The demigods let the three gods lead them to the nearest dining room, while Annabeth remembered was called the andron, and Hermes grabbed several plates and goblets.
"Now, you kids should probably know these all work." Hermes grinned, "Tell them what you want, and the goblets will fill up with anything you like. Same goes for the plates."
"Just like in camp!" Hazel smiled, "Well... the goblets, I suppose. Food in both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood are cooked."
"A homecooked meal. Alas, due to how... picky the others can be with their food, cooking wouldn't be efficient. And they prefer nectar and ambrosia anyways." Hestia let out a small smile, "Go ahead. Have a nice meal."
"Thank you!" The demigods chorused, and Apollo and Hermes snickered as they watched the demigods hand out plates and goblets in a semi-orderly fashion. The demigods were all arguing over who was sitting with who, but it didn't take long for them to all settle down, and start eating.
"I didn't know you fought a Fury before the Minotaur!"
"And you killed it with one hit! That's awesome!"
"Hey, Grover, do you have any pictures of Percy when he was still confused over the whole "I killed a monster with a sword" thing? For - ahem blackmail ahem - no reason, obviously!"
Apollo let out a small laugh as Percy ignored all the questions about him, and started chowing down on a cheeseburger that was, oddly enough, blue. His cup was filled with Blue Cherry Coke, and a couple of glares by Thalia and Annabeth got the demigods to understand that Percy didn't like the attention, and their conversations swayed to other topics.
"So, anyways." Connor was talking about a bet he made with Travis, "I was like "There's no way you can keep up with that minor. You're going to end up dropping it", and Travis was like "There's no way I'm going to do that!". And so we made a bet."
"Who won?" Jason asked, and Travis grinned, "Me, of course! I actually liked what I was studying! And the Athena cabin was really helpful and got Greek versions of my books so I could actually read."
"Yeah." Connor pouted, "I had to give Travis ten drachmas."
"Okay, so, what's the most dangerous bet you guys have ever made?" Rachel asked, twirling some spaghetti around her fork, "I know you guys like to bet in Camp Half-Blood. Not too sure about Camp Jupiter, though; you guys seem way too strict for that kind of stuff."
Reyna let out a laugh, "We're not that strict. People make bets over small stuff all the time."
Jason took a good look at Reyna. When she had been the praetor of New Rome, she had been stressed, unable to truly rest or relax in order. Especially after Jason's disappearance, the stiffness in her posture and the hard look in her eyes never went away. Being a Hunter of Artemis had been good for her; now, she was smiling, and joking around a lot more.
Katie started, as she sipped her apple juice, "Well, the Demeter Cabin made a bet with the Nike Cabin over... something. I don't remember it well, but I think we lost, and we had to take over their toilet cleaning duties for two weeks."
"Why would you make a bet with Nike's kids?" Leo wrinkled his nose, "Their mom is bad enough. I can still remember her screaming in the stables sometimes."
Everyone who hadn't been on the Argo II shot Leo weird looks, and Percy spoke up between bites, "I thought we stuffed a sock in her mouth?"
"Yeah. A sock and duct tape. She talked too much. I could hear her in my room on the boat." Frank nodded, and Percy commented, "Well, that's a waste of a perfectly good sock."
"A waste... of a sock!" Apollo and Hermes fell to the ground, laughing, as the demigods looked on in bewilderment.
Leo snickered, "And then Percy threatened to let Hazel's horse eat her wings."
"Percy! You should really stop threatening gods and goddesses," Grover bleated nervously, and Percy and Anabeth shared a knowing look. Akhlys.
Thalia held her hand up, "Hold up... you somehow took down Nike, at least, long enough to tape a sock in her mouth, and then shoved her in the Argo's stables!? And then threatened to have her wings eaten."
"Yeah." Hazel tried to stifle her laughter, "Pretty much. But the way you say it makes it sound even more funny."
"You kids are hilarious!" Hermes slammed his hand on the floor, laughing so hard that his sides ached, "You guys effectively kidnapped the Goddess of Victory! Awesome! I need to know more!"
"Err... Aunt Hestia, how many books did we get?" Percy asked, and Hestia replied, "Ten books. I only read the title of the first one, though."
"Hmm... both prophecies were pretty important, so let's assume we have five books for the first, and five for the second." Annabeth started, and Percy groaned as he sipped his blue coke, "Five books from my point on view!? Why!? I'm not that important!"
"Not that important, my butt!" Will threw his hands up, "You literally went on all the important quests for the first prophecy! The books have to be in your point of view!"
"Enough." Annabeth interjected, "I have a good idea of the pacing for the first five. For the second prophecy, Jason, Piper and Leo went on a quest to free Hera, and then, Percy, Hazel and Frank went on another to free Thanatos, right?"
"Yes." Frank nodded, "So we can assume that we get a book each for those quests."
"YES!" Percy cheered, nearly spilling his drink in his excitement, "A book that isn't in my point of view! If I'm not on the quest, you won't read my thoughts!"
Zoe shook her head, "Thou are probably the only male that would be happy if thee weren't involved in anything."
"Going back to the topic at hand." Hazel sighed, "Annabeth had a quest after you four picked us up, so the eighth book should cover that. Then... you know... we kind of split up, so maybe another book for that, then the last book should be about when we got back together."
"So... when did you guys kidnap Nike?" Apollo grinned, "I so want to rub it in her face!"
