ANOTHER UPDATE o3o Hope I still have most of the facts right…
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS! RICK RIORDAN DOES!
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Chapter Two: Fires Love Communicating
The tour didn't last long and I was kind of sad. Percy was very sweet and he had the cutest smile. Why was the tour cut short? One name.
Clarisse.
It was mostly my fault that the situation happened… It sort of went like this:
Percy was showing us the cabins, even letting us take a peek inside his, which was pretty fancy for being just him inside there. Very cozy too and I liked the feel of it, even though I was quite frankly terrified of the ocean.
He led us down the path, gesturing to the Big Three cabins, which belonged to the three brother gods. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. We walked by the cabin of Hades, but Nero paused to glance at it with a little frown. When I asked him what was wrong, he just ignored me and it ticked me off. He had hardly spoken a word and I know. Nero's shy and he's super suspicious of everyone. He had big trust issues because of his aunt beating him around, so he basically said 'anyone can hit you'.
We walked by the Ares cabin rather quickly, Percy only mumbling something about most of them being similar to the boar's head over the door. I guess it was the wrong time because a big nasty looking girl, reminded me of a creepy woman wrestler, came out the door, glaring with beady eyes at Percy, who jumped a bit, his eye twitching visibly.
"Hey, kelp-for-brains! Don't think I didn't hear that come outta your big mouth!" She snapped in annoyance, basically waddling over with a sharp, pointy spear in her grip that made me tense up in annoyance. She thought she was tough because she carried a toothpick? Oh, please.
"I'm sort of busy, Clarisse, can we do this later?" He asked uncomfortably, his eyes shifting away, but more in disturbance than fear. Clarisse squinted at him and didn't look intent on moving. Before I knew it, my mouth was moving.
"Hey, back off, meathead," I retorted, "Just because your dad is the god of war, doesn't give you the right to stomp on someone who's obviously a lot stronger than you… Or your daddy." Clarisse was caught off guard, probably just noticing Nero and I standing there beside Percy, who cringed.
"Roxie-" Percy started, but Clarisse swung a hand out in his face to tell him to shut up as she glared at me.
"You've got a big mouth, ya priss! Who asked you anyway? You better watch who you're talking to." She threatened, gripping her spear tighter. I put a hand on my hip, rolling my eyes in the sassiest way I could get it.
"Oh, please. What're you going to do with that toothpick?" I demanded. She was fuming now."You're one to talk, carrying that thing! Tch! Such big talk, back it up, huh!" She lunged before I had time to react, but Nero had time. His hand shot out and he shoved her back, hard. Clarisse actually stumbled, staring at Nero in disbelief. Nero looked back at her, almost with the same look before he winced and grabbed his wrist with his free hand.
"Nero!" I exclaimed in alarm. Percy glared at Clarisse for a split second then looked at Nero.
"Your wrist is broken. We'll have to take you to the sick room…" He murmured, trying not to get sick at the sight of the bone poking out of the skin. Nero looked like he was going to faint for a second before he gritted his teeth. Clarisse rolled her eyes, smirking a bit cockily.
"Are you serious? Is he really a half-blood? What the heck? He can't even push someone without hurting himself!" She mocked. Percy glared at her again, looking rather murderous, so I did the first thing that came to my mind and flung my fist forward, straight into Clarisse's ugly pig nose.
Which in turn made her squeal like a pig.
"UGH! You-you rotten brat!" Clarisse shrieked angrily, attracting the attention of her fellow cabin mates, who seemed pretty peeved that I hit her as well. I glared as Clarisse held her bloody nose, still looking a bit shocked that I even made it bleed at all. I looked small and thin to most, but I knew I packed a punch and I made sure it hurt.
"Roxie, that really, really was a bad idea." Percy groaned. Nero muttered something under his breath about being too late now.
"Don't ever touch him again," I snarled at Clarisse who glared at me along with her entire cabin, "If you do, you'll be really sorry! I'm not going to deal with some filthy pig who relies on their father's name to make themselves look good!"
