DISCLAIMER: MR. RICK RIORDAN IS THE GENIUS BEHIND THIS BOOK SERIES. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND SOME CHARACTERS.. SADLY.
Ricky was never a normal 17 year old. He lived in the foster home for most of his life along with his best friend Kate. Everything was as normal as it could be for the two foster kids until one day they both have the same dream from a mysterious woman who claimed to be their mother. According to her, they were the only way to save the love of the world.
I opened my eyes. Everything was fuzzy for a while. I felt something soft beneath me. What the hell was going on? My body felt as if it was being stabbed by tiny pins and needles. I tried to tilt my head to the side but it was like I had no control over my body whatsoever. Slowly, my head fell to the side and my eyes were attacked by a gust of sand. Where did the sand come from? Gradually, I regained control over my body. I sat up halfway and checked my surroundings. There was sand everywhere because I was stuck on an island. It was a beautiful island too. At first it was pitch black, the only light coming from the stars. The horizon started to turn a mixture of yellow, orange, and red. The sun was about to come up which made the island even more beautiful than it was before.
"Amazing isn't it?" a voice echoed my thoughts. Immediately, I stood up only to be overcome by a flood of nausea. I sank to my knees, overwhelmed by the feeling. "Careful child. You have not fully recovered yet." I looked up and saw one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. Her hair flowed freely along with the slight breeze. She wore a dress the only came down about mid-thigh. My breath hitched when I saw her eyes. Her eyes were the most mesmerizing thing. It was as if there was no set color. They kept changing as if they couldn't decide on which color to stay. Even though this woman was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, for some reason, I wasn't attracted to her in that way. It was more like I felt as if I should be protecting her from every danger that was around the corner.
As if she could read my thoughts, she laughed. It was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard. She sat down next to me and ran her hand through my hair like a mother would to her child. "You're just like your father," she said with a sad look in her eyes. "He wanted to give me the whole world, and with his money, he probably could've."
I gazed at the water in front of us. "I never really knew my father. He died when I was very young," I murmured. Not many people knew my father. Well, he never allowed anyone to get close from what I heard. She kept on running her hand through my hair and I cherished the feeling. According to the foster home, my mother abandoned us. I never had parents really.
"Your father was very loving and passionate, but he was broken inside. He had been used by people so much. When I met him, he was pushing everyone away, including me. Once he let me in, I instantly fell in love with him. He was very kind, compassionate, and loving. He wasn't a fighter but he fought for what he loved. Family was one of the most important things to him." I closed my eyes. This wasn't the man that everyone else told me about. When people would tell me about my father, I imagined him as a horrible person. Someone who didn't care about what was wrong in the world. Someone who only cared for himself. She continued, "He was also a very handsome man. He had dark auburn hair and dark grey eyes that pierced into your soul. His smile was the warmest thing and could light up the whole room. When he spoke he had a strong British accent and he didn't even attempt to hide it," she looked at me. "Very much like you. You're the spitting image of your father."
This woman knew so much about my father. I believed everything she said even though we just met. She wouldn't lie to me. Something occurred to me. I didn't even know this woman's name. I was about to ask her when she said, "My name is not important. I have an important message for you." She stopped running her hand through my hair and I longed for her touch once again. "I have an important message for you. You must go to camp where you belong. Go on a quest to save your siblings."
This confused me. "But I'm an only child. I don't have any siblings. What camp are you talking about?"My brain hurt. She looked into my eyes.
"There is no time to explain, my love. Take whoever you want with you on the way to the camp. But let me warn you, it will be dangerous. I'll send some help for you when you wake up," she handed me a pink rose. "Give this to a person at the camp named Chiron. He'll know what it means. You're the only hope for the world now." She got up and started to walk away.
"Wait!" I yelled at her. "Who are you?"
She looked back and smiled warmly at me. "I'm your mother."
Then I woke up.
I opened my eyes only to find myself back at the foster home. One hell of a dream, I thought. My hand instinctively ran through my hair. There was something in it. I shook my head and out cameā¦Sand? So the dream was real. I sat on the edge of my bed and put my head in my hands. I looked around my room. My room wasn't much. Plain white walls, a bed, one little excuse for a nightstand, and a little closet. I glanced over my nightstand as I usually do in the morning to check the time and there was the rose. At first it surprised me, but then I realized if the dream was real, then my mother was real and very much alive. She had also told me to do something. I forgot what it was. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I was fully awake.
When I looked back at the side table, the rose was still there. There was a tapping at my window and I saw the whitest dove I'd ever seen. I opened the window and the dove came inside. In its beak was a note. I grabbed the note and the dove flew away. I sat back down on my bed and opened the note. The note smelled as if it was dipped in perfume. It was overpowering. I sneezed. The note said:
Camp Half Blood
Half-Blood Hill
Long Island, New York
(800)-009-0009
I picked up the rose and read the note over and over again. I shrugged. What the hell?, I thought. Might as well go. It's not as if I was doing anything now. In the dream, my mother (I have to get used to saying that) said that it was a very important thin that I go to camp. Well, guess I better start packing.