"Err... last book, if I've got all my event timings right." Frank stated, and Hermes and Apollo's face fell, "Aw man! That long?!"
"Yes. Be patient. And no spoilers." Hestia turned to the two gods, a small cheeky smile on her face, before she turned back to the demigods. She shot Thalia a look, and the Hunter immediately got the message, and continued, "So, anyways, back to the bets! I didn't really do much betting while with the Hunters. But the Aphrodite Cabin was betting that Annabeth and Percy would get together by the time summer rolled around, and you guys returned to camp from mortal school."
"Oh, I remember that." Silena laughed, "Thalia was like "No way! Annabeth's too stubborn, and Percy's too dense. There's no way they'd get together. Give them like... two more years!" We all thought she was exaggerating."
"Yeah." Thalia snickered, "But I was right on the money!"
Most of the demigods started sharing stories of bets they made with other campers or cabins, and what they put on the line. Hestia had returned to her hearth, while Hermes and Apollo had gotten called out by some of the other gods.
It wasn't long before it was Percy's turn to talk, except the boy was currently chomping down on a slice of pizza with a blue crust, blue pepperoni, and blue cheese.
"What?" Percy asked, his mouth half-full when he noticed everyone looking at him, and Jason shook his head, "Your turn to share the most dangerous bet you've ever made."
Percy didn't even think about it. He swallowed his pizza, and stated blankly, "Gorgon's blood."
Annabeth nearly choked on her saliva, and squeaked out, "Gorgon's blood?"
"You made a bet on Gorgon's blood?!" Thalia shot to her feet, "Your head really is filled with kelp!"
Frank and Hazel weren't sure whether to be relieved or ashamed. Relieved that it had been the worst bet Percy had ever made, and he still came out on top... or ashamed that they didn't even question Percy for more than five minutes before they let him take such a dangerous risk.
"Where did you even get Gorgon's blood from!?" Reyna asked.
"Please tell me you just used it as a bargaining chip, or somethin, and you didn't do anything like... I don't know, drink it!?" Jake asked, but one look Percy gave the son of Hephaestus his answer.
"We're doomed. So doomed!" Malcolm groaned, "How did you even survive!? Why did you even think that was a good idea in the first place!? Why are you using your brain to pick on up small, minuscule details, and not like, I don't know, not making life-threatening, dangerous bets?!"
"His brain is filled with kelp!" Thalia yelled, and Michael sighed, "I don't know if gods can get heart attacks, but I think that Poseidon's going to be the first to know."
"Oh gods. My dad going to have to find out about this!" Percy nearly choked on his pizza, and Nico smirked, "You are so grounded for the rest of your life!"
Suddenly, Hades entered the dining room with a flash, and walked over to Nico and Hazel.
"Do you mind?" Hades asked, and the demigods looked at each other, not knowing how to respond to the Lord of the Dead, but Percy just washed down his pizza slice with his blue coke, and nodded, "Sure, Uncle Hades. I think there's enough room for you."
Hades nodded, and there was some shuffling as the demigods moved to free up some room so Hades could sit between his children. Hades glanced over at Will, raising his eyebrow questioningly, before saying, "A son of Apollo. Not exactly what I was expecting, but okay."
Nico just blinked up blankly at his father, while Will let out a small sigh of relief that he wasn't going to be smited yet.
"As for you..." Hades took a good look at Frank, "You're not like the other Ares kids, so you seem fine. For now."
"Where's Lady Proserpina? Or... uh... Persephone?" Hazel asked, as Hades flickered to his Roman form briefly at the Roman name.
"She's with her mother, Demeter, right now." Hades grumbled, "Stupid woman keeps bugging me about eating cereal."
Some of the demigods snickered, as Katie got an offended look on her face at the insult to her mother.
"But she's your sister." Percy stated, filling his goblet up with more Blue Cherry Coke.
"She is." Hades nodded, "Which is probably why I continue to tolerate her stupid cereal tirades, even when she invades my home."
"But... I thought gods can't go into each other's territory without invitation..." Thalia's voice trailed off.
"Oh yeah. I remember that." Percy nodded, and wrinkled his nose, "She wanted Nico to eat cereal too."
"Me?" Nico asked, and Annabeth frowned, "But we didn't see Lady Demeter in Hades' domain."
"You weren't with me." Percy stated, "I was with Nico."
"Okay, just how many times have you been to the underworld?" Thalia asked, "You went once with Annabeth, you went once with Nico and I, and then apparently another time with Nico?"
"Yeah. That sounds about right." Percy did a mental count in his head, before he nodded.
"You are in my domain far too much, nephew." Hades sighed, "Next time, please actually be dead before you decide to pay me a visit."
"Nah." Percy turned to Annabeth, "You think we should visit Cerberus again, with another red ball."
Annabeth's eyes opened in surprised, "Oh gods! With all the prophecies going on, I completely forgot!"
Nico grinned, "I usually play with Cerberus when I'm down there. I'll bring you guys next time."
"Okay, I just completely lost track of the conversation." Jason groaned.
Some of the gods trickled into the dining room, and the demigods who have finished their meals all stood up to talk to their parents, before Zeus ordered them back to the Throne Room to continue the reading.
"Who's reading next?" Nico asked, picking the book up from where he left it, and Artemis stuck her hand out, "I'll read."
Apollo took the book from Nico, and handed it to his sister, and the Goddess flipped the book open to the correct page, and read the title out.
