Chapter 4:
After the little incident at the bathrooms, people were whispering about what happened. Of course Markus ignored it while he was pretty sure Percy heard it. Or maybe they were commenting on Annabeth, who was still wet from the bathroom incident. Markus tried not commenting on that. He failed, and ended up getting punched on the arm for that.
They passed a rock wall that had lava spewing out of it. Markus definitely wanted to climb that, despite how dangerous it seemed.
Then there was the arts and crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords).
Later on they passed the canoeing lake they saw earlier. Annabeth stopped and said flatly, "I've got training to do. Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets." Percy blurted out, feeling guilty.
"Whatever."
"It wasn't my fault." Percy said but stopped as he knew it was his fault too. Annabeth looked at him sceptically and Markus just chuckled quietly. Percy glared at the other boy.
Markus himself was wondering about how the whole incident happened. He wasn't sure how it happened either, and he wasn't willing to believe Percy that he didn't know what happened.
"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.
"Who?" Percy asked.
"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."
"Wait, isn't that one of those fortune-tellers from ancient times?" Markus asked, remembering that tidbit from staying outside a library some time ago.
"Yes, but this Oracle is different." Annabeth said.
Markus nodded, not really interested in knowing more at the moment. He saw Percy looking down at the water, seemingly blushing. Wondering what was going on, he leaned down also, seeing two people there. Two teenage girls were sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts. Their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They waved, like they knew both boys.
Markus didn't know what to do. He waved back, along with Percy.
"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts."
"Naiads," Percy repeated, sounding completely overwhelmed. Markus could somehow relate too. "That's it. I want to go home now."
"Hold on," Markus started, exasperated. "So, fighting a Fury, killing the Minotaur, learning Greek mythology actually exists, meeting a god, all that is fine. But meeting cute girls makes you want to leave?" Here, Percy blushed. Markus just shook his head. "I just don't get you, man."
Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."
"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?" deadpanned Percy.
"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."
"Half-human and half-what?"
"God, Percy," Markus said, tired of him being slow. He seemed to be under a lot of denial, but he couldn't blame him. "Half-god. We're basically demigods from the times of old."
"Right," Annabeth agreed. "You're fathers aren't dead, Percy, Markus. They're both one of the Olympians."
"Wait, what about the other gods?" Markus asked, curious. "The ones from Greek mythology as well. Like Hecate, Hypnos, and all the rest?"
"…That's true also," Annabeth said, after thinking for a moment. "But not likely."
"But how could our parents be gods. That's… crazy."
"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories?"
"Uh, smite people and pop kids out like rabbits." Markus answered, remembering that tidbit quite easily.
"I was talking about the last part, but yes," Annabeth answered, speaking hesitantly, as if she might be struck down.
"…Hold up," Markus said, after some thought. "Almost every kid here is a demigod, right?"
"Yes…" Annabeth said slowly.
"So, do the gods not learn the use of a condom, or, you know, pulling out?" Markus asked, socked. Seriously, how many kids came from one of the gods' daily 'meetings'
Both Annabeth and Percy blushed at the images created, but Annabeth answered anyway. "Well, no. I guess not." She said, still blushing while answering.
After a moment, Percy asked, "So… if all the kids here are demigods, then who is your dad?"
Her hands tightened around the pier railing. Markus got the feeling that they approached sensitive territory.
"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."
"He's human." Percy stated.
"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"
"Who's your mum then?"
"Cabin six."
"…You do know we're still new, do you?" Markus stated after a moment.
Annabeth straightened and replied, "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."
Huh, so she had a wisdom goddess as a mum? Well that explained the calculative grey eyes she had.
"And my dad?" Percy asked.
"Underdetermined," Annabeth said. "Like I told you before. Nobody knows."
"Except my mother. She knew."
"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."
"My dad would have. He loved her."
Markus shrugged. "Well I'm not looking forward to meeting my jackass of a dad anyway, so I'm not eager to find out about him." Percy and Annabeth gave him looks. "What?"
