"Knock, knock, Thal, time for inspection!" I called teasingly to his friend Thalia. The Hunters were at camp for a few weeks to help rebuild, but Thalia still got to stay in the Zeus cabin. She may have been a Hunter, but she enjoyed her solitude. She had put Jennifer, her second-in-command, in charge in Cabin 8.
"Oh, shut up, Seaweed Brain!" Thalia called from inside. It was a commonly known fact that Thalia hated inspection almost as much as I hated inspection duty. She opened the door and let me in.
I walked around, exaggerating his motions in mockery of inspection, and said in a fake high-and-mighty voice, "I'll give you a 3 out of 5, and that's being generous. I take pity on you because you're the only resident here." Thalia lunged at me, but I sidestepped and she fell on her face.
"I'm only playing, Thal. 4 out of 5, as usual. See you at dinner." I walked briskly out so she wouldn't be able to have a second go at me. I then headed toward my own cabin.
"Tyson, Camilla, how're we doing?" I asked my half-brother and half-sister. Tyson, as was the case whenever he visited, was doing most of the work. Camilla Blake, our new half-sister, was lounging around on her bunk bed, listening to her iPod and writing in one of the many notebooks she carried around in her backpack.
"House is clean, Percy!" Tyson said gleefully. The Cyclops was right: all the bunks were neatly made, the floor was swept, and my armor and weapons were polished and neatly hung on the wall.
"Well done, Tyson! Camilla, can you get up? I can't tell if your bunk is clean when you're sprawled out like that. Geez, with all the writing you do, you'd think you were Apollo's daughter, not Poseidon's!" She just rolled her eyes at me and got up, stacking all her notebooks neatly and putting them in the wall locker Tyson had made for her in a precise order.
"There! Does that satisfy you, big brother?" she asked sarcastically. I ignored her and walked out, writing a 5 next to Cabin Three on my clipboard.
"Ares cabin! Fall in!" I heard from the cabin next door. Clarisse was readying her "troops" for inspection.
"All right, Clarisse, let's see what we've got here..." I said warily. I knew Clarisse would still jump at the chance to pulverize me, even after I saved the world.
I walked around the cabin, looking at the neatly made, albeit threadbare, bunks, the proudly hung and polished armor and weapons, and the uniformly organized trunks at the foot of each bed.
"Army ready, that's for sure, Clarisse. 5 out of 5." I said quickly as he walked toward the Apollo cabin.
"Will! Let's see how you stack up!" I called to the new lead counselor for Apollo, Will Solace. Cabin 7 hosted probably the most free-spirited of the male-descended campers, so their inspection didn't usually go as smoothly as the first few.
"Percy! We're not ready! Can you wait, like, five more minutes?" Will pleaded. Despite being lead counselor, he didn't usually pay attention to important dates like inspections.
"You let them have five extra minutes? You know Will never pays attention at council; it's his own fault they weren't ready! Percy, that's unfair to the rest of the cabins and you know it! I can't believe you!" I could just hear Annabeth in my head, lightly berating me for giving in. I sighed, wishing I could say yes, but shook my head at Will and walked in.
"What a mess!" Most beds were unmade; bows, papers, and writing utensils were strewn across the floor; and there were clothes and armor popping out of almost every trunk. The only person who had managed to clean up well was Carter Thomas, one of the newer campers.
"2 out of 5, Will, for not having remembered inspection day. The only reason it's not 1 is because I'm nice, and because Carter cleaned up nicely. He's only been here a few weeks, and he did better than you at remembering when inspections are. I'll tell Chiron and whoever has inspection duty next that they should expect better, right?" Will nodded sullenly and began to clean his own bunk. I walked out and headed to the Hephaestus cabin.
"Hey, Jake, I'm here for inspection," I announced to Jake Mason as he opened the door. For once, the Hephaestus cabin had made some semblance of effort to clean up. Their various projects were organized either under the bunks or in corners, a few bunks were made, and finished creations were polished and hanging only slightly haphazardly on the wall.
"3 for effort, Jake. Good job." I said matter-of-factly and left. He could hear the sighs of relief from the campers as he wrote on his clipboard and walked out the door.
"Connor! Travis! I'm here for inspection!" I called to my Hermes friends. They scrambled to finish as I walked in.
