Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson
Chapter 8: I Have a Brother?
Six months later…
Christina laid back in the grass outside of her cabin, her hair, which was dyed blue that day, spread out around her, staring up at the sky, Annabeth on one side, and Will on the other.
"I can't wait for Grover to get back." She commented, as she squinted at the bright sun. "He hasn't been gone this long since he brought Annabeth and Luke to camp." She didn't mention the unspoken fact that Thalia was also with them, and for that, Annabeth was grateful.
Will rolled over on his side, facing her. "Well, he's apparently bringing back an extremely powerful half-blood, if both him and Chiron missing for the past nine months are anything to go by. If this goes well, maybe he'll be able to get his searcher's license soon."
"Which means he'll be gone on the search for Pan." Christina grumbled, but she knew it was true. "Come on." She said, jumping up and pulling both blondes with her. "I'm bored and your dad is too bright Will. Let's have a canoe race!"
Both Will and Annabeth glanced at each other and rolled their eyes, knowing full well that they would lose hopelessly against the daughter of Poseidon, before following their best friend to Canoe Lake.
An hour and a half later…
Both Will and Annabeth collapsed against the sand, looking completely and absolutely winded, while Christina just looked like she had gone out for a light jog as she leaned back on the sand next to them.
"Even after all this time, I don't know why I still try." Will wheezed, lifting his head up to look at his best friend.
But Christina wasn't looking at either of her friends, instead she was glancing towards Half-Blood Hill, at the storm rolling across Long Island. "I wonder what happened to make Uncle Z so mad." She murmured.
"It's almost time for lunch." Annabeth announced, standing up and reaching her hand down to pull the two of them up. "Let's head towards the dining pavilion."
Will gratefully accepted her offer and pulled himself up. "After that race, I'm starving."
But the trio wouldn't make it to lunch that day. Just as they walked across the grass in front of the Big House, about to turn towards the dining pavilion, the sound of Chiron yelling to them caused them to break off from their conversation.
"Christina, Annabeth, Will!" The centaur called. "I need your assistance over here."
Glancing uneasily at each other, the three friends turned and ran back towards the Big House, lunch suddenly being put off. When they reached the porch, they found Chiron muttering to himself, having sat down in his magical wheelchair again.
"What's going on?" Will asked their mentor.
Chiron looked up. "You three, would you please come into the infirmary?"
"What's going on?" Christina asked, repeating Will's question from a few seconds prior, as she looked at the only father figure in her life, her face scrunched up in confusion.
Chiron sighed. "I'm not even sure right now, but I can tell you that it has to do with the mission both Grover and I were on."
"The extremely powerful half-blood?" Annabeth asked, cocking her head.
Chiron nodded. "It appears he was attacked by Pasiphaë's son. Grover was thrown when lightning struck the car, and was knocked out, but Percy was able to get him to the Big House, before promptly passing out himself."
"Can I take a look and see how he is doing?" Will asked, as they walked through the Big House and towards the infirmary. "Someone should really check them both out, head injuries can be serious."
Chiron nodded. "I was going to call for an Apollo camper, but then you three happened to be walking by."
"Do you have any idea who his godly parent might be?" Christina questioned the centaur.
Chiron hesitated. "I have my suspicious, but I don't want to say anything until I am sure. It is his father though. His mother is very mortal, even if she is clear sighted."
As the group reached the door to the infirmary, Christina pushed it open, holding it so her three friends and wheelchair bound mentor could come inside. Laying in one of the beds was a boy close to their age. He had wavy, black hair and was wearing a blue shirt that was torn in places, likely from the monster attack, blue jeans, blue converse, a blue flannel, and had several, slowly healing cuts on his face and neck. It struck her that the boy on the bed looked extremely like her, if she was male and had an odd obsession with blue.
The only other people in the room were Argus, who was watching over the boy, and Grover, who was sitting on the bed next to the new boy, his head in his hands and holding a shoe box, which gave Christina eerie flashbacks to the day Annabeth arrived at camp.
"How long has he been unconscious?" Will asked, hurrying over to the bed, and directing his question at Grover. "Has he been given ambrosia or nectar?"
The satyr looked up. "He's been unconscious for about half an hour. I only woke up ten minutes ago. I assume someone gave him some, since his cuts have been healing when I've been awake."
