BUENAS NOCHES EVERYONE! Nick Write here, bringing you the second chapter of Hero of the New Age! Hope you enjoy! It didn't take me too long to update this one, so we're finally back on track. If any of you read my Steven Universe and Zelda crossover, I'm happy to say that chapter 21 should be coming in the next couple of days. Well, I don't want to keep you here to long. Read on!
Link looked around Camp Half-Blood in awe. The place was big. The green clad boy assumed that he could fit at least fifty of the orphanage he lived in in the camp, and there'd still be plenty of room for activities. Percy and Annabeth were also pretty nice. They excitedly showed him around the camp, pointing things out like the archery range, volleyball net, arena, dining pavillion, as well as the twelve cabins set up for the demigods to stay in. The two had directed him to the Hermes cabin, as he hadn't been claimed yet. They told him to go in and get settled, and to come to the Dining Pavillion for dinner in about half an hour. Link bid them farewell, and stepped into the cabin, seeing several kids milling about. He took another step forward, and a bucket of something immediately poured onto his head. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it was a sticky white. Then, two boys came around the corner, and threw a bucket of feathers at him. He realised that the stuff all over him was glue, and he looked at the boys in confusion. They seemed dissapointed.
" You aren't Leo."
Link was even more confused." Who's Leo?"
They ignored him, and looked him up and down." Are you a Hermes kid or just unclaimed?"
Link was still confused, but answered nontheless." Unclaimed."
They nodded simultainiosly." Cool. Well, I'd reccomend you go clean up before the glue sets and gets hard." And with that, they merrily skipped away. Link sighed, and looked around for some sort of water source. He left the cabin, and wandered around, getting a few strange looks from some campers, but most of acted like this was a normal occurance, which at this point, Link wouldn't be surprised if it was. He eventually stumbled into a lake right in front of the forest, and hopped in. Luckily for him, the two boys that pranked him had the decency to make the glue easily come off with water. Once all of it was off, he climbed out of the lake, dripping wet. He frowned.
" This was my last clean green shirt...I'll see if they've got some washing machines or something later."
He ringed his beanie dry, and put it back on his head. He was about to turn away, but he heared a voice from inside the forest.
"Come child."
Link felt a strong pull towards the voice, a familiar feeling in the back of his head. He thought back to what Percy had said about the forest.
'Uh, that forest is crawling with extra bad monsters. Probably not a good idea to go in there. Especially not alone. Very dangerous."
Link didn't know, something about that voice sounded familiar, his body wanting to move in deeper, but using better judgement, he heeded Percy's advice. As he walked away from the forest, he heard the voice again.
" You can't avoid my call forever child. You'll give in eventually."
He kept moving forward at a brisk pace, leaving the forest behind. He was about to head back to the Hermes cabin, but he noticed people heading to the Dining Pavillion, and figured it must've been dinner time. He joined the rest of the crowd, and sat down at the table with all of the Hermes children. He waited a moment, and was surprised when food was appearing in front of him out of thin air. He took a closer look, and noticed that there was acctually something flying around serving the food. The Hermes child beside him took notice of his confusion, and turned her head.
" They're the harpies. They serve the food, and getcha if you're out after curfew."
Link nodded, dumbfounded at the premise of a bird people security system. Then, he looked to his food. There was a jar of milk, as well as a roasted fish, and a side of poached potatoes. His favorite meal. He had no idea how they knew that, but he wasn't one to question good things. He was about to dig in, and noticed all of the people lining up by the camp-fire. He turned back to the girl beside him.
"Hey, what's going on?"
She turned back to him." Oh, they're offering a portion of their meal to the gods. They like the smell of the burning food."
The boy found it odd, but followed the rest of them, and offered some of his fish and half of the potatoes.
' To the gods, I guess?'
He sat back down, and Chiron rose, tapping the glass in his hand with a fork. Everyone looked to the old centaur, and he smiled.
" I have a very good announcement. Tonight, as you may or may not know, is that we will be playing Capture the Flag tonight!"
