Hey guys. Surprise surprise, motivation has been at an all time low. I'm trying though, I promise, and I have no intention of abandoning this. I have the next chapter complete and I've already started on the one after that. So, without further ado;

Ch6

Chiron walked Percy past the strawberry fields, the archery range, and the dining pavilion, evading every question Percy asked.

"What will happen to Grover if Mr. D. decides he failed?"

"Mr. D. has quite the effect on fruit bearing vines, which is why we sell strawberries to financially support the camp. He, of course, works best with grapes but we can't grow those due to his restrictions."

"Why are we all here? I mean, I know the gods exist but that doesn't really explain the camp."

"A question for Annabeth, I'm afraid."

"The pavilion has no roof, what do you do when it rains?"

This question only prompted a blank look before Chiron dismissed it and they moved on.

Before long they arrived at the center of camp, where twelve cabins stood in a 'U' shape. The collection of cabins was the oddest Percy had ever seen in his life, with none of them looking remotely like any of the others. He glanced around, and eventually spotted Annabeth sitting on the steps of the last cabin on the left, an open book perched in her lap. Percy was reminded violently of Sam, and his insane ability to keep up with his studies anywhere and everywhere the Winchesters ended up. He decided to let the painful memory settle instead of burying it.

It's not like I actually have anyone left, I might as well indulge in the memories of them. Even if they do hurt.

"Annabeth," Chiron called out, snapping Percy back to the present. " I have a Masters Archery class I need to get to, would you take Percy from here?"

She slammed the book closed and tucked it under her arm.

"Sure thing, Chiron."

"Well, Percy," Chiron turned to face him. "This is Cabin Eleven. Please make yourself at home. Everyone here at Camp has been through, at the very least, something similar to what you are going through now." Chiron waited until Percy met his eyes. "Let them help." Percy swallowed and looked away. Chiron looked at him sadly for a brief moment, nodded at Annabeth, and cantered off.

Percy turned to face Annabeth, who was now standing impatiently on the porch with her arms crossed. Deciding to ignore her, Percy took a moment to observe the cabin. It was easily the most dilapidated of the twelve. The roof was faded, the paint was peeling, and it looked like he would get a splinter the moment he touched the railing.

Still, it's classier than most places I've stayed with the Winchesters. Could be cosy."

He glanced at Annabeth, who simply raised an eyebrow, before they both entered the cabin. Percy revised his thoughts the moment he stepped inside. The interior looked like an overrun trauma centre, with sleeping bags set up along the floor in every available space. It felt vaguely appropriate with the caduceus, a well known symbol of medicine, hanging over the doorway. The cabin was packed with girls and boys of varying ages, all of whom looked up as soon as Percy stepped in.

Cosy is right. If I breathe too hard I'm liable to disturb someone's sleeping bag.

Unnerved, he forgot to watch his footing and, naturally, tripped over a sleeping bag that was placed too close to the doorway. Quiet snickers filled the room.

Well done Percy. You only get one first impression and yours is: that dorky kid with two left feet. Great job.

Annabeth saved him from his internal embarrassment by speaking up. "Percy Jackson, meet Cabin Eleven."

The snickers cut out only to be replaced by quiet, discontent mutters. Percy was just able to make out a mumbled comment of "not another one."

"Regular or Undetermined?" someone called out from the crowd, cutting through the muttering. Percy saw Annabeth open her mouth from the corner of his eye, but she was cut off by someone else.

"He's currently Undetermined, but that doesn't change anything. It's what we're here for, after all. Welcome, Percy, to Cabin Eleven. We've reserved you a spot to sleep, and I'll make sure to find you the necessary things." A blond haired guy stepped out of the crowd. Percy absently noted that he was handsome in that rugged way, with a jagged scar cutting from his eyebrow to his lip. It missed his eye by inches.

"I'm Luke. I'm your counsellor, for now." Percy finally found his voice, and blurted out the first question that came to mind.

"For now?"

"You're Undetermined," Luke answered patiently. "You haven't been claimed yet. Once you are, you might change cabins." Luke paused to scrutinise Percy, and came to a silent conclusion. He didn't deign to share it with Percy. "Until then, you'll stay here. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travellers, among other things. We take the Undetermined campers until they're claimed."

Percy was acutely aware that he must be missing a large chunk of information, and couldn't help but feel a little resentful of Chiron. He was turning out to be another John Winchester in his unwillingness to share information that he didn't feel Percy should know. As it was, one misstep would brand Percy as The Idiot for the duration of his stay at camp. However long that would be.

Great. Probably best to say as little as possible.

"Right. Claimed. How long does that take again?"

Annabeth grabbed his arm and dragged him back outside before he could stick his foot in his mouth any further. The cabin reverberated with laughter behind them.

Maybe don't say that though, you idiot.

