Hey guys, did you have a great Valentines day week? I did, except for having to stay home sick on Monday. Yup, I was still sick this week which is strange because I'm never usually sick for this long, it usually only lasts for up to five days. Well, here are the usual 'answers to anonymous reviewers'. If this is yours please read my reply. To "random person":
Thanks, I'm glad you like it. Your guess may be correct but it may not:)(out of my revealing mood now, sorry). Thanks for your review and here's the next chapter!
Here's an anonymous reviewer that had so name so…Yours:
:I loved the Percabeth scene. Can't believe you're ending it right there!
My response:
I'm glad you liked it; I've had that scene written since this story started but was never able to finish it till this chapter. Sorry but to make up for it, here's the next chapter. Thanks again for the review and enjoy!:)
Here's another unnamed reviewer so if this is yours please read my response. Yours:
:UPDATE this amazing story soon. Could you make a chapter where like when a
person tells a story about Percy, instead of having it through Athlon pov can
you make it so that it's through Orion and Theseus and the rest of the sons of
Poseidon pov.
Lol if that didn't make sense my point is that instead having Athlon pov have
one of the amphitheater stories through some other son of Poseidon pov that is
in the chaos army like orion or thesues and describe how they feel about their
brothers accomplishments.
And also I can you make the chapter where Percy reveals himself sooner or at
least tell about how many chapters longer till it happens.
Again UPDATE SOOON thanks.
My response:
Thanks, I'm glad you think it's amazing.:) I realized that it would get boring soon with Percy's P.O.V. or you'd want someone else and since you said that I've decided to use your idea. It's right at the end of this chapter since this chapter is for a full day, don't worry, I understand what you mean and I'll be using Theseus. Sadly a lot has to happen before then but don't worry, he will reveal his identity to a few people, I'll tell you that. I'd tell you in how many chapters it would be in but I myself have no clue how much, I'm taking this story chapter by chapter each week but when I figure it out I'll tell you. Thanks again for your review!:)
To arianna Lopez:
Thanks, I'm glad you thing my stories good and I'm sorry you have to wait for chapters but the truth is for the lips of one of my most favorite authors: it takes longer to write them then it does to read them. That sucks a lot but it's the truth and I have a lot going on in life right now so I'm going at the steady pace of one update a week but I will promise you one thing and I will definitely keep this promise, I will finish this story, I love this story too much to ever discontinue it had I have so many ideas going with it so I promise you 100% that I will finish this story but it will take a long time. Thanks for your review and here's the next chapter, hope you like it!:)
To Usaully Tarya kostos loveday:
Haha, I'm glad you love it, that means a lot to me.:) Yea, a lot of people are made at me for that cliffhanger but I couldn't help it. Wow, that's really weird. A couple hours before your review I did that exact idea of Percy visiting his old cabin except none of the A-F people show up sadly(You'll see it later on in the chapter). Serious hit of déjà vu right there. Well, here's the next chapter, enjoy!:)
Welp, that's all the anonymous reviewers for now! Here's the next chapter for you guys, I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: Don't own anything except for the characters I actually made up(i.e.: Andrew, Dustin, Katosh, Charlie, Jacob, etc.)!
Chapter 14
Charlie's P.O.V.
I was having a wonderful sleep and my dream just made that even better. It was a bright and sunny day in my dream. I was on the beach, walking hand in hand with Katosh. She was laughing as I talked animatedly about this joke I'd heard, she was beautiful. She was out of her usual clothes. She was in a dark blue short sleeve shirt with silver kapris and silver and blue tennis shoes. Her hair was down and cascaded onto her shoulders, framing her heart-shaped face and her sapphire eyes were sparkling with happiness, love, and humor. She was probably the happiest I'd ever seen her and I liked it that way, it was a Katosh that not that many people get to see.
When I finished the prank she gave one more twinkling laugh, punched me jokingly on the shoulder, called me an idiot, and was about to kiss me before she laughed again, pushed me onto my back, and bolted down the beach. I jumped up and ran after her. The scene changed to the forest and I could hear her twinkling laugh yet I couldn't see her through the trees. I suddenly came across a field about as big as a football field and she was nowhere to be seen. As I looked around, I heard a giggle come from above me and I looked up to see Katosh in a tree, sitting on a branch right above me.
I grinned up at her and she jumped down in front of me. I wrapped my arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around my neck. I closed my eyes as we closed the distance between us and right as our lips were about to touch I was woken up as the door to Percy and I's room slammed open before closing just as loud. I groaned loudly, so close! I was so close to kissing her! It may have been in a dream but it still would have been one. Percy better have an extremely good reason for waking me up or I'm going to kill him! I thought angrily.
