The Cursed Demigod
Chapter 7 – Dinner And A Prophecy
Here's how my day went. I was praised for my clean up job from the night before but scolded for leaving the door open. Then I had breakfast with the Athena Cabin. After that came my first sword fighting lesson with the Ares Cabin…and my biggest but-whooping of all time courtesy of Karla. It was lunch time and I was just walking out of the infirmary after being knocked unconscious by said child of Ares.
Stiffly I made my way down to the beach where Percy, leader of the Poseidon cabin and apparently the most famous guy in the camp, was waiting to give us a lesson in sea monsters. That would be fun. Except for the fact that people kept looking at me weirdly and trying to forget what happened that morning at sunrise. In any case, the lesson had already started by the time I finally reached the beach.
" You're late, Lee." Percy said when he noticed me.
" Sorry." I replied.
That's when I noticed the giant sea monster looming up out of the water behind him. I mean, it was MASSIVE. I couldn't understand how I didn't notice it before. Its teeth were twice the size of me. And its red eyes were glaring at me as if trying to figure out how tasty I would be raw or if I needed to be roasted or seasoned. I guess the others were thinking the same thing because there was more than one kid who looked petrified. And they weren't just newbies like John and me, either.
" Yes, well. This is a very old sea serpent…" the son of Poseidon said.
" And he looks like he hasn't eaten in the past three centuries." I mumbled gaining a couple of giggles.
He glared at me and I shut up and listened. Then came the practical part of the lesson…run away screaming while the sea serpent decided who to eat first. Of course, Percy wasn't on the list. His father had probably promised the creature five massive sperm whales just for this one lesson. And the stupid wolf spirit inside of me stood its ground. Sometimes I wish that I was never cursed to a wolf spirit.
" Lee! Get out of there!" Percy yelled. He was running too. Towards me and the sea serpent that was now looming above me.
Before I knew it, I had a crowbar in my hand. And the entire camp was now present and trying to work out how to save camp from the rabid sea monster. I don't know what happened but my mind instantly went back in time to when I was a little kid holding a crowbar at an already torn pillow. I whacked the pillow three times like it was a piñata before an extremely loud, wounded bellow rang in my ears and brought me back to reality. I blinked a couple of times as I watched the sea serpent disappear back into the depths of its watery home, whimpering like a little kid who had just tripped and grazed its knee.
" Okay…either that was one big baby of a sea serpent or I've lost it." I grumbled.
" You just beat a sea serpent with a crowbar." Percy said, as if proving to himself the stunt I had just pulled was real. "And I used a sword to wound mine."
" See. Crowbars do come in handy."
That's when I dropped to my knees in shock. My crowbar had returned to its cuff bracelet form and I added 'getting attacked by monsters' to my official mental list of what my curse means to me. I guess…no, I know…I will be very, very happy when I am no longer cursed. I never stopped to think that Kleitos would forever get me acknowledged as the kid who fended off a sea serpent with only a magical bronze crowbar.
After a few minutes I decided that I needed to get off the beach. Somehow I managed to stand without any help and walk back up to the amphitheatre where the Athena cabin was to meet up with the Apollo and Hecate cabins for singing lessons. For some reason I was dreading that more than the sea serpent. I guess my wolf spirit was remembering what had happened there the night before. I couldn't blame it. John's brothers and sisters were probably still annoyed at me for ruining their campfire.
We sang and played music…or at least tried to, anyway. Don't get me wrong, there were some good voices and music playing in the class. I just wasn't one of them. I was never good in choir and John himself refused to give me a musical instrument. But I improvised. I turned out to be a good seat drummer and I actually managed to start a tune for once in my life. I have now found a new love for percussion instruments. You don't do much except hit.
After that came free time. There was a choice between arts and craft, canoe racing and the climbing wall of death. Annabeth decided to take us to the climbing wall where the Hermes cabin was waiting to beat us up to the top along with Glade and a few of his satyr friends. That was all fine and good because while the rules were being revised and the stakes claimed, I was staring up at the wall and analysing every inch of it…right down to the lava and the safest stones.
