Percy and Annabeth are in this chapter, everyone. I hope you like it.
Now for my reviewers…
xXThe Solaris MaidenXx – Thank you for your amazing review and please keep on reviewing. I deliberately had Remus be tortured into madness so that he could be cured. I didn't want Tonks or Kingsley to die, but they will be in a later chapter. I probably won't make them come back to life, but this isn't the last you've seen of them. I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Tsukiyo Tenshi – I wanted Albus to act in a way that no-one would expect, and I'm glad that came across in the chapter. I hope you like this new chapter and please continue reviewing.
Camp Half-Blood
Percy:
As usual, the Camp was in uproar. Everyone was getting ready for the students of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, who were arriving later, but Percy couldn't help but feel that they would never be more ready. Annabeth was fretting over nothing, and shouting if anyone went anywhere near her, so they had begun to give her a wide berth. Chiron had a meeting with the Camp director, Mr D, and so they had vanished, leaving the Demi-gods to do it by themselves. And, to make matters worse, there was a rumour that a Roman Demi-god was coming to Camp with the Hogwarts students.
That couldn't be good.
"They arrive in five minutes," Annabeth fussed, coming over to him and, for once, looking like she wasn't about to blow up.
"Why are you so worked up?" Percy asked with a small laugh. It seemed that was the wrong thing to say because her grey eyes darkened angrily. Before she could begin to scream at him again, he quickly added, "I mean, you look like you need a break."
"I do," she agreed with a yawn, "I just feel like no-body is helping me, and I don't want Hogwarts to think badly of us."
Taking a glance around Camp, Percy had to admit that she was wrong. Everyone was helping, mostly scared of being on the wrong end of her sword, but they were laughing and joking as they cleared things up. They looked happier now that Annabeth had calmed down.
"They won't think badly of us," he murmured, pulling her into the cabin dedicated to his dad: Poseidon, God of the Sea.
"Sit," he ordered, pouring her a cup of hot chocolate and watching as she downed it in one.
Suddenly there was the sound of a horn being blown somewhere to the right. That horn signalled the arrival of Hogwarts, and Annabeth seemed agitated again.
"What if they don't like us?"
"Hey," he murmured, coming to sit in front of her and forcing her to look at him, "They will love us, what's not to love?"
She gave a tearful giggle and nodded at him, before taking his outstretched hand and allowing him to lead her outside.
The sight that greeted them was amazing. It seemed that, while he had been helping Annabeth, the rest of the Camp had finished their work and were now waiting upon the carriage that was making its way over the hill at the far end.
Percy remembered once seeing a TV program called Dr Who. In this program the main character – the Doctor – had a machine called the TARDIS and it was bigger inside than it was outside. This carriage was much the same. It was simple, plain, and looked like it had been plucked straight from the Victorian era. It was pulled by skeletal horses that Percy seemed to remember were called Thestrals. Inside there were sixteen children, who were all reclined comfortably in the cavernous space, as well as two teachers and one man that looked to be a mix between a man and a giant.
XxX
Hermione:
Camp Half-Blood, home to Greek Demi-gods from all over the world, was magnificent to look at. That was the only word I could think to describe it. It was, to all extents and purposes, magnificent.
There were eleven cabins in a semi-circle around the training ground, with Zeus and Hera's at the top and with the female Gods on the right, and the male Gods on the left. I noticed, with only mild surprise, that Hades didn't have a cabin. I paid this no heed and stared first at the mess hall, through which many Demi-gods were exiting, and then at the other building next to it which seemed to be where they housed meetings.
A centaur emerged from this building with another man that must have been the Camp director, Mr D. Dumbledore had had to stay at school because he was the headmaster, but we had Professors McGonagall and Snape to look after us during our stay. Why Dumbledore chose them I would never know, but it probably had something to do with the fact that they were the only two teachers who knew about me being a Roman Demi-god.
If I was honest to myself, then I had to admit that I was nervous. To all extents and purposes, I was a Roman stepping onto Greek territory for the first time in millennia – probably forever. They didn't even know that I was Roman, but they would find out soon enough. Of that I was sure.
"I am Chiron," the centaur stated loudly as we stepped off, and I instinctively moved to stand beside the Thestrals that led the carriage, gently stroking one of their noses. He blew on my hand and it tickled but I made no noise because Chiron was talking again.
"Before we can go to eat, you must be sorted into your cabins. I will call out a name and you must stand within this white circle," he waved his left hand and a pearly-white, almost-perfect circle drew itself on the ground. "A symbol will appear above your head and that will be the cabin you must stay in."
He paused for effect and Mr D put a scroll into his hand, glowering at us as he did so. I rolled my eyes; I had heard that he had a massive temper since he dad, Zeus, had banished him to the camp. I wasn't exactly interested in why he was banished, and so hadn't asked.