I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom
Everyone except for Clarisse started laughing, and Leo snorted, "So, you started blowing up the toilets even before the Argo II, huh?"
"Apparently, yes." Percy nodded, "Sorry about that."
"Nah." Leo waved off the apology, "I'm going to call you Toilet Boy from now on."
"Please don't. I prefer Water Boy, and that's saying a lot given that I hate that name."
Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse,
"Centaur. Not just a horse." Athena growled, but Chiron let out a light chuckle, "I don't appreciate being called a horse, but the way it's worded... it is rather funny."
we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times,
"Why?" Grover asked, and Percy shrugged, "I don't know... I think I blew something up, and that was my punishment, before I got expelled again."
and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.
Chiron shot Percy an odd look, and the son of the Sea God lowered his head slightly, "Sorry, Chiron."
Chiron shook his head fondly, "It's alright. At least you didn't say it out loud."
"Yeah." Katie wrinkled her nose, and pointed at the Stoll brothers, "Those two kept making poop jokes. So immature!"
We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."
"Oh, I remember that." Michael nodded, "I was asking Will about the new kid that supposedly took out the Minotaur, and he pointed you out."
Most of the campers were older than me.
"Yeah. Most were around fourteen or something, at that point in time." Chris nodded.
Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable.
The demigods all cringed. They knew they hadn't exactly been welcoming to Percy when he had first arrived, and Percy had been through quite a lot before he even arrived in camp. They hadn't even said anything, and Percy already didn't feel welcomed.
"Sorry." Beckendorf winced, "Kids usually don't stumble into camp having killed something so famous and ancient like the Minotaur. Most of them might get a hellhound or two, maybe some cyclopes, if they are unlucky... but definitely nothing on the level of the Minotaur. Especially since you were... you know... small."
"It's fine." Percy smiled sadly at his dead friend, "I would probably act the same way if it were another camper."
I felt like they were expecting me to do a cartwheel or something.
"Can you do a cartwheel, though?" Apollo asked.
"I don't know." Percy stated, "I never tried. Cartwheels don't come in handy during monster fights."
"Fair point." Jason nodded.
I looked back at the farmhouse.
"Just because we have half-goats and half-horses, doesn't mean we run a farm, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth laughed.
It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four storeys tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top
"That doesn't fit with the architectural style." Athena pointed out.
"Father made me add it." Dionysus complained, "It completely ruins the entire look."
when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable.
"The Oracle moved? Even back then?" Katie looked slightly sick to her stomach, "I thought the first time she moved was by the creek!"
"Doesn't Rachel live in a cave or something?" Dakota asked, "Or did I remember that wrongly."
"It was my predecessor." Rachel stated simply.
Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.
"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.
"The old Oracle." Apollo sighed, and Hermes let out a small frown, being reminded of the fate of poor May Castellan. He had just visited her yesterday, keeping her company, but he still hadn't been able to break the news of Luke's death to her.
He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."
"You should have asked something like... Who's up there or something." Travis suggested, "I think it was pretty obvious it was an attic."
"Somebody lives there?"
"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."
"He ain't lying though." Apollo grinned.
I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.
Chiron nodded, "She had moved the curtain. I saw it too. But telling you about the Oracle if you didn't need to know about her..."
"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."
"Honestly, Chiron." Percy sighed , "That was one of you better topic changes."
"I suppose I would also have to work on that, in addition to how to be tactful." Chiron admitted.
We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.
"The strawberries are great." Thalia grinned, "They're super fresh and juicy. And the dryads bake really great cakes."
Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."
"What expenses do you even need to pay?" Frank asked, "It's a magic camp. If you need stuff, you build it, and I don't think you can buy celestial bronze from mortal stores."
"Oh, just regular building materials. Cement, bricks, wood, those sort of things." Annabeth replied,
He said Mr D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.
Dionysus huffed at the mention of not being able to have wine, or wine grapes.
I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire.
"Your descriptions are hilarious." Leo snickered, "You're awesome."
I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.
"Honestly, at that point of time, nope." Grover admitted.
"Well, you've improved a lot since then." Percy smiled at the satyr.
I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting lectured out by Mr D.
"Were you?" Juniper asked, and Grover nodded, "Well, not really getting lectured. More like Mr D was telling me that I had to do much better than that if I wanted my license, since Percy had gotten to camp alive and I was kinda unconscious."
"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean… he was a good protector. Really."
"He was." Percy nodded.
"You were the one that saved him, and yet you called him amazing." Reyna pointed out.
"I ditched him. And yet, he chased me all the way to Montauk, in the middle of the night with absolutely crap weather, to warn my mom and I about monsters." Percy stated firmly, "I'd say that makes him an awesome protector."
"Thanks, man." Grover nearly teared up at how Percy defended him, despite the fact that he had just lost Sally, and Hestia let out a smile, "You are a great friend, Percy."
"Thank you, Aunt Hestia."
Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse's back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable.
Grover shot Chiron a questioning look, and Chiron looked slightly abashed.
To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."
"But he did that!" Juniper cried out.
"But he did that!"
"This is a serious issue, Juniper." Grover stated solemnly, "You think like Percy."
There was silence, before everyone burst into laughter.
"I might agree with you," Chiron said.
"Not a might. I did agree with you, Percy." Chiron stated.
"But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success.
"They can take their opinions and shove them up their -" Reyna hastily covered Thalia's mouth before she could continue her statement.
