"Silena!" Clarisse immediately yelled, she sprung to her feet and hugged one of the girl, standing in the group.
"Clarisse I know it's been two years, I missed everyone," Silena looked at everyone "Are you still mad at me?" She asked softly, the gods just watched them quietly.
Annabeth shook her head, "no, of course not."
They turned around to see Will hugging Lee and Micheal, and Nico sobbing over Bianca. Hazel stood to the side until Nico brought her to Bianca and they started hugging. Leo and Calypso were talking to Beckendorf.
Silena turned to see another daughter of Aphrodite. Piper stepped forward to introduce her. "Piper," Silena instead hugged her.
Annabeth , and Thalia was hugging Luke. Percy was just off to the side talking to Ethan. Zoe was smiling and hugging Artemis thanking for even if Artemis didn't know what she was talking about. Castor was there just smiling.
Zeus held up his hand, after about ten minutes. "Can you explain to us about the demigods' importance to appearing?" He asked
"Annabeth explain you'll get less people killed," Percy joked and Annabeth elbowed him
"Okay these are all the dead demigods from the titan war." She said and the gods froze "Shizzz We didn't tell them about it yet."
"What?" Zeus asked nervously, not to be rude but it was kinda funny to see him nervous.
"Yes the Titan war, it happened again yeah, we'll explain it later. We're just going to introduce the people and don't kill them." Annabeth said
"So this is Luke he plays a major part in the war, son of Hermes you know. He turns good in the ends and sacrifices himself," Annabeth continued not allowing the god to asked Questions, "Silena and Beckendorf, an Aphrodite and Hephaestus couple, um they died seperatly but still found their way to Elysium together. That's Ethan son of Nemesis. Evil too, until the end and sacrifices himself too. Lee and Micheal son of Apollo they both died. Zoe daughter of Atlas died from trying to fight against Atlas and trying to help Artemis. Along during that trip Bianca died in Hephaestus' junk yard, she grabbed a statue of Hades for her brother and died from an electrical shock. And Castor son of Mr. D died during the battle of the labyrinth" Annabeth finished
"But Luke, Silen girl, and Ethan are traitors," Zeus said
"Not after the war, the war that technically you cause, and we almost died for," Percy pointed out.
"what?" Poseidon asked.
"Yeah, you gods and goddess neglected your demigod children and miss treated the 'minor gods' so a bunch of them went to the Titan's side." Thalia said, Luke was hiding behind her in case the gods wanted to kill him "Gods big baby they're not supposed to kill you whatever the N or fates told them." Thalia scolded Luke
"Please explain," Bianca said, Nico was laying on her lap, and Hazel sitting crossed legged next to her.
"We're here to read stories from that past, and we're like back in time when Annabeth was like seven or something." Nico said, Hestia smiled and started reading.
8. WE CAPTURE A FLAG
"Hold up!" Luke yelled "ahh there are people who have no idea what happened in the last seven chapters," He said
"Oh yeah," Percy said, he was a slightly shorter than Luke seeing as Luke was older Percy at the time of his... death. "Everyone learn about my school I got kicked out of, a monster killed my mom, Annabeth feed me pudding-"
"Hey!" Annabeth flushed "It was ambrosia pudding so you wouldn't die!" Percy waved his hand
"Yeah, I met you, Clarisse tried to give me the initiation, and she failed.-" Clarisse huffed
"And Percy became one with the toilet!" Connor yelled brightly, and him and his brother smiled innocently as Percy glared at them.
"And I think that's it!" Percy said. Luke and the other what do you call them returned? Relived demigods? Let's just call them returned demigods for now. They nodded and Hestia continued to read.
The next few days I settled into a routine that felt almost normal, if you don't count the fact that I was getting lessons from satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur.
"It's normal for us!" Annabeth said.
Each morning I took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, and we talked about the gods and goddesses in the present tense, which was kind of weird. I discovered Annabeth was right about my dyslexia: Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for me to read. At least, no harder than English. After a couple of mornings, I could stumble through a few lines of Homer without too much headache.
"Im sorry for interrupting but I can believe how good Percy's grammar is!" Thalia said and Annabeth and Athena nodded. Percy looked at them indigently.
