Chapter 4
The sky was full of stars as I sat down and contemplated my entire life. You never really think about unrealistic situations when you're alone. It's not like there was a class on how to survive in multiple worlds at once. Now I was alone in both. The mortal world and an ancient one that was supposed to have disappeared a thousand years ago. Two worlds and I'm being searched for in both of them. Of course, what did I expect?
I drew my knees to my chest and leaned my chin to settle on top of them. I hugged my legs and prayed that this would all be over soon. Maybe after this so called war I could go back to my normal routine. I snickered. On the run was not normal. Being alone is what I do best. It was peaceful and you never had to worry about answering to anyone. You never had to worry about anyone else. You were alone forever.
A hand was placed on my shoulder and I looked up to see Percy. He looked at me with troubled eyes. He said nothing and sat down with me. I found that comforting. He stayed silent and I found myself telling him about how I would run after school authorities found out I had no actual contact information. I told him about some of my foster parents. Some were amazing and loving. Others were evil and cared only for the money the government would hand them each month. After eleven years in the foster system I took off. I moved and forged random people's signatures. I spent many nights on the streets, learning quickly to trust no one.
There were, on the other hand, genuine homeless people who tried to help the newbies. They gave you advice on which streets to avoid, who to stay away from, which dumpster had the freshest and best food. I told him about a young homeless girl, she couldn't have been more than ten, and how she befriended me. She was small for her age, bony, and pale. She shivered all of the time and was almost always sick. She became my best friend. Her name was Amelia and she died after a cold night. I cried and mourned her. I left that part of the city and never went back. I found myself crying when I noticed the wind chilled my face.
"Let's get you to your cabin. I bet your siblings would love to meet you." Percy stood up, offered me his hand, and hauled me to my feet. We walked and he led me to the Apollo cabin. It was golden yellow, bows and arrows were laid down at the doors entrance. "You'll be safe here. No one can come in here and take you away. You'll learn how to train and fight. It'll be hard, but you'll learn to love it." He knocked on the cabin door and it opened.
A tall guy with blond hair and blue eyes opened the door. "Percy. Is everything okay?" He widened the door and stepped back to let us in. Bunk beds held teenagers settling down for the night. They stopped talking and stared at us.
"Everything is fine, Will. I want you guys to meet Elysia. She's your sister. Though she hasn't been claimed yet." Percy said gesturing toward me. I stepped further into the room and lifted a hand in greeting. It was supposed to be genetically impossible but no one else in the cabin had hair darker than light brown. Their features were fair and light.
"Hey." I nervously said.
They gave me sunny smiles and returned my hello.
"Welcome to the Apollo cabin, Elysia. Here, we like to heal and shoot people with arrows. It's going to be great having you here. I'm Will." Will took his time pointing out every camper.
"Well, Elysia, I'll be over here to pick you up tomorrow when breakfast is over. We'll get you situated and find you a weapon. At least you're not in the Hermes cabin. You'd be waking up with a Sharpie mustache and beard. Good night, guys." Percy waved one last time and left the cabin. I stood there awkwardly and cleared my throat.
"You can have the bed next to the window. Don't worry, it has a screen on it." Will picked up my travel bag and suitcase and helped me take them over to the bed he indicated. "It'll be lights out in a few minutes."
"Thanks. I'll try to get along with you guys tomorrow. I'm sort of tired today and don't have any room for pleasantries."
"We know how you feel. I'm the cabin leader. We wake up early, one of the many traits we get from our lovely father."
I hated rising early. I would sleep in all day if I could. The earliest I got up was eight. And that's only because school started at nine. "I'll try to wake early."
"Awesome, well its lights out. Good night, Apollo cabin." Will said and the lights turned off.
The next morning something happened that never had before. I woke up to a high piercing shrill right in my ear. I looked out the window and saw that the sun was making its way across the sky. Soft pinks and blues gave everything a fresh new look. The shrilling noise kept on until everyone was out of bed. I stood there groggily and saw the Apollo campers looking at me with sympathetic smiles.
