Chapter One: The Sniper
I've had the nagging idea in my brain, and I soon began writing down some plot lines that turned into the opening few chapters of this story. I don't think anyone has done a story such as this one, so I hope it will be pleasantly refreshing. Anyways, please review to let me know how I'm doing. It will really help with the writing process, as well as taking into account the reader's ideas!
~N~
I crouched in the thick foliage, just outside of the magical boundary that kept monsters out. Luckily for me, it didn't keep demigods out. I wore all blacks and grays, hoping to melt into the darkness. I spotted a seemingly large campfire through the small amount of woods in front of me. I scanned the first hundred paces within the border, scouting for any threats to the mission I was assigned beforehand. It was something I didn't want to do, but it was the only way I knew how to survive.
Once determining the portion of woods in front of me empty of any possible threats, I slowly crept into the boundaries, the magical barriers closing in behind me. My body became a blur as I swept from tree to tree, ensuring that no one would be able to see me in a distant. If there was one thing I have learned in the sixteen years of being alive, it was how to be the attacker unseen. A snap from a dry, fallen twig sent me scrambling to the top of a tree, and I quickly perched myself on top of a high branch soundlessly.
Below me, two people walked together in the direction of the campfire. The two were obviously close friends as they bursted out in unintelligent laughter.
How did I not sense them? I scolded myself in my head, watching the people below like a jaguar stalking its unsuspecting prey. They had no idea that I was watching them, and this was good for me. If I follow these two, they would lead me to the rest.
And so, once they were an easy fifty paces in front of me, I fell to the ground without a single noise, slowly following the two kids walking cluelessly in front of me. The two led me out of the thin woods and into a large clearing, directly towards the large campfire. I was hesitant to step out of the clearing, I knew it would be dangerous if I was spotted. Instead, I crept just along the tree line, observing the events transpiring in front of me. There was at least a hundred kids gathered around the campfire, most wearing the same, bright orange shirt that read the words, Camp Half-Blood. In another group set distinctively away from the kids wearing orange shirts, sat about twenty girls, all wearing similar silver and black clothes. They all looked rather annoyed to be at the campfire.
I didn't blame them. Socializing wasn't my forte.
I pulled out a small knife and pressed a button on the bottom of the hilt guard, and an intricate black camo crossbow materialized in my hand. My new client have gifted me with the crossbow for this mission. She insisted I call her mistress, and she would call me her "pet". That was what she referred to me as, and it really did annoy me, but I couldn't do anything about it.
I would do the dirty work to further her nefarious plans. I reached behind my back and reached into my quiver of bows, with each arrow having a different colored fletching designated towards a specific purpose. The black fletchings were your standard arrows, while blue fletchings marked shockwave arrows, red marking smoke arrows, and green, the most deadly, marking Greek fire arrows. I never had used the green marked arrows before, as they seemed to be overkill, as a single arrow would cause a small explosion of Greek fire.
I notched an arrow into the magazine. My crossbow was sort of similar to a bolt action sniper rifle, allowing me to have more accuracy with a straighter shot as well as a scope. Custom designed by myself, it basically saved my life on numerous occasions. My eyes scanned the entire group of people, searching for the their leader. It should have been easy enough, but they all wore the same shirt which made distinguishing the leader difficult. Instead, I had to rely on body language. Most of the people surrounding the campfire were around fourteen to fifteen years old, so it made a reasonable inference to ignore the young ones, and focus on the oldest.
There you are, I said to myself, letting out a small frown as I saw who was obviously the leader. His hair was a messy black, and he seemed to be battle-worthy. His arm was wrapped around a girl of about the same age, whose hair was a curly golden blonde. I noticed most of the campers' feet were pointed to the boy, who at this point I guessed to be right around my age. This was obvious sign that they held great respect for him.
Then came my least favorite part. The kill. Whenever I was given an assignment, it usually had to do with killing a specific person that my clients deemed dangerous or a potential threat to whatever it was they wanted. Most of these cases were monsters of various sorts, but rarely had I ever had to kill another demigod. It didn't feel right, and my current client knew that I felt that way.
