Percy speaking
Percy's thoughts
Adamos's thoughts
Adamos speaking through Percy
Any magic
All characters are owned by Rick
(Except Adamos he's mine)
Chapter 8
The God of Destruction's Days at Camp
The next few days I settled into a sort of schedule at camp. Every day I'd wake up feeling tired from the physical training that Adamos puts me through. So far, I've just been fighting the sparring golem over and over again. Adamos hasn't actually taught me any techniques or skills with the spear, so far he's just had me spar for hours using the weapon in its spear form, half spear form, and short sword form and the proper stances.
(Flash back to one of the nights—probably a Monday)
I was on the beach and I'd been sparring with the golem for about an hour roughly. I had bruises all over my body courtesy of the golems stone pole. Adamos had been changing its length and style of fighting every now and then.
"Uh whats the point of this!? No matter what I do I can't beat the stupid thing. I've managed to hit it less than yesterday. I was able to kill the Minotaur so why can't I beat this hunk of rock!?" I yell out in frustration.
"You're not supposed to beat it." Adamos says evenly.
"Then what's the point!?"
"The POINT Percy is to get you used to fighting. Right now you are a novice. Sure you have good instincts for battle but those can only get you so far in combat. And do you really think that you managed to kill the Minotaur by yourself? Even with the fury I've been there guiding you. The perfect stance for a spear, the throw, the swing of the sword. That was me helping to correct everything for your lack of skills. Compared to a normal mortal you'd be a more naturally gifted fighter and challenge to anyone other than a trained master. As for the other demigods here? You'd get your ass kicked in a duel, son of Poseidon or not." Adamos says in a stern voice. Whenever we were training in secret Adamos seemed to get more authoritative, like a general or instructor, his voice seemed to make me listen to him at full attention. That didn't mean I wasn't a bit unruly every now and then.
"So your genius plan is to teach me to take a beating?" I say sarcastically.
"My PLAN is to teach you how to survive against a superior opponent and to increase your physical abilities. Monsters will often be stronger, faster, or tougher than you. You can't just run at them and swing a weapon and hope that they die."
"Then what am I supposed to do?"
"Take advantage of their weaknesses. Like Chiron said, 'your studies will apply to your life'. Myths aren't just interesting stories Percy. Learn to take the advantages given to you and train to live long enough that you can use them to kill your enemies."
"All right." I pick up Adamos's spear that was sticking out of the ground and get into a stance.
"Well I can at least teach you the proper stances for the different weapons." He says with a sigh.
And this is how our late-night training went for the first few days at camp. Me trying to last just a bit longer against the golem and Adamos teaching me the basic stances and proper grips for wielding the size changing spear.
(End flashback)
The tiredness of training however was wiped away whenever I took a morning shower. I've even been waking up earlier to do so. Adamos says that now that we had opened up my well of power, I should have a bit more natural energy. Apparently, these were the divine abilities that we demigods inherited from our parents, and that each one of us has one. They vary between each demigod between how much power we inherited from our parents and what we inherited. Unlocking it is different for everybody because of who their parents are but Adamos explained that most are unlocked during periods of high stress. Opening it for me and setting a connection between our two wells actually put a lot of stress on my well so he's refrained from teaching me how to use my powers. Apparently if I tried to use my powers while my power well was still repairing itself there could be very bad consequences, but he would teach me some things later once it healed some more. For now, I just focused on the activities at camp. Adamos did join in in some of the activities, but other than that he would just play and sing to music in the back of my head at a decently low volume. He actually has a great singing voice.
After my morning shower I had a class about Ancient Greek with that girl Annabeth. Sometimes I would catch her giving me a glance, like she was trying to remember something before continuing on with the lesson. The Ancient Greek was actually not that hard to understand. Well it was a bit easier to understand as compared to English. My dyslexia not acting up nearly as much. Adamos through out the lesson often stayed quiet and just played a bunch of Three Days Grace, Green Day, and Linkin Park. Not bothering to say anything. After a few lessons I could read a few lines of the Iliad without getting to much of a headache. The rest of the day was filled with different activities around camp.
Next was an archery class with Chiron. Adamos was actually excited about this activity because he said that he always enjoyed using the bow. But let's just say that things took a weird turn.
(Flashback)
"All right class does everyone have their bows?" Chiron asked trotting in front of the line of campers. Each of us nodded, holding our respective bows in our hands. Adamos helped me pick out the right bow since the one I had chosen was to small for my body and the next one was to large for me to begin with.
Chiron walked back and forth between the campers offering instructions to us when we needed it. He payed more attention to me since I was the new guy. "Alright Percy move your legs here," Chiron says as he nudges my legs into a different stance with his own bow. "And keep your elbow up." He then moves back to give me more room and turns to walk down the line of campers. I was holding my stance like how Chiron instructed me but that's where things went downhill.
As soon as I released the string the arrow flew straight from my bow…
Directly behind me in the opposite direction from the target. The arrow flew straight and got caught in Chiron's tail. I'll tell you he can jump pretty high when he wants to. Immediately everyone's eyes were on me. Their looks were of ones of disbelief at what had happened.
"I… I don't…How?" Adamos was in complete disbelief.
"Uhm Percy would you mind explain what happened?" Chiron says as he eyed the arrow that was now tangled in his tail warily.
"I honestly don't know." I say looking at the bow in my hand. "I did what you told me and then shot the arrow. After that I honestly don't know."
"Percy tell Chiron to take cover or something. I want to test something." Adamos says inquisitively.
"Hey Chiron." I ask.
"Yes Percy?" Chiron says with a raised brow.
"Would you mind stepping back or take cover actually I want to try something." Chiron's eyes widen a bit with concern and panic before he hesitantly nods. He then trots off quickly to the shed at the corner of the archery range and hides behind the wooden building. The rest of the campers then decide that they also would rather not have an arrow impaled in them and hide with him.
