Disclaimer:
I DO NOT own this series. That goes to the wonderful Rick Riordan and Hyperion Books. I am just borrowing the story and characters. I will say that the story lines will be written down because it makes it much easier to follow along and know the current placement, especially if it has been a while since reading the book. Also, this is not beta'd so there will most likely be a few mistakes, feel free to let me know. Enjoy!
Oh, this is also only my second story ever so please be gentle. I've been really enjoying getting to share how I would imagine characters would react to their tales and I hope to continue to do so.
Book
'thoughts'
"speech"
Sorry for such a long wait! I finally started my new college semester and getting back into the groove of things was difficult. Anyways here's the chapter, enjoy!
We Capture a Flag
"Yay! Action again!" Travis cheers.
"Fighting, excellent." Ares smirks.
The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.
"Ah yes, the camp experience every child imagines." Rachel smiles.
"Imagination is a wonderful thing." Percy muses. "Death boy over there felt like camp was a dream come true."
"Quiet, Kelp head!"
Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.
"You read many books now." Annabeth beams.
"Well, I did have help." Percy smirks.
The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to de-snag a stray arrow out of his tail.
"Ah, right. None of my children can use a bow effectively." Poseidon cringes rubbing his neck.
"I've actually had a great shot once." Percy shrugs causing everyone to look to him in disbelief. Well, everyone other than Annabeth, Grover and Nico.
"It was quite a shot." Grover reminisces, the other three nodding along at the memory.
Connor decided to continue reading, breaking the stunned silence.
Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.
At that point snorts ring out at the image.
And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.
Ares hummed in approval at his daughter's feat.
"There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.
The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.
"Dude you didn't just excel at canoeing, you basically flew across the water." Chris deadpanned.
"Seriously, how did it take us so long to figure out his parent?" Clarisse whined.
Unsurprisingly nobody had an answer for her.
I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork or—gods forbid—Dionysus's way with vine plants. Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jackof-all-trades, master of none. But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either.
"Man, no wonder it hit you so hard after that quest." Travis paused in his reading.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Nico asked, after all he doesn't know how the war really started.
"Percy was new to camp, and everybody was basically ignoring him. Only Luke was decent to him and gave him the time of day. I mean I know from our cabin Percy didn't talk to anyone unless he had to. Annabeth only taught him because she was told to; Grover, I don't doubt he would have hung out with Percy, but he was busy with satyr stuff he missed while at the school, not to mention he was already in trouble with the council." Travis explained shocking everyone with how well thought out it was.
At that explanation, the campers had cringe at the memories. They had really only started to interact with Percy after his quest had finished.
Meanwhile, Percy was tuning out the conversation and was getting comfortable lounging next to his mom and Annabeth. He knew Annabeth was sorry, he figured that out easily during the quest, but he could easily admit that life at camp could have been more pleasant.
Seeing the forcefully neutral faces of basically everyone, there were those few gods who clearly didn't care with the drama, Travis picked up where he left off.
Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad. Nothing came. Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back.…
At that Sally let out a harsh sigh. Her boy was amazing, of course he was, but with thoughts like that he was setting himself up for disappointment.
I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?
Poseidon stifled a whine. Why was it taking him so long to claim his son? Was the stupid argument with Zeus really taking up so much of his time?
The Lord of the Underworld was observing his brother who was deep in thought. He was just as confused as the Sea god. In the past Poseidon had always claimed his children within days.
Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at Camp Half-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.
"Ooh yes, I never saw this, but I heard it was awesome!" Grover cheered causing Percy to smile at his friend.
"Definitely surprised everyone who had been there." Chris smirked.
We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.
The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me.
"Really?" Travis asked, it hadn't looked like that was the issue when he saw Percy fight initially.
"Yup, has to do with needing a weapon forged in the sea." Percy explained, his father nodding along with him.
"It's something all my children have struggled with. I'm sure the other gods' children have similar problems." The Sea god stated.
"No kidding, I could use any sword at camp, but once I got mine from the Underworld, I couldn't use any other as well." Nico said.
"Makes sense I suppose." Sally mused.
We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.
"Doubt that was the reason…" Annabeth mumbled, still hurting at the thought of Luke.
"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."
"That's my boy!" Hermes cheered, oblivious to the expressions on the camper's faces.
