The Sheated Sword

EMIYA's POV

Why was the kid pointing the spear I made just outside the camp I was going in, just beside the fading body of a monster, a broken horn the size of my arm, and a car wreck?

While being found out as a demigod wasn't exactly what I wanted, it was a known possibility.

And even if running away was a way to avoid it, there was a problem: Chiron would kick my ass.

It wouldn't even be a contest.

So instead of avoiding the danger of being found out, not only I was going where I would be known by the assholes up in the sky, but I would also be the only known acquaintance of a trained magical reactor, who was currently pointing her spear towards a scared satyr.

"Miss Penelope, please lower your weapon, we don't want to hurt you." The mellow voice of the teacher of heroes came out, but the child in front of us was scared, enraged, and powerful.

"Why the Tartarus should I believe you?! When he arrived," and she jabbed her spear slightly towards the satyr, "he made us get into the car, and then the Minotaur arrived! You want me to think that he didn't have anything to do with it!?"

I could smell the salt and the water starting to pump more and more, and I could see the globes starting to form.

"And you want me to not do anything?!" tears were starting to form in her eyes, while snot was running down: "My mom was talking about my dad, and he arrived! And now she is dead!"

"Kid, I don't think that he is connected in any way, shape or form." I tried to calm her down, but her childish snarl, along with the even stronger scent of sea, showed that I didn't reach that end:

"No! I want my mom! I want her back!" she shouted, pointing the spear at me.

Then I saw him move, like my student did.

The crowd gasped when Chiron moved, and, with an hand on the shaft of the spear while the other on the small body of the kid, he disarmed her in a swift motion.

Her own training kicked in, and she had words on her lips immediately, while the magical energy was condensing in her hand.

Then the forgotten Satyr lunged with a syringe in his hand, and, with practiced ease, injected the content in the kid.

The kid took exception to that and kicked the Satyr away, but, when the Satyr had impacted a tree behind him with an "oomph!", she started swaying, and then fell unconscious in Chiron's arms.

After a quick check up on her, he took her up with one arm and turned towards the Satyr:

"Grover, I know you are faking being unconscious. Get up. Or you will train with me personally."

The Satyr immediately got up, massaging his back with a wince and lamenting:

"Baaah, I didn't know she kicked like a mule, you cannot be angry for that!"

Chiron didn't say anything else, but took up the horn of the Minotaur and went towards the doors of this camp, of which children scampered off quickly.

The demigods, I meant.

The different scents they gave were almost scary, while the small group muttered excitedly to within itself.

'Are you truly this surprised? Children remain children, do they not?'

'I am far more surprised by their number, and this camp's existence itself'.

'That is true indeed, old soul. But think about it: didn't the Argonauts join under the same banner? It does have a basis, as surprising as it is'

'It still is strange, but right now, I just want a shut-eye. Damnation, now they know about me more than they could have.'

'Unfortunately for you, no child of a god as ever been blessed with anonymity. But I will laugh at you when you fail, and then help you, if it pleases you.'

Damned lazy goddess, who was now laughing at the back of my head.

"Luke!" came the booming voice of the old teacher: "This is Shirou Kajiya, could you bring him to Cabin el-"

Then a fucking red hammer appeared above my head, its light almost blinding for how strong it was.

"That…I think we can move him to the Cabin 9." Came the…incredulous voice of the blond teenager, his eyes wide.

Chiron took a moment as well, then he turned towards a towering black teenager, and asked:

"Charles, could you take Shirou to meet his siblings? I will bring Penelope to the infirmary to see if she was injured during the fight."

The teenager nodded once, and gestured with his head to follow him without a word.

I simply followed him, without a word myself, going through the camp with the excited chatter, the crackle of the fire, and the far away sound of the sea.

"I-I am Charles Beckendorf." Stammered out the teen who was walking before me, turning towards me, but his eyes pointing towards the ground: "S-Son of H-ephaestus. I-it's a pleasure to m-meet you, b-brother."

Uh. Teenager, right.

