Percy stepped forward and took Sean's arm. The campers erupted in voices and arguments, and Percy inconspicuously escorted Sean into the Poseidon cabin. There they waited, and soon a few campers visited the Artemis cabin. When they didn't find Shaun, they looked in Apollo and Hermes, and several of the minor gods, then gave up and left.
Soon, Annabeth joined them and the discussion began.
"Can't say I know how you feel," Percy said. "When I was claimed everyone bowed. There certainly weren't angry mobs after me, at first."
"Aren't we going to address the real topic of interest here?" Annabeth was very exasperated. "Artemis, virgin goddess, Maiden of the Hunt, the one who's sworn off men and children? She's got a son. How-"
A distant voice sounded. It belonged to Clarisse, the queen of bullies and fun-makers and daughter of Ares. "Check the other cabins, then! Punk's gotta be around here somewhere. In fact, he's probably with old Seawater Mouth over there."
Annabeth pulled a Yankees baseball cam from her back pocked and put it on. She turned in visible, startling Sean and almost making him yelp. She soon reappeared in the doorway of the honorary silver Artemis cabin, and threw the cap like a frisbee. Sean caught it and put it on, instantly turning invisible. He almost ran into Clarisse on the way out, who saw Percy alone in his cabin, snorted, and left after Sean. He reappeared in the Artemis cabin and threw the cap as Annabeth had. Percy soon joined them, and returned the cap to Annabeth.
"So," Annabeth continued. "How does she swear off men and children, then have a man-child with a man?"
"True, it is unlike me."
The three campers nearly jumped through the high roof and turned to face the newcomer. She wasn't dressed like an ancient goddess, though her very presence said, Artemis. She was dressed in a silver T-shirt, dark gray pants, white Converse shoes, and held a silver bowtie in her hand. She approached them from the back of the cabin.
"I know, I was the goddess of chastity and virginity, yes. Now, though, I am not. I have been stripped of those titles with your birth, Sean. Ah, but I do not despair. I have seen the practicality and wisdom of having a true child, instead of just my Huntresses. They are truly a force to be reckoned with, but a child, with inherited abilities, now that is power. And even more lucky am I that the child I sired was one such as you, Sean. Yes, I will have to return to my Huntresses, but this visit bears gifts, as with any rare future visits." Artemis held out the bowtie, and Sean reached for it, disappointed. A bowtie? For her first and only child in millennia? Sean was by no means spoiled, but a bowtie? And after that speech about how lucky she was to have Sean as a son? As soon as Sean's hand closed around it, though, the bowtie expanded. The bow part grew longer and heavier in both directions, until it was a full-force silver longbow. The strap of the bowtie disconnected, and grew as well. Soon, the strap belonged to a quiver. It looked made of silver silk, but was as thick and resilient as any leather. There were needle-thin lines of turquoise along the length of the quiver, and gave it the odd appearance of being woven out of the moonlight itself. The arrows within were of solid silver, even the fletchings, which were made of silver filament. Sean set down the bow and quiver, which turned back into a bowtie, then grew even smaller into something else. It was now a silver chain with a small replica of a drawn bow on it. Artemis then produced a pile of armor. It was all designed just like normal Greek armor; greaves and bracers, a breastplate over a knee-length tunic, and a helmet with a horsehair plume. With this armor, though, what was supposed to be bronze was silver, and the tunic and plume, which were supposed to be red, were turquoise.
"These are enchanted," Artemis explained, "and intertwined with the Mist." The Mist, in a nutshell, was the magical force that showed mortals what their minds could comprehend instead of the supernatural world of the gods. "It will change according to what you want, but all clothing is woven of silver filament. It will still be armor." Sean put the pile of armor with the necklace, and started to speak with Artemis. She spoke first, though.
"When you're in need, two silver hunting knives will appear to you. They will be exactly as you need them, as far as balance, sharpness, and grip."
"Thank you, mother." This time, Sean managed to get his piece in. "You are most kind."
"One more thing. When you wake up tomorrow, my blessing will have been completed. You will have enhanced speed, strength, marksmanship skills, and stealth skill. You could join my Hunt and become immortal, but I don't suppose you'd want to swear off men." Artemis smiled. Sean chuckled, and bowed his head.
"You are very kind. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"Go to the Oracle," Artemis said. "There is a quest waiting for you. That is how you will repay me, by honoring me and my choice to have a child. Goodbye, son."
