A/N

So yeah, I changed my username. No reason behind it. Just felt like doing so.

I can't believe this. We have reached 50 k reads on the story. That's fucking amazing. I had never even imagined this would happen. Thank you so much guys and gals. Also, we have crossed 550 favorites and are nearing 800 follows. Let's aim for that before the next update.

Guys and gals, please read the A/N at the bottom. It has some important notices. No. I am not abandoning the story. Whatever gave you the idea? It's something else. So check it out.

As I said in the previous chapter, the poll for the ladies in the pairing has been completed. The final results weren't that surprising, honestly.

Artemis, who had been leading since the very start, ended up first with 88 fucking votes. Thalia grabbed the second place with a close 86 votes. Third place was obtained by Hestia, with 82 votes.

Fourth was Piper with 80 votes. On number five stands Aphrodite with 75 votes. Number six is Zoë Nightshade with 74. Seventh is Reyna with 74 and eighth is Athena with 73. Calypso was the character I chose as my addition to the harem/pairing. Whatever you want to call it.

Meanwhile, I have put up a poll in my profile.Please check and vote for it. Means a lot to me and will help me plan the story further.

So, please do vote in the poll. Speaking of which, I hope you like it that I am uploading longer chapters. From now on, I am thinking of setting 10k words as the minimum for each chapter. Happy?

Guys, I appreciate the fact that you are trying to help me improve my grammar. I really do. But cut me some slack. English is afterall my second language. So, some slip ups are inevitable. If there is a major flaw in the chapter, please bring it to my notice, but please refrain from pointing out grammatical errors in the text.

Now this chapter will be Percy getting claimed and departing for his first quest. The quest for finding the mighty firecracker. Oh sorry. The master bolt.

So, let's get started without further delay.

Last time:

She seemed satisfied at my fear. Nodding to show her satisfaction, she spoke, "Well, looks like my work here is complete. See you later Percy."

Before I could respond, she leaned forward and pecked my cheek before darting off towards the deep ends of the ocean. Towards Atlantis.

Leaving me standing on the ocean bed, standing with a stupified expression on my face. The moment she kissed me, I had the same feeling of warmth travel my body like when Hestia had hugged me.

Now I was starting to question if that warmth was really the hearth. I was seriously doubting it. But how? I had never thought of Sally in that way before, right? She was just a friend of mine, someone I had saved.

So, why was this happening now? Did the Fates really want to mess with me? Maybe that's the case. But it still doesn't give me answers. Why the hell was this happening?

Grabbing my hair in my hand, I let out a scream of frustration. Why did this have to happen to me? Now I could feel the same kind of attraction towards Sally as I had towards Hestia, Zoë and Artemis.

After a few moments, I calmed myself and shot off towards the surface. As I got near the surface, I was relieved to find that the beach was empty. Great. At least I won't have to explain anything to anyone.

Landing on the beach, I willed myself dry and grabbed my shirt. Putting it on, I started walking towards the Hermes cabin. A little sleep never hurt anyone, right?

And I had enough to think about. For once, I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Present time:

Camp Half-blood

Percy POV

Campers around me were chatting excitedly, using their hands animatedly while speaking about tonight's capture the flag. The game itself was quite easy. Capture the enemy teams flag and bring it to your side, while defending your flag from Intruders.

The teams were as follows. Athena cabin was leading the blue team and had allied itself with the Hermes cabin and the Hephaestus cabin. The red team was being lead by the Ares cabin. The war God's cabin had allied with the Demeter, Aphrodite and Apollo cabin.

In total, we had about sixty two demigods while the red team had sixty nine demigods.

We had the advantage of having the fastest and most intelligent campers, courtesy of Hermes and Athena children respectively. The Hephaestus kids were setting up different traps like tripwires and smoke bombs, etc. Some other stuff that I couldn't understand.

The red team meanwhile had the most combat proficient campers in the form of Ares children. One thing that I had come to know about Ares kids was that only a few of them fought with honor. To them, victory was everything. The methods used for gaining victory didn't matter to them. This actually made them even more dangerous.

Another advantage that they had was the Apollo cabin. They were a range of aerial defence for the red team. It would be a hard job for even the Hermes kids to get past the blonde children of the sun god.

Demeter cabin was not really considered a really big threat, but I wouldn't be too sure about that. Demeter was after all one of the original six. In fact, she was the second born of Kronos and Rhea. So, underestimating her kids would be a big mistake. Also, Demeter kids were known for their skills in the art of welding swords.

Then lastly was the Aphrodite cabin. Not many of them were known for combat prowess. Heck, the only Aphrodite camper I had even seen practicing combat was Silena Beauregard. The cabin counselor of the love goddess' cabin. I swear that the girl doesn't have a single bad bone in her body. Honestly the only Aphrodite kid in the whole camp that I have slight respect for.

For the whole day, the campers could talk about nothing else. Frankly, it was getting on my nerves. What was even so special about this? It was just a dumb game. Yet, I did not mention it to anyone. I had come up with a pretty good plan.

I had purposefully asked Annabeth if I could be there for the meeting that they would have for deciding the strategy for today's game. It would consist of the seven children of the wisdom goddess, Luke as a representative for the Hermes cabin and Charles Beckendorf. Beckendorf was a big dude and the cabin counselor of the Hephaestus cabin.

Naturally, he was the best blacksmith in camp. Give him some metal and a design, in an hour he would have completed the project and handed it to you. Some people also said that Beckendorf was the best mortal blacksmith ever. Also, the dude had a not-so-secret crush on Silena Beauregard.

Yeah. The Aphrodite cabin counselor.

Ahh, young love. Wait. What the actual fuck? Those two are older than me. Oh man. Did that asshole of a wine god curse me or something?

Whatever. Sorry for the distraction. ADHD really gets annoying sometimes. (Especially during mom's boring lectures. Don't tell her I said that.) Sorry. Got distracted again.

Anyway, Annabeth seemed reluctant to allow me inside, but eventually caved in after Luke convinced her. (More like gave her a small hug). I swear she was like putty in his hands. What? Hey. I am not jealous. And I surely don't need another female for whom I start developing feelings.

As we stood across a round table in the Hermes cabin, Annabeth broke the silence speaking, "So, we have about sixty two demigods, seven less than the sixty nine demigods they have. That means we are at a disadvantage in numbers."

Her brother, Malcolm Pace nodded and continued, "Also, they have Ares and Apollo cabin. Meaning that their offense and defense easily outclass our own. While I admit that Luke is undoubtedly the best combatant in camp, even he can't face more than three Ares kids together. Two, if Clarisse is one of them."

Beckendorf spoke next. "So that means we are utterly fucked up." He sighed heavily.

Annabeth smacked him slightly on the arm and spoke in a scolding tone, "There now Beckendorf, no need to be so negative. Be optimistic. You just ruined the whole mood. Now say after me, 'We will win today.' Come on. Repeat."

Beckendorf looked ready to explode with embarrassment. He tried to get out of the situation but a glare and a look of disapproval from the daughter of Athena stopped him and made him freeze up. He slowly muttered, "Ok fine. Jeez lady. We will win today. Happy?" He asked in an exasperated tone.

Annabeth gave him a small smile and a curt nod. "That's better. Now that wasn't hard, was it?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him questioningly . Now Beckendorf was blushing so hard in embarrassment that it took me a lot of my self-control to not burst out laughing then and there.

