The New Kid Becomes The Toilet God

I walked to the Hermes cabin, a book I'd taken from my bunk on the way under my arm. Sitting on the bench beside the broken down thing, I began to read about some of the greatest monuments on Olympus and their angles, size, etc.

When I heard the steady clip-clop of hooves coming towards me, I looked up to see Chiron and Percy walking towards me. Percy glanced at me, his eyes shining from the reflected sunlight, turning them a brilliant shade of emerald, and his hair, although messy, looked clean and healthy. I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering what he would do next. His eyes widened at my glare, and I realized I was looking him over like an enemy.

He glanced down at my book, and his eyebrows pulled together with confusion. I snapped it closed before he could read it and stood up.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have maters archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

I knew Chiron's archery class didn't start until two, and I looked at him suspiciously.

"Yes, sir," I replied.

Percy looked at the symbol over the door, a caduceus, or two snakes wrapped around a winged pole, the sign of Hermes. Then he glanced inside, at all the kids milling around.

"Well then," I looked at Chiron as he spoke, "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."

He galloped away towards the archery range and I turned back the Hermes cabin.

The kids in the Hermes cabin were now staring at Percy, probably sizing him up.

Impatient, I spoke. "Well? Go on."

He walked forward, stiffly, and I was about to warn him about the door, when he tripped. Yep, he's the chosen one all right.

The cabin snickered, but I glared at them, feeling a sudden wave of anger at the cabin, even tough I didn't quite know why.

"Percy Jackson," I announced, "meet Cabin 11."

"Regular or undetermined?" a boy in the back asked.

"Undetermined," I answered back, and a groan went through the cabin.

"Now, now, campers, that's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there." Luke was standing up by his bunk, and I blushed.

"This is Luke," I said quickly, in a high-pitched voice. He looked at me and saw that I was blushing. My expression froze again. No new camper was going to judge me.

"He's your counselor, for now," I snapped harshly.

"For now?" He looked at me, confused.

"You're undetermined," said Luke. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin 11 takes all newcomers, and visitors. Naturally we would. Hermes, our patron is the god of travelers.

Percy glanced at his tiny spot on the floor, then suspiciously at the campers.

"How long will I be here?" he asked

I glanced sharply towards him at his ignorance.

"Good question," spoke Luke. "Until you're determined."

"How long will that take?"

A shook my head sadly as the other campers laughed. I knew I had to save him.

"Come on, I'll show you the volleyball court." I said, trying to get him to go away from the Hermes kids.

"I've already seen it," he said.

I rolled my eyes at him, trying to signal that I didn't care.

"Come on!" I said, and I grabbed his wrist and pulled me outside as laughter filled the cabin behind me. Blushing again, I walked a few feet away from the cabin, steeled myself, and looked at Percy.

"Jackson, you have to do better then that."

"What?" he said, confused, and rolled my eyes at his ignorance.

Even Aphrodite's kids were smarter then this, and let me tell you, they aren't the smartest cookies in the cookie jar.

"I can't believe I thought you were the one," I murmured under my breath, hoping he wouldn't hear me. Of course, though, he did.

"What's your problem?" His eyes glinted coldly in anger. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy-"

He was getting me angry too, and I interrupted. "Don't talk like that! Do you know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"To get killed?" he said stupidly.

"To fight the Minotaur!" I was really mad now. "What do you think we train for?"

He shook his head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories…"

"Yes," I interrupted again, hoping he was getting the point.

"And he died, like a gajillion years ago, right?" Well I guess all the hoping didn't work. "Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So…"

Again, I spoke over him. "Monsters don't die, Percy," I tried to explain in a calm voice. "They can be killed. But they don't die."

"Oh thanks, that clears it up." His sarcasm was really starting to annoy me.

Taking a deep breath I spoke. "They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they reform."

He got a faraway look in his eye. "You mean if I killed one, accidently, with a sword-"

"The Fur… I mean your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"

I smiled. "You talk in your sleep."