"I gave him some when he arrived." Chiron confirmed, wheeling over to the bed. "I believe it's safe to give him more now, but we need to monitor his condition. I'm afraid he's going to be unconscious for a while."
Annabeth looked up at the centaur. "What's his name?"
"His name is Percy Jackson." He told her.
Christina walked over to Grover, sitting down next to him, the bed slightly under her weight. "Whatever happened, it's not your fault G."
"How can it not be?" He asked, looking up at her. "I was supposed to be a protector, I was supposed to get him to camp safely. But instead, I ended up being knocked out, completely useless, while Percy fought the freaking Minotaur to keep me and his mom safe. And now his mom's dead. I failed again, and I'll never get my searcher's license."
Will frowned at him. "Grover, no matter how strong, or brave, or heroic you are, you can't stop being knocked out when you're thrown against a car. It's not your fault that you were knocked unconscious, and it's not your fault what happened to Percy's mom."
"Will's right." Christina told him, nudging his shoulder. "You got him to camp, that's what matters. And you're an amazing protector. You saved me when I was a baby, and you got Annabeth and Luke to camp."
Grover glanced out the window of the infirmary, towards Half-Blood Hill. "But I couldn't save her."
"That's not your fault." Annabeth insisted, as both Christina and Will went silent. "That's Hades' fault. Thalia chose to make her stand on the hill, and you know how she was, there was no way you could have stopped her. And before you say anything, Brooklyn wasn't your fault either, we were tricked."
Will looked like he wanted to ask what happened in Brooklyn, but thought better of it. "I think most of you should go. He's not going to wake up for a while, and when he does, the fewer people in here, the better. I'll continue to monitor his condition, and tell you if anything changes.
"Can I stay here?" Annabeth asked. "I can't shake the feeling that I have to be here when he wakes and besides, I can help you explain things when he does."
Will nodded. "Sure, but no one else."
"What? You have a crush, Annabeth?" Christina joked, causing her friend to blush, but pulled Grover up with her anyway, and left the infirmary, Chiron behind them.
Separating from Chiron at his office, the two of them walked outside and turned towards the dining pavilion, where Christina had been heading before getting interrupted.
"How was your year in the mortal world?" Christina asked her best friend as they walked.
Grover groaned. "Slightly infuriating. But Percy, he's really great, I think you'll like him."
"Do you have any idea who his godly parent is?" She asked, curious.
Grover's eyes darted back towards the Big House. "Sort of. But if Chiron doesn't want to tell you, I don't think I should."
"I don't want to get you in trouble with Chiron or Mr. D." Christina said, shrugging. "I'll wait like everyone else."
Grover grinned at her. "Thanks Christina."
"What took you so long?" Silena asked teasingly, as the two of them walked into the pavilion and sat down at their respective tables.
"And where's Will?" A girl from the Apollo table yelled.
"And Annabeth." One of the Athena campers added.
Christina turned towards the Apollo and Athena campers first. "Will and Annabeth are in the infirmary, taking care of the new half-blood who arrived today, the one that Grover was protecting. And Chiron wanted to tell me that he arrived." She said, turning back to Silena.
"I hope he's a Hermes kid." Connor commented.
Travis nodded. "It will be nice to have another brother we can pull pranks with."
"He'll end up in the Hermes cabin anyway." Clarisse pointed out.
Luke sighed. "Don't remind me."
"I have no idea who's kid he is, except that his godly parent is his dad. He doesn't resemble any of the cabins." Christina said shrugging.
"Except for me." Her mind reminded her, but she brushed it off. There was no way Percy Jackson was a son of Poseidon, any more than if he was a son of Zeus or Hades.
Silena smiled slightly. "Maybe he's an Aphrodite kid, it's not impossible for a demigod to have same sex parents, just look at Kayla."
The eight year old daughter of Apollo looked up and smiled, happy to be recognized.
"We don't have a specific look," Silena continued. "Since beauty looks different to everyone, and it would be nice to have a brother for a change. No offense Mitchell." She hurriedly corrected herself.
"None taken." Mitchell said, shrugging slightly. "I know I'm the only male Aphrodite kid."
"Maybe he's the kind of a minor god." Chris pointed out. "There are hundreds of those."