Luke finally clapped his hands, effectively gaining the attention of the others present in the room. He gazed at the map that was set on the table between us. Studying the map for a few moments, he spoke, "So how do we play today. We know that charging like banshees is out of the equation. The Ares cabin will completely crush us. That is if the Apollo cabin doesn't get us first. Also, we can't afford to use the trees for hiding as the Demeter kids will sense it. There is absolutely no fucking way to win today." He clenched his fists and spoke out.

Malcolm opened his mouth and spoke, "Hmm. Okay. So what we will do is..". That's how far he got before I interrupted him. I blurted out, "How about trickery? Place a bait and attack when completely unexpected."

All eyes turned to me and the six Athena kids gazed at me like I was stupid while Annabeth tilted her head to examine me. .

Beckendorf was studying me like I was some project blue print that he wasn't able to understand. Luke was the only one with a somewhat normal reaction. He just gave me a once over and raised his eyebrows, waiting for me to continue.

Apparently, Athena kids don't like being cut off because Malcolm narrowed his eyes at me and questioned, "Pray tell us all how you plan to do this? Surely you have done some thinking about it." Annabeth gave her brother a disapproving look, so did the rest of the members in the room. But Malcolm was least bothered about this as his sole focus was on me.

I nodded and walked forward. Placing my hands on the table, I spoke calmly, "We use the stealth and agility of the Hermes cabin to our advantage. Now think about it. We know that as Ares cabin will obviously try to overpower us using brute strength."

At this, I got nods from around the table. Taking another break, I continued. "As you know, Ares kids have a terrible flaw of gloating. They pride themselves and like to show off. So, we can use this to our advantage. We can place five of the Athena kids here along with three fifth of the Hephaestus cabin and the unclaimed campers from the Hermes cabin. That makes it a total of thirty seven demigods. Now I know that it won't be enough to stop the Ares cabin. No offense to you, but the Hephaestus campers are not really combatants."

Beckendorf just gave me a small nod, indicating that he wasn't offended. Annabeth seemed interested and motioned for me to continue. "Now as to why I appointed the five Athena kids here. The reason is simple. You need to confuse the Ares kids. Speak with them about anything and everything. Play with their minds. Do whatever you can, but stop them from approaching the flag. The moment they get to our flag, it's game over for us and you know it."

Gauging by the expressions on the others faces, they were paying attention, but failing to see where I was going to with this. "Our flag should be hidden near the lake on the far corner of our area. But there should only be ten out of the thirty seven demigods guarding this. The other twenty seven demigods will stand guard here, near this pile of rocks." I pointed at a pile of rocks that looked like crap.

"Zeus's fist." Luke supplied me with the name of the rocks. I sensed an undertone of anger in his voice when he mentioned the name of the king of Gods. But I ignored that matter for now. Charles looked at the map like it was an interesting piece of metal waiting to be forged. The Athena kids including Annabeth were giving me curious stares, prompting me to go on. I could also see slight irritation in their stormy grey eyes, a look that promised me pain if I didn't speak fast. But the eyes also held understanding about why I had decided this move.

Before I could continue, Beckendorf spoke, "Why the hell would you place more guards on Zeus's fist than where the flag is actually located?" He looked genuinely confused. Something told me that Greeks weren't used to trickery.

Staring him in the eyes, I responded. "That, my friend is because of our plan to bide time. We know that the Ares kids are not known to be smart. Heck, even a eight year old might be smarter than most Ares demigods. So, they will not sense any deceit and charge towards the group of defense that has more members. Even if they do defeat the twenty seven demigods, which they surely will, they will be wasting precious time in doing so. So, till they understand the trickery, locate the real flag and defeat the ten demigods, they have wasted more time than what is necessary for us to grab their flag."

Understanding crossed the Athena kids' eyes as I spoke. The stormy grey eyes were now shining with approval and curiosity. Beckendorf digested this bit of information with a scrunched face, which soon turned to a full blown smile at the merit of our plan.

Luke looked confused for a few moments, before understanding hit him and his eyes turned bright blue. A troublemaker smirk appeared on his face, the same that the Hermes demigods got when they thought of great pranks. But soon, he gazed at me with a weird expression, as if he was evaluating my worth for a job of his. Scrutinizing, even.

But it was gone as soon as it came.

"Ok. What about offense? We will surely need an attack force to invade their territory and capture their flag before they do so. What do you plan on that?" Annabeth asked me curiously.

Giving her a huge grin, I spoke, "That's where the Hermes kids come in. Now that we have put thirty seven demigods out of the sixty two in defense, we have seventeen children of Hermes, two Athena demigods and six Hephaestus kids remaining. These twenty five demigods will be divided into two squads. The first squad, or the distraction will have twenty demigods. As the name suggests, this group will not be the main team, rather it will be a distraction. These twenty demigods will attract the attention of the opponent's defense."

Seeing that they were able to follow my words, I continued, "The remaining five demigods will capture the opponent team's red flag. These five will be Luke, Connor and Travis Stoll, Charles Beckendorf and Annabeth Chase. The most experienced and skilled demigods in the blue team. The remaining fourteen children of Hermes, five Hephaestus demigods and the Athena child will make up the distraction. Now remember, the main squad will not attack immediately. First, we will send in the distraction. Once the distraction team gains the attention of the defense, the main squad will launch it's attack and capture the flag."

Turning to Luke, I spoke, "Luke, you are undoubtedly the fastest runner in camp. So, you will be the one to run with the flag while the other four provide you cover from counter-attack. Get it, everyone?" I asked turning to the group.

For a few moments, everyone was silent, completely in shock of my plan. This was broken by a low whistle from Luke's lips. This snapped the others out of their stupor. Beckendorf was the first to speak. "That is amazing. Absolutely mind-blowing. The red team won't even know what hit them. Damn, Perseus. That's fucking insane."

Luke voiced his agreement, exclaiming, "Whoa. Just whoa. Looks like you have a competitor, Annie."

Annabeth seemed annoyed at the nickname Luke gave her but ignored him for now. Turning to me, she spoke, "Perseus, I have to admit. There isn't a single flaw in your plan. The plan is simply flawless. How long did you need to plan this out?"

Tilting my head, I replied, "The plan was instantaneous. Just needed to study the map. The plan itself came running to my mind. Maybe because my mother is interested in battle tactics." I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

She seemed shocked that I thought of the plan on the spot. In a humorous tone, she asked, "Are you sure you aren't a son of Athena, Perseus?" This caused a round of chuckles across the room.

I gave out a good natured laugh and replied, "Although I would be honored to be the son of Athena, I am not. The reason being that I have a mortal mother. And although I make no assumptions, I believe that Lady Athena doesn't swing that way. No offense to you guys."

This earned another round of chuckles, even from the Athena demigods. Malcolm was the one to speak. "Yeah. Mother doesn't swing that way." Before chuckling again.

Now that the plan had been laid out, I turned to Luke and gave him a shit eating grin. "So, Mr. Castellan. Ready for some action?"

He replied with an equally shit eating grin. "Yep. As ready as I will ever be, dude. Now let's go kick some red team ass."

The others nodded excitedly and we exited the cabin. Luke and I went towards where the Hermes cabin occupants were standing. Most of them had already armoured up and were impatiently tapping their feet or swinging their weapons. A result of their ADHD acting up.