"Charlie get up." Percy exclaimed quickly and I groaned again.
"Seriously dude, I was just having a great dream before you woke me up!" I exclaimed angrily.
"Get up Charlie!" He practically yelled and I was glad that the walls were sound-proof or we would've probably woken up the whole ship by now.
"Perseus Jackson," I growled, sitting up in bed, "You better have an extremely good reason for waking me up or I am going to kill you!" I exclaimed and started to glare murderously at him but stopped when I saw how distressed and panic he looked, "What's wrong Perce?" I asked in concern, my bad mood disappearing at his stature, expression, and emotions, if you know Percy like I do then you know one thing. Percy is always calm and laid-back, even in a fight he has his joking side with him so something very serious must have happened to make him like this.
He started to pace the room, breathing heavily which worried me even more, as his best friends it my duty to know his problems and, if necessary, force them out of him, "Percy!" I exclaimed and he whipped his head to look at me, "You woke me up so you better tell me right now what's got you so distressed." I demanded and he sighed. He walked over to his bed and fell backwards on it, clutching his head in distress.
"I-I don't know how to explain it." He answered and I sighed before turning to look at him.
"Why don't you start by calming down so we can talk calmly about what happened." I reasoned and he sighed before taking deep breaths to calm himself. He took off his jacket, revealing his distressed face clearly and sat up to look at me as he took his hands off his face so he could look at me properly, "Good, you've calmed down. Now, please tell me what's got you so freaked out because if there is one thing I know about you Percy, it's that you don't freak out much."I informed him and he sighed. He seemed to try to find the right words to say but couldn't. Suddenly he blurted out an answer.
"I kissed Annabeth." He said bluntly and I froze, not expecting that.
"You did what?" I questioned in disbelief, I did not expect that as an answer at all.
"I. kissed. Annabeth." He repeated in shock, apparently still shocked that he did.
"What? When? Why? How?" I demanded and he sighed.
"I-I was walking down the beach and I saw someone sitting on a cliff and I went to go join them and it was-" He started but I interrupted him.
"It was Annabeth, please get on with it, I don't need the whole back-story." I ordered and he glared at me.
"Well, I'm sorry but I need to explain the whole story for you to understand." He snapped and I nodded in understanding.
"Then continue please." I confirmed.
"Thank you." He stated sarcastically before continuing with the story, "So I went to go talk to her and when I got to her I saw she was crying." He saw my impatient glance and blurted out, "She still loves me." I froze at that.
"She what?" I questioned, not sure I heard him right.
"She told me that she had always loved me and still does." He answered.
"Woh, woh, woh, hold up. If she still loves you then why did she break up with you?" I asked him and he shrugged.
"That's what I asked her-" He started but I interrupted him.
"Wait, you told her your identity!" I demanded and he quickly shook his head.
"No, I didn't I just asked her why she'd break up with Percy if she still loved him." He explained.
"Wait, so she ranted to you about how much she loves you?" I figured out and he nodded, "That is really weird and kinda messed up." I came down to and he nodded, "So what was her answer to that?" I questioned and he shrugged.
"I don't know, she didn't tell me, she changed the subject." He answered and I groaned.
"Well that's just great for you Percy; she broke up with you for reasons unknown and doesn't even tell why." I stated and he nodded in exclamation.
"I know but I didn't push it any further." He stated.
"But that's not all; something else is eating at you more than that." I figured and he sighed, looking down at his hand. After about a minute of silence he started to speak.
"You know that boy named Andrew that showed up during breakfast?" He wondered and I nodded.
"The boy you had a staring contest with?" I questioned and he stopped at that.
"You saw that?" He asked and I nodded. He stared at me for a while before continuing on with the story, "Well, I was talking to Annabeth and she-she told me that-that Andrew is-is…" He trailed off at that.
"Is what Percy? Andrew is what!" I demanded and he blurted out the answer.
"Andrew is my son." He said quickly and my eyes widened at that.
"He. Is. WHAT!" I demanded and he took a deep breath.
"Annabeth said that Andrew is hers and my son." He repeated and I stared at him in shock, eyes still wide.
"How?" I questioned after a couple seconds of silence.
"He's a child of thought of Annabeth's, she apparently got her mother's gift." He explained.
"How long ago was he born?" I wondered and he thought for a second.