"You're not curious to find out about your dad?" Percy asked.
Markus scoffed indignantly. "No, why should I? The bastard let my mum die and left me to fend for myself. I could care less about him." He was being honest too. While he did hold some resentment towards his unknown dad, which was an understatement, he honestly didn't care enough to find out about him. He's survived for twelve years without his father's help, and seven of those years on his own. He didn't need him now.
"The gods can't interfere with mortal affairs, Markus." Annabeth said.
Markus scoffed again. "Excuses. If they can't interfere in our lives, why bother having us anyway?" he asked. The way he saw it, it was just petty excuses the gods used to not visit them. He wasn't asking to meet his dad directly, he was a god after all. But not even a sign? A message to show that he still gave a damn about him? Nope. Nothing.
Annabeth glanced nervously at the sky, as if it were going to become stormy again. "You shouldn't talk like that. The gods won't like that."
"The gods can kiss my ass for all I care," Markus said, which resulted in lightning to flash across the sky. This caused him to roll his eyes. Really, Zeus? Do you have to act like a drama queen all the damn time?
Annabeth looked angry, and was about to say something, but Percy interrupted. "So will I get a sign from him or something?" he asked.
"Sometimes it happens," Annabeth said, happy to answer the question.
"And sometimes it doesn't?"
"The gods are busy. They have a lot of children and they don't always… Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."
She ignored Markus' muttering, "Of course they do."
"So I'm stuck here," Percy said, thinking about all the sad expressions he saw at the cabin. He kind of agreed with Markus' way of thinking. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"
"Well, it depends." Annabeth stated. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us we're old enough to cause trouble- about ten or eleven years old (here Markus scowled, the obvious exception to that rule), but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."
"So monsters can't get in here?" Percy asked, hoping he was safe.
Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by someone on the inside."
"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"
"Practice fights. Practical jokes."
"Practical jokes?"
"So someone's idea of a prank," Markus mused, wondering if he would meet such people here.
"Anyway," Annabeth said. "The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."
"So… you're a year-rounder?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colours. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring."
"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most counsellors, and they're all in college."
"Why did you come so young?"
She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."
Markus nudged Percy. "Percy, I think you should focus on not asking sensitive questions," he said, this showing that Percy still didn't know when to keep his mouth shut.
Annabeth nodded to Markus in gratitude.
"Sorry," Percy said. "So… I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"
"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless…"
"Unless?" Both boys asked.
"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time…"
Her voice trailed off. Both boys could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.
"Back in the sick room," Percy said, "when you were feeding me that stuff-"
"Ambrosia."
"Yeah, that stuff. Anyway, you asked me something about the summer solstice."
"Yeah, me too," Markus said.
Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So both of you do know something?"
"Well… no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"
She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."
"As normal as you can get with gods anyway," Markus muttered.
"You've been to Olympus?" Percy asked, surprised.
"Some of us year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others- we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."
"But… how did you get there?"
"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor." She looked at them like they already knew about it. "You are both New Yorkers, right?"
"Sure," Markus muttered sarcastically. He seemed to be doing that a lot. "Because we've both seen Olympus floating above us at a hundred feet up, and the quickest way is through the Empire State Building. Thanks!"
Honestly, did she think they knew all this? She needed to stop assuming too much.
She blushed, just remembering that both boys were all new to this. "Sorry. Right after we visited, the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you both came along, I was hoping… I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And there's the rivalry she has with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."
"Well thanks for the vote of confidence," Markus said, "but sorry. We know of this situation as much as you do. Even less. But hopefully we might help each other." He wasn't opposed to it, despite her being annoying at times.
"Thanks. I need to get one. I'm not too young. If only I could found out what's going on…"
On that note, Percy's stomach rumbled, indicating he was hungry. Come to think of it, I was too.
"I'll see you later," Annabeth said, tracing her finger along the railing of the pier, as if drawing a battle plan. Considering who her mum was, that was possible.
