WARNING: Do not read if you haven't read the firstbook of this series "The Lost Hero".
Son of Neptune
I
Percy
He woke to see a blinding light hovering on the white ceiling above him. He blinked a few times readjusting to the light intensity. As he sat up he looked around the small room. The walls were a light tan color and had a few pictures hanging on them. On the far wall was a large wooden door with, what looked like, small carved pictures of ancient battle scenes engrave on the door. A dresser sat at his bed side and a window was on the opposite side of the dresser.
He stood up and walked to the window slowly. As he looked out, he saw tons of armored teenagers with golden swords sheathed at their sides, as well as large golden shields which they held at their sides. He watched as groups walked by talking but didn't hear any of the conversations. Most campers wore purple shirts and blue jeans with the exception of a few we wore what looked like… no, were actual goat legs with hooves instead of feet. He watched mystified as teenagers and goat people, he thought they were called satyr, walked by as if these goat guys were nothing out of the ordinary.
The door creaked open, and in walked a wolf followed by two of those satyr things, and three armed teenagers, about 15 or16 years old.
Instinctively, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ball point pen. He took off the cap and the pen turned into a large bronze sword. He dropped the sword onto the ground as the two satyrs and three teens jumped in front of the wolf and posed to attack.
"Don't strike." One of them said in a loud forceful voice. "You dare strike an unarmed man?" The boy looked at each of his five attackers as they withdrew, trying to find out who spoke.
Suddenly, the wolf stepped forward and looked him square in the eye. The boy stared at the wolf in terror as the wolf put its paw on the sword that he'd dropped and slid it back to the boy's attackers. The eldest looking one picked up the sword and stood behind the wolf menacingly. She had flowing blond hair and grey eyes which were locked squarely on him. She wore a sleeveless purple shirt and blue jeans just like everyone else with the exception of a golden bracelet which she wore around her right wrist. She was tall and looked 16 or 17 years old. She somehow reminded him of someone else that he knew, but couldn't put a name to it before his stomach began to ache.
"What is your name?" asked the voice. He looked around at all the faces puzzled. No one had said anything. "Hello? Answer me!" The wolf snapped at his feet and snarled and he realized that none of the people had talked. It was the wolf.
"I… um…" He stammered. That was a good question. What was his name? Much less where was he? He looked at his feet confused. "I don't know." He finished.
"Reyna, search him." The girl who held his sword walked forward and began to search.
"Spread your arms." She said sternly, and tap searched him like they would at an airport. She stopped and stuffed her hand in his left pocket pulling out his wallet. She opened it and pulled out his driver's license. "Perseus Jackson" She read. "Age 17, hometown…" She paused puzzled. "New York City, New York." She said puzzled.
The wolf froze. "Perseus?" it said under its breath. It looked up at him and cleared its throat. "Thank you Reyna. Please give Perseus back his wallet and take these four outside. I would like a word with Mr. Jackson." Reyna returned his wallet, placed Percy's sword on the ground and exited with the others following close behind her.
They watched as the door shut behind them, and as soon as it shut, the wolf turned on him. "What are you doing here Perseus?" It whispered harshly. "Who told you of this place? You put all of these people in danger coming here." He stared at the wolf startled. He didn't even know his name till now, how should he know how he got here?
"I…" he stammered. "I don't know. All I know is my name, and I didn't even know that until a few seconds ago." He answered. "Who are you?" He retorted. "Why is my being here dangerous?"
"Do not play stupid with me boy." The wolf said back. "I know who you are, and I know where you've come from. What I don't know however is what you're doing here. Who sent you? Chiron? That stupid centaur. Doesn't he know the dangers? When I talk with him next I'll…"
"What are you talking about?" Percy screamed. "I just found out who I am! I have no idea where I am even at, much less who you are. Why are there kids running around here with… with swords and shields, and armor like they could go to war at any time? Why are there satyrs…?"
"Don't raise your tone at me boy," the wolf cut in, "and don't call them satyrs, call them fauns. That's what they're called around here."
"What? I… I thought they were called satyrs." Percy said calmly.
"No." The wolf snapped. "They are called fauns." The wolf studied his face carefully eyes narrowed, and he must have looked really confused, because suddenly the wolf backed up eyes widening and saying. "You… You have really forgotten haven't you?"
Percy nodded. "Yes," he replied. "Yes I really have. That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't remember… anything." He looked the wolf straight in the eye, holding his gaze until the wolf looked away.
