Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing outside my ideas and madness.

Sorry for taking so long with the chapter, had to get it through my beta for the chapter, hope it improved the quality!

Hope you all enjoy it, btw I have an important question at the end so please do read it.

-Shirou's pov-

I was dreaming. I had done so far too many times to be unaware of it, the sensation was distinctly vivid, however it was different from the waking world.

"My my, seem like someone is starting to learn, or did I make it too simple for you, Shirou-chan?"

That voice, it was the voice of a friend; the girl I'd seen before she disappeared in the wind, Saber. However, it wasn't her, the tone and style in which it was stated was far too different to how she would speak. Trying to shift my head towards the unknown speaker, I became aware that my body refused to budge; frozen as if to restrain me.

"No no, you will see me when the time is right. You shouldn't even be here in the first place… No, it's more fascinating if you break the script, seeing what happened to you. At the moment I would say it's time to wake up, don't you think?"

Before I could attempt to respond, a sensation, like being punched, came over me, forcing me to close my eyes. When my eyes finally opened, back in the overcrowded cabin.

-A few hours later, two weeks after arriving; breakfast-

It had taken me a week after arriving to convince the nymphs and dryads to allow me to cook, however I had succeeded. While they lacked many of the ingredients that I was used to, they seemed eager to expand the variety and tastes of their meals. This gained me a few teasing comments, about how I must be a son of Hestia or Hera with how skilled I already was at such a young age.

Regardless, that didn't at all mean the dryads were unskilled. Far from it, in fact, as I discovered quite a few things from them, just as they learned from me. The former "head chef" seemed to be especially against the idea of me cooking, causing quite a few competitions between us that the campers were all extremely eager to encourage; a small light and joy that they could rely on.

Well, the new Activities Director (who arrived shortly after I started working in the kitchen) did try to enjoy it, but his curse prevented him. After a few meals, he just started glaring at us both with hatred in his eyes.

One such competition was just wrapping up, concluding in a feast of a breakfast; almost grand enough for me to forget about my dream. However, one thought stayed in the back of my mind even as I observed the others eat, slowly chewing my own omelet.

'Who was it?'

-Clarisse's pov-

-Mid-day, Forest-

The attacks had gradually become less and less frequent, but that didn't mean we could let our guard down. The tree was getting weaker and weaker, and the monsters that were attacking were gradually becoming more powerful.

And as if that wasn't enough, Short Stuff was trying to defend us! It'd start off with them just helping when we needed it but now?!

-Flashback, three days ago, hill-

Rolling out of the way, my spear striking out at the offending hellhound, my momentum stopped. It managed to move slightly out of the way, just enough that my spear couldn't do any major damage.

Three inches right, five inches in and two inches up.

I ignored the voice, knowing where my strike would've been lethal. It's damn annoying to "hear" in every fight as if I didn't know how to kill this thing.

'Don't think, act' I prompted myself, raising my shield against an incoming strike, thrusting my own-

My hand stopped short, keeping my crackling spear from penetrating the beast. The beast was already dead, a blade sticking out of its snout. A mop of red hair made itself known as the beast fell, golden eyes meeting mine.

How. Dare. He. Do. This.

"I had that under control! Don't EVER do that again!" So what if he could fight, I don't need his fucking protection! Who does he think he is?!

His only response was giving me his usual blank expression and run to "help" someone else. Oh, that's it! I will make that fucking thing disappear and make him show something alright!

-Flashback end-

After the monsters were gone, I confronted him. He couldn't just go around and think he could just "save" me! I'm Clarisse! The one people need saving from!

We agreed through the best method: Battle. I didn't need long debates when a few rounds could do the talking for me, something Short Stuff seemed to understand.

'At least one admirable thing about him… unlike all the others in this place.' People don't seem to get that all you required sometimes was a few strikes instead of hours of talk.

He wouldn't defend me unnecessarily, and I would let him fight as he wished.

This was our agreement, something I was fine with for now...

-Shirou's pov-

-Afternoon, close to dinner, hill-

Once more we moved fast, grabbing our weapons or helping each other get ready, we were used to this by now; we moved without a doubt in our steps and with fire in our eyes.