After all, Grover lost you in New York.
"Grover didn't lose me. I ditched him." Percy said.
"We know, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth gave Percy a small kiss.
Then there's the unfortunate… ah… fate of your mother. And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line.
Everyone glared at Zeus.
The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."
"How does being unconscious equate to having no courage?" Athena frowned, "That doesn't even make sense."
I wanted to protest. None of what happened was Grover's fault. I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.
"That wasn't your fault either." Grover turned to Percy, "So don't blame yourself either."
Percy nodded, but everyone could tell that Percy wasn't really convinced.
"He'll get a second chance, won't he?" Chiron winced.
"I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago.
"The first time?" Calypso frowned, "What happened?"
"The books should explain it later." Grover sighed, "I told Percy about it."
Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age.…"
"How old is he?"
"Oh, twenty-eight."
"Fourteen in human years?" Will did the calculations, "Why were you in sixth grade? Shouldn't you have been in eighth? How did you explain that away?"
Grover shrugged, "I was "held back" a grade or two."
"What! And he's in sixth grade?"
"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."
"That's horrible."
"Agreed. Mortal schools suck." Rachel stuck her tongue out, "Even for us mortals."
"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career…"
"Like tap-dancing." Grover snickered.
"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"
"Very bad." Thalia nodded, "But then it became good. Actually, it wasn't actually that bad..."
"It would be better if we got the tree without someone getting hurt." Percy sighed. Honestly, he couldn't believe that Camp Half-Blood only got a magical anti-monster barrier because Zeus felt bad about his daughter's death.
Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"
"Now that's a bad subject change." Triton stated.
But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death.
"Oh dear..." Poseidon groaned. He knew that Percy had visited the Underworld... but still...
The beginnings of an idea—a tiny, hopeful fire— started forming in my mind.
Hades groaned; this was the start of the super annoying visits by his powerful yet irritating nephew.
"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real…"
"Yes, child?"
Persephone raised an eyebrow. She hadn't known that the son of the Sea God had visited at that point in time. But given how upset her husband had been when she had returned, even though it had been a few months later... she can't say she's surprised.
"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"
Percy smiled, "I herby confirm that, yes, the Underworld is very, very real."
Hazel nearly choked. She knew that Percy had gone to the Underworld before, heck, she had been in the Fields of Asphodel, wondering just what three non-dead people were doing, wandering around amongst the dead, but time was hard while being dead. She hadn't expected his first visit to have been when he was twelve.
Chiron's expression darkened.
"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now… until we know more… I would urge you to put that out of your mind."
"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?" Jason asked, "Just say something like, I don't know, "We have more urgent things to attend to at the moment" or something like that.
"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"
"Hey, Sparky, you think like Percy." Piper tried to crack a joke, but that just reminded her of the prophecy that Jason had received, and in order to protect her, her ex-boyfriend had died.
Jason grinned at her, but she could tell that it was rather forced.
"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."
Hermes shook his head, "That's an even worse topic change!"
As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.
"Really? Native Americans?" Annabeth blinked, and Percy rolled his eyes, "Shut it, Wise Girl. We can't all be smart like you and use nice fancy descriptions."
Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."
"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"
Athena groaned in exasperation, while Beckendorf stated unhelpfully, trying his best to stifle his laughter, "Monsters. And your sword, maybe a knife as well."
"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"
"My own—?"
"Okay, this time, I support the sea spawn." Athena turned to Chiron, "You know him before he even came to camp. Why would he have any gear when you took back the only sword he ever used?"
"Apologies, Lady Athena." Chiron bowed, "But most children do come into camp with some sort of weapon. Sometimes they pick it up on the way to camp, or they have something that functions as a make-shift weapon. Demigods are very resourceful."
"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."
"It was one of the smallest sizes we had." Travis snickered. "And it was still too big on him."
I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory,
"Ours." Nico stated, and Will snickered.
but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range,
"You never really went there." Grover turned to Percy, but Percy shrugged, "Well, I'm not in camp that much, and even when I'm there, I'd rather train in something that I'm actually decent in, rather that something where I'm a hopeless case."
"You can't be that bad." Artemis frowned, looking up from the book, "I can teach you, if you like?"
All the males from Camp Half-Blood had their eyes bugging out. Sure, Percy had gone on a quest to rescue Artemis before, but she was offering to teach a male archery!?
the canoeing lake,
"You guys spend way too long down there." Pollux shook his head, a small amused smile on his face.
the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much),
"I can't imagine why." Frank muttered sarcastically.
the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.
"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.
"Yes. Sword and spear fights." Leo grinned, "They are fights where they use swords and spears."
"Idiot." Calypso rolled her eyes affectionately.
"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually.
"... uh... usually?" Artemis paused, as she reread the sentence.
Chiron sighed, "Accidents happen, when the challengers get too heated up. However, the last lethal incident was almost a century ago."
Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."
Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.
"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.
"Yeah... the orientation film covered that." Nico sighed.
Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.
"You couldn't have told him that we don't get rain, Chiron?" Demeter asked, "You were the only who decided not to let him watch the orientation film. You need to eat more cereal."
Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side.
Piper paused, and did the mental calculations, "There were only twelve? There's like... so many more now!"
"Yeah." Annabeth nodded, "We added more like... four months before you guys arrived,
And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.
