Percy Jackson Project

Chapter 4: I Become a TV Star

Camp Half-Blood is amazing. The many eyed guy walks along silently but I take the time to view my surroundings. Not only was it perfectly sunny while New York was cloudy, but it looked so peaceful. People playing on the volleyball courts. A building where kids in orange shirts made marble busts. Thankfully, we didn't walk far as I was still tired.

We stopped at a huge house, and circled around the porch. A man in a wheelchair came up to us. "Argus," he said, frowning. "Shouldn't you be patrolling the borders?"

Argus made a few gestures, and the eyes on his forearm made a sideways glance at me. The man nodded. "I see." He said. Then he turned to me. "Welcome to Camp. I am Chiron, and you my friend, are part god."

I stared at him. Yeah I seemed to be doing that a lot. "Okay."

He nodded. "Okay." We waited a few seconds. Then he started talking again. "I'm sorry. I've said this so many times now that I just thought the dramatic wind up wasn't worth it." With that said, he morphed into part human and part horse. And then I got a lecture about Greek myths.

"…and in conclusion, all Greek myths are real." I sit there in a state of amazement and just dull weariness. Chiron notices this and offers me a drink. It's golden and I take a sip. Instantly I feel better. Chiron smiles at me, and I feel a warm feeling inside me.

"Now, what about a tour of the camp? Usually we have Annabeth Chase guiding the tour, but Jenny offered today so-,"

Out of nowhere a pretty girl of about sixteen pops up. She smiles and she's practically bouncing with energy. Her blond ponytail bounces up and down and I can't help but cringe at her enthusiasm. I'm sorry, but sunny people just don't appeal to me.

"Hi, I'm Jenny, daughter of Hebe," she says chattily. "And I'll be leading the tour today. I am so excited by this. Now if lets go. If you look left…,"

I follow her for quite a while, but I can't help but feel a little irritated by all the talking coming out her mouth. She talks far too fast for me to even fully comprehend her. At last we tour the cabins.

"Those cabins are for the Big Three. They are very powerful gods," says bubbly Jenny. "And those are some minor god cabins we may be small but we're still special!"

Special. I wonder if she likes being special. I doubt being a daughter of Hebe would be considered special at this camp. No gryphon riding for her anytime soon. We passed by another round of the cabins, and this time she showed me the Hermes Cabin. "You'll be staying here until you're claimed," she said. "Usually it takes a while, but how old are you again?"

"Fourteen." Jenny smiled.

"Great! You should be claimed anytime now then!" That was encouraging. Sort of. We headed off until we saw a bunch of campers at Hephaestus cabin. When we go there the group was chatting loudly.

"What's happening?" I asked.

"Freak accident in New York today," replied a camper. "Hephaestus cabin has a TV."

Another camper shouted, "Hey, Leo, are you done yet?"

A Latino boy scowled. "Almost there, I'm tuning it. The Iris signal is good though," he said pointing to the rainbow static sparking between the antennae of the TV. Several glass prisms were surrounding the TV reflecting rainbow off the screen.

Finally an image appears and the logo 'Hephaestus TV' turns on. A person on the television says "Brought to you directly from New York, uncensored or Misted." Loud whoops of excitement sound through the air.

The TV shows a gray cab speeding on a road and my heart nearly stops. I hope it doesn't show my face, but Hephaestus TV has some crazy resolution. I see myself open the speeding cab's door.

"Holy Zeus, he's jumping out!" shouted a camper. There was laughter.

I saw the fear on my face. And then I glowed purple. My face flushed red in embarrassment. More laughter. Some people look disturbed though. I look at my face on the screen. My eyes are wild and maniacal. My smiling is creepy. My laugh gives me shivers.

"Crazy kid," muttered a buff looking girl. Probably from Ares.

I jumped off the cab and on the screen I'm a blur of purple. "What the Hades?" rings out everywhere. I'm stunned by my speed. Did I really do that? I see the gryphon pinwheel as I land on it, the streak of violet as I hit the wall and bounce off. The awed silence when I kill the gryphon.

"That was cool," whispered a kid. Onscreen, I face plant to the ground. Dang it.

Some people laugh, but others look nervous. I should probably keep a low profile. A girl from Aphrodite speaks up.

"He's kind of cute." Then again, who needs a low profile? A girl with blond hair and gray eyes stares intently at the screen. Her eyes tell me she's a kid from Athena. At last she speaks up.

"That kid's a half-blood, right? Is he at camp right now?" People turn and look around. I turn and try to slink back to the big house. Maybe no one will notice.

"Ohmygods, that was you, Glen!" squeaks Jenny. Zeus Almighty. People stare at me. I'm suddenly aware of how much people are around me.

Before I have to say something, however, a snide voice says, "And who's the new kid?"

People swivel their heads and I find myself looking at a pudgy guy with what looks like a hangover. He looks toward me. "What's your name?"

"Glen Faulkner." There's a pause.

"Do you play pinochle?"

"Does that have anything to do with a wooden puppet who wants to be a real boy?"

"No." the pudgy dude rolled his eyes. "I pray there is hope for you, Faulkner."

"So do I. The gods like to ignore me, though."

"I do find you disagreeable."

It took me a second to realize that this was the infamous Mr. D. The girl with the gray eyes spoke up. "Mr. D, can I talk to Glen for a moment?"

Mr. D rolled his eyes again. "Whatever, Annalee." Then he walked off to the Big House, leaving the camp to gossip by itself.

Annalee turned to me. "Are you the kid on the news?"

"Yeah," I admitted.

She nodded. "Okay. I'm Annabeth."

"I thought you were Annalee."

"Mr. D likes to get names wrong. But tell me, what power was that?" I shrug, but give her the details of what happened. Annabeth frowns. "Your parent is a male god. I don't think he's one of the Big Three, but you might be the child of Ares. That's the closest counterpart for you." Seeing my expression she responded, "Don't worry. We'll find a cabin for you. In the mean time I think you should talk to Jasmine."