Xander IV
Xander wished he'd been conscious when his supposed heroism happened. He wished he could've seen the look on Callum's face as he was being hurdled off of camp. He wished Chiron hadn't been injured. He wished that Apollo, the god of Archery, had actually given him archery skills. He wished his cabinmates would stop raving over his abilities and treat him normally. But most of all, he wished the prophecy hadn't happened in the middle of lunch.
"Play the flute!" said a little boy who was missing his front teeth.
"Dude, I saw that wall of light from the other side of camp!" said Will Solace.
Xander couldn't sleep at night because was so bright in the cabin, and he got a corner bunk, right next to a speaker that randomly recited haikus while rock music played in the background. By the time everyone else got up, he was dressed, had brushed his teeth, and done his hair. He decided to take a walk as soon as they were dismissed for morning activities. After a 10 minute walk, he went to the archery range for practice. When he shot his first arrow, it didn't go near the target. It hit a tree, nearly pinning Nico di Angelo and Will Solace's hands together.
Medicine was also not his thing. He tried helping out Will in the infirmary, and almost gave a camper a deadly poison. Why it was in an infirmary, Xander had no idea. He had the skill of music, undeniably. He could learn any instrument he touched. The only people that didn't treat him specially were Ash and Aria. When he got to the dining pavilion for lunch. Rachel Dare was sitting at the head table when she froze. She got up and walked to the Apollo table, green mist pouring from her mouth.
"Prophecy!" said Chiron. The pavilion quieted.
"A quest requires Four Demigods to travel through night
Joined by a chalice of Rome who will help fight
A quest to find the Sea gods son
Whose sanity has become undone
The beasts and Titan will stand in your way
And in the end will rule the day
The Sol Flute will play the pits dark tune
Stars shine bright on freedom's day leading safe havens to ruin"
And with that, she collapsed, but a misty green snake continued to fly around Aria, Ash, and Xander. An overwhelming dizziness overcame him and he collapsed, knowing exactly what it meant by Sol Flute. Without even a single 24 hours at camp, he would be leaving.
Right when they were going to take off in a chariot pulled by pegasi, a familiar voice cried "Wait!"
Of course, it would be Leo Valdez. And how had he gotten there? A flying ship of course. As he landed, the ship camouflaged with the land around it.
"Jason Iris-Messaged me last night about the prophecy. I was like 'Hmmm… Me and Calypso were going to use this, but they can have it.'" he said.
"I don't think any of us know how to fly that, Leo." Xander said.
"That's why there is Leo-bot." he said as a robot that looked like him walked out the door. The only difference is that the robot was pure bronze. "He can shoot fire, build, curse in spanish, be awesome… Anything I can do. So do you people have your stuff? It's 10 days until the Fourth of July, aka, Freedoms Day."
Ash, Aria, and Xander held up their cases and bags. He brought them inside, and he thought he was in the TARDIS from Dr. Who, since it was much bigger on the inside than the outside. Leo directed them to the dorms. In the boys dorm there were 3 beds, one was for Percy when they got him back. Ash and Xander chose the ones farthest from each other. He still wasn't sure what it was about Ash, but when Ash happened to be around, he acted like he was examining something he did not like. That made Xander really uncomfortable, but he tried not to show it.
"Calypso and I were going to travel the world in this, but it is just too nostalgic… I made it too much like the Argo II." Leo said. "Anyway, good luck on your quest." He said as he shook Xander's hand.
Xander thought about how nice it could've ended up being to just stay there. He stared wistfully out the window while the camp seemed to wave good bye, as he took off on a journey he wasn't sure he would come back from.