"Come on," Markus said to Percy. "Let's join our new cabinmates."
XXX
Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and messing around, waiting for dinner. Markus noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They seemed to be the pranksters of the cabin, or the camp. Markus found himself instantly liking them. He just hoped that they didn't prank him. Then there was going to be problems.
The counsellor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes resemblance, too. It was marred by the scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. Markus wondered if he got into some kind of fight, or battle. "Found you both a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."
Markus was able to fully believe him. Being the son of the god of thieves and all that. "Thanks."
No prob." Luke sat next to them, pushing his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"
Markus shrugged. "A bit hard to handle, but I'm adjusting."
Percy's answer was different. "Me, I don't belong here. I don't even believe in gods."
"Yeah," Luke said. "That's how it all started. Once you start believing in them, it doesn't get any easier."
"Your dad is Hermes?" Percy asked.
Luke pulled out a switchblade out of his pocket. For a second Markus thought he was going to gut them, but he just scraped some mud off the sole of his shoe. "Yeah. Hermes."
"The wing-footed messenger guy." Percy asked.
"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travellers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."
"You ever meet your dad?" Percy asked, curious.
"Once," Luke didn't say anymore on that subject. Just for a second, Markus thought that he saw a hint of darkness in Luke's eyes, but it disappeared as soon as he saw it.
After a moment, Percy turned towards Markus. "So Markus," he asked. "Where did you go when you left?"
"Near the stables," Markus answered. "Just decided to go for a walk. Then I met someone."
"Who?" Luke asked.
Here Markus blushed, remembering his meeting with Silena. He still remembered her features; her dark hair, her blue eyes, her figure. Here Markus shut his thoughts at that particular point.
"Markus." Here Luke snapped his fingers in front of his face, turning his attention towards the son of Hermes.
"Uh, sorry," Markus said, his blush gone. "I met a girl called Silena."
Here Luke smiled almost knowingly. "Oh, you met her. Well I can't blame your reaction, her being a daughter of Aphrodite."
Here Percy turned towards Markus, interested also.
"We just talked," Markus muttered, embarrassed. He wasn't supposed to be embarrassed, dammit! Why couldn't he just snap out of it.
"I think you might have done more than talked," Luke teased annoyingly, making Markus wanting to punch his face repeatedly. "Does someone have a crush on the pretty daughter of Aphrodite?"
Here Percy laughed, causing Markus to punch him on the shoulder. Hard. He still had the audacity to laugh.
"Shut up. Just shut up." Markus said, his face resembling a tomato.
Luke just chuckled. "I'm kidding, Markus. And don't worry about it Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."
Markus seemed to like that, except the 'extended family' part. He still had issues about that. Go figure.
Percy then asked, "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Annabeth… twice, she said me and Markus might be 'the one.' She said we should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"
Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."
"What do you mean?"
Luke's face twitched around his scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of Hespherides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed anymore quests."
"Wait?" Markus interrupted. "Was that how you got your scar? From the dragon there, Ladon?" He also remembered that myth in particular. Who knew sleeping outside a library could improve his knowledge of Greek myths.
Luke smiled grimly. "Got it right in one, Markus. Anyway, Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until… somebody special came to the camp."
"Somebody special?" Percy asked.
"Sounds like some protagonist bullshit from a novel or TV series," Markus muttered to himself. He frowned, feeling like someone just laughed at him and his statement. (A.N.- i.e., me, hahaha!)
"Don't worry about it, guys," Luke said. " Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now come on, it's dinnertime." As soon as he said that, a horn blew in the distance.
Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!" The whole cabin, about twenty or so of kids, filed into the commons yard. They lined up in order of seniority, so of course Percy and Markus were dead last. Campers from other cabins came too, except the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which now glowed silver as the sun went down.
They marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined the group from the meadows. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods, literally. In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in the bronze brazier. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. Percy had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half his butt hanging off. Markus helped by shoving a few people to the side, making space for him and Percy.