Reaching the top quickly, my eyes met with Ebony's for a second before moving onto our enemies. I had to make sure she remembered her role, the rising wines, and roots my only response.

Faced with three bronze bulls, my body heated up; a gun going off inside my mind. I was upon the bull just as the others were past Thalia's tree, evident by the sound of moving vegetation.

'I can't focus on that' I prompted myself, slashing down with my bronze sword against its side. It slides off, forcing me to move back. I had its attention, puffs of smoke exiting its nostrils.

'Not good…' It scraped its hoof, then the bronze construction dashed forward. I should have moved, leaping to the side at the last moment, but I couldn't. If I did, the heroes behind me wouldn't be able to react in time.

Judging the concept of creation

Hypothesizing the basic structure

The bull wouldn't be stopped by a simple bronze sword, at least not one that couldn't even put a scratch on it.

Duplicating the composition material

Imitating the skill of its making

I required a weapon, one capable of cutting through something that seemed impenetrable.

Sympathizing with the experience of its growth

Reproducing the accumulated years

The process of creation had speed up, the path walked over and over easier than ever to travel, it's pathway ingrained within my mind.

Excelling every manufacturing process

"Trace, on!"

Caliburn was in my hand without much effort, projected in just a few seconds, just in time to meet the Automaton's dash. I wouldn't be capable of charging it like I had Ebony or Clarisse, but I could still stop it.

Filling the blade with as much prana as I could, I slashed against the ground before me, raising pieces of the ground into the air. The temporary barrier between us must have startled the animal, causing it to try and either stop or turn.

'Good' I thought to myself, my plan had worked. Grasping this opportunity, I dashed through the "wall" I had made, starting my swing before I was through; taking the mechanical monster by surprise.

My blade cut cleanly through the outer plating. Saber's former blade left a light gash within its structure due to my lack of aim, oil dripping out from within as if it was blood.

Taking a proper stance I heard the sound of a car quickly approaching. If that was even more enemies, we had to wrap this up quickly!

Realizing I couldn't leave it to chance, I rushed the bronze bovine as fast as I could.

Step...

A gust of flames exiting its nostrils, the beast readied itself...

Step step…

It started moving, picking up speed even as more and more oil started to leak out...

Step step step…

We were but an instance from impact, my legs suddenly launching me to the left of it while my blade shot out without the need for guidance from my arms.

Sliding to a sudden stop, I capitalized on my momentum to turn around, facing up the hill. The bull continued its path while losing momentum with each step; a gash along its side making it leak more of its black lifeblood.

"Ghhha, damn it…" A curse slipped past my lips. There was a gash the size of my fist going straight through my right side. Pulses of pain shot through me, practically making me lose my grip of the sword. My legs started to feel the familiar feeling that followed that burst of speed.

… No…

I clenched my jaw and pushed back the pain. The others needed me right now. I couldn't let them face these things alone.

I ran, right past the rapidly vanishing bull, my mind solely focused on the hilltop. "Too slow…" I muttered, sending a surge of prana into my legs, once more ignoring the shot of pain that went through them.

Reaching the hilltop in what couldn't have been more than a few seconds, I saw a giant boy slam his fists into the face of one of the bulls while Clarisse stood victorious close by the second, watching it run around her spear.

...They were safe…

I couldn't stop myself from smiling as I walked to greet our new allies. However, in my moment of relaxation, my legs gave out slightly; making me fall to my knees. Or I would have if a pair of vines didn't spring up to keep me upright.

"What are you DOING, you damn idiot?! Why are you running around with THAT?!" came the booming voice of Clarisse after she saw my wound…

-A few minutes later; infirmary-

After explaining to Clarisse and the others that I wasn't in mortal danger, we took the other campers to the infirmary within the Big House. The three newcomers left shortly after they had helped us there.

The infirmary was what you would expect, stocked with all the equipment common to a smaller clinic, albeit with a few differences; Namely bottles of nectar and bags of ambrosia. Currently, six of the beds were occupied, excluding me and Clarisse who both refused to lay down.

Three of the bedridden patients were inflicted with second degree burns while one of them also had other injuries. As for me, they could barely find any injuries. This caused the others to stare, mouth open at the slightly paler skin…

"Okay, what's wrong with you? Can't you even get hurt properly? That expression you've got pisses me off enough!" growled Clarisse, arm being cast up in a sling.

