Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief

A/N Hello everybody. I hope you are having/had a wonderful Easter with lots of chocolate. I just want everyone to know that the personal reason for not updating yesterday isn't serious it was just some time management problems. I have also decided that I will not update on Sunday's because those days will give me time for a breather and for working on more chapters. For now though, I hope you enjoy this chapter Review what you think. Be creative and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO Rick Riordan does. *whispers* help me. Artemis is crazy.

Chapter 10:

Once Chiron stopped telling me how much he 'simply adored chocolate,' he gave me a nice tour of camp. We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."

Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them were trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their shaggy hindquarters. I'm not usually shy, but the way they were all staring at me was as if they expected me to do some sort of complicated flip.

I looked back at the "Big House" and, for the first time, saw why it really was called the Big House. It was four stories tall, sky blue with white trim. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on the roof when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something moved the curtain back, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.

"What's up there?" I asked him.

He looked where I was pointing and his smile faded. "Just the attic."

"Does somebody live there?"

"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."

I knew I saw something move the curtain but I wasn't very curious to find out.

"Come along now Percy," Chiron said, his enthusiasm sounding a little forced. "Lots to see."

During our walk across the lawn, I asked. "Are you really the Chiron? Trainer of the greatest heroes to ever have lived?"

He gave me a warm smile and said. "I am indeed, the very same. But we will talk more on that later, for now let us tour camp." I was seriously geeking out. This guy had trained heroes like Heracles and Jason of the Argonauts, but I didn't let it show and listened to what Chiron said about camp.

We walked through the strawberry field where campers were picking bushels of strawberries and a satyr played a tune on his reed pipes.

Chiron told me that the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus, "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."

He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy whenever he was around. It worked best in grapes, but he was restricted from growing those.

I watched the satyr play his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with his music. I wondered if he was still inside the Big House, getting chewed out by Mr. D.

"Grover won't get into too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "Honestly, he was a great protector."

Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a demigod and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."

"But that's exactly what he did!" I argued.

"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. There was the time when he was unable to protect you from the Kindly One. Then having been unconscious when you were facing the Minotaur and being dragged into camp borders. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."

I wanted to protest. None of it was Grover's fault, but there really wasn't anything I could do by saying it to Chiron.

"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"

Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was his second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again, he's still so small for his age and he is quite the late bloomer, even for satyr standards, and not very accomplished in woodland magic. Alas he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…"

"That's not fair!" I interrupted. "What happened last time? Was it really so bad?"

He looked away quickly, "Let's move along shall we?"

But I wasn't quite ready to drop the subject. "Sir, what happened last time?" I insisted.

Chiron sighed. "You will learn the story soon enough, my boy," He dismissed the subject. "Now come, let us see the woods."

As we got closer I realized how huge the forest actually was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine that nobody had been there since the Native Americans.

Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you want to try your luck, but go armed."

"Stocked with monsters?" I asked.

"Yes, and it gives the Friday night Capture the Flag game a bit more of a challenge." He said, "Do you have your own gear?"

"Just my sword," I told him. I rather not tell him about my bow because that would bring up an unwanted conversation.

He nodded and his eyes did a quick scan of me, "Perhaps a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."

We continued on our tour and visited the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater and the arena where they held sword and spear fights.

"Sword and spear fights?" I asked a little excited at the idea of challenging other demigods.

"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually." Well isn't that reassuring. "Oh yes, and there's the mess hall."

Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were dozens of stone benches, but no roof or walls.

"What happens when it rains?" I asked.

Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "Well we still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.

Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled together by the woods near the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without a doubt the strangest, most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.

Except for the fact that they each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.

They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.

In the center of the field was what really caught my attention. It was a place I would go to in the Hunters camp when I was feeling down and needed comfort. Only this one was a lot bigger. It was stone-lined, blazing Hearth.

