Silver eyes stared back at him.
Ash hated the mirror.
The bottom left of the cursed thing had a crack in it, and he had to wipe it clean to see his own face. He stared at himself to a while longer, running a hand over his jaw, before running both hands down his smooth face, before slicking them through his hair.
The raven black, auburn streaked locks flowed through his callous hands.
He reached into his boot and pulled out the bloody knife, before pressing down the handle of the tap, and letting the grimy water flow over it. He ran his fingers over the dulled silver blade, cleansing the old blood from it.
He swished some blood around in his mouth, before looking up at the cracked glass, and spitting at it, obscuring his reflection. He ran his tongue over the bottom of his gums, flinching slightly when he found the cut.
He didn't have a clue how it been opened, but he shrugged and left it, sliding the fresh blade into his boot, before shouldering his bag and stepping out of the rest room.
Now, most people would most likely see a 12 year old without any parents and immediately rush up to them and to try find their respective guardian, but when your eyes alone hold a promise of unearthly pain, people tend to stay away. Ash preferred it like that.
Stepping out into the loud bustle of the bug apple grated him, and he found himself instantly wanting to go back to the confines of the rest room but he pushed on, the gut feeling slowly intensifying as the dove deeper into the concrete jungle.
He was interrupted from his self loathing by an explosion down the road, interest piqued, he took of down towards it, stopping around a corner to listen into voices.
"The Police'll be after me." He heard.
Ash could relate
"That's the least of our problems," a female's voice now spoke, "Have you been having dreams?"
Dreams?
"The dreams...about Grover?"
Grover?
"Grover?" The girl's voice replied, more panicky. "What about Gro-"
"I smell something." A new voice butted in, alot deeper and dim-wittedly sounding.
"Smell what?" The girl demanded.
"Like forest." Came the reply.
"Annabeth wait!" Came the reply, and Ash made ready to briskly speed away.
He took 3 steps before he felt the point of a knife at his throat. A girl then materialised, seeming taking off her hat.
The boy then ran round the corner, followed by the third. "Annabeth do have to run of - oh." His sentence falling off when seeing Ash.
The girls grey eyes bore into his own, neither flinching.
"So, you think you can just listen in?" She interrogated, Ash didn't respond, much to her apparent chagrin.
The boy stood next to her, a sword taking shape in his hands, and then the third, much taller than the others, stood behind them.
Ash lifted his head to look up at him. "Your friend has one eye."
The blonde stared at him in a new light. "So, you're one of us."
"Us?" Ash questioned.
"A Half-blood."
"Sounds degrading"
Green eyes smirked.
"We need to go," The blonde asserted.
The group nodded and began following, Ash lagging behind.
She stopped at the curb, pulling a gold coin. "Stop, Chariot of Damnation!" She spoke in Greek, of which Ash understood, frowning in confusion. A black parking space formed, and a smoky gray taxi emerged from the floor, the side labelling it: "Grey Sisters."
The passenger window rolled down, and an old woman stuck her head out. She had a mop of grizzled hair covering her eyes, and she spoke in a weird mumbling way, like she'd just had a shot of Novocain. "Passage? Passage?"
"Three to Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth said. She opened the cab's back door and waved at me to get in, like this was all completely normal.
"Ach!" the old woman screeched. "We don't take his kind!" She pointed a bony finger at Tyson. What was it? Pick-on-Big-and-Ugly-Kids Day?
"Extra pay," Annabeth promised. "Three more drachma on arrival."
"Done!" the woman screamed.
The group piled into the back.
Ash felt sick the minute he entered. The back bench was crowded to four of them, the hulking cyclops not helping the spacing issue. The air within the cab reeked of rot and gods knew what else. He drilled his eyes into the ceiling for the majority of the trip. Percy had them screaming about their eye, and Ash wanted nothing more to just open the door and step into oncoming traffic.
Eventually, the car careened to a halt, at the base of a hill, leaving the group to clamber out the back of their ghostly transport. Both Annabeth and Percy began sprinting up the hill towards the battle, leaving Ash and Tyson to catch up.
Upon cresting it, both Annabeth and Percy passed through the slightly visible barrier. Tyson, who was in front of Ash, went to run through as well, before seeing Tyson being reflected off the barrier, throwing him to the floor in a violent spark.
Ash skidded to a halt before the barrier, unsure whether to expect the ability to pass through or to be repulsed as Tyson had. He resolved to watch, as the other teens ran into combat towards the hulking metal bulls.
