Apollo read the title out after he finished laughing causing the others to start laughing too.
"How do you come up with these things?" Piper asked Percy.
"I don't know. My brain works weird." Percy said chuckling.
After they had finished laughing, Apollo began to read.
(Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.)
"Really, Percy?" Thalia asked.
Percy shrugged, smiling sheepishly.
(We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, 'That's him.')
"Yeah, I love getting stared at and talked about behind my back." Percy said sarcastically.
Grover just patted his back.
(Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a cartwheel or something.)
"I was just waiting for someone to yell out 'Do a flip!'" Percy said grinning.
"Could you do a flip?" asked Leo.
"Now yeah, probably. Back then, no. I would have made a total fool of myself for trying." Percy told him, smiling.
(I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized – four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upmarket seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.)
Apollo leaned forward and asked, "Did she move?"
Percy shrugged, not truly knowing if she moved or not; but she had moved before so it wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
The Romans and new Greeks were confused as to what the God and demigod were talking about.
('What's up there?' I asked Chiron. He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. 'Just the attic.' 'Somebody lives there?' 'No,' he said with finality. 'Not a single living thing.' )
"Chiron is great at offering information that is both truth and lie." Hermes said grinning.
(I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain. 'Come along, Percy,' Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. 'Lots to see.' )
"He's also great at changing the topics." Hermes chuckled.
(We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. 'It pays our expenses,' he explained. 'And the strawberries take almost no effort.' )
Reyna hadn't even thought of growing their own food for storage or for selling. It would help the legion be more self-sufficient.
(He said Mr D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.)
"Wouldn't you be able to do more stuff from grapes?" Gwen asked.
"Yes, there would be more and sell for more as well." Dakota said glaring at Lord Zeus-Jupiter for keeping his father from his own domain.
"It's no wonder Mr. D is so grumpy all the time." Travis remarked.
"He's unable to do anything or mess with the main domain of his powers." Conner continued.
"I bet that would make any of the Gods grumpy being unable to do your job." Chris ended.
The Greeks glared at Zeus wondering if they were going to have to point it out to him. The Romans were shocked at the Greek's audacity.
"Fine! Dionysus, I lift your restrictions." Zeus said through gritted teeth.
The Greeks smiled at Dionysus and Dakota who both shared a smile. Dionysus waved a hand and a goblet appeared full of brilliant red wine. He takes a sip and collapses bonelessly on his throne.
(I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, being lectured by Mr D.)
The demigods looked at Grover asking silently.
"No, he had a few words with but that was it." Grover answered the silent question.
('Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?' I asked Chiron. 'I mean… he was a good protector. Really.' Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse's back like a saddle. 'Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill.')
"Which he did. You arrived alive in camp." Rachel pointed out.
('But he did that!' 'I might agree with you,' Chiron said. 'But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate… ah… fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part.' )
"I hate the Cloven Council." grumbles Thalia. Percy and Nico nodded at her statement.
(I wanted to protest. None of what had happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have got in trouble. 'He'll get a second chance, won't he?' )
"He better get one. He deserves it." Katie says.
(Chiron winced. 'I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age…' 'How old is he?' 'Oh, twenty-eight.' 'What! And he's in sixth grade?' 'Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years.' 'That's horrible.' )
"Woah, really?" Piper asked Grover
Grover nodded.
"Woah, that's so cool." Leo said in wonder.
('Quite,' Chiron agreed. 'At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…' )
"How's that basket weaving going?" Percy smirks as he asks Grover.
Grover rolled his eyes at his friend.
('That's not fair,' I said. 'What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?' Chiron looked away quickly. 'Let's move along, shall we?' )
Thalia, Annabeth, and Grover winced.
(But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea – a tiny, hopeful fire – started forming in my mind. )
Hades leaned forward daring the boy to say what he thought he was going to say.
('Chiron,' I said. 'If the gods and Olympus and all that are real…' 'Yes, child?' 'Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?')
Hades stares at Percy deadpanned.
"Don't you dare." He utters.
Percy just smiles sheepishly at his uncle.
(Chiron's expression darkened. 'Yes, child.' He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. 'There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now… until we know more… I would urge you to put that out of your mind.')
Hades continued to stare at Percy, who just shrugged at him knowing how often he would find himself in the underworld in the coming years.
('What do you mean, "until we know more"?' 'Come, Percy. Let's see the woods.' )
"Yeah, that's going to get Percy off track for a little but he'll be back to that thought later." Nico said.