Good thing is, I didn't have much to pack. All I basically had was a couple of clothes and some spare cash. Bad thing is, I live all the way in Washington State. How the hell was I supposed to get all the way to New York with about $20? I guess I could drive but I don't have a car. I thought about it for a while and gave up. I'll just wing it. Whenever I make plans it never works out anyways. Another problem: How was I supposed to sneak past the new foster home lady? The old foster lady had been replaced just a few days ago and was replaced by a younger woman who looked like she was in her 20's. She was beautiful, but pretty creepy. Oh well, I thought. I'll deal with that stuff later.
I grabbed my ring off the nightstand and put it on. It was a family heirloom and the last thing I had from my father. I didn't really know him, but I could at least keep the tradition going of passing it onto the firstborn son. It felt as if my father was with me when I wore the ring. When I was a kid, I dreamed that my dad was still alive and he was just missing. I had hoped that maybe one day we would meet again. Then I grew up.
There was a sharp knock at my door. "Hey Ricky! Get your lazy ass out of bed!" That would be my best friend Katie. She's been with the foster home almost as long as I've been here. She showed up about a month after I did. We basically grew up together. People always thought we were dating because we were around each other all the time. They got it wrong though. It's just that we grew up not trusting other people. We've been hurt way too much. She had me and I had her. That's how it was. I heard her sigh outside my door in exasperation. "Fine. Don't open the door. I'm coming in anyways."
She sat down next to next to me with her head down and twiddled her thumbs. Katie usually wouldn't shut up but now she was really quiet. "Hey what's wrong?" I asked her. She looked up at me smiling but with tears in her eyes. "Uhhh, happy tears?" Like every other teenage guy, I wasn't very good at deciphering teenage girl emotions.
"I had a dream last night. I know it was just a dream but in my dream there was this man. He told me a bunch of things about my mother. Stuff that I already knew and stuff that I didn't know. He didn't tell me his name but he said that he was my father. He also said that I was supposed to go to this camp and help you with something. Apparently you know what this is. I know I sound crazy but-"
"You don't sound crazy," I told her. "I had a dream too. There was this woman and she told me about my father. I'm supposedly the spitting image of my father. She gave me some instructions. She said to go to this camp and to talk to this guy named Chiron. Apparently I'm the only hope for the world now."
Katie started laughing. I looked at her like she was crazy. I mean, Katie was my best friend and all, but sometimes she could be a little loopy. "You've got to be kidding," she said in between her short bursts of laughter. "You? Save the world?"
"I don't see the problem with that."
She laughed. "Kay," She looked beside her and noticed my backpack. "You planning on going somewhere?" I handed her the note and waited for her to say something. "So this is where we're headed?"
"Wait a minute, we?"
"Yes we. I'm not letting you go alone. Plus you probably couldn't survive without me anyways." She smirked. That was probably true too. Katie basically took care of me my whole life even though I was a year older than her. I guess it's true about how girls mature faster than guys.
"Fine," I replied. She did a little victory dance and left to go pack her things. Not soon after, I heard an ear-piercing shriek. I'd heard it before. It was Katie. I grabbed my knife from the drawer of my night table. The knife was also a family heirloom. It was sort of this bonze looking color. Sometimes I swear I could see it glow. I never thought that I'd actually need it. Thanks Dad. I guess. I hoped it would work this time. I had been mugged before and I pulled out the knife. I also attempted to stab the mugger, but nothing happened. It was as if it just went right through him. The mugger thought it was useless so they just left it. Can't say the same about my money though.
Katie's door was broken down and I saw some weird thing in the middle of her room. Katie was backed up to the wall farthest from me. The creature hadn't seen me yet so I had an advantage. Katie's eyes widened when she saw the knife and me. I raised my finger up to my lips, silently telling her to keep quiet about what I was doing.
Slowly, I got closer to the creature. What was this thing? It wasn't human I knew that. Whatever it was, it had a huge orange paw and a leathery, scorpion like tail with spikes at the tip. The tail was waving back and forth behind it so I couldn't get that close to it. The thing raised its paw and prepared to hit her. I saw Katie try to get farther from it but she was basically part of the wall by now.
Before I could think about what I was doing, I raised my arm and stabbed the thing in its back. Thankfully, it worked. For some reason, my brain couldn't register the fact that it was thrashing all over the place, so I didn't let go of the knife. Instead I held on for my dear life. The monster was thrashing so fast that I didn't even know we were headed towards the window until we fell through it. I heard Katie scream after me.
The foster home wasn't very high up. It was only about 5 stories. Since Katie and I had been at the foster home the longest, we got the top floor all to ourselves. Usually, I'm happy about that, me being a private person and all. But now that I was plunging to my death, I suddenly regretted taking up the offer to stay at the very top of the building.
As we both fell, I thought I would see my life flash before my eyes, like in the movies. No such luck. It was a very windy day today and all I felt was the harsh wind hitting my face. I didn't even see the ground until it hit me smack in the face. I shut my eyes and everything went black.