"So what are we doing?" I ask Adamos.
"I want you to, and hear me out, shoot the arrow like how you just did, but in the opposite direction of the target."
"That sounds stupid and dangerous." I think in exasperation.
"You've already shot Chiron, and everyone's hiding so why not try again?" Adamos says insistently.
I just shrug my shoulders because I know that if I don't do it then he's just gonna be annoying later. I set up my stance and nock the arrow in the string and draw it back. I aim in the complete opposite direction of the target. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Chiron and the other campers with extremely worried looks on their faces as they try to make themselves smaller targets behind the shed while still watching me. I take a breathe and remember to raise my elbow like Chiron told me. I release the arrow and it flies again in the opposite direction of where I'm aiming. I then hear a thunk behind me and gasps from Chiron and the campers. I turn around and my jaw drops at the sight.
A perfect bullseye.
My arrow flew and hit the target dead in the center. Everyone behind the shed were speechless. Their draws dropped as low as physically possible. I could feel that Adamos was also amazed at the outcome.
"That's just-"
"I don't even know."
"Fascinating. I can't tell if your one of the best or worst archers in the world. There is like no in-between with you."
"You know I don't think that archery is for me." I think as the arm that is holding my bow drops to my side.
"Yeah maybe I should take over during archery class." I just nod in agreement as everyone else slowly walks over to look at my feat of skill—anti-skill—in archery. After that Chiron and the other campers maintained a fair distance away from me during class, even though Adamos took over for the rest of class and was shooting bullseyes and splitting arrows.
(Flashback end)
After archery class was foot racing. That wasn't exactly my best activity either. In the group I didn't finish last so that was good. Adamos's sparring training at night had really improved my endurance so I could run much faster and longer than I used to, but I still finished towards the back of the middle group. This didn't even take in to account the wood nymph instructors that left me in the dust. Adamos tried to reassure me that it was natural since the nymphs had been racing away from gods for most likely centuries. It still felt embarrassing to lose a foot race to a tree.
Wrestling was a bit better. Adamos was telling me about techniques that worked and other things. I wasn't outright winning against the other campers, but I wasn't a hopeless sparring dummy for them either. That is until I had to spar with Clarisse. She seemed to make it her personal goal to beat me into the mat. Clearly, she wasn't over the bathroom incident. The one-sided match went on for up to fifteen minutes until Adamos got tired of it and pulled a surprise German suplex on Clarisse that left her dizzy and lying on the mat for the rest of the class.
The metal work class not that good either. I tried to make a sword since it seemed to be an easy design. What came out was a lump of uneven metal that would barely qualify as a paperweight it was so bad. Adamos just laughed at my failed creation.
The only activity that I was good at by myself so far was canoeing. Cause that's what heroes are known for. Canoeing.
I could feel the other camper's eyes on me. I knew the senior campers an counselors were taking bets on who my godly parent was, but it seemed that I wasn't making it easy for them. I wasn't as naturally strong as the Ares kids, thanks to Adamos taking over archery I was considered one of the best in camp, even though all the campers were still scared I would accidentally hit them. I however wasn't that good of a musician or healer so that seemed to negate any thoughts of me being a child of Apollo. My 'sword' made it pretty clear that I wasn't a child of Hephaestus. I didn't care about fashion or make up, so I wasn't Aphrodite's son. I wasn't able to do anything with vine plants, even though Adamos says that with his powers I could make plants grow quickly but chose to restrain that power so as not to be mistaken for one of Dionysus's kids. I actually spent ten minutes thanking him for that. Luke tried to reassure me that I might be a child of Hermes, a jack of all trades of sorts among the demigods. I could tell that he was trying to make me feel better, but he was also at a loss. I wanted to tell them all that I was a son of Poseidon just to get them to stop staring at me at least, but Adamos insisted that I had to wait until dad claimed me or else people would never believe me.
During my free time in the afternoons Adamos had me go back to our secluded beach. When I asked what we were doing he said that we were starting our training with magic.
(Flashback)
"So what are we doing here?" I speak freely now that we are at the secluded beach, where I know no one can her me.
"You are going to be learning how to use magic."
"Seriously!?" I say as I get excited. I mean this was magic. "So am I gonna be like Harry Potter?"
"NO!" I flinch at the sudden yell. "HARRY POTTER IS A CHEAP REPRESENTATION OF SORCERY! It's barely witchcraft if nothing else." He huffs.
"Ok so don't try to do an expelliarmus." I say sheepishly.
"Whatever." Adamos just grumbles. "The first thing that we need to learn about magic is where it comes from and how to draw it out and use it for spells."
"Is it like my demi god powers?" I ask.
"Yes actually. Good job. Magic comes from the same place as your demigod powers, the divinity in your blood or from me inhabiting your body. The difference is that while magic is many times more versatile with what you can do with it, but it can't compete with your demigod powers of the same nature. You understand?"
"Yeah," I say nodding my head. "I can do more things with magic, but water magic or earth magic would be less efficient and powerful than if I used my demigod powers."
"Got it in one Perce."
"So how can I use magic. It sounds like it can be confused with my powers."
"That's actually the easy part. Your demigod powers are like a figurative limb. You can, with practice, learn how to control it, feel it around you and use it. Magic on the other hand is if you flex the muscle of that limb and use words, symbols, and/or runes as well as imagining the appropriate phenomenon to shape your power into what you need. Magic essentially comes from the divine presence that we gods exude as well as the mystical nature in creatures of myth, so it would come from the same place as your powers. Therefore, mortals can't really use magic all that much, they aren't born with divine essence like demigods. They run a far greater risk at burning alive due to the divine energy in the spells. They'd have to either be a descendent of a god or spend just about all of their life around divine or mystical artifacts, absorbing the energy to be able to cast a spell." Adamos explains.
