Okay I should post at least one chapter before NaNoWriMo. I mean, a new HoO book came out and I can't get it off my mind. NICO. *cries*

I wrote a one-shot about him if y'all are interested.

Also in the last chapter I realize Maggie would've realistically run out of arrows. Let's say for the story's sake Tempest had extras and she picked some up from the ground and at the end didn't realize she ran out. Idk.

In the meantime, let us go back to "the good old days" of the Second Titan War!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.


Chapter 11

A Slow Day

The morning was pretty boring. Most of the campers and Hunters were still asleep since most of them aren't stupidly early birds like Phoebe and myself. The only exceptions were a few boys from Apollo doing rounds checking on their patients and some other campers from Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and a few Hunters. I fell asleep on a couch next to another Hermes kid whose name I couldn't remember for the life of me. It was just at the crack of dawn, roughly 5:30 in the morning, when I woke up. It wasn't a full nights sleep, that's for sure, but I knew trying to go back to sleep would be impossible.

I was careful not to disturb the couch too much when I got up and cautiously stepped over campers, Hunters, and timber wolves passed out on the floor. Not yet hungry, I made my way over to the window to watch the sunrise. Usually you can tell how nice a day will be by the sunrise; a line of orange peaked just above the horizon, the sky a gradient of dark blue to yellow. There were a few clouds hovering in the sky. The weather today was going to be spectacular. The day itself, however…

Oddly enough, the uneasiness in my stomach passed, replaced with another feeling: deep regret. All those people I couldn't save, all those monsters who got away, all those people who will die because of the sleeping curse, not contacting my mom… I felt like a mess.

"Maggie," a soft voice said across from me. "Don't form a hero complex. Too many demigods have them and that's what gets them killed."

Phoebe's eyes changed from her gold to a light shade of lavender before she blinked and turned away. "Sorry."

I shook my head. "You're right. I have no right to be upset anyway. I barely know anyone besides you, Jace, Ollie, Tempest, and Elva."

"You have every right to be sad," she replied quietly, keeping her voice down to not wake people. "Just don't let it get to your head. You already have one fatal flaw. Don't form a second."

I scrunched my eyebrows. "Fatal flaw?"

Phoebe's hands flew to her mouth. "I said too much."

"No it's fine. Tell me." I pressed.

She gave me a look and I blushed. Overstepping my boundaries again.

"D-don't think to hard. J-just forget what I said." She spluttered, frustrated about something.

"Can you at least tell me what a fatal flaw is? I don't think the video covered that."

"It didn't." Phoebe sighed and knit her eyebrows together. "Fatal flaws are mental and physical weaknesses that everyone has, but they are particularly dangerous to half-bloods. They're called 'fatal' for a reason."

"Do you know mine?" I blurted too loudly.

Phoebe shushed me and shook her head. "Not my place. Even if I did know, I wouldn't say. That's something for you to figure out. Once you do, you have to learn to control it or it will be your downfall."

"So you do know."

"Maggie." She warned.

I sighed. Phoebe can be as tight-lipped as Ollie sometimes. "Okay."

She smiled at me weakly and walked away.

:::^:::

The other campers and Hunters started waking up at around 8:45. I entertained myself during that three hour period between my waking up and everyone else by playing with a deck of cards I found in a drawer in the kitchen, eating an entire bag of grapes by throwing them in the air and catching them with my mouth—I was sadly only 40% accurate—pacing, cleaning my dagger, and conversing with Phoebe. It was the longest three hours of my life.

Tempest was one of the last ones to wake up, an odd occurrence since she's usually up early and over in the armory. Of course there was no armory in the Plaza Hotel and I don't think the employees would be too pleased if they found bedposts with nicks and cuts in them. That, of course, didn't stop Tempest.

I walked into her room and found her swinging her sword with her good arm, attacking every bedpost of the four-poster bed. She stopped and smiled at me when I opened the door and I raised my eyebrows.

"How you doing?" I asked.

"Peachy keen!" she replied and hacked away at a post. "Thought I could use some practice with my arm since that one," she indicated her bandaged arm with her head, "is out of commission forever."

"Eric said it should be fine in a few days."

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't speak that name in my presence. It's a jinx name. Like Voldemort."

I faux-gasped and covered my mouth with one hand. "Don't say his name! It's You-Know-Who!"

We giggled just as Elva entered the room with a platter of fruit, cereal, milk, and other various breakfast foods.

"I have to say, those children of Demeter really know how to treat people," she placed the tray in front Tempest. "I brought you breakfast because I know you can 'eat like a horse.'" She air quoted "eat like a horse."

"I take offense to that comment," she said with dignification as she dropped her sword next to her and grabbed an apple. "Everyone knows horses eat hay and oats."

"And apples." I added. Tempest looked at me before taking a ravenous bite from her apple. "Do you mind if I have second breakfast?"

She gestured to the tray with her head and I helped myself to some sausages. "Do either of you have an ash tray and a lighter so we can sacrifice some to the gods?"

Elva ruffled through one of the bedside tables and brought out an ashtray and some matches. We piled some of our food in the tray and burned an offering.

Please Dad, I prayed, whoever you are, please keep my friends and me safe.

The three of us pillaged our loot, eating and chatting, trying to keep an otherwise moot environment easygoing. Phoebe and Jace walked in half and hour later and helped us finish off the food. I smiled as I looked at them. Never before did I really have friends as great at these. Heck, I never really had friends before because people always thought I was weird or some other reason. And now… I was surrounded by the same people with the same issues as me and totally liked me who I was. I was very grateful.