"You called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

I glanced at the ground, nervous, in case Mrs. Dodds heard her name and came up and chomped on Percy. That would put my quest to an end.

"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."

"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" he whined. "Why do I have to stay in Cabin 11 anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there." He pointed at the Big Threes' Cabins. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hera. Of course Hera wasn't a big three, but it wasn't like we were going to put a Hades cabin in the middle of camp.

My face paled, and I said "You don't jus choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or… your parent."

I stared at him waiting for him to get it. Of course, he didn't. I was beginning to think he was the son of the god of stupidity, if there was one.

"My mom is Sally Jackson," he said automatically. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used too." His eyes hardened again, and I remembered the Minotaur had taken his mother.

I softened a bit at that and said kindly, "I'm sorry about your mom, Percy, but that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent.

"He's dead, never knew him."

I sighed. All new campers had similar stories. "Your father's not dead, Percy."

His eyes lit up. "How can you say that? You know him?"

"No, of course not." I sighed inwardly again. This conversation always made me tired.

"Then how can you say-"

I butted in again. "Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you were one of us."

"You don't know anything about me," he said defiantly.

"No?" I raised my eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."

"How-?"

"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."

He swallowed, embarrassed. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because they are hardwired for ancient Greek. And ADHD- your battle reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problem, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better then a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you to see them for what they are."

I stood there, waiting for and answer. "You sound like... you went through the same thing?" Ahh, finally, he was getting it.

"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."

"Ambrosia and nectar?"

Well, this certainly was going to take awhile. I thought Chiron would have taught him more then this.

"The food and drink we were giving you to make you feel better. That stuff would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."

Finally, finally, it sank in.

Then I heard a voice coming from behind me. "Hey! A newbie!" Clarisse… wonderful.

Percy looked to see Clarisse and her punky group of girls walking towards us.

Trying to get Percy out of this err... situation I sighed. "Clarisse, why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess, so I can run you through with it Friday night" Clarisse's eyes sparkled with the challenge.

Anger filled me. "Erre es korakas!" I yelled. "Go the crows!"

Clarisse's face darkened in anger. "We'll pulverize you." Her eye twitched though, and I knew she wasn't sure if she could carry out her threat.

She turned her anger to Percy. "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson, meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares." I sighed. This wasn't going very well.

Percy blinked, slow as usual. "Like… the war god?" I groaned inwardly.

"You gotta problem with that?" Clarisse sneered.

Percy's eyes got a hard glint in them. "No, it explains the bad smell."

I stared at him in disbelief. Was he asking for a death sentence?

Clarisse certainly didn't like that. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy," she growled.

"Percy!" he said, but it didn't matter.

"Whatever. Come on I'll show you." Clarisse grunted.

I had to stop this. "Clarisse-"

"Stay out of it, Wise Girl." She called back.

I wanted to help, but Percy would have to learn how to fight his own battles, or he wasn't going to live much longer. I stayed silent.

Percy handed me his Minotaur horn, and I held it gently, as Clarisse dragged Percy to the girls' bathroom. He kicked and punched, but he was no match for her strength.

Clarisse ad her friends were laughing. "Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse joked. "Yeah, right. The Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking." Her friends laughed again.

I stood I the corner of the bathroom, looking through my fingers. I couldn't watch this, but I couldn't take my eyes away.

Clarisse started pushing his head towards the toilet bowl, and I shut my eyes.

Suddenly there was a whoosh, and I opened my eyes to see water shooting out of the toilets and hitting Clarisse and her friends in the face. The water pushed them out the door and drenched me. As soon as they were out, the water shut off. Just like that.

I looked at Percy. He was completely dry. My eyes widened. "How did you…?"

"I don't know," he answered.

I walked out the door. Clarisse and her friends were on the ground soaking wet. She looked at Percy with hatred. "You are dead, now boy. You are totally dead," she spat out.

Pride seemed to be getting to Percy. "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."

I stood there stunned. Clarisse's friends had to hold her back. They dragged her back to Cabin 5.

I looked at Percy thoughtfully.

"What?" he demanded. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," I replied, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."