"Annabeth said that she had him about 100 years after I had disappeared because she had been going through a hard time then so he'd be around…400 years old now." He figured out and I leaned back.
"So you've had a son for the past 400 years and didn't even know?" I questioned and he nodded, "That must suck for you." I stated and Percy snorted, standing up from his bed.
"Suck? I have a son Charlie, a son. I didn't even know Annabeth still loved me or ever even loved me! And when I find out she does I also find out that she had a child of thought that's mine!" He exclaimed, pacing the room.
"No offense but I'm glad I'm not you, I'd hate to go through this." I said and he glared at me.
"Well lucky you." He sarcastically and bitterly stated.
"It's the true." I answered honestly and he sighed, slumping back onto his bed, sighing.
"I know. It's just, I always wondered what was going on here on Earth while I was with the army, I wondered when who died, who got married, who had children. I thought I was far from all that and now I find out that I have a son," Percy groaned, "He probably hates me, probably thinks I left him when he was just a baby, that I didn't love him." He whispered quietly, looking like he was about to cry. I sighed, shaking my head.
"Percy, if Annabeth really does love you then she probably told him what happened. That you never knew about him, that she broke up with you, and everything that happened. He probably understands and doesn't hate you, I don't know if you'd take this as a compliment but to most people –not including enemies- you're a hard person to hate, especially with your family." I complimented and his eyes got a sad look to them.
"That didn't stop my family from turning their backs on me." He whispered, looking down at his hand. I sighed, running my hand through my hair.
"Look Percy," I demanded and he looked up at me, "I can't tell you that everything is going to be alright or that all your old friends will forgive you or that your family misses you because I don't know that but I'll tell you one thing I do know. You, Perseus Jackson, are a good person and good people always go through especially hard times because they are usually the strongest and though it may not happen soon they are always rewarded for their strength, it may be years later but it always happens." I finalized and he smiled kindly at me.
"You're a good friend Charlie." He truthfully said and I grinned, sitting up tall.
"Yea, I know, I'm awesome." I stated cockily and he chuckled before standing up to go to the bathroom to get changed.
"Good night Charlie, I hope you have good dreams about a certain girl lieutenant named-oof." He was stopped abruptly as he was hit in the gut with the pillow I threw at him. He chuckled, "Good night Charlie." He finished and I fell asleep a second later, my dreams full of the certain girl Percy was talking about though I'd never tell him that he was right.
Athlon's P.O.V.
I was awoken as the door swung open and slammed into the wall and on instinct I pulled up the covers to cover my face since I didn't have my hood on. I groaned and sat up in my bed, the blanket sit on top of my head. Through a hole in my blanket I saw Katosh standing a couple feet away from the door, glaring stern at Charlie and I.
"You two should've been up half an hour ago!" She exclaimed angrily though when Charlie wasn't looking I saw her shoot a loving and longing look at him. I sighed mentally, they're so in love with each other but just won't realize it. I feel bad for all the people who had to suffer when Annabeth and I were like that, I thought and froze as every part from the event last night came to mind. Annabeth still loves me, I have a son, and I kissed her, probably sabotaging everything with her like the possibility that we could've been friends, I thought sadly and my mood dropped down completely where it was pretty much in depression. I looked up as Katosh started to speak again.
"Um, Athlon…why do you have your blanket on your head?" She questioned and I grinned, chuckling.
"Don't you know? That's the fashion here on earth these days! It's either you were blankets on your head or your pants; a blanket seemed less embarrassing." I joked and she rolled her eyes at me though was smiling slightly.
"Charlie?" She asked since he'd probably tell her the real reason why I did. I tilted my head, there seemed to be sadness in her voice when she addressed him and tension was in her figure.
"He doesn't have his hood on." He stated quickly and she nodded in understanding and before she could hide it I saw a flash of hurt go across her face, the same as whenever I hid my identity from her. I was hit by a wave of guilt, she must think I don't trust her so I don't tell her my identity but it's not that, if I told her my identity then she'd treat me differently. Katosh may act like an emotionless and strict person but she was very motherly and protective of her friends, if she knew my life she'd be watching me every second of every day here, I already get that enough from Charlie, I don't need it from anybody else especially from her, someone would figure it out from all the glances she'd give me when Annabeth or even my name Percy was mentioned; with one person I felt safer, like nothing would change and that my secret was safe.
