Disclaimer- I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, nor any characters
Written for the Capture the Flag Challenge in Percy Jackson Fanfiction Challenges Round Two
Prompts: Silena/Beckendorf; Beach
She had been walking home from school when she noticed the man following her. A mere ten years to call her own, she hadn't really been completely informed of the dangers of strange men that followed her home, but she knew enough to know it was definitely not a good thing. It was fitting then, that a bad walk back to the small bungalow she shared with her father would follow a particularly miserable day at the public elementary school.
Kennedy Elementary School was a modest building of worn brick and off white siding, that, after nearly thirty years in use, was almost gray in color. The facility might be a little lacking, but the faculty certainly wasn't, as the school was surprisingly one of the better schools in the Kansas City area. It had managed to keep it's test scores high enough to warrant an award from the nation. This, of course, meant that it was ridiculously overcrowded, as any parent that had enough money to care about their childrens' education sent their precious babies there. Silena's class had twenty eight students and twenty three desks at the moment, and one desk would be moving to the class next door, which had thirty students and twenty one desks.
With all of that, there had to be something, or more accurately, someone, who made her day turn the other way, let alone that the substitute gym teacher had sort of turned into a dragon... thing in the middle of pick up soccer.
Silena hadn't done anything wrong, and she would swear on it. Okay, it might have been offended by her atrocious soccer skills, but no one else had turned into a little girl eating monster over it.
The sub had been watching the children play, her group specifically, peering around the messy tangle of legs to find Silena. She stood at the outside of the pack of children, nervously shifting from foot to foot, on occasion giving a kick, and more often hitting the dusty field or an ankle than the soccer ball.
For one precious moment, the ball had been loose in the field, freed from it's prison of soccer fanatics to speed down the field toward Silena. She trotted three steps, almost unsure of what to do. Realizing that she was the only one who could get to it at the moment-it seemed there had been a mass falling epidemic, as most of the other students were in various stages of getting off the ground and brushing off dirt, she leaped into a full sprint, head on toward the ball.
Spoiler, she didn't make it.
The sub jumped out onto the field, bursting into-was that flame? Silena was about to scream, or call for help, or run to get the fire extinguisher that sat in the graffitied metal box next to the door to the cafeteria, but she never got the chance. A terrifying gargantuan black dog seemed to step out of the fire, completely unharmed, and completely menacing to a ten year old girl. To anyone, really. Unleashing a high pitched scream involuntarily, Silena scrambled backward, tripping over her own feet in her desperate scramble to get away.
And then, as fast as the dog had appeared, it disappeared, bursting into a shower of golden sparks. Gasping, she watched as the fire burnt out nearly immediately as well, leaving no trace as it dissipated with a hiss.
Silena couldn't determine what exactly had made the hellhound go away, just that the very alarmed substitute stood in on the side, and as she watched, his angry gaze shifted from her to somewhere in the crowd of soccer players.
Realizing she was still on the ground, mouth open in fear and shock, she stood up, brushing off her shorts, just as the soccer ball rolled by her, picked up by a player on the other team. The rest of the students watched, some in horror some in excitement, as the ball whizzed by the goalie, shooting neatly through the orange cones that marked either side of the goal.
Her teammates, finished with watching their supposed enemies celebrate, turned on Silena with their angry questions. To her surprise, it was like the whole ordeal with the oh, you know, giant black dog, had never even happened.
"-Silena!"
"-I knew we shouldn't have picked her."
"-What, are you scared of a soccer ball?"
"-You had the easiest shot! There was no one there!"
"-What did we expect? She always makes us lose."
"-Oh, look those stupid kids. It's all her fault."
"-Not again, Silena."
Ignoring their various insults and disappointments, she still stood in shock, watching the spot where the dog had disappeared.
"It's not my fault," she managed quietly. "There was a dog, and it was burning and huge…" She seemed to have been drowned out by the general angry chatter of the children around her.
"Did you say a dog?" one of the girls next to her asked, peering at her, confusion imminent on her face. "I didn't see a dog."
There was a general consensus on this, and they returned to the soccer game, leaving her to stand in place, still staring at the very spot the fire had disappeared.
