Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Βλασφημίες: Damn in Greek.

Chapter One

The Dungeon of Doom (A.K.A, Westover Military School)

The Friday before the start of winter break, Thalia and I packed ourselves into a camp van (driven by Argus), we stopped at Montauk Beach long enough to pick up Ana from her cabin, and then we all drove down to boarding school.

It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbour, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Ana, Thalia, and I hadn't seen each other in nearly three weeks, not since Ana's latest bout of claustrophobia had sent her running out of Camp as fast as she could, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were too nervous to talk much.

Instead, I sharpened my sword (completely unnecessarily, but better wicked sharp than so dull it breaks in the middle of a fight, right?), Ana chewed on her finger so much it bled, and Thalia played with her mace canister. A.k.a, her deadly spear. Don't think I didn't notice that if she had summoned it, it would've gone right through the seat into my back. It was a relief when Argus finally pulled up and stopped in front of the school.

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "Oh, yeah. This is gonna be fun."

"Dungeon of doom, anyone?" Ana grimaced, eyeing it doubtfully as she reached up to fiddle with the hairpin that doubled as her own deadly weapon, a (possibly cursed) sword called Anaklusmos.

I completely understood their wariness. Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frost-covered forest on one side and the grey churning ocean on the other.

We piled out of the van, and Argus peeled off as soon the doors were shut, leaving up stranded.

Ana crossed her arms and glared up at the castle like her father was inside. She'd been in a bad mood since we collected her. Presumably the result of being pulled out of bed and forced to endanger her life. Anything that risked body harm to herself or someone she liked tended to put her a pissy mood. Not that I was stupid enough to actually say that she was being pissy, of course. I had common sense, thanks very much. And a fondness for being alive.

"We'd better get inside," she said after a moment. "Grover will be waiting."

Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

I stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall. "Nothing good," I guessed.

They shot me matching looks of exasperation as the oak doors groaned open, and the three of us stepped into the entry hall in a dramatic swirl of snow.

"Whoa," Ana muttered. Her sea-coloured eyes were wide as she took in the entrance hall, reminding me of a doe or something.

The place was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. I mean, I knew Westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. Literally.

My hand went to my waist, where my sword hung from its' hilt. I could already sense something wrong in this place. Something dangerous. Ana was tapping at her bracelet/shield nervously, and bouncing lightly on the ball of her feet. Thalia was rubbing her own silver bracelet, which turned into a replica of Aegis. I knew that we were all thinking the same thing. A fight was coming.

"I wonder where—" Ana began.

She was cut off mid-sentence when the doors slammed shut behind us.

"Okay," I mumbled. "Guess we're sticking around for a while."

"Apparently," Thalia replied.

"Well," Ana sighed. "When in doubt, follow the music."

For a second, I was confused by her seemingly random statement. Then I realized that I could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music. And bad music at that.

We stashed our overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. We hadn't gone very far when I heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept us.

They both had short grey hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to me. They both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.

"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

Ana shot me a pointed look, silently demanding I use my superb lying skills to get us out of trouble again. I decided to oblige, because if Ana got sick from being tossed in a pile of snow, we would all suffer for it.

"Ma'am," I began soothingly. "we're just—"

"Ha!" the man snapped, which made me jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques, He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colours—one brown, one blue—like an alley cat's. Something about him made me bristle, and I could see Ana eyeing him suspiciously, her pianist-like fingers twitching in that way that told me she wanted her sword.

That was when Thalia stepped forward and did something very weird. She snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and loud. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. It washed over all of us, making the banners rustle on the walls.

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Thalia said smoothly. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Ana and Luke. We're in the eighth grade."

The male teacher narrowed his two-coloured eyes. I didn't know what Thalia was thinking. Her lie wasn't remotely believable, especially seeing as I was too old to be eighth grade. Ana had a look of impressed realization on her face, though. And the guy seemed to be hesitating.

He looked at his colleague. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

Despite the danger we were in, I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. A teacher named Got Chalk? He had to be kidding. Ana's lips twitched in amusement, and I saw her bite her lip to keep from snickering.

The woman blinked, like someone had just woken her up from a trance. "I… yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at us. "Ana. Thalia. Luke. What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

Before we could answer, I heard more footsteps, and Grover ran up, breathless. "You made it! You—"

He stopped short when he saw the teachers. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh—"

"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "What do you mean, they made it? These students live here."

Grover swallowed. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant, I'm so glad they made… the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"

Dr. Thorn glared at us. He looked like he wanted to pitch us off the castle's highest tower, but then Mrs. Gottschalk said dreamily, "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

We didn't wait to be told twice. We left with a lot of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do.

Grover hustled us down the hall in the direction of the music. Ana moved closer to Thalia.

"I don't know how you do it," she muttered to her. "I'm not have as good at using the Mist as you, and Chiron taught me a year ago. Seriously, how do you do it?"

"I'll work with you on it later, if you want," Thalia shrugged. "But I think it's just one of those things, you know? Some people get a handle on it easier than others do, and vice versa."