I smiled and made my way towards it, passing all the different statues and flowers. Chiron was trailing behind me. A camper then came up to him and started speaking with him when I reached the Hearth. I stood there for a few seconds just feeling the familiar warmth, when I finally noticed a girl about the age of nine tending to it.

I just stared at her for a few seconds, not really sure what to say. Fortunately, I didn't have to because she turned to me with a mischievous smile and familiar warm fiery eyes. "Are you going to stand there gawking all day, or are you going to give your mother a hug?" She said opening her arms inviting me into a hug.

"Mum?" I asked shocked.

She just rolled her eyes and spread her arms wider. I smiled sheepishly at her. Definitely my mum, I thought. I hugged her and instantly felt all my worries disappear.

"How are you feeling my son?" She asked after she pulled away from the hug.

"I'm feeling a lot better now." I told her. We sat down in front of the fire in silence for a few seconds.

"What do you think of camp so far?" She asked me. That's what I loved about my mum so much. She never talked about anything sad or negative, she just looked for ways to keep me happy.

I looked around the cabins area with a smile. "I like it. It's different to the Hunters camp."

"Yes, it is," she said.

"What was it you were trying to tell me in my dream?" I asked.

Her expression went a little grim so I knew this was serious. "Percy, you must not tell anyone of what you know of your parentage." She said.

"What? Why not?"

"It would only put you in danger. In time, I will claim you as my son, but not yet. Zeus already suspects you of being Poseidon's son and he is not at all happy," that explained why Grover and I were struck by lightning a few days ago. She then muttered under her breath, "especially under the circumstances." I didn't know what she meant by the last part, but I left it alone because I always knew I could trust my mum.

I sighed. "Alright then."

"Do not be discouraged by this." She told me, she then got that playful look in her eyes and a mischievous smile. "It would be quite entertaining to watch the other campers try and figure out who your godly parent is."

I chuckled at that. Sometimes I thought that my mum could actually be a child of Hermes if it weren't for her godly powers.

She looked over to where Chiron and the other camper were talking like I wasn't just there a few minutes ago. I guess mum must have sent the camper to distract Chiron so we could talk.

"You should go now," she said. "There is lots more for you to do here and I have already taken quite a bit of your time." I just nodded my head. She then lifted her arms, palms up, and a sheath materialized. "For your sword," she told me. "I think it would be quite annoying to carry that everywhere."

I smiled at my mum and took the sheath. I sheathed my sword and stood up, my mum did the same. She then attached it to my waist and gave me a hug, I hugged her back. I was a little upset that I couldn't talk for a little while longer, but I could just come by here any other time I wanted.

We pulled away from the hug and she gave me a warm smile and said, "Take care my son, and do well."

I smiled back and simply said, "I will."

I then walked back over to where Chiron was still talking with the camper. When I reached them, the camper thanked Chiron and ran off towards cabin ten. It looked like something one of the newer Hunters used to play with. I think it was called Barnabie, or something. Basically, it was completely pink with hints of purple and red.

Chiron turned to me like I was here the whole time and asked, "Shall we get on with the tour?"

I just nodded my head.

"Very good," he then turned and headed towards the two cabins at the end. I took one last look back to my mum to see her tending to the Hearth again. I ran to catch up with Chiron.

The two cabins we were headed to, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve, its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.

Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

I now knew what the cabins meant. They were to represent each Olympian god.

"Zeus and Hera?" I asked.

"Correct," Chiron said.

"Why do they look empty?"

"They do not have any children so their cabins are empty, as are some of the other cabins." That makes sense, their children staying in their cabins.

We then came across cabin three and I stopped. It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, it was low and long and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been strewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. They probably were. I knew who's cabin this was, it was my dad's, Poseidon. I was still a little bit bitter at him for not being there for my mum and I and I blamed him for my mum being killed.

I continued with the tour.

Number five was bright red - a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boars head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Phoebe, from the Hunters. Except this girl looked much bigger and tougher looking and her hair was brown instead of red.

We continued walking and then Chiron said, "Oh look, Annabeth is waiting for us."