The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, even when he had to desnag a stray arrow out of his tail.
"That's my fault," Apollo raised his hand "Sorry just a grudge on Poseidon"
Foot racing? No good either. The wood-nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it. They'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.
"When you say it like that it is," Luke said grinning, he other returned demigods seemed to be slightly more hesitant to speak out loud.
Hermes sighed quietly and looked at his son.
And wrestling? Forget it. Every time I got on the mat, Clarisse would pulverize me.
"And remember that!" Clarisse said proudly.
"There's more where that came from, punk," she'd mumble in my ear.
Some of the demigods coughed awkwardly.
The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.
"I defeated the blank and I'm also great at canoeing!" Thalia mimicked
I knew the senior campers and counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork or—gods forbid— Dionysus's way with vine plants. Luke told me I might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But I got the feeling he was just trying to make me feel better. He really didn't know what to make of me either.
Luke gave Percy a thumbs up.
Despite all that, I liked camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with cabin eleven, scrape part of my meal into the fire, and try to feel some connection to my real dad. Nothing came. Just that warm feeling I'd always had, like the memory of his smile. I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back...
I started to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. So okay, maybe gods had important things to do. But couldn't they call once in a while, or thunder, or something? Dionysus could make Diet Coke appear out of thin air. Why couldn't my dad, whoever he was, make a phone appear?
"Not to be rude.." Mr. D/ Dionysus started "But that seemed stupid" he said and the other gods nodded slightly at his logic..
Thursday afternoon, three days after I'd arrived at CampHalf-Blood, I had my first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from cabin eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.
We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. I guess I did okay. At least, I understood what I was supposed to do and my reflexes were good.
"Humble Percy..." Beck said "you were great for a person who just came to the camp recently." His low comforting voice made Percy smile.
"Man I miss you guys," Percy said
The problem was, I couldn't find a blade that felt right in my hands. Either they were too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to fix me up, but he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for me.
"Riptide is still technically yours, Zoe," Percy muttered
We moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be my partner, since this was my first time.
"You're doomed," Annabeth said immediately.
"Good luck," one of the campers told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."
"Percy is now the best," Luke said grinning, Percy started to shake his head but Luke interrupted him "take the compliment and stop being so humble"
"Maybe he'll go easy on me," I said.
Percy snorted at his guess.
The camper snorted.
Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whap me in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" Whap! "Lunge!" Whap! "Now, back!" Whap!
"I miss those day when Luke would just slap me around with eh sword," Percy said.
By the time he called a break, I was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water on his head, which looked like such a good idea, I did the same.
"Monkey see, monkey do." Travis snickered.
Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.
"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
Great, I thought. Let's all watch Percy get pounded.
"It's so true!" Annabeth laughed.
The Hermes guys gathered around. They were suppressing smiles. I figured they'd been in my shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used me for a punching bag. He told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.
Luke shrugged "Cabin 11's initiation" he said
"I remember my initation, there was no Clarisse that year so I was lucky, Luke had no mercy through" Conner said scatching his chin.
"This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."
"Great and you make a newbie do it" Percy said.
He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.
"Now in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"
I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press me with more force.
The sword grew heavy in my hand. The balance wasn't right. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, What the heck?
I tried the disarming maneuver.
"Dun dun dun!" Leo said.
"does he do this a lot?" Beck said, Frank nodded.
My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.
Clang.
Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of my blade was an inch from his undefended chest.
The other campers were silent.
I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."
For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.
"Me too!" Percy said.
"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"
I didn't want to. The short burst of manic energy had completely abandoned me. But Luke insisted.
This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.
After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"
Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised at me with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword... ."
"Tons probably," Leo mentioned.
Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Grover had scampered to the top like a mountain goat, but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off my forearms.
"Man I remember my first time doing that," Jason said "My pants leg caught on fire, then I fell."
"I remember that!" Leo crowed "I did amazing my first time" he said
"Leo that's because you are fireproof," Percy mumbled, smacking his forehead.
"Technically, you didn't even finish, you had to stand at the top, you just sat down after you finished hooting about how amazing you were," Annabeth said.
