Demigod Issues

Problems of typical demigods

By June Cho and Steve Yoon

THE GODS' WEAPONS ARE ROBBED

1: Poseidon's Trident is Stolen

Like I said, Poseidon's great trident was stolen and as usual, I was the suspect and accused of being a thief. That was crazy. I was a son of Poseidon and my father blames me for his trident being gone. Poseidon was crazy!

A wave suddenly surrounded me and dragged me to the water. That's what you get if you say that the gods, especially your own father, are crazy. Luckily, as I am the son of the Sea God, I didn't drown.

I shot out of the Atlantic Ocean and landed neatly in the sand. I was back in Camp Half-Blood, in Long Island. I was back in my home.

See, Camp Half-Blood is a place for demigods, half human and half god. My mortal mother, Sally Jackson was the nicest woman in the world and she married my immortal father, Poseidon, the god of the Seas.

In that camp, you get to train. And 'train' doesn't exactly fit. You get to hold these cool heavy swords and try to kill your fellow demigods and whatnot.

I was the best swordsman in camp, if not the whole world. My old rival, Luke was better than me but I 'defeated' him in Mount Olympus on top of the Empire State Building. Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you that the Greek gods are real. The Greek gods are real. Now you know.

Anyways, a couple of years ago, Zeus's great lightning bolt was stolen and I was blamed. Typical. I had to find the bolt with my two friends to Zeus before war between Poseidon and Zeus erupts. (Zeus also blames Poseidon, his brother, that he convinced me to steal the bolt) I managed to retrieve it.

Now I'm blamed again for stealing. My own father accuses me. Chiron, my teacher told me to calm down and Poseidon would eventually come back to his senses. I didn't think so because for the past two days, Poseidon kept sending Naiads and Nereid to attack me and he had water pour all over. My ability to not get soaked was lost so I was dripping wet. Horses which usually respected me now kicked me and pooped all over me.

'Great' I thought bitterly. I picked up a stone and threw it across the ocean. It bounced so many times and was a blur.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I didn't have to look to see who it was. We were doing that often, touching each other frequently, now that we're 'dating'.

"Yo, Annabeth." I said gloomily. She appeared next to me and hugged me. "Don't be angry at your father, Percy. He still loves you. Just give him a few days and he'll come round."

"I don't know, Annabeth." I said bitterly. I buried my head on her shoulder. We stayed in this posture, me laying my head on her shoulder and she holding me, until the conch horn blew, signaling for dinner.

We both sighed and held hands and walked to the pavilion. When all of the campers were seated, Chiron raised his goblet and yelled, "To the gods"
We all responded with enthusiasm, except me. Everybody rose up as usual to giver burned food to the gods. Annabeth, in front of me, said, "To Athena," while scraping the most ripe fruit and juiciest beef to the fire.

As for me, I was too angry at Poseidon that I threw in a rotten potato and muttered, "To Old Seaweed Beard"

Everybody gasped and screamed. It was total sacrilege. I was about to walk back to my Poseidon table when thunder boomed on the sky and lightning suddenly struck in front of me. If I had taken one step forward, I would have been the world's first and largest human shaped barbeque.

Then I heard a familiar voice that could only be a certain Sea God. I knew that everyone was hearing this because they were clutching their years, screaming, et cetera. The angry voice that was so loud it nearly blasted me to pieces yelled, "Perseus Jackson, son of mine!!!!! Beware, for the curse of Poseidon, the Sea God and of the 'Big Three' follows you forever. For that sacrilege you have committed, you will pay!!!! Perseus Jackson, you are now no son of mine!! You will become a regular mortal and have no demigod powers!!!! You shall bear the curse of Poseidon forever until you return the trident to me!!!!!!!!!!'

With that the voice disappeared and I fainted. But not before my fat stupid mouth blurted, "I don't have your trident, you stupid effing Old Seaweed Sushi Salty Armpit Hair!!"

I heard lightning crashing and people gasping with fear as I collapsed into the ground. I knew I couldn't have ambrosia or nectar… for I was a mortal.

2: I Am Expelled From Camp

I woke up, groaning and cursing in Ancient Greek which my dyslexic brain was 'hardwired' for, being a demigod. Oops. Sorry. Ex demigod.

I saw a pretty face with blond hair streaming down her back and stormy gray eyes watching me with concern… and love?

"Here we go again. Back to the place we met." I grumbled.

When she saw that I was awake, her eyes turned back to steel (an angry one) and practically yelled at my ear.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!!!" she roared.

I flinched and gulped. I can do this. It's not like Annabeth was going to kill her adorable boyfriend.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING OF!!!!!"