Luke and I went towards the table and found some armour for ourselves. I decided that I only needed a groin guard and chest plate. No helmet. Absolutely no helmet.

Luke meanwhile had only worn a light leather armour that wouldn't hinder his movement or speed. Perfect for the task he was appointed.

Meanwhile, Annabeth had explained our team's strategy to the members. Everyone seemed to be excited at the prospect of winning. Well, can you blame them? Seems like Ares cabin had been winning capture the flag for the past ten times in a row. So, a chance of defeating them was readily accepted by the blue team.

As everyone got ready, I felt Annabeth approach me and stand to my side. In a low voice, she spoke, "Perseus, be careful. This is your first capture the flag. Your luck must be really bad that you have to go against the Ares cabin. And judging your interaction with Clarisse that day, I don't think they will ignore you. Try to not stay alone at any point of time. And whatever you do, don't engage Clarisse in combat. Understand?"

It took all my willpower to not snort then and there. Girl. Cool down. Clarisse and her bunch of goons don't stand a chance against me. I can wipe the floor with them if I wish. No need to worry.

But then again, she didn't know that the newbie who she considered a noob was actually a pro. She was right to be worried for me. Afterall, I was a new camper. How could she know that I had trained rigorously for the last seven years of my life.

So, I gave her a small nod and a stupid smile. "Ohh. Don't worry about me. Those fools won't be able to harm me. Worried about me, Annie?" I asked the daughter of Athena.

Annabeth turned a deep shade of red in anger before she kicked me in the shin as hard as she could. And believe me, for a demigod of her age, Annabeth Chase was hella strong.

As I let out a groan of pain, she gave out a huff and spoke, "Fine then. Do whatever you want. It's your funeral. And don't you call me Annie, Perseus."

Deciding to poke fun at her, I spoke in an innocent voice, "Why not? It is a good name. Why don't you like it, Annie?" I asked, putting extra emphasis on her nickname.

She scowled at me and replied, "No. I hate it. Understood, Percy?" She asked. She emphasized my nickname in the same way I did to her's.

But I didn't so much as change my expression at her nickname. What? That is my official nickname. Everyone in the Atlantean royal family and the hunt calls me Percy. That does make it an official nickname, right?

"Uhh Annie, that is my actual nickname, you know." I spoke out in a monotone, before bursting out laughing at her expression of defeat.

"Ughhh. Shut up, Perseus. Now is not the time for this. Take care, okay. The game is about to start. Don't let Clarisse get to you okay?" She asked after gaining control of her frustration.

I nodded in affirmative and she took off towards the main squad, where the four other members of that squad were waiting for her.

Luke met my eyes and gave me a small smile. But there was something wrong about it. His eyes were not concentrated on me. They seemed to have a far away look in them. As if he was summoning something. No. That can't be it. Maybe he is just anxious about the game. Afterall, he has the main role. Yeah. That must be it. That's why his smile doesn't reach his eyes. He is nervous.

Chiron stepped into the clearing and stomped his hooves on the ground, effectively gaining the attention of every demigod. Now all eyes were on him.

He cleared his throat and started his announcements, "Children, now we will begin the weekly capture the flag match that we have on every Friday. This time, Ares cabin has allied itself with Apollo, Demeter and Aphrodite cabins. They will be the red team. The blue team is being lead by Athena cabin. They have the Hermes and Hephaestus cabin at their side. Ares cabin also holds the record for continuous ten wins in the last ten games."

A huge cheer was heard from the Ares cabin when Chiron announced the last part, while groans rang out from the other cabins. Most of them were from the Hephaestus campers. Looks like the feeling of dislike towards Ares that Hephaestus had passed on to his kids.

Chiron waited for the cheers to finish before continuing, "The blue team will be defending the land at my right side while the red team's flag will be to my left. Remember, your flag can't be moving. It has to be stationed somewhere. The first team to capture the opponent's flag and bring it into their territory will win."

"Maiming and killing is strictly prohibited and offenders will be severely punished for these acts. You can use anything and everything from weapons to magic items. I will be acting as the battlefield medic of anyone gets injured. Now, move to your territories. The game begins the moment I fire the flaming arrow. Best of luck to both the team. May the better of you win."

The teams gave out a loud applause and then scattered to their respective territories. After a minute, a flaming arrow was launched by Chiron towards the sky. As the arrow reached a respectable height, a bolt of lightning dropped from the skies and hit the arrow. It was a spectacular sight. What was more spectacular was the way the campers started charging the opponent's territory like a group of banshees.

I let out a sigh of frustration and started to walk towards the lake. I had spoken to my dad about a perfect way to claim me. But unfortunately, I would have to be hit by a weapon from my opponents. I had no doubt that Clarisse would come after me. I had seen a blazing fire of vengeance in her eyes before the game started. A look that promised me pain. I hadn't been affected by it in the slightest, but it did make the fact clear that she was out for me.

The next few minutes were spent by me tossing stones in the lake and fiddling with riptide. After a few moments of silence, I heard a slight rustle of leaves above me. It was really soft, almost negligible, but I did hear it.

That's when an arrow flew out of the trees and hit a son of Hephaestus on the head. Fortunately the arrow was blunt. Unfortunately, the force behind the arrow immediately made the Hephaestus demigod's eyes roll back into his head. The demigod was unconscious before he even fell to the ground.

More arrows started to rain from the treeline as demigods from our team were hit by them and fell to the ground, knocked out.

Cursing myself, I dived to the ground and picked up the shield of a fallen demigod. I crouched to a knee and held the shield above my head to protect myself. While it would take more than one arrow to knock me out, I would rather not risk it. I silently cursed myself for not paying attention to my surroundings.

I had let my senses down, thus I was not able to sense the Apollo kids approaching. Stupid, stupid Percy.

After a few moments of gritting my teeth whenever an arrow hit my shield, the arrows suddenly stopped raining down. Looking up, I saw that only two of the original twenty seven campers were standing. It was me and a Hephaestus camper named Jake Mason.

While I had defended myself from the arrows, I had felt that the arrows were coming from four sides, which meant that there were only four archers. So, I held the shield in my hand like a frisbee and threw it as hard as I could towards the tree in front of me.

A clang was heard followed by a scream of pain as an Apollo camper fell from the tree. He fell to the ground and lay there, sprawled out in a spread eagled position. A small bump was forming on his head, showing that he had received a headshot from my shield.

The next moment, I was forced to dive to my right to dodge three arrows aimed at my body. Damn you, children of the sun god.

Again, I rushed to the fallen Apollo camper and picked his bow and quiver. It had two arrows in it. Now, being the adopted son of Poseidon, Apollo's curse affected me, but not as much as it would affect a normal demigod of my adoptive father.

I could shoot decently, but never a bullseye.

Aiming at the next tree, I released my arrow. Thankfully, it must have hit it's Mark as a daughter of Apollo fell from the tree, clutching her right hand, while glaring at me.

