The Cursed Demigod

Chapter 3 So It Begins

" Who am I?" I repeated, my voice small. "I'm the guy who thought you were my best friend, John. I'm the guy who helped you read. I'm the guy who managed to get you out of that boarding school without getting noticed. I'm also the guy who nearly got you killed by a dragon and eaten by a snake-woman. If you don't want me around, just tell me and I'll leave. I'll learn the ways of a scavenger. They're not hard."

" That's not what I meant, and you know it. And it wasn't your fault camp was attacked." John replied.

" No. It was. I shouldn't have left camp when I did. I should have told you when I first met you. The reason why I…don't really like Glade. It's because…because of this."

Slowly I pulled out a diamond vial so clear it was almost like glass. In it was a red liquid that looked like it was fighting with a golden coloured liquid and a silvery, almost ghost-like, liquid that seemed more like plasma than anything else. I thought about when it was around my father's neck. Back then, there was no gold liquid in the vial. Thanks to me, there was. The sight of it made me sick because it flowed through me. And, like the rest of it, I wanted it out of sight. That's why I kept it under my shirt.

When I looked up, I discovered that I had captured everyone's attention…again. I've really got to learn to keep a low profile. But, I admit, as disgusting as it may seem, it did catch my eye at times. To be honest, I took one look at it, felt like I was about to be sick and looked away, trying to keep the ambrosia in my stomach.

" What is it?" I heard someone say, I think it was Connor.

" This? It's the blood of Herodes, taken from the knife which killed him. The first to wear this around their neck was his son. It takes on the properties of its wearer." I replied, quietly.

" What do you mean?" Glade asked.

I let the vial fall on my chest and pulled the sleeve of my t-shirt over my left shoulder. On my shoulder was what looked like a tattoo of a crescent moon. Only, it wasn't a tattoo. My father had the same crescent moon on his lower back and my grandfather had one in almost the same place as mine. The moon could be anywhere visible on the wolf body. I've even heard of one of my ancestors having a black crescent moon around his right eye.

" My name is Lee Harvey-King. I'm the son of Licas Harvey-King and some unknown goddess and grandson of Kairos Kaklamanakis. And all males in my family from the time of Herodes Venizelos are cursed. The crescent moon is a symbol of that curse. And my father says that I am the one to break it. As for your dragon problem, I don't think it's wise that I apologise to him just yet. I'm not sure how he'll go with a cursed boy." I said.

But then something hit me. No, I don't mean literally. I meant something just exploded in my mind. Suddenly I was seeing the day when I was at my dad's work and a construction beam almost flattened us both while we were having lunch. I had ducked and rolled out of the way in time, but my father got nicked in the shoulder. In any case, we were both alive. And sitting on the barricade in front of us was a large, brilliant, silver owl that flew off before I was able to show my dad.

Then my mind went to the day I helped John get out of his boarding school. In my hand was a very intricately planned map of the school…including where all the weak points were. And it was all done by my hand. With it, I had managed to get up to John's dorm room, sneak in, and free him from his torture. However I had made a detour to the library first and snuck out a few interesting looking books on battle, construction and Greek Mythology. But I remember seeing a large silver owl sitting on the school fence when I looked back. And something told me it was slightly angry with me.

After that, I kept seeing the owl. It was almost like it was following us. And to be honest, it was the owl that led us to the junkyard. I can't really explain it, but it was almost like it wanted us to find and help Glade. He was kind of in a depressed mood when we found him. But we managed to pull him out of it. Of course getting to him (and getting out) was like walking through a maze of junk. And we didn't have any bread crumbs to leave as a trail. The only thing that got us out of there was my memory. If I remembered seeing something, then I knew that we were heading in the right direction. Either that or walking in circles.

But then my mind found itself remembering one of my earliest memories. It was before I found out about the curse. I'd gotten my hands on one of my dad's Greek Mythology books and was flicking through the pages, making fun of all the creatures and gods. When I came across the heroes, I pretended I was them. That poor pillow didn't stand a chance. First it was the Minotaur, then it was Medusa, and a giant, and a Cyclops. By the end of the day it had gone through a lot of monsters and ended up in every possible corner of my room. But when my dad had found me I had the book open to an image of a beautiful goddess wearing a frilled helmet and holding a shield with a laurel on it and was stroking the hand holding the shield as if wishing I could actually hold it.

I never realised I had fainted until after I had woken up and found myself looking up at the ceiling. At first I thought that I was back in the infirmary, but then I heard voices. They were distant, but I could tell that they were close by if that makes sense. Slowly my ears tuned out the 'static' and I was able to make out words here and there. But then I noticed the silver owl flying in a circle over me. It was the same owl from my past. And this time I knew that it was no ordinary owl. But before I could do anything, it flew off.

" Athena." I mumbled, instantly silencing the arguing that was going on around me.

" He's awake!" the unmistakeable voice of Glade unnecessarily screamed for all the world to hear.

" Yeah, thanks. I really appreciate you worsening my headache. What happened?" I grumbled, a little louder this time.

