Thalia dropped forwards and I caught her easily. I hefted her to my bed and placed her there, all the while thinking 'why is she here?' I pondered about it. I then remembered that she was a Hunter. My scent must've attracted a strong one this time and the hunters thought it would be good game. Or they accidentally met it when they were minding their own business.
I glanced at Thalia. She more or less stayed the same as I saw her years ago. Her pretty face was all bruised up and she bled slightly at her side of the head. I guessing that she was hit by a blunt object.
Hmm…
I took Riptide and walked out of the cabin. From the distance, I could see several trees burning. I then ran quickly towards that direction, uncapping Riptide as I ran.
When I reached the clearing I saw a single Skeleton Warrior, his flesh was almost translucent. His camouflage was splattered with blood. He single-handedly defeated all of the hunters, including Thalia. I looked around and saw that the Hunters were utterly defeated. Their unconscious body lying on the ground with blood leaking out at every corner of their body.
Question is, where's Artemis?
She was nowhere in sight. She must probably be in a meeting with the Olympians now. I know she likes to stay with her hunters than the gods up there.
I jumped out of the way as the Skeleton Warrior threw his ribs at me. The rib embedded itself on the tree behind me.
"This should be fun."
The Skeleton Warrior took out his M16 and aimed at me. I ran towards him, zigzagging to evade the bullets. Once I was near him I stabbed at him, however, the M16 changed to a bronze shield and blocked my attack. I kick at the shield and he staggered backwards.
Skull scowled and changed the shield into a sword. He ran towards me and swiped his sword above my head. I ducked down and tackled him. The sword flew away from his hand and I dropped mine. As soon as we hit the ground, I began my assault.
"Take this!" I shouted.
I punch him in the face, again and again. Each impact had a sickening sound. With each punch, the ground beneath him shook. I pulled back my fist for a final punch and placed more force than usual. The ground below him cracked.
The head disappeared and I stood up. Just to be safe, I made the ground split open and the skeleton fell down.
I turned around and looked at the forest. It was still burning, so I doused the flames.
"Now," I muttered. "What do I do with these ladies?"
I sighed. I might as well be a good guy and fix them up.
When I woke up that morning, I saw a goddess. It was Artemis, the Goddess of Hunt.
I moved my arms around. Well, at least tried to. My hands were chained behind me. Not hand cuffed. Chained. I noticed that we were in a pick-up truck and there were three people at the back, including me. There was Artemis, sitting cross-legged and staring at me and then there was Thalia. Her face was already healed and she looked better now.
"What the hell?" I mumbled. "Is this how you thank someone for saving your hunters?"
"Not really," Thalia replied. "It's just standard operating procedure."
SOP my ass.
"Where are you taking me? Are you going to kill me for killing bunnies?"
Artemis chuckled. "No, no. You are not here for that reason."
I sighed in relief. I was really not joking about the part of killing bunnies. Gods and Goddesses are crazy like that. They just do things on impulse. Even though I'm strong, I'm not sure I can defeat a divine being when I'm tired.
"By the way, what's your name?" Artemis asked me.
I blinked. Wait, wait. She doesn't know me? Come on! I don't look that different when I left Camp. I mean, I did grow up and look like I'm in my twenties but I'm more or less the same. Unless… Chaos. I remember a time when she and I had a talk.
She said that in case of emergency, the people inside her army are clouded by The Mist. A really thick mist that even Gods and Goddesses cannot see. Unless Chaos willed the mist to be relieved off the person then no one would know who it was. It was mostly for security reason, actually. She doesn't want talk with other heavenly beings that much.
Now, back on the name. I need a new name. A new background. My mind raced for many things. There were other things that I was thinking but I had to decide on my name. I thought deeply about it.
"Scabbard Leonius. By the way, where are you taking me? And where are the other women? I'm sure there were about thirty of them."
"First and foremost," Thalia said. "On behalf of the Hunters, Thank you. As for your questions, we are taking you to Camp Half Blood."
…
Shit.
I moved my arms around to see if I could remove the chains binding me. It wouldn't even budge an inch. My body was still full of fatigue with the lack of sleep. Curse the Curse of Achilles for making me sleepy all the time. The chains were also enchanted, making it impossible at the moment to remove the chains.