"Hannah Abbott."
A shaking Hannah slowly moved out of our protective circle and moved to stand within the other circle. At first nothing happened, but then a shining, silver owl appeared above her head.
"Aah yes, Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom," Chiron murmured as a beautiful girl with long, blond hair and steel-grey eyes beckoned her over. The girl was familiar somehow, though I couldn't place her face.
Chiron then paused for a long time. I thought it was for effect, but one look at his face dispelled that idea. He looked like he'd just seen a ghost, and not a very nice one. When he next spoke, his voice was strained and quiet, but he seemed to give all the Camp Half-Blood residents a warning look.
"Luke Castellan."
I wondered why all of them looked so horrified at that name. Luke wasn't so bad, was he? And he had only joined our school this year, so how did they know him? It was all a mystery, but one that would have to be solved at a later date.
Luke was sorted into the Hermes cabin, but they all shied away from him as though he had a disease.
I was too busy thinking about their odd behaviour to notice that the next six people had gone and now it was my turn. Harry pushed me forward slightly and I stumbled onto the circle.
It began to smoke, grey steam billowing out and both Chiron and Mr D stared at me in as much horror as they had stared at Luke. They knew.
"It happens all the time," Chiron murmured as though in a daze. He seemed even more surprised when a lightning-bolt appeared above my head, placing me in Zeus' cabin. Zeus had no children bar Thalia Grace at Camp Half-Blood, and she didn't appear very friendly.
Nevertheless, I moved over to her and waited while the rest were sorted. Harry got sorted into the Apollo cabin, while Gin got Aphrodite's, and Ron got Hephaestus'.
I followed Thalia as if in a daze, and soon found myself in Zeus' cabin. Thalia told me to be in the mess hall in an hour, and then she left. I rolled my eyes and began to explore.
There was a massive model of Zeus in the centre of the cabin and his eyes seemed to reach into the very corners, seeing everything. There was an alter in front of it, presumably for sacrifices, although I hoped it hadn't been used for a while. Apart from that, and Thalia's bed in the corner, there was nothing in there.
I slowly moved over to it, smiling at the pictures of Thalia and the blond girl from Athena's cabin. There were many of these and there was even one of Thalia, the blond girl, and Luke. So I had been right, Camp Half-blood did know Luke. I shook that thought away and accidently knocked a picture down. I bent to pick it up and cradled it in my hands, unable to put it back, eyes glued to it.
It was a picture of Thalia and my brother, Jason, when they were little. They were only about two and three but you could still tell that it was them. There was a little girl in front of both of them, grinning toothily at the camera and behind the three children stood my mother. That could only mean one thing. The small baby in the picture was me. Thalia was my half-sister. We had the same mum and dad, but from different era's. My dad was Roman, while hers was Greek.
"What are you doing?" A cold voice demanded from behind me, "Who said you could look at them?"
I didn't reply and instead showed her the picture.
"It was taken just before I was adopted. My mother put me up for adoption, but not my brother and sister. I had other brothers and sisters, but they were only my half-siblings and my step-dad didn't want to have three kids that weren't his."
I didn't say I'm sorry, that wouldn't have helped. Instead I watched her silently as she pinned it back up.
"I miss them."
Her voice was so quiet that at first I thought I had heard wrong, but then she turned to look at me and I saw the unshed tears in her eyes.
"I left when I was three, but I still miss them."
"Jason," I told her, indicating the small boy in the picture, "I know why I was placed into Zeus' cabin, and why the circle began to smoke. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Tell me."
She was quietly begging me to and so I did. I didn't know what compelled me to, but I found myself telling her all about finding out that I was a Roman Demi-god, and that Jase was also. I told her about the prophecy and the fact that the Greek Demi-god must have been at Camp Half-blood. Once I had finished, she was silent, watching me.
"This is Luke?"
I felt that I had to ask, even though I already knew. She nodded, smiling at the picture.
"That's Luke, Annabeth and me just before we came to Camp Half-blood."
They all seemed so happy, without a care in the world.
"What happened?"
"You've heard about someone stealing Zeus' lightning-bolt, right?"
I nodded, Luke had told me as much on one of our meeting-dates, though he seemed so sad I hadn't wanted to press him.
"Well, Luke stole it. He wanted to get it to Hades so he tricked Percy Jackson, Annabeth, and Grover the Satyr to take it down for him…"
The name Percy Jackson seemed familiar, just like the blond girl from outside had seemed familiar. Thalia didn't seem to realise that I was no longer paying attention, and she was still talking, " He failed, however, and as they were taking it to Mount Olympus, he cornered them and attempted to take it from them. He betrayed all of us that day, and I shall never forgive him."
That made sense as to why everyone had looked so murderous when they had seen him.
"Why would he even agree to come here?" she mused. It seemed like she had forgotten I was there, though I had to answer anyway.