"I am Shirou Kajiya, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, brother." I mimicked him, smiling without any real emotion behind it, the warmth in my voice a mockery of how it should be.

Luckily the teen was shy, and it was shyness I was seeing, that he immediately turned and walked much more quickly towards a semi-circle of cabins.

The magic, because magic it was, radiating from them was overwhelming, and strangely comforting, like a warm blanket.

Also, that tree on that hill… it looked strange.

Then we stopped in front of what looked like a workshop, mixed with a factory, mixed with a junkyard. Anvils and hammers and some forges, along with other instrument to keep a blade were meticulously kept, and chimneys and metal was atop the cabin, and there was some sign of soot on the end of those chimneys, while the metal had cuts on its edges.

The tools outside were kept well, even if even an untrained eye could see that they were used daily, and in my case I could see that they were used almost hourly during the day.

And sometimes even the night.

Entering the workshop, the kid beside me clicked one of the many switches on the wall, and a red light came on, the outline of beds and sleeping children now illuminated, while a long row of tables, tools, anvils and forges.

I could see the outline of a pole, and of stairs, but I wasn't particularly interested in that.

The sounds inside were of snores, of movement in the cots, and of mumbling, unlike how it must be in the waking hours.

Ruffling was heard, and a little boy looked at us and asked, his voice full of sleep while rubbing his oiled hands to his eyes:

"Charlie, do we have a new brother?"

The kid beside me nodded once, and the sleepy boy said "weeeh" before falling asleep again, his dirty arm dangling from the cot.

The young kid beside me walked silently, and just as silently he digited two codes on two cots, on above the other.

He wordlessly pointed to the one below, while he got in his.

It was comfortable, while I found it far too full of gadgets that I would not touch, and instead I used it as it should be used.

To sleep.

"G-goodnight Shirou." Came the soft voice above me, and I answered with my own "'night".

A week after

*Clang*

An hammer hit her would help cause a tiny crack-

*Clang*

-that would damage the structure of the knife itself-

*Clang*

-and it would make it painfully average, good for someone who is a novice-

*Clang*

-but nothing spectacular-

*Clang*

-good for avoiding that the god who rose the goblet to me-

*Clang*

-would become much interested to me, and in turn those who he knew.

*Fiiiiiissssss*

It was a painfully average bowie knife, using carbon steel 1095, with a small crack on the coast that I had purposefully made by hammering the knife while the steel was too cold, and had made the tang too narrow so that too much stress would snap it.

That should have made me look like someone who knows how to work, but still is a novice. If I can avoid the kid saying who did her weapons, at least, or blurting out my abilities, which is something I should have trained her to.

For now, she was still asleep, so I had time to put on an useful mask, under the watchful eyes of my "big brother" Beckendorf, who unlike yesterday was observing me with eyes of an eagle, while the whole lot of my "siblings" were behind us, sitting on the beds, chattering about my "mistakes" until the "big brother" turned towards them and shut them up.

The metal was too hot, at a thousand and four degrees Celsius, when I immerged it in the oil, and so it came out weaker, and slightly warped towards the right.

The bigger kid took it without gloves, something that looked like being a "benediction" from our "father", and scanned, stared and contemplated the knife.

He opened in his mouth, then closed it.

I saw his eyes move quickly towards the muttering children, then he spoke up:

"It's good for a novice, but there is a crack on its back, here;" He pointed to the crack I knew: "The tang is a tad too small, it could break if it's used with too much strength, and its slightly bent. All in all, good as a starting point, congratulation at passing our initiation, brother."

He smiled at me, but there was something off in it: "I will go to Chiron to give the good new. Have a good day."

I didn't have much time to think about it, though, because a sea of children started excitedly talk to me, offering pointers and showing me their own first works.

One of the older kids, shaking her head to her siblings' antics, called us and shouted:

"Come on, lazy butts! We had the pause given by teach, but we cannot just stay here all morning! We have training to do, and a new bro to show!"

The children, for some reason unknown to me, started shouting "Let's burn them!" while walking towards the training grounds.

