"So all of the Greek myths are real?" Rachel questioned.
"Yes, Red," Percy replied. "Every one."
"And you two are the children of those Greek gods?"
"Yep."
"She's a fast learner," Riptide teased. Percy was inclined to agree; this was their third time going over it.
"But…what about other pantheons of gods, like Roman and Norse? And what about the Christian and Jewish God? And what about Hindu and Shinto and all of the African religions?"
"We don't talk about those," Percy claimed.
"Well, we talk about Roman sometimes," Annabeth added. "But only to mock them."
"…Didn't they wreck the Greeks?" Rachel questioned. Annabeth and Percy shot her a glare. "I'm just saying."
They chose to ignore the insult. "So what are we gonna do with her?" Percy questioned. "Just dump her on Chiron?"
"There's not much else we can do. It's not like she can stay in one of the cabins. She'll just stay in the Big House, probably," Annabeth said, and then remembered something. "Oh, that's right; did you contact your parents?" she asked the mortal.
"Yeah, but they don't really care where I am," she claimed. Annabeth and Percy just kind of accepted that answer. Percy was essentially an orphan, and Annabeth thought the same of her father for close to seven years until she made the first move to rekindle the relationship. "So it's cool. I'll just say I went to a summer camp."
"Well, you wouldn't be lying," Annabeth claimed as they climbed the hill leading to the gorgeous valley that made up Camp Half-Blood. The trio stopped at the top, near Thalia's tree, where Rachel wouldn't have been able to go any farther. Percy and Annabeth held hands, trying to reassure each other. Last time they were here, they were ridiculed by the people who were supposed to understand them. In all likelihood they'd face that discrimination again, as the choker and the damsel.
But at least they'd have each other for support. Annabeth took a deep breath. "I allow you, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, to enter," she announced. With that, the three descended the hill, and approached the Big House.
Chiron wasn't exactly pleased with them. "Who is this girl?" he wondered. "A Half-Blood?"
"No," Percy said. "She's a regular mortal."
"And you brought her here because of what reason?"
"She's clear-sighted," Annabeth claimed. "And she was seen and attacked by monsters because of us. She wouldn't be safe anywhere else."
Chiron's eyes softened when they fell on the girl. "Annabeth…we cannot protect every mortal. Plenty of them have been killed by monsters."
"Well, yeah, but…" she didn't really have an argument for that. "Please, she won't be a bother."
"Am I…not allowed here or something?" Rachel wondered.
Chiron nodded. "Normally, any mortal who enters here would be smited by Argus, our guard," he explained. "It appears he made an exception for you, due to Annabeth and Percy allowing you entry."
"Well, I can stay in here. I don't mind," Rachel claimed, giving a warm smile. "I'm still not really sure what's going on, so…I'm cool with anything, really."
"And it is for the best if you remain in the dark," Chiron claimed. "In any case, it isn't possible."
"But Chiron!" Annabeth argued. "You let Tyson stay here last year!"
"Yes, but it was…he was already a part of this world. She is not."
"So? How does that change anything?" the blonde questioned. Chiron had difficulty answering that one. "She already knows that the Greek gods are real, she knows about demigods, and she's known about monsters her whole life because of her clear-sightedness. She's as much a part of this world as a regular mortal could be, right?" Chiron considered this for a moment.
"Maybe we shouldn't push it," Percy suggested, seeing that the centaur was less than pleased with them. "She can use the place Chiron rented out for me, at least for the summer."
"…No," Chiron conceded. "She may stay, on one condition."
"Sure," Rachel said.
"You will not touch anything, is that understood? Or leave this House until I can find…proper accommodations for an individual such as yourself."
"No problem," the redhead agreed.
"Thank you so much, Chiron!" Annabeth hugged him.
"Yes, yes…run along now. You have chores."
"Right," Percy and Annabeth nodded, and left.
"Don't worry, pops," Rachel said when she saw him sigh. "I'll be super helpful around the place if you want!"
"What have I agreed to…?" the centaur moaned.
"Hey, aren't you gonna ask where the big guy is?" Riptide wondered as they walked down to the cabins.