"Shhh they don't know that," Leo said pointing at the gods.
Hestia continued to read though the conversation.
We sat on the pier, watching the naiads do underwater basket-weaving, until I got up the nerve to ask Grover how his conversation had gone with Mr. D.
His face turned a sickly shade of yellow.
"Fine," he said. "Just great."
"So your career's still on track?"
He glanced at me nervously. "Chiron t-told you I want a searcher's license?"
"Well... no." I had no idea what a searcher's license was, but it didn't seem like the right time to ask. "He just said you had big plans, you know ... and that you needed credit for completing a keeper's assignment. So did you get it?"
Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you yet, so our fates were still tied together. If you got a quest and I went along to protect you, and we both came back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."
My spirits lifted. "Well, that's not so bad, right?"
"Blaa-ha-ha! He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest... and even if you did, why would you want me along?"
"Of course I'd want you along!"
"I'm touched," Grover said placing his hands on his chest.
Grover stared glumly into the water. "Basket-weaving ... Must be nice to have a useful skill."
I tried to reassure him that he had lots of talents, but that just made him look more miserable. We talked about canoeing and swordplay for a while, then debated the pros and cons of the different gods. Finally, I asked him about the four empty cabins.
"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis," he said. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad."
"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"
Grover tensed. We were getting close to a touchy subject. "No. One of them, number two, is Hera's," he said. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go around having affairs with mortals. That's her husband's job. -"
"Ha!" Zeus said crossing his arms like a child.
"It's true though," Hera crowed having a smug smile "You're a bad husband," She said, Zeus pouted which was an interesting look for the usually angry or stern looking god of the sky. Hestia continued
" That's her husband's job. When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."
"Not that Demeter, Hestia, or Hera isn't powerful," Grover added.
"Yeah at that time the world was very sexist," Percy said, helping his bro.
"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."
"Right. You know. After the great battle with the Titans, they took over the world from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what."
"I love to think that's how we chose the domains," Hades snorted "It was a rock, paper, scissors match and I lost first,"
"Zeus got the sky," I remembered. "Poseidon the sea, Hades the Underworld."
"Uh-huh."
"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."
"Because you kicked me out for another of your sons Zeus," Hades glared
"No. He doesn't have a throne on Olympus, either. He sort of does his own thing down in the Underworld. If he did have a cabin here ..." Grover shuddered. "Well, it wouldn't be pleasant. Let's leave it at that."
"But Zeus and Poseidon—they both had, like, a bazillion kids in the myths. Why are their cabins empty?"
"I wouldn't say Bazillion, only a few thousand," Poseidon objected, Zeus nodded with his brother.
Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War II, you know, that was basically a fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."
"Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddd it has been broken.. Thrice," Thalia muttered.
Thunder boomed.. . . . . ..
I said, "That's the most serious oath you can make."
Grover nodded.
"And the brothers kept their word—no kids?"
Grover's face darkened. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon. There was this TV starlet with a big fluffy eighties hairdo—he just couldn't help himself. When their child was born, a little girl named Thalia .. . well, the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus himself got off easy because he's immortal, but he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."
"Yeah I turned into a TREE!" Thalia said,
"But that isn't fair.' It wasn't the little girl's fault."
Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than other half-bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking his oath. Hades let the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half-bloods she'd befriended. They almost made it. They got all the way to the top of that hill."
"Yeah," Hades scratched his head "That's because forced me into an oath that both of you broke."
He pointed across the valley, to the pine tree where I'd fought the minotaur. "All three Kindly Ones were after them, along with a horde of hellhounds. They were about to be overrun when Thalia told her satyr to take the other two half-bloods to safety while she held off the monsters. She was wounded and tired, and she didn't want to live like a hunted animal. The satyr didn't want to leave her, but he couldn't change her mind, and he had to protect the others. So Thalia made her final stand alone, at the top of that hill. As she died, Zeus took pity on her. He turned her into that pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of the valley. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."
"Should have named it Thalia hill," Thalia mumbled.
