No one responded, so looks like I won't be writing any other PJO stories, at least until Quest for the Broken Star is finished (its planned to finish up in June). Sorry, that's just how I roll. If you don't ask for it, I won't take away from other stories to do it.
Anyway, on a better note, I have been getting decent support on this story, so it's a priority right now. I'll probably update this every 2 to 3 weeks (slow for most people, but slightly expedited for me).
Also, I went back on my word for the name of this chapter. I just think the new title suits it better, but the chapter has the same as the original ideas.
Anyway, reviews:
Jodanfritz10 - No, it isn't ideal. Unfortunately, this is my first PJO endeavor on this site so I'm spending more time on my other stories with a better following. This story is kind of like a side-hustle, but I really enjoy writing it and I have big aspirations. Hopefully the situation gets better, and I can't say enough: your support matters!
We were all leaving the dining pavilion. I tried to keep track of Annabeth, Connor, and Travis, but I soon lost them in the huge mass of people funneling out. I suddenly realized I didn't know where I was, and I stopped. There was hardly anyone near me, and I didn't recognize anyone. Chiron pranced out from the Pavilion, but I wanted to try to figure it out without asking him. There was a stream, but I didn't recognize it.
I whirled around when I heard something in the bushes behind me. A large—no, huge—doglike animal sprang at me from the bushes. But I could instantly tell that this was no dog. Its eyes were red and fierce with intent to harm.
I backed away, honestly pretty scared. I thought to turn and run, but before I could, the hound swung its paw, tearing through my face with its claws. I definitely did not scream. I fell down on my back and watched the beast stand over me, in terror.
As the beast raised its paw for another strike, I heard Chiron shout my name. He threw me a pen—gee, thanks. How was a pen supposed to help?—but as I watched in fascination, it grew into a bronze three-foot-long sword, spinning and over end. By all means, it was incredibly stupid to try to catch a large spinning blade spinning straight toward me, but I somehow caught the hilt in my right hand. I swiped at the hound in desperation, slicing it slightly. It reared back, and I managed to get to my feet. I slashed again, but it was met by hard claws. It was awkward, but it felt somewhat more natural than I'd expect. I slashed again, connecting this time. I could see red through the fur. The hound retorted, slashing across my chest. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out. Tears streamed from my eyes, which was good because it kept the blood from running into my eyes. However, it did run into my mouth (gross).
The hound struck again, and I deflected it with my sword, but the sheer force of the blow caused me to stagger backward-toward the stream. I tried striking again, but the injuries and exhaustion had taken their toll on my body, and I couldn't connect. I desperately slashed with the sword, but to no avail. I continued to stagger backward, bending to the creatures onslaught. I managed to block some of its attack's, but my left hip and dominant arm were now bleeding on top of the face and chest wounds
Then the creature pounced, leaving a long gash across my face starting at my left temple, just missing my eye, and ending at my right cheek. It was the final blow, and I crashed into the stream, turning the water to a sickening red.
Underwater, I managed to notice three things: Connor, standing next to his brother, called my name in shock. Annabeth was tearing up and covered her mouth with her hand. She still looked beautiful, even as I was dying. It couldn't hurt to admit it to myself if I'd be dead soon anyway, right? And I noticed one more thing: Luke was nowhere to be found.
Soon, the water faded back to blue. I felt strength return. Seeing the hound standing over me in triumph, I launched myself at it, driving my sword straight into what I could only assume was its heart. It dissolved into golden dust.
Everyone in view stared at me. It wasn't me killing the beast or my seemingly-fatal wounds significantly healing in mere seconds that they were marveling at, like I thought—it was the green hologram above my head in the shape of—you guessed it—a trident.
"See, Percy, monsters shouldn't be able to enter the camp. You saw Thalia's Pine Tree—that's the border of the camp, and where the barrier begins. Only demigods can enter. Unless…" Chiron trailed off.
"Continue," I prompted.
"That is, unless the monster was voluntarily invited into the camp. And the hellhound—that's the name of the monster you fought—was clearly intent on attacking you in particular. Percy, this is serious. Someone in this camp is trying to murder you. Please be careful."
Chiron looked at the pen I had given back to him, which was now in his palm. "Keep this," he resolved. "It's name is Anaklusmos—Riptide. Uncap it to turn it into a sword. Place the cap on the tip to return it to pen form. It only works on monsters and other demigods—not mortals. And if you lose it, it will always return to you one way or another."
