Percy Jackson Son of Hearth and Sea: The Lightning Thief

A/N People of earth. I have a new chapter for you and this has plenty of action to keep you entertained. I hope. This is going to be a long chapter so I hope I did well. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, leave a Review and tell me what you think and if you really like it, Follow and Favorite.

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Firestorm337: Thank you good sir/madam *Bows*

Tobias97: Don't you worry buddy, you'll love that part.

Disclaimer: You already know what I'm going to say.

Chapter 11:

Word of the bathroom incident spread like wildfire.

Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were talking about how Annabeth was still drenched in the stuff.

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where campers forge their own armor and weapons), the arts and crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of their god Pan), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough. I couldn't wait to try it out. Finally, we made it back to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.

"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

"Annabeth, I'm really sorry about the toilets."

"Whatever."

I just sighed because I was never going to get through to her.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.

"The what?"

"The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."

I sighed at her cryptic talking and just stared down into the lake. I wasn't expecting anyone to be at the bottom so my heart jumped a bit when I saw two girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.

I smiled and waved back.

"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned, "Naiads are terrible flirts."

I just rolled my eyes at her, "Whatever." She just huffed indignantly. "You never said who your godly parent was." I said changing topic.

"Cabin six."

Once again, I rolled my eyes, "All hail cabin six," I said sarcastically. "I meant your parents name."

Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

I simply nodded my head unsure of what to do now. Thankfully, it was Annabeth that continued the conversation.

"How long have you known you were a demigod?" She asked.

I was a little hesitant to tell her, but I answered her anyway. "Ever since I was five." She looked surprised by that.

"How'd you figure it out?"

"I didn't," I told her remembering when I first met the Hunt, "I met a... group, that I came across in the woods and they told me about, well, me being a demigod."

She frowned a little then asked, "Why were you in the woods at the age of five?"

I mentally scolded myself for not choosing my words carefully. I wasn't sure whether I should tell her or not, but I realized that since she's a daughter of Athena she could probably figure it out anyhow.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." She said quickly.

"No, its fine," I reassured her, "My mum was killed by my stepdad one night and so, without any options, I ran away." I told her simply.

She looked at me sympathetically, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Its fine. It happened years ago." But inside, I knew I really wasn't fine. I still wasn't over my mother's death and I wasn't sure I would be. I may have Hestia as a mum now, but it doesn't take away the fact that she's dead and I'll never see her again.

She must have realized it was a sore subject because she left it alone after that.

"What about you?" I asked. "What's your story?"

Annabeth bit her lip and pulled a leather necklace from under the collar of her T-shirt collar with five different colored clay beads. It was the same as Luke's except hers had a gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.

"I'm a year-rounder," she said. "I've been here since I was seven, my dad didn't really want me. So, I left. Haven't seen him since I was young."

I nodded. I knew she wasn't going to tell me more because I wasn't going to tell her more. "Do the beads mean anything?"

"Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year." She told me. "I've been here longer than most counselors and they're all in college."

We got into another uncomfortable silence. "Back in the infirmary," I said, "You asked me something about the summer solstice."

Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So, you do know something?"

I smiled apologetically, "Sorry, but I don't. It's just that I heard Grover and Chiron talking about it and some sort of deadline. I was hoping you knew something."

She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know but they won't tell me. Something is wrong on Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there everything seemed normal."

I remembered the letter my mum had given me, saying that she had trouble to attend to on Olympus. I thought about all the weird storms that had occurred during the year. Then I noticed that she said she was at Olympus.

"You've been to Olympus?"

"Some of us year-rounders. Luke, Clarisse and a few others," she said, "we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council. But right after we visited, the weather got weird, as if the gods started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble." She started looking a little more nervous now, "When you came, I was hoping... I mean Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course, she's got the big rivalry with Poseidon. But I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."

Well she is going to be in for a massive surprise when she learns I am actually Poseidon's son. I was kind of hoping she never does find out.