The two bulls were charging into the group of hoplite teens, spurting white hot flames as they did. Ash watched Percy's ankle get caught on a tree root, he stumbled backwards, his ankle failing him in the face of a charging bull
"Tyson, help him!" Annabeth shouted,
Tyson tried again to enter, before being repelled. "Can't - get - through!"
"I Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"
Thunder rocked the hillside, and Tyson was charging down the hill towards Percy. He dove in between Percy and the Bull, being drowned in the nuclear firestorm the raging beast unleashed.
Tyson was miraculously unharmed, and he met bull head on. His fists caved in the snout of the bull. Ash watched the bull slam into the formation of some other campers. Weapons went flying, and Ash saw a bronze knife land blade first into ground before him, beyond the barrier.
The silver-eyed demigod shook his head before rushing the border. It simultaneously felt like his skin was being burned whilst having sandpaper rubbed over it. He reached down and pulled the blade out, finding it was weighted perfectly. He sprinted down the hill, flipping the knife around to hold it by the blade, before rearing his arm, twisting his wrist, and launching the blade forwards.
The bronzed edges span through the air as it arced towards the bull, shattering its eye as it buried itself in its mechanical brain. The beast fell on its side, dead. Leaving the campers to stare at the boy that had saved them.
Percy
Clarisse pulled off her helmet and marched toward us. A strand of her stringy brown hair was smoldering, but she didn't seem to notice. "You—ruin—everything!" she yelled at me. "I had it under control!"
I was too stunned to answer. Annabeth grumbled, "Good to see you too, Clarisse."
"Argh!" Clarisse screamed. "Don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"
"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "you've got wounded campers."
That sobered her up. Even Clarisse cared about the soldiers under her command. "I'll be back," she growled, then trudged off to assess the damage.
I stared at Tyson. "You didn't die."
Tyson looked down like he was embarrassed. "I am sorry. Came to help. Disobeyed you."
"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save you. Otherwise, you would've died."
"Let him cross the boundary line?'" I asked.
"But—" "Percy," she said, "have you ever looked at Tyson closely? I mean…in the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him." The Mist makes humans see only what their brains can process…I knew it could fool demigods too, but… I looked Tyson in the face. It wasn't easy. I'd always had trouble looking directly at him, though I'd never quite understood why. I'd thought it was just because he always had peanut butter in his crooked teeth. I forced myself to focus at his big lumpy nose, then a little higher at his eyes. No, not eyes. One eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.
"Tyson," I stammered. "You're a…"
"Cyclops," Annabeth offered. "A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."
"One of the what?"
"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully. "They're…mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods…Well, one god in particular, usually…and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron, let him decide what to do."
"But the fire. How—"
"He's a Cyclops." Annabeth paused, as if she were remembering something unpleasant. "They work the forges of the gods. They have to be immune to fire. That's what I was trying to tell you."
I was completely shocked. How had I never realized what Tyson was? But I didn't have much time to think about it just then. The whole side of the hill was burning. Wounded heroes needed attention. And there were still two banged-up bronze bulls to dispose of, which I didn't figure would fit in our normal recycling bins.
Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "Jackson, if you can stand, get up. We need to carry the wounded back to the Big House, let Tantalus know what's happened."
"Tantalus?" I asked.
"The activities director," Clarisse said impatiently.
"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here."
Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You two have been gone too long. Things are changing."
"But Chiron…He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?"
"That happened," Clarisse snapped. She pointed to Thalia's tree
. Every camper knew the story behind the tree. Six years ago, Grover, Annabeth, and two other demigods named Thalia and Luke had come to Camp Half-Blood chased by an army of monsters. When they got cornered on top of this hill, Thalia, a daughter of Zeus, had made her last stand here to give her friends time to reach safety. As she was dying, her father, Zeus, took pity on her and changed her into a pine tree. Her spirit had reinforced the magic borders of the camp, protecting it from monsters.
The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy. But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the center of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap. A sliver of ice ran through my chest. Now I understood why the camp was in danger. The magical borders were failing because Thalia's tree was dying. Someone had poisoned it.
Ash followed the group as they travelled through the camp, Tyson was asking all the questions about anything he saw, letting Ash just listen in. He asked about the Pegasi, toilets and that cabins, which is when Ash decided to jump in.
"What about my cabin?"
Percy jumped, having forgot about their fourth group member, Annabeth turning to face him too, her grey eyes scanned his form. "Hermes, until you get claimed."
"Claimed?"
"By your godly parent, big holographic symbol over head, new siblings, maybe move out."
"Godly parent?"
"Oh yeah." The blonde thought aloud. "You haven't had the talk yet."
