Chapter 7, Act I - This Really is One Hell of A Tent.

"It's not curfew for another ten minutes, so you have time to set it up." He told me as we arrived. "Well, not so fast." I whispered the activation word as I tossed it on the ground, and it expanded, setting itself as it did before. Luke whistled. "Sure could've used one of those before I got here." He said, walking up to the entrance.

"I'd be careful. I don't know what my mother—" I was going to warn him about any enchantments Hecate might've placed on the tent, but he opened the flap, and he got blasted back. "Ow." He hissed, standing up. "If tents could kill..." He said, in an effort to redirect my attention away from what the tent did.

Part of his face was red, and I flinched. "Oh my gods. I'm sorry, Luke. I don't have much to help, but I can try to ice it?" I offered. He shrugged. "I don't know where you'd be getting ice from, but feel free to try." With his permission, I summoned my gauntlet, and he flinched at it, probably expecting ice to come flying out of it or something. I extended my left hand, water flying from the canoe lake, freezing as it settled in the shape of a tablet. I handed it to him, and he stared in awe.

"How did you summon that gauntlet?" Was his first question. Shit. I forgot I couldn't summon things in front of him in the rush to help. "The gauntlet's keyed to me. I can summon it to my hand whenever I need it." I lie easily, hoping he'd be convinced. He seemed to consider it for a second, but accepted it.

"If you want to rest in the tent, I'll try to let you in, just be careful what you touch. I'm not sure what is or isn't enchanted. I'll look for a first aid kit." I explained to him, opening the flap to let him in. He gaped in awe at the large interior, and I smirked. "It's cool, isn't it?" I asked. He could only nod in response.

I started looking around for a first aid kit, and found one in a cabinet over my stove. I pulled it out, and started treating his burned face, and I passed him a tiny ambrosia square. "Thanks, kid." He told me, standing up. He glanced at my clock for the time. "I need to run back to my cabin. Thanks again." He said.

He started running towards the flaps of the tent, and I blasted it open with magic, so he wouldn't get hurt again, and he stumbled, but continued running. Personally, I didn't eat much of my food, as most of mine got dumped in the brazier, and I noticed a golden plate sitting on my table.

I'd looked over it with an Observe, and found that it'll summon any home-cooked food I could name, with one of the Camp's goblets to match it. I sat there for a second, and my stomach growled from a complete absence of food. I haven't had food at all from my time in this universe as of yet.

So I sat and munched on a grilled cheese sandwich, alongside a Pepsi. Thank gods for magical food from magical plates, right? After I was done eating, I figured I'd try to familiarize myself with this System a bit.

I knew I had magic, obviously, and that I needed to work on unlocking more of it. I knew I had Gamer's Mind and Body, and I've seen sleep in the Riordanverse. I wasn't eager to experience it again. So I decided to stay up and train.

To my misfortune, my training went nowhere in terms of any new powers. I did level up my elemental magic quite a bit, though. But not long after, to my misfortune, did I receive a notification from the System. "Ding!" I glanced at it, and grumbled.

For deeper immersion, you have to sleep tonight. You have ten minutes before we knock you out.

"Really? Deeper immersion? This is already real life for me. Immersion can't go much further. You could just say something along the lines of, 'For in-universe plot reasons, you need to sleep,' or something like that." I complain.

Or we could just say we're taking away Gamer's Body until you get in the habit of sleeping regularly.

"What! That's so unfair! Gamer's Body literally exists to keep the player in top condition, and to provide opportunities for training like this." I protested, but I glanced at my perks, and lo and behold, this asshole actually locked Gamer's Body for two months.

I huffed, but got ready for bed quickly, and just flopped over in my cot.

My dreams weren't pleasant, but what did you expect out of this universe? Fortunately, instead of Titans of time kicking down my door, it was just visions of the future of this universe as I currently know it.

Lightning bolt retrieved, Percy as a guinea pig, Golden Fleece retrieved, Artemis saved, Labyrinth collapsed, and the Battle of Manhattan. I flinched as I saw all the death in the war. I swore to myself silently as I watched that I would do my best to save lives.

