Hey. Yeah, I know. It took me WAY too long to update this… and I'm sorry :/ I'll speed this little note up so you can get straight to the update. Thanks you guys for the favs/follows/reviews. They honestly make my day every time : )
Guest: Aw, thanks for saying it's 'fabulous.' X3 I hope this chapter is too.
Guest: LOL That's awesome… I promise I'm not stalking you around and making you into my own character. I swear on the Styx! ;) I'm guessing you like her character the best… :D
I don't know why, but I didn't expect to see Faith in the morning when we woke up. That's probably why I yelled when I woke up with her snuggled against me like I was some kind of teddy bear.
"Aah!" she woke up when I screamed and started kicking and punching. By some miracle, I managed to squirm away before she could seriously damage my arm. The ambrosia had seemed to have completely healed it though; I could move it with ease.
Vaz was also awakened by the sound. She didn't seem too fazed by it, however, and just opened one eye to glare at me before closing it again. "Shut up stupid, I'm tired."
I rolled my eyes and sat up. The sun was just barely coming up, sending weak rays of light through the treetops. It was cold; I had already started shivering. The coals from the fire were like ice; it had been out for some time.
"I'll get a new one going," Faith said as if she could read my mind. She gave me a look and I could tell that she was just as embarrassed about the sleep-snuggling as I was. Thank the gods, I did not want to talk about that.
"What time do you think it is?" I yawned and stretched my arms out before getting to my feet. "Vaz and I should probably be heading out soon. We have no idea how long it's going to take to get to catch the archer; they might not have taken as long of a rest as we did."
"Could you guys just be quiet?" Vaz groaned from her position by the log. "I don't want to wake up!"
"Too bad, Rickie," I walked over and gave her a little nudge with my foot. "We need to be ready to go in twenty minutes. That means fed, watered, and cleaned up."
"Yes, Mom," she said. Sheesh, someone was snarky in the mornings.
Faith seemed like she wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure. She kept looking at me and then looking down.
"What's up?" I prodded.
"Do you think you could…um… share some rations with me for breakfast?" It looked like she had to force the words out of her mouth.
"Of course!" I was shocked that she had even considered otherwise. "We weren't just going to eat in front of you."
"Well…"
"Vaz!"
"What?"
"Shh," Faith suddenly ran to her bow and knocked an arrow. "I think I heard something."
Naturally, this was a good time for a monster attack.
Two giants broke through the trees like enormous bulldozers. They were running full speed towards us; it would only be a couple of seconds before we were giant chow.
"Ya!" Faith said, making them both look at her. One of them got an arrow in their eye, the other was confused just long enough for Vaz to spring into action. She leaped up, grabbed her sword, and darted behind the giant. I stupidly stood there, gaping.
"Hey! Over here!" I finally yelled. Great, they're looking at you. Now what, Jackson?
"Argh!" The one with both eyes had a terrible look on his face as he came right at me while Faith pelted the other one with arrows. The smell washed over me as he drew nearer, and I had to use one hand to plug my nose as I tried to dodge, but I was off balance with my hand up, and I tripped over my long pant leg and fell to the ground. So this was the end.
He was one step away from flattening me like a pancake when a funny expression crept onto his face. He reached back as if he had an itch to scratch, and then suddenly collapsed, his ugly head only three inches from my foot.
Vaz pulled her sword out of his back and gave me a look of disgust before turning to help Faith. She had managed to bring the giant to his knees; he looked like a pin cushion with all of the arrows sticking in him. Somehow, he was still alive, and it looked like she was in trouble.
"Look out!" I yelled when he smashed his fist right where she had been a millisecond ago. Good thing she was fast.
"Get out of the way!" Faith screeched at Vaz as she was approaching. "Go!"
The daughter of Hecate seemed to understand, and did this awesome combat roll away from the monster as Faith attached a strange looking sphere to another arrow and shot it at the giant's feet. He laughed when it didn't hit him, but he wasn't laughing a second later when it exploded. That was the end of that.
Both girls were breathing hard, and I was just sitting there like some kind of idiot. The reality sunk in of how useful—more like how NOT useful—I had been to them both. Vaz had saved my life…
"It's getting worse; I thought I would be safer closer to Camp Half-Blood but something's been up lately. The attacks are getting more and more frequent." Faith sounded completely calm as she put her bow down.
"How long has that been happening?" Vaz asked, also sounding unshaken, although she was still panting slightly. It hit me that these two girls had dealt with occurrences like this one their whole lives.
"About a month, ever since that Dare girl left. I've only heard rumors, but apparently there was this really huge fight with Chiron and her while she was in her oracle state or something. He actually tried to get the Spirit of Delphi to leave her and stop making terrible prophesies. Yeah, it was that bad. I'm not sure of the details though…"
"I remember that," Vaz said thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side. "The whole camp heard Delphi's screeching. Rachel is not happy with Chiron at all. She told him that he needed to face the prophesy or see Camp Half-Blood destroyed. No one talks about it."
"Maybe that has to do with Percy and Annabeth's disappearance," Faith shrugged. "Either way, I don't care. Camp Half-Blood has never been my home."
