Hey guys! Thanks for reading chapter four this far! I ask that you review and enjoy the story!


That night, I had another dream. This time, it wasn't about the titans.

It was about my father this time and my aunt.

"Apollo, this is ridiculous! Why can't you just warn the kids about what Hyperion is planning? This will cause great disaster!"

Apollo shook his head, "You know the ancient laws, the laws of our father and the laws of our people. If I break those laws, what will become of me? Of my children?"

Artemis looked sternly at him, "You did that not too long ago, remember brother?"

Apollo winced, "That was different, sis. You know that gods and goddesses are forbidden to interfere directly..."

"Ares and the other gods broke those rules on the Trojan war..." Artemis pointed out.

"Ares always has been a loose cannon... Fine, I'll try getting that old drunk to watch the kids." Apollo said.

"Him?!" Artemis said in disbelief, "Him of all people?! Doesn't he already have his hands full watching the other camp?"

"Nah, he can be at several places at once, remember? If he drew up all his consciousness to one place, he'd-"

"I know... Incinerate all the mortals who see him..." Artemis muttered.

"And besides, he'll be thrilled to see his kids? Who doesn't? Oh yeah, you." He snickered.

"Oh shut it, Apollo." Artemis said, "Let's hope that they make it... But frankly speaking, sending him there would cause more trouble than he's worth..."

"He's the only one lazing about..."

"I resent that..." An addled voice said, "I happen to be very busy."

Before I could get a clear view of his face, my vision shifted.

I was now atop a plateu below a very sad looking mountain. Except that the castle I was inside in was nothing short of magnificent.

It was a splendid palace made with shimmering gold, it was so bright that I had to squint my eyes just to look around.

Everything, from the dust on the ground, to the armor of the guards, were made of solid gold. It looked as if an opulent king of Africa owned this place.

I immediately jumped at the sight of the guards. They were totally ugly, having sickly green skin, long elvish ears, a pig snouted nose (not unlike Alicia's), pig faced and slant eyes. They were heavily built, hairy and average sized that reminded me of the creatures from Lord of the Rings. There were two guarding the door and two more who looked like scouts waiting.

They looked formidable wielding golden spears, sheilds and protected by golden armor. But strangely enough, they ignored me as if I wasn't there, something I was thankful for.

"Insubordinate thrall!" A great voice bellowed as a flaming body exploded out of the door. The guards flinched and tried to stand straight, but they shuddered.

I shuddered too, since the body was now thoroughly incinerated by white hot flames.

I looked inside the room and there were only two figures, the same two from my other dream.

"Krios, you demented ram headed fool, where did you get these... these... Whatever they're called, where did you get them?!" The impressive looking one, Hyperion, bellowed to the second one.

"They're the children of the giants and the ogres..." The smaller one, Krios, said, "I personally made them myself, crossbreeding the two."

"Well, they're too ugly to be called cyclopes and too stupid to be trolls, so what are they eh? How did you managed to screw this up?"

"A piece of work they are, but brutal fighters and durable enough."

"What are they called?" Hyperion said impatiently.

"For the lack of a better term, let's call them Orcs."

"Orcs eh?" Hyperion mused, "You two there, Orcs! Come here!" He bellowed at one of other two Orcs scouts waiting outside.

He drew his hand and slapped one of the Orcs. Although I didn't know the Orc, I felt sorry for it and I heard several defiant hisses from outside the throne room. Krios just shook his head.

"Tell me why that maggot of a Captain of yours didn't manage to do a simple recon even a cyclopes could do... Blindfolded!" Hyperion bellowed.

"Well... My lord... We... We..." The Orc stammered with his words.

"Spit it out before I incinerate you." He said with a deadly calm voice that made me wish he'd go back to screaming.

That seemed to get the Orc scared. He started going on and on, mostly in Orcish tongue so Krios had to do most of the translating.