I shrank back and gulped. Loudly. Annabeth whipped her celestial bronze knife out and pointed it at my neck.

Gulp. Once again. Okay, change of plan; my girlfriend could kill her adorable boyfriend. It was scary enough without her angry metal gray eyes and her loud frightening voice.

"POSEIDON WASN'T KIDDING WHEN HE SAID YOU WILL BECOME A MORTAL AND BEAR THE CURSE OF POSEIDON!!!!! NOW YOU'RE A MORTAL AND YOU JUST HAD TO THROW CRAPPY FOOD, INSULTING YOUR FATHER!!!! YOU'RE JUST LUCKY YOU DIDN'T DIE!!!! IT'S BECAUSE OF MY CARING AND LOVING HEALING!!!!"

It's because of her 'caring' healing that I woke up and found myself being yelled and spat at by Annabeth.

"Uh… Annabeth, don't spas. Please."

Tears suddenly streamed down her face. "Wow, wow. What? What?!" I asked desperately.

Annabeth sobbed, "Oh, Percy!! Since you're a mortal, Mr. D and Chiron had to expel you from camp!!"

I was stunned. Then I said something intelligent like, "Uh… um… what?"

Then the realization hit me. "I'M EXPELLED FROM CAMP!!!!"

I fainted again.

When I woke up, no one was beside me. Not even Annabeth. And I realized that I wasn't in the camp infirmary. I was in the outside mortal world. Kicked out. I scrambled back to my feet and ran to Camp Half-Blood.

I thought that I could run past Thalia's tree and the dragon but then something stopped me. The boundary. I truly was a mortal and wasn't allowed in camp.

I sat down hard and looked at camp with sad miserable eyes. Kids were still armed with weapons, challenging one another.

In the distance, I saw Annabeth sitting down against a tree, head buried in her hands. I yelled, "Annabeth!"

She didn't seem to hear me. Then, I saw Grover walking towards me. "Grover!!" I shrieked.

Grover spotted me, looked around as if to see if someone was watching us, and ran towards me.

"Hey, Percy." Grover bleated. "Look, I can't really talk with you because it's forbidden for people inside camp to talk with mortals so… Listen, Chiron said that you could still practice with Riptide and train privately and whatever and he says that there are two powerful half-bloods in Seattle and one in Vancouver. I'm assigned to get those three safely to camp so I'm leaving an hour later, okay? Watch out for a teenager with acne and moustache and a hat, all right? You can come with me and we could search for Poseidon's trident. Okay, see you later, I hope. Bye."

Grover trotted away and I trudged, away from Camp Half-Blood. Tears started to well up as I realized that I was a mortal and could never see Annabeth again. Annabeth. I couldn't even say a proper good-bye to her.

I practiced with my sword, Riptide until Grover appeared. He nodded and said, "All right. We're going to Seattle first and get those two demigods. Chiron reckons they're either sons of Ares or one of the Big Three. Either way, their scents are strong so we have to hurry before monsters come."

We didn't say anything for awhile as we trudged to the train station. Grover told me, "I have enough money for us to go on the train all the way to Kansas City, with meals. Oh, and by the way, Annabeth misses you so much."

The train left and Grover threw his backpack on the rack above. The backpack flew right off and someone said, "Ow!"

Grover and I exchanged looks and I swung up to the rack and found out that there was someone invisible. I pulled that person down and it landed with a thump and an, "Ow!"

"Annabeth." Grover muttered as I pulled the Yankees cap of her head. She smiled at me dazzlingly and hugged me for awhile.

"Annabeth, why did you follow us?" I scolded her.

She said, "Well, I heard Grover muttering something about Percy so I wore the cap and followed him. Grover was talking to Juniper and he said that Percy was going to accompany him. So I followed Grover and you, Percy to the train station. I knew that if I became visible before the train started, Grover would send me back to camp. Like it or not, I have to obey the Lord of the Wild."

Grover grinned and said, "You're right. So go back to camp."

Annabeth said, "How? The train is starting and the next stop is at Columbus, in Ohio and that's like hundred kilometers away from camp."

I said, "Like it or not, we have a new companion: Annabeth. Just like the old days."

Grover shot me a look. "You're just saying that because you like Annabeth!"

"I do not!" I blushed.

Annabeth said, "Well, I do," and leaned over me and kissed me.

3:

The train rode on until Kansas City. No monsters appeared. During the time, Annabeth discussed plans and battle strategies.

Capture the Flag!!