Ana gave a thoughtful nod, fidgeting with her bracelet again. I smirked slightly, shoving my hands into my back pockets. This was one of the times that I enjoyed the way the two girls had bonded so easily. And they really had.

I had always had the thought in the back of my mind that if Thalia and Ana had ever met, they'd either be best friends or worst enemies, but I had figured it would never matter, so I hadn't let myself linger on it. Then Thalia had come back, and everyone had been on edge for a while, as the two girls kept a wary distance between each other, testing each other in a way.

It had been incredibly awkward for me, as I had been acting as Thalia's support, yet Ana had needed me too. I still felt guilty when I thought of how I had let my responsibilities to her, as her best friend, fall to the wayside. It had taken a broken nose courtesy of Silena, and several broken ribs from Clarisse to make me realize what a shit friend I had been acting like to Ana.

Then, Ana had come to the realization that Thalia was now more likely to be the Prophecy Child than she was. Seeing as the thought of the Great Prophecy had terrified her from the moment of her claiming, the chance that she wasn't had delighted her, and let her relax. (The fact that most people still treated Ana as leader, instead of the daughter of Zeus probably helped as well, though it tended to irritate Thalia.) Still, they had eventually become like two peas in a pod.

Personally, in some ways I almost preferred it when they were just acquaintances, cause now they've both teamed up against me, and the closer they become, the more dangerous my life is.

Seriously, what made me think that becoming best friends with two very powerful and violent girls was a good idea? My siblings were right when they said that I was a suicidal idiot.

I snapped out of my wandering thoughts when we arrived at a door that had GYM written on the glass. Even with my dyslexia, I could read that much.

"That was close!" Grover exclaimed. "Thank the gods you got here!"

Ana and Thalia both hugged Grover. I gave him a big high five.

It was good to see him after so many months. He'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human—a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. He was wearing a black T-shirt that took me a few seconds to read. It said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT. I wasn't sure whether that was, like, Grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.

"So what's the emergency?" Ana asked when she'd finished fussing over him in a motherly manner.

Grover took a deep breath. "I found two."

"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed. "Here?"

Grover nodded.

Ana covered her mouth while I muttered a shocked curse. Finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. These were desperate times. We were losing campers. We needed all the new fighters we could find. The problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there, and we couldn't exactly recruit three-year-olds to the cause.

"A brother and a sister," Grover told us, shifting nervously. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

"Monsters?" I asked.

"One." Grover looked nervous. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

Grover looked at Thalia desperately. Ana twitched slightly at that, and I subtly brushed against her supportively. They might be friends, but Ana had gotten used to being in charge. Bowing to Thalia's seniority didn't come easily to her, though she did. (And she was a lot better about it than Thalia was, when the positions were reversed and the campers turned to Ana for instructions.)

"Right," Thalia nodded, planting her hands on her hips. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance," she shrugged. "Who's the monster?"

"Oh," Grover said, and looked around nervously. "You just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn."

Weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. I guess it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something. Or maybe it's like that for any school dance. I wouldn't know.

There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each others' faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way the mortal ones always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly coloured pants and shoes that looked like torture devices.

Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. Some of the older guys looked more like me—uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. Of course, in my case, it was true…

"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di'Angelo."

The girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.

"Do they… I mean, have you told them?" Ana asked.

Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."

She nodded understandingly. The stronger you were, the more monsters you attracted. If you knew about your heritage, your scent doubled even more. Ana tended to be attacked twice on a good week. I typically got three or four monsters a month when I was alone outside of camp.

"So let's grab them and get out of here," Ana said. I could tell she felt trapped by the crowded room, and the confirmed presence of a monster was only making her worse. Otherwise she would have realized what a terrible idea that was.

She started forward, but Thalia put her hand on her shoulder to stop her. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in our direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.

Judging from his expression, I guessed Thorn hadn't been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who we were. He was just waiting to see why we were here. Hades, we had probably confirmed his suspicions about the kids the minute we stepped foot on the grounds.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered us quietly, not looking at Thorn. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."

"How?" Ana wondered, reaching up to adjust her braid casually and brushing against her hairpin in the process.

"We're three powerful half-bloods," Thalia reasoned. "Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Dance a bit. But keep an eye on those kids."

"Dancing?" Ana repeated, looking doubtful.

Thalia nodded. She cocked her ear to the music and made a face. "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"

Grover looked hurt. "I did."

"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"

"Green who?"

"Never mind. Let's dance."

"But I can't dance!"

"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said. "Come on, goat boy."

Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

I smiled unconsciously, and Ana raised an eyebrow at me.

"What's got you so happy?" she asked.

"Nothing. It's just cool to have Thalia back."

Her expression softened, and I tried to think of a new topic.

"So, how's the book thing going?" I blurted out, feeling like an idiot immediately.

