❝I'm like a time bomb. I'm just waiting to explode.❞
Percy and I are eating breakfast at the moment.
I was sore from yesterday, falling at more than 30 miles per hour was not something I'd like to do again.
"What are we doing today?" I ask him.
"Everyone's going canoeing," He responds by stuffing his face with food. Silence suddenly goes through pavilion. Everyone including Percy, stare at me. I look above my head: a holographic image of a green trident with an arrow going through middle was floating.
The campers mutter she's been claimed. Someone rushes off to get Chiron. Chiron appears shortly after, his eyes widen at the holographic image.
"Abigail Carter," He announced in a loud voice, "has been claimed as the daughter of Poseidon." Some of the demigods who weren't there when I arrived yesterday gasped. "Also blessed by Apollo." When Apollo said blessed, I didn't think it would be this grand. More gasps come from the crowd, and some of them clap. (Why?) I caught Will's eye from across the area. He smiles and winks while I return the smile. After this, everyone continues to eat, and go back to their conversations.
I could feel some stares of other campers, it was making me feel self-conscious. I finish eating, I scrape off the left over food into the fire. I stack my plate along with the other dirty plates.
I honestly don't know what to do after this. I'm new here, remember? I walk back over to the table I was sitting. Percy was still stuffing his face with food.
"You're not full yet?" I raise an eye brow.
He shakes his head from side to side. "I'm never full," he said with a mouthful of food. I roll my eyes at him. A loud voice, speaks into a speaker. I recognize that voice, it was Dionysus. I don't like him. He always messed up my name and called me Artery Catheter instead. It's like, come on! Do I really look like an internal organ?
"Attention call campers." He pauses. "Pay attention you spoiled brats! Please report to the lake area. Have a horrible day."
Percy sighs, shaking his head. "I don't like him," He mumbled, picking at his food.
"Welcome to the club."
He grins, laughing a little. He goes to place his plate away. When he returns, we walk to the lake area. Everyone gathered around and were having conversations of their own, standing in the sand. Forty canoes (I think) lined up against the water, the waves hitting them softly. Chiron appears in the front, catching the attention of all the demigods.
"Settle down," Chiron orders, everyone immediately gets quite. It's amazing how easy it was to get them quite. I've tried to get Apollo to shut his mouth before, and I ended up with sun burn for two weeks.
Here's some advice for the future, never anger the sun god.
"Everyone find a partner." Percy rushes off somewhere else. Great brother, right? I don't know anyone. Percy hasn't introduced me to anyone yet. I was the last one standing alone, a few of the campers snicker at me.
Chiron asked the crowd, "Who wants to be Abigail's partner?" A few people raise their hand, most of them guys (of course). Chiron tells me to choose. I chose the highest hand raised in the air. The person comes forward, weaving through the crowd.
Will.
"Alright demigods. Select a canoe and continue on into the lake." Everyone rushes by us, choosing a canoe. Will quickly grabs my hand and lead me to a canoe that wasn't in terribly bad condition.
As I take a quick look around, a few pairs got stuck with sucky canoes, but they still floated.
Will and I hurried. Once we were both settled in, I urge the water to push us into the lake. There was a small knot in the pit of my stomach whenever I use my powers. I've gotten used to the feelings, but it took a little energy to do such simple things. Will grips onto the sides uneasily as the canoe moves.
"Did you do that?" He peers over the edge into the water. His shaggy blonde hair was swept to the side, a necklace with a couple of beads. He shared the same eyes and smile as Apollo. I wonder if he's met him.
"Yeah." I blush, although I tried to hide it. He picks up the oars and starts to row. A line of canoes set up in a line, waiting. The starting line was about 50 meters away. I can calculate since we are on the water. It's like seeing a bunch of lines, it's extremely useful in some cases.
"How long have you been at Camp Half-Blood?" I ask him.
"Only a few years." He gave me a goofy grin- just like Apollo. "So your blessed by Apollo, right?"
"Yes. He's a pretty chill guy." A few campers pass us, watching. That definitely doesn't strike me as stalker like. I've had stalkers before. They were usually fish wanting to meet me since I'm apparently famous in the ocean. I've been mobbed by sea politicians too.
"You've met my dad?" He raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah, taught me archery." I don't want to go into to much detail. I don't want him to get jealous that I know his dad. Maybe I hang out with Apollo too much than a demigod and god are supposed to. Even when Apollo isn't supposed to hang out with me, he still does. This is probably why the gods don't exactly put a lot of responsibility on his hands. He's much to immature to handle giant responsibilities.
We finally get to the line of canoes.
"Everyone is going to compete in races. Winners don't do chores for the rest of the weekend," announces Chiron. Where was it coming from? Everyone cheers at the last part. You have to do chores here? Ew. Dad made me do them sometimes when I was bored or otherwise I'd become spoiled a spoiled "sea nugget."
