It was around 7:30 am the next day when Zuri decided to sneak out of the Hermes cabin. The feat itself wasn't difficult – most of the other female campers, Emma included, were still snoozing in their beds. However, since waking her sister (who was not a morning person) was not in her best interests, the little girl surmised it would be better to just tip-toe past all the beds rather than simply walking out. She wanted to get a better look at all the weapons and be able to pick one out without someone hovering over her, which Emma would end up doing if she was with her. Therefore, her older sister was to remain asleep in the top part of the bunk bed they were sharing. (Besides, Emma was downright scary whenever she first woke up, something that Zuri had no desire in being a witness to today.)
As soon as the young girl stepped outside the girl section of the cabin, she took a moment to breathe in the fresh morning air. Despite being so close to (or, arguably, a part of) New York City, the air in Camp Half-Blood was surprisingly clear and free of any smog or other forms of pollution. After living virtually her entire life in the big city, the seven-year-old couldn't help but appreciate the clean feeling of this air. It wasn't much, but it was…nice, she supposed. It definitely helped revitalize her after so many crazy things happened. Speaking of which, what would be next…?
A brief hello from a passing camper interrupted her thoughts, and Zuri returned the greeting before starting off towards the training arena. Since the only campers really out and about at this hour were the early risers (she had learned the night before that the official time that everyone was supposed to wake up was 9:15, so most campers took advantage of that and slept until around nine o'clock), Zuri passed very few people on the way to her destination. She was just past the training course with the dummies when something a little ways off caught her eye. Over in the archery field across from a big red target stood Ravi and what looked like one of the Apollo kids (Zuri remembered seeing him at his respective table last night). Her older brother had his bow out, and was apparently receiving some private tutoring on how to use it by the senior archer. As she moved closer, she saw how the other camper would demonstrate with his arms the proper way to hold the weapon and shoot. Ravi would nod, position himself just so, aim…and then completely miss the bulls-eye. This process was repeated several times. After what seemed like the fifteenth time, Ravi ran out of arrows. Zuri was near enough to hear Ravi audibly groan at his failure as the Apollo kid tried to cheer him up.
"Hey, don't look so down. It wasn't that bad," he said as Ravi went to gather up his discarded arrows. When the smaller boy shot him a doubtful look, the Apollo kid shrugged. "I mean it. Seriously, it could have been a lot worse. At least you didn't nail a pedestrian, right? Anyway, all you need is some practice. I have to go meet someone in a few minutes, so I'm gonna have to leave now, but if you want, we can do this again tomorrow. Keep getting better until then, okay?" Ravi nodded, and the guy grinned at him before saying, "Later!" and walking off towards the stables. Sighing, Ravi placed the arrows in his quiver before turning around and noticing his younger sister.
"Oh, good morning, Zuri," He stated, a little surprised. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long," the little girl responded. As she crossed the remaining few feet between them, she glanced back in the direction the Apollo kid had vanished. "Who was that guy?" She inquired.
"Honestly, I am not sure," Ravi shrugged. "He was walking by and just happened to stop when he saw me struggling with my archery. He never actually told me his name." The thin boy fiddled with his bow a tiny bit before letting out a sheepish laugh. "He was really kind about it, but I do not think his instruction helped much. I do not have good aim."
Zuri suppressed the urge to confirm that last statement as she plucked an arrow her brother missed out of the dewy grass. Eyeing the object, she instead questioned, "Then why did you choose the bow and arrow?"
The ten-year-old shrugged again, thin shoulders rising. "I thought it looked cool. I was not aware I had bad aim until I actually tried it."
Zuri hummed in affirmation as she turned the stray object over in her fingers, examining it. After a few seconds, curiosity got the better of her and she stated, "I want to try."
"The archery?" Zuri nodded, and Ravi sighed. "I suppose so, but be careful." He showed her how to use the bow before adding, "Do not be discouraged if you do not hit the target on your first try."
"Wanna bet?" Zuri cheekily grinned. Before Ravi could respond, she pulled back the string, released the projectile, and watched it embed itself in the white section just outside of the target's center. It wasn't a perfect bull's-eye, but it was a heck of a lot closer than any of Ravi's shots had been.
As the seven-year-old beamed, her older brother only gaped at her (and the target) in amazement. After a moment, he stuttered out, "Wha-? How…?"
As she handed the bow back to the other child, Zuri only responded, "I'm just that talented. That's how." (Truthfully, it had surprised her as well that she had managed to hit the target, but Ravi didn't need to know that particular tidbit of information.) After her brother regained his composure, the younger girl grinned again and said, "Anyway, come with me to that weapon storage place! I didn't get to pick anything out yesterday!"