" Hey Lee!" Connor called as he and his brother walked up to me with that mischievous smile on their faces.
" What?" I asked.
" Can we have our camera back?" his brother, Travis, replied.
" Sorry, gave it to Annabeth."
" Oh, man! Why'd you do that for? Now we'll never get it back."
" She's probably destroyed it by now." Connor sighed.
From behind them, I noticed Annabeth smirk. "Seriously? The only thing you would have seen was the inside of my mouth. And just so you know, I won't be easily fooled by a fake spider like that."
" You knew it was us and yet you don't even know us?"
" You're Travis and Connor Stoll, sons of Hermes, God of mischief. Plus I thought Annabeth was going to kill me when she screamed out your names. I don't know who's who, though."
" Well, in payback for the camera and the spider, first one to the top and back without getting hurt wins." Travis said.
" You're on."
With that, we started the climb. Travis and Conner were pretty fast, but so was I. I quickly learned why it was nicknamed the climbing wall of death when a volley of rocks decided that then was a great time to fall. And me with my wacked out mind instantly thought of a song so I began climbing the wall while singing my own version of 'itsy bitsy spider'. It went something like this:
'Itsy Bitsy Demigod
Climbed up the lava wall.
Down came the rocks,
To somehow make you fall.
But dodge the rocks and lava,
As they hurry past.
And the itsy bitsy demigod
Will reach the top at last.'
Please don't ask where it came from. I have no idea.
Regardless, Travis and Connor won leaving me with quite a few nasty bruises and one or two minor burns on my arms. Guess who went for their second visit to the infirmary that day. That's right, me. One of these days I will learn to heal myself. Though it will probably never happen. I might be able to learn wound dressing techniques, though.
Anyway…after that painful experience, the horn for dinner was sounded. This confused the entire camp because there was still half an hour before the sun was due to set, which meant it was half an hour before dinner was supposed to start. It also got some of the other campers annoyed at not having been able to complete whatever they had been doing. I found out it was so that I could get a decent meal into my stomach before the game tonight without having to leave early.
That night I had five sausages, one jacket potato, one big scoop of peas and corn, hot chips, bacon rinds, three big red chillies...basically a super large, super spicy country breakfast with extra meat and some vegies to go with it. Regardless of what time of day it was, I usually got stuck into the meat. I blamed my curse. My dad thought otherwise.
I sacrificed two of my sausages and my potato to Athena and caught a whiff of baked mushrooms and spicy beef noodles as I returned to my proper table with the Athena cabin. And this time I didn't feel awkward about it. What I felt awkward about was having the silver owl actually land on my shoulder and look down at my plate.
" That's a lot of meat, even for a guy." One of my brothers, Malcolm, said, following the bird's gaze.
" I'll pack it down." I replied, matter-of-factly.
Sure enough, I did. Within ten minutes every scrap of meat was gone. Two nights of full meals was really starting to get on my stomach's good books. My mind drifted to a time before I woke up at Camp Half-Blood when John and I would practically have to either beg for or steal small amounts of food that we could easily sneak away, and we weren't the best thieves, and to a time where my dad and I would have to hunt at night just to get some meat into us.
By the time I realised that everyone had grown quiet, I had finished eating my chillies and was about to go onto my peas and corn. Annabeth was trying to get me to stop and look up, but it was Malcolm who ended up elbowing me in the ribs. Standing up at the big table was a girl with red hair. And what was even freakier was that she was looking right at me with glowing green eyes like she was about to accuse me of something that I hadn't done.
I was scared. For her sanity and mine. And her voice practically turned my spine into a long pillar of ice:
" Four will travel on this quest of wills,
The white wolf's blood shall boil and spill.
To love or hate is ones demand,
And bow down to that which is unplanned.
A musician shall appear and guide them through the falls,
And tame the beast through the mother's calls.
But there shall be no hope for the ray of the sun,
When the final battle of the cursed is won."
Then she collapsed. And the only thing I could think about was the white wolf. My thoughts were instantly on my father.
