a/n: Okay. Sorry about the authors note as its own chapter on my other story. I'm new, so I didn't know it wasn't allowed. Oopsies...My bad...But don't worry. It won't happen again. Anyway, in case you haven't read it on "Into the Mist" I wont be here next week, so I wont be able to update over that time. Sorry! Oh, and read and review please!
Right...so the camp schedule was pretty weird.
"You'll love it here," said Chloe, grabbing my hand. "Will is going to fix up your bunk and all that crap." She smiled warmly. Jacen hurriedly went into another rooms.
"What about my schedule?" I asked. When Jacen came back he had a bright blue cup the color of a robins egg.
"Drink up," he said, shoving it into my hands rather forcefully, even though none of it spilled. "Go on."
I took a sip. It looked like ice tea or something, but it didn't taste that way at all. It taste like my moms homemade chocolate fudge that she only made on Christmas, still hot and silky smooth. I licked my lips. "What is that?"
"Nectar," said Chloe. "Drink of the gods."
"It has healing properties for demi-gods. Although too much would kill us," continued Jacen. "Too much mortal blood."
"What if a mortal drinks it?"
"One drop would make their bodies disintegrate."
"Okay. Good to know." I touched my stomach. Pressure didn't hurt anymore. I sat up slowly on the couch I had been laying on. The ache in my left shoulder had disappeared. "That's strong stuff." Tentatively, I swung my legs over the side and stood up, rubbing my legs where they were stiff. "How long have I been out, anyway?"
Chloe counted on her fingers. "About---"
"Another child of Poseidon," interrupted Jacen appreciatively.
"Why? Is that good?"
"Half of the campers want to be kids of Poseidon because of Percy. Most of the undetermined kids, the kids who haven't been claimed, are wishing that's where they'll end up."
"That's the price of being a hero, I guess." Chloe picked up a ping pong paddle and twirled it back and forth between her hands. "Although there aren't very many. There was this huge prophecy about a child of the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades that is—either saving or destroying Mount Olympus. They tried to avoid having mortal kids all together. Since you were born in that time period, technically you aren't supposed to be born, but Percy came and full-filled it. So you're safe."
"Good to know I'm not supposed to exist. Thanks," I muttered.
"Not to mention that kids of the Big Three are way more powerful then us regular kids," Jacen continued.
"I don't think any of us can be considered 'regular'," said Chloe.
I thought about what they said. "Well, this just spells disaster," I decided. I raised my arms and stretched.
"Don't worry, you're going to be a natural!" Chloe assured me. Yeah, right.
"Why don't you tell me that after I get used as a punching bag, 'kay?"
*******
Surprisingly enough, the day went pretty well. Chloe and Jacen showed me camp. There was a volleyball court and a lake. An arena just like the gladiators used was the biggest thing, along with a race track for chariot races, a rock wall that spewed lava at you and clashed together if you didn't get the top quick enough, and a dinning pavilion with out a roof. Although my cabin, Cabin Three, was an absolute mess, if I do say so myself. That's what I get for having a brother I suppose.
"Why are some cabin overflowing and come are totally empty?" I asked, licking sticky fruit juice off of my fingers. We had just come back from the strawberry fields. Goat boys, or satyrs, as Jacen corrected me after I had insulted a few, which he thought was hilarious, by the way, played pipes in the fields, magic flowing from the sound to the plants. One had let me try a few, and I finally understood how this camp could run on just the money those strawberries bring in alone. Man, those things were tasty.
"Oh, well, all of the kids live in the cabin that their parents represent, regardless of space. Some gods and goddesses have more...um...affairs than others," said Chloe. She pointed to a cluster of other smaller cabins further down the hill. "We just built a lot of cabins for the minor gods after the war, and we built Hades one over there," she pointed at a cabin made entirely out of black rock. "There are only two people living in that one."
"Hera is the goddess of marriage. It would be weird if she went around have kids with random mortals when she is married to Zeus," explained Jacen. Were all Apollo kids such know-it-alls? "Artemis has sworn to be a maiden forever, so none there. Zeus had one named Thalia, but she joined the Hunters. But, like we said, the Big Three haven't had any lately."