"Athlon, some random person can sneak in here and see your face!" She scolded me, "If you want to keep your identity a secret then act like it and always be on guard." Even though she tried to hide it I could hear a tone of bitterness in her voice and that just made me feel even guiltier, "Now, you both better be up in the next five minutes, dressed, and in the pavilion for breakfast or I'll come back here and kick your butt." She ordered and we nodded. She glanced sternly at the both of us before walking out of the room, the door closing behind her. I sighed with relief and took the blanket off my head.
"Well that was close." I stated and Charlie nodded. I looked over at him, "Does my hair look like a bird's nest now?" I questioned teasingly and he grinned.
"Of course not, you look as messed up as you always do, it's exactly like your personality." He teased back before getting a face-full of my pillow. He laughed and threw my pillow back at me, getting up to go get changed.
"So!" I exclaimed, "Did you have good dreams about a certain-oof!" I was yet again hit in the face by his pillow but I was asking for it.
"Like I'm the only person in this room with love problems!" He snapped, glaring at me(see he's not a morning person at all) and my joking mood changed instantly, my smile changing to a frown as well, "Sorry Percy, didn't mean to do that, it just came out." He apologized but I just grinned, hiding the pain and hurt.
"It's ok. Now come on, let's get dressed before Katosh comes and kicks our butt for being late." I said, changing the subject and he nodded, eyes wide in freight, we both knew Katosh wasn't kidding when she said that and though we're better fighters than her were still scared of her. We quickly got dressed, ran to the pavilion, and made it with seconds to spare. We got our food and sat down in our seats where Katosh glared at us.
"You're both lucky you made it here on time." She growled before going back to her food and we gulped and breathed a sigh of relief before starting to eat. About five minutes into eating Chiron called for attention and the campers quieted down though the soldiers didn't seem to notice. That made me angry, call me crazy but, Chiron was like a second father to me and he deserved respect though it probably wasn't their fault; it was so loud in here and us soldiers were farthest from him. I stood up in my seat, put two of my fingers to my lips, and whistled as loud as I could. People suddenly stopped talking and everyone, I mean everyone, looked at me.
"Chiron has something to say." I said swiftly before sitting down in my seat and looking at Chiron.
"Thank you Athlon," He said kindly and politely, smiling at me and I smiled back, same old Chiron, "Now, since we have a battle coming tomorrow I think we should train. I kind of would like to see how you soldiers fight, if that's alright with you of course Athlon." Chiron said, looking at me and I grinned.
"Of course Chiron, we'd love to." I confirmed and he smiled at me, nodding.
"Ok then all activities like archery, sword fighting, track, rock-climbing wall, and other training station are opened today, the rest such as arts and crafts and Greek class are closed for the day." He decided and everyone nodded before going back to their breakfasts. When we were finished Charlie and I decided to head to the rock wall first. When we got there we saw that there were about 20 people around it and after a couple minutes it was our turn, "Race?" Charlie asked and I grinned.
"You're on." I answered, "One. Two. Three!" I exclaimed and at three we jumped onto the rock climbing wall and climbed up it as fast as we could so we wouldn't get burned from the lava. After about 45 seconds of climbing I made it to the top and sat on it, waiting for Charlie. After another 15 seconds he reached the top and pulled himself up, breathing heavily, "Have fun?" I questioned and he glared at me fiercely but I just grinned back.
"How…did you...get…up here…so…fast?" He growled, out of breath and I grinned wider.
"I did this practically every day for the summers of my teenage life; you'd expect me to have this down by now." I whispered so nobody would hear me and he sighed defeatedly.
"I can't believe I forgot about that-wait." He suddenly stated, "This rock climbing wall is that old!" He exclaimed and I grinned at him.
"Charlie, this rock climbing wall has probably been here since before you were even thought of being born. Probably before your parents even got together." I guessed and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Well, I'm impressed. It's in amazing shape for something that old." He commented and I chuckled, "What?" He questioned.
"You do know that you pretty much called yourself old right?" I asked and he blushed before slapping me upside the head.
"Shut up." He muttered before climbing back down the other side. After doing the rock climbing wall another 20 times -I winning each time of course- we decided to head to the archery range which was the closest training station to here. When we got there I saw that the hunters, a couple children of Apollo, some soldiers, and a couple more campers and soldiers were around. We grabbed a bow and a quiver full of arrows each and walked up to two empty target areas. I know what you're thinking, you're probably thinking I'm still horrible at archery since I was pretty much beyond help but I guess Chaos can work miracles because he taught me how to shoot an arrow so each time it will hit the middle of the target so archery is now easy for me.
