Chapter 4

The next morning was torture!

It started with me being late for warm up, which earned me 3 extra laps on the jogging track (not to mention I was being chased by a hellhound). By the time we got to stretching my legs felt like jell-o. Afterward I had archery, which as you can imagine I failed at miserably. I was supposed to have Pegasus flying next but it was cancelled for whatever reason so I had canoeing instead. I guess I wasn't that bad but it's not exactly the type of heroic skill everyone wants to have. Then at sword-fighting everything changed. The instructor was a tall guy with a burn mark on his right arm. His name was Bobby (I know right?). Bobby was about my height but with twice as many muscles. He was 19, but his eyes made him look older. They were the color of a storm cloud and had a lot of sadness in them.

"Well if it isn't Percy gods know who." He said as I walked into the arena. "How are you?"

"Umm... I'm fine thank you."

"How do you like the camp so far?"

"If I say not really will I get blown to bits or something?"

"Ha! You're funny. Don't worry; you might even end up liking it. The first few days are always rough but you get used to it. That is unless you die."

"I don't know about that." I replied. I seriously doubted I would ever like this camp.

Bobby didn't answer. He opened the big door on the left side of the arena and led me into a huge room full of weapons. "Here!" he said gesturing me to walk in "every fighter needs a weapon."

"Thanks but I already have one" I said as I pulled Riptide out of my pocket. Before he could comment I uncapped it and it grew into a sword.

"Wow!" he exclaimed. "Where did you get this from?"

"I wish I knew." I said a bit embarrassed. How could I not remember this?

"Strange!"He said as he took it from me "It's made of..."

"Celestial bronze."

"Yes. This is a very old weapon." He handed it back to me and closed the door. "Well, since you have a weapon I guess you've been fighting before."

"Maybe."

"Well then that's what we have to figure out." He said pulling out a 25in golden blade from his holster.

"Ready?" he asked.

I lifted Riptide and swallowed the lump in my throat. "Ready." I replied gathering all my strength and confidence.

We started with some basic drills. It turned out I was actually pretty good. I dodged the first few strikes and before Bobby had time to turn around I slashed my sword leaving a bleeding cut on his right arm.

"Not bad." He said as he smacked me in the ribs with the flat of his blade, "Keep up your guard Percy."

I sidestepped another attack but this time he came up faster than I expected and swiped me across the chest. Instantly, I felt blinding pain. I looked down to see my shirt soaked in hot, sticky blood. The pain was so intense I wanted to stop, but I knew I couldn't. I had to keep fighting.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in my chest I lifted my sword and charged at Bobby. He deflected my attack but I crouched and stabbed at his right leg. Bobby yelped in pain. Before he could fight back I kicked him down, sending his sword clattering across the arena. I used my foot to pin him to the ground and pointed Riptide under his chin. I could read the shock in his eyes. Then to my surprise Bobby's face broke into a happy grin.

"That was brilliant!" he exclaimed happily, "Very smart move. Looks like you did learn how to fight before after all." I lowered my sword and dropped down on my knees beside him. My chest was burning.

"What style was that?" he asked after catching his breath.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"This is not the classic roman style. It seems much more...older."

"I wish I knew." I replied. My head was spinning; I was losing blood fast. I looked down at my chest. The cut did not appear to be deep but that did not stop it from bleeding heavily.

"I'm sorry about that." Bobby said following my gaze. "It would have helped if you had armour but we didn't have any spare pieces at the moment."

"It's fine." I replied.

"You should go to the infirmary." He said after a short silence.

"Nah, I'll be fine. I'm just..."I winced as he helped me get up.

"Oh ya! You are perfectly fine." He replied sarcastically.

"What about our lesson." I asked. Truly I didn't really care about the lesson but I just came out of the infirmary yesterday and I was not anxious to go back.

"Screw the lesson. I don't want to see you die of blood loss." He said.

"Fine but your leg is injured. You should go to."

He looked unhappy but he agreed. I could tell the pain was bothering him even though he was trying to conceal it.

We stumbled towards the log house. Bobby was leaning against me, his right leg dragging helplessly on the ground. By the time we got there I was ready to pass out from pain. A girl named Gwendolyn gave us some ambrosia and clean bandages. It tasted like melted chocolate chip cookies. Abruptly, pain erupted behind my eyes. With a sudden flash I found myself sitting at the table in a small apartment. A young woman with frizzy brown hair and warm chocolate eyes was offering me a tray of blue chocolate chip cookies. Her smile was warm and inviting. My vision went blurry and I was back in the infirmary, panting on the floor. I looked up to see Bobby and Gwendolyn staring at me. I could not decide whether their expression was worried or disturbed. Probably both.

"Yo, you alright man?" Bobby asked.

"Yah, I just...had a migraine. I'm alright now." I replied as I got up.

"Maybe you need to..." Gwendolyn begins to say.

