9.
I meet the damsel in distress
and we get a new archery teacher.
I wasn't really sure what to make of that sudden development and immediately shrugged it off.
There was no way that I was the one who had to stop this Circe woman and her minions – if that was really the case then I'm sure I'll be doomed from the start. Why did it have to be me? Why not anyone else? That was the two major questions that I kept asking myself and they were still swirling around my head as I scooped some of my buttered toast into the pavilion fire.
I had hoped that Hecate would've at least given me some kind of sign as to why but alas it never came.
I sat myself down at the Hecate table and ate my breakfast as usual. Gale had become usually silent since my dream, almost as if she knew something about it that she couldn't tell me.
It was around nine am when Hazel eventually found me just as I was heading to sword and shield lessons with some of my cabinmates. She was dressed in her usual purple Camp Jupiter shirt and jeans. Her cavalry sword was sheathed in its usual spot.
"Hey," I said, bowing my head slightly. "Look – I'm sorry about running off during the game. I didn't intend to purposely make us lose –"
Hazel stared at me as if I had grown a second head. "I don't care about the game."
"But you said –"
"I know what I said," she said with a smile. "But that was before I knew that a girl was going to be in danger. Had I known that I probably wouldn't have said it. You'll win next time, though, that I'm sure of."
I knitted my brows together. "So you're not mad?"
"Of course I'm not mad, I have no right to be," Hazel shrugged. "I mean I would've been mad if you hadn't gone to save the girl and just continued the game."
"Maybe next time there won't be any damsels in distress," I laughed. We were heading over to the combat arena near the southern woods. I had been hoping that this time I might actually win a sparring session against someone. My hand wrapped itself around the hilt of Augury, the blade needed to see some kind of victory eventually.
"You'll have to let me know," the Roman demigod said as we stopped in front of the arena. "Today's my last day til' I head back to Camp Jupiter."
"You travelled all the way from your camp just to spend a few days here?"
"I was lucky that I even got a few days. I'm a Centurion of the Fifth Cohort so I'm needed more there than here," she explained. "I come to see Nico occasionally but that's about it really. I'm sure I'll meet you again in the future though – I don't forget about my friends very easily you know."
My eyes widened. "Wait. You consider me as your friend?"
Hazel frowned. "Yes, of course I do – why wouldn't I?"
"Well because...because you haven't known me that long – I would've thought that you saw me as more of an acquaintance than a friend," I shook my head. "-Not that I don't mind being friends, I'll be your friend for sure. It's just that I don't have many of them so you kind of took me by surprise and that..."
The Roman demigod quirked up an eyebrow. "Well you're definitely my friend so you might as well get used to it I guess."
I found myself smiling.
*~PJ~*
Luckily this time my sparring partner was not a child of luck (see what I did there?) Unluckily however, I was paired up with Ellis Wakefield from the Ares Cabin. He had obtained a kopis from the armoury and was very passionate about winning. Then again, this was probably to be expected since he was the son of the war god and all. In comparison to his muscular build I was pretty minuscule, making the whole fight seem pretty unfair.
He swung the kopis forwards and I brought up Augury to parry it just in time. "You're getting better," he noted, stepping backwards into a defensive position. "Still a bit slow though."
I found myself swinging Augury towards him before even I properly knew what I was doing. The bronze blade zipped through the air with a whoosh and smashed against his chest-plate. The boy was sent stumbling backwards in a daze, almost falling over in surprise.
"Didn't see that coming did you?" I said with a smirk. "Isn't that what you taught us? To always be on our guard at every second."
The son of Ares muttered something under his breath and looked around the arena, making sure nobody had seen his little slip up. "Then let's see how well you'll do when I'm on my guard," he said with a hint of meanness in his eyes. Ellis stepped forwards again and then pointed his kopis directly at where I was standing. "A Hecate kid against a child of Ares – who do you think will be the most favourable to win?"
"I'm guessing you want me to say you?" I replied, lifting up my shield.
"You made us lose capture the flag against the hunters," he stated. "Of course I'm going to win and this will be my payback."
Ellis lurched forwards, faster than I could even contemplate. He jammed his body into my shield and I found myself toppling backwards onto the ground, groaning as some of my armour pinched painfully into my skin. Ellis let his arms drop as he shrugged.
"See what I mean," he said nonchalantly. "You're pretty useless when it comes to combat."
"We lost the game because someone was in real danger. A game isn't more important than someone's life," I spat bitterly, staring up at him.
