I didn't want to be a Hero. No, I don't mean a Hero figuratively. I mean it literally. Like a Hero who wears a cape, tights, a mask, saves people, the usual. Yup, that's me. You're welcome, by the way. It's hard work. It's dangerous work. It's work that gets you killed in the worst possible ways.
I'm still alive though, no thanks to the Super Heroes. Super Heroes are the Heroes who are immortal, the best of the best, the most known, and in my opinion, the laziest. They have their offspring, the Heroes, do all of the heavy lifting, then they swoop in towards the end of a battle and take all the credit.
It's hard, being a Hero. Usually, your mortal parent is dead or crazy. Your other parent doesn't acknowledge you unless it's for the paparazzi or they need you to do something for them, and they have a million other kids. You have siblings that you don't know about. Villains have monsters made specifically to hunt you down. If the monsters catch you, the Villain drain your powers, effectively killing you or taking away the only thing that kept you safe for so long. While Super Heroes chillax on their thrones, up high and safe, we're left to do all of the work, and we never get much credit. Like I've said before, it is not a fun life. The powers may seem all happy and nice, but you could get yourself killed with them if you aren't properly trained. And man, the tights are not comfortable. Not one bit. The masks that we are forced to wear while in public, they are too tight, and more often than not, they obscured vision. The capes got in the way. The outfits were itchy.
I know exactly what you're thinking right now. 'My God, this boy complains about everything!' And yes, I do. Annabeth yells at me for that. I tend to get carried away with one topic; it's the ADHD in me.
All of the Heroes have ADHD. It's really helpful in battle. A regular person would be defeated pretty easily, but we have quicker reflexes. Some of us have awesome powers. Some of us make our own powers, like Annabeth.
Annabeth is my favorite girl in Camp. Don't ever tell anyone that I said that. I would never hear the end of it. Annabeth is my kick-butt sidekick. Well, she's not actually my sidekick, there are no such things. We just partner up, and after Annabeth's partner, Luke Castellan, turned to a Villain, she chose me. Being her second choice stung, but hey, it's not my fault that he met her first.
Back to Annabeth. She is stunning. I would've sworn that her mother was Aphrodite, the Super Hero who hypnotized her enemies with her beauty, if I hadn't seen her fight. Scary was an understatement in describing Annabeth. Her grey eyes were cold and calculating, like she was making good use of her ADHD by thinking quickly, in a million places at one time, unlike me, who put my ADHD to use by doodling on my paper when I'm supposed to be paying attention in class.
When she fought, she was fierce and showed no mercy. She was the best fighter in all of Camp, with any weapon that you could choose. Seriously, pick a weapon from anywhere, any time period, even if there is only one in existence. She could use it against you, left or right handed, blindfolded. She was that impressive. Being her partner made me feel safe, we trusted each other completely. She had taken a knife for me; I had taken a bullet for her. I know what you might be thinking. 'They'd make such a cute couple!' I think so, too, but we aren't allowed to date our partners. Also, I don't think Annabeth has a crush on me.
Her Hero name is Owl. Our Super Hero parents pick our Hero names. They aren't nice about it, either. They make us sound juvenile and dorky, in my opinion. My name is Hurricane. It sounded like a sumo wrestler's name. I hated it, but it was better than Annabeth's suggested name for me, Seaweed Brain.
Annabeth has cooler powers than I do, and she doesn't even have powers. She made a chip full of internet data and files from a bunch of secret places that she hacked onto. Do you know what she did with the chip? To protect it, she hid it somewhere no one would look. It's implanted in her brain so she can search whatever she wants with just a thought. She was smart before, but now, she is literally a human dictionary.
She made her own costume, too. It was hot. I mean cool. It was cool. Retractable weapons and wings that folded back into her suit when she commanded them to. It was made of steel feathers, they were light, but a bullet would bounce off of it easily.
I suppose I should tell you about all my other friends before I go on with the story.
Grover Underwood. Every partnership had a Third. A Third was an extra, really. They watched over you and kept you out of trouble. They knew a lot about nature and missions and stuff like that, but they weren't actual Heroes, because their parents were Thirds, not Heroes or Super Heroes. He organized a lot of things for us, and he was closer to the boss than we were which meant that he had power over us. He had light brown hair and freckles.
Thalia Grace. I usually avoid her at all costs, but she and Annabeth were best friends, so it was hard. She wears heavy black makeup to match her clothes. It brought out her electric blue eyes. They called her Lightning. Her powers were being able to summon lightning; it's basically in the name. She is a good fighter, with a bow and an electrified spear. Thalia is the daughter of Zeus, one of the Big Three Super Heroes, like my dad. She had a silver outfit, and when she turned the right way, you could see mini lightning bolts zip across her costume. It looked pretty awesome.