The Greeks nodded in agreement knowing how Percy's train of thought worked.
(As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.)
"Truly?" Reyna asks.
"Yeah, We have kept it from most modern human touch." Grover tells her, " Everything used in camp is all-natural. We, satyrs and the nymphs keep the camp in shape as I'm sure it's the same as yours."
"Yes, we do try to keep it natural but our fauns don't work. They beg on the streets but I think at the end of this, I may have ideas for jobs for them."
Grover looked shocked at the thought of satyrs begging on the streets but was happy someone would change that.
(Chiron said, 'The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed.' 'Stocked with what?' I asked. 'Armed with what?' 'You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?' )
"Why? Why would he have one?" Hazel asked confused.
Frank shrugged.
('My own –' 'No,' Chiron said. 'I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later.')
"You probably wouldn't find a weapon that would feel right for you in there." Poseidon said to his son, "You would need a sword made in the ocean."
Percy smiled at his dad, happy his dad was trying to teach him even if he already knew the information.
(I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights)
The Romans looked stunned. Camp Half-Blood was a different type of place from Camp Jupiter.
('Sword and spear fights?' I asked. 'Cabin challenges and all that,' he explained. 'Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall.' Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.)
"What happens when it rains?" Frank asks the Greeks.
Percy laughed.
"That's almost exactly what I asked."
('What do you do when it rains?' I asked. Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. 'We still have to eat, don't we?' I decided to drop the subject)
"He didn't answer my question." Frank pouted.
"Storms go around the camp boundaries, so it's always sunny." Annabeth tells him.
Frank makes an 'Oh' face and nods.
(Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen. Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).)
"You like basketball?" Leo pipes up.
"Yeah, man. It's my jam." Percy grins at Leo.
"You vs Me. When we all come back to camp." Leo challenged.
"Oh, your on." Percy agreed to the challenge.
(In the centre of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smouldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.)
Hestia blinked in surprise and turned to Percy.
"You saw me?" She asked him.
"Sorry, I didn't say anything to you." Percy apologizes to Hestia.
"It's fine, Percy. You were going through a lot at the time." Hestia smiles at him. "It's just that you must have a strong sense of family to be able to see me."
Percy smiles at Hestia.
(The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a holograph, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them. )
Zeus smirks at the mention of his cabin,
Thalia and Jason shared a look. Having to sleep in the cabin was horrible. It was tense It didn't help that there was a statue of Zeus looking down on them making it hard to sleep.
( Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks)
Hera smiled at her cabin even if it will always be empty.
Jason and the Greeks glared at Hera.
('Zeus and Hera?' I guessed. 'Correct,' Chiron said. 'Their cabins look empty.')
"Mine would at least be empty. Unlike, you Zeus. You just can't help yourself!" Hera glares at Zeus looking like she might smite him if she could.
Jason and Thalia shared another long look at having to deal with their stepmother's wrath at some point in the future.
('Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two.' Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty? )
"Wow. You still don't get it?" Piper questioned.
"Denial is a wonderful thing." Percy said.
(I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.)
Poseidon smiled at the mention of his cabin, his son's home away from home.
(It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough grey stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, 'Oh, I wouldn't do that!' )
"Like that's going to stop Percy." Nico grinned.
(Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Come along, Percy.' )
Poseidon grinned that his son liked his cabin.
(Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers. Number five was bright red – a real nasty paint job, as if the colour had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen.)
Ares and Clarisse grinned at the mention of their cabin.
(The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL Camp Half-Blood T shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.)
"Really, Prissy?" Clarisse growls at Percy. Chris wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
Percy winces.
"Sorry, Clarisse." Percy apologizes.
(I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. 'We haven't seen any other centaurs,' I observed. 'No,' said Chiron sadly. 'My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here.' )
"PARTY PONIES!" Shouted the Hermes kids, which startled everyone from the volume.
('You said your name was Chiron. Are you really…' He smiled down at me. 'The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am.' 'But, shouldn't you be dead?' )
"Shouldn't we be dead?" Nico asks rhetorically.
The demigods nodded at that.
(Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. 'I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, aeons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish… and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed.' )
"He is. He would have died long ago if not for him." Will said.
"We wouldn't have won some battles without his help." Percy points out.
The Gods wonder at what their children have been through to have Chiron need to join in the fights.
(I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list. 'Doesn't it ever get boring?' 'No, no,' he said. 'Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring.' 'Why depressing?' Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again. 'Oh, look,' he said. 'Annabeth is waiting for us.')
