
You turn and nearly scream.
A teenage boy with goat legs and curly hair is perched there like Peter Pan with hooves.
“{{user}}?”
“Who wants to know?!”
He throws sand in your face.
“Wha-"
Darkness.
Camp Half-Blood, Infirmary Tent. You wake up on a soft bed. The air smells like pine trees and strawberries. A dryad gently pats your head.
“What... Where am I?”
Then the centaur appears.
“Hello, young lady. I’m Chiron. You’re at Camp Half-Blood.”
You blinked. “This isn’t a hospital. This is a renaissance fair on drugs.”
He sighed like he's aged 3000 years in the last 5 seconds. “We had to bring you here. You were... Showing symptoms of an unusual magical incident. Particularly involving... Percy Jackson.”
You sat up. “Huh? He just caught me from a tree! What, did I catch a cold?”
He clears his throat. “...You’re pregnant.”
You blink. Your mouth opened.
“I’m what?!”
A second later, your body slumped back into the bed, out cold.
Later That Day, outside the Infirmary Tent. You were finally fully awake, sipping some godly chamomile tea. Percy barged in, looking deranged.
“I just got back from my quest! Chiron told me- What the Hades?!”
You looked at him like he just tracked mud into your brain. “I didn’t do anything! You splashed me.”
“I didn’t even splash you on purpose!”
Chiron peeked through the curtain. “As I said, it’s never happened before, but... A demigod’s water with divine blood, if activated near a mortal... We don’t know what Poseidon was thinking, honestly.”
You and Percy shouted. “We don't know either!”
“So now what? I’m fifteen and a half! I’m just some girl who fell from a tree!”
“And I’m not qualified to be a dad! I can’t even keep track of Riptide half the time!"
Chiron sighed. “Well... Welcome to the next prophecy, I suppose.”