How Serendipitous
I never really liked eating in the dining pavilion. It wasn't that it wasn't pretty or that the food was bad. It was the fact that the Hermes cabin barely fit at the table. Personal space? A thing of the past.
We all squished together, to try to give room for everyone, but I knew the people at the end had to sit with half their backside hanging off the edge. That's why I tried not to sit on the edges anymore. I learned this the hard way. Not that I really had to worry about being pushed to the edge, though, because Luke usually saved a seat for me next to him. Also, I was right behind him in line, so I got to the table pretty quickly.
Tonight, he still saved me a seat, with Percy on his other side, only the new camper had the unfortunate luck of sitting on the end.
We raised our glasses to the gods and then the food was brought forward. As tired as I was, my stomach was growling for food, nourishment, sustenance to replenish my empty energy reserves. I'd missed lunch because I'd decided instead of eating something and preparing for my archery class like a normal person would do, I was huddled in a ball, in my cabin, on my bed.
So I guess it was a good thing I'd come to dinner, as much as I didn't want to. With the table being too crowded and the Ares cabin behind me, it wasn't the best, most pleasant experience ever. I'd gotten used to it, that didn't mean I liked it.
I also tried to tune Luke and Percy's conversation out as much as I could. Kind of hard considering I always honed in on Luke when he was speaking and the fact that I was sitting right next to him, but I tried. Besides, he was just showing Percy how things worked around here—when they got up to give offering to the gods, I did the same—so their conversation was going to be boring and routine.
At the end of dinner, with a majority of the campers having finished eating, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor to grab our attention.
Mr. D then stood up letting out a sigh loud enough you could probably hear it from a mile away. "Yes," he drawled. "I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."
Behind me came the cheers and shouts of the Ares cabin. I hunched my shoulders a bit, slightly afraid I'd get hit by something.
"Personally," Mr. D continued making his voice louder than the cheers. "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you we have a new camper today." He sounded absolutely bored out of his skull. "Peter Johnson."
Chiron leaned over to murmur in Mr. D's ear while some people from cabin eleven snickered.
"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected not sounding embarrassed or sorry at all. "That's right. Hurrah and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."
All the campers cheered as they got up from their tables and started toward the amphitheater. I stayed seated, picking at the remnants of food on my plate. Luke brushed my shoulder with his hand as he left and I put my hand on top of his briefly as it was sliding off my shoulder, but didn't look up at him.
The pavilion became silent. Someone cleared their throat and my head snapped up to see Mr. D and Chiron still at their own table. Probably waiting for me.
Mr. D was outwardly glaring at me, daring me to disobey rules (although, I didn't think going to the bonfire was a required activity at camp) and Chiron was giving me a concerned but stern look, reminding me of our conversation about following the rules and not dusting the harpies.
I dropped my head back to my plate, wiping my fingers free of grease and quickly stood up, trudging past the amphitheater, where the Apollo kids had already started playing one of their songs, and to the cabins. Neither Chiron nor Mr. D tried to stop me so I continued on.
I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
I wasn't sure if I was more annoyed with Percy or myself for noticing Percy.
I didn't like gossip. I didn't like idle banter. I didn't like rumors. So the fact that everywhere I went around camp I felt like I was bumping into Percy constantly was staring irk me. Notwithstanding the fact that he was in the Hermes cabin.
Don't get me wrong. Percy seemed like a sweet boy, innocent, kind… I don't know, a twelve-year-old! It was just… I'd been trying to avoid all this drama. I thought I'd been managing pretty well, but I was wrong. I still heard about how the head counselors were discussing who Percy's godly parent might me, how Percy wasn't good at this or that, or shot Chiron with an arrow. He had been all the camp could talk about while he was unconscious and now that he was conscious, it only grew worse. (What I was expecting, though, honestly?)
Not only that, but there were whispers of another rumor going around along with "the Big Three" rumor following Percy. It had something to do with a theft, but that was all I really heard by accident. If anyone knew more information and talked about it while I was around, I hadn't been paying attention.