I gave her a cheeky smile that infuriated her. She pulled out a sword from the sheath by her side and charged me. I waited till the last moment, and dodged her swipe. Grabbing her shoulder, I simply pulled her back and pressed two of my fingers at the side of her neck. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she let out a squeak of surprise. She then collapsed to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Two down, two to go. Again, I was forced to dodge two arrows. Picking up the same shield I had used before, I threw it at the tree from where the arrow had flown towards me. It hit the Apollo kid straight on the shoulder, causing him to fall to the ground and knocked him out. The last Apollo camper must have realized that he would meet the same fate, so he jumped down from the tree. He had an arrow drawn at me. He released the arrow.

Now, I admit that the arrow was fast and accurate, but when you are used to dodging the arrows of hunters of Artemis, dodging a normal arrow from an Apollo demigod is like pissing off an immortal. Extremely easy. Though not as enjoyable as pissing off an immortal.

I dodged the arrow and charged at him. Before he could even pull out another arrow from his quiver, I was upon him. I tackled him and wrestled him to the ground. After a few moments, (read: five seconds) of struggling, I was sitting on his back with his hands pinned together behind him. My legs had locked his legs into place, providing him no window to escape.

"Surrender, buddy." I spoke in a cool voice. He tried to break free, but I tightened my grip to a level where it was a little painful for him. An involuntary whimper of pain passed through his lips, but he didn't show any signs of giving up.

I sighed loudly and spoke, "As you wish, man. Have a good sleep." I hit the same pressure point on his neck that I had hit on his half-sister. He gave the same reaction, except for an added groan, before fainting and going still.

As I got up, I saw the son of Hephaestus, Jake Mason staring at me with eyes as wide as dinner plates and a dropped jaw. "Whoa Man. You literally demolished the four Apollo demigods. Not only that, you managed to knock Lee Fletcher out without using a weapon. How the hell, Perseus?"

I was about to come up with an excuse when I felt a clench in my gut. My senses were acting up. Immediately, I turned my eyes and started to scout the area around me. The next moment, I felt about twelve presences in the nearby bushes.

The presences were radiating auras of unquenchable bloodlust. Just like Phoebe. But that means...

My eyes widened in horror. I had been so busy fighting with the Apollo campers that I hadn't paid attention to my inner sense. My instincts. I had completely failed to sense the arrival of ...Clarisse.

The next moment, I saw a shield flying at impossible speeds. It was flying towards Jake. And by the looks of it, it was going to hit him right on the head. I knew that even if the object was blunt, just the impact of it with Jake's skull would kill him.

"Jake, move away." I shouted frantically. But my efforts were futile as the shield had almost reached Jake by now. Fortunately, Jake had enough sense to move. Unfortunately, the movement he made was jumping upwards. It did save his head, and thus his life, but the shield hit him right in the gut. He let out a shocked 'oomph' followed by a grunt of pain. He spit out a small amount of blood.

Falling to the ground, he passed out. Sounds of laughter were heard across the clearing as the Ares cabin took pleasure in their actions. Pure anger was flowing through my blood. How the fuck could they be so sadistic? They had almost killed a fellow camper and now they were laughing like Hyenas. They needed to be taught a lesson.

Slowly, I turned my head to the bush and spoke, "I know that you are hiding in the bushes, Clarisse. And you have some of your idiotic siblings with you." My voice was calm, but held a huge amount of venom in it.

The laughter stopped abruptly and the rustling of leaves was heard. From the bush beside me, twelve members of the Ares cabin walked out. Nine of them were boys, while the other three were girls. They were all about sixteen or seventeen years old. In the lead, with a cruel smirk on her face stood Clarisse, the cabin counselor of Cabin five.

Clarisse held her electric spear Maimer in her hand. She was brandishing the spear like it was nothing but a plain steel rod. Of course she wouldn't be affected by the electricity her weapon was giving off.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? A small scared demigod." Clarisse spoke in a tone which is used by those villains in third grade movies use. Her siblings, who apparently were just as dumb as Clarisse, burst out laughing like maniacs.

I sighed and spoke, "Wow. That is officially the worst fake villain voice I have ever heard. Wonder why you didn't get the Oscar."

The laughter stopped instantly as they began to glare at me. Clarisse's smirk pulled back into a snarl as she growled out, "Ahh. So you think you are too smart, eh? Well, not for long punk. Listen here you little shit, you embarrassed the Ares cabin when you beat us that day. You made us look stupid."

Her siblings nodded in confirmation to her words and increased the intensity of their glares towards me. If looks could kill, I would already be six feet under by now.

Being a smart-ass, I shot back, "You don't need me to do that. You make yourself look stupid as it is. Admit it, Clarisse. You don't need me to embarrass you."

Clarisse was about to speak, before she was cut off by one of her brothers charging me with his sword drawn. He let out an angered roar and ran towards me, his sword high in the air. As he neared me, he brought down the sword, in attempt to cleave me in half. At the last moment, I raised my hand and grabbed his fist.

He tried to overpower me, but failed miserably. He put another hand to his sword and tried to push downward, but it still wasn't enough to overcome my inhumane strength.

After a few moments of trying, he gave up and tried to pull back. Still, I didn't let go of his hand. He tried to pull with all his strength, but I did not yield. Exasperated and tired beyond comprehension, he exclaimed in fear, "What the fuck are you made of? Dude, leave my hand. Fucking leave my hand, you asshole."

Shrugging, I simply twisted my arm. An audible crack was heard as his wrist broke.

He let out a scream of agony, immediately followed by a whimper of pain as I left his now broken arm. He dropped the sword and ran back to his siblings. I swear I even saw some tears flowing down his face.

Clarisse was now looking at me with absolute loathing. Taking a deep breath, she spoke, "Cream the punk. I don't care if you cut off his arms or legs. He needs to be taught a lesson."

Her siblings grinned maniacally and came running at me together. Faster than they could even comprehend, I pulled out my trusty ball point pen from my pocket. With a simple flick of my thumb, I uncapped my weapon.

The pen expanded into the three foot long xiphos. Anaklusmos was ready for action. The grip felt perfect like usual. Smiling in satisfaction, I charged right back.

As soon as the first Ares kid came into fighting range, I met his sword with my own and pushed it away. While he was disoriented, I jumped as high as I could and kicked him on the side of his head. He fell to the ground with a thump and was out cold.

The next two demigods were wielding spears. They tried to swipe at me simultaneously. One tried to take off my head, while the other attacked my legs. A really good move, I give them that. No ordinary demigod could possibly defend himself from this without at least getting grazed by the spear.

Unfortunately for them, I am no ordinary demigod. I used my sword to deflect the spear headed for my head, while I jumped and brought my feet to my chest as the other spear passed below me.

As soon as I landed, I used Riptide to disarm one of the two demigods. Before he could react, I slammed the hilt of my sword on his head, effectively knocking him out. I was desperately trying to not hurt them much. So, I was only bashing them on the head or pressing nerve points to knock them out.

The other demigod tried to stab me in the gut with the spear. I used my sword to bat his weapon away, before giving him the same treatment as his half-brother. Three down, nine to go.

Now the next nine were actually smart. They attacked me together. As they were charging, I mocked, "Wow. Nine demigods against a newbie. Such an honourable act, Clarisse. I hope lord Ares is proud of you shitheads." This just made them roar louder as they charged.

I could of course meet them head on and demolish them if I wanted to, but I decided to bring my plan into action. I started to backpedal towards the lake. The Ares kids took this as a sign of fear and again got maniacal grins on their faces as they charged. Seriously though, what is it with these kids and evil grins. Even monsters don't show these kinds of shitty grins. And believe me, I have fought a healthily good share of monsters in my short life.