"Thank you," I said, taking the pen.
Chiron smiled. "I have a feeling that good 'ol Anaklusmos harbors a few tricks that even I haven't found."
It was clear that Riptide has once belonged to Chiron. I felt a little bad about taking it from him, but I clearly needed it if I wanted to survive a week in this camp. I pocketed it. It felt weird holding a weapon of immense power in my pocket, but I'd get used to it.
"Now I'll show you to your new cabin."
Oh yeah, right. Isolation. My spirits dropped.
"On the upside, you can customize it exactly to your liking."
True. That would be cool.
As we arrived, Chiron opened the door and announced, "Welcome to Cabin Three!"
One word can sum up the whole room: blue. Blue walls, blue ceiling, blue bed, blue curtains. It was blue heaven. The floor was a sandy brown. And there were touches of green scattered about like seaweed—a green windowsill here, a green lamp there. The bed frame and dresser were a mixture of colors, pink and yellow and purple, like coral. I legit felt like I was underwater. And it was pretty awesome.
"Anything you feel the need to change?" Chiron asked.
"No, it's awesome."
"Great. I'll leave you to yourself, then. Capture-the-Flag in two hours."
As cool as the room was, I wanted to go find Connor and Travis. I left, heading for the Hermes cabin. But along the way, I saw someone. No! It couldn't be! He had goat legs, but I'd recognize that face anywhere. Grover. It was actually Grover!
I came up to him excitedly. "Grover! Hey! It's me, Percy!"
Grover cocked his head. 'You look familiar… but can't say the name rings a bell."
I was taken aback in confusion. "What?"
"Sorry, I don't remember who you are, assuming we've met before."
"We… we went to sixth grade together! We were friends! You were my only friend, actually."
Grover put a hand on my shoulder. "Look, bud, I'm sorry that I don't remember you, but I've gone to over ten sixth grades and befriended over ten different demigods. I don't remember them after I move on to the next school."
My mind went numb. "Yeah, yeah, it's cool. Don't worry… don't, uhhhh…." I stumbled away from him, barely making it back to the Poseidon cabin before collapsing to my knees.
All along, my only friend… wasn't ever my friend at all, it was just because it was his job to watch over demigods and that whole friendship was all fake and he didn't even remember me and-
Suddenly, in a fit of rage, I tore the seashell necklace he had given me from my neck. I watched the shells fall and scatter. But I didn't regret my decision. In fact, I stood up and crushed the remains under my feet. In retrospect, the shell pieces were a nice accent to the sandy floor.
ΩΩΩΩΩ
I finally sank back down onto my bed, the rage turning to anguish. I had no friends, and I had never had any.
I must have actually fallen asleep because when I looked up, an hour and a half had passed. I remembered Chiron's words, Capture-the-Flag in two hours, and hurried to freshen myself up. I changed into a fresh orange Camp Half-Blood shirt that had ended up in the dresser, and a pair of jeans. After glancing at a map on the wall, I grabbed Riptide and left for the forest where the competition would take place.
In all honesty, I had no idea what was going on. About five til, I arrived at the edge of the field, where two demigods were stationed with blue and red mesh jerseys.
"Team?" The demigod on my right said.
"I don't know."
"Newbie," he said, and motioned to the girl on my left. She toss a blue jersey.
"Wear it," said the demigod who gave it to me, "Or both sides will try to kill you."
I wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. I mean, after the hellhound, anything was possible, I guess. I walked over to a group of blue-jerseyed demigods. They were grouped on the left side of a river that ran through the forest. When I got there, I recognized Annabeth in blue. I shied away from her, still unsure how she felt about me after blasting her out of the water on the lake. As the time of the start drew nearer and more demigods in blue jerseys arrived, Annabeth mounted a tree stump and started to call out her plan.
As she finished, everyone nodded, entirely understanding everything she'd said. However, I hadn't been assigned anything. "Um, what do I do?"
Annabeth looked down at me in annoyance. "Just… stay out of the way."
"Uh… all right."
