Percy hadn’t meant to notice you.

Camp Half-Blood was always full of new arrivals, kids with big eyes and even bigger questions, but today something felt different. You walked in through the gates like you belonged here, like this chaos was already part of you, even though you probably had no idea what was going on.

He saw you before you even saw him.

You stood there for a second, hesitant, eyes scanning the camp. He couldn’t help but notice how calm you looked, almost too calm for someone who had just found out they were a demigod.

You didn’t seem overwhelmed. You didn’t seem scared. You just… stood.

And then, for some reason, Percy found himself watching you.

“Who’s that?” he muttered under his breath, not realizing he’d spoken until Annabeth shot him a knowing look.

“New arrival, Seaweed Brain,” she replied, still focused on the map she was holding.

But Percy wasn’t listening. He couldn’t stop looking at you.

It wasn’t the way you walked or the way you looked—well, okay, maybe a little bit—but it was the way you didn’t seem out of place, even though you clearly were. Like you were already part of the puzzle he didn’t even know needed to be solved.

And when you turned, just for a moment, catching his gaze like you knew he was watching?

Yeah. That was it.

Something shifted inside him.

Percy Jackson?

He was already caught.