I didn't think that three days would pass as quickly as I thought. I went to bed that night after the stable and was woken up bright and early by Alicia who walked with me to breakfast. After that was training, training, and more training.
Camp Half-Blood prepared demigods for life as a demigod. How to fight. How to survive. How to thrive. And it did all of this, while still appearing to be a camp. Despite the weapons training, you could have fun there.
Camp Golden Age didn't bother much with pretense. We were trained, not to survive, but to conquer. The amount of people that I saw sent off to the infirmary was far more than I ever saw at Camp Half-Blood. The training was harder and more ruthless and if you failed, there were consequences. My mark wasn't the only scar that I had now.
On the other side of this very violent coin was that I had improved in nearly every aspect. I could feel myself getting stronger. My work with a sword, while still not great was better. And with the help of Alicia, I had nearly mastered my ability with lava. It seemed that no one else could help me with my other powers.
Polly talked about all of the powers the same, though. That if you thought it, you could do it as long as you were strong enough. I figured that with enough work, I could get my other powers down too.
"I never get tired of seeing that." Alicia said with a smile. I stood there in the arena, a soot mark in front of me from the lightning bolt that I had guided there only a moment prior.
"Well, unfortunately, that's the one that I have down the least…" I said, rubbing my chest, my heart pounding a little harder at the memory of the high voltage welcome wagon Zeus had given me.
"Peter, the things I've seen you do in only three days is just blowing my mind." Alicia said with a laugh. "I mean, I've seen you do things that I didn't think a child of Perses could even do."
"You can't…do storms or earthquakes or lightning?" I asked. She shook her head. "I just figured that destruction had many different vehicles and we just had a choice of ride."
"Well, maybe you do. Lee and I only have the lava." I looked at her for a long moment then nodded. I carefully sheathed my sword then ran my fingers along the raised scar on my forearm. It had closed and I hadn't gotten completely used to it just yet. "Alright. Time for patrol. We have the east side this time."
I groaned a little as I started walking toward the exit. "So boring…" I mumbled with a smile at Alicia. She rolled her eyes and swatted my arm.
"Come on. This is the easy route." We walked out of the arena which was another name for the cleared out circle of trees that was next to the castle. A lot of the training went on there.
We headed back across the front of the castle. I could see the prison on this side and it made me realize how long I had been here. I didn't even know if Jillian was still alive. I stared at my feet at the realization.
"Get back here, you son of a bitch!" I looked up at the sound of commotion. I saw a guy running past us and then I saw Samantha running quickly after, rapidly gaining on him.
"What the hell is going on?" I asked quietly to Alicia. She sighed.
"Battle for generalship." She said quietly. The guy turned around and drew two daggers and then charged at Samantha. "They happen almost every day in Menoetius tent." Samantha was holding a spear. She blocked his two knives and then spun him around before jabbing the spear downward through his spine and out his chest, leaving him limply hanging, his knives dropping to the ground.
"Why did she kill him?" I asked in surprise. I was about to run forward, but Alicia stopped me.
"When someone challenges for Generalship, it's seen as a personal attack. It doesn't matter whether it is or not, it's an insult to the current general's pride and integrity and it means a fight to the death." She explained as we watched Samantha collect the knives and start walking back toward camp, leaving the body there to rot. "Poor Calvin…" She said quietly. "Come on. There's nothing we can do." I looked at Calvin as we walked past and I shook my head, trying to forget about the fact that I just saw someone get slaughtered right in front of me.
The rest of the patrol was nothing to write home about and I spent most of it trying to not show how anxious I was to get to the prison.
"Can we really spare fights to the death? Aren't we kind of limited as is?" I asked right outside of the prison.
"We're bringing in new people nearly every day. We got another Titan back this morning and we're managing to recruit some of the older gods to our cause." Alicia said with a nod. "I'm not saying I agree with it, but we can afford it." I sighed as we opened the door to the jail. The two of us walked in and walked down the hall.