Everyone lined up. Chiron sounded his horn from the side, and the majority of our team charged across the river. Some held back, and I decided to join them as it seemed to be the most out-of-the-way thing possible. I drew Riptide and just stood there awkwardly. However, I soon saw myself drifting toward Annabeth, who was apart from the group and running along the left of the arena. She was slowed by the numerous opponents she encountered, but she defeated each with ease and agility. I watched in awe as her stormy eyes calculated and struck. I hadn't known this kind of skill was possible.
I followed behind her until she stopped dead in her tracks. Covered in gold-plated armor with a red jersey over it was Clarisse. The visor was tilted up so I could see her face, which was contorted with battle rage. She carried a gigantic broadsword that she carried loosely in one hand. "Wanna fight?" she sneered. She stepped in toward Annabeth an swung her broadsword toward her. Annabeth stopped the blade with her own, but Clarisse withdrew before Annabeth could retaliate. Annabeth tried to strike back, but Clarisse countered and caught Annabeth across the forehead. She groaned in pain. She weakly tied blocking Clarisse's next strike. While she managed to defend the attack, the flat of her blade slapped against her chest. She was in trouble.
She had said not to get in the way, but I simply couldn't watch this anymore. Call it ADHD, but my impulses made me step in and take on Clarisse.
The edges of our blades collided. Riptide cleaved into her broadsword, leaving a sizeable notch.
Rage burned in her eyes. I backed away fearfully, but she came down with her sword, the untarnished edge ripping through my non-dominant arm. I tried to crawl away, but Clarisse raised her broadsword again. Just as it came down on me, it was caught with another blade. I looked up to see the blond curls and gray eyes of Annabeth. She flicked Clarisse's blade away before Clarisse could react, sending her running after it
Annabeth helped me up. "Th-thanks," I stuttered. Yes, I was blushing, but Annabeth probably accounted it to exertion and fear.
"What's your name?"
"Percy."
"Well, Percy, it's what friends do."
Friends. My smile must've been unreasonably wide, because Annabeth gave me a weird look.
"All right, let's get that flag!" she shouted!
"Yeah!"
We charged through red territory, taking and conquering each enemy together. As Annabeth had planned, the majority of the blue team was cleaving through the red team in a large group far to our right. They attracted most of the attention, leaving only a few stragglers for us to take care of.
"I guess," Annabeth breathed as we disarmed a six-foot tall Ares boy in armor, "I didn't realize I needed a partner." She smiled at me.
My heart skipped a beat. Partner? No, stupid-she means as an ally in battle. "Y-yeah, thanks."
"Do you always stutter like that?"
"Uhh, n-no."
She laughed. "All right, Seaweed Brain, let's do this.
I smirked at the new nickname.
We took on a few more opponents before reaching the flag. The two guards there came at us, one a black-haired girl and the other a dark-skinned boy. They both looked strong and skilled. As they approached us, Annabeth and I went back-to-back. She insisted on taking the boy, leaving me to take on the girl. I swear the girl was stronger, because Annabeth seemed to fight the boy with such ease. Of course, that was most likely because she was better than me.
Annabeth seemed to be winning her battle, but I was losing mine. I saw Chiron watching closely, which was probably why the girl didn't try maiming me. However, an idea began to form in my head. If Annabeth and I switched, then maybe-
"Now!" Annabeth shouted. Without anyone having to explain, we turned and stepped past each other, confusing our opponents. I struck near the hilt of the boy's sword, making it fly out of his hands. When I looked over my back, Annabeth had done the same. With our final opponents disarmed, we seized the flag together. A loud, booming noise rang out, and I saw it had been the dark-skinned boy blowing a horn. It was supposed to be a signal to his team that the flag had been taken, but it was also part of Annabeth's plan. As the blue team heard the sound, they formed a wall. They let us run right through but blocked everyone on the red team. They were successful, but there were still a few red demigods behind the line that we'd have to get through. We headed toward the least dense area, outmaneuvering the demigods who approached us. Finally, we were within ten yards of the boundary river. However, there was one last obstacle. Clarisse, in her full armor, stood in front of us. There was no eluding her; we'd have to fight our way past her.
"Take it," Annabeth commanded through her teeth.
She let go of the flag and thrusted at Clarisse, who blocked her easily. I wheeled around the two and leaped over the river.
"BLUE WINS!" Chiron bellowed over a megaphone. "CEASE FIGHTING! THAT INCLUDES YOU, CLARISSE!" Clarisse grudgingly lowered her weapon and stalked off.