"Yeah. For a first timer, it can be pretty bizarre." Rachel admitted. She had flown in on Blackjack, and she remembered just looking down at all the buildings, wondering just what on Gaea they were for.
Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike.
The Olympians grinned.
Number Nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.
Hephaestus, Beckendorf and Leo grinned at the mention of their cabin.
Number Four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.
"Yep." Katie smirked proudly, and Demeter smiled at her daughter.
Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.
Artemis shook her head, "Really, Apollo? You're going to blind everyone in camp!"
They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).
"You should join us next time." Will turned to Percy, "We always have uneven numbers."
"I'll keep that in mind." Percy grinned.
In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.
There was silence, before Hestia exclaimed happily, "He noticed me!"
The hearth's flames glowed, warming up the entire throne room, and everyone suddenly felt a wave of warmth and happiness rushing through them.
The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers One and Two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front.
"Lord Zeus and Lady Hera's." Grover explained to Calypso, who looked slightly confused.
Cabin One was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.
"Show off." Hades commented, but Zeus stuck his tongue out at his brother.
Cabin Two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.
"Please tell me he recognizes them. Sea spawns are dumb, but surely he isn't that dumb."
Poseidon, Amphitrite and Triton glared at Athena, while Artemis smirked and continued.
"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.
"Correct," Chiron said.
"Well." Artemis smiled at Athena, "He isn't that dumb. Isn't that wonderful?"
"Their cabins look empty."
"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in One or Two."
"No one is supposed to." Hera huffed, before glancing over at Jason with a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?
"Wow. We've been downgraded from gods to mascots." Apollo snickered alongside Hermes.
I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, Cabin Three.
"Were you calling to him?" Aphrodite asked, but Poseidon shook his head, "I had... pressing matters to attend to. But he could probably tell instinctually."
It wasn't high and mighty like Cabin One, but long and low and solid.
"That's because I don't have something to prove." Poseidon stated matter-of-factly, and Triton sniggered as Zeus growled at his older brother, but said nothing to refute his statement.
The outer walls were of rough grey stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor. I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"
Percy tilted his head, and turned to his father, "Would you actually blast someone who isn't your kid for entering your cabin?"
Poseidon looked slightly horrified that Percy might think he would do something like that, "Of course not! Anyone can come in, as long as they are respectful and they don't like, insult me while being in my cabin, or mess things up for no reason."
Percy grinned, "That's good to know."
"Sometimes, we just leave stuff in his room. Or we return something we're borrowing." Grover admitted, "Nice to know we won't die or something."
"Or he just let's us hang out with him when we need some peace and quiet." Connor grinned, "As long as we promise not to steal his stuff."
Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there.
"Until you came along." Annabeth smirked.
The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."
Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.
"Because they didn't have an oath to not have kids." Hermes groaned at the reminder that the gods used to take forever to claim their kids, and ended up clogging up his cabin that was meant for his kids.
Sure, it was fair for the Hermes Cabin to accept the unclaimed children, but not at the expense of the living space of his own kids!
Number Five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists.
Clarisse grinned, "Yep. We had to repaint the cabin, so we just threw paint on it. Lovely look."
"Awesome." Ares cackled.
The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me.
"I think that's just your ADHD." Silena let out a small laugh.
Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket.
"That's me." Clarisse snickered, before she remembered what had happened sometime later.
She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit,
"I'm insulted." Clarisse glared at Percy, but the boy just glanced back at her, "Yeah, sorry about that."
though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.
I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.
"Because they're either Party Ponies, or they're trying to kill me." Percy sighed.
Michael frowned, "Centaurs trying to kill you? That's not right..."
"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events.
"Or camp invasions." Frank shuddered.
But you won't see any here."
"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really…"
He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that?
"Well, someone has an ego." Apollo grinned at Chiron, and Artemis rolled her eyes, "Says you."
Yes, Percy, I am."
"But, shouldn't you be dead?"
There was silence, before everyone roared with laughter at Percy's lack of tact.
Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead.
"Immortality." Athena added.
You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish… and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."
"You are definitely needed." Percy smiled at the centaur, and Chiron nodded, "Yes. I believe I am still needed."
I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.
Malcom snorted, "With our ADHD and dyslexia, being a teacher is probably the last thing we would wish for."
Reyna and Jason nodded in agreement, "Paperwork is very hard to complete with dyslexia. And it feels like it takes forever when you take our ADHD into account."
"Doesn't it ever get boring?"
"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."
"Why depressing?"
The demigods all winced. They knew the answer to that, and they hadn't been alive for nearly as long as Chiron. They couldn't imagine living for thousands of years, watching generation after generation of demigods and satyrs dying from monster attacks, wars, godly squabbles and various other reasons.
Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.
"Wow, I wonder why I was so clueless about like... everything." Percy shrugged, trying to lighten the mood, "I guess we'll never know."
"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."
Aphrodite screeched.
The blonde girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number Eleven.
Chris, Connor and Travis cheered at the mention of their cabin, and Annabeth glared at Percy, "The blonde girl?"
"I only heard your name like... once." Percy replied.
When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.
"I wasn't." Annabeth clarified for her boyfriend, "I was wondering how on earth such a scrawny kid like you could have defeated the Minotaur."
I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me.
"That's because it was Greek." Athena sighed, and Demeter groaned, "The boy was still new to all of this. Please stop whining and eat more cereal!"
I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.
"It was an architecture book." Annabeth nodded.