"I'll kill you! I'll slaughter you!" Clarisse shouted and lunged at me, her spear thrusting forward. I usually have bad reflexes, but this time, I moved faster than I could even remember. One second, I'm standing there defenseless with a spear hurdling at my throat and the next, I have my staff within drawn and slamming against Clarisse's spear with a clatter of steel as sparks flew.
However, the moment the two weapons clashed, the staff in my grip changed immediately. On both ends, two long crescent moon shaped blades shot out, going in different directions as barbed wire seemed to swirl around the handle bit in silver dust, leaving enough space for me to grip it. I stared in shock. Clarisse's eyes grew wide as she slowly stepped back, lowering her spear.
Percy and Nero were just as shocked, staring at the object in my hand. I stared at the sharp, dangerous barbed wire and the silver blades that glistened in the afternoon sun before I gasped and dropped it. It felt hot in my grip. Not stove hot, but a heat that said 'use this to kill'.
"Where… Did you get that…?" Percy asked at last. I looked up cautiously.
"My… My mom. She had it on display in our living room, but I swear I had no idea it did that! That's totally new to me!" I rushed nervously, looking back to see the double-sided scythe easily pop back into a simple black staff. Clarisse glared, narrowing her eyes at me coldly.
"You better watch yourself, Belle." She sneered, then followed her cabin mates back into their cabin. I bent over and lifted up the staff, staring at it. I looked over at Nero, who was studying the thing with a grimace.
"What?" I asked. Nero averted his eyes, still holding his busted wrist to his torso, cradling it as it bled gently past the bone.
"There's something about that thing… It's really creepy…" He muttered, watching it like it was a snake about to come and bite him. I frowned and slowly strapped the thing back on. After a while of silence, Percy declared he was going to escort Nero to the sick room to take care of his wrist. This left me alone in the Hermes Cabin. I guess by the time I made it there, news of whatever I was carrying had gotten around and they were eyeing me a bit wearily, although, they did say hi and help me find a sleeping bag.
Afterwards, I went to meet up with Nero in the sick house. I wanted to make sure he was all right, after all, he had to push a wall away from me. By wall, meaning Clarisse, whom I had the fortune of detouring as much as I could. As I stepped out of the Hermes cabin, I noticed a kid walking out of the Hades one. His dark hair was basically a mop on his head, but it was adorable, just like his eyes. He wore an aviator's jacket, a ring on his finger, and a very dangerous sword hanging from a belt on his waist. He looked up, cocking his head a bit.
"What?" He asked, as if I was trying to offend him. I blinked, then frowned."Nothing, er, uh, wait… Do you know where the infirmary is?" I asked. He shifted a little, giving a slow nod. I sighed with relief.
"Could you take me there? I'm totally new here and have no idea what's going on."
"I guess…" He shrugged and reluctantly led me forward. We walked in silence for a while before I spoke up.
"So, you're a son of Hades? Isn't he the god of the Underworld or something?" I asked curiously. The boy cocked his head to the side a little.
"Names are a powerful thing, be careful… And yea. My name's Nico Di Angelo. And you?" He questioned. I shrugged a little, averting my eyes.
"Name's Roxie Belle… Uh, I don't know who my dad is either." I admitted. Nico blinked, looking a bit perplexed and curious.
"You're undetermined?" He asked, appearing almost the same way Percy had when we first met. I frowned.
"Yea, what does that mean? Like, I know the general idea, but… Why is it such a shock?"
"… Percy sort of did the gods a huge favor a while back… He told them they have to claim their children from now on. They broke their oath by not claiming you, well, unless of course…" He stopped. I waited, but he didn't continue, so I pressed.
"Unless of course…?"
"Nothing. I was just thinking out loud."
"Hmph, then don't unless you want me nagging at you." I responded with a huff. Nico glanced at me, then away. We walked on in silence, which annoyed me. I thought he'd at least say something, but I guess not…
I huffed and after a while, still, nothing was said as we approached the infirmary. Nico finally spoke, but he had a spooked look on his face, pointing at the staff that was still strapped to my back.
"Where did you get that?" He asked, sounding alarmed. I jumped a little, staring at him.