Both boys saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blonde boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being too small for him.
Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with grey eyes and blonde hair.
Clarisse sat behind them at Ares' table. She'd apparently gotten over being humiliated, because she was laughing and belching right along with her siblings.
Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everyone went silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"
Everybody raised their glasses. "To the gods!" Both Markus and Percy said it weakly, one feeling overwhelmed and the other just not really feeling thankful.
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, bread, and barbecue. Markus' stomach growled in glee, not being used to food like this in a long time. Both boys' glasses were empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want- non-alcoholic of course."
While Percy experimented with his Blue Cherry Coke, Markus said, "Dr. Pepper!" Sure enough, the liquid filled his glass. He took a sip, sighing in content. The drink quickly became his favourite after an incident in a diner. Then some food was passed to the boys.
Markus was about to dig in, but Luke said, "Come on!" He nearly pouted. His stomach needed good food, right now! They followed him to the bathtub fire and saw people throwing in a good portion of their food in it. This made Markus blanch. Who would throw away such food?! A lesson Markus was taught (well, learned) on the streets was that you should never waste what you got.
"Burnt offerings for the gods," Luke explained. "They like the smell."
Both boys looked puzzled. "Why would an immortal, all-powerful being love the smell of burnt food?" Percy asked.
"Right?" Markus agreed.
Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."
When it was Percy's turn, he threw his food in, and not much happened. Then Markus came for his turn. Not knowing who to pray to in particular, he was a bit stumped. He didn't want to offer anything to his asshole of a father who couldn't do jack shit for him. Then he came across a certain name that he took interest in.
"Hestia," he muttered, remembering the goddess of the hearth from the stories he read. She was his favourite goddess because of her domain; family. Something Markus yearned for the past seven years. It was one of the most important things to him, and that was why she was his favourite goddess.
He threw a piece of his barbecue after saying the name, which filled the air with a smell of chocolate and fresh-baked cookies, with hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and hundreds of other amazing things as well. What was even stranger was that the hearth burned more brightly, and there was a glow coming from it, as if pleased with his offering. Then he remembered that Hestia was the goddess of the hearth and so probably heard his offering. He smiled at that.
People raised their eyebrows high, but Markus quickly left before anyone could ask any questions.
After that, both boys ate quickly. Markus learned that they even made pizza here, another one of his favourite foods. Even better, it seemed never-ending here. Markus was quickly learning to love this place.
Markus also saw table ten, which was completely pink. Sitting there were tons of boys and girls, all good-looking and beautiful. His attention, however, was on Silena, who was chatting with some of her siblings. She saw him, smiled and waved. Blushing, he waved back. Her siblings saw this and burst into giggles and chatter.
Chiron pounded his hoof for attention. Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activity director, Chiron, says that capture the flag is this Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."
A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.
"Personally," Mr. D muttered. "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that you that we have two new campers today. Peter Johnson and Marrie Hunding."
Markus glared at him for getting his name wrong.
Chiron muttered something. "Er, Percy Jackson and Markus Henderson." Mr D. corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."
Everybody cheered. They all headed down to the amphitheatre, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. They sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked. Both Markus and Percy were starting to enjoy this place. Markus especially. It started to feel like he had an actual home to go to.
Morning to you all (or afternoon or evening, whatever floats your boat) readers. Another chapter update in two days. I'm on a roll. Anyway the story is still following the canon trail, but it'll deviate soon. Now this fic will deal with the study of magic (duh). So I might bring in some stuff from Dr. Strange or possibly Harry Potter. There will be deep study on this sort of stuff, which is why I'm bringing in all of this.
Next the harem poll. Now it's been updated. The members so far are:
Annabeth
Thalia
Silena
Katie
Bianca
Zoe
Piper
These are the members I've added so far and will stay. Other characters can be added on, voted by you guys, but these members stay. So definitely no PercyxAnnabeth in this fic. Just letting you all know that, so there's no discussion on that.
Later! Read and Review!