Said girl was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, cabin eleven.

When we reached her she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.

I looked at what she was reading and saw that she was reading the same book Chiron was reading on the Yancy field trip. Peter Johnson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, is what it read. This Peter Johnson must be a pretty popular guy, I thought.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing towards the doorway. "Make yourself at home."

Out of all the cabins, eleven looked like the most normal out of them all. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint was peeling. Over the doorway was a symbol I had seen before. A caduceus, which meant that this was the cabin for Hermes.

Inside it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all across the floor.

Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood up and bowed respectfully.

"Well then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." He then galloped away toward the archery range.

I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up.

"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."

I walked in and decided to introduce myself. "Umm, hi. I'm Percy Jackson."

Somebody called out, "You regular or undetermined?"

I was about to answer, but Annabeth replied for me, "Undetermined."

Everybody groaned.

A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.

"Now, now campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome Percy. You can have that spot right over there."

The guy was about nineteen, and he looked sort of familiar. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy blonde hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye and down to his jaw, like a slash from an old rusty knife.

"This is, Luke." I remembered that name. He was the boy that traveled with Annabeth. The way Annabeth said his name sounded strange. I glanced over to her and saw that her cheeks were red. She saw me looking and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor, for now."

"For now?" I asked.

"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes is our patron, the god of travelers."

I just nodded understandingly and looked towards the tiny section of the floor they'd given me. I didn't have anything to put it there to mark as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn and my sword. I thought about setting it down, but I remembered that Hermes was the god of thieves.

I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.

"You said that Hermes is your patron not your dad, does that mean some of them here aren't Hermes kids?" I asked. Luke's expression darkened for a second as did some of the other campers.

"You catch on quick," he told me. "But yeah, not all of us are Hermes kids. Some of us are still undetermined or our parents aren't Olympians."

That made me really upset. Some of these kids could have been here for years without knowing who their godly parent is and others stuck here simply because their parent wasn't an Olympian.

"How long does it usually take to get claimed?" I asked.

The campers laughed. It wasn't a jovial laugh though, it was a bitter laugh that proved my thoughts.

Annabeth must have also noticed the change in mood because she said, "Come on, I'll show you the volleyball court."

I was about to protest that I had already seen it but she grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could still hear the other kids laughing. When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"What?"

She just rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath. "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"What's your problem?" I asked a bit annoyed. "I kill the Minotaur and you expect me to be some kind of god or something."

"Don't talk like that!" She snapped. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"A chance to get themselves killed?"

"No! To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

"Because fighting the Minotaur is such a great feat." I said sarcastically. "I didn't fight the Minotaur because it would get me glory and fame. I fought it because my best friend was in danger. Trust me, fighting super powerful monsters isn't a great thing."

When I finished my little rant, she had this look in her eyes that I wasn't sure what to make of. It looked like she was remembering something.

She then asked, "Do you have a sister?"

I was taken aback by her question, but I answered anyway. Before I did I hesitated, I'm not sure why, maybe it was because I thought of the Hunters as my sisters. "No. Why?"

She looked at me like I was a puzzle piece she couldn't figure out then answered, "Never mind doesn't matter." I figured maybe because she caught sight of me at the Hunters camp all those years ago she must have thought there must have been a girl that probably looked like me.

I decided to change the topic. "Why are there so many campers in cabin eleven?"

"Like Luke said, they're undetermined which means that they stay in there or their parents are minor gods and they don't have cabins here." She explained to me. But that just made me confused.

"Why not just make cabins for the minor gods then? Wouldn't that make everything just easier?" I questioned her.

She kept opening and closing her mouth like she wasn't sure what she had to say about that. Before I could get an answer, a new husky voice called, "Well done newbie! You've managed to make the know-it-all speechless!"

I looked over to the new voice and saw that it was the girl from the ugly red cabin, which I figured was Ares' cabin, sauntering towards us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.