"Not anymore." Chris said softly, "That's Percy now."
That brought a smile to Poseidon's face. The Sea god had been watching the campers rather closely, more so than the other gods and seemed to notice the avoidance of anything to do with this particular son of Hermes, Luke. He assumed there was a reason, but knowing how the children have been this far, they wouldn't be telling until it was read.
Hermes on the other hand had a playful pout on his face at the information, but let it drop quickly. He was excited to hear about his son. He wondered why Luke wasn't in the group here though.
Travis had seen the happiness on his father's face and was worried about how he would be at the end of the first book. Everyone at camp knew what Luke had done to Percy, but the Hermes of this time? Well, he held out hope for Luke. With a heavy sigh Travis pressed on.
"Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.
The camper snorted.
Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" Whap! "Lunge!" Whap! "Now, back!" Whap!
"Those stung real bad, let me tell ya." Percy reflected.
"Oh please. After all you've been through, that's nothing!" Annabeth said slapping her boyfriend's arm.
"Hey!" he cried, "Didn't mean it didn't hurt!"
"Percy everything after this was worse than some sword slaps."
"You're right, but still!"
"Mount St. Helens." She deadpanned causing all the children to look at Percy wide-eyed. They knew it erupted, but they didn't know Percy was behind it.
All the stares caused Percy to flush scarlet; he just didn't get why they were so surprised. 'It's not like I'm all that powerful.' He was just trying to avoid looking towards his mom, who he knew was beyond scared at that admittance.
Percy hastily motioned in Travis' face and got him reading again.
By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same.
"That explains a lot."
"But it's not sea water?" Chris said confused.
"All water helps me in some way. The only difference is for how long." Percy shrugged not understanding the confusion.
The gods were all shocked, this demigod was a powerful one. How he didn't realize they had no idea. Poseidon was just amazed; he had never had a demigod child like Percy. How Percy had the abilities he does made no sense.
Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.
"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.
Snorts rang out from the campers.
"Perce, I don't think you've ever been truly beaten in a fight." Grover said.
Hearing that Percy had to wince. Percy has had plenty of moments where he had been, the Chimera and Echidna from this quest alone was bad enough. He had never even told Grover or Annabeth about that.
Poseidon had seen his son's wince and began to worry once again.
The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.
"A good move, doubt the brat can do it though." Ares snickered at his own comment.
The War god was so lost in himself that he never noticed the campers amusement. They were eager to see how the god would react.
"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."
He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.
"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"
The campers started to get antsy at the thought of the spar. Percy's descriptions were so detailed that they knew it would be a good read.
I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.
You could feel the excitement in the room rise as the fight went on. The campers were struggling to sit still, and the gods were trying to hide their intrigue.
Sally was trying to be as nonchalant as possible. It helped that Chiron had been softly explaining to her how somethings were conducted at Camp Half-Blood. She would have been a complete wreck otherwise. Sally knew it was going to be extremely difficult once they get to her son's quests, but nevertheless she would try and be strong. Afterall her son was the one who loved them, she would be there to support him however she could.
The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?
I tried the disarming maneuver.
My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.
Clang.
Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.
The gods were all silent with shock. A demigod managing to disarm someone so easily, on his first try!
Everyone was quiet until Apollo suddenly burst out giggling.
"Lo-look at ah-!" the Sun god struggled to get out and easily pointed to Ares laughter getting stronger.
Turning to the War god, the other couldn't help but start laughing as well. Seeing said god with his mouth gaping and eyes wide was a hilarious picture.
The only ones who weren't joining the laughter was Hera and Zeus. The former struggling to console her son, who really wasn't even giving her the time of day; while the latter was sulking and wanting to curse this spawn of his brother.
It took a while, but eventually everyone managed to calm down enough for the reading to continue.
The other campers were silent.
I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."
"Why are you apologizing! That was awesome!" Nico yelled.
Percy shrugged, "Habit."
Everyone gritted their teeth at the subtle reminder of Gabe.
For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.
"We all were." Chris commented.
"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"
I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted.
This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.
After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"
Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword.…"
"The impossible…" Nico said a hint of awe clear in his voice. He easily remembered Percy defeating his father's army at the River Styx, not to mention during the final battle.