"Hey, Percy, just putting the finishing touches on. Who looks like they'll be doing kitchen duty so far?" Connor tried to peek over my shoulder to see how high the bar was set.
I yanked it away from him and said, "None ya. Let's see how YOU do." I walked around, checking out the half-made beds, the hastily folded clothes in the trunks, and a few stolen items unceremoniously stuffed under beds.
"Nice try. 3 out of 5, boys, thanks for playing," I told the brothers as I walked out toward the Dionysus cabin.
"Hey, Pollux, I'm here to inspect." The lone son of Dionysus met me at the door and walked through the very empty cabin with me.
"I bet it's easy to keep clean in here, isn't it?" I tried to joke, but Pollux just shrugged. I patted him on the back.
"I'm sure Castor's in Elysium right now," I said softly. Pollux's twin brother Castor had been killed in the last battle, and Pollux still hadn't come out of mourning.
"5 out of 5," I called as he shut the door and walked toward the Hades cabin.
"Oh, Nico, I'm here for inspection!" Nico came bolting to the door, but stopped just in front of me. His new half-sister, Melina O'Reagan was at his heels.
"Hey, Percy. Come on in." Nico said hesitantly. He whispered something I couldn't hear to Melina, but when I slanted a "don't-think-you-can-pull-one-over-on-me" glance at him, he just looked back at me with a "I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about" face. I walked through the pristine cabin, looking around in astonishment. Last time I'd been in here it was a wreck.
"Nico..." I said warningly.
"I didn't use any magic, I swear!" he told me hurriedly. However, his eyes told me everything I needed to know. That and Melina was shaking her head behind him mouthing, "Lies! All lies!"
"Hmm... really now? Because I have a friend in the Hecate cabin who can sense magic. Especially DARK magic." I didn't REALLY, but it was fun to tease.
"No! Okay, okay, I used magic. Honestly, it was just a couple of French maids I brought up to have clean for me. I did it yesterday cuz I was too lazy, not cuz I was in a hurry today! Promise!" The young boy held out his pinky to me.
"Pinky swear? Nico, aren't you getting a bit old for that?"
"No way, Bianca and I did it all the time!"
"Okay, fine." I gave in to my childish impulse and pinky swore with him.
"4 out of 5, one point off for using magic. I'm being generous, you know!" I called as I walked out toward the Morpheus cabin.
"Jonathan! We ready for inspection?" I asked the new head counselor, Jonathan Chapman, of the Morpheus cabin.
"Yeah, we're almost done. Come on in." I went in, and sure enough, their cabin was fairly clean. Most of the trunks were packed fairly neatly, armor and weapons were hung in their proper places, and the beds were all perfectly made. I guess the dreamers value their places to dream pretty highly.
"5 out of 5, Jon! great job!" I walked back outside and over to the Janus cabin.
"Carson! It's Percy! I'm inspecting today!"
"Hey, Perce, come on in," Carson Middleton said as I walked in the door. The cabin was spick and span. It only had a few residents, but all their beds were neatly made and clothes crisply folded in their trunks. I nodded to Carson and marked a 5 on my clipboard as I walked toward the last male-descended cabin.
"Hey, Phoebe! I'm here to inspect!" I called to Phoebe Genta, the lead counselor for the Asklepios cabin. For those of you demigods who haven't heard of Asklepios, he's the god of doctors, sort of Apollo's right-hand man for medicine. He takes care of major healing jobs when Apollo's busy with some of his other responsibilities. Phoebe walked briskly toward me in her blue nurse's shoes and showed me around the cabin. Like a doctor's office, it was almost TOO clean: all the sheets were bleached white and folded exactly the same, all the clothes were folded almost all alike, and their shoes, all the sensible nurse kind, were laid in a neat row under their beds.
"Thanks, Phoebs, 5 out of 5, as always!" I called as I moved onto the female-descended side of the rectangle.
"Oy, Tony! I'm here for inspection!" I yelled to Tony Rourke, the lead counselor for the Nike cabin. Nike is the goddess of victory, and turns out she's got a lot of kids. About a third of the unclaimed kids in the Hermes cabin were hers.
