AN: I got a review, yay, I feel proud. "Who is his parent?" Well, I've been interested in PJ&TO stories for a while and I stumble across a lot of over-powered Percys. Like, a lot. I've seen so many stories with Chaos (the void of creation and all of that) being the father or mother and whatever. I didn't want to use Poseidon, because that's boring as it has been used in the original books, although, props to all of you who make it work. I have sprinkled some hints here and there, I'll just highlight two:, 'a dream forged from darkness and night, molding into a nightmare, a nightmare with a face. "My son." ' and ' "Alecto, stop!" It was a yell of pure instinct, and it worked. Somehow, Alecto slumped and fell upon me'. They may be a little vague, but ah well. If you figure it out, you may think: that god? But they're such a boring god with, like, no useful powers at all. Well oh contraire mon ami, I'm not going to stick to the original powers, I believe they should be a stronger character because of the blood-line (IE, the god's parents). Only for Percy's special case of course :), we can't have the other children of the same god making Percy normal can we? The other parent, when you know, it will either seem really obvious or maybe you already knew, but the story will basically divert because of the other parent (and, you know, Adonis being there instead of Percy). Man, just for awesome's sake, and you may have to remind me at some point, I want to have a Nico vs Percy, I'll make it work somehow, but I just enjoy the image of Percy (whose powers I shall not reveal until then) vs Nico with super fast shadow-travelling mid-fight. Anyways, the parents aren't any primordial god or Chaos or variation thereof, but it should basically be revealed soon.
Chapter 5
Cabin eleven was a wreck, or at least could be classified as one compared to the pristine glory of the other cabins. A rusty iron caduceus, the sigil of Hermes, was placed above the doorway, the first bit of non-bronze metal Percy had seen all day. What a doorway it was, splinters rose from parts like a porcupine wall, while surrounding it: the walls had peeling paint, each plentiful piece was hanging from misuse and the simple lack of care, the recipe of a failing system. The only favorable thing about the cabin was that it was the largest of all the god's cabins.
As Percy and Adonis soon found out, that was for good reason. Campers, though seeming as identical as a swarm, they were each individual children, belonging to one of the many gods. They lined the walls and stared at the unfamiliar intruders. Bunk beds were the most common with a ceaseless amount of sleeping space and in some way, unbelievably, most if not all spaces were used; filled with people's possessions in every nook and cranny.
"You two, undetermined or determined?" The voice of a single camper, somewhere in the sea of faces, was the first to greet. A not so warm welcome to the two heroes-in-training.
"I'm sorry, but what does that mean?" Percy asked gingerly, a dormouse in the lions' den. They were experiencing the classic scenario every freshman would face, the new kid, the arrival that gets examined and then mentally and physically tested for a couple of days and then, based off of the results, sorted into whichever friend group wanted to have you.
At Percy's question, groans arose, as zombies in a cemetery, from all around. Clearly, there wasn't enough room for everyone, but when forced, for your own safety, you had to fit somewhere. "Undetermined then." Appeared a response from another orange-clad girl.
A blue-eyed boy stepped forwards from the crowd. "Castellan, Luke Castellan. Cabin leader, or if you feel fancy- you can call me the cabin counselor. We have space for you two over here." He gestured to an open area on the floorboards, approximately beneath the largest bed which was presumably Luke's. "Not the most comfortable, but I'm sure one of us can steal a pillow off of another cabin, right boys?" The last comment-command seemed to be addressed towards the fellow cabin members as if Luke was able to shepherd a flock of rebellious teenage demigods. The funny thing was, nobody, disobeyed, or groaned, it seemed everybody looked up to the blond haired boy with a scar down his cheek and a rare five whole beads on his campground necklace. "You'll be staying here until you get claimed, and I'm sorry, but if you haven't been claimed by tonight or tomorrow by the latest, you may be here for quite a while."
Adonis took his spot on the floor, already carrying a small case of toiletries previously hidden in his back pocket, along with a small towel he laid down. Then promptly sat upon it, kicking up a small storm of dust in the process. "I could get used to this."
Some of the cabin-mates chuckled, others simply eyed the case as an object to steal. Then it was just Percy stood up. "I've heard good things about you two. Apparently, you killed the Minotaur itself. Ain't that right?" Luke interviewed, his tone saturated with liquid interest.
Percy was about to speak up, though Adonis beat him to it. "You're right about that, it didn't come free of charge though." Already, if you looked closely, you would notice the fading lines upon Adonis' face that hinted a deep anguish, he was still in mourning after all.
"They are so gods-damned lucky, I've been waiting for ages just to get close to such an important monster." Interjected another camper.
