CHAPTER 3: SPIDEY-SENSE

Annabeth

"Okay. Now that you've settled into the cabin, we really do need to get you a weapon."

Amelie tilted her head, "Weapon?"

We walked towards the armory. "Yeah, you're going to need it to survive against monsters. I noticed you were using a dagger earlier. You looked pretty comfortable with that."

Amelie shook her head, "I don't really think I need a weapon."
"Nonsense. Every demigod has one." I held a spear against her and shook my head. Not a good fit.
"No, really."

A hammer in my hand, I stared at her in pure disbelief. She fidgeted nervously, "Maybe I should train before choosing a weapon?" I put the hammer down alongside the other weapons I had gone through: a mace, some sickles, a short dagger. None really fit her.
"That's not a bad idea. Right now Percy is teaching sword fighting lessons."

Amelie sighed, "This is just an excuse to see your boyfriend, right?"
Ignoring her, I said, "Let's make our way over."

We walked the bit of grass that separated the armory from the arena. There, Percy was demonstrating some sword fighting techniques to some Hermes kids. Most were bored out of their mind and were currently trading little possessions as if they were elementary school kids. Connor and Travis were exchanging whispers before smirking mischievously at Percy.

As I walked in, Hermes kids moved to hide their current under-the-table activities. I gave them a raised eyebrow and they smiled innocently, waving, as I continued walking down towards the center of the arena. I punched each Stoll brother in the shoulder. I hitched a hand on my hip and said, "Seaweed Brain."
Percy smiled brightly and gave me a hug. "Annabeth! What brings you over here?"
He then spotted Amelie and gave her a wave. "Amelie wants to practice sword fighting before choosing a weapon."

Percy frowned, "That doesn't make sense."
"I don't know either, but I couldn't find anything that fit her. So could you just show her a few moves with a sword and see if she's good with that. Meanwhile, I could look for more weapons."

Percy shrugged, "Sure."

He went over and handed Amelie a wooden sword. Amelie said, "When I said training, I didn't really expect this."

"We use wooden swords for beginners so no one accidentally dies. Unless you have a death wish."

Amelie smiled, "Eh."

Amelie pointed her sword at Percy, ready for a duel. Percy raised an eyebrow at me, like 'Is she serious?'

I shrugged. "You sure you don't want Percy to show you a few moves first?"

"Yeah, sure. Show me what you got 'O, powerful Percy Jackson." She gave a small mock curtsy. Percy rubbed his hands on his chin, as if stroking a fake beard. "Let the master show you how it is done."

I laughed and shook my head. Percy began showing her the disarming technique while I started to make my way back to the armory.
Clang. "Woah! Beginner's luck!" I heard Percy say.
"You could say that." Amelie replied.

Curious, I watched them from the top of the arena. Percy suggested a small practice duel, and from that, the Hermes' kids began a betting pot, swapping gold coins into Connor's small pouch. A Hermes' kid whispered, "I bet that girl will have a sword to her neck by the end of it." Travis and Connor shared a knowing look.

With Travis's ahead, their swords started clashing. Well, the wooden sword was getting pretty beaten up, but it seemed Amelie was holding her own, so well that in the end, she wasn't the one with a sword pressed on her neck. Percy was, his sword scattered towards the stone stands.

"What?" I whispered. There was no way. Percy was one of the best swordsmen at camp. I hurried my way over, glaring at Connor and Travis, who cheered as they collected their drachmas, only to gulp at my stare. The rest of the Hermes' kids got the message and quickly scattered away, dragging the Stoll brothers with them.

I sighed, shaking my head. I turned around to Amelie and Percy, who was picking himself up and congratulating the other. "Nice job!" said Percy, a small smile on his face.

Amelie rubbed her neck sheepishly. She finally noticed me and waved a bit. "Hey, Annabeth! Found any weapons yet?"
"Let's forgo that for now. Maybe training is the better option for you at the moment."
Amelie shrugged and returned her wooden sword. It suddenly snapped on her and fell to the ground in splinters. Percy stared at the heap of wood, "The dryads are gonna be pissed about that."
"Seaweed Brain, that is the least of our worries. The biggest issue is how did you do that, Amelie? You held the sword as if you were a natural."
"Well… I got lucky?"