Some of the kids of minor deities at the Hermes table looked away, while the rest of the pavilion fell silent, all knowing what would happen to the new half-blood if he was the son of a minor god or goddess. Luke scowled, this was why he was so against the gods, who didn't even care what happened to the kids of the minor deities.
Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Well, let's quit speculating. We'll find out sooner or later."
Just like that, the conversation died, everyone going back to their previous conversations. But Christina, sitting alone at the Poseidon table like always, couldn't shake off the feeling that whoever Percy's godly parent was, it was important, and somehow connected to her.
The next day…
Groaning, Percy opened his eyes, squinting at the bright light, as his entire body ached, and his head felt like he was swimming. His mind was fuzzy, and he couldn't quite remember what had happened last, or how he had gotten into this situation
"Careful," A male voiced sounded off to his left. "You've been unconscious for the past day."
Percy blinked, the spots in his vision clearing, and he stared up at the two people who were starting to become visible. At first, he thought he was seeing double, but as everything began clearing, he realized he wasn't, just that both were blonde.
The one on the left, who had spoken to him, had bright blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a bright orange t-shirt, a green flannel, what looked to be like a string of beads around his neck, and seemed to be about Percy's age. In his hand he held a cup of what looked like apple juice. The one on the right was a girl. She had beautiful curly, blonde hair and startling grey eyes. She wore the same orange t-shirt as the boy and a similar necklace, although she had a few more beads than him, and also seemed to be about Percy's age.
"What happened?" Percy asked, his voice scratchy from not having used it.
The boy pressed the cup into his hand. "Drink this. It'll make you feel better, and then we can explain."
Percy had always been taught not to accept drink from strangers, but the boy seemed so nice, and his head felt terrible, like someone had decided to tap dance across it, so he took the cup and took a sip, recoiling a bit at the taste.
He had expected it to taste like apple juice, but what he tasted instead was his mother's blue chocolate chip cookies, still warm and gooey from the oven. The thought made his heart ache, as what had happened came rushing back. Grover showing up, the reveal that his best friend was a goat, his mother frantically driving them somewhere, the monster dissolving her into a shower of dust, and finally collapsing on the porch. Before he knew it, he had drunk the entire glass.
"Careful." The boy said, taking the cup back from him. "We don't want you to drink too much of that."
Percy sat up, struggling a little. "What happened? Who are you? Where am I?"
"I'm Will." The boy said, introducing himself. "That's Annabeth." He pointed at the girl next to him. "You're in the infirmary at Camp Half-Blood. You've been unconscious for the past day."
Percy frowned. "Is Grover okay? He hit his head and passed out."
"Grover's fine." Annabeth said, speaking up for the first time. "He woke up about twenty minutes after you dragged him here. Can you walk? We should probably take him to see Chiron now that he's awake." She directed the last part at Will.
Percy swung his legs out of bed, stumbling a little as he leaned on Will for support. "Who's Chiron?"
"Chiron's our activites director." Will told him as he led Percy out of the infirmary. "He works with Mr. D, our camp director."
The three of them walked out of the building, which Percy immediately recognized as the farm house he had collapsed on and walked towards a table on the porch, where four people were, two of whom Percy recognized.
Grover leaned up against the railing, a shoe box under his arm, as he watched the card game going on between the two men at the table and what appeared to be two invisible players, if the floating cards were anything to go by. His goat legs from the night before weren't visible, leading Percy to suspect that maybe that part was a dream. He was wearing jeans, the same orange t-shirt as Will and Annabeth, a similar necklace, black Converse, and his green rasta cap.
Next to him, also leaning up against the railing, was a girl the same age as Percy, Will, Grover, and Annabeth. She had sea green eyes, just like him, and black hair that was tied into two braids and dyed blue at the ends. She also wore the orange t-shirt, leading Percy to suspect it was a uniform of some sort for this camp, another necklace, although she had more beads than any of the others, jeans, black combat boots, and a bracelet with a sword on it. What looked to be a dagger was in a sheath around her waist, attached to a belt. But what was most shocking was the fact that she looked almost exactly like how Percy thought he would look, if he was a girl.