Annabeth was red from what the girl said, "Clarisse," she said through gritted teeth. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"

"Sure, Miss Princess," the girl, Clarisse, said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."

"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which is Ancient Greek for 'Go to the crows!' But the meaning is a whole lot worse. "You don't stand a chance."

"We'll pulverize you." Clarisse said but her eye twitched, so I wasn't sure she could follow through with that threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"

"Percy Jackson," I replied. "Who's asking?"

"Clarisse la Rue, daughter of Ares." She replied.

"The god of pigs?" I questioned. She really didn't like that. "It would explain the smell."

She was so red she looked like a strawberry. She didn't attack though. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

I just rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's nice."

She growled again. "Come on, I'll show you."

"Clarisse-" Annabeth tried to say.

"Stay out of it, wise girl."

Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it. I knew what was coming so I was glad that she did. I handed her my Minotaur horn and my sword still in its sheath and got myself ready for a fight.

Clarisse's hand shot out towards my neck, fortunately, I managed to see it coming and avoided it. I quickly grabbed her hand and twisted it, making her palm face her, and put her in a pressure hold causing her to bend her knees. She grunted in pain and before she could do anything I punched her straight in the face, knocking her to the ground. I got into a defensive stance again. The others were too stunned to do anything.

Clarisse screamed, "Get him!" The other Ares girls quickly recovered and charged me.

The first to reach me threw a punch at me, I grabbed her by the arm turned around and judo flipped her over me. That was a big mistake. As soon as I had my back to the other two, they grabbed me by the arms. I tried to break free but they had an iron grip.

They dragged me towards a building made of cinder-block, which I instantly recognized as the bathrooms, with Clarisse trailing behind. "Nobody makes fools out of us!" She growled at me.

They dragged me into the girls' bathrooms. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any other public bathroom, and I was thinking that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.

The girls were all growling at me.

"Like he's 'Big Three' material." Clarisse said as they dragged me towards one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."

The others snickered.

Annabeth was in the corner, watching through her fingers, my things tucked under her arms.

The girls pushed me down onto my knees, still holding my arms, and Clarisse started pushing my head down toward the toilet bowl.

I had enough. I was not about to have my head shoved into that nastiness. So with a quick sorry to my mum, I felt the familiar tug in my gut of my powers being used. The plumbing started to rumble and the pipes shuddered. The girls' grips on me loosened. Water shot out of the toilet making an arc over me and then it blasted the girls off of me. I was sprawled on the floor with Clarisse and her sisters screaming.

I turned and willed more water to blast Clarisse, hitting her straight in the face making her fall onto her butt.

The water continued spraying her like a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.

She struggled, gasping and sputtering and her sisters started coming to her.

The other toilets then exploded too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. Then I made the showers explode too and together they all started spraying the daughters of Ares right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away. As soon as they were out the door, the tug in my gut lessened and I let the water shut off.

I looked around at what I did. The bathroom was flooded and Annabeth had not been spared. She was drenched from head to toe, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. I felt kind of bad for getting her wet but tried not to show it. She was standing in exactly the same spot, staring at me in shock.

I looked down to see that I was in the only spot that wasn't wet and I was completely untouched. Not a single drop on me. Whoops.

I got up trying my best to look confused.

Annabeth just stared at me and she finally asked, "How did you?"

"I don't know." I really hoped my act was working.

We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled out in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. I had to use all my willpower not to smirk.

She gave me a look of complete loathing and hate. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead!"

I couldn't hold back a retort. "You want to gargle more toilet water? Close your mouth!"

Her sisters had to hold her back. They dragged her down to cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.

Annabeth was staring at me. I wasn't sure if she was grossed out or angry at me for dousing her in toilet water.

"What?" I asked, feeling a little unnerved by her stare. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," she said, "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."

A/N There it is everyone. I honestly had a bit of trouble writing some of this chapter, but it's here. I hope you enjoyed it and leave a Review to tell me what you think, and if you really liked it, Follow and Favorite.

Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.