I nod at the explanation. Though I barely got what he was saying. What I understood was that I could use magic because my dad was a god. Not really wanting him to lecture me again to explain it all over again, I'd had to sit through those during my time at Yancy already, I say. "So, what are we going to learn first?"
"Well I know you have a hard time memorizing and applying things so if we are going to apply magic to your combat style, I think that it would be best to stick to simple and quick cast spells."
"What are quick cast spells?" I ask.
Well there are many different types of spells. Some that require lots of preparations and chants for powerful effects, and some like quick cast spells which can be used almost immediately and if skilled enough in rapid succession. The problem is that compared to other magics quick casts can only be used for a single effect, so they are much less versatile as compared to other spells."
"Uhhh…could I get an example?" I ask, having lost track abit.
"The best way to compare would be to cast a spell, I can show you if you let me take over." Adamos says which I agree and let him take over.
"The best way maximize the magic's affect is to imagine what the spell will do. For a fire spell you should bring the image of fire into your mind. The next step is to use the power that's within you and draw it out. Some experienced sorcerers would be able to draw power, or mana as the mortals call it, from items that they had the magic stored in, but they generally aren't able to store large amounts, but it's much less dangerous.. Then you use the appropriate word or words of power to activate the spell, the more complex and powerful the spell the longer the chant and more complex the symbols get."
Adamos then turns to a lone rock that was jutting out of the ocean, it was at least sticking six feet out of the ocean and was four feet across. "I'll use that rock out there as a target. And I'll draw from your body's reserves so that you experience what it's like to use a spell." Adamos raises his hand out towards the rock, with two fingers pointing forward.
IGNIUM. Adamos says. I feel a slight pull in my gut. Compared to when I had used my powers before it just felt a bit strained yet not at all painful as compared to using my demigod powers. A symbol appears in front of his fingers in midair, it was shaped like fire and had a letter that looked like a capital Y with a triangle directly in the middle of the letter. Immediately after, a ball of fire the size of a soft ball rockets from Adamos's fingers towards the rock. As it makes contact with the stone the fireball explodes causing the rock to become scorched. My body feels a bit of exhaustion. It was noticeable but only barely and could easily be ignored.
"That was a quick cast spell. It isn't really that strong as compared to other spells, but it does it's job and be cast multiple times without too much cost. Now I'll use a stronger spell to show you the difference." Once again Adamos raises his hand at the rock once again.
IGNIUM TRI KO ENKAI NAUL MAL TO BARRET. As Adamos finishes his incantation I feel another pull in my gut, but this one was much more intense than before. It was almost like using my demigod powers. Three fire balls the size of basket balls rocket towards the rock. As soon as they make contact, they explode in great force. The rock was mostly blown away with less than half still sticking out of the ocean. My body then gets hit with a wave of exhaustion. As if I had run a full mile without slowing down.
"That was a mid-tier spell compared to a quick cast spell." Adamos explains. He was huffing a bit since he seemed to be drawing from my energy reserves rather than his own. "Magic can be classified in tiers: low class spells are the same tier as quick cast just more versatile, then mid class, high class, grand class, and finally god or world class magic."
"What's the god and world class magic?"
"They are spells that are intensely complex and take a lot of energy to cast, but the pay off is a spell that rivals an Olympian attack in terms of power. But you'll never be able to cast it. They are usually done as rituals with multiple mages contributing to pull it off. You'd need four high quality mage demigods to be able to meet the bare minimum, but none of the campers are mages."
"So what spell are we going to learn, how to summon lightning, shoot lasers, make large explosions? I ramble off, getting more excited.
"You are going to learn how to block." I figuratively deflate at the sentence.
"Seriously?"
"Yes seriously. It might not be flashy like other spells but learning how to defend oneself is one of the most important things that a mage can learn."
"But fireballs!" I whine.
"But Percy!" Adamos whines back mockingly. "No. Your just gonna have to suck it up and learn the protection spell first. I guarantee that it will be one of the most used spells that you'll ever know."
"Fine I'll learn the stupid spell, but you have to teach me that fire ball spell later." I say.
"Yeah yeah, now pay attention. I'm going to use the spell and Kevin is going to throw rocks against the shield."
"Wait. Whose Kevin?"
"Kevin's the golem Percy." Adamos rolls his eyes. "Do you see anyone else out here?"
"No but since when did he become Kevin?"
"The day he was created. Duh. Why do you ask such needless questions?"
"Because sometimes you just don't tell me things and it's really annoying."
"That sounds like a personal problem."
"Just…tell me these things sooner please?"
"Fine. Anyways the protections spell. The symbol for it is this," Adamos then begins to trace an upside down triangle that was missing half of its right side in the sand. "As for how to use it I find imagining something like a wall or shield works best." Adamos stands up and faces Kevin the golem. Like earlier he holds two fingers out, but this time in a swiping motion. "QUEN." He says aloud, then the symbol traced on the ground materializes in front of us before turning into a golden force field that covered our whole body.
Kevin then starts throwing the stones at the barrier. The rocks continue to hit the barrier, one after the other. Slight clacks begin to form in the barrier before Kevin throws the twentieth and final rock with such speed that it was easily around 120 mph. It collided with the damaged barrier, bouncing off harmlessly before cracks spread around the barrier. A sound akin to shattering glass was heard and the barrier broke apart.
"All right Percy. You're going to be casting that spell almost constantly during magic practice till you can sustain it for at least a minute."
"Will Kevin be throwing rocks at me?" I ask worriedly. I wasn't looking forward to being hit with rocks when my spell fails to work.
"Not until later."
"Great." I say sarcastically. For the next hour I worked on casting the spell. For the first twenty minutes I wasn't even able to summon the symbol before I finally managed to get it for a brief moment. I kept doing this for the rest of the hour, with varying levels of success. Sometimes the spell completely failed, sometimes it worked for a few seconds, and couple times I put to much power in and overloaded the spell till it exploded violently though I was grateful that it didn't hurt me too much. This went on and occasionally Kevin would throw rocks that would completely shatter my shield after one or two throws, but I was managing to hold it longer each time.