"Oh yeah, I did notice a distinct lack of Diet Coke on the tables," Percy noted.
"Apparently Mr. D is busy preparing with the other Olympians. The original Artemis' death really kicked their butts into high gear," Annabeth explained. "I think it's all of them except for Poseidon that are preparing on Olympus, and the Fates know what he's doing in his ocean palace. Hades isn't there either, of course, but he's busy trying to contain the monsters in the Underworld as much as possible. He already said he wouldn't actually be fighting in the war."
"Speaking of Hades-"
"Don't ask about the bitch," Annabeth begged. "I mean, she made a move on you right in front of me."
"It was one time," Percy returned. "And you can't say you aren't worried about Bianca. If I die, the prophecy falls to her. She should feel welcome by the camp, right?"
"…Don't say you'll die," the daughter of Athena requested. "I don't like it."
"It's just an 'if'," Percy assured.
"I don't care," she said. And that was that.
The two stopped at the door of the Athena cabin. "Okay, this is my stop. I have to make sure everything is in order; camp counselor and all," she said distantly. Percy could tell she didn't want that position right now.
"Sure, sure," Percy agreed.
"…What'll you do?"
"I was thinking of heading over to the arena," he offered, recalling how rusty he was during his fight with the Empousa. "It's been a while."
"Okay…I'll try and get over there sometime," she said. "Bye," she entered the cabin. Percy saw all eyes turn to her when she entered, but the door closed back up before Percy could see what happened after that.
The son of Poseidon then started to approach the Hermes cabin, to check that all of his stuff wasn't stolen. He went all the way around the cabins, as he didn't really feel like going to the arena. It was just the first place that came to mind. In all likelihood, Percy would just end up wandering the camp until dinner.
He passed by the Poseidon cabin, and his heart sank. The words his father had thrown at him took his heart and ground it into dust. Percy was really tempted to spit on the porch, but he was above that. Next he passed the Ares cabin, where a couple of the guys were leaning outside. "Hey look, it's the choker," Sherman mocked him, feigning like he were trying not to let him hear. Percy shot the kid a dirty look, but otherwise tried not to respond.
"Think he's going to kill another god."
"What a fuck-up."
Percy saw the door to the Apollo cabin slam open. "Oh, I love summer weather!" the Winona Solace exclaimed, even as Camp Half-Blood never drastically changed weather.
"Hey, Win," Percy greeted.
"Hey, Percy!" she greeted, about ten times as cheery. She looked past the son of Poseidon, to the Ares kids. She shot them a glare, and they reared back in terror. They remembered what happened last time. "Were they bothering you?" she questioned.
"Don't worry about it," Percy said. "How's Yew?"
"O-oh," she laughed nervously. "He's the usual."
"So, short and angry?"
"I'm not short!" Yew yelled from inside.
"You're shorter than Win and two years older than her!"
"Girls mature faster than guys! Study basic anatomy sometime, asshole!" Yew returned. Winona became red when he said 'mature', and her freckles started glowing gold like always they did when she was embarrassed or nervous.
"Hey, kid, don't be so self-conscious," Percy pat her on the shoulder. "It'd do you good."
Winona smiled. "Right!"
"Alright, tell shorty that I'm ready to spar anytime," Percy requested.
"Oh, that won't be necessary," Winona claimed. "There's a new swordmaster. He spars with Mikey now. You should go see him; you'd get along great!" she said as she reentered the cabin and closed it.
Percy raised an eyebrow. "New swordmaster?" Percy questioned. "We've never had a swordmaster before…"
"Hey man, I don't want to alarm you, but that line you said to Win, about being self-conscious…that sounded a lot like Luke."
Percy thought about it. "Oh…it did, didn't it?" he wasn't quite sure what to make of that. "Hm."
Last stop before the Hermes cabin. An old friend walked out of this one.
"Yo, Beck," Percy greeted, fist-bumping him. Beckendorf returned it before wiping sweat from his forehead.
"Since when have you called him 'Beck'?" Riptide questioned.
"Since right now, shut up."
"Yo Percy, how long's it been? Six months?"
