Chapter One
(Camp Half Blood)
Nico di Angelo
I love camp. You can walk up from the Underworld and walk straight to camp in under fifteen minutes.
Anyway, since I had more important things on my mind at the moment, I wasn't in the mood to be hearing bad news.
But, then my cousin, Percy Jackson, ran up from the Big House and had a grim expression on his face.
"Nico," he said half-heartedly, "Get ready. We're going to have a visitor tonight. One of the Gods.
Since I had no idea who it could be and my mind was still on the praise I'd just gotten from my father for retrieving his Stone of Memories, I didn't answer for a minute.
When I did, it was to say, "What are you talking about?"
With features that consisted of ink black hair and ocean blue eyes, Percy was quite a sight to anyone.
Now, with his sour face, he repeated his message and added, "It could be your father. All Chiron said was that Zeus had 'IM'ed him that a God will be visiting us tonight to start a weekly event.
* * *
(That night)
"To the Gods!" Chiron roared and pounded his goblet on the table.
Then, we all got up and marched toward the square shaped, fiery brazier. Everyone started scraping up a portion of their meal and letting it land into the fire as we each chanted a God's name.
When his turn came, Percy scraped some brisket into the flames and murmured "Poseidon."
I was next and I scraped some salmon into the flames and muttered quietly, "Hades."
As we each finished and returned to our seats and we concluded this ritual to thank the Gods for our meal by giving them some of it from our own plates, Chiron called for us to come to order.
"Attention!" he directed sharply. "As some of you know, I said this morning that we would two the Gods present. One, of course, is Mr. D who is with us every night. The other is maybe an unknown figure to a few of you. May I introduce Lord Hermes!" he declared in a loud and clear voice.
The fire seemed to stand up straight as the flagpoles as a figure walked out of it at that moment.
He was maybe twenty-five with curly, bland hair and deep, dark blue attire. His Reeboks had wings on either side. He was holding a caduceus in his hand, his slender fingers curled around it. His two snakes, George and Martha, were glancing warily at the crowd that surrounded them.
We all knew who he was and he wasn't really twenty-five. That was just his mortal appearance to fool any non-Greeks. He was really about three thousand years old, actually, though if you didn't know, you could never tell.
I caught my breath as he looked around at us. I had never seen him before. He had a forced smile on his face that made him look like he didn't really want to be here. It made me nervous.
"Well!" Hermes said. His voice wasn't loud or quiet. It was just there. "Does anybody know why, I. Lord Hermes, am staying at your camp for a week?"
His question took us all by surprise and we mentally struggle for what might be the answer.
Finally, somebody in the Hephaestus cabin bravely raised his hand.
"Zeus commanded you here?" he asked tentatively.
Hermes' eyes got dangerously bright as if he was actually offended that he had gotten a response. He hadn't wanted anyone to know why he was here, apparently judging by his reaction.
Finally, he said with his rage seemingly under control and the aforementioned forced smile firmly in place, he said, "Yes, Zeus sent me. I am here to judge your Prank War."
Somebody in the Aphrodite cabin who couldn't help herself, asked incredulously, "What Prank War?"
Campers were nodding and following her lead and asked the same in various voices.
Hermes said, "Hera has demanded that Zeus get a sense of humor."
This unexpected revelation produced a variety of responses ranging from curious looks, confusion, and even a few smirks.
Next to me, Percy muttered, "Zeus couldn't get a sense of humor to save his life."
Had Hermes heard him, I wondered. If he did, he didn't show it.
Instead, he said, "My punishment for not delivering a message from Hades to Zeus in time is to judge your Prank War that will be watched by Zeus from Olympus itself. And now, I will divide you into teams. You will have one week to pull off the most pranks that you can. Individual prizes will be awarded to certain campers. The losing side will be covered in pie and be broadcast to Olympus on Hephaestus- TV."
Everyone knew already what the prize would be; it was always the same coveted item. The golden Laurels were already springing into all our thoughts at once.
Someone else now asked, "Who are the teams?"
Hermes smiled and it was a real smile this time as he responded, "First, we need the Hunters."
* * *
(Still later)
By the time Percy and I tracked down the Hunters of Artemis, it was getting late.
We got back to camp and Hermes was saying, "Ah, the Hunters. Now, we can get on with the teams."
Standing at the front of the room, he called out, "Team One, Zeus…"
"Wait a minute," I interrupted him. "We don't have anybody in the Zeus cabin…at least we don't anymore." I corrected myself.
"Ah," Hermes said. "Zeus had demanded that his daughter, Thalia, represent him just this once since he is hosting it. So, Thalia will be on Zeus Team."
Then he began again. "So, Team One, Zeus Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Athena, and of course, myself, Hermes."
Cheering erupted from the six cabins!
My own reason for my elation at this news was different. I was included and I felt great that I didn't have to fight Thalia. I was scared of her bronze shield, Aegis and it was a relief to know I wouldn't be facing that.
At the front of the room, Hermes started again.
"Team Two, Ares, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Demeter, and leading the team, Dionysus."
The remaining six cabins cheered!
"Now, everybody will be given a horn and there are two types of horns. If you prank somebody, the horn will be sounded and a point will be added to your team's score. Say your name aloud and a point will be added to your individual score. That will be one of the prizes awarded at the end, next week. Good luck, everybody and be sure to listen to your leader which will be myself and Mr. D. Good night, everybody and the Prank War begins….NOW!"
***