"You okay?" She asked. I realized I must have spaced out or something.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said quickly. "I'd like to help, I really would, but I don't have a clue what's going on. I didn't even know where Mount Olympus was until Chiron told me during our tour."

She sighed and murmured to herself. "I've got to get a quest. I'm not too young, if they would tell me the problem-"

I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Annabeth must have heard my stomach growl. She told me to go on and that she'd catch me later.

I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail like she was drawing a battle plan. She most likely was.

Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows and mischievous smiles. These must be Hermes' kids.

Thankfully, nobody paid me much attention as I walked in and towards my spot on the floor and plopped down.

Luke came over. He was, without a doubt, a son of Hermes. He had the same mischievous eyes and sharp nose as hos other brother and sisters.

"Found you a sleeping bad," he said. "I also stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

I don't think he was kidding about the stealing part.

"Thanks," I said.

"No prob," he sat next to me and leaned against the wall. "Tough first day?"

"Something like that," I said.

"Don't worry, it gets better." I wasn't sure, but the way he said it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself. And I was honestly surprised by the bitterness in his voice because he looked like a pretty easy going guy that could handle just about anything. "Plus, the campers here are mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We got to take care of each other."

"Yeah, I guess so," I said, "Just something Annabeth said has been bothering me. Something about me being the one and having to go to the Oracle. Any idea what she means?"

Luke frowned. "I hate prophecies."

"What do you mean?"

His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my quest to the Garden of Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed anymore quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp." I thought about what he said and couldn't help thinking that it could be me that was probably mentioned in the prophecy. "You shouldn't worry about it," he continued, "Annabeth likes to think that every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on. It's dinnertime."

As soon as he said it, a horn from a conch shell blew in the distance. Though I'm not exactly sure how I knew it was a conch shell.

Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"

The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, with Luke up front, and me in the back. Campers came from other cabins too, except for the three cabins at the end and cabin eight, which I realized was the cabin to Artemis. I couldn't help rolling my eyes when I saw what color it was.

We marched up the hill towards the dining pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow (which made me wonder where Grover was), Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake and dryads (tree nymphs) melted from trees.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but elevens was way too overcrowded. I had to squeeze onto the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.

I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked like Mr. D.

Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being too small for a centaur.

Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of her brothers and sisters, all with honey blond hair and gray eyes.

Clarisse sat behind me at Ares' table. I wasn't sure if she was over the toilet thing because she was laughing and belching with the rest of her siblings.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want nonalcoholic, of course."

At Yancy, some guys made me try out a drink and I got addicted to it pretty quick, "Cherry coke." The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.

Then I had an idea. "Blue cherry coke." The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt. I took a sip. Perfect. I did what I always did, I drank a toast to my birth mother.

"Here you go, Percy," Luke said handing me a platter of smoked brisket.

Everyone got up and made the sacrifices to the gods. I followed behind my cabin. When I reached the fire, I sacrificed some of my food to Hestia, Artemis and of course my father Poseidon. I may be a little bitter to him, but I still hope that he sends me a sign that he actually listens or notices me.

When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.

Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag game is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly cheering from the Ares table.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." That sounds familiar.

Chiron murmured something.

"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everyone cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. We sang songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around. We finally departed back to our cabins and as soon as my head hit the pillow of my sleeping bag. I fell asleep instantly.

The next few days I fell into a routine that made me feel welcome at camp. I got lessons from satyrs, nymphs and Chiron.

Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and she was pretty cool when she wasn't being completely frustrating.

The rest of the day, I would rotate through outdoor activities.

Chiron was extremely impressed with my archery skills. I didn't use my bow given to me by Artemis because of obvious reasons.

During foot racing, the wood nymph instructor had beaten me but not by too much. The others told me not to worry about it because they've had plenty of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.

I could handle my own in wrestling, but Clarisse would always beat me.