/\
Percy and Annabeth slept in the Artemis cabin that night. It was technically against the rules, but they wanted to have Sean's back in case of an Ares cabin raid. Sean had put on his armor, and it had immediately transformed into silver sweat pants and a turquoise T-shirt. He was sleeping very soon, but it may not have been a good thing.
The dream started familiar. Sean was being attacked by something unknown, just a shadow in the distance. He couldn't fight or even move, and-
The dream changed. Sean was leaning against the Big House, looking over Camp Half-Blood. It was peaceful, happy, and pride-inducing, just to know that Sean was a part of it. Then he blinked, and the cabins were burning. The pavilions were rubble. The lake's water had been replaced by fire. The forest now consisted only of charred stumps, as though crazy flaming lumberjacks had gone on a killing spree. And there, in the middle of it all, was a flawless cabin. The Artemis cabin. On top, sitting there looking pleased with himself, was Sean.
/\
You'll watch as comrades summon beasts that they cannot control.
You'll have to gather courage then, or cast aside your soul.
And if you wish to save friends' lives, you will not save your own.
But if you survive these circumstances, you will end up alone.
The green steam disappeared, and Rachel turned and walked away as if nothing had happened. Sean shuddered. The entire prophecy was a bad omen. Nothing about success, nothing about preventing this dilemma. Sean walked back toward the dining, where people still hadn't gotten over the whole 'son of Artemis' thing.
"So, if-"
"How did-"
"Why do-"
"Who do you-"
Sean was barraged with questions. Each one he answered with the truth, which was, "I don't know." He approached Chiron, who was one of the only people who understood and didn't ask questions. "I got my prophecy," he said, though he didn't much want to share it. He repeated the prophecy quietly to Chiron, whose expression didn't reassure Sean.
"Well," Chiron finally said, "this could mean many things-"
"I'm going to die." Sean was almost sure of it. "Or, I'm going to get everyone else killed. And it doesn't even mention anything about succeeding in my quest."
"Oh, child." Chiron tried to reassure him. "It's only some Cyclopes. Not even fully grown yet, against three heroes? Forget about failure." But both of them knew that even a young Cyclops was difficult to handle, and a group of Cyclopes was near impossible, even with three heroes. "Hm... How about this," Chiron said. "You can choose six heroes to accompany you." That was much better than three versus a group of Cyclopes. Sean nodded.
Chiron stamped his hoof, and the dining pavilion went silent. "We have a quest on our hands, as you all know. It is to be led by the first and only child of Artemis, Sean Bennett. He is to choose six heroes to accompany him, in order to give him a better chance of fighting off, yes, an uprising of young Cyclopes." The pavilion was overrun with a wave of muttering and protests. A few Hermes campers disappeared into the crowd. When the noise finally died down, Sean was free to choose his best partners.
"Percy and Annabeth." They had been very supportive when the camp had imploded at the news of Sean's mother. From there he had to think for a moment. He looked over the crowd, when suddenly, at the Hecate table, he saw an old friend. Wendall was his name, and he had stayed with Sean over all of his expulsions, and had been expelled as many times as Sean. They always stuck together, and Wendall had become one of Sean's only friends. Now they both realized that the other was a Half-Blood, and they locked eyes and grinned. "Wendall," Sean said. "Jason, Leo, Nico." Jason was a son of Zeus. He could fly, control the weather, summon lightning. Leo was a son of Hephaestus, and was one of the only ones in history who had complete control over fire. Nico was a son of Hades, and had control over the dead, among many other things. With a child of each of the Big Three on Sean's side, he could easily beat some Cyclopes. Especially with Leo and Annabeth thrown into the picture.
"The heroes have been chosen," Chiron said.
/\
Sean still couldn't get over the prophecy. There were too many negative things in it, and nothing positive. With some effort, he cast aside his thoughts of the prophecy and continued packing. He had his silver armor-clothes on, and the necklace. The clothes looked normal enough. They consisted of black Converse shoes, blue jeans, a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, a black leather jacket with a hood sewn to the inside of the collar, and black fingerless gloves. When Sean looked closely, though, he saw a silvery sheen through the Mist, and recognized the armor for what it was. He also wore a small black backpack with Nectar, the drink of the gods, Ambrosia, the food of the gods, mortal cash, and golden Drachmas, the money of the gods. As he moved from the tent, he saw that his group had already gathered. Percy had blue jeans and his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt on, with a sea-green hoodie and a black backpack. Annabeth was dressed the same, only with a gray hoodie. Wendall wore dark blue jeans, a red shirt, purple fingerless gloves, an orange Camp Half-Blood hoodie, and a single-strap purple backpack. It was odd, but then again he was the son of Hecate, the goddess of magic, and his outfit did scream 'magic.' Jason had his blue jeans and a purple Camp Jupiter shirt. He wore no hoodie or backpack. Leo wore a dark green T-shirt, gray cargo pants, and a leather tool belt. Nico wore black jeans, a black T-shirt, a black hoodie, and a black backpack. At first glance, it looked like everyone was wearing tall boots and sweat bands on their wrists. When seen through the Mist, though, the heroes all wore bronze bracers and greaves. Sean also had trouble seeing any of their weapons through the Mist. Annabeth's dagger kept looking like a purse. Jason's sword was starting to look like part of a belt hanging out of a belt loop. Nico's sword just kept disappearing.
