THE CHAOS EXPERIMENT PART 2: CAMP
Alrighty, this is where I switch to first person and the plot takes that twist you weren't expecting. REVIEW!
NO NAME (Teagan/Soleil/Ink)
When I woke up, I imagined it to be more dramatic. You know, like in those movies where you wake up and don't know who or where you are and why there's weird people everywhere? Well, I knew where I was- well, I knew I fell from what feels like outer space and landed on grass, so I assumed I was still in the area. I didn't know who I was- scratch that, I knew exactly who I was; I just didn't know my name. And lastly, I really was kind of wondering why there were weird people around me.
They were wearing armor- nothing out of the norm- over orange t shirts and jeans/cargo pants/furry backsides/anything else. I couldn't see much because there was only a small crack in the curtains that surrounded my bed. My bed… it was really nice and soft, I thought, as I relaxed into the mattress. And cozy.
Then my mind started a recap. I remembered the rainy day I had been told I was part primordial god and had gotten jewelry from my mom, who apparently died at childbirth. I remembered my friends- Phoenix and Maddox- taking me to Base, where I battled my commander, Atlantis, and beat him in an unfair fight. Then I got a panther who had a horribly long name but preferred to be called Tony, and training started. Training sucked- my commander hated me and I only saw Phoenix and Maddox once a week. The only good thing about it was… uh… I'll get back to you on that.
Now about a name… my mind trailed off, running through a list of names I had always wanted- pretty awesome names, might I add. They were names like Zebulon, Milan, Arcade, Eyrie- cool names. But, I figured, I'd have to have a somewhat normal name. I frowned, trying to think of a normal, but still cool name. It wasn't as easy as you might think! I had just settled on a name, when my thoughts were interrupted and I lost it.
"Ah, I see you're awake." I lifted my head to look at the person who was speaking. It was a guy, probably in his mid-fifties, with brown hair and a small scraggly beard. As I looked at him, I noticed something was off. The guy was huge! I mean, really tall. I looked down, and my eyebrows seemed to raise themselves as I saw that instead of legs, he had a horse body.
"You're a horse," was all I could say. The man laughed- a good natured and hearty laugh.
"A centaur, my boy. A centaur. I am-"
"Chiron, yeah, I remember." Chiron frowned.
"You remember?"
"Yeah, I was at this…" I paused, wondering if I could trust Chiron. I decided to play it safe. "This place, uh, school, and we were talking about myths and learning about them. Yeah." I could tell that Chiron didn't believe me, but he didn't say anything.
"Well then, could you tell me your name?"
Oh shit. I drew a complete blank, and I felt my face flush. My eyes darted around, looking for something. They fell on a rose.
"Ro- Thorn. My name's Thorn." Thorn as a last name? Thorn as a first name? Oh damn, I needed two names. I quickly thought of my favorite holiday- Halloween, but figured that that would be an odd surname. So, my second favorite holiday. "Thorn Valentine." My eyes shot up to Chiron's still disbelieving face. I guess he noticed that I noticed he didn't believe me, and smiled again.
"Okay, Thorn. Have you been claimed yet?"
"Claimed, sir?"
He sighed.
"I thought not. Well, off to the Hermes cabin with you." He looked behind him and was about to call out to someone, but I stopped him.
"Wait! Erebos."
Chiron's head swiveled back and he looked me in the eye, every trace of happiness wiped from his face.
"Erebos? You are a son of Erebos?"
Uh… telling him about being part Erebos would be just plain weird and raise many eyebrows, I just nodded meekly.
"Are you sure, Thorn? Absolutely sure?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but found myself unable to speak. So, I just nodded, not breaking eye contact. He looked down.
"Very well. Forgive me for acting weirdly, it is just, we have two prophecies looming over our heads and are suspicious of anyone having to do with primordials. I am sorry." Ookay, so I definitely won't tell them about the Primordial Army. "I will inform the Athena cabin to build a cabin for you. It should be ready by this evening. Until then, I will have someone guide you around camp and fill you in on some things concerning the gods."
Chiron turned around and walked away, but not before opening the curtains around my bed. I looked around, and my eyes widened. There, on the bed next to me, lay Atlantis, or, Percy, as I had heard Chaos call him. My eyes swept the room- no one looking. Good. I got up and stumbled over to At- Percy's bedside, not sure what to expect.
"Um… Atlantis?" the shake of his head was so miniscule, had I not been able to see shadows more clearly than the average person, I would have missed it. "So, Percy then. Alright. Look… what exactly happened?"
Percy sighed.
"Look, I can't explain now, uh…"
"Thorn," I filled in for him.
