AN: Hey guys! I haven't updated anything for at least a year now (oopsies) and I feel particularly bad, so... Here you are! Another Percy Jackson fanfiction which unfortunately does not have Annabeth in it, but there is a new character, and I hope you all like her. This takes place after the Gaia war, somehow, and please excuse any mistakes in the plot. Hope you enjoy it! Also, constructive criticism is welcome!
PROLOGUE
The wind swept another leaf off the brick sidewalk, and it flew a few meters before landing on the middle of the road. There was a thin layer of frost on the window panes of the shops along the walkway, but none of them were open.
The girl did not falter in her stroll. A car passed by, then another. She wore a leisure hoodie and simple jeans, but if you went closer, you'd be able to detect a strong aura coming off her. She had her hands in her pockets, and was looking ahead.
She stopped, facing a brick building that looked like an apartment block. For a few seconds she stood there, but then all of a sudden she started walking again, into the wind and sleet.
A storm was brewing.
Laina fingered a stray lock of hair, and stabbed at her roast chicken. Beside her, Thalia was going on about the stupid boar again. The huntress' tone was angry and full of contempt.
During the summer, Laina and Thalia had led a group of twenty hunters toward the north to seek out the Mangodorian bull, but were intercepted by an angry wind spirit who wouldn't let them pass because demigods weren't allowed in that region. Before Thalia could hit the pesky spirit with her sheath of arrows, he'd sent them on their way, apologizing none too sincerely.
Laina wasn't too angry, though. She'd already known the bull would not be easy to find. Or get to, to be exact. Here she sat now, amongst a huge number of noisy demigods, in the white pavilion at lunch. But her mind did not happen to be worrying about bulls or cows or anything of the sort.
It happened to be wrapped relentlessly around Perseus Jackson.
Every start of a new summer, Laina would get all tensed and worried that Percy wouldn't come back, because he was constantly, and mercilessly being hunted down by monsters from all around. But she managed to remind herself repeatedly that Percy had dealt with much worse than monsters. He'd stopped the Titan Kronos from taking over Olympus and destroying the world, so why on earth was she so bloody worried about him?
She just was.
Deciding that she could eat no more, she murmured a goodbye to Thalia and left the table. The younger (well, older, but that's a long story) girl was already used to these instances when Laina started worrying, so she didn't really seem bothered. The other girls looked up knowingly, and there were murmurs of 'he'll be here soon' and 'don't worry'.
Laina sighed as she left the pavilion. The cabins had not moved or changed since the last great battle, but there were actually more of them. The new cabins were dedicated to the minor gods and goddesses, and were starting to accommodate demigods who'd never, in the past, had a place in Camp Half-Blood. The lake was sparkling blue, and a couple of Aphrodite girls were splashing in it, watched on by a couple of lovestruck satyrs. As usual.
The arena was empty except for a few nymphs sitting along the edge, ocassionally sprouting small shoots from the ground beneath their hands. If anybody visited the Camp, they'd be freaking fascinated by every living thing and non-living thing in it, but for Laina, none of this was thrilling, or interesting in the least. She'd been here for almost a decade now, training her butt off so she wouldn't die if she encountered any nasties in the mortal world.
Laina edged closer to the Pine Tree, which was the source of protection for the camp. There was not a single monster in sight- it was almost all too quiet. She kind of missed having to stab at different stinking creatures every few seconds.
The gemstone in her pocket was now in her right hand. She threw it a foot in the air. As if the light was bending, the gemstone rippled, catching the delicate rays from the hottest planet in the universe, and sent off a million light bursts. It elongated into a silver blade, and Laina grabbed it by the handle, as if she'd done it a thousand times before. She probably had. She flipped it again and again, poring over the details of Eriskine. It was a beautiful blade, the more she looked at it, a silver weapon that was a little under a meter. It could be turned into a silver gemstone at the user's will. The name was engraved on the hilt, and whenever she touched the markings, she was reminded that her mother, Artemis, was still watching over her.
A rush of water reached her ears, and she looked up sharply. Nothing had moved. Another rush of water, greater this time, came from somewhere nearby. She looked around, not finding the source at all.
Her question was answered in a few seconds. She could see a small figure in the far distance, running steadily toward camp, with a huge wave behind him. And a few yards behind the figure was an array of enraged monsters. There was even a dracaenae (a vampire woman) amongst them, with flying green hair and a menacing spear that gleamed as if it could not wait to be stabbed into an unfortunate demigod.
She didn't need to squint to make out who it was. Arrivals at camp didn't usually include a patrol of monsters and a huge tidal wave. It was often the children of the Big Three who could attract such a gathering of monsters, all brandishing their weapons and their broken furniture (don't ask). And she only knew five demigods with that ability, and two of them were in the pavilion, one was in the Underworld with his dad, Hades, and one of them was in Camp Jupiter, a Roman and stricter version of Camp Half-Blood. So that left...
Percy Jackson turned around, and drove his sword right through the chest of the vampire before leaping into the boundaries of the camp and raising a hand to stop the wave. The water ebbed away instantly, like it was never there. It left the ground quite dry.
Laina hurried over to the rugged boy, who was catching his breath. He turned around at the sound of her footsteps and a smile appeared as he pulled her in a hug.
"I thought you were having trouble with... You know." She murmured. His hair smelled like freshly baked cookies and the sea.
He chuckled, pulling away and looking at her. "You're okay, right? I heard from Mr D that-"
She cleared her throat, her gaze angry now. "You what? Perseus Jackson, you Iris-Messaged Dionysus, a god whom you've albeit-less-than-hated for five years and not any of your friends?" She looked at him sternly.
He looked sheepish, and put a hand in his hair, ruffling it. Laina's anger wavered for just a second. "Well, Chiron told me not to contact any of you. He said the monsters outside the barrier now have a much stronger GPS for any demigods I'm in contact with. Rachel helped me get past a few, though."
Laina sighed, "I've heard. Well- they're having lunch now. You'd better get some food." She smiled slightly. Percy always became hungry after some monster-hunting. He nodded, but she could see that he looked weary and slightly worried now.