Anyway, the week continued on and I couldn't seem to get away from the gossip. Or Percy. I felt like I was always passing him as I hopped from activity to the next. I'd occasionally bump into him on the canoe lake, too, because I liked to paddle out to the middle and practice my guitar, think, maybe take a light nap. I suppose I could've stopped going onto the lake if I didn't want to see him there, but it felt like the only time I could get some peace and quiet away from the buzzing camp, away from the crowded Hermes cabin. Besides, it wasn't like we talked, he was just there and I was just there.
It was just annoying seeing him all the time and then turning around and hearing someone talk about him.
And it wasn't just passing him or bumping into him on the canoe lake. I had an activity right before him, which was wrestling with the Ares kids. Although, I'd convinced the Ares cabin to help me train in hand-to-hand instead of wrestling. That's what Chiron was talking about when he brought up my training.
I don't know that he or Mr. D like it so much that I was changing the curriculum, however, neither of them did anything about it, so I figured I was okay.
When I say hand-to-hand, I don't just mean fighting without a weapon, I mean learning to fight and disarm someone with a weapon, where I had none. It was a bit extreme and I'd been wounded more than enough times doing it before I started getting better at it, because they did not go easy on me, but it was something I'd wanted to do. And I was getting much, much better at it.
Of course, getting the Ares kids to agree to teach me was no easy task in the first place. Actually, the events that transpired before I asked them to do that for me were completely unintentional.
We were playing a game of capture the flag. I'd only been at Camp Half-Blood for about a month. Still, somehow I was landed with the task of guarding the flag with another teammate. The game had begun a bit ago and we'd managed to take some of the other team's people captive.
Suddenly, out of the gloom, came the noise that sounded like a large animal barreling through the underbrush. The other camper, also from the Hermes cabin (though he was actually a son of Hermes named Chris Rodriguez) and I exchanged a confused glance before turning to face whatever was coming.
I nocked an arrow and aimed to the general area the noise was coming from. My heart pounded in my chest, blood roared in my ears and then out of the darkness we finally saw what was coming.
It was, in fact, not a wild animal or monster, it was a group of Ares kids. Just as bad. The five of them had created a wall of spears and swords, knocking away our defenses as far as I could tell. I mean, it would explain how they got past our team, unless the whole of our team was all on the other side for some reason or another.
Clarisse was in the very middle, with her electric spear. She had a wicked mean grin on her face.
Gods, this was going to suck. I wasn't even sure if only two of us could defend the flag unless backup came. In any case, we had to try.
I shot my arrows at their hands, trying to knock their weapons out of their hands. It was harder because they had shields, but Chris distracted them long enough for me to hit my target. I managed to get three of them, before Clarisse's other sibling, Abby, I suddenly recalled, charged at me. I could only hope Chris would be able to hold his own with the three while I dealt with Clarisse and Abby.
Abby came at me first, because she was the closest, while Clarisse ran around us toward the flag. I thought about chasing her but couldn't because there was no doubt as soon as I turned my back I'd be hurt or knocked unconscious.
I ducked and rolled out of the way as Abby slashed her sword at me. I managed to notch an arrow before she swung at me again, narrowly avoiding being sliced in half. I raised my bow as soon as her sword had gone past me and shot my arrow at her (making sure to aim for her armor). She tried to raise her shield to block it but she was just shy of it, diverting its path with the edge of the shield. It made a ding sound as it hit her helm before ricocheting off the helmet and landing next to her foot.
I hadn't built up the courage to aim for anything exposed. I didn't want to hurt anyone else, even if they didn't grant me the same courtesy. It just didn't feel right. After all it was just a game—a game they took way too seriously. I only participated because it was good battle practice and I didn't want to blamed for losing the game.
Abby swung at me again, not even fazed by my arrow, and I ducked, letting out a frustrated growl. I need to go after Clarisse or she'd get the flag! I wasn't sure what I was thinking, but I had to get away from this girl, so as I stood up I took my bow and smacked her right across the face. This stunned her long enough for me to disarm her before tripping her up to make sure I had time to run after Clarisse.