"Lord Zeus," I said eyeing the sky cautiously. "Please forgive me."
I raised the crossbow slowly to my cheek, and shifted the bow to get a proper aim. I peered through the sniper scope until my sight fell on the boy's heart, and I was just about to pull the trigger, when something made me slacken my finger on the trigger. I narrowed my eyes and recalibrated my aim, this time pointed towards the boy's right shoulder, far enough away from the heart to where he would still live.
Sorry 'mistress,' I've failed you, I said bitterly sarcastic to myself, and squeezed the trigger. I watched as the arrow pierced through the air with a faint whistle, shooting towards the target like a laser. The arrow made impact directly on the boy's shoulder, masterfully avoiding the heads and bodies of the campers flocked around the campfire. However, the deadly arrow bounced off the boy's shoulder on impact, cluttering to the ground harmlessly.
"What the–" I said out loud in astonishment.
Everyone around the campfire abruptly stood to their feet, some diving for cover. However, the boy I had targeted simply frowned and regarded the arrow on the ground. The girl next to him knelt down and examined it curiously and whispered into his ear. Their gazes fell in my general direction. They were smart. They knew where I was based off the trajectory of my shot. I stood frozen, hoping that my silhouette wouldn't be spotted in the tree line. I didn't even dare to move until the boy and I made eye contact. His sea green eyes bore into my own, and he let out a subtle smirk. He was confident he'd catch me, and I wasn't about to let that happen.
I suddenly did a 180 and spun on my heels, bolting back to the magical border. I looked over my shoulder and saw the boy sprinting after me in pursuit. He was fast, I'll give him that, but not as fast as me. I kicked it into a higher gear and burst through the magical boundary and dashed down the hill, trying to make my legs move proportionally to my speed. The hill was about the size of a football field, and I reached the bottom in about ten seconds, a safe range from arrow fire given my reflexes.
I considered running further, but I was curious as to who I was exactly tasked to kill. Usually, my clients would give me all details possible about a mission like this, but for some reason, that wasn't the case this time around. I stopped and turned around, waiting patiently for my supposed enemy. He didn't disappoint, and emerged onto the top of the hill, a celestial bronze sword drawn, glowing softly in the darkness of night. There was something about him that made me pause and think.
What is it about you that makes my client want to kill you? I questioned to myself. We both studied each other carefully, and my eyes went wide when he was suddenly flanked by the group of girls wearing silver and black. The silver in their outfits reflected the moonlight brilliantly, and I knew all too well who they were. My client warned me of them, saying to avoid contact with them at all costs. You can see how well that worked. Each girl raised a bow in their hands, a deadly arrow notched in each one.
The boy barked an order, and none of the girls responded to his call, only the girl standing next to him. She wore a silver circlet on her head, her electric blue eyes gazing down to my location. She nodded and repeated the boy's orders, this time receiving a respectable acknowledgment from the rest. Everything was still as the large group stared down at me, a clear uneasy hesitation rippling through the group.
The boy must have sensed that there was something different about me, as any other person would immediately send a volley of arrows, so I wondered why he didn't. I considered forming conversation with him, but I knew my mistress would be angry with me for speaking with the "enemy" and therefore punish me extensively. There was only one option in this scenario, a distraction.
I slowly reached to my quiver and plucked out a red fletching arrow, and notched it into a new magazine, warily observing the people on the hill. They visually tensed, and the group of girls drew back on their own bow's drawstrings slightly. I smiled once more and quickly drew back to full extent, aimed directly at the boy. He cocked his head with mere curiosity, much to my amazement. I suddenly aimed the bow directly the ground beneath my feet and shot the arrow, the tip shattering into countless pieces. Hazy red smoke immediately erupted from the arrow and concealed me, allowing me to take my leave.
I sprinted down the large field in front of me in the darkness of night, hoping that no one had caught on to my trick. I looked over my shoulder and saw the group of girls slowly moving towards the cloud of smoke, their drawstrings ready to shoot. The boy walked casually behind them, his celestial bronze sword drawn almost lazily. I smiled to myself in victory. I did spare the boy's life, and my mistress would be very displeased with me. As I ran, my body began to tingle, and I knew exactly what this meant.