Chloe shook her head. "But the reason for that Is all gone now, so in 13 years I think we're going to get a mob of super powerful half-bloods."
I thought for a moment. "But if Hera and Artemis have sworn not to have kids, then why do they even have cabins?"
Chloe winced. "It's a respect thing. No cabin equals unhappy Olympian, and an unhappy Olympian lets you know they're unhappy."
"Ouch," I said, shuddering. "Bad idea."
"Jacen?" said a flirty voice. It belonged to a pretty blond girl wearing a pink shirt and khaki shorts.
"Hey Demi, this is Kory," he said.
She looked me over and smiled. "You're a cutie." I blushed. "Great to have you at camp. Demitra Cooper, daughter of Aphrodite." She held out a perfectly manicured hands and I shook it. "I'm the cabin counselor." She said. "Good luck." She winked flirtatiously at Jacen and ran off.
I laughed. "Bow Boy has an admirer!" I giggled.
Jacen got a little red. I couldn't tell if he was upset I was laughing at him or because he was embarrassed. "Shut up Fish Girl."
I laughed again. Then I looked over my shoulder and the Big House, the place I had been staying in before. I couldn't believe it was so big in there! A car pulled up right by the boundary. A girl with green eyes and fizzy red hair stepped out and smiled.
"Who is she?" I asked, pushing a piece of my black hair behind my ear.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," someone offered. It was a girl with long lack hair tied into a thick braid. Her eyes were almost black and really freaky. She was either crazy or a genius. Possibly both. "She's been the Oracle for a little over a year."
I knit my eyebrows. "Well, then shouldn't she already be here? You know, so she can Oracle stuff?"
"Her dad is rich. He makes her go to this gross finishing school," said Chloe. She made a face. "I don't know how she does it. Snooty people make me freak out. Seriously, how can she live with them and not strangle those girls?"
"Yeah, well when she gets angry she can't whip out a bow and arrow," said Jacen. I looked at him with a confused look. "She's mortal."
I puffed out my cheeks. "Okay, no more questions."
"Let's see how long that lasts," said the girl. "I was wondering when they were going to stop anyway." She walked off.
I looked after her, my eyes narrowed. "I don't like her," I announced.
" That's Emily Lynn, daughter of Hades," said Chloe. "Don't let her get to you. She's is a child of Hades, after all. Their rude by nature."
"Why don't you say that to Nico?" challenged Jacen. "I'm sure he would love it."
"Fine," said Chloe, removing an arrow embedded in a near by tree twirling it expertly in her fingers like a drummer does with drumsticks. "I could beat his butt at archery."
"But with a sword?" I asked. Percy had said something about a sword practice in the arena. I wonder if they just handed out pen/swords to everyone.
"Please," said Chloe, rolling her eyes. "I'm not suicidal. The only one better at a sword than him is Percy, and Percy isn't nearly as temperamental."
"He really isn't that bad. He's actually kind of cool," defended Jacen.
"Anyway, I wouldn't worry about Emily Lynn," added Chloe.
"Yeah, a couple of lessons with your brother and you'll be able to whip her butt without breaking a sweat!" shouted Jacen, punching the air.
I smiled for a minute, but then I felt my spirits fall. "With what sword?" I asked sullenly.
"The Hephaestus kids will make you one, don't worry." Chloe looked over at the cabin with little smoke stacks. It looked like a little factory. "And until then, you can just use the practice swords."
"If I'm any good at all," I pointed out. "I bet I can barely pick one up, much less use one to beat anyone."
"With Percy as a blood relative? No way. Percy's the best," said Jacen. "Although technically he is everyone's blood relative..." he said slowly. "But still, Percy is the best."
"Down boy," said Chloe.
"Kory!" Will ran up to us and handed me a piece of paper. "This is your schedule. Annabeth drew it up for you. You have archery, the rock climbing, the sword practice, and then free time and after that is dinner. Capture the flag is tomorrow," he said, reading off the list out of memory, as I looked it over. "But you had better hurry over the archery place, it's almost time."
"Really?" I asked. I took my phone out of my back pocket and checked the time.