I remembered being there originally and I moved a little bit quicker to the cells. As I got closer, I could hear voices and I felt myself relax a little when I recognized one of the voices as Jillian's. I could see Artie's face next to the bars of his cells and once I was close enough, I could see him. I turned and saw Jillian in the back of the cell. I locked eyes with her and she opened her mouth to speak, but when she noticed Alicia, she closed again.
"Peter. We were just talking about you." She said, her voice low. I tried not to think about the inflection in her words. I didn't want to know if she was mad at me. Well, of course she was mad at me. I abandoned her. "Well, your mom more specifically."
"Jillian was praising your mom's fighting ability." Artie added behind me. I nodded, my eyes still on Jillian.
"I was talking about her fights as champion. When she kept on the offensive the whole time. Didn't wait for an opportunity, but made her own." She said, clearing her throat at me.
"Listen, just quiet down in there." Alicia said, knocking on the bars. I watched as Jillian took the toothpick out from behind her ear and turned it over in her fingers.
"You forgot about her fights against Cavallo. Cavallo was younger and faster, so my mom waited. Bided her time until she finally got that opening. Then she went all-in." I said, taking a step toward the bars. "Those are my favorite fights." I nodded and Jillian sighed before tucking the toothpick behind her ear again. I felt another hint of relief then backed away, looking back at Artie then placing my hand on my sword. "Stick around, prisoners." I said before heading out of the prison.
"Oh, visiting your friends?" I looked up and saw Lee approaching. I rolled my eyes and glanced at Alicia. "I wonder what Krios would think about you—"
"Doing my job?" I interrupted. "I have patrol, now." I said, slipping my schedule out of my pocket. "That includes checking on the prisoners." I started to walk away, but Lee stopped me, placing a hand on my chest.
"I am still your general and I have had enough of your attitude! You will treat me with respect." He said, looking up at me.
"You want respect? Go earn it. Until then, there's always Aretha Franklin." I said, pushing past him. He glared at me as I walked by. I waited until I was a few feet away before I looked over at Alicia. I tried to hide my smile until we were over by the tents again when both of us burst out laughing.
"That was AWESOME." She said quietly. "Until then, there's always Aretha Franklin." She repeated and then shook her head. She fell silent for a long moment then looked up at me. "Peter, you should challenge to be general." I looked at her in surprise.
"Are you kidding?" I said, shaking my head. "Alicia, I've been here three days. Lee has been here years." I turned away and started heading toward the Perses tent.
"Peter, everyone hates Lee. None of the generals can stand him. Everyone likes you. Except Lee. Maybe Samantha. In three days, you're already better with your powers than I am and by the end of the week, you'll be a better fighter." She said, walking close next to me.
"Don't be ridiculous. You realize what this means, right? You building me up like this isn't going to mean anything when he's trying to kill me." I stopped and turned to Alicia. "Just stop. I'm not going to do it." Alicia fell silent as we walked into the tent.
"Just…think about it, okay? Give it some time." She said before heading to her bed.
I didn't know at the time how much time was some in that context. It ended up being not a lot. It was the eighth day I had been there. I hated to admit it, but rescuing Jillian and getting back to Camp Half-Blood wasn't really on my mind as much. It really only happened when I went to the prison and I was starting to go on patrol less and practice in the arena more.
Alicia had gotten Polly and Titus on the side of me challenging to be a general. They were both taking my patrol shifts for me and helping me train. I had to say that this special treatment was really helping and by the end of training on my eighth day at Camp Golden Age, I could take out Polly and Alicia at the same time.
"That's lunch!" Titus said with a laugh, walking over to me. He clapped me hard on the back as I caught my breath, Alicia and Polly both looking up at me from the ground. I sheathed my sword and then offered my hand to Polly who let me pull her to her feet. She stood and moved a little close to me, her hand lingering in mine.
"Good fight, ladies." I said, stepping away from Polly, my hand letting go of hers.
"Oh, please. You kicked our butts." Alicia said with a chuckle, picking up her knife.
"I can't thank you guys enough for helping me train." I said quietly.
"Anytime.." Polly said quickly, stepping toward me again. I blushed a little bit then cleared my throat.
