Hi. My name is Alyssa. Alyssa Jackson to be precise. I'm sure all of you have heard the story of my friends Jason Grace, Piper McLean, Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson, Annabeth chase and etc. but I am here to tell you the FULL story.
However I would like to start off with telling you a little about myself...
First off my full name is Alyssa Grace Jackson. I am now 16 and I have dark brown, kind of wavy hair. I also have greenish blue eyes. I started coming to Camp Half Blood when I was twelve and I was adopted by Sally Jackson when I was thirteen. That is why my last name is Jackson...
My childhood best friend is Leo Valdez. We have known each other since we were five. After our moms got killed in a fire, we stayed together no matter what. No matter how many orphan homes and schools we had to change, we always had each other... We were shuffled around all over the place and then one day when we were twelve, there was this man...maybe in his forties...possibly older...who came and took me away, against my will. He told me it was "for my own good" whatever that meant I wasn't sure... He let me say goodbye to Leo and gather my things. Leo gave me a nut from the first successful thing we had ever built together and said, "Something to remember me by. Please don't forget about me." He playfully punched me in the arm and I knew he was trying to stay cool and calm. I took the nut from his hands, hugged him tight and said, "I will NEVER forget you Leo..." I was trying with all my strength not to cry and I left, but as soon as I got away from him, I let the tears fall...
It was a rather long and tiring, but finally we arrived at this camp...the sign read: 'CAMP HALF BLOOD'. The look of the camp with all its beautiful architecture, and the gigantic lake made me feel jittery and excited despite the fact that I am seriously ADHD...
I found out that the man, who I had been traveling with, wasn't actually a man at all. From his torso down was a horse's body and his name was Chiron. Next I met a grumpy fellow with a potbelly, Mr. D or Dionysus, which I figured out rather quickly...I was an A+ student in mythology even if I didn't ever make it through the whole school year...
They put me in the Hermes cabin since I hadn't been claimed yet. The Hermes kids seemed disappointed that I wasn't one of their own, but they still were very kind.
I put the only possessions I had on the floor, where my pallet would be and I immediately started fiddling with some random pieces I found around the cabin. I jimmy rigged a transporting zip-line that went all over the cabin. They could now transport items with ease. Nobody seemed to care, but it felt good to be doing something familiar...and looking out the window at the glistening lake gave me the urge to go jump in the lake...sorry for being random...anyway...
A little later the blond headed leader of the Hermes cabin brought in a dark haired, scrawny kid, who I paid little attention to until he came over and plopped down on the floor next to me. We got to talking, I found out his name was Percy, and we became pretty good friends. Later I met a pretty, blond girl named Annabeth...she kept calling Percy 'Seaweed brain', but I liked her.
As time went on everyone was absolutely positive I was a Hephaestus kid. I had all sorts of characteristics and skills that matched the description...boy were they surprised when Percy and I were claimed by Poseidon. In time they learned that I was more like Poseidon than Hephaestus, so it made sense that I was claimed by Poseidon...sort of...they still didn't know why I had Hephaestus skills and characteristics when I wasn't his child...we still don't know.
I had a lot of adventures over the course of those first 3-4 years at camp, and I made some really good friends as well...Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Nico, and Rachel.
*Morning Bell* "Ugh...just ten more minutes..." I said groggily, "oh...fine..." I got out of bed, brushed my hair and threw on my army jacket. Out of everything in my entire closet, my army jacket and my Converse high-tops were my favorite.
I headed over for breakfast and when I was done, I started my daily routine...Well, the daily routine that started three months ago. You see...three months ago my brother, Percy... just disappeared. None of us know what happened to him and we have looking for him ever since.
Annabeth and I are the ones who have been putting in the most search time every day because...while he is important to everyone, he is the most important to us...but anyway...you don't want to hear me go on and on about that...
Considering Annabeth was nowhere to be seen that morning, I assumed she went out searching for Percy again.
A couple hours later while I was fixing a broken chariot, I heard a CRASH! SPLASH! I ran to the lake and found Annabeth, Butch, a broken chariot, two pegasi, and three rough looking kids, who I assumed were new campers.
"Annabeth! Butch! Are you guys okay?!" I yelled. "Yeah, we're fine," Annabeth groaned.
I then saw a curly haired, kind of crazy yet mischievous looking kid...I instantly knew him as Leo.