"Uh, my mom gave it to me… It was a display in our living room. I think she said my dad gave it to her or something weird like that." I answered slowly. Nico frowned, leaning in to study it a bit suspiciously.
"That's weird… It's black steel… It's just a staff?"
"Er, no, it sort of does this weird thing where it opens up into some weird double-sided… I dunno what those things are called. Scythes?" I suggested. Nico paled grimacing a bit as he stepped away from it.
"Scythe… That's a bad sign.""Huh? What's so wrong about a scythe?"
"Scythe is the symbol of… Uhm… Never mind. It doesn't matter now. He's long gone." Nico murmured more to himself as he walked into the infirmary. I twitched angrily, wishing that he would just spit everything out instead of leaving me hanging like that, but I saw Nero sitting up in a bed with his arm in a sling and I totally forgot about him and ran to Nero.
"Nero!" I cried and leaned on the side of his bed, sighing with relief. He stared at me for a moment, then glanced around to make sure no one was really around before looking back with a cocked brow.
"You didn't cause any trouble, did you?" He asked almost like he was my mother or something, so I rolled my eyes and gave him a gentle knock upside the head.
"Oh, be quiet… It was an accident. You shouldn't have jumped out there anyway. No offense, buddy, but she was a hundred times your size."
"Horizontally." Nero admitted with a crooked half smirk, making me laugh. I sighed with relief, though as I sat on the edge of his bed.
"Jeez, this whole place is starting to hate me because of this thing." I stated, jabbing a thumb at the staff on my back. Nero stared at it, crinkling his nose up in disgust.
"That thing is… Well, there's something wrong with it. I get a really bad vibe off it and… Something about it is really familiar. I can't put my finger on it…" He murmured, then winced and grasped the side of his head. I perked up, alert."What? What's wrong?" I asked worriedly, peering at him. Nero gripped a handful of his hair, pressing his fist against his head and grimacing deeply in pain.
"Ugh, I don't know… My head is suddenly killing me… I feel like someone just rammed a pickaxe into it or something…" He grumbled, closing his eyes tightly. I frowned, leaning over to put a hand on his head gently. I brushed his hair away from his forehead, getting a better look at his pain contorted face.
"Hey, is it really that bad? Do you want me to get help? Maybe Percy or Chiron or…" My voice trailed as Nero cringed a bit.
"It's nothing, let's change the subject… Did you set up at the Hermes Cabin?" He asked, blinking against the pain. I stared at him for a moment, then sighed."Yea… I met the counselors. They look like twins, so like heck can I remember their names… I really don't want to be here, though, Nero. This place makes me feel like more of an outcast than school did." I admitted. Nero frowned, averting his eyes, saying nothing. I stared at him for a while, then slowly began to realize that I shouldn't have said that.
Nero probably loved this place, only being here for an hour and getting hurt, he probably rather put up with the campers than his aunt. Saying I wanted to go back was selfish. I couldn't do that to Nero… Nor could I put my mom in danger again. I frowned. But still, this place made me super uncomfortable.
"I hope I get used to it," I continued, making Nero glance at me, "And I really hope we can find out who, uh, our parents really are… Oh, hey, Nero. You're good with history and stuff. In Greek, uh… Mythology, the scythe is who's symbol?" Nero rolled his eyes up to the ceiling to think, his lips pursed thoughtfully before he nodded.
"Kronos. He's the king Titan. He's also the father of what these people are calling the Big Three."
"Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades."
I could've sworn I heard a rumble of thunder out in the distance, making me frown toward the ceiling curiously, but Nero went on.
"He ate his children, save for Zeus, who rescued his siblings and they fought the Titans, locking them all away… At least, that's how the legend goes. If everything they're telling us is true, then…." His voice trailed as he seemed to let some things play through his mind before he glared at me.
"Don't honestly tell me you're thinking you might be related to Kronos." He stated. I blinked, jumping a little bit at him being angry with me.
"Er, well… I was just curious. My mom said my dad gave her the scythe. And, well, Kronos's symbol is the scythe…"
"No way. That can't be possible."
"Why do you say that?"