By the time they reached me, I was already standing just a few steps from the lake. I bent down and grabbed the shield that I had used earliest. As they reached me, I got into action. Using inhumane speed, I jumped at them and clashed my sword with the first demigod. Deflecting his sword, I bashed him with the shield three times, rendering him unconscious. He muttered a few incoherent words before promptly collapsing.

Eight demigods remaining. The next two demigods tried to stab me together. Heck, didn't they really care about Chiron's rules of no maiming and killing? I blocked one blow with the shield while engaging the other sword with my own xiphos.

I pushed with all my strength, causing the guy who had clashed against my shield to go stumbling back. With my sword arm, I twisted my arm, causing in turn for his sword arm to twist at a painful angle. He squealed in pain and dropped the sword. Without wasting a moment, I gave him the same treatment that his siblings received before him. A bash on the head, courtesy of riptide.

As six demigods were remaining, the next three of them charged me together. I was immediately pushed back on the defense as the angry children of the war god tried to stab and decapitate me with their swords and spears. After a few agonizing moments of just dodging and blocking their attacks, I launched myself forward and pushed two of them back with my shield.

The third demigod tried to stab me, but I crouched down and kicked his feet from under him. With a 'manly' yelp, he fell to the ground. I kicked him on the head, just hard enough for him to lose consciousness. Couldn't risk making him lose the single brain cell he has, could I?

The other two were ready by now and charged me again. I threw my shield at one of them, the female. She let out a yelp and dived out of the way. Good she did it though, because I had put in a lot of force and it would surely have injured her badly had it hit her.

The other one raised his sword and brought it down diagonally. I met him with my own sword in a similar fashion. But the force I used was much larger than his. I could literally see the tremor that went up his arm as a result of the force behind my blow.

He shuddered and dropped the sword, clutching his now numb arm with his other hand. I then proceeded to pinch the spot on his neck, making his eyes roll back into his head and slip into unconsciousness.

The girl had by now gotten close to me and tried to disarm me. The only one to play by the rules so far. I blocked her sword with my own and pushed her back. This time, we again locked swords. As she tried to apply force, I released my sword, causing her to stumble forward. Moving out of her way, I caught my sword with my other hand before it hit the ground. As she was stumbling forward, I hit her on the back of her head with the hilt. She fell to the ground and stayed there.

Now it was only three of them left. Finally, it seems like Clarisse had had enough of seeing me beat up her half-brothers and half-sisters. The three of them charged me together. I ignored Clarisse for the moment and engaged the other two Ares kids.

As I disposed off one of them, I realized my mistake. It was one of the most basic information when fighting a group. Never, never take your eyes off the leader, the alpha. And I had done the fucking same mistake. I had ignored Clarisse, giving her a chance to land a blow on me.

I paid the price for it when a spear head pierced through my shoulder and emerged out from the other side. A wave of immense pain filled my mind as I let out a pained gasp. And as if the piercing wasn't more than enough pain, the next moment, electricity started to flow from it into my body.

I let out a roar of pure agony as my knees gave way. I landed roughly on the ground, with my hands and knees supporting me up. I felt a small stream of blood flow through my mouth and down my chin.

The next moment, Clarisse roughly pulled out her spear, sending another wave of immense pain inside my body. I was letting out pained gasps as I tried to stand. The last Ares demigod, a sister of Clarisse was looking at me with horror filling her eyes.

But before she could react, she was hit on the head by an invisible object and she crumpled to the floor, unconscious. As Clarisse tried to inspect the situation, I took advantage and pulled her leg. She let out a shriek and fell to the ground beside me. I gave her a powerful punch on the head, causing her to black out.

Immediately, Annabeth materialized in front of me and ran towards me. Her face was pale and her eyes were filled with horror. As she reached me, she immediately threw away her weapon and crouched down near me. Almost in tears, she spoke frantically, "Perseus, PERSEUS, are you ok? No, no don't close your eyes. Keep them open. Wait, I will get help. Oh my gods, I am so, so sorry."

I raised my hand weakly and she stopped her mumbling. In a pained voice, I rasped out, "Water, t..take me to the l..lake."

She gave me a horrified expression. "What? No. I am calling Chiron. Why the lake? Are you stupid?"

I gave her a glare with my bloodshot eyes and spoke, "Don't q..question it. I just k..know it, Annabeth. T..take me to t..the lake. Just take me t...there, dammit." I ended with a snap in my voice as I fell back to the ground after a failed attempt to get to my feet.

Taken aback by my outburst, Annabeth nodded dumbly and placed her hand on my shoulders to steady me. Yeah. Dumb move. She ended up pressing the wound on my shoulder. I winced in pain and gasped as the blood flow increased.

Realizing her mistake, Annabeth pulled back and gasped. "Oh shit. I am so, so sorry, Perseus. I didn't pay attention where I placed my hand. Vlacas, I am an idiot."

Waving my hand weakly to tell her that it was ok, I tried to stand again. This time, she grabbed my waist and helped me pull myself up. Once she got me standing, she put her hand across my waist and supported most of my weight.

Slowly, we walked towards the lake, stumbling after every few steps. Finally, we reached the lake. Annabeth, not knowing what I was going to do, gave me a questioning look. In response, I gave her a stiff nod, indicating for her to release her grip on me and step back. I would take it from here.

Her questioning look turned into a frown, then an incredulous look and finally settled on a deadly glare. "What?? No way am I releasing you. You can't even support your body weight right now, mister. As hell I am going to step back."

I let out a groan. Why the hell did she have to be so stubborn? Okay. I shouldn't be complaining. I myself am as stubborn as a rock. Do my parents feel like this every time I am stubborn? Wonder how they are still sane. Damnit Percy, not the time. Not the bloody fucking time.

"Please Annabeth. T..trust me, I know w...what I am d..doing." I rasped out. Now I was seriously starting to get worried. If I lost any more blood, I was sure that Atlantis would have one prince less. No, think positive, you idiot.

Annabeth studied me for a few seconds before signing in resignation. "Don't die on me, Perseus. Please." She spoke and released my arm. As soon as she did so, I fell to the ground. Fortunately, my hands fell into the water from the lake.

Immediately, tendrils of water shot out of the lake and went up my hand. As the water reached my shoulder, it started to heal my injury. I heard a gasp from behind me and I turned around to see Annabeth holding her hand over her mouth to cover her shock. But her eyes gave it away. They were as wide as tennis balls. A spark of realization passed through them. Took you long enough, girl. I gave her a weak smile that made her gasp again.

In just a few seconds, the blood flow had completely stopped. There was still the puncture wound on my shoulder, but it wasn't bleeding. So, it wasn't outright fatal as of now.

After a few moments, I heard some steps approaching us at a really fast speed. As I was about to uncap riptide, a cheer went through our side as Luke entered the clearing with the red team's flag in his hand. He had a stupid smile on his face as he waved the flag. Chiron approached from the other side and was about to say something till he observed the surroundings and stopped abruptly.

Even Luke's smile dropped from his face and a grimace took it's place. I don't know if it was really there, or it was due to my dazed mind, but I think I saw a feeling of shock and panic in his eyes when he saw that I was alive. It was as if he was expecting me to be dead. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, I threw it out. No, Luke couldn't want be dead, could he? He was a cool dude. Almost like Triton. A happy go lucky kind of guy.