"Leo?! Is that really you?" His head shot up at the same of his name. He looked at me and said, "Aly? Aly!" He gave me a big hug and I blushed a little bit because I was thinking to myself, "Whoa...look at Leo...he's kind of cute...he has changed a lot in four years...and yet he hasn't changed at all because he's still a hyper, mischievous, little goofball...I'm so glad to see him again!"
"Oh, Leo I missed you so much!" I said. He squeezed me as hard as he could and said,"I missed you too, Aly." Then he messed up my hair like he used to..."Yep still the same old Leo..." I thought to myself and punched him in the arm. "So...this is where you ended up..." Leo said. "Um...yeah," I said nervously, "I think you are really going to like it here. This place is amazing! And you're certainly never bored!" I smiled and asked the other two kids, "So, what are your names?" "Piper, and this is Jason," a girl with choppy hair said. She was pretty and I could tell she was the girlfriend of the blonde surfer dude.
"Well...why don't I show you around the camp and get you settled into a cabin?" Piper and Jason just stared at me...or so I thought...I turn around and see a hammer hovering over Leo's head. "What?" He asks. "You're a child of..." "Vulcan." "...Hephaestus" Jason and I said the god's name at the same time, but I was wondering why he called Hephaestus by his Roman form... Leo said, "Seriously?! I don't even like Star Trek!" "Leo...you are a child of Hephaestus...the god of blacksmiths, metals, fire, etc." I explained. "Oh...okay..." he said embarrassed. "Well...I now know which cabin to put you in. Let's go shall we?" I then showed them around the camp and where they were staying.
After I showed them around the camp I took them to the Hermes cabin. "Well, Jason, Piper, this is where you will be staying until you are claimed by your godly parent." I said. I then found them a couple bunks in the cabin. "Clover!" I yelled. "Wh-what?!" He jumped up and hit his head on his bed. "Ow..." "Clover, here are some new campers. I have one more to deal with so make sure they get to the dining hall at dinner time." I said to the sleepy eyed boy who just nodded drowsily. "See you guys later. Come on Leo."
After walking in awkward silence for about ten minutes, we got to the Hephaestus cabin. "So here it is." I said gesturing towards a rough looking metal cabin. "Get yourself settled in and I'll see you at 7:00pm for dinner." "Okay...what am I supposed to do till 7:00pm?" He asked sounding a little uncomfortable about the idea of being left alone with a group of strangers.
"Just...introduce yourself to the other kids...look around the cabin. There are tools and supplies...I'm sure you'll find something. I have work to do, but I'll see you later." I told him reassuringly. I waved and started heading to my workshop...I needed to finish fixing that chariot and I needed to fix the one from the lake...
*2 hours later*
*Dinner bell*
"Well, time to head over for dinner. I think I'll have something a little different tonight." I say wiping my dirty hands on my rag. I set the rag on the table, take my tool belt off, wash my hands and head over for dinner.
On my way to the dining hall I ran into someone I wouldn't have thought I'd run into. "Oops, I'm sorry I didn't mean to hit you...Nico!" I said surprised but so glad to see him. "Hey Aly! It's good to see you again." He says giving me a big hug. "What are you doing here?" I ask. "I needed to get a couple of things and I thought I'd hang around for a while. Is that okay?" He asks me. "Are you kidding me?! Of course it's okay! Man, this has been the best day ever! My childhood best friend, who I haven't seen in 4 years, shows up at camp today. And now you are here! The only thing that would make today better is if Percy showed up before the night was over." I said very enthusiastically. "Can I meet this friend of yours?" Nico asks me hopefully. "Sure!"
On that note we happily headed over to the dining hall together.
When we finally arrived at the dining hall, all of my friends were already saving me a seat. Leo saw me and smiled but he must have seen Nico because his smile melted away. He looked hurt.
"Hey guys! Leo, Jason, Piper, I would like you to meet Nico. He was my best friend here at camp, other than Percy." I said sitting down next to Leo and Nico sat next to me. "What are you going to have, Leo?" I asked. "I don't know...I don't really feel hungry anymore." He said and he sounded hurt. "Leo, I know you're hungry...just eat. You are my BEST friend in the entire world, Nico is my second best friend and Percy is my brother, but you will always be VERY special to me!" I whispered in his ear. I could tell he was getting hotter because I could feel the heat coming off of him like a heater...and to top it all off he now, was not only scarfing down an enchilada but had a stupid grin on his face. I decided to ignore it and started eating my chicken gnocchi soup. After I ate a bowl of soup I had an enchilada and Leo challenged me to an eating contest. "Hey Alyssa, I bet you can't eat 5 of these bad boys in 5 minutes." He said pointing to a plate of enchiladas. "I bet I could do better than you, Leo Valdez." I said challenging him.
