Chapter One: The Man and His Box
This place is considered sacred to the gods, to many people. It is one of the only places we can be without our scent being tracked by a local monster near where we are. Trust me, there are enough of them around that if we weren't careful, we could easily end our lives in that very spot. Don't worry; this probably doesn't apply to you.
This large inhabitance is called Camp Half Blood. If you ask me, it's a gift. If this camp had never existed, I would have been dead by the time I was seven. Or maybe even younger. I've heard that in the past, there have been invasions. The barrier to this camp had been broken some time ago. There was a hero who defeated them. Percy Jackson, and his girlfriend Annabeth Chase, I think. And some satyr… I forgot his name. They are constantly mentioned when we gather to discuss history. They don't seem so great, but apparently, they did a lot. Usually I just trust what they say and don't question. I'm sure they were alright demigods. But, really, I could care less. They seem overrated.
I'm Quinne Madison. I'm usually thought to be quite harmless looking. I'm a fairly petite sixteen year old, with long and wavy blond hair which reaches the small of my back. I've got freckles, and large grey eyes. If I focus them enough, I can manipulate people. Singing to manipulate works quite well too. You may say that I'm not completely harmless after all.
I'm one of the four Junior Leaders of Camp Half Blood. It's a bit of a tough job, considering that every year about a dozen more immature twelve year olds are claimed and bundled up to be shipped here. They're certainly the life of the nuisance.
My friends are leaders here too. Not all of them, but the best ones, at least. There's Ana, formerly Analee. She's a bright and carefree girl, with untamed, short and scraggly brown hair, which, for some reason we are still yet to figure out, she chose to streak violently with electric blue. She tries to prove she's taller than me, but I just don't see that.
I can usually stand her. Everybody can usually stand her.
Note my repetition on the word "usually."
I think she intakes about twice the amount of energy that an average demigod should get. This would explain the reason she needs to have another plate of chicken fifteen minutes after a full, three course dinner. It would also explain why she doesn't have a point in which her body flips the switch to "settle down and be quiet" mode. Although, if this is the only personality you've seen her in, you do not know Analee Watson. She can be quiet. And sensible. And not always reckless.
Sometimes.
Then there is Ellie, formerly Elika Ruiz. She's a tall, lanky girl, with a mane of long, puffy and curly brown hair, with honeyed highlights. Her eyes are hard and cold, and such a deep black that you can easily be drawn away from her in fear when she's in a bad mood. Likewise, she's the darkest of the bunch. Although, when you get to know her, she has this entire other side of Elika where she keeps her gigantic ego. She is one interesting soul.
Lastly, the fourth Junior Leader of Camp Half Blood is Jo, formerly Joanna Hatch. She's a fair, peachy cheeked Irish girl with reddish brown ringlets, and striking copper highlights. Her eyes have an assertive emotion to them, and they are a majestic, stern hazel color.
I sometimes feel the need to praise her. She's sensible in fashion (more than any of us, really, especially Ellie), and she has a clear sense of sanity, a quality I do not find a sufficient amount of in Ana nor Ellie. She's very maternal, and very logical. Her wits sometimes win me too, even being the daughter of Athena and all. But it means there is someone to look up to, occasionally. The only thing that bugs me about her is her OCD. But, who can blame her, really? I still can't see the reason that none of her food can touch one another, and that the napkins have to be one the left side of the plate, or that her bed sheet can't touch the floor. But, I can't blame her for anything.
We are here, sitting together, eating our lunch at the Young Leaders table. It's ever so slightly awkward that four people are sitting at such a big table, when ten to twenty people inhabit each of the other 12 or so of them. But we can sometimes be the loudest of all.
"Can't you just pass the pepper without having to wave it in front of my face in mockery, Ellie?" asks Jo with distress as she grasps with no avail to the tiny shaker filled with black specks.
Ellie sighs. "Well, I guess. But, on one condition. You must speak the password."
"Oh, come on. Can you please just hand me the stupid pepper shaker?"
"Nope. No can do. The password is absolutely mandatory."
I nudge Ellie, and give her a look. Hey, her food is getting cold, you know, I try to communicate. Jo sighs. "What's your silly password?"
"You must say, 'Elika is the coolest, most awesome leader I have ever known, and I will always praise her forever.'"