I couldn't share their own enthusiasm, being this training tedious due to the need of avoiding being seen as a "prodigy" or an "ace" in fighting.

Luckily for me, in the past week there had been someone who had taken the spotlight.

"Wow, now I can see why Clarisse was taken down."

"Who trained her? Is she a daughter of a demi?"

"Who cares, I hope I don't have to fight her next."

Unfortunately, the one who was keeping up with the "best swordsman in the last three centuries" was also the one I trained.

Keeping up, though, not beating outright.

With a shout, she used her much more refined Reinforcement to try to break the guard of her adversary, her hair being kept under a what looked like a Corinthian helmet, while a wooden spear and a weighted shield were used as her main weapons.

Hermes's kid, instead, had much more experience under a better teacher, so he could deviate the lance with his sword, or avoid it altogether due to how angry the kid was.

But the kid couldn't keep up the Reinforcement, and then:

"AAH!"

A muscle teared up, which was quite lucky for her in these conditions.

It was a minute mistake, maybe a few decimals of units out, but it was enough to be capitalized by Castellan who put his blade under her chin.

"You-you are still young, Pen." The heavy breathing came from Luke, who took a few seconds then continued: "But you are really good. You should just try to pace yourself better."

The kid simply nodded, then, after glaring at me for a few seconds, she went back to murdering a training dummy.

"Uh…" came the voice of the female child beside me, with an eyebrow risen: "Did you do something to piss off the Clarisse-killer? She has been doing those death glares the whooooole week."

"Not that I know of, but I will have to ask."

I had been saying that the whole week.

"Haven't you said it yesterday too?"

Point.

The problem is that the kid was giving me the cold shoulder, or was altogether avoiding me.

"Oi Shirou!" came the voice of Hermes's kid, who was waiving his training sword: "I know you have had your initiation, but I want to see your level first hand!"

Damn it.

I took a tip heavy training sword, an hand and a half long, and took an amateurish stance, with the feet on the same line and the sword in front of my chest.

It would have made sure that I was slower, my movement more sloppy and harder to counter, along with being easily out of balance.

I could see it in this one's eyes, the disappointment, and a touch of something else.

Anger?

In any case, the pain on my left shoulder was quick and foreseen, so I took that stupid stance again.

He didn't offer me any tip, he just took his position again.

This time, it was my right pec I let him hit.

And again and again and again.

I didn't know what he wanted to reach, but I wouldn't hit him.

Then I fucked up.

His eyes focused for a slice of a second towards someone behind me, so I moved my blade minutely to see who was behind me with the reflection.

It was a tall person with the lower half of an-

In that second he aimed for my neck with a lunge that was overextended.

I simply dodged to the right and-

I didn't lunge myself to attack his stomach, keeping my instincts steeled to avoid it.

The foolish kid stared at me for a moment, then a fake smile and closed eyes came on his face.

"Well, that's good for a first session!"

I was sure that he was lying, or keeping something secret, but I simply bowed and thanked him.

There was a centaur, no, the centaur watching the fight, who was staring himself at him with an inscrutable expression, simply rubbing his beard.

He himself went away while I faked training with the dummy.

Tomorrow would have been the day of the flag, and it was going to be a drag.

Chiron

The day after

"Come on, old horse, move your ass! I want to see this!"

It was rare to see Dionysus so interested in anything about my students, even something like this.

So why was he so interested?

He was even in the external control position, quite incredible.

"Sir, it takes some time for them to pass down their plans, and to not being spied upon while formulating, and I want them to do it without any kind of contamination, both magical and psychological, distracting them."

While there would be pressure in the outside world, having your teacher watch your every movement since the start would be detrimental to their own planning skills.

At least, that's what the new theories about teaching explained, and they were working somewhat better than before.

"Baah! I found someone interesting and I want to see what he will do! He has been behaving in such an interesting way until now, after all. I want to see how he will behave when his little friend blows off! So move it!"

It was probably better to not dwell on what the nominal head of the camp, but I had a suspect about who the god of wine was talking about.

I knew he was able to manipulate the Mist and their own divine powers, I had seen it used by Penelope after all.