"Look." Annabeth's furious tone snapped his attention back to his situation. "I get that you're new to this and that you're currently working through an existential crisis, but you'll have time to process later. Right now, you need to be better than this."

Her intensity made Percy want to take a step back, but instead he forced his spine to straighten and fell into an automatic parade rest. Then he realised what he'd done and suppressed a flinch.

She's not John Winchester. Clearly, you've been thinking about him too much. It's one thing to acknowledge that they're all you have left, it's entirely another thing to let them rule your life. Stop.

Annabeth, for her part, just searched his face for a moment before continuing.

"Normally, everyone is given an automatic grace period when they arrive to allow them time to adjust, but you took down Pasiphae's Son, and you did it without any training. Kids here would kill for a chance to do what you have, and they've been training for years. You've been here half a day. They'll be looking to take you down a peg, and you don't need to give them any ammunition. Got it?"

"Kids will be looking to take me down a peg, but not you?"

"Oh, I'd knock you down in a heartbeat, given half the chance. However, Chiron asked me to show you around and I respect him, so that saves you for the rest of the afternoon. And…well. Let's just say I lost someone on that hill when I arrived, too." Grief stabbed through Percy again.

Keep it together Jackson. Never let someone see you weak. Find somewhere secluded, and then you can…you can…

Annabeth stopped talking and they both let the moment of grief settle, blanketing the space around them and dimming the world. Eventually, she spoke again.

"So. Consider yourself safe until the end of the week, by which time you'll have either proven yourself worthy of respect or I will cut you down at the knees and laugh as you fall, Chiron's wishes be damned."

Harsh. But…it's more than anyone else here is giving you.

He hesitated briefly, unsure whether to push his luck.

What the hell. She said I'm safe until the end of the week anyway. Besides, this place is giving off hunter vibes, what with all the ruthlessness and trauma. Just because you know why hunters fight doesn't mean you instantly understand why these…teenagers, kids, are so eager to throw themselves into the line of fire.

"Why is it such a big deal that I killed the…that I killed Pasiphae's Son anyway. Everyone here is so eager to throw themselves into danger, but I almost died. Why do you all want to fight?"

Annabeth paused, as if considering whether she wanted to answer. Ultimately, she turned away. "I've given you a lot of freebies today. If you want an answer to that question, you'll have to earn it, or work it out for yourself."

Before Percy could object, a shadow fell over them.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the snot nosed newbie."

Even before Percy had fully turned around he was spewing sarcasm.

"Aren't you one to talk?" As soon as he laid eyes on his antagonist he regretted responding. While his comment was justified, the piggy nose was attached to a brutish face that towered above him. Three other tall, brutish girls stood behind her.

One on one? Maybe. But one on four? Congrats Percy, you're about to get creamed.

Behind him, Annabeth sighed. "Clarisse, why don't you go and polish your spear or something?"

"Shut your trap, Wise-Girl. Just because you seem to be going easy on the dweeb doesn't mean I have to. Besides, we wouldn't want him to miss out on our traditional welcome now would we?"

Percy thought he heard Annabeth mutter something about Chiron banning the practice before he was being flanked by Clarisse's posse. He glanced at Annabeth, but all she did was raise an eyebrow and cross her arms.

Right Percy. She said she'd go easy on you, but she didn't say anything about helping to fend off the others. Besides, she's already threatened to cut you off at the knees if you don't prove yourself. You got this. Maybe. Fingers crossed.

Clarissa clamped down on his shoulder with a grip of iron. She steered him towards the centre of the cabin area, where a small building stood.

It's a small cinderblock structure. For fucks sake, what is it with giving the new kid a swirly? Is there no originality left in the world?

Clarisse's posse were all sniggering as Percy stumbled along. He ignored their jeering, trying desperately to find a way out of this.

Too late, he thought grimly as they entered the bathroom.

One of the girls -let's call her Ugly No. 1- lingered in the doorway, blocking his escape. Ugly No. 2 opened a stall door while Clarisse and her third friend forcefully pushed him towards the toilet.

It's now or never. Time to bust a move.

Percy spun away from the toilet and slammed his elbow into Ugly No. 3's nose. It made a satisfying crunch, and a thin spray of blood splattered the wall as it broke. She stumbled back with a cry, bumping into Ugly No. 2 at the stall entrance. Clarisse swung at him but her movements were hindered by the cramped space. He ducked the first punch and Clarisse snarled in annoyance. He blocked the second. Sneaking past her guard, he slammed his fist into Clarisse's face and tried to force his way out of the stall. She brushed off his punch like it was nothing and gripped his hair in an unforgiving fist, wrenching his head to the side. Percy tried to kick out at her but she caught his foot and released his hair only long enough to slam an elbow down into his knee. She forced him to the floor and dragged him towards the toilet bowl with a grunt.