Magic training left me tired and drained by the end of it. Oddly enough Kevin seemed to be incredibly supportive by bringing me refreshments and thumbs up every now and then. Now though I was confident that I could cast the spell six out of ten times that I cast it, not bad for a first day I thought inwardly. Now the next step was convincing Adamos to teach me some cooler spells.
(Flashback ended)
Despite the hard training in secret with Adamos and the eyes of the other campers watching me I was actually liking camp. On my second day since I woke up here Aunt Hestia came back with the things that Adamos asked for. In her hands was a small jar that contained a small flame, it seemed incredibly warm and comforting just to be near. The second item was a book. It was a very gaudy looking book, with 90's laser effects and a cartoon wizard wearing shades on the front. The title read 'Rad Spells for Cool Up and Coming Wizards '94 edition'. I actually thought that she was joking before she waved her hand over it and it transformed into an actual magic tome of spells that looked far more impressive than the 90's style text book that she came with. Adamos said it was supposed to draw attention away from the fact that I'm learning magic and to say it was a gift from Hestia, plus the book had some features that Adamos took from the book that Hestia safeguards. After we received the items Hestia left us in a flash of fire, but not without a hug and a kiss on the forehead. It was both comforting and embarrassing for both me and Adamos.
Now I was adding Aunt Hestia into my sacrifices. I notice the small smile that she has whenever I walk away from the brazier after sacrificing. The only real problem that I've been having was that Adamos seemed to be getting too excited about being at camp at times. Strange things had been happing around camp during the night after I go to sleep. Since I stay out later than anyone else, I know that it's got to be him and he doesn't deny it, he just laughed hysterically. In the span of two nights he's replaced the Aphrodite cabins makeup with horrid shades of yellow, green, purple, and other gaudy colors that don't match. Cursed the metal shops hammers to sound like those plastic ones that squeak when they hit things. Put a large plastic spider in front of the door of the Athena cabin, and I'll tell you that hearing them scream is a great way to wake up the entire camp. He gave the Apollo cabin an emo makeover and somehow bedazzled a bunch of satyrs horns and used super glue to make sure that they stuck. And the biggest prank that I still don't understand how he pulled was that he took just about all of the underwear from the Ares cabin, without them noticing mind you, and sewed them into a flag and hoisted it to the top of the flag pole at camp. The funny thing is that up until that point there had never been a flag pole at camp Half Blood. It just showed up one morning with the underwear flag waving in the morning breeze. Hestia actually had to tell him to stop after that and he hasn't really pulled a prank since, but he has been a bit moodier Other than her everyone else at the camp hadn't a clue how these odd events were happening.
(Line break)
On Thursday, three days since I woke up, I had my first sword fighting lesson. Luke was the instructor and the entirety of the Hermes cabin was attending. We started by doing some basic stabbing and slashing on some straw dummies in armor. Since I had been practicing with Adamos and Kevin for the past few nights I had at least this down. The only problem was that no blade that they had felt right in my hands. Adamos's spear was perfectly balanced in my hands and using it felt natural. But the swords here were either to heavy, light, short, or too long. Luke tried to help me find a sword but even he had given up on finding me a proper practice sword.
"Why don't any of them feel right!?" I say internally. I was holding sword number eight, but it still didn't feel right.
"It's because these were made here at camp. If we had a blade made in the forges of Atlantis for you it would feel well balanced in your hands."
"So I have to get a sword from Atlantis?"
"Not necessarily. I have a bunch of vaults hidden throughout the country with many weapons and artifacts that I've had to keep hidden from other gods and mortals. Most don't know that they exist, so if we get near one of those vaults, I'm sure we can find some suitable weapons for you."
"Why do you have them hidden away?"
"Many of the weapons are ones I've acquired from other pantheons, some are ones I've confiscated because they were to dangerous, others are ones that were lost to history that I recovered should I need them, and some were collaborative works between me and gods of other pantheons as well."
"How many of these vaults are there?"
"About thirty or so"
"Why do you have so many!?"
"Hey, some people collect stamps, I collect mythological items and knowledge of great power." He says defensively.
"Sure. Though I never took my brother as a hoarder." I say with a smirk while I try out sword number nine.
"I am not a hoarder." Adamos said offendedly. "I'm an archivist, a researcher, a seeker of great knowledge and keeper of the some of the most dangerous items in existence."
"So, a hoarder with purpose then?" I say with a smirk.
"Just shut up. You'll never understand what I do." He grumbles. "I think that sword fourth from the left over there might work." I just chuckle at his attempt to change the subject. It might be a bit immature, but he's been going Drill Sargent in my nightly training, so this was good payback.
After finding a sword that at least somewhat felt ok, I went to the class. Luke said that we were to break into pairs for sparring and had chosen to be my partner since this was my first class. "Good luck, Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years." One of the other campers told me. "Maybe he'll go easy on me?" I say but the camper just snorts.
"I don't like this." Adamos says skeptically. "It would be better to stick you with someone at least around your skill level so that you actually stand a chance."
I raise an eyebrow at the statement. "And what about Kevin? He's way better than me and beats me up all the time?"
"I told you before, Kevin was made to teach you how to defend yourself against a superior opponent. He's meant to make you trust your instincts and get you into fighting shape while staying at a manageable level for you. Haven't you noticed that Kevin only uses simple techniques for his styles and no advanced moves?"
I actually think back to the times I trained with the golem and realized he was right. He only used basic moves rather than anything out of my skill level. Hell, most of his sword moves were covered in the class earlier. "Huh your right."
I wasn't able to think more about this as I was now in front of Luke. He held a sword that was a bit longer than the one that I was using.