"It's been a while," he agreed. "How's Silena?"
"Oh, you know; a daughter of Aphrodite isn't an easy person to keep pleased."
"Ooh, rough patch?"
Beckendorf shrugged. "Not so much a rough patch; she just keeps me on my toes, if you know what I'm saying."
"Trust me, I feel you," Percy claimed. "So where is she anyway? Haven't seen her since I got here…"
"Oh, she and Clarisse are off having 'girl time', whatever that is."
Percy crossed his arms. "Normally I'd have a guess, but with Clarisse…" he tried to imagine her wearing make-up, and that just made him gag. "I don't want to think about it."
"Anyway, how 'bout you? How's Annabeth holding up?"
Percy shrugged. "Eh, the usual," Percy was hesitant to give out details, especially when they just confused Percy as it was. "Ran into some monsters on the way here."
"Typical," Beckendorf said. Percy nodded, though inwardly he was still reeling from encounter.
"Yeah, Empousai," he explained. "Probably just below a succubus and the Sirens in terms of temptation-type monsters."
Beckendorf raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever actually met a succubus?"
"I consider most of the Aphrodite cabin succubae," Percy said.
"Right…well, I've got to finish cleaning up for inspection tomorrow."
"Inspection? Tomorrow?"
"Cabin inspection," Beckendorf repeated. "Silena is the inspector tomorrow…and you know how much of a neat-freak she is…and she'll probably grade me harsher than everyone else because I'm her boyfriend…" the son of Hephaestus sighed as he entered the cabin. "Well, better get going. Oh! And you might want to remind the Stoll's. They probably forgot, again."
"See ya, Beck," Percy said as the door closed on him. He proceeded to the Hermes cabin, and only went in just long enough to see that the Stoll's haven't forgotten, but were hastily brushing wrappers under pillows and dirty clothes under beds, with the rest of the cabin helping out frantically as well.
"Ooh, they probably got the worst marks last month."
"Glad I wasn't here for lava dishes," Percy claimed before he left, not wanting the counselors to catch him and force him to help.
With that, Percy was finally able to go to the arena. Once he arrived, he was immediately struck by how empty it seemed. Normally at least some demigods were there training. So, either this guy was so good as to scare people off, or everyone really wanted to pass cabin inspection.
Immediately when Percy saw him, he knew that the guy was the real deal. Normally, Percy would be able to at least follow his opponent's moves. This was the first time he truly couldn't see a sword slash. "Whoa…" Percy said out loud.
"Hey, hey, no gawking. Retain some dignity, why don't you?" Riptide chided.
"Hey, if you can gawk at other weapons, then I have every right to-"
"Any reason you're staring at me, stranger?" the man wondered. Percy hadn't realized that the man had stopped training and was now wondering why this random kid was staring slack-jawed at him.
"I, uh…" Percy scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Well, I heard there was a new swordmaster at camp, so I-"
"That'd be me," the man said, walking toward the demigod. "Quintus," he introduced, before staring slightly down from Percy's face, to his neck. "And you must be Percy Jackson."
Percy turned away, being extremely conscious about his most recent scar. "Jeez, for someone who tells other people not to be self-conscious…"
"Yeah, that's me," he said. "So…are you a demigod too?"
"Yes I am," Quintus answered.
"So what, Ares, I'm guessing? Maybe Athena?" he looked at Quintus' eyes; silver-gray. "Nope, most definitely Athena."
"I was never claimed," Quintus explained. "Just like you, son of Poseidon."
Percy wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Just ignore the hypocrisy," Percy suggested to himself.
"I think it was intentional," Riptide returned. "He's trying to gauge your reaction."
"How do you know?"
"Dude, I've been reading people for hundreds of years. Trust me."
"Well…" Percy still had no idea how to respond. "Um…"
"What I'm saying is," Quintus relieved him of having to answer. "Who I was born to doesn't matter."
"…You say that like it's easy," Percy noted.
"Yeah, I do," Quintus said. "I've been asked to come here to help Master Chiron with camp activities in Lord Dionysus' absence. It's absolutely astonishing to think how divided you campers are. So much of camp life is dictated by who your parent is. It's insulting and demeaning to you kids, really."