"A) Kronos is a Titan. B) He's a pretty screwed Titan. And C) I just feel like there's something we're missing here. There's got to be something that'll explain all this, but for now, let's just stick with their routine… And rest up. We'll start getting into the big drama later. Right now, I just want to sleep without any hassles… You need to sleep too. You've yawned six times since you got here."
"I did?"
"No, I was exaggerating, calm down… I'll see you later." He added. I nodded, rising to my feet and giving him a quick hug before I left. I looked mostly down at my feet on the way back to the cabin with a frown on my face. I didn't really want to sleep and I was so thankful when Nico was waiting at the Hermes Cabin for me with a serious expression on his face.
"Hey, we're gonna chat… With these." He added, patting his sword. I blinked, not knowing quite what to say to that, except:
"They have microphones?" I suggested, but he rolled his eyes and motioned for me to follow and I did. It didn't take long before we reached a sort of arena, where two people were already leaving with their weapons in hand and sweat drenching their killer bright orange shirts.
We stepped up onto the platform, Nico unsheathing his sword, making me stiffen a bit.
"Uh, I dunno about this. I still don't know how to use this thing…"
"Improvise." Nico replied simply, holding up his sword. I stared at him, then reluctantly pulled the staff out, holding it toward him kind of how he was holding his sword toward me. He kept his eyes locked on me and I realized that I probably should have gone to bed. I went to make an excuse, but he swung his sword at me sharply. I immediately swung my staff around, making contact with his sword. As soon as I did, the blades and barbed wire flung out from the black steel staff.
Nico's eyes flashed as he just barely moved his torso out of the way from the shining silver crescent moon blade at his end.
"Keep going." He told me almost thoughtlessly and removed his sword, aiming it at me again with a sharp stab. I winced and jumped back, swinging the blade around. At this point, the warmth of the weapon was starting to feel rather comforting and I began to like the feel of it. I felt a smirk sweep across my face as I gripped the handle with both hands, easily avoiding the barbed parts.
I flung the double-sided scythe around in a windmill fashion, Nico's sword catching right into the cradle of one of the blades, sending the black blade flying across the tiled platform with a loud clatter. The two people who had supposedly left the previous match had returned and were watching with dropped jaws. Nico stared at me.
"I thought you said you didn't know how to use that." He stated cautiously. I blinked and looked down at it, then back with a light shrug.
"I was just winging it… I seriously don't know what I'm doing." I admitted. Nico raised an eyebrow almost suspiciously, then walked over and picked up his sword, holding it out at me, tip sparkling almost dramatically.
"Again." He commanded. I blinked, twitching a little in annoyance at the fact that I was taking orders from some totally adorable little kid… Well, compared to me. He was actually the same height as me, possibly taller, but I just had a strong feeling that he was definitely younger.
He waited for me this time, so I just randomly darted forward, aiming to slash the scythe down at his sword, but he easily sidestepped and swung his sword around toward my hands on the handle. I gasped and immediately let go, then glared at him and unfortunately, I moved without thinking and landed a good punch right in his jaw with my right hook.
He winced and dropped his weapon to grasp his cheek, a trickle of blood running from the corner of his mouth. I winced.
"I… Uh, sorry… I'm used to using my fists more." I admitted. Nico held his cheek for a bit, then lowered his hands to reveal a bit of a bruise that began to grow, purplish and black too. It made me wince again. However, Nico just shook his head a bit, scooping up his sword and holding it tightly.
"Try using that weapon of yours. It's definitely a lot stronger than throwing a few punches, not to mention, some monsters might just take the liberty of eating your arms off. That weapon has a good six foot reach too." He added. I blinked, then quickly fumbled to pick up the scythe. I waited this time so he rushed at me, slashing immediately and pretty fast too.
I mostly ducked and dodged, gasping a few times as the blade came inches away from touching me. At one point, I finally stuck my foot out to trip him up, but he leapt up and back into the shadows that the trees were making as the sun was just about setting. To my complete surprise, he vanished!
I lowered my scythe, looking around in confusion. He was just there a second ago, where'd he go so fast? I glanced around and suddenly, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and I was whipping around faster than I could even realize. The scythe in my hands came whirling around, clanging against Nico's sword. Nico was basically stepping out of a shadow that a tree had cast behind me. I stared, immediately lowering the scythe.