"Shield or not?" He asked
"Excuse me?" He just chuckled at my response. "I'm asking if you want to fight with shields or just swords." I feel my face flush a bit in embarrassment before I choose to only do swords. Adamos's spear could change to a short sword form so I had some experience with just a sword but none whatso ever with a shield.
Throughout the session Luke showed me thrusts, slashes and parries the hard way. With each swing or thrust of his sword I was getting even more bruised. He was actually better than Kevin because every time that I dodged or blocked, he would use some sort of move and immediately get past my guard. With Kevin I at least had a chance to hit back, but with Luke it was like I was just being used as a punching bag. Though he did try to teach me in his own way.
"Keep your guard up Percy," He'd say and then hit me in the ribs. "Not that high up!" After he hit me in the ribs. "All right lunge," He'd then parry my thrust and swing the blade close to my neck. "That's a pretty decent thrust. But you still need a lot of work." He said.
By the time he called for a break I was sweating through my shirt. I was seriously tired, Adamos on the other hand was seething in anger. He apparently didn't like how Luke was teaching me.
"Little prick thinks that he can make fun of us does he. Give me controls so I can kick his second-rate ass." Adamos growls in my head
"You can't. It'll draw to much attention if I just outright beat him. And besides he's sorta teaching me and I can't have you dealing with my problem all the time, so I have to do this." I try to reason with him.
After a few seconds he just sighs. "Fine but I'm going to help you a bit. I think it's safe to use some of our powers. So I'm going to give you some of my war domain." It wasn't what I wanted but it was a compromise, so I agree to it. I really just didn't want Adamos 'accidentally' stabbing Luke for those comments about my stance and techniques needing more work.
I made my way to the drinks cooler after most of the other campers began to clear out. I was feeling tired, so after a long drink I dumped the rest over my head. I knew the water would invigorate me, I've had Kevin dump me into the water at our beach a bunch of times when I collapsed from sparring and magic training. I immediately felt better. The water wasn't enough to heal my bruises, but it was enough to put the strength back in my body. Even the practice sword didn't feel so clunky like before.
"Okay everyone circle up!" Luke yelled. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
"If he thinks he can humiliate you in front of everyone he's got another thing coming." Adamos says heatedly.
"Lets just deal with it."
Everyone from the Hermes cabin gathered around. They all had suppressed smiles. I figured that this had to be some sort of initiation that everyone went through, and they couldn't wait to see Luke use me like one of those straw dummies. He told everyone about the disarming technique that he was going to be showing. How to twist the blade in a way that made your opponent drop their sword. He used the move on my in slow motion and my sword dropped out of my hand.
"I must stress that his move is difficult so no laughing at Percy." He said as I retrieved my sword. "We are going to keep sparring till one of us gets it. Ready Percy?" He asks. I nod in response.
Immediately Luke came at me faster than before. I felt Adamos let some of his war and weapons domain activate in me. Everything around me began to slow down just a bit, my nerves and senses felt supercharged with lightning and my sight became sharper. I could see the different muscles working and moving in Luke's body as I kept him from getting to my hilt. I could see all of the different moves that Luke was going to do and I my body responded with the most efficient and natural counter. I then stepped forward and trust at Luke and he easily deflected the attack, but something changed as his eyes narrowed, and he began pressing more.
I was beginning to tire out. Even though Adamos was giving me the skills to defend against Luke the energy boost I got from the water was beginning to wear off. Then Luke made a mistake. The last move that he did left him in a vulnerable spot that was a perfect chance to try to disarming move. Adamos sent a feeling of agreement and I went for it.
My blade hit the base of his sword, and with a twist downward, Luke's sword clattered to the ground. The tip of my blade was pointed at his unprotected chest. Everyone in the arena that was watching went silent. I just lowered my sword and began taking deep breathes, trying to rest up a bit. Luke broke out into a grin "By the gods Percy that was great, you have to show me that again."
"I don't think that I have the energy to do that again." I mentally say.
"Yeah, a twelve-year-old fighting an eighteen-year-old, such a fair match up." Adamos said sarcastically in my head.
I tried to deny Luke, but he didn't relent, and I found myself in a combat stance once again. This time though I only lasted about ten seconds before my sword skittered across the floor. My body was completely sore at that point. After a long pause a camper just shouted, "Beginners luck?" Luke just looked at me with a different gleam in his eyes. He just mumbled a barely audible "Maybe…" before going back to the lesson.
(Line break)
It was Friday afternoon and I was sitting with Grover on the pier, resting after almost dyeing from the rock wall. Adamos, not liking Grover's presence, just retreated to the back of my mind and began playing guitar and singing to rock music. Grover got to the top no problem due to his goat legs, but I was almost encased in lava. My shirt had many scorch marks and holes in it. We sat there for a while before I asked him how his conversation with Mr. D went. He just turned a sickly green color.
"Fine," he said, "Just great."
"So, your careers still on track?"
"Chiron told you I wanted a searcher's license?" He said nervously.
"No actually," I had no clue what a searcher does. But the look on Grover's face squashed my desire to ask more. "He just said that you have big plans and that you needed credit for a keeper's assignment. So how did it go?"
Grover just looed out over the water. "Mr. D just suspended my judgement. He said that I didn't actually succeed or fail. Just that our fates are still tied together. If you got a quest and we came back alive then he'd consider the mission complete."
My spirits lifted. I was supposed to do something big soon, so if it was a quest then I could bring Grover with me. "Well that's not so bad, right?"
"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest are virtually none. Even so why would you want me along?" Adamos just snorted in amusement. I made sure he felt my disapproval at that.
"Of course I'd want you along." Grover just seemed to get more depressed. I bit my lip in frustration then made up my mind. "Grover, I think that your chance might come soon." He just gave me an incredulous look, like he was trying to debate if I was just trying to lie to make him feel better. "It's just a feeling I have, but I think that something is gonna come along and you'll get your chance." After a few moments he smiles. "Thanks Percy." After that we just fell int a casual conversation though in the back of my head Adamos was making his annoyance at my hinting to Grover about future events known. We talked till I brought up a question I've been meaning to ask.