Clarisse LaRue. She wasn't my friend; she used to bully me when I first came here, now she competes with me for everything. She's bad news. Big and burly, with a spear and a sword. Daughter of Ares. Tough as nails. She scares everyone. Clarisse has dark hair and wears blood red as her disguise. She doesn't have any powers besides super strength. They call her the Boar. A horrible name, but her mask is designed that way, in honor of her father's patron animal. That's what I meant by the stupid Hero names. The Boar, really? Clarisse has never been friendly with me, but I feel bad for her. Sometimes, the news and magazine articles get her name wrong, and spell b-o-a-r as b-o-r-e, which is a slight difference.
The Stoll brothers are next on my list of important Camp Half Blood Training Facility members. Identical twins, sharing the same mops of untamable brown hair. They can control inanimate objects with the power of their minds, they have super speed, and even though it isn't a power, they have a knack for getting into trouble. Always keep your hand on your wallet with these guys around, that's all I'm saying. Since they never left each other's sides, they have matching names. The Dynamic Duo. They also like to be known as Dunkin Donuts and Double D. They wear matching costumes sporting two D's for their name.
While Annabeth took the prize for best fighter, Nico di Angelo took the prize for the most powerful Hero that I have ever known. He scares everybody, and I don't blame them for being scared. They should be. I'm scared of the kid. Nico is what we like to call a Rogue. That's technical terms for a Hero who knows about or Camp, but refuses to join it. Rogues are, in a way, more dangerous than Villains. At least we know that Villains are bad, but with Rogues, you never know. They could be working against you, ready to stab you in the back. I don't think that's the case with Nico, although Annabeth seems to disagree. Nico has stayed at Camp before, when he was younger. I went off on a quest with his sister, Bianca, and he made me promise to keep her safe. She died on the quest, and Nico has blamed me ever since. He ran away from camp, only to get trapped in Tartarus, a torture facility deep in the underground of the Villain's lair. No one has made it out alive, except for Nico. Ever since, his tan skin turned pale, his eyes looked hollow and empty, and he barely ate anything. I'm worried for the kid; I haven't seen him in so long. The last time I saw him, he told me to die. He was at least a foot shorter than me, which was a year ago. Nico is fifteen now. His dad is Hades; his powers include summoning the dead, killing someone with just a look, and teleporting.
Piper McLean is, by far, the most badass daughter of Aphrodite in all of existence. She can convince anyone to do anything she wants with just a few words, sometimes even a bat of her eyelashes. She's beautiful, but not my type. My type is tall blondes with grey eyes who are super smart. She has rainbow eyes and tan skin from a Cherokee background. Her title is Beauty Queen, and has become a sort of nickname used by her partner, Leo Valdez. I'll get to him in a bit, don't worry. Piper wears a tight, pink bodysuit. Not the kind of pink that looks girly, it's the dangerous kind of pink, if you could imagine that. Her mask is designed so that it shows off her stunning features without giving her identity away. Piper is forced to wear heeled, thigh high boots, as all daughters of Aphrodite must wear. She fights with the blade Katroptris, which lets her see small glimpses into the future.
What can I say about Leo Valdez? He's definitely… different. We fight sometimes, there seems to always be a misunderstanding between us. Maybe because of the whole fire against water thing? I know that there isn't a thing called advanced ADHD, but if there were such a thing, he would have that. He doesn't stop moving, even when he sleeps, he sleepwalks. It's that bad. Even with the robotic leg, the small Latino doesn't pause for anyone. On a few occasions, he cartwheels into the training room. Leo lost his leg in the same fire that killed his mom. It wasn't the fire that hurt him; it was a board that shook loose from the housing, falling on top of him. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention a small detail. Leo is immune to fire. He can control fire, too, and tinker like it's no one's business. After he got his leg amputated, he requested to make his own leg, and the medics allowed it. He had more modifications on that thing and his armor than Annabeth has ever made, which is saying something. His dad is Hephaestus. His name is Flame. His outfit is all metal, with many modifications, like Annabeth's suit on steroids. He has a magical tool belt that he constantly wears. It is infinitely big inside, and he can pull out whatever he wants from it.
Drew Tanaka, Popular Girl. Yup, that was actually her name. She was gorgeous, but cruel. Her charm speak didn't compare to Piper's, but it was good enough to get by. She has a lipstick tube that turns into a sword. Sometimes I wonder what happens when she uses the wrong lipstick. Her outfit is a pink bikini, with the thigh high boots that all Aphrodite kids wore.
There are a bunch of other Heroes to name, but I'm not going to waste your time with introductions. We can all hold our own in a fight, and that is all you need to know. I bet you are itching to hear our story. When you mix such interesting people in interesting environments, things tend to go wrong. Traitors are made, people die, life goes on.
The end of the world started when I swung a blade through a girl, on accident, of course, and it didn't kill her. The girl would turn out to be the Greeks worst enemy, but my greatest friend. Buckle up your seat belts, guys, because boy, do I have a story to tell.
((Author's note: Okay, so I am really anxious about this piece. I don't know if I should continue it or not, if it's any good, etc. Please help! Review if you enjoyed it?))