"I'm fine!" I snapped back. She looked hurt. I felt bad; I shouldn't have snapped like that. She was just trying to help. But I couldn't help it; I was to shaken to think straight.

I stormed out of the infirmary, head still pounding. A horn sounded in the distance, it was time for lunch. Groups of campers were heading towards the main building on top of the hill. I had nothing else to do but to follow them. Reyna caught up to me half way up the hill.

"Percy!" She started to say when suddenly her happy expression changed to one full of horror. "What...what happened to you?"

I followed her gaze and realized I was still wearing the shirt I wore to sword fighting. It was tore and all soaked in blood. Beneath it my chest was all bandaged.

"That's nothing." I said looking away. "Just a small scratch I got in sword fighting."

"I told Bobby to go easy on you." She looked pissed off. I smiled, "Don't worry" I said, and "I'm not the only one."

But Reyna wasn't listening. She was too distracted by a group of guys that were heading towards us. Although I think the term guys is not exactly appropriate. They were 5 grown men, all in leather boots and with swords hanging from their belts. I already noticed that most of the campers were very muscular but these guys beet all the records .Their huge muscles stood out from under their purple camp shirts. The one in the front, probably their leader, walked up straight to Reyna and put his arm around her.

"Hey sugar. Is this guy bothering you?" he asked giving me a mocking stare. Reyna made a disgusted expression.

"Get off James." She said pushing him away.

"Awwww, come one sugar..." he tried to hug her again but Reyna slapped him so hard he stumbled back into his companions.

"Do NOT call me sugar!" she yelled at him.

James's eyes were full of hatred. I suddenly felt very protective of Reyna. After all, she was just one girl against five mean guys with swords. Not exactly what you would call an equal match.

"What, are you afraid that Jason will find out? He's gone, get it, GONE! Get over it sugar. What do you see in him anyway? He's nothing but a no good coward. " his friends all laughed as if James said some funny joke.

I looked back at Reyna. If looks could kill James would have died there and now. Her eyes were literally glowing with fire. She pulled out her knife and I realized that it was not made of imperial gold like everyone else's. It was made of a strange bloody red metal that seemed to glow with a faint red light. A flame pattern was engraved into the hilt. She pointed it towards James and the blade started to glow brighter, as if it could sense fresh blood. James stepped back. I could see his grin vanish as he stared at the glowing blade in Reyna's hand.

"DoNOT speak of Jason that way. He is twice as brave as all of you combined together and you know it. He risked his life so many times for all of us. In fact, you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him. Unlike you, he's actually a hero. Unless you think it was you who led out troops into battle this summer? Or was it you who went on so many quest to protect us? Have you done at least one thing that was as great as what Jason did? Because if you did then tell us." James stared at the ground and said nothing.

"I thought so!" Reyna said with a smirk, "you may think you're all cool and tough looking but you are no hero James. You are just a no good, good for nothing nobody. And until you can prove me wrong don't even try to talk to me because I will kill you."

Reyna stopped to catch her breath. I didn't know who Jason was but I heard some of the other campers talk about him. From what I could gather, Jason had gone missing a day before they found me. I guess he was pretty popular because everyone was bothered by his absence. James looked really pissed but didn't say anything. He just gave me a murderous glance and strode of towards the pavilion.

"Are you ok?" I asked when James and his gang were out of hearing range.

"Yes. Just a bit shaken that's all." She replied putting her knife away. The blade was still glowing but less brightly this time.

"That's a cool knife you've got there." I said trying to change the conversation.

"Thanks. It's a present from my dad."

"Ares?"

"Well...yes. Except we usually call the gods by their roman names."

"Right, sorry."

We have arrived to the temple (which turned out to be the dining pavilion) and were greeted by Lupa and the strict looking man (God I had to learn his name). I noticed that campers would bow to them before they entered and decided it was best I did the same. "Well well. Mr. Percy I don't know who I am. Enjoying camp?" The old man said blocking my way.

"Yes sir. Thank you."

He smirked but stepped aside letting me in.

The dining pavilion was a huge room full of tables. There was a table for each cabin, plus an extra table for the staff at the front of the room. There was also a long table stretching along 3 of the walls but I wasn't sure what those were for. A fire burned in front of a marble altar in the center of the pavilion.

I sat down with my cabin. There were golden plates and cups on the table but all of them were empty. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to get any food at all when the man gestured for everyone to be quiet. A dead silence fell in the room.

"Hello everyone!" he said extending his arms as if to hug all of us, "how nice it is to see that all of you are still alive."

"As if he would care if we weren't." Somme kid from the Apollo table murmured.

"Mr. Norrington! Looks like you just bought yourself a month of detention!"

The kid mumbled back something like yes sir and looked down at his plate.

"As I was saying, it is nice to see you all safe and sound. I would like to introduce you to our new camper, Percy."

Everyone stared at me in silence. Josh gestured me to get up, and even though I didn't want to I did as he said. All eyes were on me.