"Seems more like you've done this before."
I stared at her and noticed her right hand itching towards her left hand. Her eyes hardened and stared right back at me. "Or maybe I was mistaken."
Amelie just stared at me and then Percy and then back at me. Awkward silence. Alright.
I opened my mouth to speak, but Percy beat me to the punch. He grinned, "Do you want to meet Mrs. O'Leary?"
Amelie and I both said, "What?"
"Yeah. She's not as scary as you thought this morning. No need to kill her or anything."

Amelie shrugged, "Sure, why not."

Percy wolf-whistled and suddenly a dark shadow came bounding in before stopping right before Percy to give him a huge lick to the face. Amelie screamed, "What the hell!"

"Actually, the term is 'What the Hades.' Swearing, the demigod way." Percy laughed and hugged the hellhound, saying 'Good girl' over and over. He gestured for Amelie to come over. She stared at the hellhound hesitatingly with her shoulder hunched up. "She's not going to bite." I said.

Amelie nodded and came closer, feeling the softness of Mrs. O'Leary's fur. She started smiling and playing with the dog as they got to know each other.

Percy smiled at them and then came over to me, his face turning serious. He asked, "What was that back there?"

"Were you holding back with the sword fight?"
"Yes. At first though." Percy frowned, "Something changed mid-way through once I started getting the upper-hand. It's as if she flipped a switch or something because she started attacking, like really attacking. Reminded me of Thalia when I made fun of her hair or something."

I smirked at that thought of Thalia beating the shit out of Percy. "Anyway, did you notice how she reached for her left hand when I confronted her."

Percy nodded. "There's a bracelet I think on there."
"Huh." I noticed the hint of a glow on Amelie's left hand as she played catch with Mrs. O'Leary.

"What do you think? You don't normally ask questions about the new campers."
I looked Percy in the eye. "I don't know. There is something… off about her. Like, she's new, yet nearly kills Mrs. O'Leary-"

"I killed the minotaur when I came."

"Yeah, but that's different Percy. You're different." Percy raised his eyebrows suggestively. I elbowed him in the stomach. "She seems familiar, Seaweed Brain, familiar in a bad way. As if she's ready to stab me in my sleep."
Percy frowned, "She seems harmless enough. Aside from nearly stabbing my hellhound."
"Looks can be deceiving Percy. We learned that much. Remember Luke?"
Percy shuddered, "Don't remind me."

"I'm just going to keep an eye on her. Let me know if she's doing anything out of the ordinary. Oh, and tell Piper and Jason about this."
Percy stuck his tongue out and mock-saluted, "Yes ma'am!"

I smiled, "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Hey, Amelie! Time for lunch."

Amelie reluctantly left Mrs. O'Leary alone and jogged towards us. Mrs. O'Leary looked at her sadly before whining. Percy smirked, "Seems like she likes you."
Amelie smiled, "I guess she wasn't as bad as I thought. Didn't know that there are good monsters."

I nodded, "There are some. You should meet Tyson, he's a cyclop."

Amelie visibly blanched. I laughed, "Come on, let's get food in you."

Amelie

"Come on Malcolm! Hurry up with the bathroom!" whined a random Athena kid.

I rolled my eyes and returned to a map of the camp that Malcolm handed me earlier as a welcome gift. Malcolm quickly came out, "I'm out. I'm out." He came over and huffed, his bed next to mine.

"For a camp, I'd expect the bathrooms to be outside."
"After our wars, Annabeth did a renovation for all the cabins. Private bathrooms with state-of-the-art large showers as she says." He motioned with his hands.
"Hmm. Does she ever get annoying?"

"Sometimes. We respect her more than anything. No one's perfect, of course, but we learn the hard way to just agree with anything she says. Ask Percy. He nearly got bruised everyday since he arrived here because he pissed off Annabeth." He mimed a punch or two.

"She seems paranoid though." I hummed, remembering the multiple times she stared at me as if scanning me over.