I tried opening my eyes and only saw things in flashes. The beast evaporated into gold dust. I saw black again. Slowly, I tried to move. There was a loud crack and I couldn't even hear myself scream. Everything was muffled. I collapsed back onto the asphalt. Car screeched to a stop before they could hit me. Katie ran out the door and ran to my side. I could feel the darkness creeping up on me, telling me to give in but I wouldn't. I had a job to do.
"Somebody call 911!" I felt Kate try to help me up. A sharp pain spread through my ankle and wrist. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman that was in my dream. My mom! Even though she was across the street and everyone was yelling, I could still hear her voice as clear as anything.
Don't let them take you, my son. They will find you at the hospital. You must leave now. Take your friend with you. You both are our only hope now. I blinked and she was gone. Katie froze as if she heard it too. She grabbed my arm and I winced from the pain. Note to self: never jump out of a building, no matter what the circumstances.
"Come on Ricky. We have to go." Katie pulled me up to my feet and I would've collapsed but Kate had her 'you-better-listen-to-me-or-you'll-regret-it-later' voice so I managed. Everyone was running around panicking because some kid had apparently dropped from the sky. News vans pulled up and set up their stuff. No one really paid attention though. They were all too busy updating their social networking sites about it instead of actually helping out.
Katie and I were able to get past them easily. As we passed by one of the news vans, I heard one of the reporters say my name so I told Kate to stop so we could listen. We hid behind one of the trashcans and heard them say, "This just in, 17-year-old Roderick Blake, broke into a foster home and steal from those poor orphans. Police are on the lookout for him. He is about 5'9, dark auburn hair, dark grey eyes. His British accent will be very noticeable. He is currently wearing a white shirt and black pants." The reporter put their finger on their earpiece. "It seems as if he has an accomplice! Witnesses say that a 16-year-old girl name Katherine Mercer willingly allowed him to come inside. Be on the lookout for her too. About 5'7, dirty blonde hair, blue eyes. They are both wearing similar things. Be on the lookout. Lock your doors and shut the blinds. This is Jimmy Lockwood reporting to you live from Seattle, Washington."
"What the hell?" Katie exclaimed. "Did they not notice the fact that a frickin beast was in my room?" She was about to go on and on, ranting about how they were wrong until a cameraman heard us and pointed the camera in our direction.
"I found them!" he yelled to everyone. People came rushing in our direction. They didn't even notice the police officers that were yelling at them to get out of the way. We were stuck. Behind us was an ally with a dead end and in front of us was a huge mob of people filled with police.
"Psssst," came a voice. "Over here." Katie and I turned around and saw a figure in the shadows. I saw that it had horns and brought my knife out, thinking it was another monster.
There was a loud screaming from the crowd. A police officer came out of the front of the crowd with his hands up. He approached us slowly. "Hey kid. We don't want any trouble here so just put the gun down." A gun? This was a joke right?
Don't say anything. They'll think you're lying. Go with the person in the alley. He's there to help, said Mom. Assuming Katie also had a little talk with her father, I backed up slowly. All of a sudden, this god-awful music started playing. It sounded like pipes or something. I turned around and saw that the figure was playing music.
"Is now really the time?" I yelled at him.
Katie tapped my shoulder and pointed to the crowd. "Look." The crowd was wandering all over the place with confused faces. I saw a couple people run into walls. A hand grabbed both of our shoulders and I almost yelled in pain. Whoever that person was, dragged us to the back of the alley.
"Who are you?" asked Katie. That's not the question I was going to ask, but Katie's sounded better than what I was about to say.
"What's up with your head dude?" They both gave me a look. He looked at Katie as if he was asking 'Is he always like this?' Katie nodded. "Hey!" I protested. "I'm standing right here."
"We didn't say anything," Katie said
"But you were having a silent conversation."
Before we could begin arguing, the guy interjected. "The name is Rondale. I'll explain everything inside." He pointed at the wall. I looked at Kate and she looked at me. We thought the same thing. Is this guy crazy?
He smirked at us and knocked this beat on the wall. A voice came from the inside, "PASSWORD?" Rondale's smirk faded.
"Open the door or I'll stick my pipes up your-" We heard a hiss and the wall slid open. I was shocked that I'd never noticed it. From Katie's face, she couldn't believe it either, but her expression changed back to neutral. We got good at that after the years. Hiding our emotions became easy. Rondale walked inside. "Well? You gonna stand there all day?"
Kate and I walked in. Inside was a whole bunch of weapons and battle plans spread everywhere. To the right side was a bunch of high tech computers that showed videos of the whole foster home. These people had been watching us for a while. To the left was a whole wall full of weapons. There were bows & arrows, swords, spears, armor, and more things. Right in the middle of the room was a large table. Around the table were two people working on some sort of plan. Behind us, the wall slid back into place.
"What is this place?" Kate said, awed by all the stuff.
"Welcome to the Camp Half-Blood safe house."