But his behavior was stranger, more…controlled, and mature in a way rarely seen.

"But it won't last! I know him, I have seen him, and the moment his little friend Petanta has enough, I am curious about what happens." Said the god of madness, drinking happily his coke the same way he would drink wine, a mad smile on his lips and a fire in his eyes.

I almost could feel the faint sound of drums, of far songs and of women past gone.

I excused my student mentally, and equally accused the god in front of me, and activated the peacock's eyes that were connected to our projector, and so the mock battle started.

They were in each tree, the nymphs being more than happy at filming demigods, both male and female, fighting, and being able to review it at their leisure.

It was also a good way to get money from previous campers, who had pleasure in seeing the next generation shaping up.

"Oh, looks like Patanta is taking position in front of the river, I wonder what he will do…" Dionysus was staring attentively to one of the screens, who was showing a group of Hephaestus's children going to the side, where most of the demigods of the red team had gone trying to pierce with brutal simplicity and bloodthirsty honesty.

It would also mean that they would probably lose.

They will learn that lesson, at least, hopefully.

"Oh, oh! Looks like Patina is quite angry at her little role."

Penelope had put her silver spear beside her and was leaning on it, while her shield was at the ready strapped to her left forearm.

While she was keeping her eyes all around her, her quickened breath, her white knuckles and her angry pout weren't exactly symptoms of emotional stability.

Then, just like she was able to see from the screens themselves, she took out her spear from the ground and took up an experienced stance with her shield and spear, her eyes focused towards a particular zone, where Clarisse, John, Simon, Maria and Leon came out, their smiles far too arrogant.

"Chiron" came the suddenly serious voice beside me: "I would advise for you to start moving towards this particular group. My oath would be somewhat strained if they get killed by their stupidity, after all."

Damnation.

I started galloping towards the position of Penelope, my bow prepared alongside the night arrows.

Then a strong presence came from where the new student washed over me, the same I had felt when she was pointing the spear at poor Grover.

Then, when things weren't exactly boding well already, my own modified communicator turned on, and the panicked voice of Phobe came from it:

"Sir! We have a big problem here that's causing an hurricane! We can't stop it! And- what are you doing! Come back!"

Then I felt yet another presence, more subdued but at the same time more refined and even more fearsome, with the sound of a blade unsheathing.

Then I caught a flying Clarisse, drenched to the bone, shivering in both cold and fear.

In her state it was far better to leave her to the satyrs that were now coming to the scene, flanked by the nymphs and the few dryads who weren't running away due to the nature of the power.

I rose my right arm, and rose my voice to attract attention, while also activating the device: "To all personnel, the game is suspended, bring the campers to the safe zones outside the forest! No one is to remain in the forest! I want a Major barrier here!"

The younger campers were surprised by this sudden change, but the councilors and the older ones accompanied their brothers outside the danger zone, while the dryads and nymphs prepared a barrier for the inside.

And I went inside, towards the eye of the storm, silent as I had been trained since time immemorial.

"You lied to me!"

The sound of a trees being rooted out could be heard immediately.

"You knew I was a demigod! You taught me and you knew!"

There was a far clanging of metal against wood, and of hurricane and gales.

"My mom is dead! I don't know my dad, and you knew!"

The despair and anguish in her voice was palpable, while I avoided the branches and the rocks coming through the trees.

"And why aren't you angry with them too! They called my mom a bitch! My mom is no longer here! I want her back!"

"Have you finished?" came the cold, steel like voice of a child that wasn't a child, who when I was finally able to see them, was holding in his left hand a bronze sword, sharper than it should be, to Penelope's throat.

The young girl roared, or cried, and tried to stab the child that wasn't a child, but he simply deflected the point with his free hand then kicked her midriff making her dry heave.

She collapsed on her knees, the water of the stream rippling, and again he pointed the sword in front of her, repeating with that dead tone that would haunt my dreams:

"Are you finished?"

She looked at him, her green eyes wide, then she looked down and started chuckling.