"On your marks." We get into our rowing positions. "Get set." I could feel the tension in the air. "Go!" Everyone starts to row quickly, we were in the middle. Percy was leading everyone. My brother isn't going to win this time, and I definitely don't want to do chores. I start to paddle faster, Will having a hard time to keep up. Soon I was paddling next to Percy. He looks over, a little surprised. He was in the same canoe as Annabeth. Are they a thing?
"Having fun?" He asked, a smug look on his face.
"Definitely." I grin at him. It was a tie between Percy and I. For the rest of the morning, we raced, and played games until everyone was tired and it was time for lunch.
For the next two weeks, we spent training from dawn to sunset. Will and I have been meeting with each other more often Percy and I have grown closer to each other, too. He's really fun to be with. Much more fun than Triton.
I've made more friends now. I haven't seen Apollo since I've been so busy, and he's been busy also preparing for the war. In two days we fight Kronos and his army. I just finished my training session for the morning. That means I have the rest of the day off, only archery left. I was sweaty and exhausted. Thankfully, Apollo is going train me today. It's just an excuse for him to be here I guess. No one else knows it's him- just Chiron and I. It's suppose to be a private session, no one else is suppose to be there. Zeus ordered Olympus to be closed to the mortal world, no one can get in, and no one can get out. I don't understand how Apollo got past, but he did.
"Keep your posture up right." Apollo places a hand on my abdomen and the small of my back so I straighten up. I don't mind him touching me, only if it's not inappropriate. "Keep both your eyes open." I open both my eyes. It was hard to keep both eyes open, it's not as easy as it looks. In the movie The Hunger Games, Katniss Everdeen makes it look easy. "No slouching."
"I'm trying, Apollo," I sigh. "I'm just tired."
"Do you want to die on the battlefield?" He crosses his arms, narrowing his eyes. When he's training me, he doesn't act like my "goody goody" friend. He acts as my strict annoying teacher. If I'm lucky, he occasionally loosens up.
"No," I respond.
"Then man up soldier!" He yelled. I wanted to correct him and say I'm a women instead of a man. I hated when he acted strict. "You are a Greek warrior!" He walks in a circle around me, as if I were the prey and he were the predator. "There are no second chances on the battlefield. You either live! Or die!" I shake my head at him. His Greek side was really showing.
"Alright," I sigh. "Let's move on." I pull the string back, an arrow knocks into place. I take a deep breath, correcting my stance and posture. I keep both my eyes open, I aim at the target (the bulls eye to be precise). The arrow goes flying, but doesn't exactly hit the target in the middle. I kick at the dirt, frustrated with myself.
"Hey," my brother calls, walking towards us. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, he had glum look on his face.
"You're not suppose to be here." I take a quick look at Apollo. He had his back turned toward us. Apparently, he's met Percy in the past.
"I know, but I thought you should know about Luke." Wait, what's wrong with Luke?
I take a deep breath, aiming at the target again. "What about him?" I let the arrow fly, this time it's hits the target.
"Kronos," Percy said. I give him a weird look. I already know he's aiding Kronos. I knock another arrow, ready to aim. "Kronos is going to use his body as a host." The arrow I had, doesn't even hit anywhere near the target. It hit a tree, where my friend Pollux stood.
"Sorry!" He look at me startled and left. I turn back to Percy. "What?" I gape at him.
"Kronos is going to use Luke body as his own."
A lump formed in my throat. "Okay," My voice falters a little, but I clear my throat before I speak. "You should get going before Chiron finds out your here." The lump in my throat grew larger, making it harder to swallow.
"You sure?"
I nodded.
He walks away, Apollo turns back to me. I aim again at the target. I practice a few more times, each time hitting the target.
I didn't want to stop.
"I think that's enough for today." Apollo placed a hand on my bow to keep me from shooting.
"We just started." I frown at him.
"I know, but..." He trails off.
"But what Apollo? You don't think I can handle this?" I cross my arms.
"Of course you're capable of handling this, but Luke..." I let my bow morph in my necklace again. Apollo sighed, dragging a hand down his face. "Listen, Abby. I've already foreseen part of the future. I've already seen this-"
"Wait, you've already seen this, and you didn't tell me?" He laid a hand on my shoulder, I pushed his hand away, taking a few steps back away from him.
"Abigail-" I raise a hand to stop him from talking.
"No," I said, but they came out harsher than I intended. "... Just give me some alone time." I start to slowly back away from him.
"Buttercup, I was going to tell you. Only... not yet." He shoves one his hands into his pockets, the other one pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed. "I know your mad, but I did it for the greater good." He walks towards me.
"You always think it's for the greater good, Apollo." He now stands in front of me, looking down on me. He was a good seven inches taller than me. A tear goes down my face, he wipes it away with his thumb. He frowns at me.