The other campers were nodding along quickly agreeing, even Clarisse though a bit reluctantly. They did say Percy was the strongest of them for a reason, whether he believed it or not.
Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a neardeath experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.
"Ah yes, the great goat boy pretty much flew up that wall." Percy sniggered others following while Grover blushed.
We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.
"Thanks for asking, Perce." Grover said getting a smile from his best friend.
His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.
"Fine," he said. "Just great."
"So your career's still on track?"
He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"
"Well…no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He just said you had big plans, you know… and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"
"It was nice of you to ask." Annabeth said squeezing Percy's hand.
Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."
My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"
"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest…and even if you did, why would you want me along?"
"Gotta have my Red Baron as back up!" Percy grinned ruffling Grover's curls.
"You know, I've always wondered where that particular nickname came from." Thalia mentioned.
"Oh! Yeah, that's this quest." Percy smiled.
"Of course I'd want you along!"
Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving…Must be nice to have a useful skill."
I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins.
"Pros and cons?" Athena sneered.
"Well, you have to admit there are positives and negatives to each godly parent." Percy shrugged.
"True, like how I may have wisdom, but if a spider is anywhere near me, I'm useless." Annabeth agreed.
"Yup. Like how I may have water powers, but I can't fly because Zeus won't allow me to be a few feet off the ground." Percy added.
"Yeah… that's just messed up since Nico and I can go to the beach with no problems." Thalia whined.
"I've never felt the need to bring my brother's children problems. My issues are with them not the children." Poseidon shrugged, he was known as one of the more laid back gods for a reason.
"Huh."
"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."
"No, it's for my hunters." Artemis grumbled.
"Percy still didn't know much about the gods, milady." Thalia explained.
"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"
Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job. When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."
"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."
"That's risky, boy." Hephaestus stated startling everyone. The inventor had been pretty silent up until now.
"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."
"Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."
"Uh-huh."
"How was that even decided?" Annabeth wondered.
"We drew cards." Hades grumbled. He always thought it had been a stupid way to decide.
"Seriously?!" Percy exclaimed.
Poseidon and Hades nodded; Hestia added her own input.
"It wasn't the best way, but we honestly had no other ideas of how to choose." She explained.
"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."
"There's one now." Nico grinned. Hades looked to his son amazed.
"Really?" the Silent One asked.
Nico hummed and pointed at Percy.
"Kelp head got more cabins introduced to camp after the war."
Percy tried not to shrink under the looks he was receiving, "It was needed."
"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here…" Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."
"I apologize Lord Hades; my previous experiences were not the best." Grover explained.
The Lord of the Underworld waved off the satyr, "It's fine, makes perfect sense why you would believe that way."
"But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"
"A bazillion?" Annabeth giggled.
"Oh hush, you know what I meant."
Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."
"More like I was forced, even though I rarely had demigod children." Hades sneered.
"It was more baby brother than me, you know that." Poseidon shrugged, "I've had fewer demigods than he has."
Thunder boomed.
"Dramatic much?"
The smell of ozone started to permeate the room at Zeus' irritation.
"Oh relax, otherwise you'll be irritated the entire time we're here." Hades chided.
I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."
Grover nodded.
"And the brothers kept their word—no kids?"
"Of course, they didn't!" Hera snarked, she was appalled with the other gods.
Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia…well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."
"Yeah, thanks Dad." Thalia grimaced. Life had been rough for her, she wondered how bad it would have been if Jason was alive.
Zeus was looking to his daughter concerned. Thalia didn't like being his daughter? 'I guess I could have done more for her…'
"But that isn't fair! It wasn't the little girl's fault."
"Thanks Percy."
Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."
He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a hoard of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."
"Grover that was never your fault. I made the decision to stay." Thalia said.
"Doesn't make it any less hard to accept." The satyr mumbled looking down at his hands.
I stared at the pine in the distance.
The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much. I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?
"Jeez Percy, you couldn't have done anything different." Thalia griped.
The son of the Sea god just shrugged; he'd always felt like he could have done better.
"Grover," I said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"
"Man, already?" Clarisse asked.
"Had nothing better to really think about."
"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."
"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"
"No. Never. Orpheus came close.…Percy, you're not seriously thinking —"
"No," I lied. "I was just wondering. So…a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"
Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."
"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."
Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. "I didn't…Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were—you know—you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"
I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.
