Now for your mentor it has been decided on that your mentor will be Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. Now this meeting is dismissed." Zeus said to end his speech and everybody but Athena and the kids left.
They walked towards me and Athena smiled gently to the kids before turning her attention on me.
"You, Luke Castellan, are my latest apprentice this means you are my responsibility. Your training is my responsibility and thus shall be taken seriously. You will follow the same training schedule as the others, it is posted in the cabin. You will be offered missions of different sorts they are like quests. Sometimes it will be simple like giving a message to one of the camps and sometimes it won't be like tracking down the Minotaur and some Hellhounds." as she said the names I flinched out of habit, but everything she was saying made sense." These are my other apprentices and they will show you to the cabin, you will be given immortality after you sixth successful mission. You are ranked based on training, your commitment, how good you are, missions, how you handle situation, etc. No training today, but tomorrow you do so be ready." When she finished she flashed away and I turned my attention to the other apprentices.
I looked them over and noticed they all had on ceremonial armor on with an owl holding a spear engraved onto it. They all held a helmet in their hand with a storm gray helm. There were two guys and the rest were girls. One guy was tall with a goofy grin on his face and scars covering his arms and legs. He had sandy blonde hair and light blue eyes he had the look of a prankster and wondered if he came from the Hermes cabin. I instinctively put a hand on my wallet and a hand on my bags. The next guy was lean with pale, gold, wild hair and eyes that kept changing colors from ice blue to fire red to dark green to black. He had spiral tattoos on his face and from his elbows to his shoulders. He also had a tattoo on his shoulder above the other one that said SPQR with a picture of a yew tree above it and below it were several tally marks. He had an olive skin tone. Next there was a girl with long wavy black hair and bright green eyes. Her eyes were as bright as most of the Apollo cabin's eyes were. She had a slightly crazy smile on her face and I could just make out a small chain on her neck. Next was a girl with black hair that laid in ringlet curls on her back. She had sharp sea green eyes and a small smile on her face. The next girl also had curly black hair, but hers were a little tighter and at the ends they were dyed a dark blue that matched her eyes. She also had a book tucked inside her helmet. The next on had wild and frizzy copper brown hair that landed just below her shoulder. Her eyes were bright green and she appeared to be thirteen, but I knew better than to believe that any Hebe camper, which there was a few in our cabin, always appeared younger than what they really are. She had a smirk on her face that looked like it never left. Next was a girl with bright red hair that had a soft curl to it her eyes were a soft green that seemed both kind and intelligent. The last girl looked slightly odd. She was tall with long legs but she was very skinny and had very pale skin. Her hair was bleach blonde and she had large unblinking icy blue eyes. She had dark red libs and long fingers with a light purple coat of nail polish.
The guy with the wile gold hair stepped forward, "I am currently ranked number one, my name is Trent Reid I have been here second longest by five years and I am a child of Trivia. As our mentor failed to tell you the other camp is for Roman demigods. I am one of them. I come from the time of the Crusades and haven't left obviously." Then up stepped the girl that looked to be 13 stepped up. "My name is Grace Rosario I currently rank second and I am a child of Hebe. I come from the time of WWII." The kid I have pegged as a child of Hermes or I guess it could be Mercury steps up. "I am Fred Williamson. I have been here longest and am ranked third. I am a child of Hermes." The girl with shockingly bright green eyes that looked like an Apollo kid steps up. "Aly Faulkner, ranked fourth, I am a child of Apollo and I am from the 1970's." the girl with the hidden book walks forward. "Belle Mendez, child of Aphrodite tied for ranking of fifth and have been here since the Roaring Twenties." The girl with bright red hair comes forward. "Izzy Carter, child of Demeter, tied for fifth, and I have been here since the eighties." the girl with sea green eyes comes up. "Lilly Anderson, ranked sixth, child of Poseidon, been here since WWI, definitely not the child of the prophecy." Liz Syens," says the girl that looked slightly odd," daughter of Apollo, also ranked sixth, and I've been here since the 1990's."