A majority of the morning was full of Apollo boys checking on half-bloods and Hunters and everyone just recuperating after the previous night's battle and prepping for future ones. I spent my entire time in Tempest's room. Elva left shortly after we finished breakfast to regroup and talk with some girl named Thalia, since Elva was the second lieutenant and needed to talk battle strategies. Phoebe left shortly afterward, mentioning something about Iris Messaging her dad and Jace left with her, leaving Tempest and me.

"How are you doing?" she asked after Jace cracked the door behind him.

I shrugged. "Okay I guess. It's war."

"That it is." Tempest said vaguely. "Can't help but fight."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"But you did that before!" I insisted. "On Twister. You got all vague about the war when I mentioned half-bloods."

"Did I?" she asked, suddenly very spacey. "I don't recall."

"Yeah. You said something about half-bloods never listening to reason and turning to Kronos or something."

"Ahh," she said, her voice still airy. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yup." I popped the "p." She nodded her head thoughtfully for a few moments before I said, "Are you going to tell me?"

She pulled a small knife out of her back pocket with her good arm and picked at the nails on her bad one. "There's nothing much to say. I had a brother. Well, half brother, on my mom's side. You know. Despoina, goddess of horses. Anyway I met him during a mission a few years ago. I had to go to Colorado to get… I don't even remember anymore. Anyway, I walked past him and I knew he was my brother because he was having a conversation with the horse he was riding. The horse was answering back. We had a short conversation and I promised him I'd come back for him when I finished my mission." As she spoke, she dug into her nails a bit deeper with her knife. "By the time I got back… it was too late. His house was burned down and it smelled of sulfur. He was just a kid, no older than ten." She dug into her finger and drew blood. She didn't seem to notice and I didn't say anything. "I saw him last year during the battle with the Labyrinth. He didn't recognize me at first, but when he realized who I was he screamed at me. 'You promised,' he kept yelling and attacking me. He said the monsters were right that the demigods were… liars." She furiously wiped her eyes as a tear fell down her cheek. "Sorry. I'm not one for crying."

"It's okay." I said lamely. "I'm really sorry about your brother."

She shrugged and played with the knife. "I just wish I got to him sooner."

I patted her good arm, not sure how to comfort her. She seemed to appreciate it and forced a smile.

A knock came at the door. "Can I come in?"

Tempest's sad look was quickly replaced with contempt. "No."

"Too bad." Eric opened the door further, his first aid kit in hand. "Let's look at that shoulder."

"You looked at it twice last night." She replied. "It's fine."

"No, it's not." He said, nearing the bed. Tempest backed up to the headboard, childishly hissing at him. "Come on, Tempest. Let me do my job."

"Never."

"Well," I said awkwardly. "I'm going to head out now, so…"

Tempest gave me an I-will-hate-you-forever-if-you-leave-me-with-this- boy look and I gave her a look of sympathy before quickly shuffling out. Not two minutes after I left Tempest screamed a string of Greek curses and the small knife she was holding earlier flew out of the room. A boy from Ares caught it by the hilt before it did any damage and glared into the room.

:::^:::

Later on I heard through the grapevine Percy went to talk with the Titans on a peace treaty. About what, I didn't know, but I had a feeling what it was about couldn't be good.

Jace and Phoebe were gone for over two hours. If anyone else noticed they didn't say anything. Jace entered the suite we were occupying without her.

"The cabin leaders called some campers to scout the areas," he explained, a bit of an edge to his tone. "She volunteered."

The rest of the day went by slowly, but everyone was on edge for obvious reasons. By late afternoon the mood of everyone was stressed and antsy. I tried to ignore my feeling that something terribly wrong was going to happen—I was not pleased that the uneasiness returned—and thought about what Phoebe told me earlier about fatal flaws. I had no idea what mine could be. Maybe it was the fact that I couldn't understand anything easily. Frustrated, I left my spot in the kitchen and stormed blindly through the suite, running into someone and falling over.

"I'm sorry!" he said.

I looked up and sure enough, it was Ollie. He was battered and covered in scratches and bruises. His breastplate was crooked and a belt was slung around his hips, a thin rapier-like sword attached to it. He looked tired and a bit winded, but okay. His face lit up when he realized who I was.

"Maggie!" He helped me up and wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. "How are you? Are you okay? Did you get hurt in the battle?"

"Ollie, you can let go now," I said. He released me, his face flushed. "I'm fine. I was mostly up in the air on Twister with Tempest, so I didn't get hurt too much. What about you! You look like you've been to Tartarus and back! And how'd you get here?"

Ollie sighed and retold his tale, explaining that he was originally charged to stay in Camp Half-Blood and mind the boarder when Walrus decided he wanted to fight in Central Park and snuck away with the other satyrs, driads, and naiads when he wasn't looking. Without wanting to, Ollie was forced into a battle with a group of hellhounds. He fought one off his brother single-handedly—"My brother is such an idiot sometimes,"—before helping the rest. Once the hellhounds were turned to dust he grabbed his brother and a few other satyrs, found out where we set up camp from a driad who saw us go to the Plaza, and made his way here.

"Besides," he finished. "I figured you guys could use some help. The nature spirits are having a Hades of a time, but I know the bulk of the fighting would be with the demigods."

I smiled at him. "Thanks so much! Where is your brother?"

"Out in the hallway sulking. I have Georgios watching him." He sighed with relief. "I'm just really glad you're okay."

I opened my mouth to answer when one of the head counselors burst into the suite. "Get your armor on and weapons ready," he said. "There's an army coming. Be prepared to defend Central Park."


Short, but I think too many character development chapters will be boring. Besides, I couldn't really do much here. Maggie wouldn't go on her own adventure like she did in the old version of this. XD

Review?

Over and out,

Mahersal