"I was." Grover confirmed.
"Was pretty obvious, G-man."
That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.
At last, it was time for capture the flag.
"Finally!" Ares celebrated.
When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.
Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"
"Yeah."
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"
"Not always," he said. "But often."
This caused the two gods to smirk with pride, they were war gods after all.
"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do—repaint the flag?"
He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."
"Whose side are we on?"
He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."
"Mhmm, help sure." Percy groaned.
"Sorry…" Annabeth cringed.
"It's fine Wise girl, worked out for the best."
The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded —shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support.
Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff, but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.
One by one the gods and goddesses smiled at the description of their children.
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.
"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, ox-hide shields coated in metal.
"Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"
Luke looked at me as if I were crazy.
"Man seeing real weapons was such a shock." Percy mused.
"I bet." Rachel agreed, "Kinda like how I was at the Hoover dam."
"You're never gonna let that go are you?"
"Nope."
"Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here—Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."
"Border patrol. Sure that's what it was."
My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.
Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"
We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.
I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."
She kept marching.
"Harsh, Annie." Thalia muttered.
"Yeah, we didn't have a great start." Annabeth mused, "Sorry Seaweed Brain."
"Eh. You got better."
"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"
Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something.
"You totally thought I was a Hermes kid for a second, huh?"
"The thought had been there."
"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"
"Ooh right, sorry Clarisse."
"Whatever Prissy." The War daughter waved him off. She already knew this wasn't going to end well for her.
"Border patrol, whatever that means."
"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."
"Uh huh. What a plan."
"I said I was sorry!"
"I know, I know."
She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.
"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."
Annabeth grimaced, it was definitely a rough start for the couple.
It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.
Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.
There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?
"I still absolutely love your sarcasm, Percy!" Apollo grinned.
"It is one of my better aspects." Said boy played along.
Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.
Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual.
Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.
"Wait. It was already there?!" Annabeth cried.
"Apparently. I'd honestly forgotten about that."
"What is it?!" Poseidon asked worried.
Annabeth just motioned to Travis to read again.
I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking me.
Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating.
On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.
"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.
"Miss. La Rue." Chiron looked to Clarisse disappointment clear.
The daughter of Ares hunched down in her seat, "Sorry Chiron."
Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that made me feel any better.
They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.
"Ha like you'd be able to do that brat!" Ares arrogantly sneered not noticing the look on his daughter's face at the memory.
I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.
Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric. I fell back.
"Well, it is the best thing to use against you Water boy." Thalia chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up Pinecone Face."
Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.
They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.
"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."
"No! Not the hair!" Connor cried.
"What?!" Percy was so confused.
"Dude, your hair is like magnificent!"
"He's not wrong. It is rather great; you'd look weird if it was different." Annabeth gave him a once over.
"Uh, okay."
I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb.
"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."
"The flag is that way," I told her. I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way.
"You gave away the flag!?" Annabeth yelled.
"It didn't say I pointed the correct way! Besides the Ares campers didn't care!"
"That is true, we were more bothered by the bathroom incident." Clarisse reluctantly confirmed.
"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."
"You do that without my help," I told them.
"Ooh burn!" Apollo cheered.
"Really a sun joke?" Artemis groaned.
"That wasn't intentional, but that makes it that much better!"
It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.
"You don't say."
Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've been shish-kebabbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut.
"Seems I need to have a discussion with your cabin Clarisse." Chiron said.
"We don't normally do this. We just got pissed at Percy. You know we're not good with anger." She explained.
"Nevertheless, a refresher is needed."
Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time.
"No maiming," I managed to say.
"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."
"WHAT?!" Sally screamed.
"I assure you, Sally that is not the punishment for maiming." Chiron tried to calm her, "That consequence is for when the campers are bound up after being disarmed."
Sally was taking deep breaths while trying to remember that this had just been an exercise. Her son was completely fine.
He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.
Poseidon gained a smug grin on his face. These kids were in for it now.
Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do.
"Woah, you just instinctively know to fight?" Connor asked.
"I don't know why. Any fight I've had I just followed by instincts." Percy answered.
"Percy does have some of the best reflexes I've ever seen in my years." Chiron mused.
I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.
Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.
"Ooh not good."
"Yeah why do you think she and I stay away from each other basically always?"