"Challenge accepted, Miss Greece Monkey." He said wittily, "did you see what I did there, Aly?" "Yes, I see what you did, Leo...and you know not to call me that!" I said a little disgusted.
We then set a stopwatch for five minutes... "And time!" Nico shouted.
I raised my hands in triumph, swallowed and then yelled, "Yes! ...it's okay Leo..." I said patting his back.
"I always knew you were a bottomless pit, Aly..." He said running out of the dining hall. "Leo Valdez! You come back here!" I said as I shot out of the dining hall after him.
Later we all went to the nightly campfire, ate s'mores and listened to the Apollo kids play.
*an hour later*
"Well...we should all go hit the hay. Busy day tomorrow." I said stretching, Leo just had to poke my stomach...
"Yeah...I'm feeling kind of tired." Piper said, "...goodnight." Piper and Jason headed over to the Hermes cabin. "Okay...Leo, Nico, goodnight." I said giving them each a hug and then headed to my lonely cabin.
When I got to my cabin I put on pajamas and brushed my teeth then climbed into Percy's nice cool bed.
I let out a sigh, "Here we are again...in the lonely cabin...that smells like my brother...I miss him so much." I started to cry and slowly cried myself to sleep.
The next few weeks were pretty normal, but I'll tell you about a couple of the week's highlights.
First thing, Piper was claimed by Aphrodite and moved into the Aphrodite cabin...she was the first Aphrodite kid to stand up to Drew. I am so glad someone finally stood up for everyone in the cabin.
Second, Jason was claimed by Zeus and moved into the Zeus cabin...we haven't had any Zeus kids since Thalia joined the hunters of Artemis...so it was interesting.
Third, Leo and I found a bunker hidden in the woods. We figured out how to open it and we found all sorts of stuff in there...including a metal dragon which we worked on for the next week until we got him to work. Leo named him Festus and we both grew extremely attached to Festus even though he was a machine.
Last but certainly not least, Nico stayed at the camp for a couple weeks and we had a lot of fun laughing, talking, he played capture the flag with us and it was just great to have him around. Leo got to know him and they get along really well...I'm so glad they don't hate each other.
Anyway...that's pretty much everything. Like I said it was pretty normal and not too exciting. Now we are just working on getting ready to leave on a quest...this is the first one without Percy...but the first one with Leo...maybe we will find my brother...
Well...I haven't written in my journal for a while now but let me sum up as much as I can remember about the quest...
...um...let's see...oh! We went to Boreas' palace and Leo almost got turned into a Leosicle by Khione because he was flirting with her. She might be pretty but she is not that nice...
...um...we also crashed into Midas' mansion...Leo, Piper and I got turned to gold...Jason saved us and Festus was...destroyed...all thanks to Khione...that was the worst thing that happened...
...everything else is a blur...it's been a rough trip...right now Leo and I are building a ship to take us to the Roman camp in California...we should be leaving again soon.
Sincerely,
Aly '-' xoxo
We were almost at the Roman camp and...Annabeth was a nervous wreck...she was pacing back and forth on the Argo II's deck. I swear she was going to wear a hole in it.
"Annabeth, it's going to be fine. The ballistae is locked down securely, the white peace flag is up, everything will be fine. I even got Hedge to go under deck." I said trying to calm her down. She just ignored me and kept pacing. We had tried to give the Romans a heads-up about us coming...whether or not they got the message...I don't know. Annabeth vetoed Leo's idea of painting WASSUP? and a smiley face on the bottom of the hull...
Leo and I completely decked out the ship...it had gauges, wrestling levers, keyboard, monitor, aviation controls from a Learjet, a dubstep soundboard, and motion-control sensors from a Nintendo Wii. We could turn the ship by pulling on the throttle, fire weapons by sampling an album or my personal favorite, raise sails by shaking the Wii controllers really fast. I love all the stuff we came up with together but everyone on the ship thought that even by Demi-god standards, we were seriously ADHD...,you know that's fine...I embrace my ADHD.
It wasn't just Annabeth who was nervous, Piper kept repeating her lines over and over again to herself...the words made me want to stop everything I was doing and talk to her...