"So why aren't there any kids of the big three?" Grover just shifted uncomfortably at the question.
"About sixty years ago, after World War II, the big three agreed that they wouldn't sire anymore heroes." I just raised an eyebrow at that, but Grover continued. "Their children were to powerful, they altered human history to much. World War II was basically a fight with Zeus and Poseidon's kids on one side and Hade's kids on the other. When Zeus and Poseidon won, they made Hades agree to an oath on the Styx to not have demigod children."
"Isn't that the most serious oath you can make?" Grover just nodded before his face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this eighties starlet with big hair—he just couldn't help himself. When his child was born—a little girl named Thalia—the river Styx took action at the broken oath. Zeus got off easy because he was a god, but he brought a terrible fate to his daughter."
My mouth was agape. "But that isn't fair. It wasn't her fault."
"Percy, children of the big three have powers greater than other half bloods. They have strong aura and a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out he released some of the underworlds worst monsters to hunt her. To get back at Zeus for breaking the oath that he started. A satyr was assigned as her keeper when she was twelve. He tried to escort her and a couple other half bloods to camp and almost made it. They got all the way to the top of the hill," He said as he pointed to the hill with the tree where I fought the minotaur. "All three kindly ones and a horde of hell hounds were after them. They were about to be over run when Thalia told the satyr to get over the hill while she held them off. The satyr tried to reason with her, but he couldn't change her mind. So, Thalia made her final stand alone."
As Grover said this an image flashed into my mind briefly. It was a lone young man standing at the top of a stair way in front of a gorgeous gate. A familiar looking spear that I couldn't place for some reason in one hand, a shield in the other, and a sword at the hip. He was wearing full armor and a helmet that covered his face, it looked like it had seen better days. The grand stair way was covered in splatters of red and a fine layer golden dust. I could hear countless roars and shouts, and the ground seemed to shake as it came closer, yet the soldier only seemed to raise his weapons in a ready stance as he seemed to wait for the unknown enemies to appear. He resolutely stood alone to defend those gates from all invaders. But as soon as it came the memory vanished in a blink.
Grover's voice broke me from my thoughts at the random scene. "As she died her father took pity on her and turned her into a pine tree. Now her spirit protects the borders. That's why it's called Half Blood hill."
I stared at the tree on top of the hill. The story made me feel hollow inside. A girl my age fought an army of monsters to save her friends and sacrificed herself. Next to that my victory over the minotaur was seeming less impressive by the second.
"Don't think like that Percy. You're not her so you shouldn't compare yourself."
"But she was a child of the big three Like me and look at what happened to her. She saved her friends from an army and I got my mom taken by who knows. If she couldn't how can I do this."
"Because you have me. I'm here with you every step of the way, and I'm going to make sure you're one of the greatest heroes ever, so that you're strong enough that you can protect them yourself."
"Do you promise?"
"I swear to the Styx Percy that I will be here for you till the end of this entire prophecy." Adamos said with a resolute voice. Thunder was heard in the distance and Grover looked in the direction that it came from. I however was speechless. Adamos just said a sacred oath to help me till the end.
After that we just fell into a silence until dinner.
(Line break)
There seemed to be more excitement than usual, then I remember it was capture the flag today. When all the sacrifices were done, and the plates were put away a conch horn sounded, and we all stood. Annabeth and two of her siblings came running in holding a large glittering grey banner that had an owl on top of an olive branch.
From the opposite side came Clarisse and her siblings holding a blood red banner of the same size, but with a spear going through a boars head.
I turned to Luke "Those are the flags?" I yelled over the noise. "Yeah." He yelled back.
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"
"Not always but often."
"So, what happens when another cabin gets the flag? Do you repaint it?"
He just turned to me and smirked. "Your just gonna have to see for yourself."
"So whose side are we on?" I ask. He just gave me a sly look, but in the torch light mixed with his scar just gave him an evil look. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares, and you're going to help."
The teams were being announced. On the Athena side was the Apollo and Hermes cabins. There had apparently been a trade of chores and shower times to gain support. On the Ares side was the Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus cabins. Out of them I was only really worried about the Hephaestus cabin, which was made of the four biggest and burliest looking kids I'd ever seen, and the Ares cabin, who were probably the meanest and ugliest kids in the country.
Chiron stamped his hoof on the marble floor, gaining everyone's attention. "Heroes!" he announced. "You all know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not gagged and bound. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battle field medic. Now that that's been said. Arm yourselves!" He spread his hands and the tables were suddenly covered in all sorts of equipment. Helmets, bronze swords, shields and other things.
"Ok grab that, and that, and that looks like it fits—" Adamos trails off. Mentally nudging me towards different armor and weapons that looked like they would fit me. My shield that I picked up was the size of a trash can lid and was a bit heavy but not enough for me to really mind. My sword had an ok balance but wasn't to great, and my armor fit very well. My helmet, like so many others, had a blue horse plume to signify my team. The Ares side had red plumes.
Annabeth yelled, "Blue team march forward." At this we all cheered and followed her down a path to the southern part of the forest. The red team headed to the opposite way.
I increased my pace and caught up to Annabeth. "Hey." I called out but she kept marching.
"So, what's the plan?" I ask. "You got any magic items you can loan me." Her hand drifted to her pocket, as if she thought I had just stolen from her.
"Just watch Clarisse's spear, you don't want that thing touching you. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"
"No, he didn't say anything." She just gave me a look like she didn't believe me.
She sighed. "Your on-border patrol just stand by the creek and make sure no red's cross. Leave the rest to me, Athena always has a plan." She then sped up, leaving me in the dust.
"That's a pretty stupid saying. I remember many times me and Athena would argue over plans and tactics before coming up with something together. Good times." He sighs wistfully.