Searching around the playground in an effort to avoid the rest of the game, she noticed that the sub had long since moved on, frowning as he searched the perimeter of the school yard, scrunching up his nose as if he was a hunting dog.
Looking up in surprise at the clock, Silena watched as he blew the whistle-two short blasts that indicated they go outside-and stalked off toward a door marked "Staff Only" in large lettering. Blinking twice and frowning, she turned to follow the rest of her classmates back inside.
Now, she walked home, her the straps of her backpack a few inches long, the bag bouncing against her bare thighs, sticky with sweat. Even so, her blond hair fell neatly onto each of her shoulders, her wide, clear blue eyes covered slightly by her drooping eyelids. Walking to and from school was a pain, especially in the hot Missouri summers. Even her light t-shirt felt hot against her skin, and she was nearly certain that she could've walked home in a bathing suit and still have been uncomfortably warm.
Wavy lines of heat wafted off of the concrete sidewalks, and Silena, bored of staring at passing cars and sunflowers that turned up to the sun, pretended to dodge them. She gave a passing glance over her shoulder to see that the strange man, dressed in a dark trench coat, with suit pants sticking out of the bottom, and polished leather shoes that made clicking sounds on the pavement. She couldn't figure out how he hadn't melted yet.
She, at least, felt reassured that he wasn't her strange gym substitute, as he was short, stout, and also happened to have the palest skin she had ever seen. The man following her hard tanner skin, not quite dark enough to be a different race, but enough that it appeared he spent a great deal of time in Florida.
Silena checked both ways before crossing the side street, her house in the next block. She decided she would tell her father about the odd man in the trench coat, perhaps as a joke, or something.
As she was about halfway across the street, she noticed that a boy, about her age, maybe, standing in the shadow of one of the few trees in Kansas City, that stood in one of her neighbors' side yards. Frowning, she studied the boy. He had dark, frizzy hair that was cropped close to his head, dark skin, and hazel eyes that studied Silena as she passed.
"Hey!" he hissed, as he was just passing out of Silena's sight. "Hey! Come over here!"
Surprised by the abrupt summons, Silena turned around to stare at the strange boy. His eyebrows were raised in expectation, one had beckoning her forward.
"I-I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."
"I'm not a stranger," the he insisted. "I was playing soccer today. Silena, right?"
Racking her brains, Silena couldn't come up with the boy's face before. She definitely hadn't played soccer than day.
"Yes." The word slipped out of her mouth before she could control it. "But you weren't playing soccer today, I'm positive. Look, I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." Nodding decisively and proud of her speech, Silena turned back toward her house.
"I go to Kennedy," the boy continued. "Promise." He looked too old for that, taller than anyone in Silena's grade, and even from her distance away, she could see the boy had the beginnings of acne across his cheeks.
"Look, I don't-hey!" she protested as the boy jumped forward, grabbed her hand, and pulled Silena down the side street, so fast that she didn't have any time to pull away.
Fighting and screaming for help, Silena managed to pull her hand out of the boy's grasp. "What the heck? That's kidnapping! What're you-" hel reached forward and jerked her shoulders around, giving her a view of the sidewalk and street that led to the one she had been on previously. The strange trench coat man was running toward them, taking long strides that made the cap on his head bounce, revealing dark hair.
"I… so what?" Silena asked. "He won't hurt us. He's just a guy."
"You don't know that," the boy said, a semblance of fear making his voice quiver slightly. "He's going to hurt us. We need to leave."
"Then take me home!" Silena protested. "I'll be safe there. My dad's got a gun."
"Your dad makes candy for a living."
"That doesn't mean he can't have a gun! And besides, how do you know that, you stalker!"
The boy, exasperated, shook his head, his frizzy hair shaking as well. "It's not important! Just run!"
Silena's hand was violently jerked again, leaving her shoulder aching, as the other boy pulled her along the street.
Glancing behind her, sure that the boy was overreacting and that the man had turned down another street, Silena was surprised to see that he was hot on their trail, still taking the long strides that easily gave him about twice the distance of the two children. With a gasp, Silena disentangled herself from the boy and easily passed him, sprinting for her life.
"Now you get it," the boy muttered between pants. He chased after her, catching up to her faster than she expected.