"My name is Lupa." The Wolf said. "You are at Camp Augustus, named after the first emperor of Rome, a powerful demigod, though few know him as the son of Mars."
"Mars? You mean Ares?" asked Perseus. He wasn't sure why, but for some reason Mars just didn't sound right.
"No." Lupa said coldly. "I mean what I said. You should listen to my words closely Perseus, or you may become a little snack. If not for your amnesia, you would be lying on the floor right now with my fangs piercing through your flesh. Unfortunately, you have forgotten everything so I must show mercy. Killing you now would be no better than slaying an unarmed man. You live for now, but I warn you, if you cause an uproar in camp, you will regret it."
Lupa turned and exited the room glancing back only to say. "I will send someone to show you around Perseus, but I advise you to be careful. You will go through the same trials as any other camper to prove your worth, and don't expect me to show you any mercy from now on. I have warned you once. This will not happen again."
…
He sat their staring at the door for the longest time, waiting for someone to come and get him. As he sat he thought about how everything was going so far. He didn't know why he was here, much less how he'd gotten here. There was a big nasty wolf that obviously didn't like him who seemed to know all about him but wouldn't tell him anything. And he'd been waiting for who knows how long for someone who he was thinking would never come, to show him around.
Percy's brain was starting to go crazy with questions, and no one was there to help him figure anything out. As he sat around he took out his wallet again, and looked at the contents. The first thing he pulled out was a small Mighty Mart's Department Shop name tag with his name on the front of it. Next, he pulled out his license again. He studied his picture and looked at the information on it. Finally he placed that back and found a list of phone numbers on a piece of paper that said for emergency ONLY! He took a look at them and checked his pockets for a cell phone. He didn't find one. So that would be the first thing he'd do once he found out where he was and could find a pay phone. There was only a few on the list, and each one had a name listed next to it. The first one said Mom, followed by Stepdad, Rachel, Mr. Chase, and Annabeth.
Annabeth. That name seemed to strike a nerve, and immediately he could feel his heart start to beat a little faster. That would definitely be his first call. Whoever that was, he had a feeling that she would have some answers.
Also, next to the numbers were addresses. He scanned them and realized that all of them were in New York except for one which was in San Francisco, that was Mr. Chases, and Annabeth's which just said Camp. Percy tried to figure out what that meant. Camp. What camp? Was it in New York also? Suddenly, he really hoped that he was in New York City right now.
When he finally put that down he pulled out a wad of cash, about fifty bucks, and then… some medium sized golden coins. He took one of them, and looked at it a little closer. The coin was strange, definitely not American. First of all it was gold second…
"How'd you get that?" asked someone from the door. Percy quickly put the coin down and stood up straight. At the door stood Reyna, the girl from earlier, and she wasn't looking much nicer.
"Oh, um… hi," said Percy quickly.
"Where'd you get that?" She asked, this time a little bit harsher.
"Um… I don't know." Percy replied. "I was just looking through my wallet and I found it there. Why? What is it?"
The girl, Reyna, narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously, and studied him closely. He didn't know what was up with these people, but they all seemed so serious so… guarded in a way. First Lupa, now Reyna, and he just couldn't help but think that he didn't belong here. Finally, Reyna stopped studying him and took a step forward. "My name is Reyna." She told him, ignoring his questions all together. "Lupa has instructed me to give you a tour of the camp grounds and introduce you to some other campers." She paused, looking him over again. "Come on she said. Pick up your swo… er, pen, and let's go."
She turned and walked off without waiting for him to pick up his sword. Quickly, he grabbed his wallet stuffed it in his pocket, grabbed his sword, capped it, and waited for it to turn back into a pen before stuffing it in his pocket. Then he ran outside and looked around for Reyna. People stared at him as they walked by, talking with their friends, and whispering stuff to each other, but he didn't see Reyna in any of the groups.
"Percy." Percy looked to the right and saw Reyna there. "Hurry up. I'm not always gonna wait for you." They walked through the camp with Reyna pointing out things like the archery fields, the sword play arena, and of course the dining pavilion, but she seemed like her mind was somewhere else. Finally they made it to the cabins. There were twelve of them, arranged in a big U. "This," Reyna pointed to the first cabin, "is the cabin of Jupiter. No one… no one lives here. Anymore." Her voice lost its authoritative tone as she said that as if she was remembering a bad memory.
"What do you mean anymore? And I thought his name was Zeus." Percy said. Reyna's face went red with anger.