It made counselors even more confused when the boy who had defeated the Minotaur flawlessly excel at canoeing.

I was close to bursting with laughter when I saw them struggling with who my godly parent was. They thought that maybe I could be Apollo's son with my skill with the bow, but I wasn't an early riser like the rest of Apollo's kids.

They thought with my resistance to fire it was possible I could be a child of Hephaestus, but I was absolutely horrid with metalwork.

They also thought I might be a child of Ares with my strength, or even a child of Athena with how much I knew of Greek mythology.

But the main reason they thought against that was because I looked nothing like any of the other campers. I was the only camper there with black messy unruly hair and sea green eyes.

Mum and I eventually did end up laughing about it.

I was disappointed that my dad still hadn't sent me a sign to show that he was watching over me but I was kind of used to it at this point.

It's now Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd awoken at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson here and I was excited. Everybody from cabin eleven was gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.

We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw stuffed-dummies in Greek armor. I slashed them to pieces.

There was still one problem though. I still couldn't find a sword that felt right in my hands. I just used my sword because it was the best I could find.

We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, because I was the new guy.

"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsmen in the last three hundred years."

I just grinned and said, "Let's hope he doesn't go easy on me then."

Just like I hoped, Luke didn't go easy on me, I blocked and parried all his strikes with only some difficulty. He really was a good swordsman. Luke looked both surprised and impressed that I was managing to keep up with him. He got some hits on me, but I also managed to get some hits on him too.

By the time he called a break, we were both a sweaty mess. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. I got myself some water and drank a bit and poured the rest over my head. Instantly I felt recharged and the sword in my hand felt perfectly balanced.

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

The Hermes guys gathered around. Some were suppressing smiles, probably thinking about how I could be used as a punching bag, while others, who saw Luke and I spar earlier, looked on with great interest. Luke told everybody that he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

He demonstrated the move in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.

"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"

I nodded and Luke came after me. I deflected his attack and continued blocking, until I saw my opening. I countered a thrust and stepped forward sending a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force. We continued attacking. Slashing, stabbing, thrusting, parrying, blocking and countering. We were in a deadly dance, I was on the balls of my feet using my agility like the Hunters had taught me. I was very glad that I poured that bottle of water over my head.

I started to feel my energy wavering, so I figured, What the heck?

I tried the disarming maneuver.

My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my weight into a downward thrust.

Luke's sword rattled against the stones.

With a quick flourish, I stepped in close and held my sword at his throat.

It was dead quiet. Only the sound of heavy breathing coming from me and Luke could be heard.

I stepped back and lowered my sword smiling sheepishly and said, "Sorry."

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak. "Sorry?" His face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

I didn't really want to because most of the energy I had was gone. Plus, I didn't really want to look like a show-off. But everyone insisted.

We went at it again. Surprisingly, I managed to disarm him again. Then we went again. And again. And again. I was honestly surprised with how long I could hold my own against him.

We sparred one more time. This time, I wanted to try something a little bit different. I thrusted towards his head and as expected Luke raised his sword to block it. I moved my sword in a way that it was now caught in his cross guard. I then twisted my sword and sent his sword flying, passing over the heads of some of the campers and into the wall of the arena. I held my sword to his throat, the both of us breathing heavily and drenched in sweat.

The whole time the grin on his face never left. The other campers were looking at me dumbfounded. I only just noticed that we had attracted a huge crowd. They all started shouting and hollering and I just blushed rubbing the back of my neck.

"Percy!" Luke exclaimed. "Where have you learnt to fight like that?"

I just smiled sheepishly and shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know, it just came naturally."

Luke just smiled wider and said, "What could you possibly do with a balanced sword?"

Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat. The lava had almost gotten me, but thanks to me being fireproof, I didn't get very burnt. My clothes weren't as lucky, but thankfully, they only had a few holes in them.

We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.

His face turned a sickly shade of yellow. "Fine," he said. "Just great."