1: Alone in the Team

Chiron yelled, "All right, heroes!! Gather around, gather around!! Now it's Friday and you all know what that means. It's time for Capture the Flag!!"

Everyone cheered and yelled. "Now, heroes! The two cabins that are leading are the Ares Cabin and the Poseidon Cabin. Will the cabin leaders please step up here and choose their teams!"

Naturally, as I'm the only one in the Poseidon Cabin, I stepped up front. The Ares leader, Clarisse, stepped up and leered at me. I wasn't really that friendly with Clarisse since the first time I came at camp, she introduced me by trying to dunk my head into the toilet. But since I was a son of Poseidon, I caused the water to erupt and hit Clarisse and her friends. Ever since then, we were enemies. Also, in my first year, I 'shamed' her father, Ares, the god of war so all his children hate my guts.

Clarisse and I did rock paper scissors and she won. However, before she chose, everyone swarmed all around me and yelled, "Percy!! Percy!!! Choose me!!!!! Choose me!!!!!!"

"What?" said Clarisse and I, both in shock.

Chiron stamped his hooves and hollered, "Heroes, silent!!"

As if by magic, the campers got silent and looked at the old centaur. Chiron asked, "What are you all arguing about?"

Andy Simons of the Apollo cabin blurted out, "It's Percy sir! We all want him in our team and of course, the Apollo Cabin should get him, since Apollo is the sun god and without a sun, we would all die!"

Terrence Davidson of the Demeter Cabin shouted, "No, Percy should be in our cabin because our beautiful mother, Demeter is the goddess of the earth and agriculture. Without her, crops would die and we would starve to death!!"

The two boys glared at each other so fiercely we all backed off. Even Chiron looked scared but he managed to separate the boys. He asked, "But why do you all want Percy? He's just one man."

A girl from the Aphrodite Cabin who had a crush on me blurted, "'Cause he's cute and handsome!!"

Annabeth jabbed the girl with her elbow and muttered, "Back off! He's mine!"

Alice Thompson from the Ares Cabin yelled, "As much as we hate him, he's really strong since his invulnerable. After all, he bathed in the River Styx and no one can harm him. He just walks in and walks out with the flag, not a single scratch on him and instead, more than half the opposing team is injured gravely!"
Chiron scratched his head and thought for awhile. Then he said something that terrified me so much. "Well, then why doesn't Percy be alone? How about all of the cabins against the Poseidon Cabin?"

Before I could react, the crowd cheered and hissed, "YES!!" real loud.

I was dead. "Wait, wait!! How can I be alone? There's only one of me and two hundred and fifty seven of you!! Can I choose a cabin."

Chiron chuckled, "Why, this is the perfect opportunity for a great son of Poseidon to test his skills against hundreds of demigods!!"

"Can I choose a camper then?"

"Of course not, Percy!" Chiron said. "This is the best moment ever. You can go full power, curse of Achilles, River Styx Fury mode. You can use all of your water powers and unusual superpowers. Are you afraid, Percy?"

That angered me. I was the bravest person in the world. After all, I defeated the Titan Lord. And here was Chiron, my beloved teacher, saying that I wasn't brave. I surpassed the powers of that centaur. I said coldly, "Have it your own way, master. I will go alone and win this damned game. I will use all my powers, including the Legendary Curse of Achilles and Super River Styx Fury modes. And the Uncontrollable Ultimate Mode. And the Mega Super Ultra Deluxe Moment of Death that I was always save for important matters."

Chiron raised his eyebrows. The curse of Achilles and River Styx Fury were modes and results of me bathing in the River Styx. When I go in the Achilles mode, I have this eerie green glow around my body and I have extraordinary superpowers by extra speed, jump, power, etc. The River Styx Fury mode made me look like the mummified ex Oracle of Delphi and gave me so much power and I could fly. But Legendary Achilles and Super River Styx? It was hard to do those but I managed it. I never told anyone about the Uncontrollable Ultimate because I performed it only twice. And of course, I made up the Mega Super Ultra Deluxe Moment of Death thingy.

I suddenly realized why Chiron sent me alone. He wanted to see my great powers and see if he trained me well.

The teams were each given ten minutes to prepare. I was in the blue team, alone. I summoned a shovel and started digging a deep lake like hole that was 30 meters wide and 100 meters deep. I concentrated with all my powers and prayed to Poseidon. He answered me and filled the hole with many saltwater. The conch horn blew, signaling that the game started. I knew that the campers wouldn't attack me, yet because they were still afraid of me. But I knew that they were watching me, wondering when the best moment to attack came.