"Hey, how did you do that? That was amazing!" I exclaimed. Nico gave me a look that said 'nice concentration' as he lowered his weapon, putting a hand on his hip.
"That? It was nothing. Just comes with the deal of being a demigod… Everyone gets something at some point…" His voice trailed as a voice rang up over the hill to the platform. I turned to see who was coming and I felt my face grow shamefully warm behind the hair that had come loose from my ponytail.
A boy, maybe a bit older than Nico, came running up to the platform, wearing a killer bright Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and a pair of slim blue jeans. A celestial bronze sword hung off a loose belt on his waist. He had shaggy, curly sandy brown hair, reminding me of the skater videos Max had brought Nero and I. His eyes were totally deep blue and it made me want to blush some more, so I took this chance to look the other way. Nico looked up, sighing a little.
"Alex." He stated as the boy stepped onto the platform with a wicked grin, like he was plotting to interrupt for a while now.
"Hey! I thought I heard about new campers. The name's Alex Hixon! You must be Roxie, I met your friend back in the infirmary." He greeted, thrusting a hand out. I blinked, then shrugged and shook his hand. Nico cocked a brow.
"Nero? I thought he needed rest after he met Clarisse…" His voice trailed. Alex blinked, then grimaced a little with the faintest hint of a smirk on his face. Whether he was laughing at the encounter's results or the encounter in general, I didn't know.
"Too bad. Clarisse probably made a good impression." He mused sarcastically, shaking his head. I frowned.
"Someone needs to shove their foot in Clarisse's mouth." I muttered. Alex grinned.
"Oh yea. Everyone's said that at one point."
"Just don't make the same mistake Percy did," Nico drawled, folding his arms over his chest, "He's not on good terms with her father as it is." I stared for a moment. I was almost forgetting that everyone here had some kind of special parent and it sent a chill up my spine.
Suddenly, out in the distance, came the obnoxious blaring of a horn. Alex thrust up his arms as if to stretch, beaming.
"Finally, dinner! I'm starving!"
"I think I'll stay here," Nico averted his eyes a bit antisocially, "Not hungry."
"Have it your way," Alex shrugged, then grinned at me, "Come on, I'll be your escort."
"Thanks." I replied and followed him away from the platform, but I glanced over my shoulder back at Nico, who was whipping his sword from side to side. I gripped the scythe, now staff, in my hand as I strapped it back on.
"So, that's the thing people are talking about?" Alex asked, glancing sideways at the black steel staff on my back. I nodded a bit, frowning.
"Yea, they act like it's evil or something, but I don't see why. It feels perfect and I feel like I know what I'm doing." I responded. Alex shrugged, shaking his bangs from his face as he walked beside me.
"It's just the way it looks when it's not in that state… I'm sure you probably already know about the titan that attacked before?"
"Kronos?" I asked. Alex laughed a bit meekly, waving a hand at me as if to tell me to quiet down.
"I wouldn't say his name so casually. He's sort of, well, super, duper totally evil." He explained. I blinked, then nodded. I noticed that was getting scolded by everyone for saying names. It made me wonder how they even talked about their parents and whatnot.
"Oh," I remembered, "You never mentioned who your parent was." Alex beamed a bit sheepishly, jabbing his thumb against his chest.
"Son of the King of Gods, of the Sky and storms. The big head honcho." He answered. I felt my lips part in a jaw dropping action of bewilderment.
"Seriously? That's amazing!"
"I guess so. I get some pretty cool abilities and all."
"You mean like Nico?"
"Well, not exactly the same, but yea, pretty much. Maybe if you keep training you'll find out if you have anything nifty." Alex pointed out with a grin. I smiled back a little, feeling a tad more confident than I did before. We walked to an outdoor sort of cafeteria with several picnic tables. I saw Chiron, Mr. D, and Max sitting at one alone while the others gathered with their cabins. Alex informed me to take my seat with the Hermes cabin and he'd meet up with me after dinner. I was a little lonely without Nero. I asked Travis and Conner, the counselors of the cabin, but they said Nero was so deep asleep that nobody could wake him up right now nor did they want to. According them, he was acting a bit bratty.
