-Chapter 10-
Thanks For the Memories

It had been eight months since he had arrived at Camp Halfblood, and in those eight months, he had discovered more about himself than he had ever figured. Not only that but it had been eleven months since he had left Amity Park and those three months…Danny bit his lower lip, not even wincing as something dripped onto his jutting chin. He could never get those three months back. Tightening his handle of the bow, Danny aimed true to the target and loosed. He ran a ran through his unruly, longer hair and grit his teeth. The arrow landed outside of the target, not even on the target or through, but out on the grass away from it. "Remember to follow up." The short counselor of Apollo reminded.
He shot him a withered look. "You think I don't know that?" Over the past few months, he had asked for guidance with his archery. Overtime he had conquered the sword and could wield it effectively but archery eluded him annoyingly. One thing that Danny absolutely despised was the inability to do it if he believed he could. Sam always did say he was too stubborn for his own good. Sam…
His heart ached and the inside of his chest felt hollow at the thought of his friends from Amity Park – his family. He needed them and they needed him. Having no idea if the ghosts had overrun their hometown killed him a little each day since he could have protected them if he wasn't here.
Danny's grip splintered his bow that he kept taut in his hands. Releasing the arrow once more, it flew and seared clean through the target and landed shortly past it. Gently, he relaxed his hand and looked at the Apollo counselor who attempted to help him out. The arrow tipped over and landed flat on the ground, pointed directly at him. But hey, now he was hitting the target. Today was the fifteenth of March, almost a year since he had left and all was quiet. Too quiet for his tastes. He had tried going back to Amity Park, however Chiron quickly dissuaded that idea which left him burning in anger. Oh, Danny's nostrils flared and his eyes blackened. "Easy there, Kern." Michael Yew warned, "No need to break another bow."
"I still don't see why I have to learn all this stuff. I can fight easily with my hands." Danny argued.
He had grown during his stay. From his pathetic height of five foot five, he had reached five foot eight and was still growing. All this training and all his own personal training that no one knew about had given him a fitter figure, however that scowl on his face seemed to become a permanent feature. His once bright eyes had darkened into a royal blue, though they never ceased in their intensity. As for his bright orange camp shirt, it constantly was getting ripped due to his reckless fighting tactics. The fifteen-year-old half-blood half-ghost looked like a toned emo kid, something Crys never let him live down.
Michael sighed. "Go and take a break, comeback when you're up to actually firing an arrow."
"Yeah, yeah." Danny waved him off. Muttering something incomprehensible, he threw his hands into his leather jacket pockets and wandered off. Despite almost being in Camp for a year now, Danny still kept getting looks from people. He wished to could just fade into the background and disappear. Oddly, he had hoped for Jackson to show up, missing the annoying guy who knew him but claimed he didn't. Ugh. People. He needed at least two cups of caffeinated black coffee before he could attempt to understand his cabin mates. "Danny!" Crys – the year round camper – chimed in, skipping to his side. "So how are you?"
He scoffed. "Fantastic. How about yourself?"
"I'm all right." She shrugged, pulling her jacket closer around her. "I'm more excited for summer right now. Winter's too draining and the fighting is sluggish."
Danny chuckled at the young girl. Here a young girl was more concerned about beating the crap out of someone than who the latest popstar was. Oh, it was certainly refreshing to be around her. Her pouting face made him guffaw even harder while she crossed her arms and turned away from him. "You've got your pegasi riding class, go to it."
Crys rolled her eyes. "It's your class too, Mr. Emo."
He huffed. "Unlike most people I have a natural affinity with horses and I don't need to actually take lessons riding them, I can ride a flying horse fluidly. So go, you'll be late."
"Fine, fine. But next time, you're coming." She jutted her pointer finger at his chest. He shrugged.