"You're fast," Silena gasped, pain spreading through her side as a cramp took hold.
"I practice," he said. "Look! We just have to get to that beach."
The road ended abruptly ahead of them, turning into a small swath of sand, and then murky water. Silena had been there before, a small trip with her father. It was the Blue River, it wasn't safe to swim in, and the beach was full of bugs.
"Why? Is he afraid of sand or something?"
"No, that's the extraction point! Come on!"
Silena wanted to ask what the extraction point was, as it sounded pretty painful. However, just as she had opened her mouth, the boy gave a giant leap into the sand, jerking her arm again, and sending her careening toward the water.
A memory flashed through her mind; her father telling her firmly to never ever go into the water, because it was full of gasoline and dangerous flotsam.
She saved from her watery doom by a tall girl. She seemed to have stepped out of nowhere, grabbing Silena firmly on the arm, and easily swinging her around, gently letting her fall onto the blissfully dry sand. She stared at the girl wide eyed, taking it her shoulder length curly hair, her dark skin, and-was that a sword hanging at her side?
It was, and her hand drifted toward it nervously as she helped up the boy.
"Beckendorf!" she said in relief. "What's going on? She wasn't supposed to be extracted until-achoo!" The girl's entire body heaved as she let out a ferocious sneeze.
"Whoa there," Beckendorf said. "Slow down, Jemma." Gently subduing the heaving girl with a careful hand, he took the sword out of her tight grasp. "Why'd you pick this thing up? You have a club."
"I can't-achoo!-lift it!" she said, sniffling. "I'm sick, remember?"
"I don't need reminding," the boy muttered, easily hefting the sword, and moving towards Silena.
"Wha-what's going on?" she demanded, sticking her hip out and folding her arms like women on television did when they wanted something. "I want to know what's going on! What's that thing? Why can't I go home? Who are you? Why-" Silena froze in terror as she watched Jemma remove her shoe. "Why has she got hooves?"
"Jemma, put your shoe back on, you're scaring her!" Beckendorf called behind him to the sick girl. She rolled her eyes dramatically, covering the Oh my gosh they were hooves up again.
"We've extracted her, and if anyone but the Ancient Greek monster chasing you comes near here, then said monster will eat them," Jemma said, sarcasm evident in her voice and the way she slightly tilted her head, as if she was talking to a young child.
"Shh," he reprimanded her, and then turned to Silena. "You be quiet too. I think he's hiding."
Silena's eyes widened, but she was too scared and shocked to say anything in return. The anger that had burned at her insides as she screamed at the two other children had fizzled out, leaving her with a strangely empty feeling in her stomach that might have been fear or dread.
She heard rustling. In the bushes. She was paralyzed with fear, as she watched the bushes move, the leaves swinging back and forth as they were disturbed by whatever was trying to push through them. Silena let out a slight shriek before jumping backward. "What is it?" she whispered, looking at Beckendorf.
He didn't reply, and just as she went to take a step backward, the thing jumped out of the bushes, no longer a man in a trench coat, but yet another black dog. Screaming shrilly, Silena scrambled back in the sand, trying to reach the water. Dogs didn't like water, right? Right?
But it hadn't jumped at her. It roared ferociously, scratching at Beckendorf, who nimbly dodged, swinging the sword and just missing the canine's snout.
Silena leaped backward again, desperate to get as far away as possible from the dog. Beckendorf continued to swing, jumping away from the paw sent to swat him into the river and then shouting as in knocked his sword away. It flipped in the air, spinning right toward Jemma, who lay in the sand of the beach, her shoe half on, revealing her hooves, which Silena still hoped were fake, her chest rising and falling abnormally as she was occupied with a coughing fit. The sword landing blade first in the sand, just barely missing Jemma, it's hilt glimmering in the afternoon sunlight that filtered through the bushes.
Beckendorf made a desperate grab for the sword, scrambling in the sand to get good footing. Unfortunately, the dog had a better grip on the soft, hard to navigate beach, and it jerked it's head forward to snag Beckendorf's shoe. With a loud growl, the dog shook him around, while he screamed, stopping in some places when air forced it's way into his mouth, cutting off his shout. With a final snarl, the dog launched the boy toward the river. Beckendorf spun and twisted much like the sword had, yelling as he collided with a clash into the river, large ripples spreading out from where he had disappeared.