It got me uneasy. Nero normally didn't seem like that. He acted more like an abused puppy around people he didn't know. It brought me back to the headache he had. It made me shift uneasily, but I was snapped back when Travis gave my shirt a tug.
"Follow us." He smiled and I obeyed. We came up to a fire pit and people were dropping the best of their food in, which sort of confused me until Conner came up on my other side, grinning.
"You offer your best portion to the gods. It's easy." He replied, then pulled a juicy rib off his plate, tossing it in.
"Hermes!" He proclaimed. Travis smirked and mimicked the motion, everyone else following in suit and claiming their parent… Or, well, declaring it. I don't think the kids claimed their parents like they were claimed. I picked up a vine of some good looking grapes, frowning into the fire.
I merely tossed it in, inhaling the sweet mixture of grapes and other fruits mingling with flowery and spicy scents from the meat thrown in. Smelled like a party, no wonder the gods liked it so much.
I went back and sat down first, followed by the rest of the kids as Mr. D was wobbling to his feet. I wondered if he ever got up there for a second. He looked like a lazy bum, the kind that slept against the side of our school.
"All right, all of you listen or you'll miss out what I have to say which isn't really all that important, but you have to listen anyway," He announced, making me raise an eyebrow in an expression of no-impression, "Seems we've had quite a stir today, thanks to two new campers, Rania Tell and Zero Nathanial… Oh, my bad, Roxie Belle and Nero Huthanial… Anyway, simmer down or you're all going to get double chores. The last thing we need is a drama fest."
"Don't forget that we have a fantabulous game capture the flag Saturday night instead since Friday night is occupied by some healing time for some damaged campers," He continued with an eye roll of sarcasm, "The archery range is also closed due to a malfunction in the armory building… Something blew up, the only amazing thing that happened in the last year or so. Anyway, that's about it for anything that is mildly interesting, so go sing your annoying voices silly at the campfire. Go on, get."
After taking some bites of food, I got up and followed the others, Alex carrying out his promise by meeting with me at the campfire. We shared a seat around the hot fire that crackled and sparked. It looked pretty interesting to be honest. The hot orange yellow flames curled and licked at the darkened sky, leaping up as if grasping at the gods for help or something.
I stared a bit longer at the fire, ignoring the terrible singing that rang out around me and it felt like suddenly something hit me. I saw a hand in the fire, but not made of flames. It looked like a normal hand grabbing the fire and then it vanished. I glanced around to see if anyone else noticed, but I guessed not as nothing was said.
We sat around for a while, singing and whatnot until a girl named Jacqueline Mancinelli from the Aphrodite cabin, Alex, and I were set to put the fire out.
"So, you're the one carrying that scythe thing?" Jacqueline, who told me to call her Jack, questioned, eyeing the staff on my back like it was a giant lurking monster. I grimaced a little, standing up.
"Uh, it's not like I'm going to use it on you." I replied. Jack stood up, adjusting the paperboy hat over her dark blue hair. She was dressed a bit differently from her other cabin mates, save for that shirt, and a dark blue windbreaker with patches in it and basic jeans with random holes and stitches, a pair of faded white converse on her feet.
"It's not like you'd have much luck getting a point on me… I just think you ought to be careful, carrying something dangerous like that." She pointed out, getting a sort of annoyed look on her face. I frowned, putting a hand on my hip.
"You sound like you're getting cocky," I retorted, making her flick a brow up, "It's the only weapon I have anyway, my dad gave it to my mom to give to me. If this is all I have to use to defend myself, then I'll use it."
"Come on, girls," Alex sang, waving a couple of sticks between us, "No bickering! It's way too late for that. Besides, this fire isn't going out as easy as usual." Jack looked at the fire with a frown, wincing a bit and putting an arm up to block the heat from crackling at her. I looked around, glaring at the fire in annoyance.
"Stupid thing… Why don't you just kick dirt at it?" I asked, looking up. Alex shrugged, gesturing to the fire.
"It's kind of rude to go and just do that." He admitted.