"Oh no," I sighed, watching as my body began to dissolve. It didn't take long before my entire form was disintegrated, and the last thing that I saw was the brilliant moon and countless constellations twinkling in the night sky, acting as the backdrop of the arc that read Camp Half-Blood.
My body reformed in the same location that I was assigned the mission. Towers of beautiful rock formations glowed under the moonlight. Steep canyons cleaved into the brilliant landscape, only to be met by towering spires that seemed to defy the laws of physics. I stood on one of the tallest spires in the area, allowing for full view of not only the amazing formations of rock, but the sprawling grasslands on both sides. The beauty of the landscape however, was rudely interrupted by an eerie, tingling sensation that shot down my spine. I looked up to find my client standing before me, her hand on her hip, regarding me with a mixture of anger and disgust.
Her figure was abnormally churning with ash and smoke, heavier than usual. This was definitely not a good sign. Her dress was the definition of darkness itself, mixed with the colors of a space nebula as if galaxies were being born in her bodice. Her face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of her eyes, which shone like silver quasars. Her wings beat dramatically, causing waves of darkness to roll over into the canyons.
"You know what I find to be quite….annoying?" She asked me, her voice silky, yet laced with iciness and bitterness.
"I honestly don't know," I said quietly, trying to avoid gazing at her hardy face. "And I don't really care," I muttered under my breath.
Was I stupid?
Probably.
But did I care?
No. No I did not.
Her gaze switched from me to the night sky above. I could sense that she was frowning, yet it was difficult to see. "It is quite annoying for my peaceful darkness to be admonishingly interrupted by the moon." Her attention fell back down to me. Being under her gaze made me feel like I was nothing more than a grain of sand.
"I'm sorry you feel that way. I quite enjoy being under the moonlight." I knew better than to give her a fake apology, as she could probably kill me with the swipe of her hand. I held my breath as her nostrils flared with anger.
"I could kill you so easily," she said coldly. "You are extremely fortunate that I choose not to."
"I think I've heard you say that everyday for the past few weeks," I said with a hesitant chuckle. It still made no sense as to why she would even bother with my life. "What prevents you from doing so if you're so petty over it?"
"Because, you are my little pet…."
Here she goes again, I sighed to myself,
"...and you are of the utmost important to my upcoming plans. You, after all, are my greatest weapon."
I said nothing. I didn't expect getting a different response from asking the same question. For at least five years, I had trained myself to survive in the world without anyone. And the only way for me to make a decent profit from anything was to act like a mercenary and do other people's work. It would pay for school and food, essentials like that, but it did get dangerous and I wondered if it was ever worth it. After all, it was either doing this, or turning myself into childcare services.
"But when you blatantly disobey your objective for no reason, you become of less use to me," she continued, her gaze becoming harder. "I know you missed your target on purpose. I also know that with your failure, the demigods of Camp Half-Blood will inevitably investigate."
I stared at the ground. Of course she would be able to see everything that happened. She didn't reveal who she truly was, but I was beginning to get a clearer picture, and I frankly was hoping that I was wrong.
"Even if I did hit my target, it wouldn't have even fazed him," I protested bravely. "My arrow bounced off his shoulder like he was made of stone. And I don't know about you, but that is definitely not normal."
"I want him dead, Nicholas!" She exclaimed angrily, her body churning between smoke and ash even faster as her emotions began to boil. "Take whatever means necessary to accomplish your mission, or there will be consequences."
"But–"
"–kill the boy," she snapped, "and I might let you live. You're becoming more useless to me every minute you don't do as I say."
"But why?" I yelled with an exasperated laugh.
She visibly stiffened. She never actually told me what she was thinking, what her plans were.
"My presence must not be known until the time is right," she said, her voice softening in the slightest. "My revenge can only be jump started by surprise, and that's why I need you."
My eyes narrowed while I thought about what she had said. I knew she didn't like the moon, but the odds of that being connected to her plot were very slim. But something had to do with the Olympians, because if not, Camp Half-Blood would be meaningless to her.