"It would be sad to basically raise us and teach us only to lose us in battle." Annabeth states.
(The blonde girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven. When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled. )
Everyone laughed.
Percy grumbled but smiled.
(I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.)
"Is that the same one that...?" Grover asked Annabeth.
Annabeth nodded.
Everyone wondered what they were talking about.
(Annabeth,' Chiron said, 'I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?' 'Yes, sir.' 'Cabin eleven,' Chiron told me, gesturing towards the doorway. 'Make yourself at home.' )
"Yes, Please. Make yourself at home." The Strolls grumble.
(Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it…? A caduceus.)
"You knew what that was?" Annabeth asked Percy shocked.
"I knew some things at that point in time." Percy grumbled.
(Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation centre.)
The Hermes kids frowned at the mention of how their cabin used to be.
"At least, It's better now thanks to Percy." Chris said sending a thankful look to Percy.
Hermes wondered what Percy had done in order to fix the Hermes cabin's problems.
(Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully. 'Well, then,' Chiron said. 'Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner.' He galloped away towards the archery range. I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing any more. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.)
Some of the demigods nodded at that.
('Well?' Annabeth prompted. 'Go on.' So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself. There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything. Annabeth announced, 'Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.' 'Regular or undetermined?' somebody asked. I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, 'Undetermined.' Everybody groaned. )
Hermes glared at the Gods.
(A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. 'Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there.' )
"Is it really that bad?" Athena frowned.
"If someone else had shown up after Percy and they hadn't been claimed we wouldn't have had room for them." Chris told Athena and the other Gods.
"My spot on the floor was enough space for me to curl up on." Percy added, "There was a person on both sides of me. It was a tight fit."
The Strolls nodded in agreement.
The Gods frowned.
(The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals and a leather necklace with five different-coloured clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash. )
The Greek demigods except the newer ones frowned at the mention of Luke. Even though he pulled through in the end, they would all remember what he put them through.
Hermes wondered at the reaction of the demigods at the mention of obviously one of his sons.
('This is Luke,' Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing. She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. 'He's your counsellor for now.' 'For now?' I asked. )
"If your lucky, you get claimed by your parent after a few days." Percy explains to the Romans, "If not, you're either a minor gods child, you had to prove yourself or the worst you were forgotten."
The Romans were horrified at how the demigods were grouped.
"It's better now. There are a lot more cabins other than the main twelve ones." Leo said.
"That's because of Percy." Will says throwing him under the bus.
Percy frowned playfully at Will.
The gods wondered how Percy got Zeus to agree to add more cabins in camp.
('You're undetermined,' Luke explained patiently. 'They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travellers.')
Hermes frowned at his son calling him, his Patron. He was his father not his patron.
(I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.)
The Strolls and Chris grinned.
(I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious)
"The undetermined." Travis said solemnly.
(some grinning stupidly)
"That's a mix between undetermined and Hermes kids." Chris said.
(some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.)
"Hermes kids!" Conner grinned.
('How long will I be here?' I asked. 'Good question,' Luke said. 'Until you're determined.' 'How long will that take?' The campers all laughed. )
The Romans thought it was a reasonable question but considering how long some of them might have been waiting to be claimed. They could see why it would be funny in a bitter sort of way.
('Come on,' Annabeth told me. 'I'll show you the volleyball court.' 'I've already seen it.' 'Come on.' She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.)
Everyone frowned.
(When we were a few metres away, Annabeth said, 'Jackson, you have to do better than that.' 'What?' She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, 'I can't believe I thought you were the one.' 'What's your problem?' I was getting angry now. 'All I know is, I kill some bull guy –' 'Don't talk like that!' Annabeth told me. 'You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?' )
"To be killed?" asked Nico, Leo, and Frank.
(''To get killed?' 'To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?' I shook my head. 'Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories…' 'Yes.' 'Then there's only one.' 'Yes.' 'And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So…' 'Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die.')
"That doesn't explain anything." Gwen said.
('Oh, thanks. That clears it up.' 'They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form.')
"Yeah, I realize now I was just making you more confused. Now that I know you never watched the film." Annabeth said frowning.
"It's fine, Annabeth. I probably would have still been in denial until after the game." Percy said trying to comfort her.
(I thought about Mrs Dodds. 'You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword –' 'The Fu… I mean, your maths teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad.')
Nico opened his mouth to say something but Percy interrupted him.
"Yes, I know. She wants my head and heart on a silver platter." Percy said deadpanned.