"It's fire, it's totally inanimate." I responded and swung my foot back, kicking a good pile of dirt on the flames, that hissed. Alex smacked his forehead and Jack just smirked, folding her arms over her chest. I ended up getting a bucket of water since obviously the dirt wasn't helping. After the smoke swirled thick and billowy into the sky, we were heading to leave when something in the fire caught my eyes.
I paused, turning back around and bending over to peer into the wet ashes and left over logs. Alex glanced over his shoulder.
"Hey, Roxie, I wouldn't stick around in the dark so long! They have Harpies that hang around here to make sure we're not out after curfew." He called.
"Maybe she wants an excuse to use that thing." Jack offered innocently, getting a rather playful scold from Alex. I ignored them and swept my hand over the ashes, then blinked and a ring was revealed to be sitting there. It was thick and bronze with a round open mouth sort of thing on the top, a little screw that you might find on a watch sitting next to the opening.
I picked it up, standing. Alex and Jack came over to peek curiously.
"That is the weirdest looking ring I've ever seen." Jack declared, poking it. Alex shrugged, pointing.
"It looks almost like it's missing a jewel in there or something… Maybe it's from somebody in your cabin?" He asked, looking at Jack, who scuffed."You see those guys? If they had lost a ring, they'd be all over us by now. Not to mention they wouldn't be caught dead with something that was missing a piece like that." Jack responded with a huff. I frowned curiously, touching the screw on the side, giving it a twist.
Nothing.
"Weird." I admitted, getting ready to slid it on my finger, but Jack stopped me.
"Are you dumb? What if it's a trick? With people knowing about that weapon of yours, they'll probably be eager to play a trick on you." She warned. Alex nodded with a sigh.
"Yea, not everyone here is friendly. Clarisse can tell you that herself."
"Ugh." Jack agreed, shaking her head in disgust at the mention of the girl's name. I frowned and held the ring in my fist before tucking it into the pocket of my gray shorts. Jack and Alex escorted me to the Hermes cabin where I grabbed a sleeping bag and curled up, wearing a pair of baggy black pajama pants and a matching long sleeved shirt with a smiley face on the front with fangs and X-ed out eyes.
I untied my hair as the lights ended up going out. I sat in a little corner, most of the way away from the other cabin members. They obviously didn't want to get too friendly with me. Good thing I was by a window, I noted as I took the ring from my shorts pocket.
I studied the thing, flipping it over in my hand for a while before I noticed an engraving inside the band. I blinked and stared at it closer. For a second, I was wondering what the heck it said because it was definitely Ancient Greek, but then I slowly recognized it, translating it into:
Gift to Mankind
And before I knew it, I was slipping the ring onto my right middle finger as it seemed to fit there perfectly. It felt perfect, kind of a warm comforting feeling. I flexed my hand, wiggling my fingers to look at the ring a little proudly. It felt weird, but great at the same time. Like a long lost momentum.
That's when I remembered the screw on the side. I looked at it, hesitantly at first before I reached down and slowly twisted it. At first, I was shocked to see a little sliver of smoke curling from the open mouth of the ring. Then the most amazing thing ever happened.
A little plume of fire, like a candle, sprouted from the center of the empty hole, taking up the space like a ruby or something. The flames were very tame, almost in the shape of those chocolate kisses from Hershey. It was reddish orange with bits of yellow curled around in a swirly pattern. It lit up only the space around me, but I think someone saw the light and I quickly screwed the screw and immediately, the fire swallowed itself and vanished without even a bit of smoke.
I threw myself under the cover of my sleeping bag and squeezed my eyes shut, peeking one open after a while. Only the sound of a suspicious someone reluctantly getting back into bed. I looked down at the ring curiously for a while before I slowly drifted off to sleep, holding the hand with the ring on it close.
This had to mean something good.
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A/N: WOW. I didn't realize how long this was until I checked the number of pages and was like o.o Oh my. :D Anyway, yup. Roxie now has a little present from whoever her father is. O3o There are also two new characters that I have no created, by the way, and I hope I got them in character! Well, thanks so very much for reading and your reviews are greatly appreciated!