Here it is, the sequel to Everything A Child of Hermes Needs to Know! You do not really have to have read EACHNTK. (God that's still long!)
You do not need to have read the above said story to read this.
I do not own PJO.
Mucho thanks to WeDidItForTheDead for betaing this!
Enjoy!
Travis POV
"Travis, dude," Connor began to speak, "I love our jobs on Olympus, but I do believe I love Camp even more."
"Oh please," I responded. "The only reason you like camp is because all the nymphs, minor goddesses, dryads, and naiads on Olympus have no interest in you." I looked to where Connor was looking; he gazed at some of the newer Aphrodite girls, whom didn't know him and his reputation yet. You could practically see the drool dripping out of his mouth.
"True, but the only reason you like camp," Connor said turning towards me, "is because darling Katie's here."
It was true that Katie being here was a major factor on why Camp was my favorite place in the world, but I wasn't going to let my brother have the satisfaction of being right, because what kind of brother would I be then?
"No," I said slowly, "I come here to see Percy and Annabeth too; those two lovebirds are also a major part of why I'm here! Katie is not the only reason."
Connor smirked at me with a knowing glance on his face before nodding to behind me, "Hey Katie."
I whirled around expecting to find a pissed off girlfriend behind me and instead found…air?
"Connor, you jerk!"
"Made you look!" He said, his trademark son of Hermes grin spreading across his face. I jokingly punched him in the shoulder.
I began to walk down the hill, "So why do you think Dad gave us three weeks off, especially with the office being overloaded with things to do?"
"Because he was hoping," Connor spoke as he was about to reveal a big secret, "that you would get the guts and propose to Ms. Katie Gardiner."
I stopped dead in my tracks, I could feel my face turning a scarlet red, and turned to face my brother who was lagging slightly behind me, "You're not serious right? I mean we've only been dating for like a year and a half!"
"Pshaw," Connor said, waving his hand in my face, poking me in the eye.
"Ow!" I cried out of irritation. Of course, being the loving brother that he is, Connor ignored me.
"Please, I know people who have gotten married after six months of dating!" Connor said.
"Yeah, and didn't they get divorced like a week later?" I asked not quite sure where my brother was going with this.
"That's beside the point." Connor said quickly.
"So what's the moral of this story then?" I asked, now very confused.
"What moral?" Connor asked me confused. "I'm just saying, if you marry her then you're together and you figure out or not if you're meant for each other, and if you're not you can just get divorced! That way you had your five minutes of bliss and everything else!"
"You're starting to sound way to much like Dad." I said to my brother.
"How so?" Connor asked.
"His stories have no point either."
"You know, I take much offense to that," Connor stated as we started walking again towards camp.
We were so busy bickering we didn't even notice the two people approach us until they spoke, "Are you two the Stoll brothers?"
"Um, yeah…" I answered, wondering a little if maybe our reputation had gotten around.
"Well, then 'Stoll bros'," The brown haired boy spoke, "you might want to just turn around and leave, your being here is useless now."
"Listen little boy," Connor spoke, "I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, but just run along to your counselor so you don't get lost."
"I'm seventeen you fool!" The boy growled at him, but then his features…relaxed? His face was all twisted, as if a monster had bashed it in with their sword hilt, but then I realized, with a shiver, that he was smiling. A very gruesome smile. I looked to his brother who was wearing the same…disturbing smile
"Wow! Still waiting for that growth spurt, eh?" Connor asked straightening up, the guy couldn't have been more than two inches smaller than Connor, and Connor was six one.
"So why should we turn around?" I asked, quickly before the fists could start flying.
The boys turned their attention to me, "Well Travis Stoll," the other brother began to speak, it really weirded me out how they knew my name, "we are the Heists. I'm Mer-"
"What's that short for," Connor interrupted, snickering, "Meredith?" Connor smirked at that.
The other boys, though, did not seem to find it so funny. "No," He said coldly, "I'm Mer, and this here is Conrad."
"Hi. Nice to meet you." I said rushed, before anything could happen, "Goodbye, got to go, got a girlfriend to see."
"Ah yes, Katie, quite an arrogant prick, isn't she?" Mer said. I felt flames ignite in me. Connor smirked at the dude.
"Not a line you want to cross Meredith." Connor said, "Especially if you want to live."
"Oh shut it, you two are pathetic, I don't know how Hermes had the guts to claim you." Conrad said, as he looked at us as if we were an exploding pie about to be judged.
"What do you want?" I growled at them, they were really starting to get on my nerves.
"We don't want anything much…"He said it in a voice that made me think that he was going to want much, "Just for you to step down from being the Prank Kings of Camp and give us your jobs."
"What? Never!" I cried, before Connor even had the chance to open his mouth.
"Why?" Conrad taunted us, "Do you think you're better than us?"
"I know I'm better than you bottom lowlife feeding scum!" I all but yelled in his face.
"Well, if you think you're better than us," Conrad yelled back at me, "than prove it! We challenge you guys to a prank war. If we win we get your jobs and you step down as prank kings."