The other man at the table, the one that Percy didn't recognize, had a chubby face, red nose, and black curly hair. His blue eyes were watery and bloodshot, leading Percy to suspect he had been drinking. He wore a tiger-striped Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and purple running shoes, and reminded Percy of a cherub who grew up in a trailer park.
The last man at the table was someone that Percy would have recognized anywhere, even though he was turned away from him.
"Mr. Brunner?" Percy asked, confused. "What are you doing here?"
Mr. Brunner swiveled his wheelchair around, so he was facing Percy, his eyes lighting up in recognition. "Ah Percy, I see you're awake. Thank you for bringing him over here, Annabeth and Will."
"What is this place?" Percy asked, confused. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"
The other man at the table grunted. "Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. I'm Mr. D, that's Chiron. There, now go run off and get your tour and don't bother me anymore."
"Chiron?" Percy asked, confused. "I thought your name was Mr. Brunner."
Mr. Brunner smiled gently. "I'm afraid Mr. Brunner was a pseudonym I took on at Yancy, my real name is Chiron, and I am the activities director here. But I suppose Mr. D is correct." He turned to Grover and the other girl. "Why don't you and Grover take Mr. Jackson to his cabin and give him a tour of camp. I'm sure Annabeth and Will can help you."
"Why am I always the one giving tours?" The girl joked good-naturedly, but pushed herself off the railing and walked over to them, Grover following. "I'm Christina." She introduced, as they walked down the porch. "I guess you haven't met me before."
Will rolled his eyes. "How could he, Keeper? He just woke up five minutes ago."
"I know that Solace." Christina told him, sticking her tongue out.
Grover shook his head. "How did I miss you two?"
"Love you too, goat boy." Christina joked, throwing her arm around Grover's shoulders.
Annabeth decided to take pity on Percy then, and explain what was going on. "This is Camp Half-Blood." She explained. "It's a summer camp, but some people stay all year round. There are twelve cabins, and we're taking you to cabin eleven. You'll meet your counselor there; his name is Luke."
"If it's a summer camp, why do some people stay year round?" Percy asked, confused, as he gazed around at his surroundings.
Off to the left were fields of strawberries, with several kids in the same orange shirts walking around picking berries. Someone like Grover, a satyr, Percy remembered, was playing a tune on some reed pipes, and causing insects to flee the plants like they were on fire. Off to the right was an archery range, where some kids were shooting arrows, and a sparring ring, the sounds of metal swords echoing off each other filling the valley. In front of him was a ring of twelve of the most mismatched cabins that Percy had ever seen, in the shape of a Greek omega.
Christina, who had broken off her argument with Will, spoke up. "For some of us, it's not safe out in the real world, so we stay here all year round."
"Why do all the cabins look completely different?" Percy asked, choosing to save his question as to why it wouldn't be safe for later, along with his million other questions.
Annabeth gestured to the cabin closest to them. It looked like a white, marble box with heavy white columns in the front and polished bronze doors with the symbols of lightning bolts streaking down them.
"Each cabin is for a different Greek god or goddess. Gods are the odd numbers, and goddesses are the even numbers, except for cabin twelve, Dionysus' cabin, since Hestia gave up her throne for him and hence her cabin, although she wouldn't have any children anyway, being a maiden goddess." Annabeth explained. "That's Zeus' cabin, although he doesn't have any kids, so it's completely honorary. He did have a daughter, but…" She trailed off.
Percy blinked, not sure how to respond to that, instead settling for the most obvious question. "What do you mean, kids?"
"Camp Half-Blood is a camp for the children of gods or goddesses, also known as demigods, but specifically for the kids of Greek gods or goddesses." Christina explained. "If you're here, it means one of your parents was a god or goddess. You wouldn't have been able to get through the border otherwise, not to mention consume the nectar and ambrosia we gave you."
Percy stared at her, shocked. "But my mom's not a goddess, that thing killed her. And my dad, she always said he was lost at sea."
"Your dad's not dead, Percy." Christina told him, but she shared an uneasily glance with Will that Percy wasn't sure was good or not. "He's one of the Greek gods. But since we don't know which one, we're taking you to cabin eleven, Hermes' cabin. Since Hermes is the god of the roads, messengers, travelers, thieves, basically anyone who uses the roads, he doesn't care who stays in his cabin, so it's where all unclaimed demigods go."