"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Cabin Eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."
"Not for long, though." Grover grinned.
Out of all the cabins, Eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old. The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling.
Hermes sighed at the description of his cabin.
"Don't worry, dad." Connor looked up at his father, "It looks much better now. We have a lot more space, so we were able to clear things up a little."
Hermes smiled, and shot a thankful glance at Percy.
Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it…? A caduceus.
"Hello."
"Who's that?" Leo looked around, confused, while Hermes fished his phone out of his pocket. The phone transformed into his caduceus, and the two snakes looked around the room.
"Hello, George, Martha." Percy smiled.
"Hello, Percy. Good to see you again." Martha replied.
"Rats. You got anymore rats?" George stated.
"Quiet, George. Enough with the rats."
"Rats are good."
"Yes, but Lord Hermes' children are here."
"Oh. Hello, Lord Hermes' children. Do you have rats?"
"Stop that."
Chris, Travis and Connor looked at the two snakes as they bickered, a hint of jealousy bubbling up within at the fact that Percy knew their father well enough to know his two snakes.
Then, they suddenly felt guilty for being jealous of Percy. It wasn't Percy's fault, and the boy hadn't exactly had the best life. In fact, the son of Poseidon probably got into more fights than everyone in camp combined. He needed all the help he could get.
Plus, he probably only knew the snakes well because Hermes had Percy go on some super dangerous quest, and while they would prefer to have gone on a quest for their father, Percy was also a good choice due to how strong and powerful he was.
Hermes smiled at his children, "I'll let you three hang out with George and Martha later, okay?"
"We can? Awesome!" Travis grinned, and Martha nodded, "That would be nice, Lord Hermes. I would like to meet your children too."
"Do they have rats?"
"Frank can probably turn into a rat." Connor snickered, and Frank turned green, "I don't want to be eaten, thank you very much."
Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.
Piper looked a little sick herself, "That was what it was like?"
"Yep."
Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."
He galloped away toward the archery range.
"Go archery!" Apollo grinned.
I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.
"Being the new kid isn't exactly pleasant." Chris admitted.
"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."
So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.
"Naturally." Reyna blinked.
"Yes. Naturally." Percy nodded solemnly, "Like the Feast for Tuna."
Hazel nearly choked as she started laughing.
There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.
"That was us." Travis laughed sheepishly, "Sorry, man."
Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet Cabin Eleven."
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
"What?" Dakota asked.
"Regular means that he would be a Hermes kid." Pollux explained to his half-brother, "Undetermined means that they don't know his parent is."
"Oh." Dakota, as well as the other Romans, nodded in understanding.
I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."
Everybody groaned.
"Not exactly the most pleasant welcome, is it." Hestia asked, and the Hermes kids looked slightly ashamed of themselves.
"It's not your fault." Percy tried to reassure them, "Your cabin was cramped enough as it was, and it was already kind of depressing with all the unclaimed kids."
A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."
"He sounds nice." Reyna started, but she cut herself off when the Greeks glared at her with anger, hurt, and, for a few of them... sadness.
The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.
"Oh. Him." Jason blinked, recognizing him somewhat from the pictures left in the Zeus Cabin, as well as Thalia's explanations.
"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow.
"I think I overheard the others talking about him before." Piper admitted, "He died a hero, right?"
"Yeah." Percy sighed, like just talking about it pained him, as if Luke had stabbed him in the back or something.
Hermes grimaced. He really didn't need more reminders that his son had joined Kronos before he killed himself.
I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing.
Annabeth and Nico shared a knowing look, and Percy looked at them in confusion.
She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."
"For now?" I asked.
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin Eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."
"Hermes is our father, not our patron. " Connor spat, and Travis nodded grumpily, "Can't tell the difference, can you, with how warped your head was?"
Hermes pulled his children in for a hug.
I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down,
"You should have done it." Will tried to lighten the mood, "So they could have stolen it."
but then I remembered that Hermes was also the God of Thieves.
"Aw man!" Hermes complained.
I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious,
"The undetermined ones." Chris sighed; some of them had joined him when he had gone over to Kronos, but none of them ever returned, alive or dead.
some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.
"Yeah. Us." Connor and Travis both nodded, but their usual peppy demeanor was replaced by something more sour and upset.
"How long will I be here?" I asked.
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
The Greek demigods all glared at the gods.
"To be fair, if a demigod arrives early enough in the day, Dad would claim them." Will tried to defend his father, "If the weather is particularly bad, even though it skirts around our camp boundaries, he might miss them for a few days, but he'll still claim them."
Apollo smiled at his son defense of him.
The campers all laughed.
"That wasn't very nice of us. Sorry." Chris apologized.
"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."
"I've already seen it."
"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of Cabin Eleven laughing behind me.
"Scratch that. We were downright terrible to the newbie." Travis grimaced, and the three Hermes kids looked at Percy apologetically.
When we were a few metres away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."
"What were you expecting him to do when he didn't know anything?" Jason asked, and Annabeth sighed, "I thought he had watched the orientation film, and was asking questions that the film would have answered already."
"What?"
She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."
Thalia grinned, "He was the one. Just in more ways than one."
"Uh, what?" Leo asked, and Apollo grinned, "Poetry! My dear half-sister! So eloquent! You're doing so well!"
Thalia looked disgusted, while Apollo summoned a pen and a notebook, and jotted some things down,
"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"
"You're too humble, kid." Triton admitted, "The Minotaur isn't easy to fight, even for veterans."
