(AN) Next chapter! Please review, favorite and follow. Thanks for reading!
The next time I woke up, it was still dark out. Voices were carried from another room into mine, and I could tell it's getting quite heated. The main voice that could be heard was Jason's.
"He cannot stay here! What if he just cracks, and starts killing us all? What would we do then? He's dangerous to all of us. He obviously has no conscious." Jason practically screamed.
"He only kills when he's ordered, haven't you heard him? The guy listens to his leaders better than we listen to the gods. I highly doubt he would just kill for the sake of killing." Leo says. I think on that. I just follow orders because they know what's best. I walk up next to the door of the room the immortal campers are in. Chiron and Nico are in there as well. Chiron gets up to speak.
"Silence, all of you. I must tell you something." He says, and all the immortal campers quiet down. "A few millennia ago, the gods took away a hero. Nobody knew where he went, but one day he just disappeared. Soon after that, the number of demigods coming to Camp Half-Blood decreased. So did the number of monster attacks. Around a hundred years later, once the generation who knew about the hero died, he returned back home. He looked the exact same and had wandered into camp. He talked of killing demigods. He talked about doing anything for his leaders but died a few days after when the immortality faded away from him. I went to Olympus to see if his leaders posed a threat, and it turns out it was the gods all along. They had been controlling our hero, using him to do their dirty work, like killing off demigods who got too powerful. Demigods that could wreck some serious havoc on Olympus. I think that has happened again. Mercy has been controlled into thinking he's doing the right thing. Take him away from those people, and we get to see who he really is. I think we all have a good idea of this." Chiron finishes. The gods, my boss'? No way! My boss' would never do anything like that, they have protected me, given me a cat, and The Room, and all I could ever need. I walk away from the door as the room goes into an uproar. As I crawl back into bed, the last thing I hear is,
"You're suggesting that guy is Percy Jackson?"
When I wake up again, it's morning. The sun is shining into my room, and I'm reminded of how far away I am from home. I let out a sigh and look for an alarm clock. It read 6 am, and I'm not surprised. No matter how little sleep I get, I still wake up at the same time. Who knows, maybe with all my routines changing, this one will too. I don't know if that should scare me or excite me. All I remember is routines, and who knows how I will react to all this change.
My mind drifts to the conversation I overheard last night. The story Chiron told might have shaken the immortal camper's idea of me, but I still trust my leaders. I fight to protect others, to make sure demigods don't get out of control. What I do is good, no matter what they think. Even Nico's story hasn't changed my mind. If a demigod is supposed to live, then they will. If my boss' really wanted to dispose of him, Nico would be here today. I also think of the news Chiron gave at lunch. The Hunters of Artemis? I've heard of them vaguely, always taught to stay far away. But I guess with my temporary residence being Camp Half-Blood, I must be near them.
I get up from my bed and walk out of the room to see Chiron in his office. I continue on and get out of the big house. Without a guide, I decide to do some exploring of the camp. Only a few campers are up at this time, and I like it. Being stared at all the time doesn't exactly make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I find myself walking to the cabins. As I walk along, looking at each one, a cabin a particular catches my eye. It looks sea themed, and I assume it's for Poseidon. I stop in front of it, and observe the exterior more, even though I know there is no reason for it. The cabin just seems familiar, like it's something important. I dismiss the thought from my mind and keep walking along. If I've ever been here, people would recognize me, right? Plus, I'm not even a demigod. I have no powers and I don't attract monsters.
After exploring the camp a little more, I hear the signal for breakfast. I hurry along to the pavilion but as I walk to the head table, Will calls out my name.
"Mercy! Hey, why don't you sit with us?" he asks and gives me a small smile. I return with a look of confusion.
"I thought Jason didn't even want me at the camp," I say, and Will just laughs.
"Well fuck Jason, if he doesn't like it he has to deal with it," Will replies, and I'm surprised with the level of hospitality I get from Will. It must have been what Chiron told the immortal campers last night.
"Ok then. I guess I will join you." I say, and join Will to walk back to the immortal campers table. Nico is waiting for us when we get there, and currently, it's only the three of us at the table.
"The others aren't really morning people. I'm not either, but Will is so I get dragged along usually." Nico grumbles in explanation of the other's absence. He's also drinking a cup of coffee like his life depended on it.
"Nothing is better than watching the sun rise every day. In fact, I watch it every day, but sometimes it's hard to keep Nico asleep since he's usually on top of m-" Will stops with a grunt, and Nico's glaring at him.
"Will, we do not need him to know about our sleeping arrangements. Especially since he talks with Chiron all the time." Nico says to Will. I laugh a little.
"It's fine. I'm guessing you're not allowed to sleep together here?" I ask.