Cheers flared up through the demigods' ranks, Capture the Flag obviously being a popular pass time. Chiron quieted them back down, and continued.
" Once we finish dinner, take about half an hour to prepare, and then rendzevous at the forest entrance like normal."
The campers went back to idly chatting and eating, and Link thought back to the voice in the forest. He scrunched his brow in slight confusion. He'd have to say something to Percy after dinner. Apparently, the girl still beside him noticed his expression, and nudged him.
" Hey, did you eat something sour? You've got a weird look on your face."
He didn't respond for a moment, and she nudged him again a little harder.
" Hey, new kid! Are you listening?"
Link snapped out of his thinking, and looked up in confusion." Hmm?"
The girl gave him a deadpan look." I was asking if you were alright. You had a weird look on your face."
Link 'ohed.'" Sorry, I was just thinking."
The girl nodded, and went back to eating, before suddenly stopping. She turned and grinned.
" I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Malon, Daughter of Hermes."
Link grinned back." Link."
Malon shook his head, and he took in her appearance. She had long, wavy red hair, and was wearing a skirt along with a standard orange CHB t-shirt. She also had a pendant adorning her neck. She looked like a pretty average girl, save for the mischevious glint in her eyes that all children of Hermes had. She went back to eating, and Link copied her and did the same.
Dinner ended not long after that, and the campers all got up to prepare for Capture the Flag. Link went to find Percy, and he found him wailing away on a training dummy skillfully in the arena. Link waited for him to set his sword down before approaching him, lest he be skewerd.
" Hey, Percy."
Said demigod turned around after taking a swig from a bottle of water. Almost immediately, his sweat and fatigue faded away, and he grinned.
" Oh, hey, Link right? What's up."
Link frowned." I was just wondering. Earlier I went near the forest and washed off in the lake, and I heard a voice calling to me. Is there a monster in the forest that can get inside your head and talk to you."
Percy frowned for a moment, and then shrugged." I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Uh, I'd ask a child of Athena. That's more of their realm of expertise."
Link nodded." Thanks Percy."
Percy grinned, and picked his sword back up." No problem."
Link left the arena, and Percy went back to slashing at the dummy. The green clad demigod walked back across the camp, aproaching the cabins. He went to the Athena cabin, and went to knock, but before he could make contact with the door, a loud conch horn blew from near the forest. The door opened, and Annabeth walked out, dressed in armor. She looked at Link in surprise.
" Oh, Link. What is it?"
He looked around at all the campers leaving, suddenly feeling bad about holding them up.
" Uh, it can wait I guess."
She seemed confused, but accepted the answer, and went out of the cabin, followed closely by several more Athena children. Link stepped in the back of the crowd, and followed them, as the Hermes cabin had left earlier. They reached the edge of the forest, all of the campers either donning a helmet with a red plume, or a helmet with a blue plume. It wasn't long before he was handed a blue one, told that the Hermes cabin had some kind of alliance with the Athena cabin. Chiron explained the rules of the game, and Link got some chills at the mention of no maiming or killing. Was it really that intense? He had a feeling that he was really in for it tonight. Annabeth turned to the crowd of blue plumed demigods, Percy standing at her side. Individually she assigned positions and jobs to each of them. Link, being relatively new, and Annabeth never actually seeing him in combat simply put him up on scouting. She gave him a small scroll type thing, and told him to type whatever he has to report on that. He nodded, and followed the other two scouts to the post. One was a child of Apollo, and the other was the Hermes girl he had met at dinner, Malon. They both grabbed some weapons, and Link grabbed a sword, and a bow. He put the bow on his back, and a few arrows, and sheathed the sword on the sheath draped aross his back facing the opposite direction. Malon rose an eyebrow.
"You're left handed?"
He nodded." Yeah?"
She shrugged." Cool."
The conversation stopped there, and the three of them ventured into the forest. Once they got to the creek, which was the boundary over to the other side, The child of Apollo stopped them.