"Why not?" I finally spoke, trying to keep my voice casual. I was still shaking from the giant attack, but I managed not to sound like a scared child. Somehow.
Faith looked away. "Dad…. curse….I don't talk about it."
I felt suddenly really sorry for her. "A curse? Is there any way to get rid of it?"
She wouldn't meet my eye. "I don't talk about it."
Vaz broke the awkward silence that followed. "Anyway, let's get that breakfast and then we can head out. Luke? You're on cooking duty."
I groaned, but I didn't whine too much; she had actually used my name, after all. The backpack was, thank the gods, still tied to the tree. I could tell the straps were getting worn out, though. Inside, the bow was still pulling and tugging; I managed to get out some bread, cheese, and jam without letting it escape.
I used my knife for cutting the cheese, feeling ridiculous doing it because I realized that was all I had used it for despite being attacked twice now. The breed was already split into four separate loaves, and I gave two to Faith. Vaz gave me a dirty look but I didn't care. This chick was starving to death; I figure we could spare some food.
While Vaz and I spread jam on our bread, Faith just ate it plain, seemingly relishing in the flavor. She only finished half of one loaf, and then stuffed the rest in a small pack that I hadn't seen before. With a strange smile, she swung it onto her back and stood up. "Well, I'll be heading out."
"Wait!" I had a weird feeling suddenly in the pit of my stomach. "Just one more thing!"
"Yes?"
I thought hard to remember the exact wording. "There was a phrase on the bow; something neither Vaz nor I could figure out. It said 'never the prey.' Have you ever heard of anything like that?"
Faith's pack slipped to the ground and she took four large strides towards me. With one fluent move, she had whipped an arrow out of her sheath and held the point against my neck. "Who are you," she hissed. The blade scraped my Adams apple; it was so close that I when I swallowed, I could feel it dig into my skin for a couple seconds.
Vaz scrambled to her feet and took out her sword, but Faith just laughed. "Take one step towards me and he dies," she said. She had such a coldness in her eyes that I shivered.
"I am Luke Jackson," I said, wincing as the point scraped against my throat as I talked. "I am the son of Percy and Annabeth Jackson, I promise!"
"Wrong answer," Faith growled. Her breath smelled like grains. "I'm going to be generous and give you one more chance! Who are you?"
"I'm Luke!" I cried. "Luke! LUKE JACKSON!"
There was a cruel smile and a blurred motion as she drew her arm back to kill me. I shut my eyes tightly, waiting for death.
"Oomph!" The presence over me was suddenly gone, I opened one eye to find Vaz and Faith wrestling on the ground. This time, I would not helplessly watch. I threw myself in the middle of the scuffle, and together Vaz and I managed to pin Faith's hands behind her back.
She was frothing and spitting and rearing like a wild animal. It took all of my strength to hold her down, and I only had one arm.
"What's. Wrong. With. You?!" Vaz was obviously having equal troubles.
"I will avenge my parents! The PoP hasn't caught me yet and they certainly won't now!" she was spouting nonsense.
"What's the PoP? We have no idea what you're talking about!" I yelled at her.
She didn't respond. Five minutes later she stopped squirming, pure hatred in her eyes. "Kill me," she said. "Just get it over with."
"We're not going to kill you! We have no idea what you're talking about! Faith, live up to your name for a second," I said. And then I did something pretty dang risky; I let her go.
Without me, there was no way Vaz was going to be able to hold her down. Faith easily overpowered her and stood, huffing and panting and… shaking? What the…. She was crying!
"You're not the PoP… they wouldn't have let me go," she gasped. "I'm so sorry… so sorry…"
"Hey, it's okay" I hurried to comfort her. "It's not your fault. You've obviously been through a lot. Who are these PoP people?"
Faith sunk to the forest floor, still crying. I couldn't believe how vulnerable she looked. "The PoP are the people who… I was… it's a long story."
"I feel like you owe us at least somewhat of an explanation," Vaz snarled, obviously not pleased with how the morning was going so far. I couldn't blame her, but she could give Faith a little slack.
I thought that would make Faith cry even harder, but instead it actually helped. She stopped crying and wiped her tears away with her hand, leaving little dirt smudges on her sunken cheeks. "You're right."
Vaz built a fire easily and we all sat around it, Vaz and I both staring at Faith expectantly. She seemed resigned to telling us what happened, which was good because at this point I was really curious.
