Chapter One: Ropes of Wheat

It's the stupid monkey's fault. That's all I can say. I always hated Curious George. If I could, I'd blame all my problems on him.

He led me to Camp Jupiter.

Am I Roman? No. But I can't go to Camp Half-Blood yet, since it's all the way across the country.

I'll get there eventually. I don't know how, but I will.

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The Fifth Cohort was said to be the worst. But after proving itself over and over yet again, it soon climbed to the top of the social chain.

This left the Fourth Cohort to be left alone at the bottom.

First Cohort is the pride of Camp Jupiter. The Second holds the campers with the best recommendation letters. The Third Cohort is known for holding the most disciplined and formal legionnaires. Fifth has regained pride and honor, thanks to Jason Grace and Percy Jackson.

Just my luck, ending up in the Fourth Cohort.

And it doesn't help that I'm scrubbing the streets with a toothbrush. It's my second week here, and well, if I'm already cleaning the streets like a slave, I really don't want to imagine what I'll be doing in 6 months. How was I supposed to know you aren't supposed to talk back?

"Don't forget to clean the cracks, Cinderella!" Someone cackled above me. I glanced up to see the new Augur, Cleo. She claimed her name was Cleopatra, though I doubt anyone believes that. Hazel once muttered something about missing Octavian, who was the former Augur...I think...

"Well, I suppose I'd be a princess compared to...Whatever you are..." I wrinkled my nose at Cleo's perfect, shiny golden waves, the cake-full of makeup, her expensive clothing, and everything else she uses in hopes of making a friend. If she knew what that was.

"You better watch what you say, since we wouldn't want Reyna to hear about this. Anyways," Cleo studied her nails. "Hurry up. We're having a war game tonight and roll call will begin in an hour." She walked off, smudging mud over the section of ground I had just cleaned.

Dejected, I sat down on my butt. There was no way I could scrub off all the mud and grime off the streets in 30 minutes. I didn't have to do all the streets, thank the gods; only the section I had been assigned. Either way, it would a long time.

"Need help?" My best (just kidding-my only) friend Alyss stood in jean shorts and a green tank top. She was covered in mud, horse manure, and hay. But all that flew out of my head as I ran over to her and hugged her.

"Oh, thank Zeus!" I yelled happily. Alyss laughed and set down a big bucket of water and soap.

"My brother is coming to help, too. He's bringing the mops. Anyways, lets to this the easy way. And don't worry about the centurions finding out. They're all at a meeting!" Alyss pushed the bucket over, letting the soapy water splash onto the dirty ground. "Blake and Josh are bringing in more." Now I was glad to have befriended Alyss and her (sometimes) annoying quirks. She was a social butterfly, and at first, I only hung out with her just because I had no one else. Her chatter used to annoy me.

But having the right connections and friends does help you out a lot. Three boys appeared, two of them carrying a ginormous tub, another with a cluster of brooms, mops, bottles, and rags in his arms. Alyss's brother, Liam, came up to us first, dumping the materials at our feet. He looked nothing like Alyss. They both had bright green eyes, but that's where the similarities end. His shaggy, dirty blonde fell over his glasses and framed an oval face, pointed chin, and a long nose. Alyss had a heart-shaped face, not to mention a rounder chin. Her hair was curly and brown.

"You're welcome," Liam said. Alyss rolled her eyes before rummaging through the pile. "So, what did you do this time, Alexis?" He asked me.

"Meh. The usual-What the Hades?" As I had been talking, Alyss had grabbed my ankle. I fell to the ground. She proceeded to take my shoes off.

"Liam, I think your sister is crazy!" I yelped as Alyss attempted to attach sponges to the bottoms of my feet.

"Hey, this is a pretty creative idea." Alyss grunted. "There!" Instead of shoes, I now wore 1-foot long sponges on my feet. Alyss did the same to her feet, then Liam's.

Blake and Josh appeared. Blake was African-American-or at least part African American. He was the loud, fun one of the group. His dad was Hermes-or Mercury, so I guess it makes sense. Josh was a redhead, and Blake constantly teased him for it.

"Look, Alyss, when I said to donate to charity, I didn't mean this!" Blake shook his head.

"I still can't believe we're doing this," Josh muttered. Alyss helped them put on the sponge-shoes. Liam and I got out the bottles of shampoo and soap and squirted it all into the tub of water.

"This looks kinda of gross...Why is this black?" I leaned closer to sniff at the concoction we had made. The soapy water had turned black, for some reason-

SPLASH! A split second later, I was sitting in the tub of black water. "WHAT THE FUCK, LIAM!" I yelled. He sniggered, so I pulled him in as well.

"Hey!" He spluttered.

Josh scowled at us. "Stop fooling around, guys. We don't have much time left." Blake helped me out, not bothering to assist Liam. Liam got out, then slipped and fell on his ass because of the sponge-shoes. I grinned before gliding away. It was a little like skating, but funner.

A long time later, we were done...not to mention soaked and drenched. "Guys, quick, we're gonna be late!" I yelled, running to where the cohorts were meeting up. I slipped a total of 6 times, crashed into someone 2 times, and stopped one of my friends from falling 9 times.