Then there was Jason's arrival at Camp Half-Blood, his team encountering Medea, their skirmish at the Wolf House, Percy arriving at Camp Jupiter, saving the eagle standard and saving Camp Jupiter in the process, the Seven's fight in Rome against the banes of Dionysus, too.

Then came the worst of it. Tartarus, Venice, the House of Hades, Jason getting run through at Ithaca, the fight with Mimas, the fight at Athens, and the destruction of the Earth Mother.

Then came the much tamer horrors of Apollo's trials, with the Nero automaton (which is much more scarring in person,) demigods on the stakes (I'll take back my comment to these horrors only when it comes to Nero,) the Waystation, the tomb, Jason's death, and the final war against Nero.

I woke up shivering. I was going to change it all. I glanced at the clock. 6:37 AM. I sat up, and went outside, collapsing my tent, and walking to the Hermes cabin. I took a peek inside, and mostly just saw campers snoozing away still, which was a surprise to me. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I spun around, ready to hit whoever was there.

It was just Luke. "You're up earlier than the rest." He noted. "Yeah, well, my dreams weren't something to be envied." I said darkly. "Anyways, I had actually been looking for a schedule. I figured I'd try to see what's going on today ahead of time, so I'm prepared." I added.

"Well, you're in luck for today, because it's a free day, since a large portion of the camp is leaving for the school year. You're likely looking at a handful from our cabin staying, one person from Athena, one from Ares, and maybe a couple other odd campers. Of course, some of Apollo's medics are staying, too, though everything's subject to change." He explained.

"We usually keep about a dozen copies of our schedule for the coming week pinned up right inside the door to the cabin, just so you know." He adds.

"Thanks, Luke. I'm probably gonna just practice with my abilities or study in the Athena cabin, so if you need to find me, I'll either be on the canoe beach, or in the Athena cabin." I told him, nicking a copy of the schedule as I went off to practice.

After a couple of hours, I'd managed to dabble into the necromancy part of my powers a bit, which I was excited about. Of course, I could only reanimate small stuff currently, like rats or birds, but it was still exciting. I kept trying to consider other abilities I may have. I had elemental powers, which wouldn't even be able to rival a Big Three kid, I had necromancy, probably equal to Nico's future self, with training.

Of course, Mist Manipulation was another one, but that goes without saying. "Ding!"

Hecate or Hekate[a] is a goddess in ancient Greek religion and mythology, most often shown holding a pair of torches, a key, snakes or accompanied by dogs[1] and in later periods depicted in triple form. She is variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, night, light, magic, witchcraft, the Moon, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, graves, ghosts, necromancy, and sorcery.[2][3][4]

Really? This is because I called the System by Wikipedia, huh. Giving me a whole Wikipedia excerpt on her domains. I knew the Arrow of Dodonna cheated by doing stuff like that, but apparently that was a common occurrence in this universe, higher powers using Wikipedia to lecture us, taunt us, whatever.

It did give me some ideas, though. I could potentially develop photokinesis, I could draw power from the moon, and potentially develop some precognitive power in regards to the crossroads domain.

I elected to try photokinesis and precognition, saving lunar abilities for, well, when it's nighttime. I sat down, closing my eyes, and I focused on the light, the energy, around me, trying to force it into my hand in the shape of a ball. A tingling feeling crawled over my skin, and I was met with resistance.

I pulled back, before it could exhaust me. "Maybe there's another way..." I muttered. I decided to go with a gentler approach. I tried imagining myself slowly guiding the light into the palm of my hand, coaxing it along. I opened my eyes, and revealed a tiny sphere of pure light in my hand.

I heard footsteps, and I quickly crushed the sphere in my fist, dispelling it. I stood, turning to face the Athena girl who dragged me to the dining pavilion the previous night. "Luke sent me to come find you, and to tell you to meet him in the arena after lunch." She said simply, quickly turning around to leave.

"Wait." She turned around. "What is it?" She asked. "I'm sorry for bringing the book to the dining pavilion last night. I don't want to be an inconvenience to anyone. I'm Niko." I said, holding out my hand to shake.

The girl locked eyes with me, stormy grey meeting a pulsing violet. She shook my hand. "My name's Annabeth. Nice to meet you."