The dog, finished with it's main competition, turned to Silena. She gulped, slowly scooting backward in the sand toward the sword as in stalked in her direction. Her hands scrambled behind her in their desperate search for the hilt. She visibly winced as her palm connected with the blade of the sword, leaving a shallow, stinging gash across her skin. With her eyes still on the dog, she slowly slid her fingers up the the smooth part of the metal blade, bumping into the hilt as she reached higher. The dog was over her now, and she began to shake as it's wide eyes met hers, and a drip of saliva splashed onto her shirt from it's anxious mouth.
Silena slid the sword out of the sand, arms still shaking as she brandished the heavy blade in front of her. The dog's eyes flicked to the sword, and with the same move that had knocked out of Beckendorf's grasp, batted it's paw at the sword. She pressed her back against the sand, pulling the sword close to her, and managing to keep it in her grasp. Her mistake, however, was that the dog now loomed over her, giving her no room to sit up. It seemed to smile now, a row of huge teeth poking out from it's lower jaw. Her throat was raw as she tried to scream, and nothing came out. Kicking desperately with her feet, she managed to connect with it's throat, making it shrink backward and wheeze painfully.
She slid in the sand as she struggled to find traction, finally managing to stand up, her feet firm on the beach. The dog was having a harder time getting up, it's paws nearly useless on the sand. Unfortunately, when she swung at it halfheartedly, it shied away from her, pressing it's head into the bushes and snarling.
Silena dove forward without thinking, crying out as one of the dog's huge legs hit her in the chest. With little hope left, she slashed with the sword, sinking it into the dog's stomach. She closed her eyes, waiting for it to kill her, or to be covered in blood, she wasn't sure.
When nothing came, Silena opened one eye, wondering if she was in heaven already. After all, golden dust seemed to be showering down from the sky. Blinking, she realized that she could feel the sand under her back and legs and-ew-in her shoes. The bushes slightly beyond her still more the imprint of the dog's form, caved in where it had fallen.
She stood up, brushed off her shorts, and turned around to see Beckendorf slowly and painfully dragging himself out of the river. Water ran down his face like sweat after a long day, crusting over the sand under him. He looked around wildly for the dog, and then focused on Silena.
"Whoa, are you okay? How did you get rid of that thing?" Carefully, as if he was trying not to use certain muscles, he stood up, wobbling unstably on the balls of his feet. His eyes flicked to the sword that sat next to her, and his face changed to impressed.
"I kicked it," Silena said, shrugging. "And then I kinda stuck it with a sword."
"You kind of stuck it with a sword?" Beckendorf repeated, raising his eyebrows, gesturing to the golden dust that had settled on the sand around them. "Just kind of?"
"I don't know," she said. The burst of adrenaline had come from nowhere, and she couldn't help but blush at his undeserved attention.
"Well, now I feel dumb," he continued. "It batted me away, and you just kicked it at swung a sword at it." He studied her, frowning and pressing his palm to his chin in a pensive way. "Must've been a helluva lucky shot. Or maybe you're just really, really brave."
It would've been a lie, but she wanted to agree with the second statement. Changing the topic, she asked, "what was that thing, anyway?"
Jemma, lying on the sand groggily, though she looked thoroughly shaken by the whole dog experience, let out a tired laugh. "Ever heard of Camp Half-Blood?"
"No."
"Whoa, take it slow, Jemma," Beckendorf said with a grin. His feet dragged circles in the sand as he turned on the spot to look at Silena. "You know a little bit about Greek myths, right? What you saw was a hellhound. It showed up during school too-I was there!" he added as she raised her eyebrows at him. "Anyway, it was summoned from the underworld. Probably by the gym substitute, he was shifty. Unfortunately, Jemma, here, had a cold, so I had to fill in. Beckendorf, by the way."
Silena, overwhelmed already by a culture shock, and she gathered that there was a whole new world to hear about, stammered out an answer. "Uh, S-Silena." It didn't matter that she'd already told him that.
He let out a dry laugh. "Silena, you've got a lot to learn. Ever heard of Camp Half-Blood?"