" Okay. Here is where we split up. I'll head straight forward, Greenie take left, and Red take right. Clear."
Malon nodded." You got it boss."
Link also nodded." Crystal."
They split up, and Link gently padded through the forest, using years of sneaking around the orphanage at night as experience. The forest was alive around him. He could hear all of the things around him, and could feel the living organisms around him. He never felt this aware of his surroundings. Using this to his advantage, he scaled a tree close to him. He flexed his hands, feeling like a completely different person. He was inturrupted from his thinking, when he felt someone below him. It was some of the Ares campers, sitting below the tree he was in, he listend closely. The first one snorted.
" Clarisse is going for the flag herself this time! We can't lose. Not to mention all those traps set out by that Hephestus kid, Leo. Those blue hats won't expect a thing."
Link pulled out the scroll, and gently typed down what they were saying.
' They said that Clarrise is going for the flag herself, and that there have been several traps set out by a Son of Hephestus named Leo.'
After a few seconds, Annabeth responded.
' Alright, good. Rendzevous with the other two, and go take the flag. Aaron said that they had some newbie Ares kids guarding it, and I know the three of you can handle it.'
Link nodded, and put away the scroll. Both of the Ares kids were still below him, so he quietly drew his bow, and knocked a sleeping arrow. He shot the first kid, who slumped down, asleep, and the other noticed, and drew his sword.
" Hey! Get down from there and fight me like a man!"
Link frowned." I'd rather not."
He fired his second sleeping arrow, and jumped down from the tree as the second child of Ares collapsed on the ground. He ran in the direction of the middle part of the forrest, where Aaron, the child of Apollo was. He wasn't long, Malon having already beat him there. Aaron looked to the two.
" Okay, here's the game plan. There's only two guards allowed, so we need to take them out first."
Link looked in his quiver, dissapointed that he had no more sleep arrows. He looked up.
" Either we cripple them from a distance, or we fight hand to hand."
Aaron nodded." Okay, lemme think..."
The three were silent for a moment, before Malon spoke up." I'm the fastest out of us, so I think I'll grab the flag if they two of you make sure that I'm not being flanked."
Aaron nodded." Me and Greenie here will shoot from the trees to incapacitate the guards, but when they call for help, we'll pull out the swords, and make sure you have some extra back-up. Good plan team?"
Link nodded." Sounds good."
Malon also agreed, and the three sped forward, to where Aaron had spotted the flag. They hid right beyond the small clearing where the flag was. Two Ares children disinterestedly watched the area around them, obviously disappointed from the lack of action. Aaron nodded to Link, and the both of them knocked an arrow, and shot the children in the knee-cap, and they let out a scream of pain. Malon sprinted forward, and grabbed the flag, Link impressed by her speed. As she cleared the clearing, one of the guards pulled out what looked like a small walkie-talkie. He grunted in pain.
" We have a situation at the flag! The flag has been removed, and both guards have been incapacitated! Requesting back-up immediately!"
He sounded a little embarrased when he mentioned that the two of them had been incapacitated. Malon ran past them, yelling as she did.
" BRING YOUR ASSES ON!"
The two of them hurried after Malon, and they were making good progress, until a group of about 4 Ares campers came into view. Aaron stepped forward.
" Link! Take Malon and get out of here! I'll deal with these idiots!"
Link nodded quickly, and ran past the children of Ares with Malon, who were about to follow, but Aaron shot an arrow lit on fire in front of them, a sudden wall of fire surrounding them. They turned to look at the boy only armed with a bow, and all four of them drew a sword.
Link was barely keeping up with Malon, but it wasn't because he was tired, but he wasn't as fast as her. He was nearly the opposite of fatigued. In fact, it was the best he'd felt since the last time he left the orphanage with Saria. However, Malon suddenly stopped. Link was about to ask why, before noticing the huge armored camper in front of him. He stepped forward, and told Malon to go. The armored camper grinned.