"I can control water, can't I? It's Poseidon, isn't it?"

The water rose from behind the child that wasn't a child, covering the second light coming from the forehead of Penelope in this day.

At least until another meaty sound came, and the sound of wood cracking and a cry of pain made the water fall down.

And my heart went to my throat when I saw the trident on her forehead, while she tried to get up from the tree she had hit.

I nocked two arrows to my bow, and one hit the mark.

The other was deflected by the sword, instinctually, but unfortunately for the child that wasn't a child, I had another night's arrow ready.

And so, due to the mild poison, both became unconscious, while the gods raged and Talia became restless in her tree, due to some monster trying to enter the camp.

I trotted up to the kids, or at least what looked like kids, and after exanimating them, the only injured being Penelope, I took them up and started moving towards the infirmary, followed by solemn dryads.

Dionysus, who was leaning on his chair, toasted with his coke and mockingly saluted:

"All hail Penelope Atalanta Jackson, daughter of the Earthshaker, king of the seas and oceans, creator of horses. Hail daughter of Poseidon."

And then the god of madness laughed, knowing that whatever lied ahead would amuse him greatly.

One of the days after

It was quite different knowing something, and seeing it.

While some of the students, of which most were counselors, knew that young…or at least, young looking, Shirou was trying to not be thought as "good".

Young Charles had pointed out that his mistakes in forging had come only after he had controlled the knife in the right time, while young Luke had been found in a bad situation when he attacked him, only for Shirou to consciously stop before attacking.

There was also Archery, that I was overseeing right now.

Young Shirou aimed for the red,

*TWHACK*

and he got the red.

He aimed for the lower blue,

*TWHACK*

-and he got the lower blue.

He was precise, and he was trying to pass as average.

Why?

He also, by Penelope's words at least, was the one who trained her. But this only raised more questions.

Which weren't easily answered.

Who trained him? How did he get his knowledge? Was he the one who crafted Penelope's weapons?

But we didn't have time.

"Miss Jackson!" I called young Penelope, who just missed her own target: "Could you come with me, please?"

The young girl followed me silently, not a word coming out and not a look towards her friend, or hopefully friend.

It wasn't a new sight when children learnt who their parents were. And her own parentage only added weight.

And were about to add more of that, to avoid war.

Even with all things changing, the gods were still somewhat who they were, in the end.

The forest we were moving in was silent, with only the crackling of the grass, the flowing of the little river, and the far thunders, the clouds hovering angry just outside the camp.

Hopefully Talia would remain strong, there had been some tries to force the camp by monsters.

Eyes were staring at our backs, and Penelope's sometimes darted towards the closest, and most hidden, ones, but the loud silence remained, until we reached the central building, its blue walls and white supports soothing.

"Come on! Just a sip of 0.5 beer! It's practically piss! Let me drink it!"

And the God of wine was raging against the injustice of having to be sober.

"Sir, Penelope is here for the quest."

"Panthalassa! How is it being the forbidden daughter of foam beard? I heard that you now have your whole cabin for you! Lucky girl!"

The girl curled her fists tightly, then she asked in a clipped tone:

"Why am I here?"

Bad choice of words in front of a god.

"Well, if it was for me I would have turned you into a dolphin to meet your dear, dear daddy." Quipped Dionysus: "But, alas, we have bigger problems. Which you could or could not solve, Panny. So go up to the mummy, listen to her silly words, then come back, will you?"

He shooed her, and after a few seconds that made my spine tremble a bit, she silently entered the house, shutting the door behind her.

"Aaah, how I remember being her age. I was far less of a cunt, for one."

"Sir." I growled out, and he rose his hands in mock surrender:

"Chill out, chill out. I know, she lost her mommy, she is sad. She was recognized, and she is sad. And her older friend was lying, so she is sad. Truly, something new and unheard of." He droned out, drinking the soda with a sneer.

I let him finish, quite annoyed by the behaviour, and he, after the disgust at the beverage, continued:

"Look, the idiot in the sky and the idiot in the sea are hitching for a fight, and if they fight, there won't be a whole lot of humanity partying and raging and drinking. And she is the key for the best bet for humanity to stay alive, and if she is too mopey then I need to make angry to actually be that key."