"Oh, no. No way am I saying that," says Jo. "Just give me the freaking pepper shaker," she says, with a coldness to her voice which is almost frightening. Ellie gives a little mock pouty face, and then feebly rolls the shaker across the table to her, leaving a faint trail of smelly black pepper sprinkles behind it.
"There ye' are, me' lady," she says with a sarcastic tone.
"Oh, don't you patronize me," Jo snaps back.
This is why I love her.
Meanwhile, Ana sits to my other side, an empty plate sitting in front of her. "Aren't you going to eat?" I ask her.
"What are you talking about, Quinnie? I've already had thirds."
Right, I remind myself. This is Ana I'm talking to.
"I think I need just a bit more of that fantastic fried chicken to fill my stomach for capture the flag," she says to herself, an ascending and silly tone to her voice.
"I think you need to start putting offerings into the fire," I tell her. "Exactly! I don't know how they can still deal with you, with all that ignorance you have towards them," Jo adds.
"Oh, who cares," says Ana. "They need to cool it. I don't know at all why they need to have a good smell waft up their noses every couple of hours to feel praised. And, I mean, I'm a growing girl still! I need as much food as physically possible."
The ground gives a slight rumble, and it begins to drizzle. A streak of stern grey lightning flashes dangerously close to Ana.
"That's what you get," Ellie says under her breath.
The drizzling stops abruptly, and Ana dismisses the angry message from her father with nonchalance. "Zeus is probably moving you down on his favorites list right now," exclaims Jo.
The rest of us have only gotten about three quarters finished with our meals when the conch horn sounds, and the capture the flag came is announced.
Our main (and ancient) centaur Leader, Chiron, yells to the camp atop a new fixture that was created only recently by us staff, and specifically designed by me, to support the people who wish to make announcements. It is located about ten feet from the mess hall, and is a tall bronze platform big enough to fit the average hellhound.
"May I have your attention," Chiron shouts to the food covered audience. "We are now going to take part in our monthly capture the flag game. Our four leaders, Analee Watson, Elika Ruiz, Quinne Madison and Joanna Hatch, will, as always, each be the team captains for our four quadrants. Analee and Elika, you will lead the Mesirexus and Democriixe quadrants to the climbing walls as headquarters to discuss your plan. Quinne and Joanna, you will take the Iocrestia and Azefira quadrants to the amphitheatre. Now, each two quadrants must be done creating their strategy within ten minutes. When you hear the conch horn, you must all report back here to the Mess Hall, where we will carefully review the rules and conditions. Then we will walk as a group to the forest, and the game will commence. Is everyone clear?"
We all nod.
"You have exactly two minutes to report to your headquarters, starting now." Chiron blows the conch horn once again, and I walk to the fire to scrape my last bit of salad and rice into the flames. Hi, mom, I think. Please wish me luck, and if you could, give me and Jo some good strategies. I'll try to make you proud.
Jo and I round up the rambunctious group of kids accompanied by annoyed and pestered teenagers close to my age. After a tedious amount of yelling and grabbing utensils out of their greasy hands, I get my quadrant to calm down, as does Jo. We start to walk towards the amphitheatre, and I see Ellie and Ana sneering at us, and laughing a little bit. "Hey guys. Wish you luck for the game," I tell them.
"Yeah, and we wish you luck with that noisy group of kids," replies Ana. I give a sarcastic smile. "Well, we'll see how well you do with yours over there. Seeya, Ani-Bannani!"
That nickname certainly sparks her competitive side. Jo lets out a chuckle.
We reach the amphitheatre, and Jo and I step up to the stage, and separate our two quadrants into separate places in the audience.
"Okay, guys," I tell them. "We are going to split up into three different groups. The first one is the defenders. Who wants to be in this group?"
Several girls from the Hypnos cabin raise their hand, as does a boy from the Athena cabin, and some scattered kids from both the Iris and Aphrodite cabins.
"Good, that's about twelve people. Felix," I tell the boy from my cabin, Athena. "You can be the main defender of the flag. Remember; go to as far of lengths as you can to protect all space about five feet from the flag. Emily, Judah, Becca, Hannah, you should stay on the front outskirts of our territory. Whenever anybody tries to enter it, block them with anything you can think of off the top of your head. Use any magic you've got, if it is necessary. Ramona, Lycia, Celia, Gwenne, you should stay around the West side of the territory, and keep a very keen eye out for any impostors or sneakers. Finnick, Robert, Eleanor, you do the same on the East side. Remember, staying alert means everything in this game. If you see anyone on offense getting into our territory, send a representative from each of the groups I picked to gang up on them. Got it?"