"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"
She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.
"Impressive kid." Dionysus said. He was starting to like this demigod. He so rarely paid attention to the games other than his sons either way, so to hear about his uncle's son do that was interesting.
Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.
"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."
"A good plan, daughter." Athena praised Annabeth who shrugged.
It was technically a good plan, not that she was that proud of it anymore.
They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.
The game was over. We'd won.
I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."
I looked, but she wasn't there.
"Ah yes, a rather ingenious artifact." Chiron smiled causing Athena to preen slightly; not that anyone noticed.
"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.
I felt myself getting angry.
"Oh no, Percy's angry again."
I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up," I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."
Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."
"A plan to get me pulverized."
"Yeah, not the greatest of my plans." Annabeth frowned.
"You've had better ones."
"Shh!"
"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but…" She shrugged. "You didn't need help."
Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"
"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"
"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."
The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.
"Woah, that's wicked." The Stoll brothers say.
"It can heal you?" some of the campers ask.
"Yeah. Water for me is pretty fantastic." Percy explained, "It heals, it energizes me, I can control it…"
"Dude, do you even know all your powers?" Chris wondered.
"Um no. I mean there have been something that have only ever happened once so I'm not 100% sure."
As the Sea son spoke some of the gods were growing more and more concerned. Just how strong is this demigod and why?
"I—I don't get it," I said.
Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."
"Ah, now she gets it."
"What—"
"Just do it."
I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.
"Right, that is a side effect if it's not ocean water." Percy scratched his neck.
"Not an awful one though."
"True."
"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want…I assumed it would be Zeus.…"
"Uh, why?" Hermes questioned.
"Well, we already knew about Thalia. Nico wasn't brought to our attention until later and even then, he was born before the oath."
"Makes sense I guess."
Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.
"Oh no, not this." Percy winced; his mom was not going to like this part. He was proven correct when he was crushed to her as she clutched him in a hug.
The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: "Stand ready! My bow!"
Annabeth drew her sword.
There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.
"A hellhound!" Poseidon howled, "How even?"
"It'll be explained later Dad." Percy said pulling his father's focus to him. Apparently, that settled the Sea god as he nodded and leaned back in his seat.
It was looking straight at me.
"Of course, it was." Poseidon groused while Sally clutched her son tighter.
Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"
She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.
Sally let out a small whimper as Percy tried to soothe her.
"Mom, I was fine. I got healed soon after I promise."
She relented her grip some, but still waited for confirmation of this.
By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.
"Eww, why Percy?"
"Sorry!"
Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't…they're not supposed to…"
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."
Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.
Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"
"Oh, and he ordered it to attack him?!" Nico shrieked.
"I was upset about that fight and my spear okay! I knew it wasn't him!"
"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.
We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.
"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."
"I'm okay."
"No, you were not!" Sally wailed.
"Yeah, not my best response." Percy blanched.
"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."
I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.
Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.
"Look, I—I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry.…"
But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.
"Ah finally you're claiming him brother." Hades drawled.
"Took me long enough."
"Well, you do have a flair for the dramatic."
The Sea god was so absorbed in the moment he didn't even hear his elder brother's comment.
"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um…"
By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.
"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."
"In multiple ways. Huh, Annie?" Thalia joked.
"Quit it Thals!"
"It is determined," Chiron announced.
All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.
"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
"Woah, those are some awesome titles." Travis breathed once he finished reading.
"Cool thing is Percy taps into all of those titles." Annabeth beamed while Percy just blushed.
Unfortunately, that statement brought more worry to the gods and goddesses.
Seeing this, and the still worried look on Sally's face Hestia clapped her hands getting everyone's attention.
"Well, why don't we take a quick break?"
AN: And there it is. Sorry again for such a long wait. I'm hoping I will be able to get the next update out in a more timely manner, but I don't want to assume and then everything goes wrong.
Also if you want to check in about update progress please just PM me. It's easier for me to let y'all know that way so I don't have to think about putting an author's note in the story causing y'all to think it's an update. I don't want to do that to you guys!
Anyway, hope this was enjoyable. The next chapter will probably be a short one since it'll be a break, but I'm not going to confirm a date when it will be out.
As always feel free to comment/review or PM if you prefer about what you think. Thanks for sticking with me and I will see you next time!