Charlie and I decided to do a game of sorts, to see who can shoot the most bull's-eyes. For ten minutes we shot and shot, always hitting the bull's-eye and splitting the arrows already lodged in the target. In the end we ran out of arrows and were starting to feel really uncomfortable under everyone's shocked, amazed, and astonished stares so we called it a tie and headed to the track. We raced each other for about two miles before giving up on beating one another and decided to head to the beach for a break. When I got there I caught glimpse of the hill where I had kissed Annabeth last night and every word from last night that I had successfully been blocking for the whole day flooded my mind.
I knew I couldn't sit here at the beach, left to my thoughts of last night, so I jumped up and ran towards the canoes, dragging Charlie with me. When we reached it I jumped into one and Charlie, sighing defeatedly since he knew he couldn't change my mind, jumped in behind me. We paddled out to the sea and I took a deep breath, reveling in the ocean breeze that I had missed so much. I brought my hand down and dipped my fingers into the cold water, swirling them around. I smiled as I felt strength fill me and grinned as a sudden idea came to mind and Charlie froze, seeing my grin and realizing what I was planning.
"Percy, don't you d-" He started but the next thing he knew I sent a wave big yet small enough to be seen as normal and canoe flipped over, us falling out of it. For a couple seconds I was completely submerged under water and I smiled, chuckling as I looked around under there at all the plant and animal life around us, unknown to everyone who wasn't a child of Poseidon because they never really took the time to look. I resurfaced finally to find Charlie soaking wet and glaring harshly at me though you could see he was trying to hold back his laughs, he found this hilarious. After a couple seconds of me laughing he finally gave up and joined in with me.
After about five minutes we finally calmed down and tipped back over our canoe, jumping back into it and paddling back to shore. Right as we made it back to shore the conch shell sounded and we bolted towards the pavilion as fast as we could, we didn't want to be late again. We slid into our seats carrying our food right as Katosh sat down. To escape the awkwardness around us –that I had no clue why it was here- I searched around the pavilion for old and friendly faces. I saw Dustin talking to some children of Hermes about Texas and the Army, Olivia was talking with some children of Iris and a few hunters, Zachariah was explaining in great detail to some children of Ares about a huge battle we had a couple decades ago in sector 12. Thalia was talking to some of her siblings about how her life used to be, Nico was eating quietly with his siblings, Grover was chatting with some nature spirits and a couple campers, Clarisse was sitting next to her husband, Chris, who was apparently also turned immortal too.
Travis and Connor Stoll were grinning evily and writing quickly in a journal no doubt thinking up another prank, Katie was of course staring at them suspiciously probably realizing the same thing I did. The last person I found was Annabeth who was laughing at a joke Andrew had just told. I quickly turned back to face my food as the memories from my past flooded my mind; our dates, kisses, quests, fights, games, and of course, most of all those things, last night came to mind. I glance back out of the corner of my eyes to see Andrew now laughing at something Annabeth said and I felt a strong emotion grow up in me, it was longing.
I wanted to get to know him, to learn his secrets, his fears, hopes, dreams, wishes, his past, all of his life, and anything else that a father should know. I clamped down on that feeling though and looked back down at my food. I quickly finished it before leaving quickly. I had the random urge to go and visit my old cabin, cabin three. I knew that it was empty since every child of Poseidon was at the pavilion eating. I slowly opened the door and searched the room. There were about three bunk beds in here all messed up and a number of things were all across the floor.
I saw one bed surrounded by metal and jars of peanut butter and I knew that that was Tyson's bed. My eyes widened in surprise as they fell across the bed that I used to sleep in. It looked just as it had the day I'd left, the minotaur horn I had won when I was twelve was still above my bed so I knew that this bed hadn't been touched or slept in since I had been here which made me smile. I walked over there and ran my hand along the horn, reminiscing on how I had gotten it, how much it had cost. I knelt down and went through my drawers, finding picture after picture of me with my friends, Annabeth in almost every single one of them.
Some clothes and essentials were still in there, I had only brought a couple things with me when I'd left and I'd decided to leave all this behind. I closed my drawer quietly and brought my left hand up to my right wrist where the watch Tyson had made my shield still was, not hurt or dented at all. I reached into my pocket and took out riptide. I looked around to make sure no one was around and when I saw the coast was clear I uncapped it. Riptide grew and I smiled as I ran my hand down its name before capping it quickly just in case someone showed up, I didn't want to reveal my identity right now, it would just cause a lot of problems that we did not need right now.
"Going down memory lane huh?" I heard someone else and I froze, turning around to face them. I relaxed as I saw it was just Charlie, he must have followed me after my quick trip out of the pavilion. I sighed and stood up, turning to face him.