"So, you can still get your searcher's license?"

He looked at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"

"No, Annabeth told me," I corrected. "I asked her if she knew what your big plans were, she said that it's a satyr's dream to search for the lost god Pan. I put two and two together. So, did you get it?"

Grover looked down at the Naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgement. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along also to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."

I brightened a little at that, "So there's still a chance, right?"

"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest… and even if you did, why would you want me along?"

"Because you're my best friend," I told him simply.

Grover just stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving… must be nice to have a useful skill."

I wanted to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but I figured that would just make him more miserable. Instead, I opted for putting my arm around his shoulder.

We continued talking about what had happened during the week, then debated on the pros and cons of the different gods. I then asked him about a question that has been on my mind for a while.

"If the cabins are for, housing the gods' kids, then why are there cabins for the other gods if they're empty?"

"Well, number eight, the silver one," he said. "Belongs to Artemis and she vowed to be an eternal maiden. So, of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."

"And it holds her Hunters, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, how do you know about them?" He asked looking a little bit suspicious. I silently cursed myself.

"I've read about them," I quickly told him. "They were mentioned in the story of Orion and a few other ones."

He eyed me for a bit, but seemed to accept my answer. "Yeah, they come by sometimes and we have a traditional Hunters versus Campers game of capture the flag. They're undefeated with a fifty-six-win streak." He explained. I internally smirked at the last part.

I decided to get back on topic. "So, what about the three at the end?"

Grover tensed. I could tell we were now getting to a touchy subject. "Number two belongs to Hera," I know it was completely immature, but I snickered when he said that. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job."

I couldn't help it I burst out laughing, Grover cracked a smile.

"Number's one and three belong to Zeus and Poseidon." He started to shift his hooves uncomfortably.

I knew it was probably a touchy subject for him, but I was curious to know what had him like this. "Why are there cabins empty? I thought they had like, a million kids in the past."

He shifted on his hooves again. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three made a pact never to sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."

Thunder boomed.

"That's the most serious oath you can make."

Grover nodded.

"I'm guessing, that they didn't keep their oath."

Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago. Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo – he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia…" I tensed when I heard her name. That was the other girl that had been with Luke and Annabeth.

I had wondered why I didn't see her anywhere in camp, but I couldn't just ask because that would make some people suspicious. I was also shocked to learn that she was actually a daughter of Zeus, I continued listening to Grover's tale, "The Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter. So, when Hades found out about her, he wasn't happy to learn that Zeus had broken the oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He'd tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."

He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the Minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So, Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Hals-Blood Hill."

I could only listen sadly to the story. It made me feel a few different emotions. It made me angry, at the gods for putting their kids into such horrible dangers. It made me sad, that Thalia had to suffer through so much for her father's infidelity. It also made me sad, that Annabeth and Luke could do nothing to save their friend. It also made me feel kind of guilty, because her story made my fight with the Minotaur seem like less than what it really was.

I had a new-found respect for Thalia. She was instantly my favorite hero. None of the heroes of old would have done what she did at her age.

I then realized that a Fury had come after me. Had Hades found me as well?

I decided it was a thought for later.

That night, after dinner. There was a lot more excitement than usual. At last, it was time for capture the flag.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.

Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.

From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her siblings ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Are those the flags?"

"Yeah."

"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"

"Not always," he said, "But often."

"What happens when another cabin captures the flag, do we repaint it or something?"

He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."

"Whose side are we on?"

He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torch light.

"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."

The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded – shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities – in order to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them.

Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't aggressive.

Aphrodite's sons and daughters, I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their and gossiped.

There were only four of Hephaestus's kids, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem.

Lastly, was Ares cabin themselves. They were a dozen of the biggest, meanest, ugliest kids I had seen.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" He announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, ox hide shields coated in metal.

I looked at all the equipment not really sure what was my stuff. Thankfully, Luke helped me out.