This was life.


The fort towered above us. Cohorts 1, 4, and 5 were attacking and cohorts 2 and 3 defended. There were two towers in front, with one in the back, forming a triangle. The front two towers had an open-air bridge connecting them. The back tower was connected to the front towers with tubes. It reminded me of a slide, from a little-kid playground.

Gods, I miss those.

"Well?" Josh asked impatiently.

"Huh?" Blake, Josh, Liam, Alyss, and I were all crowded near the back, with the rest of our Cohort and the other Cohorts in front of us.

"We need to win this." Determination blazed in Liam's eyes. I wish I could say the same, but to be honest, I didn't give a fuck. It wasn't my camp, after all.

"Yeah, right as if we could." Josh snorted. Alyss glared at him.

"Josh may be right," Blake said. "But we should plan something."

"I've got an idea..." I started.

Turns out, my plan was very flawed. But Blake pointed most of them out before we headed towards the fort.

Yeah, most is the key word there.

Blake had plenty of smuggled objects underneath his armor which Josh, a Son of Hephaestus, or Vulcan, whatever-tinkered with. I have no idea what he made, but Josh quickly assured me that it would work. It looked like a thin sheet of metal crumbled into a ball with wires sticking out, connected to a vial of purple powder and another vial of water.

It's probably an explosive.

"Ready?" Liam asked. I nodded, watching Alyss, Blake, and Josh streak across the field to the fort. Alyss caused the grass to grow wheat. I realized that maybe Demeter's kids had their own tricks, too. Soon, it grew over 6 feet and I was no longer able to see her. Annoyed hisses and shouts were heard from the other campers, but we ignored them.

"I-can't-see!" I grunted. We were waiting for the signal from Alyss. Liam lifted me up, since he couldn't see it either. After a while, purple smoke drifted up into the clouds. "Let's go." Running through a field of wheat while crouching isn't that easy. Or maybe I was out-of-shape. We would've gotten lost if Blake hadn't left a trail of blue rocks. I don't think I want to know where he got them from.

"Alexis!" Liam hissed. "Fire!" I looked behind us and saw flames rising and spreading towards us. "Run!"

We ran until the wheat ended. In front of us was a moat. In front of that was a rope ladder (made of wheat) leading up to the right tower. Yells and shouts of panic reached my ears. Liam and I headed for the left tower. He made a wheat rope, and swung it to one of the spikes above. The rope wrapped around it.

"Are you sure that's safe?" I asked dubiously.

"Who cares? We're demigods." He started to climb. I followed reluctantly. None of the guards on the bridge noticed us, since they were obsessed with whatever Blake, Josh, and Alyss did on the right tower. Liam jumped over the railing first. Swords were clashing, and shouts of alarm were emitted. Liam shifted to the left. On the left was the opening to the bridge. Behind Liam were two people guarding the entrance to the tube. Liam darted to the bridge. Most of the enemy campers followed him. I swung onto the railings, ripped the rope off, and took it with me inside the tower.

"ATTACK!" One of the guards yelled. He rushed forward. I tried to kick him in the balls, but I missed and kicked his hand instead. This caused him to drop his sword. I didn't know how to use a sword, but I grabbed it anyways and hit him with the flat of the blade, as if it was a bat. The other girl had her back to me. I jumped on her and twisted the rope around her throat. She fell to the ground, wheezing. Grabbing her and the boy, I tied them together with the rope. I have no idea how Liam made this so strong, but it worked wonders!

I through the tube. I got closer...Shouts echoed behind me...The exit rushed forward-

SNAP! Everything turned upside-down. Ropes of wheat were wrapped around my limbs. "What the hell..." I muttered.

"Holy shit, Alexis!" Alyss muttered. "That trap was meant for...them..." 3 campers from the 2nd cohort rushed in. Alyss ran for it, leaving me hanging...literally...

Even though I didn't care about this stupid Roman game, I did not appreciate being dumped like yesterday's trash.

Clamping my teeth around a rope of wheat tying my wrists together, I tried biting through it. After a long time, it thinned and became undone. I realized my mistake when I swung down. My hands were free, but my feet were still tied together.

Whoops came from the floor above me.

Alyss had gotten the flag.

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"Alexis, Alexis!" Someone shook me awake. Moonlight filtered in through the windows. I was exhausted, there were red marks around my wrists, and there was probably wheat still stuck in my hair, but I wanted was sleep. And some idiot mother fucker just woke me up. I rolled over to see Blake.

"What'd you want, Blake?" Even though Blake had helped me escape, I was still thoroughly pissed. Everyone had gathered around and poked me with their swords, or daggers, or whatever shit they had. Blake had finally come to get me out of his trap, the one that he made.

"I found a way to get you to Camp Half-Blood!" He whispered, excited. I stare at him through bleary eyes.

"That's nice, Blake, now go back to sleep-"

"No, really."

And that's how I ended up standing in the rain, arguing with a statue.

AN: Well, tell me if is sucks, say hi, what you think, whatever JUST REVIEW!