Must have been my dazed mind playing illusions on me. The next moment, the clearing was crowded by other campers who weren't unconscious. Many of the unconscious campers were also coming to their senses. That is when Chiron spoke, "What in the name of Zeus happened here?"

Before anyone could speak, Annabeth answered, "Clarisse and eleven of her siblings tried to seriously hurt Perseus. It seems like they wanted revenge of the fact that he 'embarrassed' them and made them look stupid. Perseus managed to knock out ten of them, but then Clarisse pierced him in the shoulder with her spear Maimer."

At this, multiple gasps rang throughout the clearing. Chiron looked panicked, but gestured for Annabeth to continue. She nodded and spoke, "That is when I reached him and knocked the eleventh camper out.

Perseus also managed to punch Clarisse and knocked her out."

The campers looked at me with something akin to respect and awe, but I could care less. I was still concentrating on gathering enough energy to stand up.

I could hear Annabeth continuing, "And that isn't even the most important part. Then when I was about to call you, he asked me to carry him to the lake. As soon as he stepped in the water, the water shot out and started to heal his injury. I think I know his parentage, Chiron."

Chiron looked surprised before understanding ran through his eyes. His face grew a look of horror, before returning back to normal.

A girl from the Aphrodite cabin asked out loud, "What about it? Who's his parent? I hope it's anyone but Aphrodite. Would be a shame if the hotty is my half-brother."

The other Aphrodite girls voiced their agreements and let out giggles.

Annabeth glared at the Aphrodite girls in unmasked irritation before turning to Chiron. Chiron have her a small smile and nodded.

Annabeth turned to me and spoke, "Perseus, step inside the water, now." I was too tired to even move a muscle and just shook my head no.

Some Hermes campers snorted at my actions while Annabeth bristled in anger.

She walked up to me and pulled me up. Grabbing my collar, she pulled me inside the lake and walked till we were ankle deep inside it. I guess she expected Poseidon to claim me now, but I decided to play with her a little.

'Hey dad, if you are hearing me, don't claim me right now. Let's play with the daughter of Athena for a moment.'

In response, I got a chuckle and an ok from the old man.

After a few moments of standing still, the campers got frustrated and glanced at Annabeth in irritation.

I was about to ask my dad to claim me, when I heard it. It was really faint, the ear of an average demigod couldn't possibly hear it. But as I alerted my senses, I saw that Chiron had also heard it and was clutching his bow tightly while slowly drawing an arrow from his quiver.

He glanced at me and his eyes widened in shock as he saw that I had sensed the sound. That is when my senses went into overdrive, screaming at me to... "Duck" Chiron yelled at me with a tone of utter urgency in the word that he shouted.

My eyes caught sight of a pair of sharp teeth and blood red eyes leaping at me. 'Hellhound', my mind screamed as my hand went to uncap riptide. But, I was too late to react as the hound slashed at Annabeth with it's deadly claws. Annaneth's armor was ripped like paper and she received three nasty gashes on her stomach.

Before the beast from hell could attack further, I raised riptide and brought it down in a deadly arc of death. The hellhound's head was separated from it's body as it burst into golden dust.

As soon as it disintegrated, I fell to my knees and started to inspect Annabeth for any injuries other than the three gashes.

Chiron was the first to react. "By the gods. That was a Hellhound straight from the fields of Punishment. But how? Monsters can only enter camp if they are summoned."

A son of Ares who had just regained consciousness glared at me and pointed his finger at me. "It was this punk. I know it."

Chiron gave him a stern look that made the boy stop speaking. "Mark Danvers, I would suggest you keep quiet, child. I am the authority here, and I can very well handle the situation. Do not speak rubbish."

Mark nodded, clearly embarrassed at being scolded by the legendary centaur.

Satisfied with this, Chiron galloped up to us and ordered in a grim tone, "Stolls, pick Annabeth and get her to the infirmary as soon as possible. This is a life-death situation. Come on."

As the Stolls moved towards us, I signalled for them to stand down. Placing my hand on Annaneth's stomach, I called the water to heal her. The water immediately obeyed my command and tendrils shot out of it and started to heal Annaneth's injury. The blood stopped flowing and the gashes started to disappear. After five minutes, all that was left of the wound was three bright pink scars that showed that she had been attacked.

Annabeth was barely conscious, but she gave out a deep sigh of relief. Giving her a small gentle smile, I asked, "Feeling better, wise girl?"

She returned the smile and replied, "Yes, seaweed brain." I gave out a snort at her nickname for me, but couldn't help let a chuckle pass my lips.

Chiron stepped in the lake and I helped him place Annabeth on his back. As soon as I stood up, a number of gasps were heard across the clearing, none louder than Annabeth, who blurted out, "I knew it."

I looked up and saw a sea-green trident hologram glowing above my head. The light that the hologram emitted was enough to brighten the entire clearing.

Chiron was the first to react. Gently placing Annabeth on the ground, he spoke, "It is determined."

He then continued, "Poseidon. Earthshaker, storm bringer, father of horses. King of the seven seas. All hail Perseus Jackson, son of the sea god."

Chiron bent down his horse legs and got into a bow. The rest of the campers followed suit and bowed before me, while I stood there in the water, my shirt splattered with blood. A gaping hole on my left shoulder.

Soon, the campers stood up. All of them gazing at me with varying expressions. The unclaimed campers from the Hermes cabin looked at me with jealous and wistful expressions, increasing my anger towards the indifferent attitude of most Olympians.

The Aphrodite girls were looking relieved and happy, gazing at me with unfiltered lust and wanting. This made me shudder. A chill passed through my spine at the thought of what Zoë would do to these girls if she saw them ogling me. Rest assured, it would be anything but pleasant for those Aphrodite girls. Better they keep their hands off me. Lest they experience the fury of the Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis.

The Ares kids that had gained consciousness and were rubbing the bumps on their foreheads, looked at me in utter loathing. But I could sense a tinge of fear in their eyes. Oh, who am I kidding? The most prominent emotion in their eyes right now was fear.

The Demeter kids looked almost indifferent, other than the slight look of awe and wonder at seeing a child of one of the three sons of Kronos.

Apollo demigods looked at me in awe and wonder just like the Demeter kids, but other

than that, they were not really affected. Well that was a given, since they had gained Apollo's mindset of the world revolving around them.

Wait a second. Apollo is the god of the sun. So, is he right when he believes that the world revolves around him? Man. That's a topic better left alone.

Next was the Hephaestus cabin. The demigod children of the blacksmith god didn't look particularly fazed. Instead, they were studying me like I was some sort of new machine that they were interested in studying.

Finally, the Athena demigods were looking at me curiously, interest shining in their eyes. But, their lips had curled up into involuntary frowns. So the rivalry between dad and Athena did pass on to their kids. I wasn't technically dad's blood son, so it didn't affect me, but apparently Athena demigods were affected by it.

I felt a pair of eyes burning through me. A feeling of uncomfortableness overcame me. Sure that it was because of some Ares kid glaring daggers at me, I turned to return the gesture.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was Luke. He was eyeing me weirdly, with a mixture of many emotions. I could see fear, awe, sadness and many others. But the most prominent was... Disappointment.

