Chapter 7 - Never Give baby Zeus His Master Bolt
~Jason Grace's POV~
The camp was in chaos. Again. But this time, it wasn't some ancient baddie. It was the Olympians themselves. And I mean, baby Olympians. How did that happened? Well, according to the note we received, the Olympians decided to play a little friendly game (come to think of it, it may have been my father's idea). The winner turned out to be my friend, Christine Galliardo a.k.a Ariacalyssa. Because of that, the losers (which was the rest of the Olympian Council) has to face a punishment which was to become real immortal babies for a week. I don't know why Christine chose that. Maybe to take a video and upload it to YouTube to embarrass them. Or maybe, she really do need a break from the everyday squabbling of the elder Olympians. Whatever the reason, I think she shouldn't dump on us the responsibility of changing their diapers or trying to keep them away from highly dangerous weapons.
We gathered in the dining pavilion. Bringing the baby Olympians in the Big House was definitely out of question unless we want it demolished. Again. At least here, the only problem will be them trying to crawl away or blast down the tables (or any poor being on sight). We all sat on one table only, making sure to keep away Olympians with rivalries. We decided to place all the gods at the right side while the goddesses stayed at the left. Chiron stood in full centaur form at the head of the table.
I looked around, quietly counting to make sure all Olympians were already gathered. Starting from the right of Chiron, Percy with baby Poseidon who was drooling over a stuffed pegasus.
Next to them was baby Hephaestus. Calypso was holding the godly baby while Leo worked on a new toy for baby Hephaestus.
Pollux sat next to them, trying to keep a can of Diet Coke away from his dad.
Frank dodged his head as baby Ares swung his plastic sword and tried to crawl toward baby Aphrodite at the other side of the table. Clarisse stood by, making sure that her dad won't blast anyone to ashes.
Hazel and Nico looked after their dad who was nervously glancing at baby Demeter and conjuring finger bones from the ground.
Will sat with baby Apollo on his lap. He has thought of a good way to keep his dad behaved by giving him a mini lyre. Sure enough, baby Apollo was busy experimenting with the strings to care for the other Olympians.
Travis and Connor tried to get ahold of their dad who was trying to crawl away and steal wallets from the campers beside them.
I sat with my dad (in Greek form). He was holding a metallic rod, the Master Bolt. He was munching and drooling all over it while staring at baby Hera. I'm worried he might accidentally activate it and get fried with me. I'm tempted to take it away but I doubt he would be please to know I took hold on his weapon when he comes back to normal.
Across me, Argus carried baby Hera. The baby queen of the gods was staring at Argus' eyes and laughing heartily as she poke them one by one.
Beside them, my older sister Thalia sat with a couple of her fellow Hunters. Sitting on her lap was baby Artemis who was playing with a plastic bow and arrows.
Next to them, Miranda sat with her co-head counselor, Katie. Today, the Demeter cabin was supposed to change head counselors but with the unexpected turn of events, Katie decided it's best to say put.
Beside them, Piper sat with her mother, Aphrodite. She sighed for the third time as she restrained baby Aphrodite from crawling to baby Ares. A dove fluttered down on her head and cooed.
Next to her, Annabeth sat with the ever serious Athena. The baby goddess of wisdom was browsing through an architecture book from her own honorary cabin.
Lastly, Rachel stood beside Chiron, supporting baby Hestia who riding on Chiron's back.
Will swerved to his side as a plastic arrow aimed at the Apollo. "Chiron, what now?"
The centaur shuffled carefully, taking in the troublesome scene. "We should follow as we were instructed to. Look after the Olympians while they are still in this state. It won't take that long."
"Uh...Chiron?" Percy said. "I think one week of caring for our uh...parents who turned to babies is long."
"Percy's right." Annabeth agreed. "Plus, most of us has to attend school. We can't skip nor bring them with us."
Baby Athena looked up and began babbling her agreement.
"I understand your concerns." Chiron said. "But we must look after them within the duration of their punishment."
"Tch." Clarisse growled. "I will give Christine a piece of my mind once she returned back to Olympus."
"KILL! KILL!" Baby Ares roared and swung his plastic sword, poking Frank on the nose. Frank cursed as he rubbed his nose.
"Dad!" Travis and Connor shouted suddenly.
Apparently, Hermes managed to crawl out of his babysitters' grip and grabbed baby Apollo's lyre. Apollo looked surprised and began crying. He reached out his hands, trying to get his lyre back.
Artemis glared at Hermes and aimed an arrow at him, knocking the lyre out of his hand.
"Lady Artemis!" Thalia scolded.
The lyre flew and dropped on Leo's work in progress, destroying it.
Baby Hephaestus wailed and bursted into flames.
"Oh dear! Please calm down!" Calypso fretted.
A flame shot out and touched baby Aphrodite's clothes. Piper almost fell off her seat. She pulled out her handkerchief and put out the fire. Aphrodite began bawling about her ruined dress.
Baby Ares became angry and tried to reach baby Hephaestus.
"Dad! Calm down!" Frank said.
He swung his sword and accidentally poked baby Dionysus on the eye. Dionysus screamed and grapevines bursted out of the ground, surprising baby Hestia and knocking her off. Good thing, Rachel caught her on time. Hestia began to cry.
Baby Poseidon got angry about baby Dionysus making baby Hestia cry. The can of Coke exploded, dousing baby Athena and the book in the sweet drink.
Percy's eyes widened. "Uh oh."
Athena became angry and owls appeared from out of nowhere and flocked us.
Baby Hades was surprised by the owls and summoned a mound of bones and precious gems that rained down on us like a fountain. A diamond hit on baby Demeter's head and the baby goddess cried. Thick plants bursted out of the ground and covered the whole pavilion.
We scrambled to stand up and get away, shielding our heads from the owls, the gems, and the bones.
Baby Hera began to cry, not liking the noise. Baby Zeus glared at the others for making Hera cry. The Master Bolt transformed into its real form on his hand. Lightnings arched from the bolt and shot out. It struck the columns of the pavilion. We looked at each other with a look that says, Uh oh, before scrambling out of the pavilion to save our lives.
Behind us, the pavilion crumbled into a pile of rubble. Chiron looked out, horrified at the ruins of the pavilion. Most of the Olympian babies were still crying. A single thought crossed all our minds. We will get you Ariacalyssa for this!