"First of all, only the Greeks call him Zeus. We are not Greek. We are Roman. Second, why I say anymore is none of your business." She said harshly, and then looked away. "Let's continue the tour." She said. "This," she pointed to the second cabin across from Zeus's "is Juno's cabin. No one goes in that cabin. Ever. Juno doesn't have demigod children because she is the goddess of marriage and is married to Jupiter. Juno is fierce though, and should not be messed with. Really, she hates all demigod children. Jupiter's especially."
Juno, Percy thought. As soon as he heard the name he instantly thought Hera. He didn't know why, but every time the Roman name was said, he thought of what he thought were the Greek names. Everything seemed wrong, and the longer he thought about, the more he felt out of place. Something was missing here, and very…wrong.
He was determined to find out what.
"And this is the cabin of Neptune." Reyna said as they arrived at the third cabin.
"Why is this one empty?" Percy asked. For some reason when he walked up to the cabin he felt a little bit more in place. Not right exactly, but still closer to where he belonged.
"Neptune," Reyna began, "is one of the Big Three."
"The Big Three?" For some reason, that sounded familiar.
"Yah, The Big Three, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. They are the first three sons of Saturn and Cybele."
"Oh, you mean Kronos and Rhea the Titan lords?" Percy asked, and instantly regretted it.
Reyna's face went red with anger. "NO! I MEAN SATURN AND CYBELE!" She screamed harshly. "What is with you and calling them by their Greek names?" Reyna asked. "Have you forgotten that the Greek reign is over? The God's left Greece, and went to Rome. What don't you get about that?"
"Well, they left Rome too." Percy pointed out. "They're here in America now."
Reyna screamed loudly, and the nearby campers looked up from what they were doing and stared up at her. She glared at Percy, and for a moment he thought she was going to pull out her sword and slice him in half. Instead, she turned and stormed off into a nearby cabin, and didn't come out.
Percy stood there in the middle of the camp grounds. Kids were still staring at him, and not knowing what else to do, he stood there looking from face to face until he finally looked down at his sneakers shyly.
A group of kids from a nearby cabin walked over smiling cruelly at him. They'd come from the cabin that looked more like a military bunker. It had a barbed wire fence around it, and in the area between the fence and the cabin there was nothing, not even a blade of grass. The few windows that the cabin had had been punched out, and replaced with large jail like metal bars that went from the top of the window to the bottom part of it.
As the kids got closer, Percy got a bad feeling, and stuffed his hands in his pockets fingering his pen sword, and wallet to make sure they didn't steal it.
"Well, well," the eldest looking one said. "What do we have here?" He asked.
"What's wrong? You lost your way?" asked another one bumping into his shoulder
"Nice necklace loser," said another one, "Who made it for you, your mother? Oh no, you probably don't even know your mother seeing as you've lost your memory and all." Up till now, Percy hadn't even noticed the necklace, but now that he noticed it he saw that it had five little beads on it, each with its own little design on it. One had what looked like a green trident on it, and another had what looked like a Labyrinth on it. He almost forgot about the other kids, up until one of them grabbed at the necklace, and started to tug.
"Hey! Stop that!" yelled Percy swatting away the kid's hand as if it were just an annoying fly buzzing around. When he looked up, he looked straight into the face of the eldest kid. He looked really angry all of the sudden, and Percy got a little bit scared that he'd just asked this kid to kill him right then and there. Then Percy straightened up and looked right into the guys unwavering eyes.
One of the other kids pulled out a sword and started to walk toward Percy, when the eldest and obvious leader stuck his hand out in front of him and stopped him. "I got this." He said staring straight at Percy harshly. "You just made a big mistake boy." He said to Percy coldly.
Percy sized up the other kid, and figured he wasn't much older than him. Eighteen at most, but he did look stronger, and was a bit taller than Percy. "I'm not afraid of you." Said Percy, he knew it sounded lame, but it was the only thing he could think to say.
"Oh really?" he asked, pushing Percy to the ground. The rest of his group stood behind him staring down at Percy with cruel smiles. Percy got up quickly and pulled out his pen sword but didn't uncap it yet.
"Thor," said one of the girls from another group. "Stop it. Leave the new kid alone."
"Shut up Dakota. I got this," said Thor pulling out a golden sword. Thor was well armored, and confident. Percy however only had a pen to keep him safe. "What you gonna do?" Thor asked looking at Percy's uncapped pen. "Scribble me to death?"