From what I've gleaned, they had been trying to scout Camp Demigod, but were foiled by its natural magical defenses, but they had a spy on the inside. Also, that the veterans of New Greece were patrolling the Southern Borders and killed four of their escorts with steel swords. Hyperion was furious at Krios for producing them to be vulnerable to mortal weapons and Krios countered that producing them mortal makes them disposable and easy to make plus the leftover bodies would creat disease and pestilence that would infect many with malady, a fact which Hyperion couldn't really argue with. What stumped me was the prescence of veterans.

As I was thinking, the first Orc squeeked, "May...we...go...now...lord?"

Krios waved his hand dismissively, "Huh? Oh, Yes, yes, go."

The Orcs bowed gratefully at Krios, but rather stiffly for Hyperion. They turned around and walked out, when I noticed a malicious grin in Hyperion's face.

"No. Don't do it. They obeyed you..." Krios said.

Hyperion made a punching motion and a ball of white hot flames burst from his fist and enveloped the first.

He laughed like a madman as the remaining orc ran away, squealing in fear.

I woke up when Androg poked my backside with an arrow.

"Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty," he said in his usual drawl, "No need for us common folk to wait upon your lordship. Wake the hell up and help us out." He threw me a broom and a dustbin and I did some sweeping (intentionally avoiding his bunk, but he apparently thought of that, since his bunk was clean as a whistle.

After the inspections by the Children of Thanatos, Spade and Krad Harrison which disturbed us a lot (they used their shadows to inspect the room, something that Androg wanted to learn, and offered to trade the best bow in the lodge, which turned out to be my bow, Selene, which I took back.) we went out and had breakfast. I noticed a new guy, a sullen looking guy who looked like a drunkard on rehab sitting with Tenkai and the instructors.

Tenkai stood up and said: "Campers of Camp Demigod, please lend me your ears... (Catelynn shrugged and magically took off her ears and threw it at Tenkai, which he caught, and drew much screams from the crowd,) No Catelynn, I didn't quite mean that literally..." He said and gave it back to Catelynn, which she took and put back, "Now, I would like to introduce a very important guest, who had kindly consented to be our Head Director again..."

"Ah, he means Mr. D?" Arah said.

"Dionysus. Everyone, give him a hand. As you all know, gods can be at many places at-"

"See? I told ya..." Arah said, "but he's not going to be here long, is he?"

"Probably... His dad most likely sent him back again for being a stubborn old drunk..." Androg said in an undertone.

A kid from behind Androg gave him a dirty look.

"What are you looking at, kid? Never seen such a handsome guy before?" Androg sneered.

"Be careful Andy... That's Rasler Jacobs... Son of-" Fletcher began.

"Dionysus happens to be my father." Rasler said proudly.

"Oh, forgive me Your Highness!" Androg mocked, "Do you want me to spit-polish your shoes? Or do you want me to wash your balls as well?"

"Androg!" Arah chided.

"Hey, leave my brother alone." A very pretty girl with purplish hair from the same table said, "Unless you want to die, Ford."

"Oi, come off then. We're just having a spot of fun."

"Just shut your mouth." She snapped, "I know your ideas of fun, so just get lost or I'll make you."

Androg rolled his eyes and went back to eating his pot roast.

"Who's that broad?" Androg finally growled, "The nerve of that wine saturated hussy! She looks like she has a tube stuck up her ass! Who the hell is she?" He hissed.

Arah sniffed, "That's Helen, daughter of Dionysus." She blew a wet raspberry at her direction.

Arah has a long standing antagonism for any girl in the camp. Fletcher just shook his head and silently laughed.

After breakfast, I went to swords training and one of the combatants, a pretty girl with platinum blonde hair worn in a bun, wearing a blue lodge shirt covered with silver armour, chatted with me.

"So... You're Peter Strongbow..." She was sizing me up, "My name is Dana. I think you know my brothers Borus and Percival?" She gestured the two guys beside her who were fumbling with their swords.

"Would you fancy a spar with me?" She said.

"Of course." I said as I unlocked Moony.

She took a defensive stance with her short cavalry sword, but I knocked her down before I even realized it.

I helped her up and this time, she took about five seconds before falling down again.