"As some of you know Percy helped one of our troops destroy the hydra layer after what he seems to have lost his memory. Pleas make him feel as much at home as possible, even though we don't know what his home is like, and try not to kill him. Also, as you know Jason Grace is still missing. A new quest shall be launched if he is not found in the next four days. Remember, if you have any information you must tell me or Lupa RIGHT AWAY! And now, bon appétit!" He waved his hands and immediately food appeared on the three empty tables along the walls. Everyone grabbed their plates and cups and headed towards them. Basically, it was like a buffet. You could take anything you wanted as long as you didn't take too much (or the food will disappear of your plate). There were all sorts of food; fries, ribs, chicken, hot dogs, sandwiches, fajitas, meat, vegetables, salads, pasta and a lot more (some of which I did not recognise.) I didn't realize just how hungry I was until now. I filled my plate with everything I could and headed back to my table.

"Hey man! How are you?" Josh asked as I dropped down in the seat next to him.

"I'm fine." I replied simply.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

"Oh...I just...I was at sword-fighting and..."

"Alright don't stress yourself kid. I got it." Josh took a huge bite of his sandwich and chewed it loudly.

I noticed that 12 of the tables had a symbol on them, representing one of the gods. I also noticed that a few of those tables were empty. "What's with the empty tables?" I asked, "Don't these kids eat lunch."

"Those are the tables of the gods who don't have demigod children. The three at the front of the room are for the big three; Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto. They made a promise not to have anymore demigod children because they are too powerful. Jupiter however, already broke it and I'm guessing that so did the others."

"What do you mean broke it?"

"Jason, the guy who's missing, is a son of Jupiter."

"Oh. What about the other two?"

"The one beside Jupiter's table belongs to Juno. She's loyal to her husband so she doesn't have kids with mortals."

"How about the one on the left?"

"That one is Diana's. She is a virgin so obviously no demigods."

"But if they don't have any demigod children why bother having tables and cabins for them?"

"Respect. The gods get pissed off very easily, especially if they don't feel respected enough."

I looked over to the 8th table. Reyna was sitting with a group of tuff looking kids. They were having an argument about some stolen chariot and you could hear them from across the room.

"This...Jason," I began to say "What happened to him?"

"That's the question we've all been trying to answer. He disappeared around the same time when we found you. It's a great mystery."

"And how exactly did you find me?"

"Well, it's kind of a strange story. It was the day after Jason had gone missing. Mr.C threw a quest to find him and..."

"Who's Mr.C?" I asked confused.

"Our director, Julius Caesar."

"W—what? That...that man is...Julius Caesar? But, he's DEAD!"

"Ya well Pluto brought him back as long as he stays here and trains young heroes. We were...kind of low on candidates so we had to take desperate measure."

"Oh!" I was beginning to get used to weird stuff happening to me but meeting Julius Caesar was beyond anything I've ever imagined.

"Anyways," Josh continued, "Instead of finding Jason our group stumbled upon a hydra layer. Our situation was looking bleak when suddenly you showed up. Desmond ordered you to get back but instead you charged right at the hydras. I'm not sure how but suddenly the lake started boiling and there was a huge wave followed by an explosion. It happened so fast no one really know what you did but you destroyed the whole layer. The explosion threw us off our feet, and by the time we got up you were gone. We thought you were dead; after all you were the closest to the layer when it blew up. We were about to give up when Desmond finally found you. The blast threw you into the lake and when we got you out you were perfectly fine. Not a single scratch or burn. You were unconscious so we brought you back here. The rest you know."

We sat in silence as I let Josh's story sink in. Me destroying a hydra layer? That sounded like something a hero would do. But I am no hero I told myself, I could not possibly have done that. That's when I felt the pain again. In a flash I found myself standing in front of the empire state building. I was wearing battle armour, Riptide in hand. A girl with blond hair and stormy gray eyes was standing next to me. Something about this picture bothered me. Suddenly, I realized what. Manhattan was in chaos. Cars were overturned, Buildings on fire. The ground was covered in shattered glass and debris. Around us people were moaning and calling for help. The sky was enveloped in think black clouds. Someone called out my name and my vision went black.

I was back in the pavilion, except I was curled up on the floor, hands around my head. Everyone was gathered around me. Caesar was screaming at the campers to go back to their seats but nobody listened. Reyna kneeled down beside me.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She asked.

"Ya, I...I'm just dizzy." I replied.

"You were screaming." She told me, worry in her eyes. I grabbed her hand and she helped me get up.

"I think you need to go to the infirmary." Caesar said, though he sounded like he really couldn't care less.

"No!" I exclaimed so loud that all conversations sized instantly. "I mean...I'm fine, really. I just need to rest."

"Alright." Caesar said after a long pause, "You are excused from detention for today. Go and rest, but if you still feel sick report to the infirmary right away."

I walked out of the pavilion, a hundred pairs of eyes burning a hole in my back. As soon as I was out of sight I ran.