BRIDGET kept on swinging her legs back and forth, getting impatient from waiting. Annabeth had gone back to the Athena cabin so she was left alone. Suddenly, she heard footsteps. Looking to her right, she hopped off the railing and looked at the two with an annoyed look.

'Bridget,' Chiron started. 'I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?'

'Sure, Chiron.'

'Cabin eleven,' the centaur told Percy, gesturing towards the doorway. 'Make yourself at home.'

Percy looked inside and took in the appearance. When everyone saw Chiron, who was standing outside, they bowed respectfully.

'Well, then,' Chiron said. 'Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner.' 

He galloped away toward the archery range. Percy stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at him instead.

Growing tired, Bridget nudged him. 'Well? Go on!'

 Percy tripped coming in the door causing the campers inside to snicker, but they all went silent the moment Bridget's death glare targeted them. 

Satisficed by the silence, Bridget announced, 'Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.' 

'Regular or undetermined?' somebody asked. 

Percy clearly understood nothing, so Annabeth spoke for him. 'Undetermined.' 

Everybody groaned. Luke quickly came forward. 'Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there.'

'Percy, this is Luke,' Bridget introduced. 'He's your counselor, for now.'

'For now?' Percy raised a brow.

'You're undetermined,' Luke explained patiently. 'They don't knowwhat cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers,all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers.'

Percy looked at the tiny space he had been given. He looked at the campers' faces before back at Luke. 'How long will I be here?'

'Good question,' Luke said. 'Until you're determined.'

'How long will that take?'

The campers all laughed. Bridget groaned. 'Come with me, Percy. I'll show you the volleyball court.'

'I've already seen it.'

'No excuses,' the brunette took hold of the boy's wrist and dragged him outside. After the duo was a few feet away from the cabin, Bridget let go of his hand and turned around swiftly. 'Jackson, you've got to better.'

'What?'

Bridget clicked her tongue in annoyance and mumbled. 'I can't believe Annie thought you're the one.'

'What's your problem?' Percy asked, getting angry. 'All I know is, I killsome bull guy-'

'Jackson, do you know how many of us here want a chance like that?'

'To get killed?'

Bridget rolled her eyes. 'To fight the minotaur, nuthead! What do you think we all train here for!?'

Percy shook his head. 'Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, thesame one in the stories...'

'Yes.'

'Then there's only one.'

'Yep.'

'And he died, like, a gazillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in thelabyrinth. So...'

'Monsters don't die, Jackson. They can be killed. But they don't die.'

Percy looked at her, dumbfounded. 'Wow. Thanks, that sure clears it up.'

Bridget sighed. 'They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for awhile, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primalforces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form.'

Percy blinked. 'You mean if I killed one, accidentally, witha sword-'

'The Fur- you maths teacher, Jackson, is still out there, yes. You've just made her very mad,' Bridget explained.

'How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?'

'Anna told me. You talk in your sleep.'

'You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers,right?' Percy asked.

'Names have power, Jackson,' Bridget explained. 'We call them the Kindly Ones, if anything.'

'Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?' he whined. 'Why do I have to stay incabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There areplenty of empty bunks right over there.'

He pointed at the first few cabins, and Bridget sighed. 'You don'tjust choose a cabin, Jackson. It depends on who your parents are. Or...yourparent.'

Bridget stared at him. Percy looked down. 'My mom is Sally Jackson,' he said. '"She works at the candy store inGrand Central Station. At least, she used to.'

'I'm sorry about your mom, Jackson. But that's not what I mean. I'mtalking about your other parent. Your dad.'

'I never knew him. He's dead.'

Bridget groaned and banged her head on the wall with a little force. 'Your father's not dead, Percy.'

'How can you say that? You know him?'

'No, of course not.'

'Then how can you say-'

'Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us.'

'You don't know anything about me.'

'No?' The brunette smirked. 'I bet you moved around from school toschool. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them.'

'How-'

'Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too.'

Percy swallowed. 'What does that have to do withanything?'

'Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the pagewhen you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancientGreek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom.That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As forthe attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little.Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers wantyou medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing themfor what they are.' 

'You sound like... you went through the same thing.'

'Not really,' Bridget shrugged. 'But many others did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't havesurvived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar.'

'Ambrosia and nectar.'

'The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuffwould've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and yourbones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood.' Bridget's smirk never left her face as Percy swallowed everything.

'Well! A newbie!'

Bridget looked from behind Percy as the latter turned. Behind him, he heard Bridget sigh. 'Why don't you go polish your spear, Clarisse?'

'Sure, fire girl. So I can run you through with itFriday night.'

Bridget rolled her eyes. Percy was scared that with how much she rolled her eyes, they might just stop standing still. 'Please. The day I lose to you will be the day Chiron tells me who my godly parent is.'

Clarisse's eyes twitched. 'We'll pulverize you.' She turned to Percy and raised a brow at him. 'Who's this runt?'

'Percy Jackson,' Bridget glared. 'Meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares.'

'Like...the war god?' Percy blinked.

'Got a problem?' Clarisse sneered.

Percy shrugged. 'No.' But then he smirked. 'Just that it explains the bad smell.'

Clarisse growled. 'We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy.'

'Percy.'

'Whatever. Come on, I'll show you.'

'Clarisse-'

'Stay out of it, firehead.'

Bridget was itching to just go up and punch the girl but knew that Percy wanted to earn his own rep. Any newbie at Camp Half-Blood wanted to. So she stayed out of it.

Percy handed the minotaur horn to the brunette and got ready to fight, but before anyone could process, Clarisse had him by the neck and was dragging him to the girls' bathroom. Clarisse's friends were all laughing. 

'Like he's 'Big Three' material,' Clarisse said as she pushed me towardone of the toilets. 'Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he wasso stupid looking.' 

Her friends snickered. Bridget stood in the corner, ready to intervene if things got out of hand.Clarisse bent Percy over on his knees and started pushing my head towardthe toilet bowl. 

Suddenly, Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened.Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over Percy's head, and thenext thing Bridget knew, Percy was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarissescreaming behind him. 

He turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarissestraight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayedon her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a showerstall.She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. Butthen the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet waterblasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixturessprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them aroundlike pieces of garbage being washed away. 

As soon as they were out the door, thewater shut off as quickly as it had started.The entire bathroom was flooded. Bridget hadn't been spared. She wasdripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. If it was any other day, she would have been furious and already burned the person. But right now, she was standing inexactly the same place, staring at the boy in shock, who was the only one dry. He got up with shaky legs.

'How did you...'

'I don't know.'

The duo walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawledin the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk.Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket wassopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave Percy a look of absolute hatred. 

'You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead.' 

'You want to gargle with toiletwater again, Clarisse? Close your mouth.' Bridget snickered as Clarisse's friends held her back. They dragged her toward cabin five,while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet. 

As soon as she was gone, Bridget stared at Percy, who looked back at her. Part of the brunette was grossed out, another was angry, but most of her part was thinking something else. 

'What?' Percy demanded. 'What are you thinking?' 

'I'm thinking," she said, grinning. 'That I want you on my team for capture theflag.'