"Argh!" I muttered as the sudden movement caused me a headache.
"You have Rabbit Starvation," Thalia noticed.
"But I ate my bunnies."
"Tell me, when did the last time did you eat fat or carbohydrates?" she asked/
"For three days. Rabbits don't have fats in them since they're lean you know?"
Thalia sighed. "What you need are fatty foods. Camp Half Blood has plenty of those."
My stomach grumbled in anticipation.
"The other hunters are safe actually. The first-aid you gave them was enough."
I nodded. I then remembered something. I looked at Thalia's direction. Since they didn't know me, I might as well try to act like I don't know something.
"By the way, miss…"
"Thalia, Thalia Grace. You can just call me Thalia."
I nodded. "Thalia. Why did you come to my cabin and ask for help?"
"I could sense you."
"Sense me?" I asked.
"Yes. Your aura is strong. I'm surprised that you aren't yet killed by the aura you have. Monsters should've flocked to you every second."
I shrugged but it came out awkwardly with my hands at the back. "I'm just lucky, I guess. Since I was young, my teacher told me stories of Greek Mythology."
Which was quite true, Chiron has always been my teacher.
"A friend had told me how to fend for myself."
Luke was a good guy; if only the Olympians paid attention to their son more then he wouldn't have died.
"Then when I was out in the streets."
River actually.
"Someone took me in and taught me how to better fend for myself."
Chaos did that.
More or less, I didn't lie to them. Not the whole truth but half-truth.
Artemis nodded. "Then, who's your Godly Parent?"
I bit my lip. That question, I did not prepare for. I can't say Poseidon. That would make it too obvious.
"I don't know," I lied.
From the looks of Artemis, I didn't fool her. She stared at me intently. "You lie."
I mentally cursed. Then I remembered the Mist. I can manipulate it, the way Thalia did. Question is, is the strength of the Mist enough? Is it enough to fool Artemis?
No choice then. I couldn't leave here anyway if I wanted to. Might as well take the risk.
With difficulty, I snapped my fingers. The air rippled. "I'm not lying. I really don't know my godly parent."
Artemis nodded. "I see. Maybe we'll find your parent when you reach Camp."
My heart jumped in joy. It worked! IT REALLY WORKED! Thank you Chaos! Thank you for at least giving a strong mist! Also damn you for exiling me! What the hell did I do?
But then, my mind thought of a crazy idea. So crazy, it made me internally shudder in excitement.
When I had enough time, maybe I'll think about it.
"By the way, what's this Camp you are talking about?"
And they told me about it. From the Big House to the Golden Fleece until the Capture-the-Flag game that plays on Friday every week. I listened half-heartedly as Thalia filled me in. I mostly know about it but things have changed the last few years.
Camp has nearly two thousand Campers. Yeah, gods and goddesses are very productive like that. Chiron is having difficulty to train them and has hired several people to help in training. It took about two hours before she finished explaining things to me.
"By the way," I said. "Why were you defeated by that skeleton guy?"
Thalia's face darkened. I must've hit a sore point.
"If you aren't willing to talk about it, it's okay."
"No. It's okay. It's just embarrassing really. Long story short, we were ambushed."
"By that single skeleton?"
Thalia nodded reluctantly.
I looked at her in disappointment. "I'm sorry but that's just… sad."
Artemis glared at me. "Speak in that manner again, I'll kill you."
"You should train them more. If I wasn't there, they would've died."
Artemis was about to say something back at me but the car stopped. I stood up with my hands chained behind me. "When will you remove the chains? My arms tired."
No one replied and Artemis forcefully pushed me off the truck. I landed flat on my face. "Someone is cranky," I muttered. Without any help, I stood up. A little difficult without the hands but I could manage.
What I expect camp to be, was not something that I expected. I didn't expect that it was so… desolated. There were hardly any people around.
"You said that there were over two thousand campers," I said to Thalia as we walked towards the Big House. "I can't even see ten here."
"They're in Olympus," Artemis stated. "The Gods and Goddesses up there all agreed in favor to have some quality time with their children.
"Ah, so that's the reason why you weren't there when your hunters were attacked. Did you have a meeting?"