"Thor, stop it." The girl said again, this time more sternly.
"Quiet Babe," Thor replied smugly. "Let Daddy do his work."
"Babe?" Dakota screamed. "I am not your Babe."
"Just leave him alone Dakota." Said another one of the girl's. "You'll never convince Thor of anything." Reluctantly Dakota turned and went back to her cabin mates.
"Now where were we?" Asked Thor turning back to Percy who stood ready with his pen out. "Oh yah, you were getting ready to scribble on me!"
"No," said Percy. "I was getting ready to fight you." Then, he pulled off his pen cap and took a fighting stance as his pen turned into a sword right before his eyes. Thor stared at it in awe as it changed from pen to sword in an instant. "Well," Percy said, "We gonna do this or not?"
Thor clenched his jaw and quickly went into an attack. Percy blocked all of his thrusts, jumping and twirling at the ones he couldn't block. Thor stayed on offense for a long time while Percy looked for an opening. Finally Thor drew back, panting and beginning to sweat and Percy took his chance. Percy swung at Thor's heavily armored chest so as not to hurt him. Thor blocked Percy's strike just in time then went back on the offensive. This went on for a long time while the other kids watched the battle expecting Percy to screw up at any seconds. He saw other kids placing bets while more kids showed up and watched the battle.
Thor's strokes were powerful and strong, but he was beginning to tire. He was getting slower and less powerful as the fight went on. At his next break Percy took permanent control. He started with a shot at Thor's legs that he quickly blocked, and then went high. As Thor blocked his shot Percy kicked him down to the ground. Thor tried to get up, but Percy put his boot on top of Thor's chest so that he couldn't get up. Then he stomped on Thor's sword hand so that he couldn't pick up his sword and attack again.
Thor lay there, shocked, looking up at Percy. He was defeated, and he knew it. Percy backed away, and Thor's face turned red with anger. As Percy turned to walk away Thor's little group came rushing toward them along with a few of the other onlookers.
"This isn't over!" Thor yelled after him. Percy turned to face him now sitting up on the ground. "You're gonna regret this!"
Percy just made his first enemy at this camp.
Two girls walked up to Percy who was sitting on the steps of the only place he felt safe.
Cabin three, the cabin of Neptune.
"Wow." One of them said, as they approached him. "That was like, really amazing."
"Yah," said the other one. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"
Percy looked up at them from where he sat, and had to squint because the sun shone so brightly. They both looked nearly identical. Each of them had flowing brown hair that fell nicely to their shoulders with little gold highlights in their hair. They also wore so much make-up on their cheeks, lips, and eyes that they looked like Barbie dolls, with their flowing red, sleeveless dresses, and designer boots.
They were both beautiful.
"I don't know." Percy said, answering the second girls question. "I don't know… anything." He continued.
"Oh, yeah," the first girl said, "we forgot."
"You forgot?" Percy said. "When did you ever know?"
"Everyone knows," replied the second girl. "You're the talk of the camp." She said as the other one nodded in agreement.
"How'd you find out?" Percy asked, a little upset that everyone knew that his brain was pretty much fried.
"Like I said," said the second girl, "you're the talk f the camp. I heard it from Sylvia, who heard it from Jennie, who heard it from Cassandra, who heard it from…"
"Okay. I don't need to know the names of everyone in camp." Percy cut in. The girl looked surprised by his reply, and he started to regret it. Why was he being so hostile to everyone? "Sorry," he said to the girl "I'm just a little… shaken up. How long have I been asleep?" He asked the girls.
"Three days, "the first girl answered instantaneously. "We found you on the Big Hill the three days ago just outside our camp. We weren't sure how you'd gotten here, or how you'd survived on your own this long. Most kids start coming here when they're two or three, but you came much later. You're lucky. I've got a good feeling about you though."
A third girl came by and joined the group. It was the same girl who'd tried to keep Thor from fighting him before. She didn't look the same as the other girls though. She had a sneakier look to her that made me want to keep my hands in my pocket so that she doesn't take anything from me.
"Um… You're Dakota right?" asked Percy as she joined in the group.
"Yes, and you are?"
"Percy, Percy Jackson, I am 17 years old and from New York City where I work at a Mighty Mart. Besides that however, I don't remember anything about my past so you now know as much as I do."
"You're 17?" asked Dakota obviously shocked.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well… most kids don't last past being 13 on their own, especially when they are a demigod." She answered still shocked. "And you don't remember anything from your past? Not even where you got that sword of yours?"