"My parents were involved with an organization called Prey or Predator. That's what the PoP stands for. Anyway, you're not supposed to have kids when you're involved in it because they require your full attention, and some other reasons. The PoP is made up of monsters and mortals: demi gods are rarely allowed because they have too much godly blood, and the monsters can't control themselves. My Dad managed, though. Predator or Prey was founded by a Cyclops who started the belief that one can keep themselves from death by sending others to theirs. I suppose you could call it his sacrifice to Hades, in his opinion. He got a couple monsters invested, and then mortals. It's like a cult. They honestly believe that they will not die if they create death themselves. I don't know how or why; it seems pretty obvious that people die even if they kill people, but the Cyclops has gotten them all to think that they will never die now, as long as they keep murdering demi gods and others who support the gods. Zeus has kept it all on the down low because once again, the thinks he can handle it, so no one is supposed to know that it even exists. Back to my parents—they joined and then three years later had a little accident: me. I was born and they were immediately in trouble. You're not supposed to have kids because in a way, that's bringing life into the world rather than death, and that's obviously not what the Cyclops wants. He has a personal agenda of course, but no one is really sure what it is." Faith took a breath and started again. "I was born and of course that meant mom and dad had to die. But, to stay alive, they promised to kill one hundred demi-gods in order to make up for the one life. They told they could name me. Just before they left on their 'mission,' they told him that they were loyal and had been for a long time. They gave him their word that the mission would be completed, and that he should have Faith. Two months later, they came back. I had stayed with another mortal family while they were gone, from what I've gathered, but I don't know who. Anyway, when they returned, they proudly boasted that they had killed all one hundred demi gods. The Cyclops had this huge party…. Again, this is all stuff that I have barely any knowledge of, as I was just a very tiny baby, so I don't know what information is true or not. So he had the party apparently and everyone was celebrating. But the Cyclops had an oracle of sorts, and she told him that my parents had only killed ninety eight demi gods, and that they had lied to him. You can imagine his fury. They were cast out of the group, but when my mother reached for me, the Cyclops would not relinquish me back into her arms... 'You told me to have Faith,' he said. 'And that is the name I have given your daughter.' Mom screamed and cried but Dad just led her away. Skipping ahead a year, my parents managed to steal me back. I remember growing up in a little, one room house. Dad worked as a restaurant manager and Mom was a teacher. I grew up like that until I was ten years old, when I answered the door and…" Faith shuddered. "He was there. He tried to take me, but my parents were in the house. She came running with the kitchen knives, but they obviously weren't any good. I watched as the Cyclops… he… he killed her on the spot. Dad had his bow and arrows, but he was out of practice and missed. The Cyclops killed him too, but before he could grab my arm, I was blessed by Apollo. He stated that no monster could lay a hand on me as long as that Cyclops was alive. The Cyclops was obviously furious, and… he cursed me. I ran; I've been running for five years."
I stared. How could someone survive all of that? This Prey or Predator organization thing sounds exactly like what we're heading too, however, and so it was good to know the backstory… in a way.
"Hasn't anyone in that organization died before, though?" I asked incredulously. It just seemed highly unlikely that during the entire time, not one person had died in combat or something.
"Of course they have!" Faith nodded. "But the Cyclops is tricky. He just tells his followers that the person was punished for not being good enough to serve f Hades. It's like Dionysius and his little fan club, except much, much worse."
Vaz finally spoke. "So the bow we have must belong to one of the members of PoP. But why would they be after us? Why would they capture Percy and Annabeth?"
Faith laughed bitterly. "They often tried to infiltrate Camp Half-Blood; they just need to murder to be good servants of Hades, but demi-god blood is a bonus. Now that the defenses are down, I'm not surprised that they were looking for some stupid campers to go out of camp obviously unqualified. That's where you entered, Luke!"
I hated how she didn't mention Vaz, and I hated that I saw her point.
"As to Percy and Annabeth… well, I have no idea. But imagine the prize! Imagine how much Hades would love them if they sacrificed none other than the heroes of basically the entire world? And are you certain that they were responsible for their kidnapping anyway? The attack on you and the attack on them could be a completely different story altogether."
She had a point. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find out when we get there," I said, more determined than ever. I was already mad, but now that I heard what had been happening for so long, I was downright furious. Poor Faith… her name was such an irony.
"Are you going to tell us about the curse?" Vaz asked, and I gave her my best glare. It was obviously a subject that Faith didn't want to go into.
"I…no."
And that was the end of that.
"Well, we'd better be going," Vaz stood, stretched, and walked towards the tree where our packs were laying. "Nice meeting you, kind of."
"Oh no, I'm coming with you now that I know that PoP is involved," Faith rose to her feet and stared Vaz down. "You couldn't handle them without me, anyway. I've scouted them out a couple of times to find out more about my past. I know their patterns."
I was all for the idea. "The more the merrier!"
"That is so not true," Vaz argued.
"Okay, how about, the more people you have the more people will help Luke here not get turned into monster chow?" Faith smiled like it was funny, and Vaz grinned too.
"Hey!" I protested.
But the girls had seemed to come to a silent agreement over keeping me safe. In a way, it was flattering. It was also down right humiliating.
"I bet I can save his life way more than you can," Vaz said as we all started walking/jogging, me in the front with the psycho bow pulling me.
"Pft, not a chance."
"I bet I can live through this entire ordeal without having anyone save my life!" I piped in, trying to make them stop.
They both looked at each other and laughed. Maybe letting Faith come was a mistake after all…
Okay, so I know that Faith's story was ridiculously long. I couldn't think of a way to sum it up. BUT you still haven't learned about the curse yet. Don't worry, that will come up. Let me know what you think about the characters! It's going to get interesting next chapter (if this chapter wasn't interesting enough for you :P)