The corner of his mouth twitched. "It is to someone like me."
I kicked out my leg, swiping at his own. He fell with a grunt beside me, a loud resounding crunch echoed out as his armour made contact with the floor. Rolling to my feet, I grasped the hilt of Augury and pointed it at him. "Then you're in the wrong," I stated. "If you're throwing tantrums over a stupid game then you clearly don't have your priorities straight dude."
The boy laughed. "Remember who you're talking to – a son of a war god. Winning is always my priority."
"That's quite enough," called a familiar voice from across the arena.
Chiron had entered and was staring straight at us with a narrowed gaze. His hooves made their continuous clip-clop sound as he walked across towards us. "It is not Clara's fault that the camp lost the game to the hunters, you should know this Ellis. There will always be a next time," and then he turned towards me. "And as for you, Regina has woken from her sleep – it would be best if you were the first one she saw."
I nodded and looked at Ellis. "I'm sorry," I said.
For a while the boy said nothing, and then his shoulders slumped in defeat under Chiron's watchful gaze. "You shouldn't be sorry – it's my fault, I shouldn't have got so worked up over a game."
After ridding myself of my armour and shield, I followed Chiron across the camp towards the Big House where Regina was being kept in the infirmary. I had to admit I was a little nervous about talking to the girl properly, after all she had only known me for less than two minutes and half of that time I had been a giant ant.
The centaur led me all the way to the door of the infirmary before halting in front of it. "Now, you mustn't try to freak her out so much," he said. "She still needs some more rest until she'll be fully healed."
"Got it," I said with a nod. "No freaking her out."
And then he opened the door and let me through.
There was nobody else in the infirmary except for the girl. She was led back on one of the end beds, one of her hands wrapped up in bandages. There was a strong smell of medical supplies and disinfectant, like what a hospital usually smelt like as I hesitantly walked down towards her. I had decided to keep my sword back at my cabin so that it wouldn't scare her as much.
At the noise of my footsteps, her head looked up towards me, a frown instantly pulling the ends of her lips downwards. "I know you..." she said in a croaky voice. "You're the girl who was one of those giant ant thingies."
"Yeah," I winced. "Sorry about scaring you like that. It was the only way I could think of to get pass them unnoticed."
I sat myself down on the opposite bed.
"How did you do that?" she asked.
I shook my head. "Let me explain that part until last. How about we start simple, like...what's your name? I'll start," I told her. "My name is Clara Gilley and I'm twelve but thirteen in like a few months time. I also happen to be a demigod, just like you."
Regina opened her mouth, then closed it – seemingly pondering on what she could respond with. She eyed me suspiciously for a while, like she had done back on Zeus' Fist before eventually speaking again. "I'm Regina Sanders," she informed me. "Just turned fourteen last week and I'm...I think I'm also a..."
"A demigod?" I supplied.
She nodded.
"Yeah," Regina continued. "My dad told me the directions to this camp...he said that it could help protect me because of who I was. He was going to come with me but –"
Her voice hitched. I tilted my head to the side and gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay – I won't push you or anything," I leaned backwards. "I just got here myself, you know. A few days ago me, my mom and my friend were attacked by these really ugly looking giants – I mean talk about a face only a mother could love –"
The girl laughed as I continued. "My friend, Ash, was going to be their main course for the night had me and my mom not stopped them in time. Then she sent me here where my other mother claimed me – the mother that's the god anyway."
Regina's nosed wrinkled. "You have two moms?"
"No – I mean yes, kind of..." I thought for a moment. "I was adopted when I was two. I've never met my bio mom though."
"I've never met mine either."
"That's the gods for you apparently," I said. "Do you know much about the Greek gods?"
"Not much other than what we learnt in class," Regina replied. "I know about Hercules, Zeus and Hera – but that's about it really. I was never much a mythology fan."
"Me neither," I rested my head on my hands. "I must warn you though – you'll see a lot of strange things when you walk out of the infirmary so try not to freak out too much. Our activities director is a half-horse, half-human – his name is Chiron and he's very nice. He'll tell you all the details about this place. There are also people who have goat legs and flying horses which you'll actually get to ride. It's so cool, you'll love it."
Regina smiled. "I'll keep that in mind," she sat up into a sitting position, her expression faltering slightly. "How will I know who my mother is?"
"She should claim you – sometimes the gods cast symbols over your head to claim you as theirs, that's what happened to me. My mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic, crossroads and the Mist," I gestured to myself. "This is how I managed to become that giant ant thing you were on about earlier."
