travis (age 12)

He didn't look like much at first. Travis just knew another kid was coming into the Hermes cabin. Unlike Luke and Connor, he didn't mind newcomers. He felt bad for them, especially the ones who were never claimed. But again, he didn't look like much. Then he told his story.

Percy Jackson was his name, same age as Travis. In his hand, he held the horn of the minotaur. Travis didn't think he ever let go of it, though that might have been because Luke mentioned the two brothers by name and their "special skills."

Nothing could have prepared Travis for what happened that night during capture the flag. Annabeth and Luke had formed a plan that included Percy but refused to share it with anyone.

"Just go with it!" Annabeth shouted, irritated at their constant questions.

"You're setting him up to literally die!" Connor shot back.

Luke placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, which calmed him down. Connor always had a soft spot for Luke, something Travis would never understand. He wasn't that cool, certainly not as cool as like, anyone else. Percy was off on the edge of the crowd trying to put on his armor correctly. Annabeth rolled her eyes, making her way towards him,

"Idiot."

Chiron announced the beginning of the game. His team cheered before dispersing to their assigned positions. As always, Travis and Connor were on offense. They were quick, but not very good fighters. Despite countless sword fighting lessons with Luke, they never retained any tricks to memory. It was much easier to set up traps and let the magic happen by itself.

The brothers sneaked through the forest, hoping to avoid any confrontation until they found the flag. By the creek, they heard shouting that could've only been the Ares cabin.

"Let's keep away from there," Connor mouthed but Travis shook his head.

He wanted to see what was going on. Plus, some Ares kids could be real thick. They might reveal where the flag was thinking nobody was around. Travis waved his brother toward him and they carefully crossed over large fallen trees and branches to a clearing in between the trees.

"That's Percy!" Connor whispered urgently, pulling out his never-once-used knife.

"No," Travis held him back. "We can't risk them seeing us and getting even madder. They'll think it's a setup!"

It was then that the two brothers realized it was a setup. Luke and Annabeth knew Clarisse and her cabin would want to go after Percy since he embarrassed them with the toilets incident. Iconic, he thought to himself.

"So we just want Clarisse to murder him?"

"Let's wait," he advised. "If he can't handle himself we'll cause a distraction."

Clarisse spent a lot of time taunting, so Travis wasn't too worried. Most of the time the daughter of Ares was all talk. Then, she attacked Percy with her electric spear. Connor nearly cried out prompting Travis to cover his mouth, which then prompted his brother to lick it.

"Fucking nasty!" Travis hissed, withdrawing his hand from Connor's mouth.

Percy collapsed into the creek and for a moment he didn't get up.

"Please, dad," Connor prayed. "I burned extra M&Ms at dinner tonight, if you even care, please don't let Percy die. He's just a newbie and his mom just died. He isn't thriving."

Travis was about to call his brother a shithead before Percy rose out of the water, eyes blazing with anger. He wished he had a camera to capture the look on Clarisse's face, it was a mixture of shock and... was that fear? Percy raised his once too heavy sword and defeated the entire cabin.

"Bro," someone behind them whispered.

The brothers jumped, turning to face Will Solace who was a son of Apollo. He was only ten, but vicious when it came to stealing the flag. Nobody had the heart to injure him so he just snagged that bitch and ran. Travis loved having him on his team.

Out of nowhere, Luke ran onto their side carrying the opposing team's flag. Everyone broke out into a massive roar, applauding their half brother and Annabeth. Travis wanted to be happy, but they nearly risked Percy's life to do so. Clearly, he wasn't the only one pissed off. The new kid went off at Annabeth, demanding to know why he was used as the bait.

"Wait- stay in the water," Annabeth commanded.

At first, Travis was confused. Maybe after five years at a camp for kids who were children of gods, she was losing her mind. Then he saw it: Percy's wounds from the Ares kids were healing. Gashes were closing by themselves and color was slowly returning to his face.

"What the fuck," Will murmured, earning him a few disapproving glances from his older half-siblings.

"Now come out."

He obliged and immediately Percy slumped and the injuries stopped mending. While the rest of camp started coming up with wild theories, the most unlikely thing happened: a giant dog jumped out from behind the trees and attacked Percy. Not a dog; a hellhound. Nearly everyone, both teams, cried out in alarm and advanced forward.

The sight was sickening. The monster, which shouldn't have been able to get through Camp Half-Blood's borders, ripped through Percy's too-big armor and tore his flesh to shreds. Chiron arrived just in time to shoot the creature in the neck, but Percy was still bleeding like crazy. Gods don't let him die it's been a whole ten seconds, Travis prayed to no god in particular.

"Chiron, look at this! Percy, go back in the water," Annabeth said once again.

The new kid listened, moving back into the creek for the second time. Again, the wounds healed themselves, scarring right before their very eyes until poof! there was nothing. A few campers gasped, but not at what Travis thought. Above his head, a holographic green triton glowed. Percy Jackson was claimed, but he was claimed by a god who swore never to have children.

"Di Immortales," Luke mumbled, suddenly beside him and Connor.

It was at that moment Travis knew, Poseidon severely fucked up.

"You knew Clarisse was gonna go after him, didn't you," Travis confronted luke once they'd reached the Hermes cabin.

After such a crazy night, nobody would be in the mood to argue but Travis was livid. Not even Annabeth could be that cruel, especially to a new kid.

"Hey!" Connor shouted. "At least we won the game! Luke knows what he's doing!"

"You're just gonna follow him blindly, aren't you?"

"I don't follow anyone blindly, that's physically impossible!"

"You're an idiot!"

"You're a dumbass!"

"Really? Well, you're a-"

"Guys!" Luke interrupted, slightly irritated. "Travis, I did what I had to do. And not only did we win, but Percy got claimed. I did him a favor."

Travis opened his mouth to argue but realized it was no use. Luke would never listen to him and what was done was done. Percy was claimed by Poseidon, a god who swore to never have kids. Everyone knew that meant something bad was happening. Despite the win, the whole cabin was quiet and tense. Instead of the usual celebration following a victory, Luke called lights out immediately after everyone had settled in.

He knew everyone was awake. Nobody could sleep. It was on that day everything changed. Nothing, and Travis meant nothing, would ever be the same at Camp Half-Blood.