"Pretty much every individual piece of your body on a platter." Nico added.
Percy groaned.
('How did you know about Mrs Dodds?' 'You talk in your sleep.' 'You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?' Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. 'You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all.' 'Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?' I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care. 'Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there.')
"When are you going to get it?" Clarisse asks Percy irritated that he was so slow.
"Soon." Percy said waving a hand at her.
(I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. 'You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or… your parent.' She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.)
"We all are." Clarisse says.
('My mom is Sally Jackson,' I said. 'She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to.' 'I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad.' 'He's dead. I never knew him.' Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. 'Your father's not dead, Percy.' 'How can you say that? You know him?' 'No, of course not.' 'Then how can you say –' 'Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us.' 'You don't know anything about me.' 'No?' She raised an eyebrow. 'I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them.' 'How –' 'Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too.' )
"Now, you're going to freak him out." Thalia points out to Annabeth.
Annabeth frowns.
(I tried to swallow my embarrassment. 'What does that have to do with anything?' 'Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD – you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are.' )
"I have a hard enough time seeing through the mist. There's no reason for monsters to make it harder for me." Percy grumbles.
('You sound like… you went through the same thing?' 'Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar.' 'Ambrosia and nectar.' 'The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood.' )
"Yay." the Greek demigod cheered sarcastically.
(A half-blood. I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start. Then a husky voice yelled, 'Well! A newbie!' )
"Hear we go." groaned Percy.
Clarisse slumped slightly in her seat.
(I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering towards us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean-looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.)
Clarisse glowered at Percy who sank lower in his seat.
('Clarisse,' Annabeth sighed. 'Why don't you go polish your spear or something?' 'Sure, Miss Princess,' the big girl said. 'So I can run you through with it Friday night.' 'Errete es korakas,' Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for "Go to the crows", though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. 'You don't stand a chance.' 'We'll pulverize you,' Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned towards me. 'Who's this little runt?' 'Percy Jackson,' Annabeth said, 'meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares.' )
Ares grinned at the introduction of his daughter.
(I blinked. 'Like… the war god?' Clarisse sneered. 'You got a problem with that?' 'No,' I said, recovering my wits. 'It explains the bad smell.' Clarisse growled. 'We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy.' 'Percy.' 'Whatever. Come on, I'll show you.' 'Clarisse –' Annabeth tried to say. 'Stay out of it, wise girl.' )
"That's where that came from?" Rachel asks Percy and Annabeth shocked.
The two nodded.
"This is before we became best friends so our nicknames started as insults." Annabeth tells Rachel.
(Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep. )
Most of the demigods nodded knowing that it was the only way to be left alone sometimes.
(I handed Annabeth my Minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me towards a cinderblock building that I knew immediately was the bathroom. I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking – as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out – that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier toilets.)
"They're better now. A lot better." Leo says laughing.
(Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there. 'Like he's "Big Three" material,' Clarisse said as she pushed me towards one of the toilets. 'Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid-looking.' Her friends snickered. )
Poseidon frowned at hearing his son being bullied. While Ares grinned.
(Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers. Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head towards the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.)
Poseidon and the others who knew Percy's power started grinning.
(Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me. I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backwards into a shower stall. )
Clarisse frowned and sank into her seat. Chris offered his support.
(She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming towards her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away. )
Ares was frowning and grumbling about water powers.
(As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started. The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock. )
"I was. I hadn't seen anything like that since Thalia at the time." Annabeth tells everyone.
(I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing. I stood up, my legs shaky. Annabeth said, 'How did you…' 'I don't know.' )
"How did no one know who his dad was?" Reyna asked the Greeks.
"We didn't want to even consider it, but it was in the back of our heads." Annabeth explained to her.
Reyna nodded.
(We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. 'You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead.' I probably should have let it go, but I said, 'You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth.')
The Strolls and Leo snickered. Chris glared at the three, and they immediately stopped.
(Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her towards cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet. Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her. 'What?' I demanded. 'What are you thinking?' 'I'm thinking,' she said, 'that I want you on my team for capture the flag.' ')
"Oh Gods, this isn't going to end well, is it?" Thalia asks Annabeth, who shook her head.
"Nope." Percy said flatly.
"Alrighty. That's that chapter down who's next?"Apollo asked grinning, "How bout you, sis?"
Apollo throws the book to Artemis who caught it and snarled at him.
"Don't call me sis. But fine, I'll go next."
Artemis opens to the next chapter and reads the next title chapter.