" You blacked out for some reason. Are you sure you're okay?" John replied.

" I…uh…yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Totally fine. What time is it?"

" It's been half an hour since you last asked." Connor said.

I let that sink in. Then I stood up and began walking out the door. I had no idea where exactly I was going, but I knew I had to go somewhere badly. Then it dawned on me. I hadn't been to the toilet for just over three days. I needed to go. I guess I had that look on my face because Chiron quickly told John and Glade to show me around camp. John made sure I knew where the bathroom was before we went anywhere else.

Once that was over, I was led over to the cabins. Twenty in all, they were shaped like some Greek symbol, omega I think it was. Yeah, omega. And what was weird was that campers who passed us kept looking at me, not like 'oh, so that's the new kid' but more like 'that's the guy that disappears at night only to be replaced by a wolf. We better watch out for him'. It honestly freaked me out. Then there were the people saying things like 'That's him' and 'He's the one who drove into Peleus'. I was about to go deck the next person who said that last one, but John pulled me back.

" Don't get into a fight with those guys, Lee. They're sons of Ares. They will knock you halfway into next week if you're not careful." He whispered in my ear as he and Glade forced me into the common green.

" They'll have to catch me first." I muttered, before turning my attention on the cabins. "Which one's yours?"

" Big golden and glimmering." John replied, bursting at the seams with pride and the smile to match.

" Let me guess. With your musical talent and insane knack to want to dance over the battlefield, I would say that your father is the sun god, Apollo. Am I right?"

" I wouldn't say dance over the battle field. So what about you? Any idea or sign from your mum?"

" To be honest? I think I've known her all my life and seen her all my life."

" But didn't you say that…oh."

He finally noticed where I was looking. The cabin was grey with silver curtains and, if I didn't know better, the owl design over the door looked like it had taken flight recently. I half expected it to fly around the cabin and then me before encouraging me to enter. But, after a few minutes of silence, I was more than sure that it wasn't going to happen. I guess the silver owl from the rec room wanted to go straight home after making me feel like one of those cartoon characters after getting hit really hard on the head.

When John and Glade finally managed to peel me away from the cabins (for some odd reason I was still convinced that the owl would fly off the building), they took me past the arena and to the armoury where I was fitted for my Greek armour. I have to admit, that was pretty cool. I have always dreamed about being a famous Greek warrior. I never dreamed that this day would actually come to pass. Once that was done, we continued the tour.

Before I knew it, the tour was over and everyone was being called for dinner. Some kind of horn had blown and echoed through the entire valley. Glade had to go back to his home in the forest, but to be honest I was glad that he was gone. And not because he was annoying me, but for his own safety. The sun was fading and fast. I was afraid the curse would kick in half way through dinner. But my stomach got the better over my head.

Chiron, came up to me just before the dinner actually started and told me that, unless something happened that made my mother show the camp who I was, I would sit at the big table with him. It was clear he wanted to keep an eye on me. But the entire camp would be sitting in front of him. So I refused. John talked with his cabin leader over the matter before dragging me over to the Apollo table. Man, did it feel awkward. I kept reminding myself that it was only for one dinner. But despite the hostility towards me, the others seemed to be warming up to me…I think. At least I still had John.

" You were joking about leaving, weren't you?" the son of Apollo whispered in my ear once we had given our offerings to the gods.

" If you want me to, I'll leave." I repeated, deadly serious.

" You're my best friend, Lee. Why would I want you to leave?"

" The same reason everyone else does."

There was a few minutes of silence except for our cutlery scraping our plates before either one of us spoke again. I was well aware of the rest of the table listening in on us.

" Was that large dog from that night really you, then?" John asked.

" Wolf." I corrected.

" But it was you, right?"

" The only time I left camp was when the sun rose and sank."

That's when I noticed the change in my vision. They had returned to their colour-blind like state. And I was devouring the meat like a hurricane. I quickly ran my tongue over the back of my teeth and literally heard my heart pounding in my chest. My teeth were sharpening themselves and growing. I could feel my mouth starting to change now too. My hearing was sharpening so that I was able to hear the waves on the beach clearly through the loud clatter of cutlery and I could tell exactly what every person at camp was having for dinner, though Aphrodite's kids were messing up my nose.

I'm not joking. One stray whiff of their perfume from the other side of the pavilion and I was sneezing like crazy. When I looked up at the sky, the sun was dangerously close to the horizon. Dinner time was over. I had to get out of there. A little too hastily I stood up, instantly gaining everyone's attention. So not good. But the on-coming sneeze wouldn't stop. If I sneezed now, someone was bound to notice my over large teeth.

" Lee, is everything okay?" John asked as I felt the sting in my hands and the prickling of fur on the back of my neck.

" I'll see you in a few minutes. Don't come looking. I'll find you." I replied, my voice gruff.

Then, as calmly as I could, I walked out of the dining pavilion with everyone watching my every move. As soon as I was sure they couldn't see me I started running.