"I wanted to see if anything had changed…but apparently they decided to keep it the same." I explained and he nodded. After a couple seconds of silence I sighed and headed towards the door, "Come on, let's head to sword fighting, I could use a big challenge." I decided, grinning at him. He grinned back and we raced to the arena. When we made it there we saw it was filled with campers, hunters, and soldiers. Everyone looked up at us and we awkwardly waved at them. What? We don't like to be stared at! I was about to reach for riptide when I stopped, I didn't want to take the risk of someone possibly recognizing it so, unfortunately, I was going to have to use my other one. I side before bringing my hand down to my waist and unsheathing my back up sword.
"Well someone is going far on keeping their identity secret." Charlie whispered to me, grinning. I rolled my eyes at him before walked towards a huge group that was starting to form in the middle of the Arena. We pushed through the crowd until we got to the middle of it to see what was going on. There in the middle of the group two people were fighting, a boy and a girl. The boy looked like a son of Ares while the girl was a face I was I've known since my first day at camp, my old sort of friend Clarisse.
Her fighting had grown over the centuries, she was a better fighter is that was possible- then again my fighting was a lot better since camp. After about 30 more seconds of fighting Clarisse had him pinned to the ground. After the boy surrendered and got away, Clarisse called if anyone else would challenge her. I was about to offer when some else beat me to it.
"I'll do it." A deep yet cheerful and kind voice called. I whipped my head around to see Andrew standing across from Clarisse, standing right in the front of the crowd. Surprisingly, Clarisse's eyes widened in shock and…fear? Well, who would've thought? Anyway, after her little display of emotion she hardened her eyes and grinned evilly at him.
"Bring it on punk." She growled, clenching her sword tighter. Andrew smiled kindly at her before walked over of the crowd to meet her. He reached to his waist and unsheathed his sword as she got into a stance and he did as well as second later. There was a couple seconds of tension when suddenly Clarisse strike, trying to hit his side. I was waiting for Andrew to block it but he didn't even look at the sword swinging towards him. I was about to jump in to stop him from getting hurt –wow, this fatherly protectiveness comes fast- when suddenly Clarisse's sword was stopped by his which had swiftly intercepted her swing. She narrowed her eyes at him before ripping her sword from his and trying to hit his other side but he just blocked those too.
Strike after strike, swing after swing, Clarisse tried her hardest to beat him but Andrew just kept playing defense, not going on for the strike at all. After about five minutes of fighting Clarisse's exhaustion started to show and she stopped for a second, which was a second too long. Andrew brought his sword up and did the disarming technique, making hers clatter to the ground. He then swiped his leg under hers and she fell onto her back with a bang. Clarisse started to get up but stopped as his sword met her neck. The whole arena was silent as she chuckled and grinned up at him.
"Great job punk, you're getting better almost as good as your-" she stopped talking abruptly and looked down. I had a feeling that she was going to say dad there but didn't, apparently she was just as effected by my leaving as everyone which, I have to admit, is a big shock to me; we were friends but not enough that I'd think she'd miss me. Andrew's eyes shone at that for some reason(A/N: If you don't get it, he's excited that he's becoming like his father who he looks up to) before he pulled his sword from her neck and held his hand down to help her. Her eyes softened at that and pain crossed her eyes at that for a reason I didn't understand(A/N: Andrew was acting just like Percy would've) and she reached up, gripping his hand and he pulled her up.
"Well, I gotta go punk, good luck on your fighting." She stated before leaving the arena, picking up her sword as she passed it.
"You must be extremely proud of him, huh?" Charlie whispered so only I would hear and I smiled, I was so proud of him, he beat Clarisse who is one of the best fighters ever known to camp, he was going to be an amazing fighter someday, better than I ever was. To answer Charlie's question I quickly nodded my head. I looked up as Andrew started to sheath his sword and without thinking I blurted out:
"Is it alright if I could fight you?" Everyone's head swiveled to look at me in astonishment, especially Charlie, but I was also shocked at that, I guess I wanted to take on his strength myself(though of course I wouldn't hurt him, I wouldn't even give him a bruise). After a minute he seemed to shake himself out of his shock and smiled at me, nodding.
"Sure." He answered. I ignored Charlie's gaze and stepped forward to meet him. He took back out his sword and I reached down to grab riptide out of my pocket but stopped, I couldn't take the risk of anyone possibly recognizing it so, unfortunately, I was going to have to use my other one. A millisecond after I had stopped, I moved my hand to my waist and unsheathed my back up sword. I got into a fighting stance as did Andrew.