"Sorry..." She groaned, "My brothers and I are more inept at ground fighting than we thought..." She groaned, "We're trainee Gryphon riders

"It's no big problem... My sword it too long as all... I bet you guys are killers in the field!" I said, but from the looks of Borus and Percival, Alicia was whipping them by herself.

"Don't patronize us." Borus muttered as he limped over to us with Percival.

"I hear you're taking up the challenge of Hercules..." She said in an awed voice, "Borus tried that test upon Percival's insistance, but he was quickly put down before he could raise his fists..." Dana said, trying not to laugh.

"Hey, remember that son of Demeter who was knocked out by Alexis? His siblings had to take him outside in a wheelburrow!" Percival said.

They went on and on about the fate of Alexis' challengers and it disconcerted me.

"Nobody, like, died trying the challenge right?" I said.

"Nah," Borus said, "Not in years. Plus, what's life without a bit of risk?" He added with a wink.

"Hey, you guys talking about the challenge?" An Athena kid with a Southern Native American accent said, "I hear the challenger's a real pushover. I wagered with Gale Vanders here that he don't stand no chance with Lexi."

The Hermes girl beside him huffed, "Dakota, I'd give any odds for anyone who lay Alicia out."

"Pshaw, that ain't nothing, girlie... I can beat her up! With my eyes shut!"

They began arguing about my chances of death and success.

Somehow, that didn't sit well with me...

They wished me luck as I went to Eurydice's alcove to think.

I saw the same girl from yesterday reading.

"Hey, is reading all you ever do?" I blurted.

"You don't see me telling you which arm you should use to jack off with..." Catelynn retorted, not even bothering to look up.

"Touché. But wouldn't it be better to balance it out?" I said.

"Tch. Who are you, my therapist?" She muttered, "You should take off before I decide you need a trim between the ears."

"Come on, why won't you talk to me?" I said, furious at her attitude.

"Aw..." She said in a mock tone, this time looking at me. She was really beautiful with black hair and a pretty white face, making her seem like a mysterious princess, but her cruel sneer betrayed any hopes for it,"Wittle boy has no fwends?"

"Ugh..." I rolled my eyes, "You're impossible. You should marry my brother, Androg..." I joked.

Immediately, I knew that was a bad thing to say. From the look of her eyes, she was out for my blood.

"THUNDER!" She raised a finger to the sky and I was shocked with 12,000 bolts of electricity. Thank goodness that my sneakers were rubber soled, since I was just charred and my sneakers had a giant hole on them. "I dare you to say that again." She said.

"No... thanks..." I managed a hoarse reply, smoke coming out of my mouth.

"Hmph." She huffed and went back to reading, muttering, "Stupiddumbasstooljerksonofawhoremotherfucker..."

I stood up and tried to smile. I decided to tease her a bit, "See you around, babe..." I ran as fast as my feet could carry me.

"What the hell did you say?! Hey! Come back here! FIRE!" A firebolt shot out of her finger and set my shirt alight.

I ran around and I tried smothering it with my hand when the most strangest thing happened. I absorbed the fire and suddenly became reenergized. I shrugged that aside after Fletcher, Arah, Percival and Borus saw me.

"Dude, where the hell have you- what the hell happened to you?!" Fletcher cried.

"What?" I said.

"You're a mess!" Arah said and started fussing.

"Let me guess... Catelynn?" Borus said.

"Yeah... Fire and lightning don't mix." I muttered.

"Long have I paid Elaine my mind..." Arah said darkly, "I must give a thought now to Catelynn..."

"Don't be absurd." Percival said dismissively, "Elaine's a stick compared to Catelynn. She can actually incinerate you if she wanted to..."

"Enough of this," I said, "Why are you all looking for me?"

"Uh, the challenge?" Fletcher said, "Let's go, hero."

We made our way to Heracles' pit, where most, if not all, of the campers were at.