We fell into silence for a while – Regina taking all this information in slowly. Eventually, she seemed to perk up though there was still an aura of melancholy that I reckon wouldn't go away for a while yet. "Will you show me around the camp?"
I blinked. "You don't want Chiron to?"
"I am more familiar with you. That is if it's not a problem to you at all."
"No no – definitely not," I assured her quickly. "I can take you around the camp if you want me to. I just might not be the best tour guide but I can sure give it a try - only when you're better though."
This made the girl frown. "I am better."
"Not completely. You've still got a little way to go yet until you're completely healthy again," I told her. "Those myrmekes you fought spit poison, some of it must've gotten on you. When I found you, you also looked like you had your head bashed around quite a bit – that probably gave you some nasty concussion. Tomorrow, I'll show you around, I promise."
She nodded and led back down.
Once I was sure that Regina didn't look even remotely close to freaking out over the whole 'Greek Gods Are Real Revelation', I stood up again. "Well," I said, rubbing the back of my head. "I guess I'll be going-"
"Going?" Regina sat bolt upright and the movement seemed to make her wince. "Where are you going? Can't you stay here?"
Her reaction took me by surprise that for a moment I didn't really know how to respond. "U-Umm well, I have to go to archery practice and then the dining pavilion...all the demigods here do it but I promise I'll be back later if Chiron lets me," I said eventually. "I can tell you more about the camp and everything."
Regina still looked uneasy to accept this idea, but then gave a small nod. "You're definitely certain that you can come back later?"
"Sure," I nodded. "I'm sure Chiron will understand. Get more rest for now though, can't have you hurting yourself any more now can we?"
This seemed to give the girl enough comfort that she carefully led back down again but her chocolate-brown eyes were still fixated on where I was standing. I gave a small smile and wave before heading towards the infirmary doors and outside of the Big House to where Chiron was stood waiting.
"She's okay. Just confused," I said and then hesitated.
The centaur quirked up an eyebrow. "You wish to ask me something?"
"She wants me to come back later, after all the activities to speak with her again," I blurted out before I could stop myself. "Can I do that? I promise I won't do anything stupid. It's just that she seems really really confused and for some reason, I don't know why, she prefers speaking to me than anyone else and-"
Chiron raised his hand and my babbling fell into silence.
"Relax child," he said and my shoulders slumped. "I understand and will allow you to stay with Regina for however long she wishes. Camp Half-Blood is all about making demigods feel comfortable and if that's the way she wishes to do so then so be it."
I grinned. "Thank-you."
He gave me a smile and then nodded. "I believe you have an archery lesson to get to."
"Oh right yeah," I hurried off. "I should go attend that."
Luckily the archery range wasn't too far from the Big House so the time it took to get there wasn't that long. I grabbed what I needed (a bow with a quiver of arrows) and then stood next to Levi and Kimberley from my own cabin.
"Where did you get to?" Levi asked curiously.
"Talking to that girl who arrived at camp last night," I replied.
Kimberley gasped. "Oh that girl," she said as if just recalling the events. "I heard that she got hit with some poison from the myrmekes, is she okay?"
"She's fine," I assured them. "Just weirded out by it all."
There was a beat of silence.
"Did you tell Chiron about your dream?"
I paused.
I didn't even think about telling the centaur about the dream but now that I was, I pondered on whether it would be a good idea. How did I know that the dream was even real? It could've been something my brain concocted as a side effect from being so unexpectedly thrown into this completely random world. But then again, I had never seen an empousai before or even heard of this Circe woman so how was it even the slightest bit possible that I made it up.
"I don't know," I said. "I don't want to cause any panic over something that's probably not even worth worrying about."
Kim and Levi exchanged looks.
"I would tell him," Levi said eventually. "It'll be much better if you were to get a second opinion on it, especially from someone like him."
I knew they were right, I just didn't like thinking about it. It still sent shivers down my spine the way the empousa's red eyes glared into my soul or the way that their sharp fangs looked capable of tearing through my skin with ease. If they were what I had to face, I'd rather someone else took my place instead.
"Okay," I relented. "I'll tell him during archery."
"Oh," Kimberley looked meek. "He isn't the one teaching us archery today."
"What?" I swivelled my head to face them. "Then who is?"
"That would be me," spoke a voice that I knew all too well and silently hoped that my ears were playing tricks on me as I turned around to face the source.
I cursed inwardly.
Jaci was teaching us archery and the way she was looking at me suggested that she was going to use me as the target.