I'm sure he's wondering why I'm being so emotional. "It might seem that way to you, but it's not." I take a step back. "Give me sometime to clear my head." I walk away from him. I pass all the other cabins, Hermes, Athena, Apollo... I don't keep track of all of them, but I hear the Hephaestus cabin is the coolest one of them all. I finally arrive at my cabin, Percy wasn't there when I entered. He's probably hanging out with Grover or Annabeth.
I hit the showers, and then go back to my cabin. Today has been a stressful day, I just need sleep. I crawl into my bed, cuddling up with my teddy bear. It was a toy dad gave me when my mom couldn't be there since she's gone. I start to doze off.
Water helps me calm down most of the time. I leaned against the railing, trembling from my latest nightmare.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Yeah, you guessed it. It involved Luke Castellan.
"Hey, Dad." I speak out to the water. I know he can hear me. "It's been a while since I saw you. I hope your okay at the palace." There's just been so much pressure, everyone was expecting so much from me now that they know I'm the daughter of Poseidon. I've been training longer hours than everyone, just because Chiron said so. Today I got lucky, I only trained for the morning. "Everything's going okay here. It's safer, just like you said."
Some of the demigods were strolling along the beach. Others passed by the docks, while I see others go directly to their cabins. I sigh, motioning to at the water, a slight tug in the pit of my stomach. A small amount of water rising into the air. I cross my fingers, the water twisting at my hand movements. I clench my fist, the water morphing into a clear, see through ball of water. I motion my hand upward, the ball of water going up and then falling back into the water.
"That was quite a show." A masculine voice says from behind me. I jump, startled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I look behind me: Will stood with a large grin plastered on his face. He could always make me happy when I'm upset.
"Oh, hey music boy." I smile at him.
He hugs me from the side. I guess you could say we were dating, but not officially (yet). I kiss his cheek. He blushes, staring at the water.
"Hey water girl." He takes in a long breath, and then exhales. "You smell nice like the fresh ocean breeze."
I blush at his comment. "And that isn't weird?"
"I- I didn't-"
"I'm joking, Will." I turn around in his arms, facing him. I wrap my arms around his neck, my fingers playing his shaggy blonde hair.
Will frowned for a second. "You seem distracted." He tucks a strand of my black hair behind my ear. "Is everything okay?" He looked at me concerned.
Maybe I was a little distracted by the dream I had.
"I'm just worried about the war that's going to happen. Many people are going to die-even those who turned."
"Everything's going to be okay afterwards." He gave me a reassuring smile. "We won the war once, we can do it again." I smile at him, kissing him full on the lips. He takes a few seconds before he realized what's happening. He kisses back. His fingers tug my hair softly, he pulls away biting my lip gently in the process.
Just as I was going to bring him in for another kiss, some one cleared their throat.
Percy shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He was looking uncomfortable as ever.
"It's time to uh... hit the hay." He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"I'll see you there, Percy." He nods, and quickly rushes away from us. I don't blame him.
"Now where we were?" Will smiled. His blue eyes flicked down to my lips, and then back up at to meet my eyes. He leans in again kisses me for a slight second, but I pull away.
"I think you had enough for today." I smirk at him teasingly.
"Okay, but I better get more tomorrow." He hugs me tightly, and the lets me slide off the railing.
He takes my hand as we walk towards the cabins.
"You owe me a goodnight kiss." He pushes me lightly against a tree. His face was inches away from mine.
Before he could do anything else, he was interrupted. "Abby!" Percy called from the cabin. Will and I jump away.
"I'll see you tomorrow, good night." I peck his lips.
"Night." He walks to his own cabin, while I walk to mine. Percy was standing in the doorway, looking a little pissed.
"Percy-"
"Bed." he points to my bed. "Now."
I don't argue. I walk past him, changing into my pj's, which was a tank top and comfortable shorts.
A scar ran down my left leg. It was barely noticeable, but you could definitely tell it was there. I got it when I was 9. I was with Apollo. We were in a park in Manhattan, and he was pushing me on a swing. It was one of the rare moments I could actually enjoy being a kid, and not worry about monsters attacking me.
"Higher, Apollo! Higher!" I would always say. He'd laugh at my eagerness and push me a little harder. But me being the stupid 9 year old I was, I jumped off. I thought I could stick the landing, like James Bond. Instead, I ended up with a broken leg. A part of my bone sticking out of my skin. Apollo healed me, but couldn't heal me completely. I didn't go to parks for a while after that incident. I smile at the thought. I was pretty stupid to think I could do that stunt.
"What are you smiling about?" Percy said as he puts on his shirt.
"About how stupid I was when I younger," I answered.
He half grins, rolling his eyes. "Trust me. I know the feeling. Go to bed, we have work to do tomorrow." He turns off the light.
The sounds of the crickets chirping off in the distance lure me to sleep.
For those who are wondering, Will and Abigail are temporary. K? :)
Jason will be introduced in the fourth chapter. Don't fret.
-A