"Okay, that has to go," said Will, snatching it from my hands. "I'll take this to Chiron," he said.
"What? My cell phone?" I asked skeptically. "Is it a monster in disguise or something? Will it bite me?"
"No, not at all. But broadcasting your voice up for monsters everywhere? Not the best idea," explained Chloe as Will started trotting off down the hill.
"Okay, no cell phones. Point made," I said, nodding. I never used it much anyway. At least I wasn't one of those girls who couldn't live without their cell phones. Of course, then tended to have friends that they could text or something. Seeing as I never had any friends, I never used it.
"Now, hurry up," said Chloe, grabbing my hand and dragging me off to the archery range. "Our brother is having an issue with a pesky Naiad and we promised to fill in for him until he got rid of her."
"Besides, you'll need as much practice as you can get to be honest," said Jacen airily.
"Poseidon kid with a bow and arrow just spells disaster," Chloe giggled. "Percy's horrible. That boy can't aim for the life o him."
"So, like we said, hurry up!" shouted Jacen, running off down the hill we were on. "Poseidon, Dionysus, and Hades next hour and I don't want to keep Nico and Emily waiting."
As it turns out, Percy and I are practically on the same level at archery, which, is to say, we both suck.
"Sorry," I winced as Chiron de-snagged a stray arrow (one of many) from his tail. I sighed. "Oh boy."
Just then, a girl waked over to me. She was kind of short but really thin, with light brown hair in a braid that wrapped around her head like a crown messily. "Hold it like this," she said, moving my hands to the right places. "And you curve your arrow too much. Hold it steady until after you shot." She stepped back and waited for a moment. "Go on," she insisted. I shot.
I hit the second ring n the rim of the target. It's not like I got a bulls eye, but at least I had shot somewhere close to where I was supposed to.
"I'm Kory," I said, holding up my hand.
She shook it. "Daughter of Poseidon," she nodded with recognition. "Your names been floating around camp ever since you fainted at Thalia's Pine three days ago."
Three days! "Oh..."
"Oh, and I'm Tora, by the way. Daughter of Dionysus."
"Say what?" the sweet little girl in front of me was a daughter of that dude? Oh the irony. "I guess he calls you by the right name," I muttered.
"I get that a lot," said Tora laughing. But then she stopped and blushed.
"Hey Tora," said Jacen. He was walking over with one of his brothers. I guessed that it was the one that was having trouble with the boy crazy naiad, because his shirt was kind of ripped around the hem and he had a big kiss mark on his cheek. "Ryan. This is Kory."
"Hay," I said happily.
"Hi..." Tora managed to peep. Her face was so red she would have fit right in at the strawberry fields.
"Nice to meet you," said Ryan. "Sorry I had to miss the lesson," he apologized politely. Then he smiled, only this time is was only for Tora. "Hey." Then he walked away to get ready for the next period.
Tora!" I thought she was going to die of embarrassment right there.
"Don't," she warned in her soft voice, which was funny, because she really couldn't sound threatening.
I walked over to Chloe. "I hit the target."
"I saw," she said smiling, like she was talking to a little kid who had just peed all by them self for the first time. I almost thought she was going to start singing, "I'm a big kid now," but thank goodness she didn't.
"You're already better then me," commented Percy. "Thanks Chloe, but I think I'll stick with Anaklusmos." He had just walked back from the arena from his last period, but he didn't look the lest bit tired after a day of work.
"Riptide..." I said softly. "Wait. Riptide, right?" I had no idea how I had recognized ancient Greek so easily.
"Don't worry. Your brain is hard wired for that language. It should come naturally to you," he assured.
"Again, it's the same with all of us," said Chloe. "Now scoot your little butt down to the arena for practice. Percy has to get going," said Chloe, gathering up her Bow and arrows again, all of which were clustered at the center of one of the targets.
"Yeah, let's go," said Emily's half-brother, Nico. He was kind of cute in a bad boy kind of way, but he wasn't really my type. He seemed okay though.
There were only two kids in the Hades cabin too, just like ours. Emily and Nico, who wasn't much older than I was, only about 14.