"I know what sex is." Ash responded bluntly.
"Not that talk," She scowled. "You're a demigod. One of you parents was a deity, the absent one. That's why you can see the monsters, and pass through the barrier."
"Yeah about that, is it supposed to burn?"
Annabeth halted, the rest coming to a standstill in the middle of the camp. "Burn?" She interrogated.
"Yeah, felt like sandpaper."
"No, you're not supposed to feel anything." Her eyes bored into him.
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."
Ash just shrugged, letting Annabeth bear down on him whilst Percy's gaze flicked between the two.
The two continued to walk through the camp, Annabeth sending an inquisitive glance at him every so often.
They approached a larger house, a wraparound porch, painted in blue with a white trim. The group ascended the porch stairs, and entered through the front door, the two new comers following the camp veterans. They emerged in an office, where a centaur was, packing items as if he was moving out.
Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not…leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her.
Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kindly smile. "Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over the year!"
Ash sat back and watched the proceedings.
"Clarisse said you were.. you were"
"Fired." Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humor. "Ah, well, someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."
"Besides himself, you mean," Percy growled. Just the thought of the camp director, Mr. D, made him angry.
"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!"
"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances."
"What circumstances?" I asked. Chiron's face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box. Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron's flank but was afraid to come closer.
"Pony?"
Chiron sniffed. "My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur."
"Chiron," Percy said. "What about the tree? What happened?"
He shook his head sadly. "The poison used on Thalia's pine is something from the Underworld, Percy. Some venom even I have never seen. It must have come from a monster quite deep in the pits of Tartarus."
"Then we know who's responsible. Kro—"
"Do not invoke the titan lord's name, Percy. Especially not here, not now."
"But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He'd get Luke to do it, that traitor."
"Perhaps," Chiron said. "But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless…"
"Unless what?" Annabeth asked.
"No," Chiron said. "A foolish thought. The whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying. Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago."
"What is it?" I asked. "We'll go find it!"
Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boom box. Then he turned and rested his hand on my shoulder, looking me straight in the eyes. "Percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. I told your mother I did not want you to come here at all this summer. It's much too dangerous. But now that you are here, stay here. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave."
"Why?" He asked. "I want to do something! I can't just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be—"
"Overrun by monsters," Chiron said. "Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the titan lord. Remember last summer! He almost took your life."
It was true, but still, He wanted to help so badly. Percy also wanted to make Kronos pay. I mean, you'd think the titan lord would've learned his lesson eons ago when he was overthrown by the gods. You'd think getting chopped into a million pieces and cast into the darkest part of the Underworld would give him a subtle clue that nobody wanted him around. But no. Because he was immortal, he was still alive down there in Tartarus—suffering in eternal pain, hungering to return and take revenge on Olympus. He couldn't act on his own, but he was great at twisting the minds of mortals and even gods to do his dirty work. The poisoning had to be his doing. Who else would be so low as to attack Thalia's tree, the only thing left of a hero who'd given her life to save her friends?
Annabeth was trying hard not to cry. Chiron brushed a tear from her cheek. "Stay with Percy, child," he told her. "Keep him safe. The prophecy—remember it!"
"I—I will."
"Um…" Percy asked. "Would this be the super-dangerous prophecy that has me in it, but the gods have forbidden you to tell me about?" Nobody answered. "Right," He muttered. "Just checking."
"Chiron…" Annabeth said. "You told me the gods made you immortal only so long as you were needed to train heroes. If they dismiss you from camp—"
"Swear you will do your best to keep Percy from danger," he insisted. "Swear upon the River Styx."
"I—I swear it upon the River Styx," Annabeth said.
Thunder rumbled outside. "Very well," Chiron said. He seemed to relax just a little. "Perhaps my name will be cleared and I shall return. Until then, I go to visit my wild kinsmen in the Everglades. It's possible they know of some cure for the poisoned tree that I have forgotten. In any event, I will stay in exile until this matter is resolved…one way or another."
He went to move out of the office, before his old, wise eyes met Ash's.
"Ah, a newcomer, and who may you be?"
"Ash." The silver-eyed boy responded.
"Ash?"
"Just Ash." Chiron nodded in acceptance, ignoring the irregularity of the boy lacking a surname.
"Welcome to Camp half-blood my boy, I can only hope you enjoy yourself. Your cabin mates should be able to fill you in the rest of the important information, after Percy or Annabeth give you the rest of the tour. I look forward to seeing you again in the, well hopefully, near future."
He patted his shoulder in a fatherly manner, before trotting out of the office.
I've returned.