"Hey, Perce, how's it goin'?" He sidled up to me real casually as if this were just a friendly visit instead of inspection. He showed me around the cabin, which was pristine, as if it had just been built. All the campers were standing at their beds, which were neatly made; the trunks were all at the foot of each bed, neatly packed as if they were going home; their armor and weapons were all hung next to the owner's bed; and their favorite sports gear, some Nike shoes, some Nike swim caps and goggles, some Nike baseball caps, pretty much all Nike brand sports stuff, was hung on hooks on the walls.
"Nothing to worry about, right, Perce?" Tony said with a confident smirk. I nodded appreciatively.
"If I could, I'd give you a 6. Above and beyond, Tony, above and beyond..." I said as I walked out the door. I guess the whole victory thing comes into play in every aspect.
"Risa! You ready for inspection!" I called to Risa Cirro, the lead counselor for the Iris cabin. You know, the goddess of rainbows, the patron goddess of the Iris-message? Well, turns out she had another third of the unclaimed in the Hermes cabin.
"Hi Percy!" Risa walked over to me wearing her signature daisy-embroidered green headband and plastic bracelets of every color all up and down her arms. She showed me around the cabin, where even the inside was painted bright colors, all the sheets were tie-dyed and neatly made, the trunks were a little messy but they'd gone to the trouble of color-ordering the clothes, and there were paintings neatly hung on the walls. They even had prisms in the windows to cast little rainbows everywhere. I checked a five on my clipboard as I continued on my way.
"Madeline! Inspection time!" I called into the door of Cabin 19, the new Hebe cabin. Madeline Simmons was their new lead counselor, and the only daughter of the goddess of youth at the moment. She had one half-brother, but that was it thus far.
"Hi Percy!" That half-brother, Ryan, was first to greet me, but Madeline was right behind him. Together, they showed me their cabin. It was put together, but not extremely neat. Hebe's the goddess of youth, and kids don't exactly like to clean up all the time, so it was a little messy here and there. Thankfully, Madeline was grown up enough to remember when inspection day was, so I gave them a 4 out of 5. I waved to them as I walked toward the foreboding looking Hecate cabin.
"Hailey! Percy's coming!" I heard someone shout from inside. Of course, they knew before I even got there. Hecate's the goddess of magic, so they cast spells and all that stuff. They also are able to know things before they happen. Sorta like Apollo with prophecy, but not so cryptic and life-changing. Just little things. Like inspection day.
"Hi, Percy, come on in!" Hailey Jordan, the lead counselor, said with a convincingly fake smile. I barreled past her into the cabin to give them less time to work their cleaning magic.
"OK, stop the magic!" I yelled. The girls all looked at me (Yes, all girls; for some reason, we only have daughters of Hecate and not sons. Chiron can't figure it out either.) and reluctantly dropped what they were doing. I walked around, Hailey at my heels trying to fix little things behind my back, and saw that although most beds were made, no one's trunks were in order, things that should have been on the walls were sitting on the floor (Do they have magic fights instead of pillow fights in here?), and wands, spellbooks, and scrolls were strewn all over the floor.
"2 out of 5, Hailey. I'm not impressed," I said, looking at her pointedly. She looked down, obviously guilty, and shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Percy."
"It's not me you ought to apologize to." Geez, did I sound like my mom or what? Being a senior camper really takes its toll on you fast! She nodded, and I left her to speak with her sisters.
"Hey, Ellen! You ready for inspection?" The Nemesis cabin was next on the list. As it turns out, because she's the goddess of balance (and revenge, but that's only a little part), all her kids are twins. So, as you can imagine, Ethan had a twin: Ellen Nakamura. She's now the lead counselor for Cabin 16. She met me at the door and showed me the cabin. Like any well-balanced cabin, there were its messy parts and its clean parts, so I gave them a 3 and went on my way.
I passed the Hestia cabin, which had been built just after Nico's cabin in honor of the last Olympian who held onto Hope. Next was Aphrodite's cabin.
"Andrea? I'm here for inspection." After Silena had gone down against the drakon pretending she was Clarisse, Aphrodite was in dire need of a new lead counselor. Surprisingly enough, Andrea James had stepped up. She didn't get along with the other counselors nearly as well as Silena had, but she truly embodied Aphrodite values: beauty, concern for love, and nosiness. Most people don't know it, but if you've met her, you know Aphrodite is REALLY nosy. She pokes her nose into other people's business, usually their love lives, where it doesn't belong. It gets kind of annoying, until you get to the end and you find out there was a reason for all the trouble she put you through.