All twelve of them nod.
"Emily, Lycia, Finnick, you are our representatives. Go after absolutely any invader you see."
"Even if we might be useful as defense with the others? Do you mean on absolutely all occasions of an invader?" asks Finnick.
"Yes, even if," I say sternly. "Jo, you carry on and instruct the direct offense people. Who would like to do this?"
Two girls and one boy from the Hebe cabin raise their hand, as do three girls from Athena and four from Hypnos.
"That's ten people," says Jo. "Alright, this will hopefully be an efficient job. Lynne, Bennet, Nora, I will be with you three. We are going to charge directly in the flag's direction on my queue, and you must have your weapons ready at all times. Try to make a straight path, and if you see someone coming towards you, trick them by not giving a stern direction, and while at that, do your best to unarm them. Got it?"
"Yeah," Nora answers "We'll do that." Bennet and Lynne nod in assent.
"Rhea, Reece, Crimson, You should stay on either side of this group of four as we charge for the flag. You should also take my queue. But see yourself as more of a distraction as we four head to the flag, and if we get backed up, try to distract our component, so that we have steady path to our objective."
"Does this mean getting in front of you when a competitor tries to fight you?" asks Crimson.
"Exactly that," Jo replies.
"Now, the rest of you will do the job of sneaking around and into the borders of the opposing territory with me," I say. "Who are these people?"
Five girls and three boys from the Apollo cabin raise their hand, as well as two boys and one girl from Hypnos, and six girls from Aphrodite.
"Woah, seventeen people. That's a lot, but I trust we can do it. Alright. Any eight of you, raise your hands." The two sisters from Apollo raise their hand, and one of the boys. Four girls from Aphrodite and one boy from Hypnos top off the eight.
"Okay, everyone who just raised their hand, listen to me. I am going to lead you into the East border of the opposing territory. On my queue, four of you will very slowly and very, very quietly scatter in. Hide behind trees as frequently as you can. Always have your weapons ready. On my next queue, the rest of us will scatter in, and follow those same directions. The other nine of you will do the same, but on the West border. Queenise," I tell one of the girls from Apollo, "You will lead them into this by the same guidelines I just explained to my half. Are you"-
The conch horn blows loudly again, and we sigh and walk with a fast pace back to the Mess Hall. I edge up next to Queenise as we walk. "Did you get my instructions?" I asked, to be sure.
"Yes, I did, and I'll be fine, trust me," she replies.
I give her a nod, and we finally reach the Mess Hall.
Chiron is back on his little (or shall I say quite large) post, shouting to get everyone's attention.
"Excuse me! Boys and girls! Please pay attention. Excuse me!" Chiron tries to talk over all the loud people, excited and anxious about the upcoming game. Eventually, the laughing and talking simmers down.
"Thank you. We will now review the safety rules and conditions of the game."
He repeats the usual set of rules to us, yawning and fanning ourselves, and, when we hear the horn once more, we become alert again, and start pushing and shoving towards the forest.
We stop at our cabins to get our weapons, and people who don't own any go to the armory (which is not very many people, considering). I get my bronze dagger with an olive tree trunk handle that my mom gave me, along with the matching bronze shield with an owl engraved on it by one of the Cyclops working for Hephaestus. Bronze it not very valuable, but it is quite durable, and I find it special, because people rarely choose it over platinum and gold. My other siblings from the Athena cabin grab their weapons, and soon we have made it to the arena.
Our flags are positioned on a slope, and we get the slightly uphill side of it, which gives us an advantage of sorts. Our flag is an incorporated design of both me and Jo's quadrant crests. My quadrant, Iocrestia, has the left half of a flag, where a fruitful olive vine entwines a branch with an owl sitting on it, and a sun shines brightly in the corner, with a flower covered grassland lining the bottom of the picture. Jo's half, the Azefira quadrant, has a small, inviting fire, with sparks coming from it, and two rings floating above it, entwined in each other. One is gold, and the other is silver. The only reason the rings are there are because the Azefira quadrant worships Hera more than any other quadrant, and there are no demigods from Hera, because she is Zeus's loyal wife, being the Goddess of marriage and steady relationships. A full moon floats in the right corner of the picture, and stars shine in the painted sky.
Yes, indeed, we do have quite intricate quadrant crests.