By the time Christina had finished explaining, the five of them had reached one of the last cabins in the omega. It was the largest of the twelve cabins, and the oldest, and reminded Percy of a regular, summer camp cabin. The dull, brown paint was chipped, and the symbol of a caduceus hung over the door. On the porch, an older teenager sat, reading a book.
He was probably about nineteen, with an athletic build, cropped sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and a sharp nose. The only thing that marred his features was a thick, deep pale scar that looked several years old, running from the bottom of his eye down to his chin. He wore an orange, Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, jeans, Converse, and had a bronze sword attached to his belt.
"Is this the new demigod?" He asked, looking up and closing his book.
Christina nodded. "Yeah. Percy, meet Luke Castellan, the counselor of cabin eleven. Luke, meet Percy Jackson, he's unclaimed."
"Come on," Luke said, standing up and gesturing for Percy to follow him. "I'll introduce you to everyone."
As Percy followed Luke into cabin eleven, he sent one last glance back at Will, Annabeth, Christina, and Grover, who were all deep in thought.
As Percy disappeared into cabin eleven with Luke, Christina turned back to her friends. "I know you can't tell us who his godly parent might be, Grover, but I can't be the only one who has an idea." She told the satyr. "Especially after what Percy said."
"No, you aren't." Annabeth confirmed. "Lost at sea, it can't be a coincidence."
Grover sighed. "I know I said I couldn't tell you who Chiron and I think his dad is, but you guys are right."
"But could he really be a son of Poseidon?" Will asked, as they walked back towards the dining pavilion. "We all know Big Three kids are exceptionally rare. There are only two we know of, and one is Christina."
Christina nodded. "It's not just that. He looks scarily like me. Normally I would brush off looks as a clue, but look at Annabeth and her siblings, or all the Hermes kids. And he looks exactly like I would look like if I was a boy. Not to mention, his mom told him his dad was lost at sea, and we all know she was clear sighted."
"Do you think it has to do with that prophecy concerning you that Chiron won't tell you about?" Annabeth asked.
Christina nodded. "It has too. I'm sure of it."
Two days later…
"So, what's this Capture the Flag game like?" Percy asked Christina and Will, as they walked towards Zeus' Fist, where Annabeth had told them to meet her. "I take it, it isn't like normal Capture the Flag."
He kept adjusting the straps on his armor that was a little bit too big, and fiddling with the sword that wasn't balanced quite right. Christina honestly felt bad for the guy. It was his first Capture the Flag game, and he was in gear that wasn't the best, to put it lightly.
"No, it's not." Will said, answering the question as he dug through his medical bag, double checking that everything was in there. "The basic premise of the game is the same, but we fight it with weapons. But as Chiron said, there's no maiming or killing."
Christina put her hand on his shoulder. "You'll be fine. Annabeth is smart, she knows that you're new. She won't deliberately endanger you, at least, I don't think she won't. And if something happens, which it won't, we have the Apollo campers and Chiron there for a reason. You'll probably be put on border patrol, something easy."
"And, you always have the other members of your team to help you." Will reminded him.
Percy glanced at them like he didn't quite believe them, and Christina couldn't blame him. With that stunt he had pulled yesterday with Clarisse and the Ares campers, it was no secret that the members of cabin five were extremely excited that he was on the opposing team. And that, combined with the fact that he only seemed to excel at swordplay and canoe racing, led Christina and her friends to suspect even more that he was a Poseidon kid. But only this game and time would tell if that's true, or if her dad would decide to claim him.
"Now that everyone's here, we can go over my plan." Annabeth announced as they walked into the clearing, from her spot balancing on the rocks of Zeus' Fist. "Amy, Nathan," She said, addressing two of her siblings. "I want you two to stand guard at the flag, we'll hide it in the woods fifty yards from Zeus' Fist, in the closet clearing." She pointed off in a direction farther into the woods. "Apollo cabin, I want you on defense. Hide in the trees and shoot at anyone who gets close to the flag. If you want, you can engage them in a sword fight, but try to stick to archery. Athena and Hermes cabins, I want you on offense. The Hermes cabin will create a distraction, pretend you're going for the flag, and then Luke and the Stolls will sneak around and steal the flag from behind. Christina, Percy," She said, turning to the two of them. "I want you on border patrol. Spread out along the river, but if Percy's struggling, you can go help him Christina."