Somehow, I could tell that it wasn't disappointment he felt towards me, but rather the look of disappointment he was supporting on his face currently was one which you have when a plan of your's fails.

This actually made me even more nervous than I would have if he would have been disappointed with me. What could it be that had him disappointed? Was it the fact that I wasn't a Hermes kid? That I wasn't his half-brother. He did seem to be interested in me. Not in that way, you pervs. More like a mentor.

But that was rather unlikely. He wouldn't be disappointed for that. Sure he would be sad, but not disappointed.

I gave him a questioning look, to which he faltered and accidentally gave out a squeak. But the next moment, he calmed himself and put on a mask of indifference. Returning my questioning look with a small smile and nod, he turned his attention from me, looking anywhere but at me.

Letting it slip for now, I turned to Chiron. The centaur stood at the same place he had been standing before. But he didn't have Annabeth on his back anymore. He must have sent her to the infirmary with the Stoll brothers and an Apollo camper.

Our eyes met for a moment, a simple moment and I knew that he had realized. He had realized that I wasn't just an ordinary demigod. There was something different with me. But this fact didn't really affect me. I had known that Chiron would obviously be the first one to suspect that something was fishy about me. He was not the greatest teacher ever for nothing. But even I hadn't expected him to figure it out so soon. My respect for the legendary teacher of heroes shot through the sky in that moment. Hats off to you, Chiron.

He gave me a stern look, that clearly conveyed to me his message, 'We are going to talk, whether you wish to or not. And you better not lie to me, get it?'

I gave him a small, imperceptible nod. But he seemed to get it and nodded back. Then he turned to the other campers, who were now talking to each other in hushed tones.

Pounding his hoof on the ground a few times, he succeeded in getting their attention. "Firstly, I congratulate the blue team on their victory. So, the next time, the teams will be Hermes versus the Athena cabin."

Cheers rang out through the Hermes cabin as some demigods patted Luke on the back. The Athena demigods didn't look interested, as their attention was solely onto their thoughts, that were undoubtedly about how their half-sister was doing. Can't blame them. Annabeth did get hurt pretty bad.

As the cheers died down, Chiron again spoke, "Although today we experienced some unusual and troubling events. Firstly, the twelve Ares campers responsible for maiming Perseus will be severely punished for violating the rules of this game. The punishment for the twelve campers is kitchen duty and no dessert for a month." He shot a disappointed glare at the Ares campers in question.

A number of groans were heard from these Ares campers who were now punished, but no one spoke up, seeing that Chiron wasn't exactly in a good mood right now. The Ares campers just nodded and accepted their punishment.

Then Chiron continued, "Also, I will dig further into today's events. Someone from camp has summoned a beast from the fields of Punishment into camp borders. This is a unforgivable action. The culprit will be dealt with severe punishment. Now, I want you campers inside your cabins as soon as possible. Curfew starts in fifteen minutes and the cleaning harpies have not eaten in many days. Understand?" He asked, more like ordered. From the shocked look on the campers' faces, I deciphered that Chiron was never like this. This was the first time they had seen him so angry and cold.

The campers gave a chorus of 'Yes sir'.

Chiron nodded, looking satisfied and spoke, "Good. Have a good sleep, children. Dismissed." The gentle tone in his voice returned as he turned around.

The campers started to turn and move towards their cabins for the night. Chiron tilted his head and gave me a look, signalling for me to follow him. I nodded and turned to Ethan Nakamura. He was an unclaimed demigod with brown eyes and black hair. I had never seen him without either a scowl or sneer on his face. But he was a good swordsman.

"Hey Ethan, tell Luke that I am speaking to Chiron, will you? Inform him that I'll return to the cabin as soon as possible." I told him. He nodded, but then his eyes widened in surprise.

"You are still staying in cabin eleven? Don't you like, have to move to cabin three?" He asked.

I gave a shrug of my shoulders and replied, "Yeah. But I will move tomorrow. Tonight I will stay in the Hermes cabin."

He gave me a weird look, something mixed with jealousy, but nodded anyways. "Ok Jackson. But don't be long. You know how Luke gets if he is kept waiting."

I smiled at him and shook my head affirmative and turned around. I jogged up to Chiron, who was trotting towards the big house, his tail swaying, showing his nervousness. As I fell into step with him, he turned his head and looked down at me and gave me a small, troubled smile.

Turning his head away and towards the road ahead, he gave out a loud sigh. "You know Perseus, I have trained a vast number of heroes in my lifetime."

Nodding my head, I asked out of genuine curiosity, "Yeah. I know. How's it? I mean, how does it feel to train these heroes, wondering how they will turn out?"

A small, wistful smile made it's way to his face. "That's an interesting question, Perseus. As for the answer, training these heroes fills me with satisfaction. I feel pride when a student of mine performs great feats, gets recognition and glory. But it also fills me with absolute sorrow when I see it hear about a student of mine dying. Falling prey to his own pride, or the intervention of immortals." At this, thunder rumbled across the sky, as if Zeus was not happy with Chiron's words.

Chiron just shot an irritated look towards the sky. But he refrained from speaking out against the 'supreme' god that ruled the skies.

"You know, this job is highly entertaining and satisfying. Sometimes it gets incredibly horrible or extremely great, but never boring. It is always interesting." He spoke.

I just nodded along to his words. Hey, I had never taught anyone anything, other than helping Zoë and Chloe with their water manipulation. So, it was something I didn't quite understand.

As we reached the big house, Chiron led me to the main meeting room. The ping pong table sat there in all it's glory. Chiron took a seat at one end of the table, gesturing for me to sit at the other end. I took the seat and sat there, waiting for Chiron to start talking.

We sat there in silence for a few minutes, where Chiron was lost in some memories, while I was getting bored as hell. My ADHD had started acting up as I started to fiddle with the ping pong paddle.

My feet were tapping the tune to 'Under the sea' on the floor. Really, I needed to stop sitting with Mera whenever she watched that dumb movie based on her. Believe me, it does not make any sense, but Mera loves watching it. Figures, after all it is based on her. That movie does nothing to lessen Triton's ego. In fact, after watching the movie for the first time, he changed into his seventy year old form and sat on Dad's underwater throne, acting as the 'king of the seas'. Yeah. My elder brothers is a nut case. Deal with it.

Finally, after ten minutes, Chiron broke the silence. "You know Perseus, I trained Achilles for basically his whole life. Right from holding a sword to taking down entire armies, I taught him everything. And let me tell you, reflexes as sharp as light was a phrase that was based on him. Yet, the awareness and reflexes you showed out there in the lake against the Hellhound, were almost on par with the greatest Greek warrior ever." He took a pause, eyeing me for a moment.

I had mostly kept a poker face throughout the mini speech that he gave me. He then continued, "Even though you were in your father's domain, which undoubtedly strengthens you and increases your awareness, it is impossible for an inexperienced warrior to act so fast. And I confidently believe that it wasn't a lucky stroke."

Again taking a pause, he intertwined his fingers and leaned on the desk. He looked me in the eye and asked, "My question is, how did you react so fast? I have a suspicion that you have been trained in combat before. So, I ask you to please tell me the truth. I ask you this as a teacher, a mentor."

In truth, I had expected it to go like this. But was I prepared for telling him everything? No.

Was I going to tell him everything? Yes.