"Well, let's go, then," Sean said, and started walking. The group was close behind. As they walked across the magical border, the Mist stopped flickering. They all just looked like normal kids, now. The Cyclops uprising was a bit to the north of Manhattan, so the group moved into the city to hail a cab. They took the taxis in groups. Sean went with Nico and Wendall, Jason with Leo, and Annabeth went with Percy.
Sean's cab was in the front. As they went, they discussed the coming quest.
"How many giants were there, again?" Wendall seemed concerned now that they were on the road.
"Cyclopes," Nico absentmindedly corrected him.
"There are seven," Sean said, "though they aren't fully grown."
"Good," Nico said. "One Cyclops to a demigod."
From there, the three demigods simply sat quietly and looked out the windows. When the cab passed out of the city, Sean turned his attention to the cab driver. It didn't seem he'd heard any of their discussion, which was good. Sean wasn't sure if he could have covered up the strange conversation about mythological creatures. Finally, the cab passed out of the suburbs of New York, and a few farms began to appear. In one of them, a strange image could be seen. There was a horse with a rooster on its head, which caught Sean's attention first. The second thing he saw was the cow, larger than any he'd ever seen and with larger horns. It was completely brown and looked more like a bull. Granted, he'd only seen cows at zoos for school field trips. Next, he saw a goat, but it was misshapen and strange-looking.
Then he blinked, and the Mist died. The horse and rooster turned into something strange. The horse's body was the same. However, it now had rooster claws, a rooster head, rooster wings, and a rooster tail, all enlarged to size. The cow was now only standing on two hooves. It still had the hindquarters of a cow, but the torso of a man, and the head of a large bull. The minotaur held a massive axe in both hands. The goat wasn't a goat anymore. It was a Chimera. It had the body of a lion, and a snake for a tail. The lion had two heads, one of a lion and the other of a goat.
As Sean watched, he saw the three creatures turn toward the cab and break into a full-force charge. He was about to tell the driver to step on it, but he stopped at a stop sign instead. It was no use. Sean rolled down the window and climbed to the roof of the cab. It lurched forward again, and Sean nearly lost his feet. The cab wasn't fast enough, though, and the creatures were gaining. Sean snatched his necklace off his neck, and it changed into a bow and quiver. He was about to fire at the minotaur, but then it stopped and turned toward Percy and Annabeth's cab. The horse-chicken turned to Jason and Leo's taxi, and the Chimera kept at Sean's. Percy climbed out the window as well, uncapping his ballpoint pen. Sean wasn't sure how that would help, but then it expanded into a sword. Annabeth climbed up with him. The cab drivers were still oblivious. Jason slashed out the window at the horse-chicken, but only managed to slice off a feather. Sean fired at the Chimera, and only then realized how much Artemis had enhanced his abilities. The arrow slammed into the Chimera's goat eye, and the head burst into golden dust. Now there was just a lion with a snake tail. Sean fired an arrow with such accuracy it sliced off the snake's head. Just an overlarge lion now. The Chimera charged past the cab, then skidded to a stop and slashed along the side. As the Chimera's claws caught on the cab, it turned sideways and skidded. Sean was hurled from the cab, and Nico flew out the window as well. Wendall was simply gone. The other two cabs slammed into the crashed one, and let fur demigods fly over one of the farms. Jason stayed suspended in the air, manipulating the wind. Everyone else rolled over the soft soil. Sean was flying higher than them, though, and would most definitely die on impact. Jason manipulated the wind again, though, and lowered him safely to the ground.
Sean nocked two arrows, and fired both at different targets. The Chimera was stuck through the eye, and burst into golden dust. The horse-chicken's neck was shish-kebabbed, and he also burst into golden dust. Percy stepped sideways and decapitated the charging Minotaur. All of the silver arrows that Sean had used fell and stuck themselves perfectly in the ground, where he could easily see and pick them up. He did, placing them in his quiver and dropping the bow. As it left his hand, it turned back into a necklace and replaced itself around his neck.