He put down the glass, and leaned forwards, smiling coldly:

"I am my father's son, after all, and I will not be denied."

After a few seconds of silence, where I simply stared in silence, he laughed unabashedly, holding his stomach, while his eyes watered slightly.

I didn't have it in me to stop him, so I let him and willed a cup of tea.

Then, suddenly just as the laugh itself, he stopped and asked calmly:

"So, about the other problem child, how he is doing? And I mean the important one."

"Do you mean the one you got interested in, Sir? Shirou Kajiya?"

"Yeah, the important one. Never seen one like him since ever, that kind of mind is quite interesting to be in front. So, is he still trying to hide?"

I mulled at the words, then the answer came forth unbidden:

"Yes, your hunch was correct. He is holding back. I don't know how much, but probably in the order that he could fight against Luke and win if it was a serious fight."

Dionysus just smiled in the way a prankster did if they knew something you didn't, then he nodded:

"Good, good. Now let's wait for the mummy to give the omen, and then we will either see a lot of mortals dying or they will just not care about their close contact with Thanatos."

He took up the glass, this time filled with analcoholic beer, and twirled it, airing it:

"But I think that, if what I have seen is true, we will be able to see quite interesting times."

"You are so sure about Penelope getting a quest assigned?" I asked, curious about the surety.

"She just lost her mother by a monster sent by Hades, she has strange training not easily understandable or explainable, and she is the last daughter of the big threes. She will get a quest." He drank down the beer, immediately grimacing after and pouring the rest on the grass just in front of the porch.

"No hero has ever been born without suffering. Look at the camp: the bests of the bests are those who have lost something, and so it has been since the dawn of time, and so it will be in the future."

"Then what about Shirou? He didn't lose anyone that I know about, and his mother loves him a lot, same for his grandparents. But, if our-"

"Ahahahahah! Ahahaahahahah! You think that he is content!? That he is happy!?" I could hear drums in the distance, while a maniacal smile crept in the god's lips: "Oh how wrong you are my friend, but I wonder what will happen when the others, alongside you, will see it, oh how they will see it."

Then he turned towards the door, his smile dropping immediately, and shouted angrily:

"Oi Pantrope, you done in there? Do you need a tissue for your impending doom?"

The door creaked open, and Penelope shuffled out, her face thoughtful.

I, after retaking my bearing to the rare madness coming out from the god, spoke first:

"Did the Oracle speak to you, Penelope?"

She simply nodded, and I sighed, knowing that now there wouldn't be coming back.

"What was the prophecy, Penelope?"

She was hesitant at first, then, after a few seconds, she spoke up.

Penelope POV;

A few hours later;

You shall go to the west, armed against the god who turned

You shall find what was stolen, what was despaired and what was forgotten.

You shall bring back what was sought, what is be feared and what will be worshipped

If drunk by victory, you will lose all, if understood the defeat, you will reach your goal

I was on the bench, the big fire annoying, and was waiting for the person that would come with me.

And no, I couldn't understand a thing of that prophecy, and didn't want to understand it.

Either it was true, it would come to pass anyway, so it didn't matter, or it was false, so I couldn't care less.

Truly, what a clever person I am.

"So, why do you want to go to die with me, peeper?" I asked to no one visible, the little girl by the fire chuckling slightly before tending it again.

"Could you stop calling me that, seaweed brain? I just wanted to get on a quest, and having the daughter of one of the big threes being just discovered is the best way to get into that." The annoyed voice came from another bench, and I could feel the pout on Annabeth's face.

Wait. Is this how the jerk always feels?

I could almost forgive him for not saying my father name. Almost.

But I needed him.

"And did you follow me to the bath as well, peeper? Because if so it's illegal, and I don't want criminals going on with me."

"Shut up. Who are we waiting for? Cause Chiron said we have a day to prepare before we have to move." She was pacing back and forth, I could hear the sound of scraping of earth and ashes.