They then led me to the cabin to lay down my things. The cabins were set up very similarly to how the were at camp only there were two extra cabins. One for the minor gods, one for the minor goddesses. They led me into the Athena cabin, still number six. It was larger than the Athena cabin at camp and had several bunks. Each bunk bed set had two chests at the edge of the bed a bookshelf next to it and a desk filled with paper, graph paper, notebooks, pens, pencils, protractors, calculators, and anything else you might need. There were bookshelves filled with scrolls and books in the front of the cabin and each top bunk had a laptop with an owl on the back which I assumed must be safe to use. I walked to an empty bunk and put my stuff down and as I did a plaque with my name on it appeared on all the stuff, the chests, the bunks, the desk, and the bookshelf.
"Why does each person get to beds?" I wonder allowed.
"One bed is for working on and the other is for sleeping and before you ask the laptop is safe to use designed by Hephaestus, with the internet speed at the speed of Hermes." Grace replied to me and I smiled.
I put everything I brought for sleeping on the top bunk and I put my clothes in the chests. I put my drachma at the bottom of one chest and put my picture album on the bookshelf. I put my sword and my knives and my shield under the bed. My nectar and ambrosia went into the trunk without the drachma and the one with drachma got my water mister.
I remembered Athena said that the training schedule was posted so I looked for it and found it pinned to a corkboard along with rankings. the schedule was as follows:
Weekdays:
Breakfast 6-6:30
Warm ups 6:35-6:50
Sword Training 6:50-9
Ranged Weapons 9:05-12:30
Lunch 12:35-1
Break 1-3
Duels 3-5
Dinner 5-6
Free Time 6-10
Sleep 10
Weekends:
Breakfast 7:30-8
Warm Ups 8:05-8:45
Review 8:45-12
Lunch 12-1
Mission Giving 1-1:20 (Sat.)
Ranking 1-1:20 (Sun)
Free Time 1:20-5
Dinner 5-6
Night Training 6-11 (Sat)
Strategy 6-9 (Sun)
Game Night 9-11 (Sun)
"What is Game Night?" I ask after looking at the schedule.
"Oh, sometimes we play simple games in the cabin with each other and Athena or sometimes it is games like Capture the Flag or something like that with everybody. Coming up is just a regular game night but after that I here we have War Games. It hasn't been decided if we are defending or retrieving. War Games is like capture the flag, but the defending team gets the activity before Game Night off to build a fort. It is a really fun game. Tomorrow is Tuesday so you have to be up early we'll get you armor and things during break." supplied Fred.
"Umm how do I know when to wake up?" I ask hesitantly because I am not the earliest of risers and at camp we didn't have to get up that early.
"Oh, yes first day means we get to wake you up however we like, until you learn to wake up early enough." Trent says with a smirk.
I gulped. That didn't sound to good.
"I can show you around if you want, it's only 1 dinner isn't until 5. You might want to take some drachma we can stop and buy some things." Grace offered and I nodded, grabbed my pack of drachma, and followed her.
"So why is this system set up anyways?" I ask Grace as we start walking, she has changed out of the armor and is now in a comfortable looking shirt with a band called Queen on it, the name sounded familiar but I didn't know the band.
"It's set up to be used as an army if the need arises, say like the Giants rise again or Kronos or maybe Typhoon. We haven't been really needed yet but they keep us here anyways. It is great fun and the missions are a lot of fun exploring different countries and different sights." Grace says a huge smile on her face.
"Ok that makes sense."
We keep walking and we stop in a bookshop so I can start filling up my bookshelf. I get some fantasy books, some sci-fi books, a few mystery, and several nonfiction books. I also buy a plain satchel that was made to be trans-dimensional and light so I could carry everything around.
"How do you make money?" I ask Grace knowing my drachma won't last forever.
"Oh missions are rewarded with drachma and depending on your rank you get some and the games are also rewarded with drachma, so don't be to concerned about money."