"I could have made a ton of joke involving that hill," Leo scratched his chin, "Did you know I dug a hole into 'Thalia Hill'" Leo winked, Calypso wiped the grin of his face my smacking him.
"Thanks, Calypso," Thalia said, Calypso nodded
I stared at the pine in the distance.
"Yeah give the pine Tree pity, now that you found out it was me," Thalia mumbled again.
The story made me feel hollow, and guilty too. A girl my age had sacrificed herself to save her friends. She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much. I wondered, if I'd acted differently, could I have saved my mother?
"Grover," I said, "have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"
"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."
"No one really told me the story of Houdini," Percy mentioned.
"He was a son of Hades, so yeah and he went to the underworld afterwards he was granted the ability to escape death if he concentrated, then he died when someone punch him really hard in the stomach," Annabeth said. (Fun fact: Houdini and I share the same Birthday..)
"oh," Percy said.
"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"
"No. Never. Orpheus came close... . Percy, you're not seriously thinking—"
"No," I lied. -
"Wait.." Hades said looking at Percy. "What?"
Percy looked at Hestia panicked and she started reading.
"No," I lied. "I was just wondering. So ... a satyr is always assigned to guard a demigod?"
"you lied," Hades said. "You can't just take someone back from the dead," He said
Percy grinned uncomfortably "Well Hazel's here." He pointed, Hazel held her hand outs.
"Hey! Yes it is true but leave me out of this!" Hazel said, moving a bit back.
Hades opened his mouth then closed it, then opened it. "Two people in the same decade? You suck Hades," He mumbled to himself, even though everyone heard him. Hestia continued reading.
Grover studied me warily. I hadn't persuaded him that I'd really dropped the Underworld idea. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools. We try to sniff out the half-bloods who have the makings of great heroes. If we find one with a very strong aura, like a child of the Big Three, we alert Chiron. He tries to keep an eye on them, since they could cause really huge problems."
"And you found me. Chiron said you thought I might be something special."
"And you are!" Leo said, cheerfully. Calypso shushed him, and he pouted.
Grover looked as if I'd just led him into a trap. "I didn't... Oh, listen, don't think like that. If you were—you know—you'd never ever be allowed a quest, and I'd never get my license. You're probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis, the god of revenge. Don't worry, okay?"
I got the idea he was reassuring himself more than me.
That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.
At last, it was time for capture the flag.
"Oh no." Clarisse said quietly, Percy grinned at her.
When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.
Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
"Our Cabin actually worked really hard on that design!" Clarisse said.
I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"
"Yeah."
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"
"Not always," he said. "But often."
"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do— repaint the flag?"
He grinned. "You'll see. First we have to get one."
"Whose side are we on?"
He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. The scar on his face made him look almost evil in the torchlight. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."
"slash be bait." Percy coughed.
The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Apparently, privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—in order to win support.
Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I'd seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them.
"Why thank you," Dionysus said. "I don't really have demigods prefer nymphs to mortals, I'm more loyal than most gods to their wife. Though only few gods have wives."
"Um okay," Annabeth said, slightly stunned at Mr. D.
Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive. Aphrodite's sons and daughters I wasn't too worried about. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake and did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus's kids weren't pretty, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day.
"Yes thank you for noticing," Beckendorf said, Percy turned slightly red.
"Me excluded," Piper pointed out as well.
They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares's cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids on Long Island, or anywhere else on the planet.
"Thank you for noticing," Clarisse mimicked Beckendorf and Percy turned even more red. She high fived him.
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.
"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
"Then I forget about the maiming part," Clarisse said.
He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal.
"Whoa," I said. "We're really supposed to use these?"
Luke looked at me as if I were crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here—Chiron thought these would fit. You'll be on border patrol."
My shield was the size of an NBA backboard, with a big caduceus in the middle. It weighed about a million pounds. I could have snowboarded on it fine, but I hoped nobody seriously expected me to run fast. My helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, had a blue horsehair plume on top. Ares and their allies had red plumes.
"We tried something like that, using the sheilds as snowboards, it worked really fine actually, than Chiron banned us from using it as snowboard, because of the sheer number of people that we ran over," Leo said and the others nodded.