Of course I would. This guy sitting in front of me was known for his kindness and love towards demigods. He had been training demigods and shaping legendary heroes since the very first demigod was born. The respect I felt towards this centaur is what pushed me into telling him everything.

Sighing, I spoke, "Okay. Here goes nothing."

"I am not Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon and a mortal lady." I spoke bluntly.

His eyes widened in surprise, but his expression remained the same. Calm, composed.

He gave a slight nod of his head.

Taking this as a sign to continue, I spoke, "I am Perseus, adopted son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Prince of the seas. Second in line to the throne of the seas. I have been raised in Atlantis for the last eleven years of my life. I have been trained in the art of combat since I was five years old. I do not know of my real parents, which by the way is something that only my adoptive father knows. But he is under an oath over the creator that he can't tell anyone about it, including me."

A gasp left Chiron's mouth as he stared at me in shock and amazement. He must have heard many shocking things in his immortal life, and this definitely had to be one of the most shocking.

The sound of lightning and thunder was heard across the camp. The god of the skies had surely heard my words and was most probably throwing a hissy fit at the moment.

I took great satisfaction and enjoyment in watching Chiron open and close his mouth like a fish. He was currently unable to form sentences, or even words for that matter.

After a few moments, he finally overcame his shock and spoke, "Well, that urr...is not what I was expecting. But I am genuinely surprised. One question though, isn't it banned for the gods to raise their mortal children, adopted or not?"

I gave out a chuckle and replied, "It would have been a big no-no if my dad had raised a demigod son of his in Atlantis, whether it was adopted or by blood. But the reason that helps my case is that I have been adopted by both Poseidon and Amphitrite. Also, I am second in line to the throne of Atlantis, so, it is my right to stay in Atlantis. No laws are broken by this. No violation of ancient laws."

He seemed to get the logic behind my words and nodded slowly. "Ahh. I see. That is indeed very clever of Lord Poseidon and Lady Amphitrite. A plan worthy of Lady Athena."

I gave him a nod at his words. But I doubt dad will like Chiron comparing him to his arch rival on the council. Meh. Who cares?

"So Perseus, since you have been raised by Lord Poseidon, I assume you must be knowing about the current issue that has Olympus on it's toes." He commented, more like asked.

I nodded and spoke, "Zeus's master bolt has been stolen and he blames dad for it. Dad has appealed as not guilty for the accused crime, but Zeus does not believe him. And now, Zeus has announced that if the bolt is not returned to him by the summer solstice, he will wage war on dad. And a divine war between two of the three most powerful gods will be disastrous and should be avoided at all costs. Yeah. I know all about it." I said with a groan.

Chiron nodded, happy with my knowledge of the topic. Then he spoke, "And I also assume where you fit into the equation, now that your father has officially introduced you to the Divine world and claimed you." He gave me a questioning look, expecting me to answer.

I nodded again and spoke, "I completely understand the gamble that my father has played. Rest assured, he has already informed me about this move and I wholeheartedly support him. My father is undoubtedly one of the most important people in my life. I will do anything that I can for him, even if it means enduring the wrath of the Creator himself. Also, this is a chance for my father to prove his innocence. So, I will not let it go waste. A war between the sky and the seas will result in the loss of millions of lives. This should not happen at all. And all this now rests on my shoulders. I have to return Zeus's firecracker to him as soon as I can. And I assure you, I am up for it."

Chiron looked at me in amazement, with pride shining in his eyes. After a few minutes, he nodded and spoke, "I see that Lord Poseidon raised you well. I can see it my boy, you are meant for greatness. I hope the Fates are on your side."

I smiled at him and asked him, "So, I guess I will be seeing the Oracle tomorrow and get a quest to find the bolt, right?"

His reply came in the form of a grim nod. Then his expression turned melancholic and he spoke, "You do know that Zeus will try everything he can to make your life miserable, right?"

I snorted and nodded. "Yeah. Apparently, he will still see this as breaking the pact that the big three had created."

He chuckled along with me and muttered, "That would be hypocritical of him, wouldn't it?" I did not get the meaning of his words, but I let it go.

Then he adopted a curious expression on his face. "Mind telling me who taught you under the seas, Perseus?" He asked.

I smiled and answered, "Not at all, Chiron. I was taught about my studies by Aphros the ichthyocentaur. My combat teacher was Aphros' brother Bythos. Father taught me about godly and undersea politics, while mother also taught me about my etiquettes and my responsibilities as a prince of Atlantis. I learnt the basics of healing from Atlantis' royal medic Naphos."

Chiron gave a nod and spoke, "Which weapons due you have, Perseus? Also, which weapons have you been trained in?"

Answering his question, I spoke, "I wield this celestial bronze xiphos named Anaklusmos. I also have four throwing knives made of unbreakable celestial bronze." I decided to refrain from telling him about my twin imperial gold gladiī. It would raise some questions and bring it to attention that I knew about the Romans. That is something I didn't feel like dealing with today.

His lips turned into a frown. "Unbreakable? What exactly makes them unbreakable? As far as I know, even weapons made my Lord Hephaestus are not completely unbreakable."

I chuckled and spoke, "That is because they are made from the claws of the Leviathan itself."

If I thought that Chiron was surprised and shocked before, it was nothing compared to now. "T...the Leviathan. Bb..bbut how?" He was only able to ask this much.

"That is a story for another time, Chiron. Now I am feeling sleepy. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight Chiron." I spoke with a mischievous smile and walked out of the room towards the Hermes cabin.

On my way back, I encountered a hungry harpy that tried to attack me. I was in no mood for this nonsense and just gave her my snake slit eyes. This made her squeak in fear and dash off towards the dining pavilion. Finally, I got to the Hermes cabin. Going inside, I walked to my sleeping bag and plopped down onto it.

I was extremely glad I was going to shift to dad's cabin the next day. Don't judge me, but I had always been used to sleeping on a comfortable bed in my own room. And in Hermes cabin, you had absolutely no privacy. So, it was a boon that I would be shifting in cabin three tomorrow.

Thinking about an onyx eyed lieutenant of the huntresses, I fell into a deep slumber.

A/N

Anddd cutt. About 13k words.

I know that I am ending each chapter with him sleeping, but as you see, the fun is just beginning. As the interesting parts come, so will the mysterious endings and cliffhangers. Mwahaha.

Next chapter will be the gods' reactions to Percy's revelation. I promise it's gonna be awesome.

How was the fight scene? Any suggestions? Constructive criticism is openly accepted.

Okay so guys, the poll for Sally's role is officially over. The final results are:

Yes to Sally - 103

No to Sally - 66

So, yes. Sally has won with a majority. So, she will be in the harem, err.. pairing. My bad.

So now it makes 10 ladies. Happy? Comment your views.

Okay. Important notice. I have decided to let you guys decide who gets the first lemon. So, please vote on the poll that I have set up on my profile. The choice is yours. It can also be for a threesome, but not more than that. So, max two ladies.

Now, we have officially started The lightning thief arc. The quest might take two or three chapters. Who knows? O haven't planned it out yet.

Guys, please follow, favorite and comment. It means a lot to me.

See you soon. Keep commenting. And for those who haven't followed and favorited the story yet, please do so. Let's aim for 600 favorites and 800 follows before the next update.

Ok then.

Thank you

Until next time

Peace out

Darkgamer08