"I am guessing that is the real reason you are up this early." Ravi stated, changing subject along with her. While Zuri tended to wake up before Emma or Luke, she was never out of bed before at least nine am if she could help it. Ravi had always been the earliest riser of the four. In order for the seven-year-old to wake up at the same time as him, she had to have been extremely motivated. Finally, the raven-haired boy consented and followed her to the weapons vault.
After pulling the door open, the two siblings stepped into the vault and looked around. It was just as chock-full of things as last time, so there was plenty for Zuri to choose from. As she strolled through the aisles, Ravi stayed by the door and fiddled with one of his arrows (he'd just noticed that the point on the end had come loose, and he was attempting to fix it).
As the young girl examined all the various objects before her, she wondered which one would be the best to use. They all looked so cool! How did everyone expect her to choose just one? Right as her eyes fell on the machine gun from before, Ravi gave up on trying to fix the arrow and looked up. Starting, he quickly walked over to his younger sister, who was currently attempting to pick the freakishly huge gun up, but clearly failing due to its weight. Gently, he put his hand on her shoulder and (after making sure the gun wouldn't fall off the table) pulled her away.
"How about you select something else?" he suggested. Before Zuri had the chance to voice any protests, he picked up a (much) smaller handgun and held it out. "What do you think of this one?"
Zuri huffed, wrinkling up her nose. "It's no fun when they're little."
"Uh…right…" He didn't really agree with her statement, but the thin boy decided to ignore it when he found another one. "And this one?" Ravi asked, picking up a small, fairly generic looking dagger. "What about this one?"
"No."
The 10-year-old held back a sigh. She really wasn't making this easy. Finally, Ravi noticed one that seemed to be partially hidden over what looked like a spiked ball and chain. Gingerly reaching under the sharp object, he carefully slid the smaller thing out and examined it. After a few seconds, he called out to Zuri (who had gotten bored and started to wander away only seconds ago), "How about this one? It appears to be nice."
The small girl turned around and eyed the weapon for a couple seconds before saying, "A slingshot? Seriously?" When her brother nodded, she walked back over and took it from his outstretched hand. Upon examining it she realized that it really was actually very pretty – tiny, complex little designs decorated the bronze metal, and what appeared to be some sort of easy-grip material coated a section of the handle. She had to admit, it was nice. Zuri just wished it was bigger and more…oh, what was that word Emma sometimes used? Glamorous.
"So, what do you think?" Ravi inquired, interrupting her thoughts.
"I don't-" Before she finished, she noticed a small row of what appeared to be three tiny buttons just above the handle. They were the same color as the handle and barely noticeable, so they would be easily overlooked unless someone had the weapon close to their face or was specifically looking for them. Curious, she pressed the first one, and yelped when the parts of the slingshot began to shift. As two thin slips of metal began to wrap themselves around her arm, she quickly slapped the object off in surprise. As soon as it hit the ground, the weapon collapsed back into its original form.
Gasping for a moment, the little girl glanced up at her older brother, who appeared to be equally surprised at this development. Hesitantly, Zuri knelt down and scooped the unusual slingshot back up. She eyed it for a few more seconds, and then pressed the button again. This time, she waited and watched as the weapon transformed itself into a thin but strong shield that attached to the arm that had been holding it.
"Cool!" she exclaimed. She tried the next button, which turned the shield into a spear, and the last, which caused it to return back to being a slingshot. A wide grin appeared on the seven-year-old's face as she looked back at Ravi, who still hadn't quite recovered from the initial shock. "It's perfect!" Zuri added. "I'm taking it!"
"Oh?" Ravi snapped out of the semi-trance he had been in and said, "Oh…uh, okay…"
His sister continued to beam. "I'm going to go show this to Emma and Luke!" She exclaimed, running out of the vault.
"Wait! I think they are still-" But Zuri was already gone. "-asleep…Oh, never mind…" Ravi sighed as he was left alone. Why was it his siblings were always in a rush? Now he would have to play the part of damage control when Zuri inevitably woke up Emma. Forcing the slight twinge of irritation he felt down, he allowed his mind to move on to other things. Speaking of waking up, he would have to go back to the cabin fairly soon and drag Luke out of bed…his older brother was never good at getting up by himself. Normally waking him up would be Jessie's job, but now…
Sighing again, Ravi pushed himself to his feet (he had started leaning against the table while in thought), and calmly walked out of the vault, taking care to turn the light off and close the door before he left. He would have about ten minutes of relative silence before he would arrive back at the cabin and have to calm each of his siblings down. (Emma and Zuri from nearly killing each other – and just by virtue of getting in between them, stop them from killing him – and Luke from having his sleep interrupted.) He did love each of his siblings, but they did get slightly tiresome to be around occasionally…
Oh, well. Ravi would just have to enjoy the peace while he could.