She smiled and showed me the rest of the city and all of it's stores. They had stores for everything ranging from electronics to armor to nectar to paper to quills to clothes. We looked at the restaurants and Grace bought me and herself an ice-cream cone since we both skipped lunch. She then showed me were all the training takes place.
The Arena was separated into multiple sections. There was a plain section with targets at varied points and a few that were moving. A section had dummies some that fought back and some that didn't and in the middle of that was a round roped of place with chairs around it that duels were held in. Then there was two sections that looked completely barren but Grace showed me that it was set up by Hephaestus to make a location. It could look like anything, and it feels completely real. Then in one you set it up so monsters come in and in the other you sent in multiple people. It seemed pretty intense but in the simulations with the monsters you couldn't be actually hurt it just seemed like you were because all of the pain and other things are in your head you could only be truly injured by falling. Grace showed me how to set a simulation up because it was fun to do in free time according to her. You just choose certain settings or a preset setting and then you drank a fluid that connected you to the device so it feels real. You walk into the area and you just wait and attack. If you wanted to view it you ingested a different liquid. In the simulation with the other people you could be injured just like in a regular duel. That's why they had a medical room close by and easy access to it.
After that she showed me where they had some arcades and other fun things to do and then we headed back to the cabin it was 4:30 already which meant that when we got to the cabin I had about 25 minutes to put stuff away and relax before dinner. I pulled out a new psychology textbook, a notebook, and a black pen. I started reading and taking notes on the text. Little known fact, if I survived I always wanted to be a therapist. In my life I've been through all the common things people get therapy for, abandonment issues, feeling like you don't belong, worthlessness, depression, resentment, bullies, but luckily no abuse from the hands of humans, monsters though I think it should count as abuse. I literally know how they feel. Also demigods are often sent to therapists about bullies, we are easy targets with the ADHD and inability to read English properly. I became so engrossed that I didn't notice the others were leaving until Grace comes over and taps me on the shoulder. I put my work down and follow her to the pavilion where we eat at for dinner every weekday weekends and lunch are free meals you could eat it here or at one of the many restaurants. I sat at a table next to Grace and another girl and a boy. The girl was slim and had long wavy brown hair, icy blue eyes, and tanned skin. She was wearing a blood red tank top and short shortHershey had a tattoo similar to Trent's only hers had hearts instead of a yew tree, she also had a silver gun tucked into her belt. The guy was tall and wiry He had shaggy blonde hair that fell into his eyes and grey eyes with a kind of golden fire behind them. He had charge calloused hands and silly smirk on his face.
"Hi I'm Karen Harkness, apprentice of Ares, daughter of Venus, who might you be?" The girl says with a rather flirtatious smile, and tone.
"Karen!" Grace yells, "You'll scare him, it's his first day!"
"I was just saying hello!"
"It's never just that." The guy says with that cheesy smirk on his face.
"Luke, this is Karen and that is Rosie," the guy glared at her,"Fine his name is Royce, son of Apollo, apprentice of Hephaestus. but we call him Rosie."
"No you don't" Royce protested.
"Yes we do!" chimed in Karen.
"Oh, don't mind Karen's flirting she flirts with everybody." Grace told me.
I nod and start eating. Together we talk about nonsensical things before we notice how late it was getting and head our separate ways. I climb to the top bunk and am asleep almost immediately. I think I'll like it here.
Now let me give credit for the people who submitted the characters:
Liz Syens- HappilyEnding
Izzy Carter- MissSemi-Dependent
Grace Rosario- ShimmeringDaisyFace
Belle Mendez- ALittleDifferent88
Aly Faulkner- FinalDestinationLover45
Trent Reid- Howlsong13
Lilly Anderson- Lillian Daughter of Poseidon
Karen Harkness and Royce Tyler- Silent Phantom Gal
(::) This cookie is for VirtualViola03 for guessing correctly.
Thanks for your time, and I apologize for the long wait. It would of been up sooner, but I had written all the descriptions up and then it deleted it. Then I had written it half way up and it deleted it. Moral of the story always make sure you save your work.
~Ariana Seneca Maverick and Farrow