Christina grinned. "I wasn't expecting anything different."
"Good." Annabeth nodded. "You're all dismissed."
As they all split up to go to their different positions, Percy leaned over to Christina. "Is she always like that?"
"Not always." Christina said, shrugging. "But when Annabeth gets in the zone of creating a plan, she becomes stricter, or when she's acting as her cabin's counselor. She's the literal embodiment of the phrase, 'Athena always has a plan'."
Percy frowned. "How is she cabin counselor? She's only twelve."
"It's a lot different here then it is in the mortal world." Christina explained. "As demigods, we have to grow up faster than mortals. Twelve really isn't that young. Will was temporary counselor for about a month when he was nine, and I've been counselor my entire time here, although I suppose that's different since I have no siblings. But other than me, Castor, Pollux, and Luke, who arrived the same time as Annabeth, she's the camper who's been here the longest." She nudged his shoulder. "Come on, we should take our positions, before Annabeth comes and kills me for slacking off."
The two of them reached the river and broke off, Christina heading farther downstream, until she was out of eyesight, but still within hearing distance, in case Percy needed help. Sitting down in the leaves alongside the riverbank, she sat and waited, chuckling a little at the conversations between some fish that she overheard. Off to the distance, the sounds of swords clanging could be heard, as the Athena and Hermes cabins ran onto enemy territory.
A few moments later, the sounds of rustling in the bushes across the river prompted Christina to stand up and pull her sword off her bracelet, as it extended outward into her hand. Cole, one of the Ares campers, burst out of the forest, Katie, and Miranda with him.
"What a surprise." He commented, glancing at her. "I never would have guessed Annabeth put you here."
Katie and Miranda sent apologetic glances towards her way, and Christina knew her friends were not anymore happy putting up with the Ares camper than she was.
Christina rolled her eyes. "Why would she change something if it works? There is no rule against using powers, so obviously Annabeth is going to put me somewhere where I can use them to their fullest extent. Sorry about this, by the way." She directed at Katie and Miranda, before willing the water to grab the three campers like tentacles.
Off to her right, the sounds of fighting echoed through the woods, and from the sounds of the grunts and comments she could hear, it sounded like Mark, Sherman, and Clarisse had all decided to attack Percy. Cole growled, slicing through the water with his sword, causing it to be disrupted just long enough to drop Miranda, Katie, and him.
"Sorry about this, Percy." Christina thought to herself, as her sword clashed with Cole's, and she sent another water tentacle towards Katie and Miranda to keep them at bay. "But I have my own problems on my hands."
Cole grinned, as he parried another one of her sword swings. "Why don't you just give up, Keeper? We obviously have you outnumbered."
"Well, I think you just forgot about one of my powers." Christina said, smirking. "Or the reason Annabeth placed me here in the first place."
Dropping her control on the water tentacles, and simultaneously dropping Katie and Miranda in the process, she directed all her power towards the ground, causing it to shake. Cole was thrown off his feet and into the river, knocking into Katie and Miranda, who had just gotten up after being dropped by the water, and sending them all into the river again, just as Luke ran across the boundary line with the Ares' cabin's flag, with the Stolls, Beckendorf, a couple Ares campers, and a Demeter camper all on his tail.
"You were a diversion." Cole growled. "You were distracting us so the Hermes kids could get the flag."
Ignoring the son of Ares, Christina ran in the direction Percy was in, knowing that Clarisse wouldn't stop just because the game was over if it meant the chance to humiliate Percy. But when she burst into the clearing, Percy was standing in the river, looking no worse for wear. Clarisse, Sherman, and Mark were all sprawled on their backs, sporting various injuries, and Clarisse's electric spear lay broken in two pieces. Annabeth ripped off her invisibility cap, becoming visible, just as Christina ran into the clearing.
"You set me up." Percy yelled at the daughter of Athena, not having noticed Christina yet. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."
Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."
"A plan to get me pulverized." Percy fired back.
Christina wanted to step in then, to tell Percy that she would have helped if she hadn't been so preoccupied with Cole, Katie, and Miranda, but knew after five years of being friends with Annabeth, that you didn't interrupt her during an argument unless you had a death wish.
