CHAPER III
Sergei
After dinner, I went to Chiron and Mr. D's table, and was joined with the two "Hephaestus Squads". Chiron turned the group of 20 Hephaestus kids and me and said "Build Squad, step up!" I looked at the squad of stereotypical looking mechanics. They saluted Chiron and he looked to all of us and said "Tomorrow, Sergei and the Build Squad shall meet in the Workshop and design the new Thanatos Cabin." We all looked at each other and nodded in agreement. As we walked off, I heard him call for the Recovery Squad…
Serena
I waited for Sergei so I could go and introduce him to the rest of my cabin. In total there were 10 of us. Of us 10, there were only 2 other guys: Jeff and Stone. Jeff was cool, but kind of a perverted hippie, and Stone gets his name for good reasons. Once we set up a hammock for Sergei, we, surprisingly, fell asleep quickly. I heard the door open earlier than normal, so I figured it was Sergei going to meet with the Hephaestus Squad. I looked out the door to see, of all the annoying people in camp, Annabeth talking with my brother.
It looked like they were laughing, but the good thing is that they were heading to the Workshop and I knew that Annabeth would want to be the 'overseer' of him designing the new Thanatos Cabin. I was stricken with anger and jealousy, I don't know why I was jealous. I went to the back of the cabin to meditate.
Sergei
The blonde girl from yesterday morning, whose name is Annabeth, and I walked to the Workshop. We told jokes to pass the time, and soon we were at the Workshop. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena and the best architect in the Camp. I told her "for the exterior, I want it to be made of grey marble and having a skull and scythe above the door. The rest of the exterior is yours to design" and with that statement, she was really really happy to say the least.
One of the Hephaestus builders, Paul, pulled out a list of available interior options. Of course I wanted it black walls with grey floors. I wanted Bluetooth audio for my iPhone, and a couple of amps in it. Otherwise I left it up to the Hephaestus kids and Annabeth.
I walked out of the door to the commons to find Serena waiting on me. We walked by the archery range to see a really pretty girl with spiky looking hair split her arrow with another one in the bulls-eye. I guess Serena saw me staring and said "Oh, That's just Joan, one of the best archers ever. She even trained under Artemis for a while."
Once I realize I was staring and snapped out of it, Serena grabbed my hand and said "Come on, I'll introduce you!" Serena and I walked down to see Joan refill her quiver and put her bow behind her back. I noticed something different about her. Every now and then, she'd have a streak of blonde in her hair.
Joan, Serena, and I all walked down to the build site to see the new cabin almost finished. We sat around and talked, I soon found out that Joan was cool and down to earth on her archery skills, and not being a snob about her superior skills. Serena had just finished telling the 'friends with benefits' story to Joan, and she was literally rolling on the floor laughing. Once Joan recovered, I asked "Could you show me some basics on archery?" She smiled and said "First you must defeat me in the arena. Then I will see if you are good enough."
Immediately after Joan had said that, one of the Hephaestus builders came out and said "Its done, come on and check it out!" Joan, Serena, and I soon walked in, and much to my surprise, there was my black Gibson Les Paul guitar and my acoustic hybrid sitting in the corner. Taped to the pick guard was a message that said "Come to the Forge to see the next part."
So, Serena, who had one of her trademarked mischievous grins on her face, Joan, and I went to the Hephaestus Forge together. We walked in to find the thing that I had been stressing to finish for over six months: my 1989 Ford Bronco II. I had somehow managed to get the new(er) motor in it before Serena and I took off over three months ago. I checked my pocket to see if I had the sets of keys. Of course I did, I never left my house without them.
One of the Hephaestus kids, Jack, I think was his name, stepped up and said "She's ready to be started. We can help you modify it to fight monsters, James Bond style."
I smiled and got in my 4WD truck and started her up. It was in neutral so I revved the engine, allowing the Magnaflow exhaust to breathe. It sounded like thunder, almost. Joan and Serena were talking to each other while the Hephaestus kids and I talked about the plans for it.
I turned to Paul, who is the leader of the Hephaestus Cabin and asked "Do yall have a paint booth?" he looked at me if I asked if he had an arm, and replied "this is a workshop, of course we have a paint booth!" I told them my plans for the exterior and the interior.
We started working on blue prints while Paul pulled me and Jack aside to discuss the 'James Bond' stuff. Apparently they had found that they can create bullets with Celestial Bronze and they learned how to make warheads and ammunition that will never run out. I gave them the green light under one condition "I don't want it noticeable. At all"
I turned to Paul "Since I'm new and have absolutely no combat training, I have to go train with my scythe and work on archery.
I walked out of the Forge to see a very annoyed Joan and Serena. I nervously rubbed the back of my neck "Sorry, we had to discuss details." They accepted and I said "Joan, come on, lets see if I'm 'worthy' for you to teach me!"
Serena
Yep, he's gonna get seriously hurt, or killed. On top of being the best archer in camp, Joan was one of our top swordsmen. Or swordswomen, whatever. The two fighters walked in the arena on different sides. Sergei looked unarmed, but then he grabbed the necklace with his scythe on it, and just like Percy's Riptide, it grew into its full sized scythe mode. Something was off, when he grabbed it yesterday from the armory, it had a blade of bronze, but now it has a Stygian Iron blade… Wait, can't only Hades' kids use that blade? I really hope that Nico doesn't walk in right now.
As if on cue, Nico walks in. Oh joy. Nico went wide eyed at Sergei's blade, but the fight went on. Joan attacked first, only for her blow to be blocked with the base of the scythe's blade. Sergei used the moment of how-the-hades-did-he-do-that to hit Joan in the back with the base of his scythe. Due to the strength of Sergei and him hitting her in the small of her back, she went down on her knees.
Sergei raised his scythe as if to kill her, but she raised her sword to block, allowing him to use the natural hook that was his weapon to send Joan's sword skidding across the arena floor. He then lowered the blunt, top of the scythe against her throat proclaiming "I win" in his normal monotone. That was the fastest I have ever seen Joan be beaten in a fight. Add to the fact that Sergei hasn't used his scythe before. After Joan realized her defeat, Sergei focused his energy into the scythe and it reappeared around his neck, he then stuck his hand out to Joan to help her up.
After the two got cleaned up, as we were walking towards the mess area for lunch, Sergei said "So Joan, when do we start?"
AN: Ok, happy now? Joan is in it!