"Hi Percy!" Andrea said perkily. "How are you and Annabeth?" There goes that nosiness. You see what I mean?
"We're fine, Andrea. Can I see the cabin?" She showed me around, and as always, the cabin was in pristine condition, a place for everything and everything in its place. Plus there was perfume. I checked off a 5 on my clipboard and went next door.
"Jennifer? I know you probably aren't aware, but today's inspection day. I have to come in to inspect the cabin," I peeked in the door tentatively. The Hunters aren't exactly keen on boys coming into their quarters. Jennifer opened the door further and I fell flat on my face.
"Thalia told us. And we are ready. You may enter, Perseus Jackson." Great, another Hunter who feels the need to call me by my full name. Joy.
"Well? Are you coming, boy?" I rolled my eyes and followed Thalia's second-in-command through the well-cleaned, but not exceptional, cabin.
"4 out of 5," I announced, and Jennifer nodded to me in approval, then to the door as if to say, "Thanks. Now get out." Without a moment's hesitation, I did. If she was anything like Zoë, I wouldn't want to stay a second longer.
"Oh Annabeth! Inspection time!" I said in a sing-song voice through the door of the Athena cabin to my girlfriend. She walked up to me and gave me a hug, and just as I was about to kiss her, she pulled away.
"Let's get started, huh, Seaweed Brain?" Her eyes glinted with mischief. Oh gods, what does she have in store for me?
She showed me around the cabin, Malcolm Givens at her heels. She had picked him as her second-in-command, and now he followed her around with a notepad, scribbling down things she said she needed to remember, and some things he thought of himself that could be useful. Of course, the cabin was organized and clean as only Annabeth could make it.
"Good job, Annabeth. I'd better get over to the Demeter cabin, I want to be done with this dumb job. It takes so much longer now that we have 22 cabins. So I'm gonna go ahead and-" She cut me off! Not that I minded. Being kissed is a lot more enjoyable than babbling.
"Okay, Percy, NOW you can go. Bye!" She smiled as if nothing had happened and waved as I walked out the door slightly dazedly. Malcolm, who had turned his back when she kissed me, returned to his position at her side, eyes still closed.
"Can I open my eyes now?" I heard him ask as Annabeth shut the door. I walked over to the Demeter cabin, but I met Katie Gardner on the way.
"Oh, Percy, hi. Um, Sam's at the cabin, he'll show you around for inspections. Chiron says there's an emergency. I have to go." She ran off without another word, so I let her go and continued to her cabin.
"Hey, Percy. Katie's sorry she can't be here, but Chiron called an emergency meeting for her, Risa, and the rest of the nature-related cabin lead counselors. Something about Grover, I think. But she told me everything to show you, so I'm ready to lead you though!" Sam Florence was Katie's second-in-command. After the battle, Chiron had had us pick our seconds so that each cabin would have a new counselor if the lead one was killed in battle. Camilla was my only choice, since Tyson is hardly ever at camp. Annabeth had chosen Malcolm, of course, and apparently Katie had chosen Sam. He showed around the cabin, which smelled of flowers and freshly cut grass and all the other wonderful things in nature. The beds were all folded neatly, trunks packed nicely, and there were flowers and plants next to everyone's beds. I marked down a 5, happy to finally be done with stupid inspection duty.
"Hey, Chiron! Looks like Apollo and Hecate are on kitchen duty the first two weeks." I called out. He merely looked up and glanced over at me before going back to a heated whisper-discussion with Katie, Risa, Thalia, Nico, Pollux, Will, Jake, and Jennifer: nature, rainbows, the sky, precious metals, vineyards and grapes, the sun, the earth, and the moon. Why wasn't the sea represented? Why wasn't I informed?
"Percy should be discussing this with us! His dad has pull in nature too, you know!" Thalia voiced my thoughts exactly. But Chiron just shook his head.
"Chiron, this is dumb. Percy!" Nico called to me. "Get over here!"
"What's going on?" I asked of everyone, but I really wanted the answer out of Chiron. He'd never kept me in the dark like this before.
"It's Rachel." Thalia answered me despite Chiron's warning look. "She's given another prophecy."