"Whatever." I say not really listening to him. I was more annoyed at how Annabeth just casually shoved me to the side when she asked me to be on her team for capture the flag. I don't know if I'll ever understand her.
(Line break)
It was warm and sticky tonight. The woods were dark, with fireflies blinking around me. Annabeth had stationed me next to a creek while she and everyone else scattered elsewhere.
"I feel like an idiot."
"Why?"
"Because I'm just standing in the middle of the forest in armor at night. I mean they're not really going to attack and hurt me, right?"
"I wouldn't put it past them, but what really worries me is that plan that the Annabeth girl put together. Putting you here alone just sounds like a set up."
"You don't really think that she would set me up? Right?" I think in a slightly nervous tone at the thought.
At that moment a conch horn blew, and I heard loud whoops and hollers in the distance as well as metal clashing. A kid with a blue plume ran right by me and into the brush on the other side of the creek.
Then something put my senses into overdrive, the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
"Careful Percy, somethings not right. I just felt something off but I can't tell what, but it shouldn't be here." I couldn't help but agree. I was keeping my head on a swivel, searching for the cause of the unnatural feeling and raised my shield. Then for some reason the presence seemed to leave.
"Do you think its—" I begin to think before out of the brush on the other side of the creek come five Ares campers with Clarisse in the front shouting. "Cream the punk!"
She was holding a five-foot-long spear, its barbed tip flickering with a red light. Her siblings had only standard issue swords—not that it made me feel better.
They charged at me. There was no other campers around to help me. I could either run or take on half the Ares cabin. The first guy didn't really give me much choice as he swung his sword at me. I managed to sidestep the blow.
"Adamos I could use some support."
"Well you have lovely sea green eyes and a nice and friendly personality." He jokes.
"ADAMOS!"
"Fine one bad ass coming up." He says and I feel energy going into my body. It felt like yesterday when I sparred with Luke. Everything became more focused as I used everything that I knew and my instincts to dodge, parry and counter all their blows. My time training with Kevin really ingrained spatial awareness and the need to dodge into me. But these kids weren't as stupid as I thought when I saw that they were surrounding me to split up my attention. As I parried and ducked under two other strikes Clarisse stabbed at me with her spear. I raised my shield to deflect it, but a sharp pain raced up my arm and into my body. Then my arm went numb.
"Her spear is freaking electric." I curse in my head.
"Just give me a second, I'm working on it." Adamos says as he starts to heal my arm with his life powers, I begin to feel a little bit in my arm again.
One of the other Ares kids tried to strike me again. I couldn't dodge this. The electricity had caused my muscles to tense so I couldn't move properly.
"QUEN." I mutter and the gold symbol appears and covers me in a thin barrier. I internally grin because it actually worked. The blow hits the barrier and breaks it, but the attack is successfully blocked. Using this chance, I swipe my sword at his hand, knocking his blade away. I turn to face the others, trying to back out of the circle but I was hit in the side by Clarisse's spear. The electricity causing my other arm to go numb, before I get step kicked into the ground.
"Oh wow, I'm so scared of this guy." Clarisse mocks.
"The flag is that way." I say from the ground. Adamos was right, I wasn't ready to face the other demigods much less monsters.
"Yeah actually we don't care about the flag," A male Ares camper said. "We just want to get back at the guy who made our cabin look stupid."
I just look at for a moment before my mouth decides to get me into more trouble. "You already do that without my help."
Two of them march forward towards me. I was feeling ok again because Adamos had just finished healing me from the electricity. I back up to the creek and feel the water behind me and I begin to hatch a plan. Slowly I pull the water out of the creek and soak it deep into the ground, turning it muddy. The Ares campers don't seem to notice.
"A good plan, turning the battle field in your favor."
I raise my sword and shield, ready to fight but Clarisse moved much faster than I thought possible for some one her size. Her spear glanced off my armor as I moved to dodge, but it still left a small cut in the chest piece. If I hadn't had the armor or dodged the damage could have been fatal, but the electricity still went into effect and left me stunned. One of the other Ares kids used this and made a large cut on my arm with their sword. Blood was now flowing freely from the wound.
"What happened to no maiming." I ask incredulously.
"Whoops, looks like I won't get any dessert for a few months." He said with a shrug. He then pushed me into the creek.
The water filled me with energy. It mixed with Adamos's combat powers made me feel unstoppable.
"Come on Percy. Let's kick their asses." Adamos says eagerly as he once again floods me with power to enhance my muscles a bit more. As well as power from his earth domain. Once I step out of the creek the power doesn't leave me, it felt like I was now being powered by the very presence of the earth and nature around me. I use Adamos's earth powers and cause the mud to shift under them, throwing them off balance in the slippery substance. I however had no such problem. I could see them moving slower so I sprinted towards the closest guy and used the flat of my blade to hit him upside the head and knocked his helmet clean off. He crumpled like a sack of potatoes. Two others seemed to regain some balance and charged at me.
I ducked under a slash and then used my shield to uppercut them and turned on my heel to do a backhanded slash towards the second guy, knocking his sword away, which is followed by a cross to the side of the head with my shield. They both collapsed to the ground.
The fourth guy seemed to be nervous, but Clarisse began jabbing at me with her spear repeatedly. I had learned my lesson and only dodged the attacks, but with a little surge of power that I felt come from Adamos, Clarisse seemed to 'miraculously' slip in the mud again and over extended her thrust. Internally smirking, I catch the shaft between my sword and shield and snap it in half.
"Ah my spear!" Clarisse screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"
Before she could say more, I hit her between the eyes with the butt of my sword. The last Ares guy seemed to have retreated while I dealt with Clarisse. Then I felt something, I was still tapped into Adamos's earth powers, so I felt something shifting on the ground behind a tree behind me. Thinking it was the other Ares camper I act on reflex and adrenaline and spin around hurling my shield Captain America style at the tree. Due to the extra strength from the water and Adamos's powers the shield flies straight and hits the tree with enough force that it embeds itself deep into the bark.