"And as much as I really do appreciate all of this, there is still no way that I'm going to challenge for Generalship." I finished and Titus groaned.
"Come on, dude! You've gotta be kidding." He said with a sigh. "Okay, Polly has beaten Lee by herself and you just took out Polly and one other person."
"I've never beaten you."
"You got pretty close yesterday." He laughed a little bit. "I mean, do you think I just shrugged off the lava to the face?"
"Well, since I was pretty much passed out by the time you won and you were walking circles around me; I figured I didn't make much of a dent." I waited for a response from Titus, but he could think of anything. "I'm not going to risk my life for this. Besides, Lee is already looking for a reason to kill me. I don't need to give him one."
"I guess…" Alicia said quietly, heading out of the arena. I looked at her and then threw my hands up in the air.
"Fine! I'll think about it…" I mumbled. "Now, can we just let it go, for now?"
"Thank you, Peter." Alicia said with a sigh.
"And actually, I hate to put the pressure on, but there's a general's meeting tomorrow." Titus added. I took a deep breath.
"So, you've finally convinced me to think about challenging someone to a fight to the death and now you're giving me a deadline?" I asked, shaking my head. "Fine. I'll think about it, but you much just have to deal with Lee for a couple more weeks." I said before starting to head out of the arena again.
"Thanks, Peter. That's really all we can ask for." Polly said, catching up to me and taking my hand. I looked down at our hands together then back up at her.
"Such small requests…" I said, laughing nervously. She laughed with me and I glanced back at Titus and Alicia who were letting me walk off with Polly.
"Come on. Let's go to lunch." She said before hurrying toward the castle, dragging me along with her. I followed her and she kept a tight grip on my hand, not stopping until we were right outside the mess hall. We went through the line together and found a spot next to each other at a table off to the side. I liked Polly. She was pretty and funny and nice, but there was no way that I could enter into a relationship with her. Especially since I could leave at virtually any moment.
On top of that, I'd feel horrible if I did. Things were already confusing enough with Jillian and Lindsey. I didn't need this whole Romeo and Juliet situation to get too far. I tried to come with a way that I could attempt to nip this sticky situation in the bud, but short of killing her or being a total dickhead to her, nothing was really coming to mind. And really if I killed her that would make me a total dickhead.
"Peter, I'm really, really glad you came to camp." She said with a smile. "It feels like it's been so long, but it's only been 8 days. You were like…a stick person when you came here and now you've got a little bit of muscle on you." She looked at me and bit her lip. "It looks good on you." I looked at her and tried to get the 'I'd look a lot better on you' line out of my head.
"Well, you and Alicia and Titus are to thank for that." I said with a nervous chuckle. She shook her head.
"No, Peter. Listen, when I met you I kind of figured you'd be a lot like Lee. Impatient. Arrogant."
"A total dildo."
"Right. But you're patient and careful and that's why you've improved so greatly. Because you don't get frustrated."
"Well, years of being addicted to caffeine and video games can do that, I suppose?" I said with a shrug. She laughed and then licked her lips slightly, looking at me. I tried to eat quickly and I managed to be done before Polly was.
"I'm going to try and catch a nap before tactical training. I'll see you around." I said quickly, not letting her stop me as I grabbed my dishes and put them away then headed out of the mess hall. Now I had time to be alone and really think about things. This place was good for me, but something just didn't sit right. I mean, killing Lee would be a win for Camp Half-Blood, but at the same time, killing is killing. It doesn't matter who it is. The fact that the people at Camp Golden Age were so readily willing to kill scared me a little bit.
My thinking time was cut short when I heard Lee's voice behind me.
"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen." He said, standing on one of the tables. "One of our teams traveled to Nevada in hope of finding another hole to the underworld. While there, they came across several demigods and none of them saw us coming!" He shouted, prompting applause from the crowd. He held up a ripped piece of an orange t-shirt then caught my eyes. "Peter, would you like to say some things on behalf your fallen brethren?" I stepped toward him, trying to not show how angry I was.
"No, but I would like to say something on behalf of everyone here." I said, drawing my sword. "I challenge you for general ship!"