For the next class it was Poseidon cabin, Hades, and Hermes. Pretty much, it was Nico, Emily, me, and tons of mischievous kids and undetermined campers. I didn't think that was a very fair fight.
"Hey guys," said Percy when all of us had clustered onto the floor of the arena. "We are going to go pretty basic today, just to give you all a break. Oh, and Kory is new, so try to give her a break." Then everyone partnered up with best friend or siblings or something. Nico and Emily partnered up, not that Nico looked very happy about, and Emily was glaring gat me. Then she saw the only person left, and she had trouble holding in laughter. The only other person was Percy. Oh boy.
"Hey," he greeted me happily, uncapping his sword. Oh boy oh boyohboyohboyohboy. Crap. I was going to die. And yes, I am aware I was being a tad bit over dramatic. But hey, I'm a teenage girl. Being overdramatic is just what we do.
I gulped. Nico tossed me one of the practice sword me and Percy hadn't tried before class. We still hadn't found one that quite felt totally right in my hands.
"Thanks," I muttered.
He smiled a bit. "Hope you don't die," he answered. Ha! That coming from a child of Hades. I was being bombarded with ironic situations now wasn't I?
"Don't we all? I think everyone would miss me. I don't know how they lived without me," I said. "I've made quite the impression in this past day."
All of the other kids were trying to keep smiles from their faces, so they were either screwed up or completely devoid of any motion at all. Because that's not suspicious at all. I guess all of them had had their turn to be pummeled by Percy.
He taught us a complex rhythm of moves that we were told to follow. Some of the kids were whispering things like, "This is supposed to be basic?" but I got the hang of it pretty quick. I was just memorizing stuff at that point. But later, one of the partners would be playing the offensive role and the other would have to play defense and block accordingly. That's the part I was worried about.
Then it started Percy was on offense first. He hit me twice so hard that it put jagged holes in my armor. "Ugh."
"Not bad," said Percy. I looked at him in disbelief. Did he not see the dent he had made? "Okay people, defense go to offense and vice versa!" Not good. Not good at all.
"Just do what I showed you," offered Percy, taking his starting position.
"That's easy for you to say. You're perfect." He grinned at me.
But I tried, I really did. Hard. Although it didn't take long to see who had the upper hand. All of my strikes were too low or too high or not strong enough. My sword felt like it was getting more and more off-balance as we went on. It was my first try and I had no experience. In my opinion, that was definitely not a fair fight. But I certainly wasn't doing the worst. Emily was having trouble keeping up with Nico. A Hermes kid had given up on the pattern completely and was just slashing around wildly. I think he was more of a bow and arrow kind of guy.
I actually got a shot at Percy. His shirt ripped, because he wasn't wearing armor. For a minute I was afraid I was going to slice him in half. Being inexperienced didn't make the blade of my sword any duller. But then the edge of it just bounced off of his skin. "Wow."
I just stand there for a moment. The force of the hit had cause my weapon to go spiraling too the other side of the arena right into the middle of another group. But they were already looking at us anyway. "She made Percy fall," one of them whispered. Percy, indeed, happened to have been pushed back onto the ground.
"Holy crap..." I collapsed onto the ground beside him. "How did you do that?" I asked eagerly.
"Do what?" he asked, going over to the other side to get my sword. He handed it to me.
"The thing...with my sword," I stuttered. "It just bounced off!"
"Oh, that." He smiled and rubbed the back of his head like he was a little embarrassed. "I'm sort of invincible."
My mouth must have made a very large "o" at that moment. "And no decided to tell me this before I tried taking you on?" I stood up again, even though my legs were still a little wobbly from thinking I was going to kill him.
"What fun would that be?" asked Emily. "Even if you did actually get a swipe at him."
Percy finger the large hole I had made in his shirt. "Hmmm..." He brushed off the back of his pants. "Suddenly I feel like I'm back at my first week of camp with Luke, only now I know how he felt."
"So I did good?" I asked, a little confused. I was a bit shaken and I wasn't sure if they were impressed or disgusted.
"Yes, very." Percy stepped back into the middle of the floor. "okay, everyone, great day. Oh, and don't forget," he said, looking over us all with a glint in his eyes. "Capture the flag is tomorrow."