"They didn't tell us where we were going, only that we would be here for the rest of the year. We have to find out what Luke is up to."
"How are we going to do that?"
"He is my boyfriend," I told her, ignoring how her head shot up in horror at that, "I will pretend to still want to go out with him, and then…" I trailed off, suddenly realising where I'd seen the blond girl and Percy before.
"What?" Thalia demanded nervously, frowning at me and reaching for the sword in her belt.
"I dreamt about Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and Luke," I murmured, talking more to myself than to her." Before I could think about whether I wanted to tell her or not, I found myself recounting my dream.
"I was running along a corridor, something was chasing me, something I couldn't see but could sense. Someone ran to my right but, when I turned to look, there was no-one there. I gave a small shrug, I must be finally losing it.
I emerged into a big, arena-like building with people filling up the tiers of seats all around. Only, many of them weren't people. They were beasts, only a few I recognised, like Minotaur's and centaurs. In the centre, facing me, sat Luke, looking very pompous, blue eyes flashing as he began to speak.
"I welcome all those here today to witness a very special event. You see, these are Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase and Hermione Granger. We cannot allow them to destroy all that we have worked so hard to achieve."
Turning to the right, I could see a brown haired, brown eyed boy of about my age with his hand wrapped around a pen which, even as I watched, elongated and turned into a sword. The girl was beautiful with ash-blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to be scrutinising the surroundings as if looking for an escape route.
I was watching as if on a cloud, I could see myself taking my wand in one hand and a small dagger in the other, but I could also see Annabeth talking – pleading – with Luke. I was confused. What was like ordering our execution? He had seemed okay when I had last seen him, even though I didn't know him very well. And who were Percy and Annabeth? They seemed okay but had the same proud, haughty look that Luke always wore.
He was talking again, "Two Greeks and a Roman actually conversing, much less becoming friends." He sneered cruelly and concluded, "You shall all witness what will happen to traitors."
The girl called Annabeth began to scream at him, "We're the traitors? Luke, look at you. You are going to take Chronos' soul into your body."
"I will be indestructible," Luke agreed, still sneering, "And no-one will be able to kill me."
"You're wrong," the boy called Percy snapped, "Someone will be able to kill you, the person you care about most in the world will be able to kill you."
"You have no idea who that it," Luke hissed, sounding assured but not liking the smirk that crept onto the corners of Percy's mouth.
"Don't we?"
"You will die. Bring him in…"
Thalia was silent for ages after I had finished talking, and I was so nervous I couldn't sit still.
"Demi-gods often have dreams that will come to pass. They are a bit like seers, only what they see comes to them in dreams. The knife you described looked a lot like Katoptris, the dagger worn by Helen of Troy herself, but I'm not sure where you were. You should probably not tell anyone about this and just wait to see what happens. Okay?"
Just at that moment, a bell rang to signal dinner time and as we made our way to the mess hall, Thalia described to me what I would have to do.
"We each have certain tables that we have to sit at. Because we are in Zeus' cabin, we have to go to the one at the far end. We have to make an offer of our food to the Gods by throwing it into the fire over there." She pointed. "Once everyone has sat down again, we eat."
I nodded to show that I understood, and we entered. We were the last to enter, and quickly made our lonely way to the far end of the room.
XxX
Luke:
They all hated me; I could see it in their eyes. It seemed that Percy and Annabeth had told everyone what had happened, and that made them see me as a traitor. I wasn't angry at them. After all, they were only trying to save their camp. I was concerned, however, that Hermione would find out about my betrayal and that she would dump me. She was the only thing keeping me from turning fully to the Dark side. She was my anchor, in some ways, and I couldn't bear to lose her.
When she entered the mess hall and made her way with Thalia down to the very end, I gave a sigh of relief. She didn't seem to know what I'd done, and for that, I was grateful.
Everyone else was on tenterhooks around me, and it annoyed me no end. I couldn't tell them to stop, however, because I would be kicked out of camp.
"Hello," said a dreamy voice from next to me, and I turned to stare at Luna Lovegood. She smiled at me before sitting next to me. She had been placed in Athena's cabin, but no-one seemed to want to come anywhere near me and kick her out.
"I know why everyone hates you."
"You do, do you?" I asked, silently making fun of Loony Lovegood, the lunatic. When she turned to me, however, her eyes were crystal clear and sharp. She actually seemed to know what she was saying, and what it meant.
"You stole the lightning bolt."
I was surprised. She did seem to know a lot about my past.
"And you scared of Hermione finding out and leaving you."
"What are you, master of emotions," I quipped in annoyance.
"I think you should tell her everything," she said quietly before making her way back to her own table and leaving me with my thoughts.
With that in mind, I resolved to tell Hermione of my feelings tomorrow. Everything would be sorted out tomorrow.
