Chapter 4
A growl was heard as Percy trudged his way up the hill. He looked around, his grip around Malcolm's dagger tightening, as he said, "Wh-Who i-is there?" Percy jumped when a tree cracked from his right and he sprinted towards the camp, looking back frantically as a huge beast ran after him.
Percy had almost reached the camp when he was grabbed and thrown backwards. His back crashed into a tree and he coughed out blood, his entire body shaking as tears began leaking out of his eyes.
The cyclops stepped forward, his fists pumping each other as he stared at Percy hungrily. Percy got to his feet and tried to running to the side, but this cyclops was a smart one as he anticipated the trick and grabbed Percy and threw him back to the tree.
Percy coughed up more blood and saw Malcolm's dagger lying a foot from him. He tried reaching for it, but the cyclops kicked him hard in the gut, sending him in the air and he could have sworn he heard some of his ribs crack. He saw black dots cloud his vision, but he shook it off and struggled to get into kneeling position only to get knocked away by a swat of hand.
Percy struggled again, not wanting to appear weak as his brain started working. He spotted the dagger and before the cyclops could realise what Percy was doing, he rushed towards his dagger and grabbed it, adrenaline coursing through his veins and containing the pain for the moment.
The cyclops stared at the demigod with little respect before kicking Percy to the ground. The dagger, that Percy had tried so hard to retrieve, slipped out of his grasp. Percy struggled under his feet and he could feel blood pooling in his mouth and a thin bead of it slipped out of the corner of his mouth.
"Not so tough now, are you?" the cyclops said, its voice deep and gravelly as it stared hungrily at the demigod beneath his feet. Percy tried to respond but more blood splattered from his mouth and he was almost rendered unconscious but before he could, the weight got lifted off his body and he almost sighed in relief. Moving slightly, he saw a boy about 9 years old shooting arrows, stumbling ever so slightly after each shot but he continued and even seemed to dodge several attacks as if he was sensing it.
Finally, the cyclops made the mistake of getting close to the mysterious demigod and Percy saw the move coming way too early as the boy jumped up and shot an arrow at cyclops' unprotected eye and Percy watched with sick fascination as the cyclops screamed in pain and tripped back, blood pouring out of his eye and the boy took that moment to unsheathe a sword from his side and slashed at the cyclops.
After several slashes and screams, the cyclops dissolved in golden dust, going to Tartarus the hard way. The boy seemed pleased till he noticed the unmoving demigod on the ground and hurried towards him.
"Hey, you okay?" the mysterious boy asked, his voice filled with worry and curiosity. Percy tried to answer but ended up spitting blood on the boy. The boy didn't even faze an eye and picked Percy, faltering from his weight before he fell to the ground, followed by Percy.
Percy groaned in pain, blood now pouring out of his nose and finally, the adrenaline in his body dissipated and Percy succumbed to unconsciousness.
Percy laughed along with Mal, as they reached the dining pavilion, Alpha following them. As he reached the dining hall, a centaur walked towards him and patted him on the back and said, "So, Percy, I take it that your quest was successful?"
Percy nodded and pointed towards Alpha who stood proudly, silently enjoying the attention he was receiving. Mal giggled and said, "He already takes after you Percy."
Percy glared at her playfully before picking up his dog and ruffling its hair. The Aphrodite girls shrieked as the watched the strong 11-year-old demigod pick the dog and play with it, causing all the nearby demigods to close their ears and pull away from them.
A boy stood up from the Apollo table and walked towards Percy and the co. and said, "I see that everybody is having fun." Percy turned towards the new person with a grin and tackled him with new ferocity and said, "I missed you Logan."
Logan looked as if he was made of literal sun, with his bright tanned face and light blonde hair, he could easily be classified as a son of Apollo. The difference between him and the other Apollo demigods was that Logan had sky blue irises and a dark red circle around his irises. When Logan would glare, the red circle would flame up, making the opponent or monster freeze with fear.
Logan Mallard was the son of Apollo and his mother was the daughter of Ares. How a daughter of Ares attracted Apollo was beyond Percy because the children of Ares were rarely cheery, hell, they were never cheery.
"Hey Logan, what happened at this camp?" Percy asked as they took a seat on Athena's table. Logan shrugged as a plate appeared before him and he replied, "We had camp games. The Ares cabin tied with Athena cabin for first spot and Hermes cabin came second followed by Demeter cabin."
Percy nodded and dug into his food, but he was interrupted by a loud conch horn and a collective groan interrupted from all the campers. Percy looked around confused as did Logan till Mal said, "The hunters are here."
The duo released their respective groans, making Mal laugh softly before looking towards the camp borders worriedly. Percy and Logan just shook it off and began eating their food.
The hunters arrived, the girl Percy had beaten was trailing behind them, her hand clutching onto something. When her gaze fell onto Percy, her eyes widened in shock before she began glaring venomously at Percy.
The hunter standing in front, a tiara on her head, saw her change in expression and followed her eyesight before it landed on the innocent looking 11-year-old boy munching on his chicken.
She slowly slowed her pace towards the Artemis cabin and asked the new hunter, "What's wrong Amanda?" Amanda jumped slightly before she recounted her story, all of it. Zoe nodded at Amanda and glared at Percy and her glare turned into a victorious smirk as she saw him flinch and drop his chicken bone.
She, however, froze when the boy sitting next to him turned and glared at her, his eyes blazing with fire and the sky-blue irises contrasting providing more anger and she nearly tripped back. Logan smirked triumphantly and turned back to eating his chicken bone. Percy high-fived Logan and they began chatting with each other.
Zoe felt anger bubble in her chest, but she forced it down, instead focusing on the respect for the boy. She decided she would talk to him later. Right now, she was going to have to talk to her mistress about why they had to stay at the Camp Half-Blood for a year?
A/N: There is the hunt's entrance to this story. The hunt will be staying at the camp, a twist isn't it?
