Alex swung, and his blade was deflected by Chloe's, and she disarmed him, twisting her sword so that if he didn't drop his, he'd have a broken wrist. He let out a deep sigh, and looked into her eyes.

"Surrendered." He grumbled, and she set down her sword, smirking heavily.

"Maybe I'm just better than you, Alex." she said cockily, and he rolled his eyes. He walked to a nearby bench, sitting, and taking a sip of water.

"Do you think Mestor actually saw Order?" she said, and rested her chin on her hand.

"I wouldn't doubt it. Kid literally knows nothing about our world, why would he have the brain power to lie about that thing? It's not like he could've learned it in school, either, best things those places teach is about how Zeus is the mightiest god to ever exist." Alex said grouchily, and Chloe laughed.

"Alex! Chloe!"

"Speak of the man, and he shall come." Alex whispered, and Mestor ran to the two, sitting opposite of Chloe on Alex's side.

"What were you guys doing?" Mestor asked.
"Just sparring for fun. Something you'll see demigods do regularly." Chloe said with a big smile. Mestor let out an 'oh.'

"Could you tell me about this demigod world? You said you would yesterday." Mestor asked. Alex sighed.

"The main characters that you already know about are the gods of the Greek pantheon." Alex started, and Mestor nodded. "They often have kids with mortals, not caring about their godly spouse or partner, creating demigods. But it's bigger. There's the titans, the primordials, gods we don't know about, so much more. I'm a son of Erebus, adopted son of Nyx."

"And do the gods… treat the children, like their kids?" Mestor questioned. Alex laughed.

"Gods no. It's a cycle of slaughter for these children. Born into this life, fight monsters who can't die, only reform, repeat until death. Such a cruel world for some truly good people."

"And you? How are you guys different?" Mestor asked, and Alex frowned.

"I don't really know. I could've been forced to come to this camp, but for some reason some god chose to be nice and treat his son like his own son. In the end, he used me, and was killed, but I think it's still a kind gesture."

"Erebus was killed?"

"Percy killed him, ripped him in half out of pure rage. You don't believe it until you see it, but he… uh, yeah. He slaughtered him, Hemera, and Aether. All in the span of like, fifteen minutes, too. It was crazy." Mestor's eyes were wide. That's the guy he had a connection to? Someone who shredded three primordials alone?

A conch horn blew in the distance.

"C'mon, Mestor. Time for Capture the Flag."

X

"The rules are simple! No maiming, and the first person to retrieve the other team's flag wins. If you're caught with blood on your weapon, it's kitchen duties for the week!" Chiron said. "Now, may the leaders of the Ares and Zeus cabins come forward?" A blonde-haired boy wearing a purple shirt with a scar on his lip stepped forward, and a burly, muscular woman also stepped forward.

"Jason! You get first pick." Chiron said with a smile.

"The cabin of Order." Groans from fellow Ares cabin members. Jason's smirk was so gleeful and evil that it made Mestor chill.

"Athena cabin." the Ares girl spat. Jason's eyebrow raised.

"Hermes."

"Hephaestus."

"Apollo."

"Demeter."

"Aphrodite." The Ares girl groaned.

"Won't the teams be unbalanced? You got one more pick than I did!" Jason laughed.

"I chose Order first, there's like, three people and one kid who has never seen a sword before." The Ares girl rolled her eyes, and walked back.

"Jason's team, go to the north flag! Clarisse's, the south!" There were cheers of approval and excitement. Mestor's armor was barely tight enough to fit around his frame, but the armor that Alex, Aydn and Chloe had all fit them like a glove, and it looked significantly better than his hand-me-down like armor. Alex walked up to Mestor and gave him a pat on the back, which almost knocked off the chestplate.

"You'll do fine. Just stay with us. We're gonna defend, and we'll play it super slow so you can follow along." Alex said.

They were hiding in the trees above where the flag was, and for a good twenty minutes there was no noise, until someone ran into the plain, grabbed the flag, and took it, running off. Mestor's eyes shot open, and looked to Alex, who seemed really bored.

"We can split up and chase after him." Aydn said nonchalantly. They dropped from the tree, and Mestor climbed down. By the time he was down, everyone was already gone. He ran to his right, looking for the guy, but didn't find nothing. He stopped running, and walked more slowly, hoping to be more observant. There wasn't much, and Mestor let out a sigh.

Then he was tackled by something much heavier than him, and at initial thought, he thought it was a human, and Mestor grumbled.

"What the fuck, dude." Mestor said, turning his head slightly, only to see the sharp teeth and red eyes of a large, black dog. Mestor let out a scream, and put his hand out in instinct, and the dog bit off half of his forearm. The pain was unimaginable. The stump on his hand looked even worse. He crawled backwards, the dog stalked towards him. Mestor's eyes clenched in pain, as the dog got even closer. He thought of his mom, and how she'd scold him for doing so little.

"I'm.. not… gonna…" He started, reaching his bitten off arm out at nothing.

"fucking… DIE HERE!" and lightning came down from the sky, striking the dog down, and the dog turned into dust. Mestor set his head down in pain, clenching his arm, and the blonde-haired boy, Jason, stumbled into the field of tree-less area where Mestor was, and ran to his side.

"Holy… jeez, man." Jason said, kneeling next to Mestor. His eyes widened at something above Mestor's head, and Jason shook his head, smiling.

"We'll get you patched up, brother."

X

Jason carried Mestor to where everyone was gathered.

"Jason! Did you see where the scream came fro-" Leo started, eyes wide. Mestor's skin was white, from bloodloss. Apollo kids ran to Jason's side, calls for supplies and help rang through. Alex walked up, kneeling beside Mestor, who'd been sat on the ground. There was injuries but this was… Alex reached for Mestor's head, and rotated it so his nape was exposed and it was true.

The tattoo was forming there, the dot growing into a circle, sprouting out.

"Wait." Alex said, and the Apollo kids looked up at him in confusion. "Take his shirt off." One of them questioned him, but Alex shot the kid a glare so cold he could've died from it. They snipped his shirt off him, and the tattoo had gone to his collarbone, working its way across and down his chest, and down his arm, to where the injury was. People around him recalled in disgust. The bleeding stopped, and the tattoo reached it, surrounding his entire arm in darkness. From where the stump was, a new forearm grew, almost unraveling itself on his arm. The fingers sprouted from the growing arm, and Mestor's entire body started convulsing, and the tattoo covered everything from his neck and below, and his body grew. Alex assumed he gained at least thirty pounds of muscle and two inches in an instant. The convulsing stopped, and Mestor started breathing normally. Alex raised his sword.

"Hail the son of Zeus!" he roared, and a resounding 'hail!' came from the campers.

X

Mestor's body hurt. He opened his eyes to the same medical bay he woke up in originally, and his hand was attached to his body. Drastically different from when he lost consciousness. He looked around, and a short, curly-haired Hispanic kid was smirking at him.

"Am I dead?" Mestor asked. The kid laughed in his face.

"I'm Leo, nice to meet you. No, you're not dead, it's just my job to watch over you. We don't want to take risks with your… uh…"

"My what?" Mestor asked urgently.

"Black magic thing… whatever fixed your arm. The thing that came from your neck? Alex called it a tattoo." Leo rambled off, and mestor rubbed his neck, and brought his hands back, looking at them. The blackness was retreating into his palm, like it always did.

"Goodbye, buddy." Mestor whispered. Leo raised an eyebrow.

"What did I miss, while I was unconscious?"

"Well, to begin, for a moment your entire body was covered with the darkness, they snipped off your t-shirt and your entire chest was just… black. I think you grew like a good two inches." Mestor looked down. He did feel awkwardly taller. "the Alex guy said Zeus claimed you, so you're like… cool now, I guess." Leo said, dragging off. "That's basically it. Your arm regrowing was really gross. Try to avoid that next time." Mestor laughed, before his heart dropped and his face went cold.

"You said… Zeus claimed me?" Leo nodded. "as in…"

"You're a son of Zeus. Congrats. Do you want a cookie? A party in celebration?" Mestor's lip curved slightly into a grin.

"No, but thank you, I appreciate your kindness. What time is it?"

"Around three in the morning. I can walk you back to the Zeus cabin, if you'd like." Leo offered, and Mestor smiled.

"I'd appreciate that."

X

Mestor was incredibly, so incredibly tired. He'd never felt more drained in his life, and according to Leo, he'd been sleeping two days. He walked into the cabin, and decided to just fall onto the nearest bunkbed he saw, and was out instantly. He woke up in his childhood bedroom, with a white-haired, bearded man in a suit sitting on the edge of his bed. Mestor stared silently, before the man noticed he'd been there, and gave a warm smile.

"Hello, Mestor. I'm Zeus, your father." the man started, and Mestor's eyebrow shot up.

"As in the King of the Gods? Like THE Zeus?" Zeus laughed.

"I believe so, unless something's changed. How do you feel?" Mestor frowned.

"I don't… know. This all happened so quickly… I feel okay… I mean I've met my dad now, so…" Mestor smiled up at his father, who looked forward, out the window they were parallel to.

"I hate to make it harder, but you're going to get a quest soon, Mestor. From the oracle of Delphi. You're to retrieve Hades' helm of Darkness, his symbol of power." Zeus said, straight up. Mestor's smile immediately died.

"What?"

"I said it clearly, did I not?" Zeus said, slightly aggravated. It became apparent to Mestor that Zeus had no idea about his connection to Perseus. "You can take two others, whoever you wish."

"Why must I do this?"

"To prove yourself worthy, as a son of Zeus." Zeus growled, glaring down Mestor, who shrunk under the power. "Hades has done our bloodline so many wrongs in the past, that we must get revenge, for it is the only way to avenge the brother and sister of yours he brutally murdered." Mestor's eyes widened, his breath hitched.

"I know you will make me proud, Mestor. It's what your mother would want you to do."

X

"Your father visited you, didn't he?" Alex started, as Mestor sat at the Order table out of instinct. He nodded, slightly.

"It was weird… he said I'll have a quest soon." Alex let out a 'hmm.'

"Sounds interesting, maybe fun. Any idea who you'll take?" Mestor frowned. Zeus did say two others.

"Am I allowed to take someone like you, or Chloe, or Aydn? Or is that against the rules because you're not campers?" Aydn shrugged.

"I think we could come. Percy told us a story of how he once took a shape shifting goldfish on a quest back in the civil war, so I think we could come." Chloe said, smirking. Mestor laughed out loud at that.

"Hey Mestor, do you want to try to practice your use of the tattoo thingy after breakfast?" Alex asked, and the hairs at Mestor's nape rose.

"Uh… Maybe, I don't know how good I'll be."

"At least try, nothing hurts from trying to improve." Alex egged on. Mestor shrugged.

"Sure."

Walking there, Mestor was jumpscared by a girl in her late-twenties spewing green mist from her mouth, with a book in hand. Its mouth opened completely, and it spoke;

You shall go west, and face the god who has turned

You shall find what is needed and see it safely returned

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend

And you shall fail what to save what matters most in the end.

The girl walked back into the treeline, mist disappearing behind her. Mestor was scared, and had nobody to look to for answers.

X

Chloe, Alex and Mestor all gathered in an open field in the forest of the camp. Chloe and Alex stood slightly behind Mestor, arms crossed. He told them about the encounter with what they clarified as the Oracle of Delphi, and Mestor still had no idea what was happening.

"Where should I start?" Mestor asked.

"Focus really hard, think about what you want to accomplish with the ability. I've seen you control fire with it, so maybe try to summon flame?" Mestor nodded, and turned, focusing. His fists clenched, veins popping from his arms, but he felt nothing. He opened his eyes, and there was nothing. He sighed, and Chloe walked forward.

"Here, let me show you." She reached her hand out, turning so her palm was facing the sky, and some of the air materialized into water, and she was able to shoot it forward.

"What'd you do?" Mestor asked.

"I materialized the humidity and mist in the air into actual water. Took me a while to learn. You try." Chloe said nicely, and Mestor smiled. He reached his hand out, feeling for something, anything, but there was nothing. He didn't feel anything around him. He opened his eyes and growled.

"Calm, dude. You'll get it." Alex said. "Try searching in your gut, your heart, for something you care about, something that matters to you. All I had to think about was this rascal here," He pointed to Chloe, "and I got shadow-traveling down." Mestor nodded, and he reached out again, closing his eyes. Zeus's words rang clear.

It's what your mother would want you to do.

He felt anger that he could see her, anger that he'd proven nothing, and she was still stuck in that shitty apartment, surrounded by shitty people. He was a complete failure, and didn't deserve anything he's gotten gifted to him so far, like this strange power or being a son of Zeus. For god's sake, he couldn't even stand up to a dumb dog!

He let out a primal scream, and felt the earth shake under him. His hands went from open to clenched, his knuckles white.

"Mestor!" Alex called, but the boy wasn't listening. There was an earthquake happening, and Alex wasn't sure if it was Mestor causing it, or Poseidon, because of how powerful it was.

"MESTOR!" Alex screamed, and Mestor calmed down, and fell down onto all fours. He was breathing heavy. He looked up, and trees had collapsed, there was cracks in the ground.

"Did… did I do this?" Mestor stammered. Alex smirked.

"Wrong element, but I think it's a good step." Alex laughed, and Chloe patted Mestor on the back.

"Get up, kiddo. We can leave on your quest tomorrow."

sry i've had this done for like two days but forgot to post it. lets go its out