"Well? What is it?" I couldn't understand why Chiron would want to keep a prophecy from me. I'd had my big prophecy quest. Surely he didn't think I had another one coming so soon!
Chiron avoided my gaze, but Will answered me.
"Satyrs and nature spirits alike
Search and find naught without any light
Daughters and sons of sky, earth, and sea
Hasten to set the last goddess free
One shall come that confuses the rest
And our rock shall fail to fight his best."
I slumped down onto the floor. Sea was included in the prophecy, so why wasn't I called? Who is our rock, and why will he fail? Who can confuse people that easily, and what does it mean "the rest"? Who is "the last goddess"? And does Grover know about all this? The last question seemed the most pressing to me, so I voiced it aloud as best I could.
"Percy, Grover was the one who went to Rachel and got the prophecy." Pollux said quietly. "He didn't have permission for a quest, and after he came down and told us, he ran off to tell Juniper and said he'd be back in a few minutes."
"OK, so what's the problem? I mean, other than the fact that he got a prophecy without authorization."
"That was hours ago. He's gone." Nico said darkly.
Chiron interrupted. "It's almost time for dinner. Go back to your cabins, assure them everything is all right, and wash up. Our first Claiming is tonight." I wished he would say more, but his expression kept me from asking. I'd never seen him so worried.
I did as I was told, going back to the cabin and telling Camilla and Tyson as little as I could. Camilla understood that I shouldn't say anything, but at the first mention of Grover, Tyson became persistent. "Grover will be OK, Tyson," I reassured him. "He's a big satyr now. He's a Lord of the Wild, remember?" Tyson nodded, holding back big Cyclops tears, and followed Camilla and I out the door to the Big House.
"Welcome, campers, to another summer at Camp Half-Blood. This year, thanks to Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Tyson, Grover Underwood, and all the campers who fought in the Battle for Olympus last summer, we have 10 new cabins and even more new campers. I have, however, withheld information from you. Our guardian satyrs have found many new campers in the mortal world, but many of them were under the determinable age, which is thirteen, as set by Percy in his dealings with the gods. Those I have kept secret until now. I have asked the gods to participate in a Claiming ceremony at the start of camp every summer, and they have temporarily agreed. The children participating in the claiming are under the age of 13 and have exhibited no obvious signs of their parentage. Those who did were claimed almost immediately after their powers showed up and were put in their cabins. Carter, for example." He stopped to point out the youngest Apollo camper, the one who I had praised earlier for his clean bunk. "But enough explaining. I've got about fifteen campers who don't know who their parents are yet and they need to be claimed. So let's start the Claiming!"
He started calling names in alphabetical order. Kinda reminded me of the Sorting in Harry Potter...
"James Alson!" A little boy with brown hair and freckles came forward and stood in front of Chiron. A glowing bronze scale appeared in the air over his head and he was sent to the Nemesis table where Ellen stood to receive him.
"Sarah Britton!" A little girl with blonde hair and grey eyes like Annabeth's stood in front of Chiron. Unsurprisingly, she got a glowing blue owl for Athena. Annabeth, looking like a proud big sister, stood to receive her young lookalike.
"Marcus Chapman!" A little seven-year-old boy with dark brown hair and electric blue eyes ran eagerly to his place in front of Chiron. Jonathan Chapman, lead counselor for the Morpheus cabin, stood, saying, "Chiron, he's my half-brother. He's got to be Morpheus." However, as Jonathan spoke, a eagle with a lightning bolt in its mouth materialized above his head. Jonathan sat down in disbelief, murmuring to himself, "Mom sees through the mist... I guess she took a step up after me..." Meanwhile, Marcus ran to Thalia, who stood in shock to receive him.
The Claiming continued: Jenna Darden got a heart for Aphrodite, Ian Jensen got a little golden check-shaped swish for Nike, Henry McGregor got a golden bow for Apollo, and Lauren McMann got a shower of sparks for Hecate.
"Kyle Neal!" A little boy, no older than nine, stepped in front of Chiron and waited. A few minutes passed by, longer than everyone else, and finally, a caduceus appeared over his head. Connor Stoll stood up and said, "Does this mean he's ours, or he's still undetermined?"
"Neither, Stoll. He's ours." Phoebe stood, a fighting look on her face. "The caduceus has been a symbol of doctors for years. He is a descendant of Asklepios." They looked to Chiron for a decision.