"Yes."
It took a few minutes until I found a middle-aged Centaur. From the waist down, he was a white stallion. I smiled. It was great to see him again, even though he doesn't know me.
"Ah, Lady Artemis. What are you doing here?"
"Returning back a favor," she replied and pushed me forwards. "For a man, he's strong."
"For a little girl, you have a bad mouth."
"I'm not a little girl!" she snapped.
"Why is he chained?" Chiron asked. He trotted towards us. "Who's your godly parent?"
I shook my head. "I don't know."
Chiron nodded as if it was a common occurrence. "Don't worry, maybe you'll be claimed after morning. The gods are busy right now with their children."
And days passed by. I was still surprised that I haven't left Camp yet. Shocker, I know. But I had made my decision. I'm going to stay here at Camp. This was the crazy idea I had. To stay at Camp until people noticed that I did not age. What's the worst that could happen? I don't have any place to go anymore. Chaos kicked me out and if I stayed in the forest, I'll have bunnies starvation.
This was the perfect place. I could stay here for many years and if people notice me not aging, I'll have to use the Mist. I'm not abusing it; I really don't want to push my luck.
But what about Annabeth? Well, I doubt she's staying here. She is the Official Architect of Olympus. She must be living peacefully right now and with Blake. It's been sixteen years now and Annabeth did cheat on me for Blake, I hardly doubt that they haven't yet gotten married.
Chiron is still confused as to why I am not yet claimed. A month had passed and the campers were already back. I had also established myself as an excellent swordsman.
I was then promoted as the head swords instructor.
Whenever Chiron asked who told me how to fight, I would just smile and walk away.
I could live here forever.
I'm not kidding either. I lived at the Big House now, since I'm still unclaimed.
I was at the beach, the same beach that I had seen Annabeth cheating on me. Some of you might think that I'm resentful about it but I'm not anymore. Years will change a man more than you think. Hey, if it makes her happy then leave it be. Maybe you weren't meant to be together.
I willed the waves to stop. And they stopped. I willed it to move again. And it moved. I sighed and stood up from the sand. I dusted off the sand and turned around. I had to go back and teach the kids how to fight better.
I stepped on a driftwood and my heart raced. I turned around and remembered the scene all too clearly. So clear that I was staring at Annabeth and Blake.
"I'm breaking up with you Percy. It's not going to work out between us. Blake…he's, I'm sorry, much better than you are."
I smiled sadly as the scene slowly faded.
Now, what did I reply to her?
"I hope you have a good life ahead of you."
I chucked sadly. I truly meant her to have a good life.
Maybe… I wasn't over her, you know? We've been gone through to many things. I did turn down the offer of godhood for her.
…
I tried to say her name. I found it difficult. It was as if my body knew if I try to remember more of our memories, it will only hurt it more.
"Annabeth…" I muttered.
As if on cue, my heart ached. I resisted the urge to cry and just stood there for a few moments to collect myself.
"Pathetic," I scolded myself. "A former soldier of Chaos crying because of a girl dumping him. After sixteen years."
I turned around as someone called my name. It was one of the campers. He said that Chiron needed him for something. I immediately went to the Big House. I immediately found Chiron outside, waiting for me.
"There you are!" Chiron said. "Come, I want you to meet the Senior Counselors."
Oh yeah, I haven't found the counselors yet. They had to stay longer than the other campers because they get special privilege. I wonder, who are the new Counselors? I went inside and went into another room.
What I saw made me confused.
"Scabbard, meet the immortal counselors."
What. The. Fuck.
So… what's up?
As you can see from my profile, I am viperzero and this is my first story.
First off, I would like to thank you for reviewing my story. It means a lot to me. Second, I would like to tell you that I will update erratically. Sometimes I'll update a story a day after or maybe I'll update it after a month.
Do I spend too much time describing? Do I need to focus more on Percy's thoughts? Are my fight scenes boring? Tell me and I'll improve.
Also, sorry for not making my chapters longer. When I find plenty of time, I'll try to write a long one.
Forgive me for the grammar mistakes. I don't have a beta but I'll find someone soon.
Anyways, midnight's around the corner. I have to sleep now.
Thank you and please continue to read and review.