"Here you go, Percy." He said handing me some equipment, "Chiron thought these might fit you. You're on border patrol."

I strapped on my armor which was a size too big and put on my helmet that had a blue horsehair plume on top like the rest of Athena's team. Ares and their allies had red plumes.

I felt kind of small in all the big equipment. Thankfully, they had given me my own sword.

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team forward!"

We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north. Ares was making it very clear that they were going to pulverize me.

I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over the too big equipment. "Hey."

She kept marching.

I rolled my eyes.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked.

She just glanced at me and said, "Just watch Clarisse's spear. You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol. Care to elaborate?"

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

"It would be nice if we knew the plan though." I said.

She ignored me and pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.

I sighed, "So glad you wanted me on your team."

The night air was warm and sticky. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth had stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, alone, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. I was kind of worried that she had figured out who my godly parent was.

Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.

I waited for a while doing nothing, when I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by. I knew that sound. Hellhound. I raised my shield and readied my sword. The growling stopped and the presence disappeared.

I threw my shield and helmet away, because they were seriously limiting my movement, and scampered up a tree. I reached a branch and seconds later, five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out the dark. They stopped when they realized that nobody was there. Clarisse was among them.

They looked around, probably searching for me, then Clarisse screamed in frustration and kicked my helmet away. "Where is he?! He was just here?!"

I smirked a little. They were standing in my element. I willed the water to wrap around one of the guys' legs and tripped him. He fell onto his front side with a splash.

The others quickly went over to his side putting them all directly under me. I grinned. Tome for a dramatic entrance. I willed the water to make splashing sounds in various spots around the creek. They formed a circle watching everywhere with cautious eyes.

"Where are you?!" Clarisse screamed. My grin only broadened.

I jumped from my spot from the tree and landed in the middle of their circle in the creek and willed the water to explode outwards pushing them all away.

They quickly turned on me weapons drawn. Clarisse was glaring at me through the slits of her helmet wielding a five-foot-long spear that's barbed tip sparkled with red light, I remembered Annabeth's warning about her spear. Her siblings had standard bronze swords.

"Destroy him!" Clarisse screamed.

They charged at me. The first Ares camper to reach me swung towards my head. I ducked under his swing and swung my sword at his legs with the flat of my blade knocking him off his feet and onto his butt. I blocked a strike from another Ares camper - I'll call him Ugly 2 and the guy in the water Ugly 1 – and in a quick flurry of strikes I knocked him off his feet too.

They had me quickly surrounded. Ugly 1 had gotten back to his feet. I got myself in a ready stance, waiting for someone to make the first move. Ugly 3 came at me and swung in a downward strike I blocked it and spun around using his momentum against him and causing him to stumble forwards, I parried a trust from Clarisse's spear and continued blocking, ducking and countering their strikes, I think I got cut in my arm, but it barely fazed me. I had to thank the Hunters later for their intense training. I started to get so into my fighting that I started using my water powers. Blasting them back and causing chaos.

Clarisse screamed at them, "Come on! He's just one puny kid!"

I knocked out Ugly 2 with a hit to his forehead from the pommel of my sword. I moved towards my shield that was conveniently facing arm-strap up and slammed my foot on the edge of it making it flip up. I caught it by the edge, turned and flung it straight into the chest of Ugly 4. I continued my onslaught of attacks on the Ares campers. I knocked out Ugly 2 with a blow to the head. It was now just Clarisse and Ugly 1.

They didn't look so confident in pulverizing me anymore.

I smirked at them. I did a flourish with my sword and held it out in front of me.

Ugly 1 backed away and said, "This is totally not worth it. I'm outta here!" He turned tail and ran back to his side of the creek.

"Get back here coward!" Clarisse screamed at him.

"You know Clarisse," I called out to her. She turned on me glaring hatefully.

"You should have just gone after the flag." She looked confused by that but before she could say anything.