"The injuries were mostly people who tried to stop a dozen campers with twenty pound shields, going down hill at fast as a car." Percy pointed out, and pouted. "I was one of them."
"I ran him over," Hazel volunteered. "It was during a visit where a hundred Romans came over."
"Will helped," Will volunteered himself in third person.
Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"
"Look Annabeth is being bossy," Travis said. Annabeth glared at him.
"Sexist," She glared.
"What?" He looked confused.
"When dudes be all commander, no one complains, when a girl tries to direct something, bam she's being bossy," Annabeth said, crossing her arms, the other girls and females nodded. Travis scratched his arms awkwardly.
We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off toward the north.
I managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over my equipment. "Hey."
She kept marching.
"So what's the plan?" I asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"
Her hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid I'd stolen something.
"Like I was a son of Hermes, I don't look remotely like any of them," Percy snorted.
"Hey," Chris reminded Percy. "I'm a son of Hermes." Percy flushed
"Sorry," Chris had black hair and brown hair.
"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"
"You forgot to tell me it was electric," Percy said, Annabeth shrugged.
"Border patrol, whatever that means."
"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."
"To get killed by Annabeth's plan," Percy mentioned
She pushed ahead, leaving me in the dust.
"Okay," I mumbled. "Glad you wanted me on your team."
It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.
"Yeah leave me to be killed," Percy mumbled
Standing there alone, with my big blue-feathered helmet and my huge shield, I felt like an idiot. The bronze sword, like all the swords I'd tried so far, seemed balanced wrong. The leather grip pulled on my hand like a bowling ball.
There was no way anybody would actually attack me, would they? I mean, Olympus had to have liability issues, right?
Far away, the conch horn blew. I heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.
Great, I thought. I'll miss all the fun, as usual.
"As I stand here," Percy mumbled, Thalia zapped his butt.
"Stop whining, I was a tree for several years you're just standing there," Thalia growled, Percy nodded looking ashamed.
"Sorry," He mumbled.
Then I heard a sound that sent a chill up my spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.
I raised my shield instinctively; I had the feeling something was stalking me.
Then the growling stopped. I felt the presence retreating.
On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.
"A bit dramatic but true," Clarisse mumbled.
"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.
"That was not me, that was my brother." Clarisse said crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry but the darkness made me blind," Percy said, awkwardly.
Her ugly pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—not that that made me feel any better.
They charged across the stream. There was no help in sight. I could run. Or I could defend myself against half the Ares cabin.
Clarisse covered her ears, so did Percy.
I managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but these guys were not as stupid the Minotaur. They surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.
Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric. I fell back.
Another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword and I hit the dirt.
They could've kicked me into jelly, but they were too busy laughing.
"Give him a haircut," Clarisse said. "Grab his hair."
Chris and Silena awkwardly patted Clarisse on the back as she uncovered and recovered her ears.
Hestia look uncomfortable reading out loud.
I managed to get to my feet. I raised my sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew. Now both my arms felt numb.
"Oh, wow," Clarisse said. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."
"The flag is that way," I told her. I wanted to sound angry, but I was afraid it didn't come out that way.
"Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."
"You do that without my help," I told them. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.
Aries looked grumpy and glared at Percy who still along with Clarisse had their ears covered and were staring at the ground.
Two of them came at me. I backed up toward the creek, tried to raise my shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear stuck me straight in the ribs. If I hadn't been wearing an armored breastplate, I would've been shish-ke-babbed. As it was, the electric point just about shocked my teeth out of my mouth. One of her cabinmates slashed his sword across my arm, leaving a good-size cut.
Seeing my own blood made me dizzy—warm and cold at the same time.
"No maiming," I managed to say.
"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege.
He pushed me into the creek and I landed with a splash. They all laughed. I figured as soon as they were through being amused, I would die. But then something happened. The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I'd just had a bag of my mom's double-espresso jelly beans.
Percy perked up a bit at the mention of jelly beans.
Clarisse and her cabinmates came into the creek to get me, but I stood to meet them. I knew what to do. I swung the flat of my sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. I hit him so hard I could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water.