"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"
"To fight the Minotaur, or get killed?" Piper asked, and Percy and Annabeth both snickered, remembering their argument.
"To get killed?"
"To fight the Minotaur!
"Aw, you think like the both of them!" Silena teased her half-sister.
What do you think we train for?"
"Err... so we don't die?" Thalia offered, and Annabeth let out a sheepish laugh, "My priorities were a little skewed back then.
I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories…"
"Yes."
"Then there's only one."
"There is only one." Percy groaned, "But he just keeps coming back."
"Yes."
"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right?
"That's a made-up word." Athena scoffed.
"So? All words are made up." Percy retorted.
There was silence, as everyone realized that, for once, Athena couldn't come up with an appropriate rebuttal to Percy's statement.
"OH! Take that! He got you so good!" Poseidon roared with laughter at the Wisdom Goddess, as Athena spluttered, and Apollo and Hermes fell off their chairs, nearly taking their children with them in the process.
The demigods were also falling over themselves, laughing at Athena's indignant expression, and even Malcolm and Annabeth looked amazed at Percy, and the blonde gave Percy a kiss on the cheek for the good answer.
"The boy eats his cereal!" Demeter grinned, happy that Athena was getting taken down a peg, while the other gods just looked amused at Athena's suffering at being bested by, for once, a child of Poseidon in her domain.
It took some time for the laughter to subside, but finally, Artemis continued.
Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So…"
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."
"That makes so much more sense when the Doors of Death were still open." Jason sighed, and Percy nodded in agreement, "Yeah. That was so annoying."
"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."
"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky.
"Which Percy isn't." Nico shook his head, "Don't even think about a lifetime. For him, they reform in mere hours."
But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."
I thought about Mrs Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"
"The Fur… I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."
"Extremely mad." Nico corrected.
"How did you know about Mrs Dodds?"
"You talk in your sleep."
"Awww! You watched over him while he slept!" Aphrodite squealed, but Chiron interjected before Annabeth could explain herself, "I asked her to keep an eye on him while the Apollo kids had archery training."
"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"
Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.
Hades snorted, "They can't even get into camp. And even if they do, they have more important things to do rather than chase after twelve year old's who randomly say their names."
"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny,
"You sounded very whiny." Annabeth laughed.
"And my father would probably just keep thundering at you because he's mad and you're you." Thalia sighed.
even to myself, but right then I didn't care. "Why do I have to stay in Cabin Eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."
"I mean... it kind of seemed like a waste of space, no offence. At the very least, we could have used the beds or something. There were six of them just sitting in my cabin alone." Percy admitted, and several of the gods nodded at his reasoning.
I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or… your parent."
"You kind of broke that rule, Perce." Chris laughed, and Hermes asked, "How so?"
"Sometimes, he "sneaks in" the younger, unclaimed kids from the Hermes Cabin into his so they can actually get a good night's sleep on a proper bed, instead of on the floor." Annabeth explained.
Percy started whistling, as Chiron turned to the boy.
"What? It's a sleepover. I invited them."
Chiron chuckled at the "excuse".
"That's very nice of you." Hestia smiled.
She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.
"You'd be waiting awhile, Annie." Thalia laughed, and Annabeth glared at her, "Don't call me Annie!"
"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."
"Yep." Hera nodded at the boy's love for his mother, and glared at Poseidon, "But we meant the other one."
"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."
"He's dead. I never knew him."
"I'm not dead. And now you know me." Poseidon grinned.
Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.
"You could tell that much from a sigh." Annabeth asked, and Percy shrugged, "I don't know. I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm no the only kid who thought their godly parent who was practically non-existent in their lives were dead."
"Your father's not dead, Percy."
"How can you say that? You know him?"
"No, of course not."
"Hello, Annabeth. I'm Poseidon. Now you know me."
Annabeth let out a laugh as Amphitrite slapped Poseidon lightly for teasing the daughter of Athena.
"Then how can you say—"
"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."
"You don't know anything about me."
"Honestly, I'm realizing that I don't know as much as I thought I knew about you." Annabeth admitted.
"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."
"How—"
"Happens to the best of us." Travis grinned, "But not at the rate you've had so far."
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."
I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Pretty much everything." Clarisse sighed.
"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek.
"And Romans are hardwired for Latin, right?" Piper confirmed, and Reyna nodded, "Yes, but our dyslexia isn't as bad as the Greeks. Latin is a lot closer to English, compared to Greek."
And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive.
"Percy's ADHD battle instincts are a godsend, both metaphorically-speaking and literally-speaking." Katie spoke up.
As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."
"Mrs Dodds didn't want me medicated, though." Percy frowned, "Though before Yancy, I did have several teachers who wanted me to take ADHD meds or something. My mom always refused, saying I was too young for drugs."
"That, and she knew they were monsters." Poseidon sighed.
"You sound like… you went through the same thing?"
"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."
"Ambrosia and nectar."
"Yep. Delicious stuff." Apollo grinned.
"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead.
"Okay. I'm never going to touch that stuff with a foot long pole." Rachel grimaced.
Face it. You're a half-blood."
A half-blood.
I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.
"We all felt like that when we found out. Don't worry." Beckendorf nodded at Percy.
Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"
"Oh, yay. It's me." Clarisse groaned sarcastically.
I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.