A girl's shriek is heard as something invisible lands to the side of the tree as Annabeth then blinks into view, a yankees cap on the ground next to her.
"What the Hades is wrong with you! You could have taken my head off!" She yells.
I however didn't reply and glare at her. "You set me up. You put me here knowing that Clarisse would come after me, while you sent some one else to get the flag!" I snapped at her.
At that I hear cheering behind me. As I turn, I see Luke running across the creek with a red banner that then changes to a silver color with a golden caduceus on it. A conch then signals that the game was over and that we had won. Luke was then lifted up by the Hermes cabin and hoisted around.
"She seems to have a crush on him, and we were the Ares kids targets…" Adamos says putting the pieces together. Slowly I begin to see the whole picture.
"You used me as bait to draw the Ares kids away. Then sent Luke in to take the flag for the glory. Then you would use your position as the one who made the plan to share the glory with him. You set me up so for a stupid CRUSH!?" I practically scream as my voice gets angrier and louder with each word.
"The plan worked no doubt about it but it was a stupid plan nonetheless. Plans like that are how you lose wars and the trust of your soldiers. I've seen general put to death for such asinine plans." Adamos growls in my head, he was disgusted by about the situation.
She just stood up a gave me a glare, but then just shrugged. "It worked didn't it. I told you, Athena always has a plan."
"And what if I had been critically hurt or something irreversible happened?" I said with a cold tone.
"Then I would have stepped in to save you." She said evenly. Then she looked at my analytically. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" I said, my tone still icy.
"Your arm, its healed." She said while looking me over. "Percy can you—" But she was cut off by a low growl.
The hairs on my neck rise up and I instinctively get into a defensive stance. A howl rips through the forest. All of the cheering stops. Chiron shouts something in Ancient Greek that my mind translates to "Stand ready! My bow!" Annabeth drew her sword.
A black hound the size of a rhino on a large pile of rocks appears, its teeth like knives and its hate filled red eyes that were locked on me. It then jumped from the rocks towards me. I was the first to move as I shove Annabeth out of the way of the large black mass.
"QUEN!" I shout while the hound flies towards me at incredible speeds. I raise my sword up so that it lands on top of it and hope that my spell holds up against the pounce as it was to late for me to move out of the way. I can feel Adamos pouring power into my spell to strengthen it.
The large beast lands on my bronze sword, but its massive body and momentum causing it to land on me and knock me to the ground. The massive impact shatters the protection spell but leaves me unharmed from it. The beast then tries to bite at my neck and face, but I hold the sword up, keeping it away. This however didn't stop its claws from tearing away at my armor and slashing at my chest and stomach. I cry out in pain but hear multiple thwack sounds and the monster falls off of me, looking like a pin cushion.
Everyone began to gather around. "Di Immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the fields of punishment. They're not supposed to be here."
"Someone must have summoned it." Chiron said grimly. "Someone inside camp." Luke then walks over, the banner in his hand completely forgotten.
Clarisse yelled, "Its Percy's fault! He summoned it!"
"Quiet child!" Chiron barks. He watches as the hell hound melts into the ground in a liquid shadow.
"Come on Percy, keep it together. You just need to get to the water, and it'll be all right." Adamos says encouragingly yet a hint of worry was in his voice.
"Right. Water." I think as I begin to get up and stumble to the creek.
"Percy lay down we need to get you to the infirmary." Luke says as he puts his free hand on my shoulder. I just shrug him of and push my way through the campers that were trying to stop me. I stepped back into the creek and instantly felt better. The wounds on my torso began to close and heal. I then hear some of the campers gasp.
Turning around they all had shocked looks on their faces. Except they weren't looking at me, they were looking above me. When I look up, I see it. Above my head is a glowing green hologram of a three-pointed spear, a trident.
Annabeth was quietly muttering, but in the silence, I could still hear some of what she was saying. "Oh Styx," She cursed. "I thought it would be Zeus… I didn't want…"
"It is determined," Chiron announced. All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't seem to want to.
"Poseidon," Chiron announced. "Earth shaker, Storm bringer, Father of horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
"Congrats Percy. You've just been claimed." Adamos says with glee and I feel him smiling widely.
A/N: Hiddyho Neighborinos its good to see you all doing so okily dokily this fine diddly morning. Ok so I know that this chapter is much longer than my others, but there was so much I wanted to put in and some I had to change or cut out from what I originally wanted. I do like reading reviews because ya'll are so dang supportive and I loves it. Do leave reviews because I want to be a better writer. Anywho in one review someone requested a dual bladed scythe that becomes two chained sickles as a secondary weapon for Percy. I might input that in the story, or I might not have him use it at all, but I might just reference it. I input that little thing with the vaults as an excuse to have Percy going treasure hunting outside of camp. Adamos has been collecting many ancient and powerful weapons and relics so if you all want to leave a personal weapon in the reviews and I might put it in the vaults for Percy to find. Also, in response to someone else I don't want Percy to be over powered so soon. Training takes time and so does getting into shape, Percy maybe a demigod but he's still mortal so he won't be outright fighting with titans or gods in a blow for blow of sheer power. His mortal body can't handle that amount of divine power in my opinion. In a less serious note I just watched the Steven Universe movie and I liked it. I especially liked the song No Matter What between Steven and Amethyst. I'm just imaging Percy being all depressed before the Battle of Manhattan and Adamos comes in and starts performing the song for him. Ha! Anyways I'm actually considering making another story but this one will be a crossover. I'm thinking a PJO/Halo Reach story or a PJO/ League of Legends story. Percy's either gonna be Noble 6 that comes back to earth after the fall of Reach or his soul and body will be changed by a champion and he'll gain their powers and weapons and stuff. Also if any of you figure out where the shield spell came from you get a cookie. Please keep reading and leave reviews you beautiful bastards. Bye.