"No, I didn't even remember my name until Reyna pulled out my wallet and read it off of my license for me." At this, the others cracked a smile. "Speaking of which," he continued. "When I was looking through my wallet, I found a list of phone numbers. Do any of you have a cell I could borrow so that maybe I could find some answers about my past?" Their smiles faded when he said this, and Dakota looked like she'd just seen a ghost.
"We don't have cell phones here Percy. They attract monsters and put us all in danger." Dakota replied.
"Oh… Sorry." Percy said a little disappointed. How was he ever going to figure his stuff out if he didn't even have a cell phone? Percy sat there in silence thinking about this when one of the first two girls asked him to follow them so that they could finish the tour that Reyna never finished.
"Reyna's been a bit… edgy since Jason left," said the first girl after they walked around a little bit.
"Whose Jason?" asked Percy when the girls said that.
"Jason is another one of our friends," said Dakota after a small silence. "Although, Reyna's had her eye on him since he defeated Krios in the Titan war and saved her from a Cyclops who was getting ready to cook her up. Jason made it obvious that he wasn't interested though, but I think that's just because he thought she only liked him because he saved her life."
"Oh ok. She kind of snapped at me when I brought it up. I guess that makes sense though." Percy wondered if anyone out there was that upset about his disappearance. Suddenly, he felt kind of jealous of this Jason guy.
"So," began one of the other girls, "did you find any more info in your wallet?"
"Hazel! Don't ask him something so… personal. What's in his wallet is his business!" said the other girl.
"Shut up Gwendolyn, he doesn't care!" Hazel replied. "Do you care Percy?"
"Excuse them," said Dakota puling Percy away. "They're daughters of Venus, the goddess of…"
"Love," Percy finished. "I know, like Aphrodite."
"Uh… yeah, Aphrodite, right. That's the Greek name though. We don't use those names though. We only use the Roman names. Lupa doesn't… approve of us saying the Greek names."
"Reyna was the same way," Percy said remembering how he stormed off after calling the Titans Saturn and Cybele, Kronos and Rhea. "What's the big deal with that anyway? Reyna said something about the Gods moving out of Greece and that Era being over. Then I said that they left Rome to, and she stormed off." Dakota cracked a smile again and even laughed a little bit.
"You're funny," She said then turned and began walking again. Percy followed.
"So… who's your god parent then?" Percy asked to continue the conversation.
"I am the daughter of Mercury," She said. "Hermes is the Greek name." She whispered afterward with a wink. Percy grinned when she said this.
"Yah," he replied, "I know."
They stood there and held each other's gaze for a while until Percy looked away awkwardly and cleared his throat. "So… um… the tour … we should continue the tour."
"Yah… right," Dakota said looking away. "So, this is the campfire grounds. We'll be here later tonight to sing some songs like we do every Tuesday and Thursday. Hopefully you'll be claimed there. Then we'll know what cabin to put you in for tomorrow."
"What's tomorrow?" asked Percy.
"Tomorrow is the gladiator games. Each cabin sends two or three champions to the ring to fight the other cabins champions."
"What? They just fight each other?"
"Yah, Don't worry though. Whatever cabin you are in probably won't put you into the games. You still haven't trained even though you obviously don't need to."
"Yah, I don't know how, but I just… knew. Kind of like how I knew the names of all the Greek gods. It's just… there."
"Wow. Do you think other things will come to you like that?"
"I don't know. It might help if I knew where I was. If I could get back to New York I'm sure I could find some answers."
"Well, if it helps, you are in Camp Augustus, in San Francisco, California."
"Well… it's not New York, but at least I know where I am now." Percy said a little disappointed, although he felt like that may not be such a bad thing.
"Well, I'm sure we can figure something out." Dakota said reassuringly.
"Maybe, if I could get out of camp then I'd be able to get over there somehow."
"I don't think that is gonna happen," Dakota replied. "Lupa's really strict about this, and unless you go on a mission, or have permission to leave. Then you aren't getting' back in." Percy pondered this for a while. "Tell you what," Dakota began again, "how about you wait till the campfire, before you do anything to rash."
"Okay," Percy agreed, "I'll do that."
Please rate without holding anything back. Please point out what you liked and didn't like as well as this is my first Fan fic, and I would love to see what the general public thinks of my writing. This is NOT the actual first chapter of this book however, only my idea of what it will be. Thank you, and enjoy.