" So the new guy wants to play hero?"
Female. Link gulped. This must be Clarrise. Percy mentioned that she was a bit of a bully, and Link could easily see it. He clutched the hilt of his sword. Clarrise seemed to like this. She pointed her spear at him, and ran forward, seemingly forgetting about Malon. Link rolled out of the way, still clutching the sword. He wasn't about to attack who was probably the physically strongest camper at the camp. She turned quickly, and batted him with the spear. He got pushed back a few feet, a dull thumping pain being felt in his stomach. The hit seemingly woke something inside him, and Clarisse noticed it as well. He clutched the sword as tight as he could, and grounded his feet, grabbing a peice of wood off the ground, and holding it as a shield, similarly to the one he had before he came to camp. He wondered where it was breifly, before focusing on his opponent. She ran at him again, stabbing and jabbing at a quick pace. He sidestepped and backflipped out of the way fluently. Clarisse growled.
" Hold still!"
Link didn't say a word, and he deflected one of Clarisses' attacks with his sword, using the weight of the jab to throw her up and over him. She landed on the ground with a thump, eyes nearly red with anger. She was about to charge again, before the same conch from before sounded out, signifying the game was over. Link suddenly came out of his trance, and dropped his sword, his hand throbbing sorely. Clarisse growled, but didn't attack. She walked passed him.
" Just you wait punk, next time I won't go easy on you 'cause you're new."
Link almost scoffed, but didn't really doubt it. He probably wouldn't be able to hold his ground like that. However, as Link walked back to the border, he didn't know that Clarisse was almost impressed.
" I'm surprised. Kid doesn't look like he'd be able to so easily throw 250 pounds of pure muscle..." She mumbled to herself as she watched the green clad demigod walk away.
Link had walked over to Malon to congratulate her on the running she did. She grinned proudly.
" I'm so happy! Even Annabeth complemented me!"
Link chuckled quietly at the girl's excitement, and remembered something when she mentioned the child of Athena. He didn't hear the voice this time though, so he assumed that it was just some monster. If it happened again, he'd ask Annabeth. The campfire lasted a few hours after Capture the Flag, mostly just the blue team celebrating their tenth win in a row. Link decided to head back to the cabin, feeling pretty tired after all that exitement. Almost as soon as he laid down, he passed out cold.
Link looked around the darkness. It was odd, as usually he never had any dreams, but now he seemed to be in a temple of some sorts. As he looked around, he saw a lady kneeling at the alter. He walked over, looking her over curiously. From the back, she wore a simple, white, knee-length dress, with long, flowing green hair. She exerted a strong aura, comforting Link almost like the forest had, but much more calming, but more intense on his senses. The woman turned, a warm smile on her face. She embraced Link, who couldn't even move in responce.
" Oh, my child," she whispered," how I wish I could reveal myself to the camp you've found yourself in. However, I don't think the Olympians will appreciate my arrival. But you, dear Link. They don't know about you. They don't know yet that they need you to win this upcoming war."
Link was confused." Need me? Why not someone like Pecy?"
The woman chuckled." Ah yes, Perseus Jackson, Percy as he prefers to be called. The boy is a hero, I won't deny that. In fact, I like him very much. However, you have something that he doesn't have."
Link looked confused." And what might that be?"
The woman smiled, and held out a hand. Link grasped it, and as soon as he did, a small triangle appeared on the back of it. It glowed softly, the bottom right one glowing brightest. He was confused, but the woman seemed sad. The room began to fade into darkness. She clutched his hand a little tighter, before letting go.
" Oh, how I only wish that I could keep you hear longer."
And with those final words, the woman that was calling him her child disappeared, and Link woke up.
AAAAAAAAAAAND THAT'S A WRAP! I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Not much changed in this one, so I guess there was less wrong than I thought. Well, it's all smooth sailing from here guys! At least, I hope so. Remember to follow if you're interested, and leave a review, they're always appreciated. As always...
See You On The Flip-Side~Nick Write