Yelling and cheering and elated screaming could be heard. We both turned to the sound to see Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high, flanked by a couple of other Hermes guys and a few other Apollo guys were fighting off the Hephaestus kids.

The Ares campers started to come back from unconsciousness and Clarisse seemed to realize what was happening. "A trick!" She shouted. "It was a trick!"

They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. We'd won.

I was about to join and celebrate when I heard Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek and said, "Where did you learn to fight like that?!"

I looked around but didn't see her anywhere. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankee's baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.

"Nice plan," I said not the tiniest bit fazed that she appeared out of nowhere. "Using me as bait for Ares cabin."

She smiled proudly. "Like I said, Athena always has a plan. I came here to help you out, but you did fine on your own."

I blushed a little at her praise. She then looked at my wounded arm and asked, "How did you do that?"

I looked at her weirdly and said, "Do what?"

"Healing your arm. I saw one of them cut you."

I looked at my arm, and sure enough there was no cut. Just a scar that quickly faded to nothing. I looked down at my feet to see that I was still in the water.

I could tell Annabeth was thinking hard. She looked down at my feet, then at the campers I took down. "Step out of the water Percy."

She was onto me. I did as she said and instantly felt the energy rush out of me almost falling over by how tired I was feeling, but Annabeth caught me.

"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want… I assumed it would be Zeus…"

She got it. She knew who my dad was.

The loud canine growl I heard earlier was back again, but it was much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.

The campers cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek, "Stand ready! My bow!"

Annabeth drew her sword.

There on the rocks just above us was hellhound the size of a rhino, with lava red eyes and hangs like daggers.

It was staring straight at me.

Nobody moved except Annabeth who yelled, "Percy run!"

She tried to step in front of me but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her and landed on top of me. I managed to keep its teeth from biting my face but I felt its claws digging into my torso straight through the armor. I wasn't thinking anymore, I just knew I had to stop the beast from hurting anyone. I blasted it with fire sending it flying off me whimpering. I got up ignoring the pain in my chest and made my bow and arrows appear. I notched a few arrows and fired it into the hellhound making it explode into gold dust.

I made my bow and arrows disappear again and fell onto my back. Annabeth was the first to recover. "Di Immortales!" She exclaimed. "What just happened?!"

Chiron trotted over looking grim. "That was a hellhound, straight from the Fields of Punishment. Someone must have summoned it. Someone inside camp."

Luke came over. The banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

Because I would summon a monster to try and kill me, I thought sarcastically.

"Be quiet, child." Chiron told her. "Apollo! Get him to the infirmary!" He ordered.

"Wait!" Annabeth called. "Percy get in the water." She instructed me.

I did as she told me and got into the water. Immediately my wounds started to heal and close up. Everyone just watched in utter amazement.

"Look I can explain." I tried telling them but they weren't looking at me anymore. They were looking at something above me.

I looked up and what I saw made me gasp. It was a hologram. But it wasn't just one symbol.

It was fading but I saw it. An orange symbol of a Hearth fire, and above that a green trident with the flames from the Hearth dancing around the pole, both clashing together beautifully. I had been claimed, by both my parents.

"It is determined." Chiron announced.

All around me campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin who looked rather reluctant.

"All Hail Percy Jackson, son of Hestia, goddess of the Hearth, Home and Family and Poseidon, earthshaker, stormbringer, god of seas."

I had joked with my mum that it would be priceless the face of the campers when they learned about who my parents were. But right now, I couldn't laugh, because there was only one thought going through my head.

My father had claimed me.

A/N That's the chapter. It was really long and I'm very sorry that it's late. But it was totally worth it. I really hope you enjoyed that chapter because I had fun writing it. I also want to say thank you to everyone who is reading my story because as of right now I have 5, 346 views on this story and that is just so AWESOME! Thank you again everybody. As always, leave a Review and tell me what you think of the chapter and if you really liked it Follow and Favorite.

Goodbye my Greek geeks. Tide out.