A/N: I feel guilty about not posting anything since December (yikes). This one's probably going to be short. I'd say four or five chapters at most.
So, I do still love Percy Jackson & The Olympians, and now I love Hetalia. I combined the two to get the best of both worlds. Enjoy this strange product of my imagination!
Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO universe (kudos to Rick Riordan and his amazingness), or Hetalia.
Arthur glanced back at his adopted parents uncertainly. "You're sure this is the place?"
"Absolutely positive," his mother assured him. Mrs. Kirkland had a soft smile, and an all-around gentle mannerism about her. Arthur loved her with all his heart, and he trusted her (as much as any teenager trusts their mum, that is). Even if she was leaving him by the side of a road (with no civilization in sight but a strawberry farm!) for some unknown reason.
"It'll be fun," Mr. Kirkland said. He smiled gently. "And it'll be... it'll be safe for you." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "I assure you, there won't be any incidents here."
"You can't guarantee that, Dad," Arthur said dryly. "Not with my luck."
"No, really," Mr. Kirkland insisted. "This is the safest place on earth for people like you... Isn't that right, Janet?"
People like me. Arthur suddenly had the awful thought that his parents were abandoning him, that after today he'd never see them again.
"I'm sorry, Dad. Mum. I didn't-I don't-they weren't my fault!" he burst out.
Mrs. Kirkland looked taken aback. "For heavens' sake, Artie. No one's blaming you for anything."
He looked down, ashamed at his outburst.
"In fact," she said, "I had my fair share of strange incidents when I was your age." She smiled, the corners of her brown eyes crinkling in that familiar way of hers. "Come now. It's just for the summer. You'll be able to write us."
"They have Internet access at this camp?"
"Er... no. And no phones, I'm afraid. You'll have to keep yours off at all times. It's one of the rules. But don't worry about that."
"Stiff upper lip, son. I promise you, you'll be having too much fun to even miss us." His father enveloped him in a warm hug. Arthur took in a deep breath, memorizing the smell of his aftershave.
Mr. Kirkland let go. Were his eyes moist? Couldn't be.
Mrs. Kirkland, too, wrapped him in an embrace. "Take care, Artie, and try to make some friends. You'll fit in fine here."
Pfft. Like he'd ever fit in anywhere. But he kept that thought to himself as Mrs. Kirkland released him.
"Love you, Arthur," Mr. Kirkland said. "And remember, have fun!"
"Right." Arthur took a deep breath. "Fun."
And with that, he started to walk up the hill with the pine tree.
Arthur was utterly confused as to what kind of camp this was.
There was a climbing wall, where some campers were scaling. There were some stables-he was thrilled; he loved horses, but what would they need horses for at this camp? Unless they would be taking horseback-riding lessons, which would be fun.
Those weren't the weird things, though.
Most of the campers were armed with some sort of weapon. Bronze daggers. Bronze shields. Bronze swords. Spears tipped with wickedly sharp-looking bronze heads. Bows. Quivers of bronze arrows.
Arthur was starting to sense a theme here. Apparently these campers liked bronze weapons.
He wondered why bronze and not, say, steel.
"Hey!"
He turned around to find a grinning, tall blond boy barreling towards him. He flinched and brought his arms up, preparing himself to be run into.
The expected impact never came. The boy came to a screeching halt, stopping just before he hit Arthur.
"Are you new here? Weird, I thought most new arrivals came with a protector, but it's cool that you didn't have one! Are you injured anywhere? Are you okay? What's your name?"
"Er... what?" Arthur managed to ask, lowering his arms from their defensive position. He was completely unused to being bombarded with so many questions at once.
"You're not hurt, are you?" The boy peered down at him-God, how tall was he?-with concerned blue eyes framed with wire glasses.
"No, I'm fine," Arthur said. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, that's uncommon." He looked surprised. "How did you get here?"
"My parents dropped me off and left." At this, the boy looked even more surprised. "Why, is that unusual?"
"Uh... yeah, kind of." The boy frowned. "So your parents just ditched you?"
"No, no!" Arthur flapped a hand. "They said they were sending me to a summer camp for... kids like me... and that they'd come back at the end of the summer."
"Kids like you, huh? And what exactly would that mean?"
"Troublemakers, I guess," Arthur sighed.
"So you're not a year-rounder, your parents knew about camp, and you weren't attacked on your way here. Are you... I don't know, a legacy or something?"
"A what?"
"Oh, boy. I guess we'll have to show you the film and everything."
"There's a film?"
The boy patted him on the back in a way that Arthur found rather condescending. "Don't worry, you'll get it all eventually."
"Wonderful," Arthur said. "Do you have a name, by the way?"
"Oh yeah, huh! I never introduced myself." He flashed a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that. I'm Alfred. Alfred F. Jones." He stuck out a hand to shake.
Arthur took it and immediately winced as Alfred's vice grip took hold. Alfred pumped his hand up and down vigorously-much like how he did everything-before letting go.
"I didn't catch your name, uh...?"
"Arthur," he said while he tried to rub some feeling back into his now-bloodless hand.
"Cool! Nice to meet you, Arthur!" He paused for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Then, "I'm a son of Ares," he said with a grin. "Oh, maybe you're an Ares kid too! That'd be great-I could be like your big brother!"
A million questions spun through Arthur's head. Is he for real? Did he say Ares? ...Do I even want him for a big brother?
Instead of voicing any of those, Arthur simply stared at him and said, "What," in the flattest tone imaginable.
"You don't get excited too easily, huh? Maybe you're Athena..."
Arthur wondered if this was some cruel punishment that his parents had devised for him. What was this, a camp for lunatics?
"I'm not crazy," Arthur burst out.
"No, you're not," Alfred agreed amicably. "Come on, I want to introduce you to the counselors."
A/N: Short chapter is short. And also boring. Dunno when the next chapter will be up, so stay tuned!