Then there was Jason who stood at the bow on a raised platform. He looked calm for a guy making himself a target and he had made himself look like a Roman praetor.
We finally got to a place where we could land the Argo II but before we could land it we heard a BOOM!
Annabeth and I turned around and found ourselves face to face with an angry statue...he wasn't that scary however. He was yelling about how he wouldn't have weapons inside the Pomerian Line and how he certainly wouldn't have Greeks. Jason tried to talk to him and so did Piper but...Terminus cut them off. He then called the Argo II a flying monstrosity and Leo said, "Hold up. Did you just call my ship a flying monstrosity? I know you didn't do that."
Anyway there was this whole argument with an armless, legless statue and then later we were attacked by the Romans because Leo had fired the ballistae on them. However it wasn't really Leo's fault...which I will explain later...
We found Percy! Annabeth kissed him then Judo flipped him...I ran up and hugged him, trying desperately not to cry...
A lot of excitement...as we were leaving I introduced myself to these two Roman campers who were coming with us.
"The names Alyssa, Alyssa Jackson." I said. "Hazel Levesque," a dark skinned girl with really curly hair said.
"Frank Zhang," a gentle yet scary looking boy said. I decided there was nothing to be scared of...he was big but a pussy cat.
I took them to their rooms below the deck and then talked with Leo.
"What happened, Leo? You would never do something like that." I asked very concerned. Leo slumped against the mast. I could tell he was thinking about the fact that his ship was now a big mess. He choked back a sob and said, "I don't know. It's fuzzy..." "You don't remember?" I asked him.
"I...I remember, but it was like I was watching myself do things...I wasn't in control of what I was doing..." he answered, it made me ask myself questions...all the gears in my head were turning trying to figure out what happened. I tried to calm Leo down, I rubbed his back and said, "We'll figure it out Leo but I don't believe for one second that you did anything." I hugged him and went to check on some things below deck.
After leaving California we headed for Utah. We needed to get some tar, lime and celestial bronze to fix the Argo II. When we got to Utah we landed in the Great Salt Lake.
Since we needed three things we broke into two groups. Percy, Frank and Annabeth went and got the tar. Leo, Hazel and I went and got the lime and celestial bronze because they were in the same place...on an island.
Once we got to the island we found line extremely easy because the sand was the lime. We ran into Echo which I really liked...I've met her before and she's really sweet...however we also ran into Nemesis and Narcissus.
Nemesis...I've never liked her. She gave Leo a fortune cookie that he could use when he ran into a problem he didn't know the answer to...but it would come with a price.
Leo was teasing Echo and I told him to knock it off...then...we ran into Narcissus...
The bad part was that our piece of celestial bronze, Narcissus was using as a mirror in the river...
Leo came up with this good plan to distract Narcissus. He put on a pair of welding goggles for sunglasses, some machine oil to grease back his hair, rolled up his sleeves, and used a marker to write HOT STUFF and a skull and crossbones on his biceps...he just kept insulting Narcissus and got all these nymphs to join his team...TEAM LEO...we got the celestial bronze and headed back to the ship...
We got back to the ship and Percy, Frank and Annabeth returned with the tar...they were covered in tar.
"We ran into some tar monsters," Percy said.
Leo and I did the minor repairs just so we could get out of the lake and to Atlanta Georgia.
Once we got to Atlanta Leo and I started repairing the ship.
After we had worked on it for a while, Leo asked, "Aly, can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure," I said wiping my dirty hands on my rag. I walked over to Leo and he let out a sigh...
"Okay...um...Aly...I-I don't really know how to say this, but...I-um...I...I love you. You've always been my best friend and when I saw you again at Camp Half Blood...I just didn't know what to say. My heart started racing at like 100 miles an hour and-and...You're just amazing," he said nervously.
He looked down at the ground and fiddled with a gear in his hands. I tilted his head up, looked him in the eyes and said, "I love you too, Leo. You took my breath away when I saw you again and...You are SO special to me. I don't know what I would do without you. That's why I get jealous sometimes...because I'm scared of the right person taking you away from me...after all we've been through together, but I will always love you." I hugged him and then when I went to let go...he didn't...when he did let go...he did something I didn't expect...leaned in and kissed me...
At that moment...I didn't care what anyone thought or if the world came to an end...at that moment, my world was perfect...
THE END