"Yes, you would be correct in your presumptions, my little pet," Nyx said with a dry smile. "Leave me, and complete your mission, or your pact will be violated for the final time."
"Wait–" she snapped her fingers, cutting off the formation of my sentence, and my body dissolved into darkness.
~3~
Percy had thought that after the Second Titan War, Camp Half-Blood might have been at peace.
He was sadly mistaken.
Camp life went along just like it normally did during the summer. The campers went about their daily routines, whether that be socializing, training, or playing pranks on the other cabins (especially if it was the Hermes cabin). Percy was beginning to think that he would have a halfway decent day, that is, until the campfire happened.
Percy sat with his arm wrapped around Annabeth, hugging her into his body tightly. Her head rested on his shoulder lovingly. The two had finally become official, and that made the Aphrodite cabin super excited, yet Percy didn't understand why. Annabeth would usually just roll her eyes and call him dense or say that his head was full of seaweed, but that didn't sound like a problem to him.
Percy was staring at the large, steady fire in front of him, trying to ignore Clarisse attempting to form her capture the flag team for the end of the week. This particular competition was going to be super competitive, as it was the first capture the flag game since the end of the Second Titan War. Chiron insisted that everybody relax and recuperate, especially after the Battle for Manhattan.
What made things even more tense was the presence of Artemis' hunters. They were sent to Camp Half-Blood for a short period of time while Artemis helped with cleanup on Olympus. Strangely enough, they opted out of capture the flag this time around, which Percy thought to be extremely uncharacteristic of them. They won every single time, and they usually enjoyed rubbing their victories in the campers' faces. Some campers, especially Clarisse and her gang of Ares punks, were not very happy with this.
"I'm going to create a battalion of winners!" Clarisse exclaimed, almost as if she was advertising a cheesy fast food commercial. "No one will stand in our way, and if you join me, you'll never see the face of defeat!"
Several cabins cheered to this, immediately beginning their barrage of insults and taunts. Percy refused Clarisse's offer to join her team, preferring to stick with the Athena and Apollo cabins. The yelling soon broke down to excited individual conversations, the adrenaline of the upcoming capture the flag tinging the air. Annabeth suddenly tensed and turned her head to look at Percy.
"Something's not right," she said with a frown.
"What? What do you mean?"
"I don't know," Annabeth said, shaking her head. "I could have sworn I just saw something along the tree line where Thalia's tree used to be."
Percy turned his head and narrowed his eyes. He didn't see anything. "I don't see anything, Wise Girl."
"There was something there," Annabeth insisted.
Percy would have been a fool to not believe the daughter of Athena, but he was a seaweed brain after all.
"Just relax and enjoy the fire," Percy said calmly. "I'm sure it's just some Hermes kid setting up a prank for tomorrow.
He tightened his grip on her, and she soon relaxed and rested her head in his shoulder once more. He was just about to settle back down and relax, when something smashed into his right shoulder. Annabeth let out a soft shriek, and Percy looked over to his shoulder. There was nothing there which made sense given his little dip in the Styx. He turned his head to the ground and saw a gleaming, sleek arrow on the ground.
For a short moment, nobody said or did anything other than stare at the arrow on the ground.
Percy did the only thing that he knew what to do in a situation like this. "Shooter!"
The entire campfire erupted into a frenzy, campers diving into the ground, covering their heads. The hunters finally looked up from their disinterest, curious at the prospect of a possible hunt. Annabeth, on the other hand, stood up cautiously and knelt down to pick up the arrow.
"I've never seen an arrow like this," Annabeth said, handing it to Percy. The two of them were surprisingly calm for the given situation, but their reactivity to possible danger was slightly dulled from the recent Battle in Manhattan.
"That's weird," Percy muttered. He turned his head to look at the approximate trajectory of the arrow, hoping to find the shooter. He squinted his eyes and saw the outline of a person along the edge of the distant tree line. "Stay here," Percy told Annabeth and suddenly sprinted off in the direction of the outline.
"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth protested to no avail. She let out a frustrated groan and plopped down in her seat in the middle of a frenzy of campers. Percy bolted into the open field, causing the hunters to respond. They quickly followed. Whoever the shooter was, certainly was fast, and Percy struggled to even keep up.