"Well," Percy said, with wisdom second only to Athena, "that's... yeah."
/\
Sean looked up from the road, and saw the first of the Cyclopes.
They were at least ten feet tall and great lumbering beasts. Each only had one large orange-brown eye, with one dark, bushy eyebrow, right in the middle of their heads. They had sharp, jagged teeth, massive arms, and fists the size of Sean's entire body. They all wore dirty, tattered tunics that might've once been white and too-small brown trousers. None wore any shoes, except for the lead one who wore a single tattered sandal. Sean instinctively ducked sideways into some trees. This far out in the country, there were a lot of those. The others were a bit slower to react. Jason stared for a moment before using his sky powers to shoot into the air. Wendall stood gawking, even as he turned invisible. Percy clenched his jaw at some memory and stalked over to Sean's side. Leo pulled something from his tool belt and lay on the ground. Annabeth put on her blue Yankees cap and disappeared. Nico summoned some shadows, which hid him as he raced to the side of the road opposite Percy and Sean. The Cyclopes lumbered past, and Sean slipped in behind the rear one. As soon as he was out of the trees, the group stopped.
"Heroes. I smell godly blood! I smell demigods! I smell Half-Bloods! I smell-"
"No you don't!" The lead Cyclops turned around and stopped the flow of words. "We need to keep moving if we're going to make it to the Union. That dumb demigod has asked for a Cyclops, well he'll get seven!"
The original speaker grumbled, but the group stomped on. Just then, a sword came out of nowhere and stabbed the lead Cyclops in the eye. He burst into golden dust, and Nico dropped into a roll. He had used shadows to mask his approach and destroyed a seventh of the Half-Bloods' opposition. Sean took the opportunity, snatching his bow from around his neck. He sprinted toward the rear Cyclops, jumped, and pulled on its shoulder. Once he was at a good height, he turned around and nocked an arrow. At just the right time, he released it, piercing the center of the Cyclops's pupil. It, too burst into golden dust, but by now the others had realized what was happening. Jason dropped from the sky, burying his sword in one of their shoulders. It cut deep, but didn't kill the Cyclops. The sword caught and Jason tumbled to the ground, unarmed. Leo stood up rom between two Cyclopes and tossed what looked like a piece of meat toward one of their faces. The Cyclops easily caught it, then popped it into its mouth and tried to stomp on Leo. The meat exploded, then, leaving smoke to billow out of the Cyclops's mouth and nose. He coughed, choked, and fell over. Percy flew at another Cyclops and sliced its calf. The cyclops knelt, and was smacked in the face by the hilt of Percy's sword. Annabeth reappeared on top of another giant and dove off. When she was at eye level, though, she stabbed her knife through the Cyclops's eye and turned a full front flip. When the Cyclops burst into dust, Annabeth's knife fell straight into her open hand. Lastly, Wendall reappeared. He began some stream of words, and soon had a huge orange portal open in the ground. A fiery woman emerged, hurling fire at the last Cyclops.
Annabeth yelled at him. "Cyclopes are immune to-" But she was distracted, now. The cyclops who'd swallowed Leo's smoke meat had recovered now, and picked her up. He added her to a stack of half-conscious demigods: Leo, Percy, Jason, and Nico. Sean was unsure how he'd gotten a heavily-armed son of Poseidon and a similarly-armed son of Hades, but he couldn't worry about that, now. The Cyclops Percy had attacked was recovering, and the one Wendall's beast was attacking didn't seem to feel a thing.
Wendall's beast.
You'll watch as comrades summon beasts that they cannot control.
"Wendall! Dispel your thing!"
Wendall looked up, and waved his hand. The fire creature disappeared, and Wendall was snatched up by the Cyclops with all of Sean's friends. That was strange. The prophecy had said that the beasts would be uncontrollable. Yet Wendall had simply dispelled his creature with relative ease. He didn't have time to dwell on that, now. His friends were in danger.
You'll have to gather courage, then, or cast aside your soul.
And if you wish to save friend's lives, you will not save your own.
This was it. The prophecy was coming true. Now was the time to sacrifice himself for his friends. Sean fired arrow after arrow, and they each slammed quivering into a Cyclops. The monster didn't fall, though, and Sean realized he needed to take an extra half-second to aim. He did, and the silver arrow flew straight and true. It passed straight through a Cyclops's throat, and he exploded in dust. Two left now, and one had a wounded calf and broken nose, courtesy of Percy. The other had its hands full. Sean reached back for an arrow.