The room was dead silent as we circled each other. It seemed like everyone was waiting for someone to take the first swing, we both seemed more on the defensive side. After a couple seconds, I realized Andrew probably wouldn't swing at me but I didn't want to hurt him so I swung my sword towards his feet to trip him. But at the last second he jumped and was about to land on my sword but I pulled it back and swung at his side before he could. He blocked it though, like I knew he would, and swung at my waist. I quickly blocked it and started to parry with him. He met each swing and blocked them as if he knew exactly what moves I was going to do and vice versa for me. Father and son fighting(though only Charlie that); an even fighting match. We fought for about ten minutes, swinging back and forth. Sometimes he would get the upper hand and sometimes I would but it was never much. Finally I decided that was enough and swung my sword at his. But instead of trying to hit it out of the way, I used the disarming technique and Andrews sword clattered to the floor, leaving him undefended with my sword to his chest. The room was dead silent as they took in everything that had just happened. Andrew looked up at my face and his eyes widened incredibly large for some reason. I grinned at him and removed my sword from him chest.
"Excellent job Andrew, I feel you are destined to be a fantastic swordsman when you get older, one of the best." I complimented as he stared at my face in shock still, "Are you alright?" I asked, crinkling my eyes in worry, my smile changing to a worried frown. He seemed to shake himself out of his reverie but still stared at me with wide eyes.
"Y-yea, I'm fine," He answered but I wasn't convinced he was, "I-I should go." He stated quickly before picking up his sword and practically running out of the arena, leaving me staring after him in confusion.
"Is he always like that?" I asked Clarisse curiously and she shook her head in confusion, leaving me even more confused. After a couple minutes I started to feel uncomfortable under the stares and cleared my throat uncomfortably, "Well," I said loudly, putting my sword away, "I think I'll go as well." I answered before walking quickly out of the arena, Charlie right behind me. For the next couple of hours we looped around and did all the courses over and over again until the conch shell signaling dinner went off. We ate quickly and when we were done we headed to the campfire with everyone else at camp.
Orion's P.O.V.(A/N: A different change than usual, you can thank one of the anonymous reviewers for this idea.)
We all gathered together into our groups at the campfire, waiting for the story on my little brother Percy's third quest. I've heard soo much about him and I can't guarantee that he is the greatest and nicest demi-god known to us; and I've not even learned half of the things he's done! I sat next to Theseus and talked to him till a boy, whose name I think was Nico, called for everyone's attention.
"Hey, I'm the person who's gonna tell Percy's first quest." He stated seriously before continuing on, "So this year is a quest to save two people: Artemis and Annabeth." Whispers grew at that, "Grover had gone undercover to a school in search for half-bloods again and this time he found two siblings, Bianca" The kid winced quickly at that before continuing as if nothing happened, "And I. While on this mission, we were attacked by a manticore, but luckily we were saved by the Hunters of Artemis." The hunters cheered at that even if a boy had said it.
"Suddenly Annabeth fell off a cliff in an attempt to kill the manticore." Everyone, including Theseus and I, gasped in shock, horror, and confusion, looking over at her. See, we've barely been here for two days and we already like her, she just has this nice aura about her. "But as we learned later, she somehow survived and had been captured by Luke." Everyone groaned at that and a certain soldier that was sitting next to me and is a good friend of mine, shifted nervously.
"Bianca," He flinched quickly again but less than before, "Joined the Hunters and they, along with Percy, Thalia, and I, went to camp. Soon after arriving at camp, we learned that Artemis has been captured, too." Everyone gasped again and my head snapped to look at Artemis, the love of my life, in horror and shock, she had been kidnapped and I wasn't there to help her. She gave me a stern and loving look as if she knew exactly what I was thinking and I blushed before turning back to listen to the story, "A quest was issued and a group was made to go on the quest for Artemis." Everyone cheered at that, even I did but what can I say, the happiness was extremely contagious.
"However, Percy was not part of that quest." Everyone -hunter, camper, and soldier alike- gasped in complete and utter astonishment, Annabeth had been kidnapped and didn't even sent him on the quest. Poor Percy, who knows how he felt, the love of his life had disappeared and he didn't even get to go save her, I thought before realizing something, wait, if Percy didn't get to go on the quest then why is this known as his quest? I was shaken out of my thoughts as Nico continued.