"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but…" Annabeth said, shrugging. "You didn't need help."
It was at that moment that Will came running in, carrying his medical bag. He was sporting a new bruise on his lip, but other than that, looked unscathed. "Here, I've come to help." He told Percy. "You just beat three Ares kids; you're going to need it." But he stopped, jaw dropped, when he noticed Percy's arm.
"Will, what is it?" Christina asked, stepping forward, as Percy jumped, not realizing she was there before. "Is it really that bad?"
Will shook his head. "Come look and tell me where you've seen this kind of healing before."
Christina stepped forward and gasped when she saw the state of Percy's arm. Where there should have been a bleeding cut from a sword slash was instead a white scar that looked exactly like her scars looked when she was in water. And since Percy was currently standing in the river, that could only mean one thing. Annabeth, Will, and Christina all looked at each other, all having reached the same conclusion.
"What is it?" Percy asked, completely confused. "Is this bad? How is it bad if the cut has healed?" He stepped out of the river, but nearly collapsed from exhaustion, as Christina and Annabeth rushed over to catch him, before the girls helped him back into the water.
Will shook his head. "That can only mean one thing."
The conversations from the campers, who had all gathered in the clearing to celebrate the win sometime during Annabeth and Percy's argument died off quickly, as a howl ripped through the woods.
"Stand ready! My bow!" Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek, pulling the bow off his back, and nocking an arrow from his quiver.
Christina pulled her sword off the bracelet, as Annabeth gripped her dagger and Will grabbed his own bow. Percy, who had struggled to his feet again, pulled out the sword he had been given for the game. The assembled demigods followed their gaze upward, to the large figure of a hellhound, on top of the rocks.
The hellhound leaped off the rocks and over Annabeth, Will, and Christina, before they could do anything, and pounced on Percy, knocking him over and out of the river. As the hellhound attempted to tear into him, Chiron, Will, and the rest of the Apollo campers let loose a volley of arrows, striking the monster in the neck and dissolving it into dust.
"We need to get him into the water." Will yelled, gesturing to Christina, who ran over, and together the two of them picked up Percy.
The rest of the campers looked around, confused. "What is the water going to do for him?" Silena yelled from the back of the crowd. "He's not Christina."
"Shhh." Annabeth silenced them. "Just watch."
They laid him down in the river, his wounds healing as the water washed over him. Just then, the image of a spinning, green trident appeared above his head.
"What's going on?" Percy asked, confused, as the rest of the campers, even Christina, Annabeth, and Will, began to kneel. "What is that?"
Chiron stared directly at him. "Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
Disclaimer: Some of the dialogue from the claiming scene, specifically Annabeth and Percy's argument, and Chiron's lines, are taken directly from the novel. They are not my own words, nor do I claim ownership of them.
I think this is my longest chapter so far, I really didn't expect it to be this long. Also, enjoy the two chapters at once, it's probably going to be the only time I do this. I got halfway through this chapter, before realizing I should write what happened at the solstice, so I wrote both at the same time, hence why they are done at the same time.
PSA: Don't accept food and drink from random people you just met, especially at a party, unless you know it is fine. In this case, it's okay cause it's Will, and he's giving Percy nectar, but it's not going to be like that in real life.
Yay! Percy is finally here, and we've reached the main TLT timeline. Thank you for sticking with me through all the pre-TLT chapters. They were mainly fillers, but extremely necessary for setting up backstories, characters, and relationships. Now this is where the plot is going to finally start catching up. But don't forget about everything that happened in those chapters, cause things will tie in later.
As you can tell, canon is starting to diverge from here. There will be more and more changes as the story progresses, and I'll basically be using canon as a rough outline for what happens.
And for the first time, since the first chapter, I've finally switched POVs from Christina's. Hope this gives a good glimpse at Percy's standpoint, since there is already a child of Poseidon at camp.
I was going to orginally include more in this chapter, such as Percy moving into cabin three, but I decided that his claiming is such an epic line that it was good to end it there, and this chapter was getting really long. And, since it ends the chapter on those lines in the book too, it was very fitting. So, you'll have to wait until next chapter for all that.
Please review. I love reviews.