He didn't find one.
Sean dropped his bow, and it fastened itself around his neck in necklace form. Artemis had said that some silver hunting knives would appear when needed, and Sean liked that idea. He decided he would make his sacrifice in full bad-A form. His clothes began to change. Within a split second, they had. He wore a white dress shirt with silver buttons, a silver blazer with black trim, black pants with silver pin-stripes, a silver bowtie, and silver shoes. A hunting knife appeared in each of his hands, and he walked forward casually. The wounded Cyclops swiped at him, but he leaped onto the swinging hand. The hand brought Sean up near the Cyclops's shoulder, and he jumped onto it. He slashed and stabbed at the one large eye, and rode the shoulder all the way to the ground.
When he looked up, though, the last Cyclops had already carried his friends away. It was gone.
/\
"Well, let's go, then, slow boat!" Beckendorf beckoned the Cyclops in. He would chain him up and make him work the forges. Then, maybe the other Hephaestus kids could learn something. When the Cyclops entered, Beckendorf followed him, spear raised. There was a funnel of year-round kids, also with spears, that would be able to guide the Cyclops to the forge. They were all Beckendorf had, as it was fall and the summer campers had all gone home.
Sean watched from across the road. He then raced to camp, and disappeared inside the Big House. He had to tell Chiron. He looked all over, but the old Centaur was nowhere to be found. He heard screaming, then.
Sean burst out of the Big House and looked around. Somehow, the Cyclops had broken its chains and wrapped up all of the campers. He now herded the demigod burrito toward the big house. He still held all of Sean's friends in his hand, and now Beckendorf was on top. When he finally got the campers into the house, Sean was gone. The Cyclops forced Beckendorf to give permission for others to enter camp, and two fully grown Cyclopes walked in, accompanied by three young ones. They plopped down next to the canoe lake, and began discussing how nice it would be to have no rain for a while. Sean chose that moment to slip unseen out of the woods and amongst the cabins. he then reviewed the prophecy.
You'll watch as comrades summon beasts that they cannot control. Check. Beckendorf had summoned a Cyclops, and he had taken over. You'll have to gather courage, then, or cast aside your soul. Not yet, but he would still be able to do that. And if you wish to save friends' lives, you will not save your own. That would be easily done as well. If you survive the circumstances, you will end up alone. Check. He'd already survived the Cyclops battle, and was now the only person with any hope of taking back the camp from the Cyclopes. Time for the sacrifice.
Sean ran from the cabins, and hid in the dining pavilion. He could easily hear the Cyclopes' booming voices.
"Which one? They'd all satisfy."
"Yes, but we need a rare one. The Laistrygonians will pay more for them."
"Bah! We can't choose between all of these!"
"Then choose one to throw out!" Sean looked toward the Cyclopes, just in time to see Percy splash into the lake. Good thing they'd chosen Poseidon's son to put in the water.
"I need a drink. I'll be back." One Cyclops stood and walked over to the Long Island Sound. Sean, using his inherited ability to camouflage and sneak, ran up behind the great beast and jumped onto its shoulders. The Cyclops was so surprised he only though to yell after he lost the ability. Sean pushed the rapidly disintegrating body into the Sound and went to hide in the pavilion again. He returned just in time to see Leo being thrown aside. He landed on top of a brazier, and Sean sighed in relief. Leo was one of those rare sons of Hephaestus that had control over fire, and wouldn't be hurt by the brazier. Then Jason was tossed high into the sky, and his half-conscious mind bent the wind around him and suspended him there. Sean couldn't bear this. Soon, Annabeth or Wendall or Nico might be thrown, and they wouldn't survive whatever they hit. Sean sprinted from the pavilion.
You'll have to gather courage, then, or cast aside your soul. Check. He was about to give himself up to a band of bloodthirsty Cyclopes, which definitely takes courage. If he didn't do that, he wouldn't be able to live with himself, and would probably be sent to the Fields of Punishment upon death for not saving his friends. That certainly qualified as casting aside his soul.
"I'm who you want!" he shouted at them. "I am the first and only son of Artemis!"
One of the Cyclopes giggled in excitement, and set down the other demigods. Then he scooped up Sean, and the troop of one-eyed giants evacuated the camp.
And if you wish to save friends' lives, you will not save your own. Check. Sean had saved all of his friends, and had given up himself in the process. But now, he was at the mercy of these Cyclopes, and had no idea what they might do to him.
None of it could be good.