"Apollo forces everyone to get up with him every morning. Unfortunately only the Apollo cabin can hear it." Will explained, tying his shoelaces.
"Why did I not hear it before? It's hard to mask." I said running my hands through my black hair.
"It only happens at camp." A girl answered. She walked over to me and set a pair of blue skinny jeans and an orange T-shirt with the words 'CAMP HALF-BLOOD' on it. "Here, you and I are about the same size, I'm pretty sure you'll fit them."
I felt my eyes sting and a lump form in my throat. "Uh, thanks." I choked out.
"I'm Lisa Shooter. I bet you don't remember much of our names. Don't worry, it takes time." She smiled at me. Her eyes were deep blue and her hair was strawberry blonde. It began to dawn on me that these kids were my siblings. Half anyway.
"I'm going to try to learn everybody's name as soon as possible, I promise." I assured them.
"It's cool. It's all new and everyone has a hard time. I'm Bryce Heeler." A tall guy with sunny blond hair laughed. His eyes were a hazel color.
"All right, you guys. Let's go eat breakfast. We can talk at the table." Will called out. He led the cabin over to the open dinning pavilion.
"What happens if it rains? Do we still eat out here or is there an inside cafeteria?" I asked Will.
"We control the weather. If we don't want it to rain, it won't." He smiled at me.
"That's awesome. I hate ugly weather."
We neared the tables and I saw that Chiron and Mr. D were already waiting for us.
"Of course the Apollo cabin is here early. Do you kids ever sleep in?" Mr. D drawled out.
"Apollo won't allow it." Lisa answered.
We sat down at the Apollo table and waited for the rest of the camp. Half an hour later, we saw files of demigods walking towards us. I saw Percy give me a thumbs up. Annabeth waved and went back to talking to her half brothers and sisters.
"Percy is sitting alone, can I go join him?" I asked Will.
"There are a couple of rules at camp. One of them is that you have to sit with your cabin at meal times. Besides, Percy's half-brother will show up in a few minutes. His name is Tyson." He answered back. Percy sat by himself and after dumping a portion of food into a bronze bowl he began eating.
About ten minutes later, a big guy walked over to Percy and sat down. He had shaggy brown hair, dressed in a red flannel shirt with XXXL blue jeans. He sat down with a thump and Percy gave him a cheerful slap on the back. Tyson started eating his breakfast, all while talking enthusiastically. He would wave his hands around and Percy would laugh along with him.
After breakfast we were free to talk with friends. Percy and his brother strolled over to me, still laughing from their conversation. I glanced at Tyson and did a double take. Tyson was a cyclops. He beamed at me with a cheerful eye and rushed over to me.
"Percy tells me you are the new demigod! We will be friends!" He said, crushing me into a hug. I gasped for air and felt my bones want to collapse.
"Whoa there, big guy. Set her down." Percy laughed. Tyson carefully set me down and backed away.
"I would like to be your friend, Tyson." I said, trying to get in big breaths of air.
"Yay!" He exclaimed. "We get to be friends and save the world!"
Percy smiled at him and shook his head. "Do you want to pick your weapon now? No one is going to be in there at this moment. It gets crowded around lunch time, when everyone has training afterwards."
"Sure, let's go pick something out." I said, knowing I would probably choose the wrong one and would be stuck with it for the rest of my life. We walked over to the armory and saw demigods milling around laughing and training. Older teenaged students taught the younger kids, giving them advice on how to hold the sword or how to aim at a target with your arrow.
"We need to find out what your strong points are. That way we can assess what weapons best suit you."
"Well, I was the school archery captain. Of course I think you know that. I bet the Apollo kids here are talented with a bow and arrow. Though, can you fight with a bow and arrow? Or would a sword be better?"