At breakfast, Emma sat near all her siblings at the Hermes table and ate in silence. She was still a little peeved about earlier. Seriously, how dare that pigtailed pipsqueak she calls a sister wake her up just to shove a slingshot in her face?! Didn't she know Emma needed her beauty sleep?! And to make matters worse, Ravi had allowed Zuri to have a weapon that changed shape! Didn't he realize that Zuri was only seven?! He was supposed to be the smart one of her two brothers! Argh, and he knew he screwed up, too – Emma could see him pointedly avoiding her glares from across the table. Why did nothing ever work out for her in the morning?!
Emma's inner rant (and the brutal murder of her sausage via fork) was disrupted when one of the Hermes kids commented, "Mail's here."
She nearly shot a glare towards the guilty party, but ended up turning towards Luke when he spoke. "Uh, Emma?"
"What?"
The freckled tween held up a copy of the newspaper that he must of grabbed from one of the kids sitting next to him. "You might want to see this." At first, Emma was confused (they delivered newspapers here? And since when was it actually of any interest to Luke?), but then her eyes fell upon the front headline. On it was a picture of a wrecked subway with frightened-looking people standing behind several uniformed guards. Directly below the photo were letters in bold print that read, Giant Bird Attacks Subway Car! Four Celebrity Children Disappear in the Chaos!
Blinking in surprise, Emma snatched the newspaper from Luke and continued reading the article. Just yesterday, several passengers loaded onto one of the subway trains and headed for their destinations. It was a perfectly normal day, that is, until an unusually large animal suddenly appeared and went on a rampage. Thankfully, all the stations were evacuated in record time, so there were no casualties. However, that isn't all there is to this strange occurrence.
"I thought it might have been some sort of enormous bird, but I'm not quite sure," Jennifer Shurshaw (who had been on the way to her job at a post office when the calamity occurred), 26, states. "It was above the windows, so no one could get a good look at what exactly it was. Either way, I've never been so terrified in my life!"
"Yes," David Winslow (who had been on the way to visit his daughter at her college), 45, agrees. "However, I'm sure the four kids that were in there with us were even more so. At one point, I looked over to see if they were alright, but they weren't there."
The four children mentioned were actually Emma (13), Luke (12), Ravi (10), and Zuri (7) Ross (sons and daughters of the late Morgan and Christina Ross), who were heading to live with a relative after the events of a custody battle in court last month. Evidence at the scene indicates that they left the car through the emergency exit shortly after the attack began. Their reason for doing this is currently unknown, but updates are expected as this missing persons case unfolds.
There was more to the article, but Emma didn't have the stomach to read the rest. She couldn't believe that the media had already found out about the crash. Well, no, she actually could believe that. But it wasn't the part that bothered her. Their names were plastered all over the paper, and probably the TV news station as well. Again. Emma wasn't dumb, and she knew her siblings weren't either. They knew what this meant. Slowly, she took a deep breath to calm herself and lowered the paper. All three of her younger siblings were looking back at her. Sighing, the blond placed the newspaper on the table and crossed her arms. Even though everyone else in the breakfast area was chattering away, silence loomed over the four. A good two minutes passed before Zuri finally spoke.
"They didn't see the monster?"
Out of all the things Zuri could have noticed in the article, that was what she decided to focus on? Still, Emma had to admit that it was kind of odd. They may have not been able to see the whatever-it-was throughout most of the attack, but it had still been obvious that it wasn't anything even close to resembling a bird.
Luke shrugged. "Guess not." He continued eating his breakfast, Ravi and Zuri eventually following suit. Emma, however, just sat and played with her food. She didn't feel hungry anymore.
Phew! Marching season just ended a couple of days ago, so I figured, what better way to celebrate it than with an update? Hope you all enjoyed it! I know not many people are reading this at the moment (which isn't surprising, considering Jessie recently ended and this is an old fanfiction), but either way I'd really appreciate it if anyone who does read this story reviews. The original had a little over 90 reviews when I took it down, so I'm hoping to get somewhere around that many by the time this version is finished. It's not really an official goal or anything, but it would be nice. ;p Anyway, I hope this chapter was at least decent! It's going to be a bit of a slow start, but things will begin picking up eventually! Thanks!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Jessie or Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Chapter word count (not including author's notes): 2,817