"Grover, Thalia, Bianca, and Zoë Nightshade -Artemis's lieutenant- went on the quest to rescue Artemis. But Percy, being the kelp head he is," Nico stated, smirking slightly as everyone laughed, Charlie the most for some reason. But I blew it off, it was probably nothing. "Secretly followed and soon joined the quest as the fifth member." The whole campfire crowd jumped to our feet and cheered at that, wow, this story is really getting to us, I thought to myself as I sat down again, "They travel to various places such as the Hoover Dam," I heard the immortal campers chuckle at that and again, for some reason, Charlie and Athlon did too, "And the junkyard of the gods." Now all the immortal campers, including Nico, Charlie, and Percy, flinched at that.
"In the junkyard, Percy was visited by goddess of beauty and love, Aphrodite," All the children of Aphrodite in the hunters, soldiers, and campers cheered in respect to their mother, "Who told Percy that she was quite interested in Percy and Annabeth's relationship and was going to make it even more interesting." I could see most people here biting back a groan, knowing what that was like, or glance at Annabeth who was blushing. Charlie thumped Athlon on the back who was looking down at the ground as if he was embarrassed.
"In the junkyard, Bianca died when an automaton was activated." He flinched at that as did the rest of the immortal campers and Athlon. Nico cleared his throat before continuing on, "They learned that Atlas," Everyone booed loudly at that while chuckling, even Theseus and I did, "Had escaped holding up the sky," I saw Artemis, Annabeth, and Athlon-for some strange reason- flinch at that and rub their shoulders, "At Mount Tamalpais, replacing himself with Annabeth," Oh, so that is why Annabeth flinched, I figured out to myself, but why did Artemis and Athlon? I wondered before shaking the thought off and going back to the story, "And then eventually Artemis," I snapped my head to look at Artemis is shock but she just gave me a reassuring smile that luckily no one else noticed, "And is intent on stopping the heroes from success." I snorted at that, aren't all bad guys?
"They defeat him," Everyone cheered loudly at that, the more weird kids jumped up and down at that*cough*Aphrodite kids*cough* or fake cried and were hugging each other like they just won something*cough*Hermeskids*cough*, "But unfortunately, Zoë died in the process." Everything was dead quiet as everyone paid their respects to her, "At the winter solstice, Thalia," Everyone looked at her, "Replaced Zoë as Artemis' lieutenant at a meeting with the gods in which they decided whether they would kill Percy and his friends, choosing to not." Everyone gave a sigh of relief at that.
"Thalia had escaped the prophecy, leaving Perseus alone in it." I saw Thalia look down guiltily at that while Athlon, again for some strange reason, flinched and Charlie patted him reassuringly on the shoulder, whispering something to him that probably only Athlon could hear, "The gods, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Thalia then celebrated the victory of defeating Atlas and everything else the heroes accomplished." Everyone grinned at that; it was a nice break from all the action, "But as soon as they returned, Percy told me about Bianca's death." He flinched at that and looked down at the ground as he continued.
"I blamed Percy," He flinched at that and everyone glanced at him in pity and sympathy, he probably hated himself for that still, "I-I accused him of…failing to protect her like he had promised." He flinched again at that before continuing, "A crack in the ground appeared and the dead came out," Everyone gaped at that and I did too before blushing as I remembered that Nico was a son of Hades and probably did that out of anger, "I had thought at the time that Percy was now trying to kill me as well." I half expected him to slap himself on the forehead and call himself an idiot from the bitterness and anger(at himself) that was in his voice but he didn't.
"I told them to leave and they were banished to the Underworld. Then I…ran away," I expected him to groan at that but he didn't, "And Percy realized that Hades was my father. That," Nico stated loudly, "Was the end of Percy's third quest." It was quiet for a couple seconds before everyone jumped up and burst into cheers. Soon, it all quieted down and everyone started to head to their cabin for a well-deserved good night's sleep.
Theseus and I wandered camp for a while discussing how amazing our little brother, Percy, was and talking about how impressed and proud we were of him to have his as our brother. After about ten minutes, Theseus and I decided to head to bed, leaving only a few campers, hunters, and soldiers roaming the camp.
Welp, there's that chapter, it was more of a filler chapter but don't worry, this chapter had a few important things in it(you'll see what I mean later on). I'm surprised at how long this was, I expected it to be around 5,000 maybe 6,000 but definitely not 8,000; it may even be longer than last chapter! Well, I hope you love this chapter and I'll update again on Sunday, don't worry, the next chapter is on the battle that was announced a couple chapters ago, it has been three days(in the story of course). Please review!:)