Ugly Number Two and Ugly Number Three came at me. I slammed one in the face with my shield and used my sword to shear off the other guy's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quick. Ugly Number Four didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, I caught the shaft between the edge of my shield and my sword, and I snapped it like a twig.
"Ah!" she screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"
She probably would've said worse, but I smacked her between the eyes with my sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.
Then I heard yelling, elated screams, and I saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.
"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."
They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Our side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.
The game was over. We'd won.
Grover tapped Percy's should while Silena tapped Clarisse on the shoulder. She glared at her until Silena made a motion of recovering and uncovering her ears, then she got it.
Percy and Clarisse uncovered their ears not being able to hear what everyone said until they uncovered their ears.
I was about to join the celebration when Annabeth's voice, right next to me in the creek, said, "Not bad, hero."
I looked, but she wasn't there.
"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialized, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.
I felt myself getting angry. I wasn't even fazed by the fact that she'd just been invisible. "You set me up," I said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."
"Meanie," Percy mumbled under his breath, it probably was worse than just meanie. More along the line of as*hole...
Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."
"A plan to get me pulverized."
"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in, but ..." She shrugged. "You didn't need help."
"You suck," Percy whinned.
Then she noticed my wounded arm. "How did you do that?"
"Sword cut," I said. "What do you think?"
"No. It was a sword cut. Look at it."
The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As I watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.
"I—I don't get it," I said.
Annabeth was thinking hard. I could almost see the gears turning. She looked down at my feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."
"What—"
"Just do it."
I came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. My arms started to go numb again. My adrenaline rush left me. I almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied me.
"Oh, Styx," she cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus... ."
"Took the daughter of Athena that long?" Thalia teased. Annabeth growled slightly at her.
Zeus huffed at Annabeth, and Hera glared at Zeus after getting reminded of Zeus' side children..
Before I could ask what she meant, I heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.
The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which I would realize, only later, I had understood perfectly: "Stand ready! My bow!"
Annabeth drew her sword.
"You had a sword?" Percy asked.
"No it was a long broad dagger, yeah it was a sword," Annabeth said deadpanned.
There on the rocks just above us was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.
It was looking straight at me.
Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"
She tried to step in front of me, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her—an enormous shadow with teeth—and just as it hit me, as I stumbled backward and felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through my armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. From the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at my feet.
By some miracle, I was still alive. I didn't want to look underneath the ruins of my shredded armor. My chest felt warm and wet, and I knew I was badly cut. Another second, and the monster would've turned me into a hundred pounds of delicatessen meat.
"Geez Percy you were that heavy?" Leo said.
"Hey!"
Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."
Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.
Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"
Clarisse groaned.
"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.
We watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.
"You're wounded," Annabeth told me. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."
"I'm okay."
"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."
"Annabeth the manipulator," Percy mumbled.
I was too tired to argue. I stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around me.
Instantly, I felt better. I could feel the cuts on my chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.
"Look, I—I don't know why," I said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry..."
But they weren't watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.
"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."
By the time I looked up, the sign was already fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.
"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."
"It is determined," Chiron announced.
All around me, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.
"My father?" I asked, completely bewildered.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
"Wow, Poseidon you do have a flare for Dramatic moments like Zeus and I," Hades patted his brother on his back,
"Extremely dramatic," Zeus agreed "I'm proud of you." He said,
"Are we done?" Lee asked, standing up to stretch.
"Yes, time for Lunch I suppose." Hera said, flashing everyone to the dining place. "It isn't used too often but it's alright."
Hera summoned several plates of Ambrosia, and Nectar, she looked at the demigods and just gave them plates. "Should work like the Roman Camp's cups. Just think of what you want." She sat down next to her husband and everyone started eating.
The demigods looked at each other and back at Hera before their stomach told them to eat. Lunch was pleasant.
An: Yeah
At the end I kinda got a bit lazy in writing this, but I really didn't know how I should have written that part. Hera's motherly side is showing. It's around the same length as my usual chapter the last one was really short though, sorry for that. Urg how can you people stand to read me writing? Still there are people who read this horrible writing.
Words: 7,371 Date: April 1st, 2017