Annabeth, meanwhile, ran over to me with an excited smile on her face. I held up my hand for a high-five, but she enveloped me in a friendly hug. I looked down at her in surprise. "We did it! We did it! We did it!" Annabeth gushed.
My heart swelled knowing I made her happy. I had to get off of this topic before I started blushing. "So you trusted me with the flag, eh?"
She glanced up at my smirk. "No, I just didn't trust you to fight Clarisse."
"Aw, I can handle Clarisse."
"Right, and who got you out of your losing fight with her?"
"Right," I repeated, "And who got you out of your losing fight with her?"
Annabeth opened her mouth but realized she didn't have a comeback. She punched my shoulder, but I just smiled. "Stupid Seaweed Brain."
I laughed, taking her hand and pulling her along with the crowd back to the dining pavilion for lunch.
"So how does this whole thing even work? I might have won it for us, but that doesn't mean I know how to play."
Annabeth sighed, relenting. "All right, you did. Anyway, it's basically normal capture-the-flag except with swords. There's no killing or maiming, but you saw how well that rule is maintained. It's every Friday at the same time. Usually we just form groups, but recently Chiron changed the rules so that we're in the same team the whole month. Supposed to build teamwork or something," she grumbled. Her voice perked up at her next point: "I was elected the leader. Unfortunately, our team is awful. That was our first win of the month. Luckily, we get a new team next Friday."
That reminded me. It was almost the end of August; my birthday was soon.
We reached the dining pavilion and entered. I followed Annabeth to her table. Seeing Luke wasn't there, I smirked and sat between where he and Annabeth usually sat. Annabeth gave me a suspicious look with a smirk, like I know what you're doing. "You know, you're not allowed to sit at a table that's not yours."
"Rules are made to be broken, right?"
The smirk was still on her face. "I suppose… I have no objection."
"Actually," came a voice from behind them, "rules are meant to be upheld. Why else would I make them?"
I whirled around to see a black-haired scraggly man in a Hawaiian shirt. "Who's that?" I asked Annabeth.
"Mr. D. Camp director."
"I thought that was Chiron?" I looked back to see Mr. D tapping his foot impatiently.
"Look, I'm sorry Percy, but you should go."
I sighed. "All right."
Mr. D pointed at the Poseidon table. "There's your table. You'll sit there every day, no exceptions."
"Yeah, yeah, I know where my solitary confinement is."
I plopped down at the isolated table and started to eat mundanely. I watched Annabeth. Luke had come and the two were talking and laughing. I just wished I could be over there with her. I frowned down at my food. I was becoming incredibly bored and frustrated, so I tried to find something else to occupy myself with. I looked around, my eyes finally coming to a rest on a small, black-haired, pale-skinned boy who looked to be having about as much fun as I was. He sat at the Hades table, which I knew had been empty during lunch.
"Hey!"
He didn't respond.
"You! At the Hades table!"
The boy seemed to sigh.
As I looked at the boy, something clicked. This must be Nico, who Connor and Travis had told me about. "Nico, is it?"
"Uh-huh."
"Haven't seen you here recently."
He shrugged. "Don't usually come."
My eyes narrowed. "So… you just don't eat?"
He shrugged again.
My ADHD brain being unable to focus on Nico any longer, my eyes drifted to the cards set out on the table in front of him. I slid down to the end of my table to get a better look. "What are those?"
Nico smiled. "Well, these are Mythomagic cards. They have gods, monsters, and other mythological figures in a competitive card game. Right now I'm looking at the Hydra. As you can see, Ares is weak against it because he's the only one stupid enough to chop off its heads…"
I glanced at Mr. D and, when he wasn't looking, I slipped over to Nico's table.
"...On the other hand, Hephaestus is strong against it because he can burn it with fire. However, if you attach a Water card to the Hydra, Hephaestus is ineffective, and the Hydra gains five attack damage. In that case, Poseidon is the best card to play against it to drain the water, followed up with Hephaestus. But if you don't have Hephaestus, you could also use Athena, who's good at outwitting monsters-"
As much as I wanted to hear the boy so excited, I honestly couldn't listen to Amy more of it without dozing off.
"How about we play?" I suggested.