"What demigod isn't?" Malcolm started tucking himself in bed. I nodded and returned to literally doing nothing. It seems this conversation is over. There goes my entertainment for the night.

"GAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Everyone jumped to their feet and looked towards the sound, the bathrooms where that Athena kid from earlier ran out with toothpaste smeared all over his face and water dripping out of his hair, distress all over his clothing. Annabeth came over and steadied him, "What's wrong? What's wrong?" She started shaking him slightly. Everyone looked on at him in anticipation

The poor boy faintly whispered, "S-s-spider." before promptly collapsing on the floor.

I frowned. Seriously? A spider? I sighed and waited for Annabeth to come to the rescue. However, contrary to my expectations, everyone started screaming their heads off. It was pure, beautiful chaos. And no one had the right mind to open the door and just escape through there.

Annabeth started shaking and looked at Malcolm for help. The two clung to each other like those pair of chipmunks I saw on television once- Chip and Dale. Everyone soon found a hiding spot as they watched a spider squeeze through the bathroom door and start its slow walk towards the nearest child.

I sighed and stood up from my bed. Malcolm hissed, "What are you doing? Get back here before it massacres you!"

I waved my hand and picked up the nearest cup. I approached the spider and told it, "I can't believe you managed to defeat sixteen demigods and you aren't even a real monster."

I heard the familiar skee sound of a knife being drawn. I put a hand behind my back in a stop motion. "Annabeth, no need."

I smiled and promptly put the plastic cup over the spider. Mission accomplished.

Wide-eyed, Malcolm said, "You defeated it. We aren't going to die!" He cried happily, tears threatening to run down his cheek.

I shook my head, "Oh yeah, I could hear the spider practically yell, 'Noo! My evil plans all ruined because of this evil plast cup!'"
"I knew I wasn't the only one!"
I smacked my head against my hand. For Athena kids, these kids are idiots.

Annabeth whispered, "How are you not afraid of it?"
I tilted my head, "What do you mean?"
"Did you never have spiders come over to you during the crib and practically torture you throughout the night?"

I glanced around the room, "What kind of childhoods did you have? Did you all experience this?"
Everyone started nodding furiously. So that's where the fear arose from. Childhood trauma. Thanks Freud.

"Well… this was an interesting night. Full of unexpected situations and heroes-"
Someone piped up, "Yup. I'm glad Percy didn't have to bust in here with his sword. He still hasn't given me a new book after he tore up my old one from that spider."
Annabeth glared at the interrupter. "As I was saying, we still have curfew. So lights out in 10!"
Everyone groaned. "If Percy was here, we could have gotten away with partying all night." Malcolm whispered before belly-flopping on his bed.

Annabeth

I tossed and turned. That damn spider from earlier. Can't sleep now can I? I sighed and picked myself out of bed. Outside, the moon was still high in the sky and with no sign of handing over the skies to the sun. Anytime now Apollo. Anytime now.

I stood up and made my way towards the bathroom, passing Amelie's bed and then Malcolm sleeping soundly, snoring slightly- "Wait, where's Amelie?" I whispered. Even in the dark, I could tell that there was a difference between the hill that was Malcolm's bed and the valley that was Amelie's.

I put on some shoes quietly and slipped out of the cabin. I started circling around the camp, looking for any sign for the girl. I sighed, rubbing my nose. "Chiron is going to have my head for this. The harpies are going to eat her alive."
I crouched past some harpies and finally wounded back to the cabin. "I checked everywhere. Where are you?" I checked to see if Amelie made her way back to the cabin. I tore at her blanket. No sleeping Amelie. But, one suspicious looking map with the woods circled in red.

"Holy Zeus." I swore as I made my way towards the woods. She just had to go to the one place where she was actually doomed to die. The harpies wouldn't actually eat her, but the monsters in there would… and even worse, the dryads would play pranks. I shuddered at the thought.

I tore through the woods for what seemed like hours until I reached a clearing where the moon shone brightly and there was a faint creek running by. There in the clearing for the whole world to see was Amelie. She was sitting cross-legged and her back was facing me. Faint whispers hung about the air.