We all take our places in our territory, and the game begins. I start slowly walking with my group to the border of Ellie and Ana's territory, and I already see our plan rocketing, but not working fully to expectations. One of the kids from the Ares cabin is fighting Becca, the girl from the Persephone cabin who I told to guard our front outskirts. I stop about three hundred yards away, watching her dodge sword slash after sword slash, trying the best with her limited skills to block the blows.
I know I don't have time to help, and the rest of my group is already far ahead of me. I run as fast as possible to the very border of our territory. I'm gasping for breath.
"Okay," I sputter. "We need to keep extremely calm, and sneak stark straight in the path of any tree possible. The first four of us going in will act as distractions, and the second four will head for the flag. We need to watch for Jo's queue, and when you see it, look to me, and the second group will start going in. First group, you can scatter in whenever you want. Are you good?"
Everyone mutters in agreement.
"Good. First four… Go." I whisper harshly.
Half of my group scatters into the amidst of the forest, and then all we see of them is the occasional string of hair behind a tree, or a nose peeking out to the other side to see if there is anyone behind them.
I look back to our side, and I see the chaos commencing within the small space. There are bushes on fire, people being knocked down, and some more Ares and Poseidon kids are getting dangerously close to the flag. I start to consider going back to help, when I am nudged by one the people from my cabin, and a stern whisper speaks in my ear, "Hey, she just gave the queue!"
I thank Janice, the girl from my cabin who gave the warning, and abruptly give a couple strenuous nods for everyone to see, and the first three of us get in safely. I am held up by two kids from the Nike cabin, and, guess who: Ana herself.
I give her a stern but playful look, and she throws her electric spear straight in my direction without hesitation. Expecting this move, I duck to the right, but she is up on her feet giving the second throw before I can hoist myself up, and her spear just barely grazes my left arm. I yowl in pain, but I see many people from the opposing territory noticing this, and seeking the area for more of my group, so I quickly disarm the spear from the suddenly baffled Ana in the heat of the moment with my dagger, and sprint in the direction of my group to serve as a distraction. Several people try to corner me, but I've gotten up to so fast and vigorous a speed that I almost feel as if I am tripping over my own shoelace with each step.
I don't know where I am going, but I just keep running, and since it's downhill, it is quite smooth, but it makes my running even harder to stop. I've gone almost a mile when I stop and see something that immediately strikes my attention.
It is a large and strikingly blue police box, bearing the words
Police
Public call box
There is a mixture of feelings inside me, involving anxiety, terror, worry and excitement. The blue is almost blinding, like a splotch of bright paint on this grey canvas of dry summer nature.
The door faces me, and there are small, round French door handles on the front. The thing looks like it could be easily found in a twenties exhibit at a museum.
The next thing that happens sends me tripping over my own feet to reach a hard thud at the ground.
A man, seemingly in his mid twenties, opens the door with a burst of excitement and naïve nature. He has dark brown and wavy hair that flops slightly onto one side of his face. He is wearing a beige button up shirt, tucked into a pair of slacks with suspenders with a brown suede jacket and a bow tie. And for some odd reason I plan never to ask him for… He is wearing a bright red fez.
His eyes have a wild look in them, and it is almost terrifying. About three or so milliseconds after he opens the door, he triumphantly shouts with a thick British accent:
"Here we are, Mr. and Mrs. Pond! The year two hundred billion, the dawn of a new Em"-
He pauses, looking around the above atmosphere, and a childish pout grows on his face.
"Oh… Never mind. Got the timing a bit off."
I lie there, hoping to be unnoticed, no sound able to escape my lips. A Woman's voice with a Scottish accent and a slightly sassy tone says,
"You never even mentioned the year two hundred billion. You mentioned something like nineteen twelve. You always been saying it's the year two hundred billion when you open the door, lately. Is that on purpose, Mister Clever? Or does the fact that everyone has a default actually apply to somebody as amazing and smart as you?" she lets out a sarcastic gasp. The man seems to ignore her.
"You know he thinks he's still impressive, nevertheless," says a modest voice with a British accent like the man standing outside the door, very matter-of-factly. I lie there, stiff as a board, my eyes as outstretched as baseballs, or so it seems.
Finally, the man looks down, and abruptly steps back.
"Oh!" He says, with a completely innocent and surprised tone. Then he gives a slight smile, as if suddenly not surprised at all, and casually says,
"Hello there. I'm the Doctor."