Quite important to know about. Just in case.

Damn, that jerk had corrupted me.

Feel sad.

"We are waiting for someone who can kick my ass any time, and if I want to save my mom he is my best bet."

I was rhythmically beating the edge of the bench with my foot, while mentally I was trying to find the best way to make the idiot come with me.

He was a practical person, no? So maybe just saying that the world would end would be a good start.

"Oh? And who is it? I thought Chiron was the one that calmed you down, seaweed brain." Came the background noise of Athena's daughter.

I looked towards where she was, the other child chuckling merrily at the sight:

"Oh no, he just used some thingy that made me sleep. I was getting a proper beatdown from him."

I heard an humming sound, and steps in front of the fire. Or at least I think she was there.

Still not so good at spatial awareness, and was in a comfortable position.

"Well, it's a good idea to get Luke in. He is the best in the camp after all, and you, even if you won't be saying who trained you, are second."

"Yeah, yeah, it's totally- What?!"

I shot up, and turned towards where that idiot should be, my mouth so open that I am quite sure horses could enter.

She was blinking owlishly (eheheh) at me when she asked, unsure:

"Well, it's Luke who beat you when you became maniac, wasn't it? It's the only one who could have done that in the camp."

No, you don't get the smart tone if you say something stupid! It's against the rules!

"One, I didn't become a "maniac". I was angry. For a moment. Now no longer. Totally different. Two, Luke never beat me. Three, I didn't become a maniac!"

You know, dad, you could be a better dad and making her step on horse dung for thinking things like this!

"What do you mean it wasn't Luke? Then who was it? Come on, it can't be anyone else, it's impossible."

I just stared at the idiot in front of me, but before I could answer:

"Kid. Why in the name of the Root did you send a thrice damned dryad to me? Wasn't I on your "persona-non-grata" list? Is there some reason for which you would ask to meet along with a rude child?"

The jerk arrived.

"Oh look, he has arrived." I said, and got up, and started moving towards the big house, hearing the chuckles of the other kid.

"Uh? But he is average! Why should you want him for the quest to retake the bolt!" the big brained idiot spoke up, and I, being the kind girl I am, disregarded her completely while continuing to walk towards the big house.

"You know, I am here, I can hear you, and I am not interested into doing…whatever you want to do. So, good luck, I am going back to cloud watching." And he turned back.

But I knew the jerk, so I simply said, smirking slightly:

"The world is going to end if we don't get this "master bolt" back to the fornicator."

He, for all he wanted to be a jerk, didn't really, really like having bad people doing bad things.

And he would have time to apology, then I would apology, and all would be good again.

"And why should I be the one to help? Aren't there other people like the invisible idiot?"

The child nodded, and did a thumb up.

"Please Shirou you are my only hope!"

…

After a few seconds of blank stare, and of calm breathing, my teacher turned his back to me and said:

"Alright I am leaving."

I grabbed him when he turned, and I could feel that he was Reinforcing himself, but I spoke before he got away:

"Hades has my mom! If I can get her back, I will leave you alone, I promise!"

He stopped at that.

Then he said, cold as ice, while the fire beside me died a little:

"I don't want to be an hero, I am not interested to be one, just leave me."

Then he continued to walk away.

"Please, I am sorry, I need your help." I begged, and I could feel something wet in my eyes.

But he stopped.

He muttered something to himself.

He turned.

And then he said, his eyes cold:

"It will only be this time. Only this. And you two will not give anyone any word about my abilities without my say so. Swear this upon the Styx. I know it works."

I smiled at this, rubbing my eyes, knowing that I would soon be able to save my mom.

I was sure of that, that Shirou would help her save her mom, and they would reach their objective!

The child on the back just shook her head, saddened.

AN

Yeah, another chapter done, in two months instead of two years this time.

Good me.

Penelope behaved like this because Percy behaved like this (Grover hid this, and also his mother did hide that, and never there was any kind of anger towards the two).

Hope it was good, now imma be going back to study/writing/wanting to die a bit more.

See ya.