Though we couldn't be within a ten yard radius of our flag, I only had a run a little bit to see it. It and Clarisse starting to pick it out of the ground. I had no idea where Chris had one off to. Or where the other Ares campers were. I couldn't exactly worry about them right now.
I swiftly nocked an arrow and shot right between the gap of her hand and the flag's pole. Right after I let my arrow go I ran up to her and got within hitting distance of her just as she spun around eyes wide. I tried to hit her across the head with my bow like I did with Abby but she ducked out of the way.
She jabbed at me with her electric spear as she came out of her role and I jumped back, next to the flag. I needed something to fight back with. Bow and arrows could only go so far. They weren't very good for close-range things.
I glanced back and forth between Clarisse, who was advancing, and the flag. The flag! I hadn't thought to grab another weapon other than my bow and a quiver of arrows (stupidly, I admit) so this would have to do. I wasn't sure if it was against the rules, but it wasn't like I was trying to move the flag. I was keeping it in the vicinity of our designated area.
Dodging another jab, I grabbed the flag out of the ground and spun it around, trying to hit Clarisse with the pole. She easily blocked my attack with her shield before jabbing at me again. I deflected with the flag. I was about to try another hit when Abby showed up, looking really pissed. Clarisse saw this small moment of distraction and instead of grabbing the flag out of my hands she thrust her spear at me.
I barely had time to think about what I was going to do. The pole was too heavy to move quick enough to deflect her attack and there was no way I was going to be able to use my bow and arrow.
So, I did the sensible thing, I dropped the flag and caught the shaft of the spear just below the tip before she could strike me.
Either way, it had the same effect as if she'd hit me (in retrospect, I probably wouldn't have been so badly wounded if I'd just let her hit my breastplate). Electricity shot through me, stealing my breath and making my body tingle caustically. I let out a strangled cry that cut off. My knees buckled, but I couldn't let go of her spear. I was trying, trust me, I was trying, but my fingers wouldn't unfurl. My hands seemed stick to the shaft and electricity just kept zipping through me.
Honestly, I was surprised I'd even survived that, considering that would've probably killed a normal human being. But, then again, I wasn't exactly normal. Still, my body functioned in a way that non-demigods' bodies did, for all intents and purposes. It should've stopped my heart.
Instead, I blacked out. Finally.
When I opened my eyes again, I was in the infirmary. My whole body felt sore, like I'd just done the Ironman triathlon three times consecutively. My ears buzzed and I felt too warm, like I'd developed a fever. Probably due to ingesting too much nectar and ambrosia, I decided.
My vision swam. I blinked hard to clear it.
"You're awake!" someone exclaimed from beside me. My eyes flickered over to my left to see who it was. I wanted to smile but that hurt too.
"Luke," I croaked. He looked relieved to see me finally awake. My eyebrows furrowed. "How long?"
Luke's own eyebrows furrowed. "Almost a week."
"Huh."
Someone else cleared their throat. It was rough and impatient-sounding. I tried to lift my head but found I couldn't hold it up for very long, so I struggled to get into a sitting position. Luke started to protest, but I glared at him. My body protested, too, but I ignored it and managed to sit up. I was panting with one arm wrapped around my middle, my other hand grasping Luke's, who'd also put a hand on my shoulder, but I had sat up.
That's when I realized I had an audience. I wanted to say the whole camp was there, at the end of my bed, crowing around it, making a wide semi-circle, but that might've been exaggerating. It felt like the whole camp had come.
I looked around at all of them.
"…what's going on?" I asked slowly.
"Chiron said I should apologize," Clarisse mumbled, pouting, her arms crossed. Her eyebrows were smashed together and she was glaring me. She was standing right at the end of the bed. "So I'm sorry." She paused. "But, honestly, I don't see why I have to do this." She flung her arms out and shifted her weight to her other foot. "You're the one stupid enough to grab the spear."
"Clarisse," Chiron scolded, who I then suddenly noticed. He was standing off to the side of the crescent-shaped group of campers. I'm not sure how I'd missed him, he was still in centaur form.
