Meanwhile, back at Camp Half-Blood, an angry Luke Castellan found out that the Cyclops he had hired to capture Ron and his friends came back to him empty-handed. Of course, Luke was even more furious when it was revealed that Ron and his friends had obtained the first object in the quest for the camp.

"So, little Ronald Puckerman thought that he could defy me," Luke said to himself as he paced through his cabin. "Well, I'll show him who's the boss. He and his little spellcaster friend won't be defying me for much longer..."

"You let us go!" Arthur Weasley yelled as he struggled against his chains. "You let us go right now!"

"And why should I do that?" Luke snapped at him. "You and your wife stole Ronald from his true family and killed his mother! You don't deserve to live!!"

"And who are you to decide who lives?" said Mrs. Weasley.

"I'm a demigod, you evil witch!" Luke snapped. "I had been watching you since you came here, and I saw what damage that you allowed young Puckerman to experience. So I sent a monster to capture him, yet I didn't expect to see a young girl who knew the ancient stories walking through the gates to this camp. Yet you tried to control her, just as you controlled young Puckerman. There will be no mercy for any of you!!"

Clarisse La Rue frowned as she watched a large group of monsters tear the entire Weasley family apart. Yet when she saw Harry Potter daring to fight one of the monsters, she knew she had to take action.

She took the next bus out of Camp Half-Blood as Harry was captured by the monsters.

* * * * *

When the bus pulled into the bus station in Saint Louis, Ron jumped out, hoping to put some distance between himself and the strange creature that he saw leering at Jacquelyn while they were still on the bus. The others were just waking up from falling asleep during the bus ride from Atlanta.

Jacquelyn frowned as she picked up the message that Ron had in his hand and read the final line: "The spellcaster is in grave danger. She must beware of the Hermaphrodite. If she comes into any form of contact with the Hermaphrodite, it will bring such a disaster that the world could end..."

"Really? A Hermaphrodite is evil?" Jacquelyn said as the others stepped off the bus and went to the waiting station. "Is this someone's idea of a joke? If it is, then I'm not laughing!"

"Of course not," said Annabeth. "Hermaphrodites are not a laughing matter; in fact, some of them can cause you danger."

"Indeed," said Ron. "But if you're in danger, then we won't be taking any chances. We'll have to guard you with our lives."

"OK," Jacquelyn said nervously. "But I still think that they're trying to mess up my head."

"Your head is already messed up to begin with," Ron started, but the kids ran off to catch the train to the Arch.

* * * * *

Harry Potter woke up in a dark room. 24 hours had passed since the deaths of the entire Weasley family. At the same time, though, Luke was angry because Harry had dared to defy him and defend the Weasley family.

Luke said to Harry, "I suppose you thought that that was wise."

"What are you talking about?" said Harry. "You killed the Weasleys. You're a monster."

"What am I talking about?" Luke snapped in anger. "As far as I know, you have helped those people keep young Ronald Puckerman away from his family..."

"But I did no such thing!" Harry yelled.

"Yes you did," said Luke. "You're a liar and a thief. Your wizarding world is a stupid joke. But no more; after I capture Puckerman and his spellcasting friend, I'm going to take your wizarding world and burn it to the ground!!"

Harry gasped in horror as Luke left the room.

* * * * *

When they reached the arch, Jacquelyn found herself staring at the top. She felt a bit uneasy, knowing that the Arch was higher than the Statue of Liberty. Why do I feel so intimidated, she thought to herself.

Grover said to her, "I feel uneasy about this one. Like we're not meant to be here."

"Come on, guys," said Percy. "It's just the Arch. We're meant to be here."

"Well, it's not just the Arch," Jacquelyn began. "It's just that I have a bit of an aversion to structures that are over 500 feet high, that's all."

"Don't worry, it's not like you're going to fall off that thing," said Ron. "Not if we climb it from the inside."

"That's what I'm afraid of," said Jacquelyn. "What if something attacks us and we don't have the means to defend ourselves? When last I checked, they don't allow weapons in the Arch."

"Uh, they're talking about guns and such," said Grover. "We're demigods. We don't use guns, just swords and bows and arrows. Get a grip, people!"

"Uh, what about the POV gun?" Annabeth pointed out.

"Good point," said Grover. "We can pretend that it's a toy."

"They'll never know," said Percy.

"Gimme that thing," Jacquelyn said as she snatched the POV gun from Ron and shrank it down so that it was the size of one of her charms. "OK, we're all set. Let's get this over with."

Little did they know that Jacquelyn had the right to worry about being attacked, as a monster leered in their direction...