"…That sounds like political talk," Percy claimed.
"Well, perhaps I was a politician before I was asked to come here."
"Um…were you?" Percy wondered. Quintus returned to the center of the arena. "You're not going to answer me, are you?"
"How's this for an answer?" Quintus raised his blade. "En garde!" he yelled as he lunged for Percy. The demigod had to react fast, much faster than he did during his fight with the Empousa, and he managed to do it. He dove out of the way and drew Riptide in just enough time to block Quintus' follow-up attack.
The two then sparred. Percy lost. They then sparred again, and again, and again, all the way until sundown. Percy didn't win a single time, but the rigor and effort he put into the training session was enough to basically refine his skills to at least what they were that past winter. It was the most intense training session of Percy's life.
The boy collapsed against the wall of the arena, sweat drenching his face, his arms, his shirt, and basically everywhere else on him. His heart was pounding at nine million billion beats per second, or so it felt like. Quintus seemed considerably less tired, but he was still panting pretty hard, and he slid down the wall next to Percy in a bit more of a relaxed fashion. The two didn't speak until they both could, after they'd calmed down a bit and caught their breath.
"Oh jeez, when Chiron said you were the camp's best fighter, he wasn't kidding!" Quintus exclaimed. "You know, I think you have the potential to match Achilles one day. You're seriously strong, even without your water powers, which I've heard so much about."
Percy considered the man's words for a moment. "…You say I'm strong…but I haven't felt strong in a long time."
"Yeah, I heard you lost your fight last winter pretty badly," Quintus agreed.
"Tch, to call it a fight would be insulting Atlas," Percy spat. "He toyed with me, destroyed me, inside and out."
"If you say so."
"If you say…is that it?"
"Yep."
"Well…I guess I couldn't expect you to sympathize."
"Listen, kid, I've been at this game a whole helluva lot longer than you. I can sympathize," he claimed. "I'm just choosing not to."
"I'm not even gonna ask why," Percy said bitterly. "You probably have your reasons."
"I do," Quintus agreed, standing up. "Alright, you've got to get cleaned up for dinner."
"Don't you have to as well?"
"Oh no, I eat in my little home that I built in the woods," Quintus explained.
"Aren't there monsters in some areas?"
"Yeah, but do you really think I'll let some monster kill me?"
Percy shrugged. "…Can't argue with that."
"Well, I should leave you now," Quintus said as he started to walk away. "Feel free to drop by anytime for more sessions. It was fun."
And then the man was gone.
xxxXXXxxx
It happened suddenly.
There was always one strange or unexpected thing that happened every time Percy went to camp. The first few weeks were as good as he could've hoped for. Sure, he was called a choker at every corner, but hey, what can you do. Annabeth took that kind of stuff harder, but it was usually fine after a talk and comfort. They could only hope that it would blow over eventually.
The two were out Pegasus-riding, on Agro, flying over the Long Island Sound on a glorious day. Things were great.
Then the sun exploded.
You read that right. The sun literally exploded right in front of them. It began as just a large impact. Agro was knocked out of the sky and Annabeth and Percy were both sent careening into the Sound. When they surfaced, they looked up to see that wonderful source of light in the sky violently disperse, until what was left was this strange black void which offered no light.
Suddenly, camp looked as if it were midnight with a new moon. Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other, and then at camp, where chaos was ensuing. And they were both left wondering one thing.
How did Apollo fuck up this time?
Author's Note:
Okay story time; I was going to have that little bit at the end take place in the next chapter, but I just wanted that little stinger at the end. Story time over.
Hey guys! Sorry about the late-ish upload; I was busy writing chapter 43 and I had to throw tennis balls for my dad, because my brother is sick. So...yeah. Anyway, I don't really have much to say about this one; this was probably one of the more boring chapters to write, but hey, next time is gonna be really fun, so stay tuned!
Let me know what you guys thought, though, as always! I look forward to reading your reviews.
Oh, and thanks so much' I think the last chapter alone got like six reviews in a day. Awesome!