"La Rue, you shouldn't worry about me, I'm fine; it's a gift from my friend's mentor." It wasn't a lie but not quite the whole story, not that they needed it.

"You are seriously stupid if you think I will let you die on my watch just cause you can't get fucking hurt." She growled out the last part through gritted teeth, having flailed her good arm in annoyance.

"You wouldn't be the first to say that," I informed her, hearing a bell sound in the distance. "Seems like dinner is done, do you think you can get there on your own?"

A punch was my sole response.

-New York, late afternoon; sewers-

-? Pov-

"Things have changed, master." A feminine voice said, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Ohh? How so?" I asked, looking up to watch the female Telekine, her form lowered into a crouched bow.

"The bull you released was slain." Her voice was tense, her shoulders slumping slightly.

"Naturally, it's to be expected with the people at camp." It wasn't in the least shocking to me, those people were strong and they had numbers on their side as well.

"Huh? Then… did you send it there knowing it would die?" She finally looked up at me, a slight amount of irritation showing through at the thought I merely wasted them.

"Yes, but remember it wasn't a loss, we have our plans after all." This seemed to soothe her, her expression softening for a second in understanding before once more tightening.

"Forgive me, my lord, for questioning your motives." Her fists were clenched as her head once more fell, her ears laying back.

"Heh don't worry, it's understandable that you don't like the idea of throwing away the usurper's inventions without purpose." I urged her to stand, knowing that we had much to do.

"Now, can you tell me more about the magic you Telekines are so proud of? I wanna make sure you aren't just a fellow weakling like myself."

-Shirou's Pov-

-Dinner, Dinner pavilion-

Dinner was different, a new tension hanging in the air. Glances were being cast at the newcomers, one in particular: A boy far too big to be human, his solitary eye showing even more of his non-human heritage, a cyclops.

"Who invited that.. Thing?" A voice said from the Apollo table, the same boy I helped earlier. This seemed to bother the boy who walked beside the cyclops, his green eyes searching for whoever spoke ill of his friend.

"Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete." Mr. D drawled. We hadn't talked much, never having a reason to do so. He wore his usual Hawaiian leopard shirt, shorts and tennis shoes with black socks underneath. He was a middle-aged man with a beer belly and red face, something I've learned was from a multi-year lack of alcohol.

The newcomer, who likely wasn't named Peter at all, gritted his teeth. "Percy Jackson… sir." That last word was forced out, a focused gaze on the god.

Mr. D took a slow sip of his Diet Coke. "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever."

'This won't end well…' I thought to myself, determined to just observe now, reinforcing my ears to not miss anything.

"This boy," Mr. D told the man beside him, "you need to watch. Poseidon's child, you know."

The man in question nodded. "Ahhh. That one." They must have talked about this boy, Jackson, before.

Tantalus looked as rugged as usual in his orange jumpsuit, 0001 printed above his heart. His clothes did nothing to hide how malnourished or skeletal he was. I had tried providing him with extra food once but was soon reminded of the myth about him, as the food simply had moved away.

"I am Tantalus," He said, his smile cold. "On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Perseus Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."

"Trouble?" Jackson asked, a puzzled expression on his face. Mr. D only responded by snapping his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table— too far away for me to identify what was written but the tension in Jackson's body told me enough.

"Yes, trouble," Tantalus said in a satisfied tone. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand."

The cursed king licked his lips as a Satyr placed a plate of grilled lightly seasoned salmon, vegetables, rice, and some grilled beef. Looking at his empty goblet, he said "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967." to which it filled itself with the foaming drink.

Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, afraid that he once more would lose it. I couldn't blame him, imagining how it would feel to be unable to eat or drink anything for centuries. It made me feel sympathetic towards what once was the proud founder of the House of Atreus.

"Go on, then, old fellow," Dionysus said, a sadistic sparkle in his eyes. "Perhaps now it will work."

The false encouragement was enough to push Tantalus over the edge, grabbing for the glass only for it to move just out of reach. A few drops must have spilled, seeing how he desperately tried to get at least one drop to stick to his finger, to no avail.