FUCK. No. This is not how this day is going to go. I am better than this. I will not go in there. I won't. I WON'T.

Percy gripped the hand in his hair with both hands. Ignoring the pain in his knee, he swung himself forward to brace his feet against the front of the toilet. With a roar he pushed off, sliding between Clarisse's legs. She let go of his hair in shock, but Percy refused to relax his grip on her arm as he pulled it between her legs. He didn't let go until she was falling face first towards the toilet. He let go at the last second, giving her a chance to catch herself as he slammed and locked the stall door before the others could muscle their way in. He stalked forwards, grabbed her hair, and jerked her face up to meet his cold stare.

"Don't fuck with me again, or next time I'll let you drink the toilet water. Understand?"

Clarisse just glared at him, so he kicked one of her legs out from under her. She slipped a little closer to the toilet bowl but Percy's grip didn't waver. Her eyes watered with the additional strain on her hair.

"Do. You. Understand?" Percy did his best impression of John's I'm-Seriously-Pissed-Off-At-You voice. Clarisse grit her teeth.

"I understand."

"Good." Percy loosened his grip but didn't let go. "Are your girls going to be rational if I open the door, or do I need to beat them to a pulp as I leave?"

Clarisse's face flushed with anger, but Percy could see the doubt in her eyes. She didn't know whether he was bluffing or not.

"Stand down." Her rough voice echoed in the stall, glaring up at Percy.

"Boss?" The confused voice was muffled by the stall door, but the meaning was clear. Not many people got the upper hand on Clarisse, it seemed. Her glaring intensified.

"I said. Stand. Down." Percy studied her face for a moment while Clarisse's brutes moved away from the door. Abruptly, he released her, watching her all the while. He nodded at the door indicating that she leave first. She scowled wordlessly at the insult, but complied.

Silently, everyone filed out of the bathroom and campers all around stopped to gawk. Percy faced the seething girls, noting that one had blood caked down her chin. Despite Clarisse brushing off his punch, the slight swelling around her eye indicated that it might even bruise.

"Well," Percy started, breaking the silence. "This has been fun and all, but let's not repeat it, yeah?"

Clarisse snorted and then frowned, as if annoyed she found him funny. After a second she nodded slowly.

"Fair's fair, Jackson." Percy didn't ask how she knew his name. He assumed it had been spread throughout the entire camp by now. "You won this fight."

He knew what she wasn't saying. You won this fight. There will be more. Still, it seemed that he had at least earned some grudging respect.

"Fair's fair." He repeated, looking her in the eye. He nodded at her and turned away.

It was only John Winchester's training that allowed him to dodge the punch thrown at him from behind. He turned in time to see Annabeth catch the second fist. Without hesitating, Annabeth threw Ugly No. 3 -the offender- over her shoulder in an impressive Judo flip.

"He broke my nose!" She groaned from the ground in protest.

"He beat you fair and square. Even more so considering it was four against one, and you're all seasoned campers." Annabeth replied.

Ugly No. 3 looked to Clarisse for assistance, only to find Clarisse glaring at her in disgust.

Ah. So this place does have 'schoolyard rules' for this sort of thing.

Clarisse turned to Annabeth, and they both exchanged nods. Then, Clarisse turned and left, her remaining posse following behind, leaving their cabinmate to pick herself up. No one looked back.

Annabeth had shown him all the way to the canoe lake before Percy dared to voice his questions.

"I'm going to go out on a limb and say an unofficial rule was broken there."

Annabeth just raised an eyebrow

"Clarisse just let you flip one of her girls. More than that, she left her in the dirt."

Annabeth remained silent for a moment before sighing.

"Ask your real question Jackson."

"Why am I here?"

She frowned. "Didn't Chiron tell you-"

"Yeah, no, he told me Mr. D is a god, Grover is a satyr, and my mum was killed by a mythological bull. I want to know why I'm here."

"What do you know about your dad?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Mum said he was lost at sea. That his family was dangerous. That if they knew about me, they'd try to hurt me. That's why she sent me to-" Percy broke off abruptly and spun to face the lake. He tensed when he saw two girls sitting on the bed of the lake. Annabeth watched him for a moment.

"You've only met one biological parent," she started.

"What? I just told you-"

"You have ADHD, probably Dyslexia too." She pushed on, "you moved schools a lot, and you probably saw a lot of things growing up that no-one else did. Strange creatures."

Percy took a step back but Annabeth pressed on.

"All of the campers here have this thing in common. We're half bloods. Demigods. My mother is Athena. Your father is undetermined but he's definitely a god. That's why you're here."

No. It couldn't- No. No, no, no, nonono

But even as he tried to deny it something inside felt…right. Like he finally fit in his own skin.

"Gods don't just…change their behaviour after millennia," Annabeth said softly. "They ran around having kids with mortals then and…"

"And they still run around doing it today." Percy finished hoarsely.