"Big, yes. Mean looking, sometimes. But ugly, nope!" Chris stated firmly. Clarisse shot her boyfriend a small smile, and Percy nodded, "Yeah. Sorry."
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"
"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."
"So... usually it's not lethal..." Jason trailed off, while Frank choked at the memory of Gwendolyn being killed after the War Games, and luckily, came back to life due to the open Doors of Death.
"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded.
"You really don't want to know what it means." Hephaestus grumbled.
"You don't stand a chance."
"She was right, though." Michael grinned.
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"
"Hi. I'm Percy, the little runt." The son of the Sea God grinned at Clarisse, and she glared back at him.
"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."
I blinked. "Like… the war god?"
"Did you think her father was named after Lord Ares or something?" Grover asked, and Percy let out a light chuckle, "Actually, yeah."
Clarisse sneered.
"You got a problem with that?"
"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."
"Oh, burn!" Hermes lit up, and Ares and Clarisse both glared at him.
The Stoll brothers and Chris tried to stifle their laughter, as Frank frowned, "We don't smell that bad, do we?"
Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."
"Percy."
Percy wrinkled his nose, "I hate initiation ceremonies."
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."
"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.
"Stay out of it, wise girl."
The Greek demigods all gasped, "You got that from Clarisse?"
Annabeth waved them off, "It's better than whatever Percy would have come up with. Owl Head and Smartass are just lame."
Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.
"Honestly, did the Ares Cabin just bully everyone at that point?" Leo asked, and Clarisse shrugged, "Not really. Only those that caught our interest. Like a scrawny-ass kid who looked ten killing something as legendary as the Minotaur. Otherwise, we left most of the younger kids alone."
I handed Annabeth my Minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.
"Beat him up!" Ares cheered.
I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron.
Ares grinned proudly at just how strong his daughter was to be able to best the child of the Big Three, but Poseidon just sprayed some salty seawater up his nose.
She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom,
"Because it was a public bathroom." Thalia snickered.
and I was thinking—as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier toilets.
The demigods burst out laughing.
"That was what was going through your mind?!" Clarisse asked, bewildered, and Percy grinned, "Blame the ADHD."
Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.
"No rain." Leo sighed.
"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."
"I wish he did. Maybe he wouldn't have gone after my mom if he was busy laughing." Percy sighed, and Annabeth patted his arm comfortingly.
Her friends snickered.
Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.
"Really helpful, Annabeth." Will sighed, but Malcolm defended his half-sister, "Leave her be. You know how Clarisse is."
Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets.
"No duh!" Dionysus rolled his eyes, "Really, Pedro! It's common sense!"
I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.
"Stubborn as ever, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth grinned.
Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach.
Poseidon, Triton and Amphitrite smirked at Ares, who was still trying to blow the water out of his nose.
I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder.
Clarisse sighed, knowing what was going to come next.
Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.
"Go Percy!" Leo, Travis and Connor cheered.
I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.
Dakota, Hazel and Frank grinned, remembering how Percy completely obliterated the water cannons during their War Games.
She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back.
Rachel whistled, "That's some power, alright."
"You don't even know half of it." Nico grinned, remembering that Percy had controlled the Lethe.
The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.
Chris snickered, and Clarisse glared at him.
"Sorry... but you did deserve that. You tried to shove his head down a toilet."
Clarisse sighed again, "Yeah. I supposed I did deserve it."
As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.
The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.
"Sorry, Annabeth."
"It's fine. You didn't mean to. Stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault."
She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.
"I don't think anyone was expecting a child of the Big Three." Thalia sighed.
I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.
Malcom shook his head, "How did we not figure it out. It was so obvious!"
"Denial." Chiron sighed, "Severe, severe denial."
I stood up, my legs shaky.
Annabeth said, "How did you…"
"I don't know."
"Ah, a classic Percy answer." Annabeth hugged Percy, "But we all love you for it."
We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk.
Katie let out a small snicker, "Not everyday that Clarisse gets put on her ass like that."
"Language!" Demeter chided Katie, but everyone could tell that the goddess wasn't really serious.
Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."
"Nope. Not dead." Percy grinned.
"Somehow." Annabeth sighed, remembering all the monsters Percy had encounters, and all the times he nearly got killed.
I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."
"Another burn!" Apollo grinned, and Ares had cleared his nose enough to throw a knife at Apollo, but the archer managed to summon his bow and shot an arrow at the knife in time.
"Are you crazy!? My kids are here!" Apollo yelled angrily, "Don't hurt them!"
"Then don't mock my children and I!" Ares glared back.
"Don't be such a sore loser, then!" Apollo growled, and Grover sighed, muttering under his breath, "A mega sore loser."
Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward Cabin Five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.
Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.
"Neither." Annabeth sighed.
"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."
"I don't like being bait." Percy frowned.
"Sorry, Percy." Annabeth grimaced, "I should have at least told you the plan."
"It's alright." Percy sighed, "The plan worked. But next time you want me to reel the enemies in, tell me."
"No one needs to tell you. You'd offer yourself up to do that role." Beckendorf snorted, before both he and Percy froze, remembering how the son of Hephaestus had died on Kronos' ship.
"Sorry."
"It wasn't your fault. We were all blind-sided." Beckendorf told Percy firmly.
Artemis let out a fake cough, and held the book out, "Who's next?"
"I'll read." Hestia offered, and teleported the book into her hand.