"What makes you so special? Why would the Minotaur himself come after you two? From what I heard, you didn't even have a weapon, instead, you decided to break off one of the Minotaur's horns." Luke grilled them with questions, a few kids whistled at the last part.
The day was met with the continued interrogation of the two newcomers in cabin eleven. Their answers would never be enough, they were, to some like teasing folktales that you wish would occur, and to other children, the story could be one out of the Illyad for how ridiculously rare the confrontation was and should have been. Adonis and Percy were heralded as the reformations of Theseus for all some knew.
Eventually, however, the campers grew bored of their fresh meat, instead, Luke decided to show them further through camp. Insisting that there were better things to do instead of sitting around all day.
The metalworking stations were shown, hot furnaces and racks of swords, axes, armor and shields, the blacksmith's dream. Anvils and hammers, bronze- not just regular, but celestial, bronze Luke explained. What was probably most impressive, and stupendously insane, was a climbing wall which implied the road to hell is paved with good intentions right until a sheer cliff face and that it was so extreme, Chiron must have plans for the campers to climb out of Tartarus. A lava spewing, fully motional, a wall that seemed colossal in size, even taller in practice.
The tour finished at the canoeing lake which was assumed to be the only thing relatively sane in the campground.
The smell of cooking was limited to a weak scent. Albeit, it was powerful enough to snare the starving from all around. Also, it was able to make Adonis' stomach growl as if some nuclear bomb had just occurred around ten miles out.
"You go, kid, you want to eat on your first night, it won't be easy to settle in otherwise," Luke stated, wise for his years. Percy wondered how many waves of campers he had watched come here, and if- perhaps- he had watched many of them die.
In a few minutes, it was just Percy and Luke, at the edge of the crystal blue lagoon, if it could be called that. Dusk settled at a nonchalant pace, the blooming rose and incredible red sheens of water vapor danced in the air.
"It won't get easier, you just have to accept that, you know?" Luke started, both boys gazing into the sunset. "As soon as you believe in the gods, you best believe they don't care about you. It's the saddest truth that most of us learn unless you have a cabin set up in honor, a throne to match."
"Doesn't Hermes have a throne, surely he cares about you right? It can't be that bad." Percy didn't sound very enthusiastic, his words attempting to persuade himself that all was fine and just.
Luke gave a throaty laugh, hair blowing in the slight breeze, the light illuminating his scar engraved into his angular face, posing the older teen as a guardian angel, well informed of the cruel world of the mythos, perceptive beyond his years. "When they call Hermes fast, you should see how fast he is with different women. Besides, our cabin is pretty much a wreck, too many undetermined. Hermes doesn't care about his children, and all the undetermined, even if they were determined by their mothers and fathers, where would they go. The lesser gods have no cabins."
Percy tried to understand Luke, and somewhere in his heart, Luke had succeeded. He knew of the struggles of the Hermes cabin just by seeing the state of the living space. "So what, we just expand the campsite?"
A faint smile grew upon Luke's lips, unknown to Percy. "We can't, the camp is protected by the big tree, you have probably seen it, on the hill." He gazed at Percy for confirmation. "Anyway, we cannot expand without the constant threat of monsters. Only the gods can expand the area, they have the power to keep us safe, and yet they don't even bother. I've been here for around five years now. Not once have I seen a god come down to meet their child, Mr D. is the only exception, and you know what he is like." Luke's entire situation was remarkable to Percy. Luke may have been slightly excessive with his questions at the start, all the same, he seemed like a guy who could carry the weight of the world on his shoulders and remain unburdened.
Luke turned towards Percy, admiring the foreign scenery, mouth wide and a puzzled mask slipped on as he mulled over Luke's ideas.
"Woah, what's with your teeth?"
Percy was snapped out of his daydream before he put his thumb up to his gums to check for a disturbance in the norm. Not a moment later, he pulled it back in shock. His teeth had sharpened, his jaw feeling looser, or more powerful. His canines showed a sudden growth of double, almost triple the ordinary size, they were: fangs... Closing his mouth, then reopening it in an attempt to jolt himself back into reality, he re-checked he mouth. Everything was normal, typical for a human mouth. "Uhm, nothing. My teeth are just fine?" What was meant to be his testimony, came out more like a question as both boys doubted what they had born witness to, believing themselves in delirium rather than something sinister. "Anyways, sorry about that, it must have been the lighting, where were we?"
"Dinner. We have dinner now, I smell barbeque, let us go!" Luke swiftly departed, dragging Percy close behind in a quest to satiate their appetites.
AN: Again, apologies for the chapters with mistakes or those that were slightly confusing, I didn't realize you had to manually update each chapter *facepalm*. Enjoy :).