"Hermes and I foresaw this dispute, and he agreed to use a pair of winged sandals instead of his traditional caduceus. Kyle is a son of Asklepios." Connor sat down, meeting no one's eyes in embarassment. Phoebe stayed standing and received Kyle, giving him a seat next to her. As the Claiming resumed, Leigh Ostland went to sit with the Iris cabin after a glowing rainbow had manifested above her head, and Charlie Perltan joined the Hephaestus table after a hammer and an anvil glowed over him.
"Alyssa Rivers!" A brown-with-blonde-highlights-haired (Annabeth told me later they were obviously self-done) girl who I could have sworn had to be over 15 stepped in front of Chiron and waited. Immediately, a vine with grapes on it appeared over her head. Surprised, Pollux stood to receive her at the Dionysus table.
"Drake Simon!" A stocky boy about 12 came to stand in front of Chiron. I waited with bated breath, as did the rest of the campers. Personally, I was expecting another Hephaestus or an Ares, but apparently, looks weren't everything. A circle appeared over his head. The lead counselors all looked at each other in confusion, and finally, Jonathan Chapman stood up and asked Chiron, "OK, you know all the symbols, right, Chiron? Is it me or Carson or Madeline? Cuz those are the only three left." Chiron did not answer, but simply pushed Drake in the direction of the Hebe table. Madeline stood to receive her new half-brother as Jonathan sat down. The tension was getting more tangible. There were only three unclaimed left and still ten cabins hadn't gotten new members. Including mine.
"Blaize Sokan!" A young boy, maybe 6 or 7, with bright red hair stood in front of Chiron, and to everyone's confusion, a glowing, yellow-orange fire appeared over his head. Jake stood, intending to receive the boy whose symbol was different than the first Hephaestus symbol that Charlie had had. Chiron shook his head and said, "Blaize is not a son of Hephaestus. I feared this would happen. Hestia, the goddess of the hearth, has finally allowed her son to be revealed now that she has a cabin here. It was an honorary cabin, to memorialize when Percy gave her Pandora's box with Hope in it, so that Hope could survive. She broke her virginal vow to spread the warmth of the hearth throughout the world. Blaize, you may sit at that table right there." Chiron pointed the little boy in the direction of an empty table between the Hades table and the Morpheus table.
The rest of Claiming went without event. Jane Tristan got a glowing half-white-half-black mask for Janus, and Mason Wishart got three Z's floating over him for Morpheus. I was sort of relieved not to have a new camper in my cabin. Camilla was enough to deal with at the moment.
"PERRRRRRRRCY!" I heard someone call from outside. I would know that voice from miles away: it was Grover. I bolted outside and saw him standing-well, more like keeling over/leaning on the pine tree from exhaustion-just inside the camp borders with a young girl. I ran over to him, Annabeth and Tyson right behind me. He stumbled over and said, "Percy... Annabeth... I'm sorry I ran off. This girl... she's a half-blood. Her name's Sofia Raymond. I can't tell whose she is, and she doesn't have any powers yet. Tell Chiron." He slumped onto the ground in a very deep sleep, moaning, "Food!" every so often. Tyson picked him up, and I took the hand of the young girl, Sofia. Or rather, I went to, but Annabeth beat me to her.
"Hi sweetie, what's your name?" she asked in a soft voice. Holy Zeus, who knew Annabeth was good with kids? The little girl told her what we already knew, but Annabeth didn't say so.
"Hi Sofia, I'm Annabeth. Grover brought you here for a very good reason. Did he tell you why?" The little girl shook her head no, and Annabeth continued, "I have a friend here, his name is Mr. Chiron, and he's going to explain all about our camp to you, OK?" The little girl looked frightened, but she nodded along with Annabeth. She picked the girl up, gave her a kiss on the forehead, and handed her to Chiron. "She's a cutie," she told me. "But she's not Athena's. She would've pestered Grover until he told her what was going on, plus she doesn't have the eyes." I nodded in agreement, but I thought to myself, And I thought this summer would be quiet... silly me!
-~~-
A/N: Hey, folks, MidnightWriter here with my own solo project! This chapter was a long time in the works, and the rest of them will be the same way, plus AwesomeKid and I are still working on The Ultimate Showdown. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, and please review!