I made my lake wider and deeper. I was still holding the Blue Team Flag. I closed my eyes and willed a huge massive boulder to go to the middle of my lake. I made the boulder taller. It was so tall that when I somehow set the flag at the top, you could barely see a hint of blue. No one could climb that unless they could have the water to bring them up. Poseidon heard my prayer again and made my lake bigger and deeper. No one could swim to that boulder now. Except me.

I heard gasps around me and someone, probably Clarisse, yelled, "CHARGE!!!'

I spun around and concentrated. The green glow started to form around my body and my eyes started to turn scary extremely dark green. I turned pale and a full, golden Greek armor appeared. It was made by Hephaestus himself. As for my weapon belt, I had two jars of Greek fire, two mortal bombs, a trident, a spear, a javelin, two swords, and a bow and arrows. Chiron was watching me.

I turned to my full power and water encircled me. I tried to do the Uncontrollable Ultimate thing but I was too tired. I absorbed some of the salt water and I became stronger. Everybody was terrified, including Clarisse, as the glow became brighter. I could fly!!

I laughed at the terrified faces and chopped up several campers. Everybody charged at me. Every 257 campers surrounded me. Some nymphs, dryads, and satyrs joined their side. I became a golden green blur. I swung left and right, central with my two swords, a great shield made by Tyson strapped tightly to my left arm.

I twirled around and numerous campers fell to the ground, unconscious. Several foolish heroes tried to swim across the great lake but my father Poseidon, seemed to stop them. A giant tsunami erupted, knocking people aside. A hurricane formed and injured countless campers. Ice and ice spikes were impaled on the warriors and rain fell heavily from the sky, giving me endless strength. I laughed loud and danced with my swords, Riptide and Tsunami. Whenever my swords stabbed people, giant tsunamis erupted and the earth shook badly. A tornado and hurricane formed, wounding many poor people. I saw Annabeth in the distance and not wanting her to get hurt, I willed the waters to surround her and throw her lightly to her own territory. I flew around, stabbing people here and there when Clarisse yelled at me, "Jackson! Come down here and I'll fight you!"

I started a huge epic battle with Clarisse and her boyfriend, Chris. Parry. Thrust. Counterattack. Stab. Block. Thrust. Parry. Counterattack. Counterblock. Thrust. Stab. Stab. Feign. Quickly knock the sword of Chris. I kicked him aside and faced rather bravely to the fury of Clarisse while she stared at the unconscious form of Chris. We battled for awhile while campers tried to stab me. But my faithful water knocked them aside. I concentrated on the rain to form a great water and ice thing above her head. 'Wait' I said to the water.

I feigned with Tsunami, causing one in a distance, and Clarisse fell for that. I sliced her ankle while with Riptide, I slashed madly at her hand. She howled and the water dropped. She staggered back, dropping her sword and clutching her ankle. I jumped and kicked her face so hard she was going to have a black eye, broken bloody nose, two broken cheekbones, and several chipped teeth. Clarisse collapsed to the ground and I continued my 'killing' streak for another hour.

After awhile, I felt so restless I caused a water sphere to rampage all around the camp. The sphere injured many campers and destroyed many buildings and nature things. Oh, the nature spirits were going to be mad.

I caused horses, dolphins, crabs, turtles, pegasi, and lobsters to come out of the waves and fight the warriors.

I was so bored, easily defeating the campers that I suddenly unlocked the Uncontrollable Ultimate mode. The glow disappeared and the campers looked relieved, thinking that my powers were over. Boy they were wrong. I felt stronger than I ever was and thrashed the guys so easy. Then, I heard hooves and all Hades broke loose. The monsters from the forests appeared, along with others. The pegasi and horses and centaurs and Chiron of Camp Half-Blood charged. Everyone in camp, except me, was fighting against a certain son of Poseidon.

Even Mr. D, Dionysus, the son of Zeus, the powerful god of wine and madness was fighting. He made my mind a little hazy and stupid and continually trapped me with grape vines and roots while sending sparks of electricity at me.

I was so angry I turned into another mode. This time, I felt the presence of so many people. Everyone stopped and gasped, including Dionysus, which was a big surprise. I gasped too, as I saw the figures of heroes in Greek mythology. Everyone was there. Hercules, Jason, Odysseus, Peleus, Orpheus… Achilles was standing before me, grinning at me. My namesake, Perseus also stood before me.

The heroes all attacked and all the monsters vaporized. The creatures of Camp Half-Blood fled. The centaurs, Party Ponies looked nervous as their brethren all around them were falling down. Chiron yelled, "Heroes, charge!!!!"