The short thirteen-year-old skipped off to the lessons leaving her friend alone – just the way he liked it these days. Rolling his shoulders, he stepped carefully towards the forest, wandering. Danny watched the sunbeams hit the light misting of snow at such an angle that they glittered like diamonds in the grass. Lightly, he pressed his foot down on the ground, and headed towards the tree line where solitude awaited. Once he reached the forest, Danny ventured through, watching the sun and the trees and the snow all intermix into an intricate arrangement. He spotted the river and a slight smile warmed his facial features despite the cold weather. He could see his breath ghost and he chuckled absently, after all there were no ghosts here within Camp Halfblood. Stepping towards the river in the playing field, Danny sat down on the cold ground next to it. What now? He swallowed and looked at his reflection in the stream. Stingy long hair that hung around his face, his eyes were much darker, his skin tanner; how would they recognize him if they ever saw him again. Wistfully, he pulled out his old phone, that he apparently couldn't use for safety reasons (stupid monster signals), and flipped it open. How it stayed charged despite no charger, he didn't know but what he did know was that it was a gift. Closing his eyes, he inhaled and opening them, he exhaled. Right there was a picture of his mom, Sam, Tucker, Jazz, and himself all happy and excited. Recalling those memories, Danny shook his head with the absent smile still there. "If they could see me now." He chuckled, "I doubt they would know who I was. I've changed so much."
His voice cracked. Clearing his throat, he took out his dagger from its sheath that dangled on his jeans. A gift from Chiron for some reason, but a weapon was a weapon and he'd rather have one than none, especially in this world. Using his dagger to create a rainbow, Danny fished out a coin from his pocked and tossed the golden drachma through it. "Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering. Show me Sam Manson." The image wavered and he felt his chest tighten as his best friend, the beautiful goth, flipped through the pages in the old bookshop down Amity's least reputable places. Good old Sam. He smiled at the image of her. Clearing his throat, he started to say something then he couldn't. But he didn't have to, the clearing of the throat got her attention. She stumbled backwards, eyes wide, and stuttered. "D-Danny? What the heck?"
"Don't touch it!" He shouted as she reached out to touch his face. "You turn full ghost or something? How did you do this?"
He ran his fingers through his thick, black hair. "It's complicated. Regardless, how have things been in Amity?"
"Not so great." She groaned. His heart drooped at the sound of her defeated voice. "We've been run over twice, the Fentons can't fix this, people have almost died way more than they should have, and we can't survive much longer. Where are you, Danny? When can you come home?"
He swallowed thickly, suddenly parched. "Sam," his voice cracked, "I don't know if I can come home. I – it's my dad's family. I'm with them and – it's complicated Sam."
"What happened." She watched carefully.
"Greeks pantheon is real. I'm not just a halfa, Sam, I'm half-god too. Demigod." He shuddered despite the fact he couldn't get cold easily. "Mom –" He closed his eyes. "Mom and I had an accident, and I was the only who made it to my dad's family camp."
He spilt the whole story of how he was taken in by Cabin Eleven and all the adventures that had come to pass while he was there. His bead necklace, his training, and the wildest secret of all.
"Let me get this straight," Sam shook her head, "You're a demigod and you have no idea who your dad or even what happened to you and your mom."
"Yeah," Danny sighed. "That's crazy!"
Danny chuckled awkwardly, "Yeah, and I'm living it." At her quieted expression, he bit his lower lip and ran his fingers through his hair again. "Mom, left me way too many secrets to figure out."
Her image rippled and he froze as explosions resounded on the other side. Sam wavered, regaining her balance as things shook around her. Book toppled over and screams screeched. "Sam? Sam!"
The connection cut off there and Danny's heart raced a mile a minute. His intense eyes narrowed and he abruptly stood up and took off as fast as he could. Soon enough the Big House came into view and he tore through the porch and through the front door till he found Chiron and Mr. D reclining in the Living room aka the Meeting room. Danny spat. "I need to go home to Amity Park now!"
"Chill, Daryl Krumb, no need to shout." Mr. D turned his diet coke into red wine and went to take a sip. "You demigods are all the same."
"Oh shut up, Mr. D. Besides you're restricted remember?" He glowered at the Camp Director.
Mr. D scowled right back at Danny and turned it back into diet coke. Meanwhile, Chiron folded his arms across his human chest. "You'll need a quest to go."