"Right, Thorn. I can't explain. I'll come to your cabin tonight. We can talk then. And… don't let anyone find out about our… profession, okay? I'll explain later."
"Ah, I see you two know each other," I heard Chiron say behind me. I spun around, my left hand going instinctively to where my sword was supposed to hang, but I found it not to be there. Hurriedly, I scratched my side, as not to raise suspicions. Chiron didn't seem to have noticed, for his eyes were on Percy.
"Uh, yeah, we, uh, were in the, uh, same place," I muttered. Chiron nodded and turned to me.
"Interesting…. Okay, Thorn, this is Kenneth Blake. Kenneth, this is Thorn Valentine. Please show him around camp."
I looked at Kenneth, and that look turned into a straight-out stare. The déjà-vu fell upon me as I looked over the shaggy blond hair, the serious face, the high cheekbones, the firm jawline, the tanned skin… only the eyes were not the ones I remembered. Kenneth's eyes were bright green, whereas I had thought of them as... well, faded gold.
"Um, dude, I don't have anything against you, but I don't swing that way," Kenneth joked nervously, a faint pink blush creeping over his cheeks. I gave myself a shake and laughed a little bit.
"No, sorry, well, I also don't, it's just you remind me of some-" my eyes strayed to Percy, who was shaking his head violently. Ookay, apparently I am not reminded of someone. "Never mind. Sorry. Let's go."
.
.
.
The day had passed uneventfully. Kenneth, who insisted everyone called him Kenny, had shown me around the camp- impressive, but nothing like the Base. At dinner, Chiron announced that the camp had two new campers- probably me and Percy, but he didn't mention our names. Kenny had gone to sit with his siblings, a boy named Basil and a girl named Janette, at the Hades table, and I went to sit at the main table, seeing as I was claimed but didn't have a table or a cabin yet. The Athena cabin said they'd be done with both by ten in the evening.
Percy was sitting at the Poseidon table with three siblings- two boys, twins, by the names of Owen and Simon, who appeared to be antisocial. Percy's other sibling, a girl named Marina (her mom was soo creative naming a daughter of Poseidon Marina), was probably the most annoying person I had met, and I hadn't even met her yet! Apparently, she was the most popular girl at camp.
But enough of her. I wasn't hungry, oddly enough. I just sat quietly throughout the meal, listening to Mr. D complain about something and Chiron talking to some satyrs. I wondered if I could leave early.
At about nine thirty, an Athena camper named Cruz came in to the Big House to tell us my cabin was finished.
Finally, I thought as I got up to follow Cruz and Chiron. I couldn't wait to get away from those crazy people.
The cabin was small and made completely out of black stone. I was expecting Cruz or Chiron to open the door for me, but instead, we just stood there. Why? There was no door. Uhh… okay. Cruz and Chiron looked at me expectantly, but I just shrugged. Honestly, I had no clue what on earth to do.
"Um… Thorn? You can go in, you know?" Cruz said.
"There's no door," I stated. Cruz laughed out loud, and even Chiron chuckled a bit.
"Of course not. This isn't stone, Thorn, this is shadow. Only you can enter it, and no one else can go in unless you give them specific permission," Cruz explained, and I felt kind of stupid.
Taking a deep breath, I walked right into the stone.
And found out Cruz hadn't been lying. I passed through the stone, or shadow, as easily as, well, I would pass through normal air.
The room was illuminated by jars upon jars of fireflies (odd, but okay, I'll go with it) of every color, and they were everywhere. Some even floated in midair, and when I walked towards them, they simply swung out of the way, clearing a path for me. Awesome! In the one corner, there was a twin sized bed with black sheets and covers and so (damn, it was like they thought I was depressed). In the opposite corner was a tree, pomegranate by the look of it, and next to it was a trapdoor with a little sign above it that read 'welcome to Erebos'. I figured it led down to the Underworld.
I turned around and walked right out the wall again, to find Cruz and Chiron looking at me. I smiled and thanked Cruz, telling him it was awesome, but I needed some time to rest now. They nodded and left, and I was there alone, waiting for Percy.
"Thorn?"
I turned to face said man.
"Come in. I give you, Percy…"
"Jackson."
"I give you, Percy Jackson, permission to enter through the shadows," I muttered more to the cabin than to Percy, and stepped back in, Percy following me.
"Alright, Percy, what the hell is going on?" I asked angrily. Percy sighed.
"Well, Thorn… for the last ten years, the gods have been at war with the Protogenoi."
O.o REVIEW PLEASE!
Oh yeah, a link to a pic of Teagan/Soleil/Ink/Thorn (don't worry, there's only one more name change left, and that's at the end of the story) on my profile!