Who is she talking to? I circled around, keeping close to the cover of the darkness of the surrounding trees. As her front came into view, I saw… nothing. Not even an IM (not like you could get a rainbow in the faint light from the moon). The crazy girl was talking to herself.

Amelie hissed, "I'm trying! But, if you remember, I have to make sure you don't go crazy. So don't try anything."

I assumed she heard another voice replied as she huffed, "You're impossible. But I'll try again."

Amelie stretched out her arm, her fingers arched over. Her eyebrows furrowed together, eyes closed, sweat dropping. After five minutes, nothing happened. I began sitting on a rock to watch more comfortably.

Suddenly, a couple of pebbles began to levitate from the ground and started spinning. Amelie opened her eyes and then the rocks dropped. She fist-pumped in the air, "I did it! You saw that, right Gaea?"

Chills ran through my spine. Gaea? Did I hear that right? What is going on? Gaea is supposed to be asleep right now. Was Leo's sacrifice in vain?

I hurried back towards the camp and pushed myself onto my bed, blanket covering me. Amelie came in shortly after, and she collapsed onto her bed, immediately falling asleep.

Chiron. I need to talk to Chiron.

Flashback

A black-haired girl, looking about only 5 years old, was throwing daggers, completely missing the straw dummies. Hippolyta shook her head, "Try again."

After another twenty turns, all the dummies successfully had knives protruding out. The Queen of the Amazons hummed in approval, "Sword fighting is next. I suggest you prepare." Hippolyta left to deal with some other duties.

The girl nodded and began gathering her practice knives. As she did so, she felt something crawl across her leg. She shuddered and shook her leg violently, and yet still she had that creepy-crawly feeling. She looked down and saw that she was completely surrounded by insects of various sizes and colors. However, all had eight legs and were looking at her threateningly. They hissed words of hate. The girl immediately reached for a metal bracelet on her left hand. She reached for the tiger charm, which transformed into a celestial bronze dagger. She started batting away at the tiny insects, many dodging and shooting out webs, some disappearing into golden dust.

The girl started huffing in fear as the webs started restricting some movement. She cut through the webs with ease and high-tailed it out and ran. The insects, with impossible speed, chased after her. She ran towards the ocean, hoping to drown the insects. She bumped slightly into the Amazon messenger from the mainland, who just stared at her weirdly. The girl continued on, knife still in hand, as she waded into the ocean, her tunic floating.

She looked back to see a large portion of the spiders were floating harmlessly on the ocean, seemingly dead. However, a good amount was still on the beach. "Nothing to be afraid of. You've faced worse. You could be cleaning the stables right now."

Suddenly, a wave rose and swept away the spiders. There on the beach was the Amazon messenger, conveniently a child of Poseidon. She waved and the girl waded back to the shore.

She asked the messenger, "What was that creature?"
"I have no idea. However, I was on the mainland for a few days. I heard that your Lady Athena turned some insolent woman into a creature, called a spider. Apparently, the woman, Arachne, declared Athena as her enemy and began plotting by breeding more dreadful creatures and attacking anything even remotely associated with Athena. I suspect you would be attacked considering your bloodline."

"Mother just had to make life harder."
The other Amazon shrugged, "Oh, I've also heard our godly parents are currently battling over a town. Sorry, they are fighting over what the town should be named. It's a good location, next to the sea, perfect for trading ports."

"Oh? Thinking about starting a trading business?"
The girl blushed, "I don't see why not. We could all create a business and get some drachmas along with it. Perhaps, we name it Amazon?"
"Nah. That sounds tacky." The pair laughed as they returned back to the center of town, where Hippolyta was waiting, ready to scold a certain girl for missing out on sword fighting training, oh and a certain messenger for the late deliveries.

So... sorry for the late update. This is a pretty long chapter in comparison to the previous two. Oh, and the plot will thicken and pick up soon, don't worry!

Feel free to comment and review. Constructive criticism is welcome!

Eat. Sleep. Read. Repeat! May you all be safe in these daring times.
-hope4all