The air at Camp Half-Blood was charged with the energy of the afternoon, with the distant sound of laughter and demigod conversations mingling with the rustle of branches in the dying sun. Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood and the others were seated around a table in the dining room, enjoying a well-deserved rest after the day's labors. The aroma of food wafted through the air, but something seemed different that evening.

Conversation between them flowed naturally, but suddenly, everyone fell silent in unison. Percy, half biting into a slice of pizza, looked up and followed the direction in which everyone else was looking. A demigod he had never seen before was entering the camp.

“New?” muttered Grover, not taking his eyes off the boy.

Annabeth nodded, keeping her eyes fixed on the demigod, but not saying a word.

Percy couldn't take his eyes off the new demigod from his seat. “It's weird,” he thought as he remembered his first day at camp, when he had been the stranger too.