"It's fine," I sighed, sagging a little, my energy gone already. "She's right. It was stupid of me to grab the spear." There was a pause. "So why is everyone else here?" I demanded, looking at all of them again. Well, I was glaring now. I'd become some sort of spectacle and it was making me uncomfortable. I just wanted to go back to sleep without a bunch of eyes watching me.
Someone from the crowd spoke up. "Clarisse, apologizing? Had to see it for myself." I couldn't tell who it was because the group was so large. The group murmured assent.
"Well, she did so you can all leave now." I muttered. I was surprised Chiron hadn't ushered them as soon as they started gathering.
"What was it like?" another camper from the crowd called out.
"What was what like," I half-growled as Chiron said, "All right, there's nothing more to see. Why don't we let Tori rest—"
"Holding onto an electric spear," the same camper interrupted Chiron, who opened his mouth about to scold the group but I met his eyes and stopped him.
I turned back to the crowd and, keeping a completely straight face, I answered, "Shocking."
The group stared back at me, blinking. Silence spread through the infirmary. I think they were trying to decide on whether they should laugh or groan. Even Clarisse looked stunned at my comment.
"Oh my gods," someone murmured with barely contained laughter in their voice, finally breaking the silence. No laughter followed, but I think they were still trying to decide if they should or not.
I did an awkward, sore bow and gave them a sarcastic smile.
I said, my voice just as sarcastic as my smile, "I'll be here all week." I let that sink in. "For now, show's over. Please leave." Without waiting for an answer, I flopped back down on my cot and turned over onto my left so I wouldn't have to look at them (which my body didn't like one bit).
Luke was sitting on the edge of the cot across from mine. I didn't mind having to see him. His blue eyes sparkled with amusement and his lips were pulled up in a smile. He was also shaking his head. Those blue eyes rolled and I winked at him as I heard Chiron shuffling the crowd back outside.
I would later find out that I'd earned a grudging respect from the Ares cabin. I thought for sure they'd turn me into a laughing stock, the most moronic of the morons, for grabbing an electric spear. Instead, they sort of came to like me…? I mean, it could've been because I'd been "brave" enough to grab an electric spear. It could've been because I hadn't been claimed yet and they maybe thought I could be a daughter of Ares. But as I said earlier anyone who wasn't paying attention wouldn't know I was definitely a daughter of Apollo. A lot of the campers paid pretty good attention, which included the Ares campers.
Whatever the reason, I didn't question it. I used it to my advantage. I hadn't known at the time that I'd want to train in hand-to-hand, but when the idea popped into my head I discussed it with the Ares kids before one of our wrestling classes and they'd agreed.
It would be the Athena cabin that labelled me as an idiot for doing what I did. Which made sense. I learned that fact from Annabeth, because she's the one who had trained and still was training me to fight with a knife. (I took sword lessons from Luke, obviously, and spear lessons from Clarisse.) It wasn't, however, their style to announce it to the whole world that I was an idiot.
Anyway, that's how the week passed. I was becoming more and more annoyed with everything in general and Percy was getting special attention. I couldn't wait until the summer ended and a majority of the campers went off to go to school or whatever they did if they weren't year-rounders. The camp would be quieter and so would the Hermes cabin.
Honestly, I'm not usually such a negative Nellie, but the circumstances under which Percy came to camp stirred up a lot of unwanted memories. Thinking about them too much was making me angry. So I suppose I wasn't actually angry at anything here—Camp Half-Blood had become my home, the half-bloods who resided in it had become a family (negating the fact that they were, technically, my actual family)—I was really only angry with myself. And Apollo.
I was excited for this week's capture the flag game. I just wish I'd known that it was only going to make things worse.
So, third chapter. Still kind of filler, but things will, hopefully start picking up after this next chapter because the capture the flag game leads to Percy's quest.
Also, I really would like to take the time to introduce you guys to an old character I've made new. Her past is different, her relationship with Luke is different, and I want to be able to show it, just not all at once.
I think I'll start a posting schedule with how things are going right now: a new chapter on Wednesdays and Sundays. Again, if I miss a day, feel free to check out my profile page to see what's up and why I'm late posting.
Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight
