Percy: We Learn Why She's So Different

Cora's mouth opened and closed, looking uncommonly like a fish. Her face was flushed pink. Hunter was beside her; he looked nervous and was extremely pale. I missed what Chiron was asking her about. I walked over to them. They didn't send a single glance my way.

"Cora, I'll repeat it. What sword?" Chiron questioned.

"Umm . . . well . . . I – I," Cora stammered. Chiron turned to Hunter, whose face had paled even more.

"Hunter, what were you talking about?" he asked him. Hunter swallowed but didn't say anything. He didn't know what had Chiron said.

"He meant something that happened yesterday!" Cora blurted out. Silent then talkative? That wasn't like any person, that's for sure.

"What happened yesterday?" I asked.

"It . . . it happened when I ran into the woods . . ." she muttered. "We got attacked . . ."

"What attacked you?" I asked.

"A scorpion. And – and I killed it . . ." she mumbled. Me and Chiron, and anyone else nearby stared at her. This girl? So confused and lost; killed a giant scorpion? Gods, someone was messing with us.

"How?" Chiron asked softly.

"With a sword . . . that's what Hunter meant . . . I suddenly had a sword. But it disappeared. I – I didn't – I never -" Cora was upset. Anyone could see that. The entire arena was silent. I cast a glare at everyone in it.

"We should get out of here. It's to public," I said quietly to Chiron. He nodded.

"Come you two," Chiron told them before cantering off. Cora and Hunter were still out of it though, so I grabbed them by the wrist and dragged them out of the arena to the Big House.

When we got there Chiron was already inside in wheelchair form. I sat down on a plush couch and glanced at Chiron. There was a sad look in his thousand-year old eyes.

"So let me get this straight," Chiron began. "You killed a scorpion, but you don't know how or where the weapon used went too?"

"Yes. It just happened. I didn't know what was going on," Cora said almost silently; she was standing across the room from Chiron and nervously fiddling with her fingers.

"I see," Chiron paused as if considering something. "Cora, what's in your pouch?" Cora looked confused. Then she realized what he'd meant, she glanced down before replying.

"I don't know," she said finally.

"Check."

Cora hesitated; then undid the flap of her pouch. Gently she reached him. She took out three small objects. A chain with a single charm, and small silver object, and one more which looked like a twig. She stared at them, almost transfixed. She had seen them before, but she didn't know where or how. I could tell, I could read it on her face.

"What are those?" I asked. She blinked several times as if coming out of a trance.

"I'm not sure. But . . . they seem familiar," she said. Chiron wheeled over to her.

"May I see them?" he asked her. She paused before nodding. Gingerly she handed then over. He held them up to the light and looked them over thoroughly. He did this for several minutes.

"Magic items," he said eventually. "Do you know how you got these?" Cora shook her head. "Could you try using them?" was his next question. She shrugged.

"Sure."

Chiron handed her the chain first. Without hesitation she slipped it on her left wrist. She fingered it for a moment, and then tapped the charm three times. I just had time to see it was shaped as some ancient symbol before it changed. It glowed orangey-gold then grew larger and thicker. Within a moment she had a silver and gold shield on her arm. The base was pure silver, rimmed in gold. In the centre was a golden symbol of Nike, Goddess of Victory.

We were all staring at it when Annabeth walked in.

"Chiron I -" she stopped dead when she saw Cora's shield. "What is going on?"

"Confusion," I said gesturing for her to come and sit by me. Still looking at Cora she came and sat beside me. Cora was staring at the shield in wonder, we all were.

"Just like Thalia's . . ." I muttered to myself. But it was so quiet everyone heard me.

"Who's Thalia?" Cora half said half whispered.

"Our friend, she the lieutenant to Artemis and a daughter of Zeus. Also Jason's sister," Annabeth informed her.

"Do you have any clue to how you got this?" Chiron asked Cora. She shook her head.

"None, I didn't even know I had anything in the pouch," she replied.

"Put it away for now, let us try the other items," Chiron instructed. Cora tapped a spot on the chain and it glowed then shrunk back into a bracelet. She slipped it off and placed it back into her pouch.

Next Chiron gave her the small silver object. As he handed it to her I saw it was just the right size to fit in someone's palm. It was shaped like a dagger, or maybe a sword. It was a little small to see properly.

She stared at it for a minute. Then she rubbed her thumb along the length of it. It shimmered and in a moment she was holding a sword. It was a bit shorter then my sword, Riptide. It was made of silver, shining in the light. The handle was wrapped in leather, and the hilt was of plain bronze. It looked wickedly dangerous, but it was one of the most amazing looking sword's I have ever seen. We were all staring at it in wonder.

"C'est tout! C'est l'épée!" Hunter exclaimed. So this is what they had been talking about.

"This is . . . this is . . ." Cora couldn't even complete a sentence. She felt the weight and shape in her hand; she looked completely natural with it.

"That is made of Tempest Silver. One of the rarest metals to the gods," Chiron informed us. We all looked at each other confused.

"This is the sword from yesterday!" Cora exclaimed.

"I figured as much," Chiron said quietly. "How you came by that sword that no doubt will remain a mystery for some time. But for now, put it away and let us try the last item." Cora nodded and she ran her thumb along something embedded in the hilt. It shimmered and changed back into the charm. She stared at it for a moment longer before placing it in her pouch.

Chiron next handed her the 'twig'. It just looked like a small piece of polished wood. She held it, turning it over in her hands.

"I have a feeling you should back up . . ." she said. Chiron wheeled back a few feet. Hunter stepped back confused, he just did so since Chiron did. Cora had talked in English so he had no idea what she said.

Cora stretched out her arm palm down, the wood horizontal to the ground. It seemed to almost explode. The wood thickened and shot out sideways. Something dropped down on the end closest to me and Annabeth.

Within a moment she held a basic bow. It was made of dark wood, with veins of golden and silver wood. Hanging on one end was a quiver made of dark suede, full of an assortment of different arrows. We all stared dumbfounded. It was an amazing bow, but it had looked oddly familiar in style.

"Wow, this is . . . I don't know a word," Annabeth muttered next to me. Chiron cleared his throat, bringing us back to our senses.

"Cora, do you feel like you've seen all these before?" he asked her.

"Yes, I do. But . . . I feel like something is missing . . ." she replied.

"Oh!" Annabeth exclaimed. "I know why! Yesterday, I think you might have dropped this!" Annabeth revealed her dagger in its sheath, next to it was another one, but that one was made of the silver metal. Tempest Silver, Chiron had called it.

"That – that's . . ." Cora stuttered. Without her even aware, the bow shrunk and changed, she placed it into her pouch. "That's the dagger I . . . I . . ."

"You what? Used?" I asked her. She gave a small nod.

"On one of those dragon women, right after I woke up," she explained. Annabeth stood and gave it to her hilt first.

"This is yours," she said simply. Cora took it and slipped it into the empty sheath on her belt. Annabeth sat back down and leaned against me. Cora sat quietly into an empty chair.

Chiron leaned back and pressed his fingertips together. He was silent for a full minute before saying, "We might not be the only training camp out there." We all looked up at Chiron in shock. It had been shocking enough to know that there were Romans, but another camp still? It was crazy.

"Chiron, what are you saying?" Annabeth breathed.

"Cora here has incredible abilities. She is armed with weapons. She doesn't know who she is. It is only logical to assume that we are not the only place for half-bloods in the world because there is no third pantheon of gods," Chiron said gravely. We didn't look at each other. Even Hunter understood how serious this was.

"No," Cora whispered.

"It seems to be the only -" Cora cut Chiron off by standing up.

"No," she said more firmly. "I don't care if that's what makes sense. But, I – I just know that's not true. It can't be, I just know it," Her jaw was set, her eyes had a dangerous edge to them.

"My dear, you can't know that for sure. You -" she cut Chiron off again.

"I do know. I can just tell. I just – AGH!" she let out a half scream and stormed out. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Chiron sighed.

"Go and carry on with your normal schedule. We need to give her time to calm down; besides, it's dinner soon. She can't go too far," Chiron instructed us, repeating it in French for Hunter. We walked out silently; the air was heavy with our unspoken thoughts.

We were half way to the pavilion when the conch horn sounded. Everyone arrived quickly, somehow the little incident at the arena had leaked. Everyone was talking about it, and looking around for Cora. But she was nowhere to be seen.

Before dinner had actually started, I told the Stoll brothers part of the truth. So they knew she was out and need to cool down. The promised they'd sneak some food for her. If they went through on that, I couldn't tell. They were master thieves.

After dinner we had our campfire. We sang all the classic songs. And before we went back to our cabins, Chiron reminded us that tomorrow was Capture the Flag. The whole time Cora was missing, but I didn't worry. She could take care of herself; besides if you ignored the discovery in the Big House, it was almost like a regular camp day.

A/N: Quick little thing, I have a facebook account – for this account. Find me there as "Huntress of the Sea". It's a page