"Really? I… I've never played with anyone since Bianca…"
I could tell there was weight behind the statement. "What happened to Bianca?"
"She joined the Hunters of Artemis a few years ago. I'd never felt so alone. I mean, she just left me. All alone, with no one who cared about me. Our mom passed away when we were young, and my dad's the infamous Hades everyone so despises."
"Y'know, I think Hades is actually pretty cool." I wasn't quite sure where I was going with this, but I decided to continue. "Not as cool as Poseidon, of course, but still pretty cool."
"Really?"
"I mean, all I've got to base him off of are his kids, and the one Hades kid I've met was pretty cool."
"You're sentimental. Let's play." Nico gave me half the cards and placed down a Hydra."
Was Ares good with Hydra or bad? I honestly couldn't remember, so I put it down.
Nico dropped his face into his palm. "You really are hopeless, aren't you? Ares cuts off the heads, doubling the Hydra's attack damage. My turn." He placed down a Water card. "Hydra attacks with 30 times 2, or 60, damage plus 5 for the water. 65 damage wipes out the mighty Ares." He slid the card to the side. "Now place down another god or hero."
I smirked. "My favorite," I remarked, slapping down the Poseidon card.
Nico smiled. "Now you got the hang of it. Poseidon drains the water, decreasing Hydra's attack. Now I can't wipe out Poseidon because he has 65 HP. I'll attack anyway to reduce Poseidon's HP to 5."
As according to Nico's lecture, I followed up with Hephaestus.
Nico played Medusa.
"All right, now pick one card to attack one or more of my cards. Each card can only attack once."
I placed Hephaestus in front of the Hydra per Nico's advice. Unsure of what to do with Poseidon, I put him underneath Medusa.
"Amazing! Hephaestus attacks the Hydra with double damage because of the fire weakness, so that's forty times two-eighty, the Hydra is out. Then you have Poseidon on Medusa. Poseidon blinds Medusa with water, disabling her turn-to-stone ability for one turn."
"That's just me! Awesome at everything I do," I bragged.
"Uh-uh, not so fast!" Nico played Zeus, who had a staggering 250 HP. "Strength against water," he noted.
I frowned. Although Poseidon had been useful so far, most of his attacks were useless, especially against such an OP card like Zeus. Wow, I was really getting into this, wasn't I? Seeing any attacks from Poseidon would be futile, I rummaged through the deck until I found Harpy. I placed it.
Nico smirked. "Zeus's lightning flash electrocutes the water, causing Poseidon 20 self-damage every turn. Also, Medusa turns Harpy to stone. Harpy falls from hundreds of feet above the ground and shatters into pieces. Harpy is completely disabled until she is reassembled and turned back into flesh."
I groaned. That had been my last card. "All right, I'm gonna use Anaklusmos."
"Poseidon does 20 damage to Medusa, she has 20 left. Medusa turns Poseidon to stone so that he can await his final agonies trapped inside rigid rock. Skip your turn, and 20 self damage wipes out Poseidon. I win!"
"You sure you didn't cheat?" I asked.
"Nope! It's all right here!" Nico held up a thick pocketbook.
"All right, all right. Oh, hey! Were you at capture-the-flag?"
Almost instantly, Nico hunched and turned away from me, like he'd been before. "No… I wasn't."
I sighed. "Why did you do that? Did I say something?"
"What?"
"You were just all excited, and then all of a sudden you got all antisocial again."
"Oh. I don't get excited often. This is... normal me," he mumbled. "That was just a different side that doesn't come out often." I looked at him, contemplating. This was an interesting boy. I knew that something had happened to him. He used to be now he'd been with the Mythomagic all the time, but something had changed. There was a good chance it had been his sister. On top of that, social seclusion. Interestingly enough, I had found all of that out within the first minutes of meeting him and he'd hardly told me anything. I pitied him, though. Maybe I could help him be happier. Because I loved watching him smile. It made me feel good.
I knew one thing for sure: I definitely wanted to talk to this kid some more.
End Notes:
This was a fun chapter to write with the action and Percabeth. Percy and Annabeth are on good terms now, and they're only going to go up from there. Also, we have some Percy and Nico interaction. I do like to have some cute Percy and Nico moments, but I asure you, Percabeth is the main ship.
Next chapter is titled: Nico.