Growling, he abandoned his drink before arming himself with a fork. He made a heroic attempt at the salmon, only for the plate to shoot down and off the table, straight into a fire.

"Blast!" Tantalus muttered, though he didn't see at all surprised with the outcome. It had been his life for over 3,000 years.

"Ah, well," Mr. D said, his voice oozing with false sympathy."Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap, working at this camp will be torture enough. I'm sure your old curse will fade eventually."

"Eventually," muttered defeated Tantalus, staring longingly at Mr. D's Diet Coke."Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?"

"You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," Jackson said. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can't eat or drink."

'Seem like Jackson likes trouble or can't keep things in' I thought sarcastically.

Tantalus sneered at me. "A real scholar, aren't you, boy?"

"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive," Jackson said, sounding mildly impressed. "What was it?"

Tantalus's eyes narrowed. Behind him, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn the poor fool who had asked.

"I'll be watching you, Percy Jackson," Tantalus said."I don't want any problems at my camp."

"Your camp has problems already... sir."

"Oh, go sit down, Johnson," Dionysus sighed. "I believe that table over there is yours—the one where no one else ever wants to sit."

It looked as if Jackson wanted to say something but kept it in, instead turning to the giant beside him. "Come on, Tyson."

"Oh, no," Tantalus said."The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it."

"Him," Jackson snapped. "His name is Tyson."

The new activities director raised an eyebrow.

"Tyson saved the camp," Jackson insisted. "He pounded those bronze bulls. Otherwise, they would've burned down this whole place."

"Yes," Tantalus sighed, "and what a pity that would've been. Besides, we have protected this camp well enough on our own."

Dionysus snickered.

"Leave us," Tantalus ordered, "while we decide this creature's fate."

The cyclops, Tyson I reminded myself, looked down at Jackson fearfully. He seemed to seek some sort of salvation from this situation, something Jackson knew he couldn't give him. Instead, he gave a promise.

"I'll be right over here, big guy, and don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."

Tyson nodded. "I believe you. You are my friend."

Those two brief sentences said with such innocence and genuine faith seemed to hit harder for Jackson then the giant's fist would have done. Walking to his table as if defeated, the son of the Sea God slumped down as he sat. He wasn't focusing much attention on the food placed in front of him.

'It must be something else than the words Mr. D and Tantalus said weighing on him…'

Having received his dinner, Jackson walked over to a bronze brazier like everyone else had and scraped part of it into the flames.

"Poseidon," He murmured, "accept my offering."

He must have meant or wanted something more with this offering but whatever it might have been, his expression if anything grew more solemn than before.

Thinking it must be over I focused on my circuits and turn off the "switch", just in time for a conch horn to sound. Tantalus must have wanted to inform us of something.

-Clarisse's Pov-

"Yes, well," Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. "Another fine meal! Or so I am told." As he spoke, he inched his hand toward his refilled dinner plate, as if maybe the food wouldn't notice what he was up to, but it did. It shot away down the table as soon as he got within six inches. "Yes, well," Tantalus said, once the talking had died down. "And here on my first day of authority," he continued, "I'd like saying what a pleasant form of punishment it is to be here. Over the course of the summer, I hope to torture, er, interact with each and every one of you children. You all look good enough to eat."

Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some halfhearted applause from the satyrs, they had to after all. The cyclops was still standing at the head table. He looked uncomfortable, but each time he tried getting away, Tantalus pulled him back. I almost felt bad for the monster.

"And now some changes!" Tantalus's crooked smile glared back at us as he spoke. "We are reinstituting the chariot races!"

Murmuring broke out at all the tables—excitement, fear, disbelief. Even we in the Ares cabin were cautious about the races. 'What was he, what was he thinking? We had border patrol, we needed to protect the camp, not race in death wagons!' This wasn't the time for that.

"Now I know," Tantalus continued. He then raised his voice, "that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."

"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations," Paul at the Apollo table called out to him. That was another reason not to do it, we couldn't lose even one camper to something as foolish as that.

"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "But I know you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"

An explosion of exciting conversations—no chores for a whole month? No stable cleaning? Was he serious?

I had to object to this, how couldn't they see the risks?