"What do we get when we win?" I asked him, all I could see were red hot angry flames dancing in front of my eyes. I knew they were baiting me, but I couldn't help it. What they were doing was working.
"We leave you alone," Conrad said.
"Swear it on the Styx," Mer said.
"Only when you do," I replied.
Conrad spoke, "I, Conrad Heist, swear on the River of Styx on behalf of my brother and I that if Connor and Travis Stoll win we shall leave them alone forever."
I spoke, "I, Travis Stoll, swear on the River of Styx on behalf of my brother and I that if the Heists impossibly win we shall give up our awesome jobs and step down as prank kings."
"Good," Conrad said.
"You and you're brother are jerks," I said, grabbing Conrad by the collar and getting my fist ready to punch Conrad and give him what he deserved.
"Travis!" A voice called out in excitement. I dropped Conrad down and turned to see who had called my name, my face widened into a grin. (And not one of those disgusting Heist brothers' grins.)
"Katie!" I yelled, while I was turned around the Heist's scrambled away, but I didn't care…that much.
Katie practically flew into my arms for a hug, before giving me a soft kiss on the lips and pulling away wistfully. Believe it or not, Connor had reprimanded us for making out in public. I think he's just jealous.
"What was that all about?" She asked.
"Nothing," I said quickly before Connor could tell her. Connor shot me a puzzled look. I shook my head as if to say not now.
Katie seemed to accept my answer. She grasped my hand in hers as we finished the trek down the hill. "So?" she said.
"So what?" I asked.
"So how's it on Olympus?" She asked. "Has Connor gotten over the rejection yet? Or is he still handling it?"
"All I'll say is he's glad to be back, and he was eyeing the new Aphrodite girls earlier…" I said.
Katie laughed, her little laugh sounded like birds chirping. "Same old Connor."
"So what's new around here?" I asked Katie, looking around.
"Well you have two new siblings, claimed yesterday, Grace and Tyler. The Aphrodite cabin opened up a salon, the only upside to that is that there're showers that are actually nice there. Annabeth's been going crazy, what with redesigning Olympus and then helping with designs down here, I don't blame her. Nico is in for a visit, he's been helping out his dad a lot in the Underworld. Percy's been helping out with the sword lessons. He just got back two days ago from visiting his mom in the city. Chris has been watching over the Cabin, and he's doing a good job of it. Clarisse is still beating up the new kids, but she's gotten better, it's only about once a month now. And I have been crazy busy helping Annabeth with floral arrangements around camp and on Olympus, but I still check on the Prank Cave."
"How is it?" I asked her as if she was talking about my baby.
"It's fine Travis." She laughed, "Same as you left it." she tilted her head as if to consider, "Maybe a bit smellier though…"
"So nobody's discovered it?" I asked eagerly.
"No, Travis." She said rolling her eyes at me, but I could tell she was glad to see me.
"So, where are we headed?" I asked Katie. Connor had wandered off somewhere during Katie and mine's conversation.
"Not sure," She replied, "just walking around."
We walked past the sword arena, where Percy was training some kids, and he was not going easy on them. I knew what that was like. "Hey Percy!" I called out to my friend.
Percy held up his hand to pause the kid. "Take a break guys!" He called out then jogged over to where Katie and I stood, "Hey Travis." He said and gave me a quick hug. "So how are things on Olympus?" he asked.
"Olympusy," I replied with a shrug, "Nothing exciting ever happens up there, although there was this one time where Artemis got aggravated with Apollo and walked away from him, then this Merchant asked her if she wanted ambrosia on a stick and she turned them into a jackal and refused to turn them back."
Percy and Katie laughed at my story. I looked past them and saw the Heist brothers standing with their backs to me. "Hey," I asked, "What's up with those two?" I pointing to them.
Percy's face hardened, "Oh don't even get me started on those two." He said, "They think they're the best gifts to human kind since Popcorn flavored Nectar."
"They're even bigger jerks than you and Connor when you were little!" Katie exploded. "They killed all the strawberries, hooked up the water fountain to the lake, and they started the vines on the side of our cabin on fire! Thankfully, Percy saw it and put it out in enough time, so it didn't burn down the whole cabin. We only had to do some minor repairs, thank the Gods."
"They grafittied my brand new Iris messaging fountain from Dad! Then they dumped all my clothes out on the floor right before Cabin inspection, after I had just cleaned! They caught a bunch of fish, tortured them until they died and then spread them out in my cabin. Poor Annabeth had to clean them all up, I couldn't even look at my cabin, and in fact I spent the night in the Big House so I wouldn't have to smell the dead fish! But how do you know them?" Percy asked, facing his attention on me.
"I don't," I replied. "Not really. I just have this feeling that their out to get Connor and me."
And there it is; the first chapter complete! Thank God! I'm not sure when I'll next be able to update, what with school starting back and everything, but it won't be to long of a wait. Pinky promise!
Green wires, black flags, and lightning, (Not really sure what the theme was…)
~Wisegirl~