"Great," Danny flatly stated. "I'll go see a dead woman for a prophecy for a quest. I see dead people so I can fight dead people."
Chiron observed Danny before nodding, mostly to himself, and told him. "Go and ask the Oracle." Swiftly, Danny obeyed. He went up the stairs and elevated to attic where the mummy sat surrounded by questing objects. Creepy and bothersome, Danny eyed the ancient Oracle, seeing it for the first time. Now he had battled an old ghost who controlled meat, was sought after by this twenties ghost big-game hunter, and had been pushed into the fifties by a ghost who haunted a locker and hated bullies. He had seen seriously whacked up stuff before. Yet, a mummy who gave prophecies gave him creepy-crawlies up his spine. "What is my destiny?" Danny swallowed his fear and questioned the dead.
The corpse creaked to life and an otherworldly voice spoke. "Darkness shall envelope the world Fate of all resting on a girl Her choice will push the dark son to the test To usurp the king and take his place or fall and be put to eternal rest."
Shuddering, it fell down to what it had been before. Danny watched it carefully for a moment before heading down to go see Chiron and Mr. D. His ADHD mind rattled and caught onto the prophecy, repeating it over and over again, trying to understand it. Once he was back in the living room, Chiron, as a centaur, clip-clopped over to him. "What did she say?"
Danny repeated the prophecy quietly, still not quite believing it himself. A prophecy about him. Well, weirder things have happened. His mind raced at the thought, darkness covering the world. But where would it start, in Amity Park, in New York? Where? Who the heck was the dark son? Did it mean a literal dark guy who was the son of someone important or did it reflect his nature or his heritage? Questions ran through his head as he tried desperately to interpret the prophecy. For a moment, Chiron said nothing and scratched his beard in thought. "I see." He finally uttered. "Who will you be taking on this journey with you?"
Danny blinked. Right, hadn't thought of that. He scratched his head and sighed. "I don't know."
"Would you like a suggestion?" Chiron watched him through careful aged eyes. "Why not," He shrugged. "I'll go a suggestion or two."
Chiron nodded. "Claire, daughter of Iris and a child of Apollo."
Snickering, the unclaimed camper folded his arms across his chest and frowned. As Chiron surveyed the boy that laughed at his suggestion, Danny shook his head and said, "Apollo kids hate me, plus Clary is annoying." He frowned. Danny did not care for the centaur's opinion; he still was angry at him for not letting him go all those months ago. In fact, he bet that if Chiron had let him go then he would not have had to send an unclaimed camper out on a quest now. This was completely unusual and, last he checked, the first time an unclaimed camper received a prophecy. Even Percy had been claimed before he went on his first quest to retrieve the Lightning Bolt of Zeus and stop a world war. But that was in the past and all this was now. He may be mad at the trainer of demigod heroes, but that didn't mean he didn't have good things to say – unfortunately. "I'll take Clary and -"
"I'm coming." They whirled around and saw Jack standing there with a new camper behind him. The platinum blond smirked at Danny, his brown eyes alight with mirth. Next to him, the young boy, maybe eight years old, tugged on his blue sleeves and whispered something. Jack bent down, "Pas besoin d'avoir peur, petit. Il est une sorte centaure."
Danny blinked. What just happened. "You're a Frenchie?"
"Is that a problem." Jack spat. "I'm bilingual, get over yourself."
Danny growled back at him. "No need to get angry, moron!"
The little brunet boy stared with wide eyes than tugged again on his sleeve. This time he spoke loud enough for Danny and the others to hear him. "Je n'aime pas le garcon en colére, monsieur. Il ne semble pas trés agréable."
Danny again was amazed as Jack used a soft voice to speak to the kid. "Les Américains ne sont pas agréable en général.
"So, emo," Jack picked up the kid in his arms, "I'm coming on this quest."
He wanted to smash his face into a wall, but couldn't at this point in time. So with a parental look from Chiron, Danny nodded his head. "Fine, Jack, you can come on the quest."

Well here's something to spice things up! I've been rereading Percy Jackson as we're getting closer and closer to the Battle with Kronos and the giants. Just let y'all know this is an AU so soon enough we will be diverting from canon drastically. Be prepared readers. Be prepared!

A: Marvel FTW Though I do like Batman

Q: What do you guys like/dislike about the OCs in this story?

Thank you all for all your support for this fanfiction! See you next chapter! R&R