"I'd say the sword would be the best weapon, but then again I'm biased. I have my own sword." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue topped ball point pen.
"That's not a sw—" I faltered, he pulled the top off and the pen sprang up into a double edged bronze sword. Greek writing was engraved into the blade, Anaklusmos. Riptide, my brain had no trouble translating the ancient writing.
"Pretty neat, right?"
"That's an understatement. Do all swords do that?"
"No, as far as I know, only Riptide has the ability."
We reached the door and swung it open. Shiny weapons gleamed at me, the morning sun making them look even deadlier.
"Look and see if you like anything." Percy said, ruffling through swords. Someone called his name and he went to see who needed him.
I stood there holding different weapons. Axes were too heavy and bulking to carry around. I tried a variety of shields but they would all get in my way, plus, my spaghetti arms couldn't handle the weight. Javelins were too tall, daggers were too short in length. I rummaged through the weapons, certain I wouldn't be able to find something. I straightened my back and something caught my eye. Mounted up high was a red and black sheathed sword. I took it down and examined it.
The case was red and black with elongated ovals. The handle was the same pattern. I pulled the sword free and found the blade to be a little curved at the end. It didn't resemble any of the swords I had looked at. It was practically straight, with only one sharp side. The red in the handle looked like splotches of blood. The blade was pure black steel. It resonated a cold feeling to it that I couldn't explain. So I carefully swung it. The noise it made had me giggling. I backed up and found myself slipping on a bronze knee guard. The blade seemed to come down faster than what was possible. I thought I was going to lose a leg but somehow the blade was stopped.
The skilled hands caught the sword by the blade and righted me up.
"What in Hades are you doing, are you trying to kill yourself? You're lucky I got here just in time to prevent that from happening. God, didn't anybody tell you not to touch anything that doesn't belong to you." A guy with pitch black hair with red highlights coldly said. His hand that had the sword blade was bleeding profusely. I could tell that he was half American and Japanese because of the way he looked, his grayish blackish eyes were dark with anger. He was dressed in all black, except under his black leather jacket he had a white T-shirt with a cross necklace around his neck, his gray shoes cleaned and without a scratch. "This is poisoned."
"If it's poisoned, then why are you holding the blade and letting it cut you?" I asked him. I felt slightly disturbed at the words 'poisoned' and 'pain'.
"Because the blade's poison has no effect on me and I'm the only person who can control the blades power." His voice stayed at the same angered level.
"Then why would you leave it at the weaponry where someone could get a hold of it?" I angrily asked him.
"I wouldn't think someone would be stupid enough to go near it because everyone knows what the blade can do. But somehow you crossed the barrier I had put up when I left." He said under his breath.
"Who are you?" Despite the cold treatment and look that he was giving me, he was rather handsome.
"It's Ziro Amara, would you care to give me your name since I gave you mine?"
"If you insist, Elysia Hathaway."
"Elysia Hathaway huh, well Elysia don't touch my sword again if you do, I would personally deal with you myself. Got that?" And with that he swiftly turned around to leave but as soon as he got to the doorway he looked back with cold eyes and left me alone, as if the whole ridiculous conversation did not happen.
I stood there in shock until Percy came back. He took one look at me and frowned.
"What's wrong, Elysia?"
"I almost died by a poisoned katana sword thing and it was sort of scary." I said rather calmly.
"So I see you met Ziro Amara, yeah he arrived here three or fourth months before you did and let tell you he's not a social type of guy, he's cold and he doesn't care for his comrades in a sense. But he's quite strong, since his arrival, he's progressed a lot. He even challenged me to a duel just to see how strong he had become. But the fight only lasted ten minutes, then again, I have been here longer and have more practice with the sword. Though I'm surprised he held up that long." He laughed and dug through the weapons.