"Well, technically it is allowed since is the rule is a boy and a girl can't be alone in a room together. But we're not telling anyone since Chiron will probably change it once he finds out." Will responds. Nico mutters something under his breath about telling people about them, but I just leave the conversation where it's at. I don't need my only friends to be fighting each other.
"Nico, why are all your friends immortal besides you?" I ask, and Nico looks up in confusion.
"I am immortal. Why do you think differently?" he replies.
"Well, all the other immortal campers have a golden glow to them. You just look like all the other demigods." I say, and Nico seems to realize something.
"That's because when I was a normal demigod, I had a darker aura to me since I'm a son of Hades. The immortality neutralized my aura." He said. Will smiles like he was recalling a good memory.
"Man, when I first started talking to Nico, he was all darkness, literally. I could barely grab his arm since it was all smoky." He said, and grabs Nico's hand. I think back to the daughter of Nyx I had killed a few days ago. She had a dark aura as well. I think back to the adrenaline that I felt during the hunt and the satisfaction. I miss it all. That sounds terrible, but it's true. I miss the final stretch, cornering my pray and having them beg. I shake my head to clear my thoughts, but it lingers even when I observe Nico and Will bickering.
Soon the other immortal campers arrive, and they slide right into the table, not noticing my presence until Nico asks to pass the toast. They all stare at me. I swallow the lump in my throat and give Nico his carbs. Leo speaks up first.
"Nico, you're going to get fat if you keep eating like that." He said, and everyone starts laughing except for Nico, who rolled his eyes and proceeded to keep eating.
"Hey, it's good for him." Will defends, and Leo just replied,
"You just want something more to grab onto during the night." Both the boys go red, and I just watch in amusement. They all seem to be more inviting than last time. It was comforting.
"Nico, the hunters are coming today," Will says, and I could see Nico and Jason smile. I speak up for the first time.
"Who is important in the hunters?" I ask, and Will responds.
"Nico's cousin and Jason's sister, Thalia. Also, a good friend of ours is in there too. Her name is Annabeth." He says, and the name strikes a chord within me, similar to the Poseidon cabin. I can see the immortal campers look at me. After a few seconds of processing, I shake my head in thanks and continue eating. I see Piper whisper in Jason's ear, but don't think much about it. Jason and Piper kept to themselves the most part. The table continues on with conversation, ranging from scheduling sword fighting to teasing Will and Nico even more. Leo seems to be the ring leader of all the teasing.
Once breakfast is finished, I go to Chiron at the head table.
"It seems you have made some friends." He says and starts to walk away. I follow him. "If you want to use our arena and archery field then that is fine, just keep your ears open to the signal for when the Hunters of Artemis are here. They might know something about you since they travel around the country." He continues. I nod in understanding and walk with him to the big house. From there I grab my bow and head to the archery field. I start to practice my technique once I am there and spend most of my morning training. I see Will, but he was teaching a class so I didn't bother him. After a couple of hours, I hear the signal for the Hunters of Artemis. Will was cleaning up the supplies so we walked there together.
"Do you know anyone in the hunters?" I ask.
"Not really. I recognize a few of them visiting over the years, but I haven't had a conversation with anyone besides Thalia or Annabeth. Then again, I only talk to them with Nico because he is pretty close with both of them." He replies. I ask him more questions as we walk across the camp, mainly about the other immortal campers.
"You can just call us counselors. We are heads of our cabins after all, and 'immortal campers' is a bit of a mouthful, don't you think?" he says.
"OK, thanks. I was wondering what your guys' title was anyways. How did you guys become immortals?" I ask.
"Well, as a gift to the camp counselors, they gifted us all immortality. Some people accepted, some declined. The ones who accepted stayed for a couple more years, then eventually left. They visit every now and then. Leo, Jason, and Piper were on a big quest with 4 other demigods. They got immortality as well. Leo and his girlfriend mostly stay here, but they travel around every now and then. Piper and Jason took over as leaders. It used to be Percy and Annabeth until Percy disappeared and Annabeth joined the hunters. Oh and Nico of course. He is Hades right-hand man, but Nico spends as little time down there as possible. He fulfills his duties up here." He explains. I nod in understanding, and we arrive at the entrance to the camp.
The hunters were in a big group. All dressed in silver parkas, they carried silver bows. Chiron was already greeting them, and Nico was there talking with a black haired and blond, who I assumed to be Thalia and Annabeth. The black-haired one had a silver tiara like ring around her head, probably to show a rank. The blond had her back to me. I walked over to Chiron, and I see him talking to an auburn haired girl. She radiated a golden glow, and I could easily identify her as Artemis. As I walked up to Chiron, her attention was moved to me, and I could see the surprise in her eyes.
"Why are you here?" She calls me.
-xoxo cam