Percy was led outside of Camp Half-Blood, until he stopped in his tracks. At the bottom of Half-Blood Hill was the shooter, standing disturbingly calm. Percy would have easily guessed that the shooter was a camper, given the fact that he was about the same height as himself, as well as the fact that his age was obviously in his mid-teens. He had messy brown hair, but it still looked like he still took the time to make it wave over to the side. He wore all black as if he was going on a stealth mission. Percy's celestial bronze sword, Riptide, glowed in a soft, golden light at his side.
Thalia suddenly appeared next to Percy, and the rest of the hunt flanked the two, ten hunters on the left, ten hunters on the right. Each had their bows drawn and an arrow notched in a defensive position.
"Stand down," Percy ordered. "He won't harm us. He's most likely taunting."
Percy's orders weren't taken kindly by the hunters. They all muttered with sarcasm and annoyance. He knew that they wanted to capture, or even kill, the shooter, but he wasn't going to let any blood be spilt unless there is a legitimate reason for it.
"Do as he says," Thalia said, continuing to stare down at the shooter.
The Hunters grumbled in response and let their drawstrings slack, but still kept them wielded, just in case.
"Do you think he's a monster?" Thalia whispered to Percy.
"I don't know, he sure looks an awful lot like a demigod, that and he was already inside of the camp borders," Percy said, studying everything about his attacker. "Annabeth said that the arrow he shot was one that she has never seen before."
"A lone wolf then?" Thalia suggested.
"Could be…."
Percy was watching the shooter carefully and he noticed that the shooter slowly pulled another arrow from his quiver, carefully notching it on his crossbow. It was a weapon he'd never seen before, looking custom made and designed. He could have sworn that he saw the shooter smile, and he noticed the hunters tensing.
"Is he smiling?" Percy asked out loud.
"I think so–" Thalia said, But was interrupted by the abrupt movement from the shooter. At first, his bow was aimed at the top of the hill, directly at Percy. However, he switched his aim and knocked an arrow into the ground. Red smoke erupted from the point of contact, and all visuals on the shooter were lost in the darkness.
"Move in….carefully," Percy said. The hunters nodded and slowly crept forward, their bows drawn. Percy follow closely behind, making sure nothing bad would happen. The smoke soon cleared, and the shooter was nowhere to be found. The only thing that was left was a littered arrow with its tip shattered. The hunters were fairly confused, and Percy was more than intrigued. He knelt down to pick up the arrow. Studying it, he found that it was an identical match to the previous arrow, only this time, the fletching was red.
"We can't track him," Thalia said. "We'll have to stay on guard for the rest of the night."
"Fun while it lasted," Percy muttered to himself. He turned and walked back up Half-Blood Hill and into the magical barriers protecting the Camp. The hunters followed close behind, still wary of any signs of movement.
Chiron was now at the campfire, bringing order amongst the frenzy of demigods. However, this time, Rachel Elizabeth Dare was standing next to Chiron, which either meant one of two things: she knew the identity of the mysterious shooter, or there was a prophecy to be given. Percy jogged over to the campfire, curious as to what exactly was happening.
"Any luck?" Annabeth asked hopefully.
Percy shook his head. "No, the shooter had some sort of smoke arrow that he used to get away."
"Should've let me come," Annabeth grumbled. Percy sighed and wrapped the daughter of Athena in his arms.
"I understand your concerns," Chiron said, speaking to a somewhat general audience. "But I do believe the threat has been taken care of….for now. Border patrol will be placed on full alert until all possibilities of danger have passed."
Percy saw the group of huntresses emerge from Half-Blood Hill. If they couldn't track this mysterious shooter, than he doubted that anybody in camo would have the ability to do so.
"What's going on, Rachel?" Percy asked.
The red headed oracle rubbed the back of her neck. "I don't know. Something just….told me to come here. I just felt this presence appear in the camp, and it just seemed to be important, so I followed it here until I saw the commotion happening."
Chiron sighed, the tiredness evident in his eyes. "I suppose we must wait until the spirit of Delphi calls. Until then, please return to your cabins and get a good night's rest."