"But why would he leave a poisoned sword laying around? That's dangerous. Tell me of your first fight with Amara." I asked, very annoyed. I looked at everything again, nothing. I dug deeper into the small shed and pulled out a sword. The handle was made of brown soft leather. It was sketched with small flowers. About three feet in length, I pulled it out and the blade came free. It was a beautiful bronze blade and glowed softly.
"Let's just say that he forgot to put it in his cabin because he was in a hurry to go to Japan to practice his skills there. He asked for another challenge a few months after and he was stronger. He used unpredictable moves that I hadn't ever encountered before, the thing is, he repeats the motions so I am able to predict which comes next. Besides that I see that you've found a sword that interested you, want to give it a try?" he said with a bright smile on his face. "That sword was made by an ancient Greek blacksmith. I remember because Annabeth told me. It was the last one to be produced until they figured out that those swords were deadly. It's made of Celestial bronze, deadly to monsters. It won't harm normal mortals, a hero must never do that." He said standing back and appreciating the sword.
I held it in one hand and found it to be light. It felt balanced and weighed practically nothing. I swung it, it was easy to control.
"I want this sword. Whose is it?" I whipped my head to face Percy. I would have this sword.
"It's now yours if you want it. It's a good choice, you'll be able to use it soon. With practice and patient, it'll come naturally." He grinned.
"Awesome." I put the protective cover back on and strapped it to my skinny jeans. "Now what do I do?"
"Now we train. We train until we become strong enough, then we kick some bad guy ass." Percy smiled. "Let's go to the arena, it has dummies you can hack at."
We headed over to the arena and I saw a flash of black in my peripheral vision. It was Ziro, he nodded at Percy and scowled at me.
Percy walked over to a dummy and gestured for me to get closer. "Do you want to use your own sword or do you want to practice with a wooden one?"
"Let me use a wooden one. I don't want to hurt myself."
He pulled out a wooden one and handed it to me. "Now, when using a sword you handle it with one hand. Two hands are too much of a distraction. Use the hand you normally use to do everything."
I grabbed my wooden sword with my right hand. It felt bulky and long.
"Since swords are long it gives you a wide range. You can stand back and play both offense and defense. I've done both."
I swung the wooden sword and struck the dummy in the head.
"Good, now arch up a bit when you swing. Hold your ground."
I tried again. The blade seemed to flow smoothly that time. Percy coached me through jabs and strikes all throughout training.
I was pouring sweat when I heard a mean snicker behind me. I turned and faced Ziro, his eyes full of criticism. He had a hand in his left pocket with his katana resting on his right shoulder.
"What? Are you going to be rude about me training also?" I asked him, a tad ticked off. I was doing my best.
"You look pathetic." Ziro snickered. He went off and chose a quiet corner to train in. He walked over to where the wooden swords were held and chose one. He set his katana down in chair. He walked over to a dummy and started whacking it mercilessly. He used two hands and moved rapidly. His body motions were accurate, precise. Fifteen minutes went by and he took off his shirt, muscles rippled under his movements. He stopped to wipe his face with his discarded shirt and caught me looking. He said nothing and turned back to the dummy with the same rapid movements.
"I thought he used Japanese style weapons?"
"Well, we are Greek. We don't have many non-Greek weapons. He just uses the wooden practice sword for the arena."
"Well, okay. So be honest, how well will I be able to do with a sword? Do I have a chance or should I choose a new weapon?"
"You have a lot of potential. With lots of practice and motivation, you'll become a good swordsman, err I mean swordswoman."
"Awesome, let's take a break. I could use some water."
"Why would you need water if you just started practicing, a warrior doesn't need water unless they train to their limits but go ahead and drink water, you're not suited to the task anyways." Zero said walking toward his sword and picking it up. He picked it up, laid it across his right shoulder and left the arena.
"Percy, let me tell you this. When I am done training, the first butt whooping I'm going to give out, it will be to him." I said. "He's so…indifferent."
"That's Zero for you. Come on, let's go get water. Just think on this though, are you sure you want to challenge him?"
I glanced in his direction, "Yes."