"But, sir!" I said in protest, my mouth speaking before my mind caught up with it. 'Shit' I thought to myself before standing up, thankful that Short stuff took away that damn sign someone had put on my back. 'Deep breaths Clarise, just imagine it's a war council'.

"What about patrol duty? I mean, if we drop everything to ready our chariots—"

"Ah, the hero of the day," Tantalus exclaimed. "Brave Clarisse, who single-handedly bested the bronze Bulls!"

I blinked owlishly before a surge of heat shot over my face. 'Why was he saying that?' "Um, I didn't—" Before I could say anything, he interrupted.

"And modest, too." Tantalus grinned. "Not to worry, my dear! This is a summer camp. We are here to

enjoy ourselves, yes?"

"But the tree—" I was once more cut off by the camp director.

"And now," Tantalus said, just as I could feel my brothers, Mark and Chris, pull me back in my seat. There was no use fighting them. Nobody would listen to me when I couldn't even get my words out. "Before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring this here." Tantalus waved a hand toward the cyclops. Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers, many glancing at the two mentioned half-bloods.

"Now, of course," he said, "Cyclopes have a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes's cabin, possibly?"

Silence at the Hermes table. Travis and Connor Stoll stared down at the table. Not that I could blame them with how their cabin always was full to the brim. There was no way they could take in an over six-feet Cyclops. Despite this, short stuff seemed determined to convince them otherwise.

"Come now," Tantalus chided."The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kenneled?"

A gasp resounded through the dining pavilion.

Tantalus scooted away from the kid giant in surprise. All I could do was stare in disbelief at the brilliant green—a dazzling holographic image that had appeared above its head.

Swirling over it was a glowing green trident—the same symbol that had appeared above Percy the day Poseidon had claimed him as his son.

There was a moment of awed silence. Of course, it was. Being claimed was a rare event.

Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When I'd been claimed by Ares a few summers ago after defeating an older kid, I had been paraded around. When Poseidon claimed Percy last summer, everyone had reverently knelt.

But now, they followed Tantalus's lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"

Everybody laughed except Annabeth and a few other campers, including me.

The cyclops didn't seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He must have been too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people could be.

Glancing towards the Hermes cabin, I saw Short Stuff staring me down, the message clear. 'We meet by the tree.'

One thing I thought of:

Should I stay with this story only and update roughly once a week

Or start another one and post every two weeks(One chapter per week, different stories)?

Reviews:

98kazer: There were only a few days between chapter 3 and 4, chapter 5 was mostly a series of

Guts and Toes & Ezeakel: It was a flashback because I couldn't add that earlier, now I've changed it. On the topic of perspective, why do you two think the story would benefit from being a 3rd person story?

Dragonmaster150: I implemented the suggestion you had about the pov's and fixed the spelling, also fixed the introduction of Chiron a bit which added a little scene I had to write lol. Thank you for thinking I write them better now, I hope to improve as I go along so new characters will maybe get a little wonky at first but hopefully they become more smooth.

Steamguy: What do you mean?

Kayen1024: Well I hope I make it somewhat believable at the very least, and on the topic of pairings I do think a comment detailing why a pairing should happen should carry a bit more weight than just a simple vote but that doesn't make votes obsolete, just make it more likely I will take the suggestion and give a star to that character so to say.

Robynhood13: I hope you enjoyed this chapter as it has some more moments with them and if you can make a compelling case together with some others she might win, regardless however I hope you will keep reading. I do agree tho that the Artemis' pairing is difficult and needs a lot of time for it if it were to happen.

Kamen rider: I don't think he will use UBW for quite some time, and yeah I do plan to add him being from another world as a plot point.

AriFrost: Hope this was more eventful, the other chapters were sorta to establish the world a little and the characters plus get to the main plot.

Guest 1: Fixed

Guest 2: I don't quite know what you mean, could you give examples? And some things I leave open for later if that's what you mean?

Pairing votes so far:

(Might be completely off with some as it's hard to count them all)
Artemis: 19(-3) Zoë: 13(-2)
Hestia: 16*(-1) Thalia: 5(-1)
Clarise: 6(-1) Calypso: 4
Athena: 1

Words: 4280

Finished and posted: 2020-02-24

Beta'd by: Imiriath