I saw Elaine, Ben and Dakota from earlier at one side of the arena with their siblings. Alicia was sneering at me with several of her cronies/siblings. Ventus Olson with the children of Hermes, Gale, Em, Slim and Ace. on the far side, Dougie and his siblings from the Hephaestus lodge sat and On the rafters above, Spade and his brothers, Ewan and Krad, sat.

Demeter's kids, led by Ashe Greenfield, sat nearest to thr kids of Dionysus, a motley crew of three kids; Troy, Rasler and Helen.

The other kids were scattered over the place, but it looked as if there were 360 or so people, if you included satyrs, nymphs, tengus and other beings.

The Poseidon kids sat with the Apollo kids and Fletcher chose a spot next to the Athena kids.

I even saw Catelynn.

"Here to watch me win?" I said.

She scoffed, "The only reason I'm here is to see you swallow your teeth and get beaten within an inch of your life."

"Thanks for the support." I winked.

"You infuriating little-"

"You're on." Samson said.

I saw Alexis come out and she was all ready for battle. She wrapped her wrists with sportstape and put oil in her arms and legs.

"Okay... Some ground rules..." Samson began.

"Ground rules? Look at her arms, they're as thick as redwoods!" I said.

"Look, we just want a fair fight." He said.

"Fair?! Tie her arms and blindfold her and it'll be fair!"

Everyone, including Alexis, laughed. Samson turned tomato red.

"Don't be a pussy, pussy!" He growled. He gave the basic ground rules: no eye pokes, no hits below the belt, no nipple twists, no hair pulling, etc.

"Any questions?" Samson asked.

"Yeah. Why do I have to get an audience while Alicia doesn't?" I asked.

"Because we already know she'll lose!" Androg cried.

The crowd doubled over with laughter. Alexis was laughing so hard, she had to hold her sides. Helen Baron laughed so hard, she almost fell off her seat. Rasler's drink came out of his nose.

Alicia looked wrathful as she threw dirty looks to her laughing siblings. She siezed on of their spears and threw it over Androg's head.

"Say another wisecrack and I'll throw another one!" She barked.

"Tch, your aim is so bad, I'll be worried if you were aiming for right next to me." He pointed to Fletcher, who was a meter away.

The pit shook with laughter. Alexis was on her knees, clutching her sides, struggling to breathe, as if she was being tickled by invisible hands.

"You-" as she started to climb, Androg took out his bow and aimed it at her and unlike Alicia, he was a dead shot with a bow, but Samson yelled for them to stop. The children of Tyche were taking bets and after all that had been done, Samson began the match.

I blinked and set myself in a stance. Suddenly, Alexis grabbed me and slammed me to the dirt, which knocked the wind out of me.

Stars flooded my vision as Sam counted down. I ignored the pain and stood up.

This time, I grabbed her, but I realized that her idea of rubbing oil was not only sensual, but quite practical, since I couldn't get any sort of grip on her. So, I decided to ram her on the wall, since female or not, children of Hercules are suppose to be hard as he was, so I knew that Alexis wasn't a delicate flower.

The wall was dented as she slammed to it with a groan and was knocked down.

Everyone seemed to have been stunned. Then, I realized that Sam was stunned too.

"Hey, start the count! Start the count! One! Two!" It took a while for it to start, but everyone started counting down too, but Alexis stood up groggily, as stunned as we were.

She smiled softly as she advanced and speared me to the ground. She began pummelling me, which would have killed me if I wasn't using my arms to defend my face. I hooked my legs on hers and rolled her over.

I didn't feel good about mounting a girl, but I realized that that's part of the reason why her challengers lose, also she wouldn't think twice about splattering me all over the wall, so I wrapped my legs around her and I throttled her. I only let go when she was turning blue.

Everyone was now getting riled up. Catelynn looked bewildered that I was still alive, so I smiled at her.

"Hey, Alexis, I think we should try trash talking..." I whispered.

"Really?" She said, "Okay. Uh... You stink!"

"Yeah, well, you...you're so oily, you can cause an oil slick!"

Her face contorted with fury.

"DON'T MOCK ME!" She punched me so hard, everything went dark and I felt nothing more.