For her birthday, Chiron had somehow managed to get a hold of all of the things that had once belonged to Ana's mother. It had all been placed in storage, and she shouldn't have gotten it until she was, like, twenty-one or something. Her face had lit up as she took in the boxes. Among the various knickknacks and clothes (she was wearing an old tie-dyed skirt of her mom's right now, actually), there were a bunch of journals belonging to Sally Jackson, going all the way back to when she was about ten-years-old.

Knowing how much her mother had wanted to be an author, Ana had set herself the task of writing a book based on the journals. She had recruited help from about half the Athena cabin and Katie (who was one of the few half-bloods without dyslexia), and they were working on it determinedly. But Ana was the only one actually reading them, and she had never really gotten over losing her mother, so it was always a toss-up as to whether or not the topic would make her cry or not. Thankfully, this time it didn't.

"It's going," she sighed. "But it's so hard, ya know? All these things I didn't know about her. It hurts to think about it."

"I'm sorry," I muttered helplessly. There was nothing worse than an upset Ana, and I hated not being able to help. I had practically flown away from my mother and her rambling fits. Ana, however, considered her mother worth more than all of the goddesses on Olympus combined. Thankfully, I was saved from upsetting her more.

"Hey!" Thalia called to us. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. I didn't blame him. Thalia had a dangerous look in her eyes, one that usually preceded lightning bolts.

"Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there."

I looked at Ana, holding out a hand and bowing dramatically. "Miss Jackson," I said pompously. "Would you do me the honour of partnering with me for this dance?"

She snickered and accepted. "I shall," she replied in an equally over-the-top voice. We both laughed as we began spinning around the floor. We actually weren't too bad. The result of Silena's hard work, and Ana's natural grace, I suppose.

Suddenly our fun was interrupted when Ana froze, making me stumble and nearly slip on the polished floor.

"They're gone!" She hissed urgently, looking frantic.

"What?"

I followed her gaze. The bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Dr. Thorn was nowhere in sight.

"βλασφημίες," Ana swore. She glanced at me as she began fumbling for her sword. "You go after the kids, trying and delay Thorn. I'll get the others."

I nodded and she ran off through the crowd.

Then I turned in the direction where the di'Angelos had just been, and I saw something that chilled my blood.

About fifty feet away, lying on the gym floor, was a floppy green cap just like the one Bianca di'Angelo had been wearing. Near it were a few scattered trading cards. Then I caught a glimpse of Dr. Thorn. He was hurrying out a door at the opposite end of the gym, steering the di'Angelo kids by the scruffs of their necks, like kittens.

The door led into a dark hallway. I heard sounds of scuffling up ahead, then a painful grunt. I unsheathed my sword. Like all demigod weapons, it was made of Celestial Bronze, and the blade glowed faintly, casting a golden light on the rows of lockers.

I jogged down the corridor, but when I got to the other end, no one was there. I opened a door and found myself back in the main entry hall. I was completely turned around. I didn't see Dr. Thorn anywhere, but there on the opposite side of the room were the di'Angelo kids. They stood frozen in horror, staring right at me.

I advanced slowly, lowering the tip of my sword. "It's okay," I said in my 'little sibling' voice. "I'm not going to hurt you."

They didn't answer. Their eyes were full of fear. What was wrong with them? Where was Dr. Thorn? Maybe he'd sensed the presence of my sword and retreated. Monsters hated Celestial Bronze weapons. Still, something about this felt wrong. I had to get the kids and get out of here. Quickly.

"My name's Luke," I said, trying to keep my voice level. "I'm going to take you out of here, get you somewhere safe."

Bianca's eyes widened. Her fists clenched. Only too late did I realize what her look meant. She wasn't afraid of me. She was trying to warn me.

I whirled around and something went WHISH! Pain exploded in my shoulder. A force like a huge hand yanked me backward and slammed me to the wall.

I slashed with my sword but there was nothing to hit.

A cold laugh echoed through the hall.

"Ah, Lukas Castellan," Dr. Thorn said. "I know who you are. The sidekick of the daughters of the Big Three."

I tried to free my shoulder. My coat and shirt were pinned to the wall by some kind of spike—a black dagger-like projectile about a foot long. It had grazed the skin of my shoulder as it passed through my clothes, and the cut burned. I'd felt something like this before. Poison.

I forced myself to concentrate. I would not pass out.

A dark silhouette now moved toward us. Dr. Thorn stepped into the dim light. He still looked human, but his face was ghoulish. He had perfect white teeth and his brown/blue eyes reflected the light of my sword.

"Thank you for coming out of the gym," he said. "I hate middle school dances."

I tried to swing my sword again, but he was just out of reach.

WHIIIISH! A second projectile shot from somewhere behind Dr. Thorn. He didn't appear to move. It was as if someone invisible were standing behind him, throwing knives.

Next to me, Bianca yelped. The second thorn impaled itself in the stone wall, half an inch from her face.

"All three of you will come with me," Dr. Thorn said. "Quietly. Obediently. If you make a single noise, if you call out for help or try to fight, I will show you just how accurately I can throw."