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The Scribe of Stories


Chapter III: In Which He Flies and Burns

Gwen felt a flash of irritation as she watched Percy fail at target practice. Even after three days of intense one on one time, something that would've angered Bobby, he had barely improved.

"Percy! Keep your arm straight and maybe you won't hit the rocks!" Gwen shouted at Percy. Despite Bobby's warning, Percy was a boy she easily got along with. Despite the intense training that made even the toughest Mars child ache, Percy kept his personality.

She saw Percy scowl and straighten his arm. The arrow barely grazed the target. "Percy! What in Apollo's name is wrong with you! You suck at archery!"

Percy clenched his jaw but kept silent. He wanted to throw the bow down and shout at Gwen. He learned on the first day that it wasn't the best thing to do. Why were the Praetors so cruel? He remembered training in nicer ways. The Praetors kept trying to figure out whom his godly parent was, since he wasn't Claimed.

He obviously wasn't a child of Apollo and definitely not Mars. Mercury? Maybe. Venus? Gwen pondered, he was handsome enough (Don't tell Bobby though) but he didn't have that awe-struck aura that the Venus children had. Jupiter? It was a low possibility, especially when given the chance to fly higher with the Pegasi, Percy had almost violently said no.

The training had exhausted Percy but what Lupa had told him pushed him into not showing the exhaustion. He didn't want to be killed. The only vice that Percy loved was the swimming and riding lessons. The water made him felt like he had taken a shot of nectar straight into his blood stream.

Percy sent a prayer to the twin archers, Apollo and Diana, Please just let me pass this lesson. I promise to send a sacrifice to you guys. Again, there was that feeling again. Calling the gods the wrong names. He half expected the gods to send him a monster or a curse every time he prayed.

Percy's cuts protested when he knocked the arrow. He kept a volley of them going, not daring to look at the target. When he was done, and when Gwen was examining the target. She noticed that a little of half of the arrows Percy had shot made it. Gwen wanted him to continue training but he had passed the day's goal.

"I wouldn't say you did a good job, Percy. In fact, you barely improved. Are you sure you've been practicing?" Gwen looked at Percy with a critical eye.

"Of course, Praetor. I just suck at it! Gods! Why do you even try?" Percy's temper flared, it wasn't the first time. Gwen was slightly scared when it happened. His sea-green eyes would turn an ocean grey. Like the storms that frequently blow through California. The very sky seemed to change, as if a storm was coming.

"Percy! Stand down!" Gwen snapped at him. "Do you want to be on patrol again?"

Percy scowled, holding back an insult. He hated patrol, especially since Bobby was in charge of it. Bobby had it out for him ever since the pit. "I…I stand down, Praetor."

"You're on patrol anyways. This'll show you to control that temper of yours. Be gone." Percy wanted to unleash the ocean on Gwen.

Nevertheless, he began to leave. "Of course, Praetor."

Percy was beginning to hate this camp. He felt constricted, as if they were trying to pour a gallon of salt water into half a gallon container. He couldn't wait until it was his free day. Rumours from the Venus Centuria had stated that they were going to the beach that First Legion owned.

Percy respected all of the centuriae. Especially the Venus Centuria. (Not just because of the fact, they were vicious gossipers). It was just something about their way of acting. They weren't conceited or selfish like the instant stereotype of being the children of the Goddess of Love, Beauty and Fertility. You wouldn't want them on the bad side. Percy had watched them train and they could become just as vicious as the Mars Centuria.

Percy liked that they actually respected the horses and Pegasi. First Legion seemed to have a problem with them, treating them so harshly. It angered Percy. He spent nearly all of his free time in the stables, fixing the problems.

They had interesting stories, the horses and especially the Pegasi. Since they lived for a long time, they saw many things. Apparently, since the last civil war, there hasn't been a child of Neptune at the camp. Only the child of Neptune can make changes to the stables.

He practically stomped to his tent to change for Patrols. The patrols went past the pyram or bonfire. The pyram was one of the fun parts of sent a prayer to the gods that Bobby wouldn't be in charge.

Of course, he didn't realize that the gods weren't even paying attention.


Percy tried to keep his eyes open. The pyram had ended a while ago. Meaning, it ended hours ago. Percy had arrived just a few minutes late and Bobby had seized the chance to punish him with the late-night patrol.

Percy thanked the gods that he didn't have to do the outside patrol. He didn't have enough energy for the constant running.

Jeez, nothing is really happening. They should at least cut some slack. This used to be more fun than this. His mind filled with images of a group of kids laughing as they patrolled a hill. Percy shook his head, those flashes of stuff always made him sleepy and he didn't want to sleep on Patrol.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain. Focus." He took out Riptide and began to polish it. For some reason, these demigods were obsessed over their weapons. Especially the Venus and Mars Centuriae. He was lucky to survive when they found out he had never polished his sword. It never needed polishing.

Percy sighed and stared at the Californian backdrop. Then he looked back at his sword. It was very different from the swords or gladius as they called it. For one thing, it was about a foot longer than the gladius, with a smooth leather grip instead of a knobbed one. The hilt was flat instead of rounded with gold stubs. He always felt like a monster-killing machine when he fought with it.

On the first day of training, he had sword fighting with part of the Vulcan and Mars Centuriae. They made him use one of their swords.

And he sucked at it.

For one thing, the gladius was a lot lighter and Percy hadn't expected it to respond with such speed.

These people must be experts at holding grudges. I mean, it was an accident after all. He hoped that Tim, one of the Vulcan campers who actually liked him, was working on a gladius that would be finished soon.

"Percy! Are you sleeping?" Percy flinched and opened his eyes. Crap, Clary is on Patrol.

"I wasn't, Clary! What are you doing here?" He rubbed his eyes and looked at the blonde female that was smirking at him.

"Sure you weren't. I'm bordering. It's time to switch." Clary poked Percy's chest with her spear to make him move.

Percy frowned. It wasn't time yet, but he didn't want to feel Clary's spear.

He slowly walked along the wall path. If you weren't careful enough, you could fall off.

And fall off is what Percy did.

He didn't realize that Clary had followed him. He barely turned around just in time, the only sense of warning he got was the tingling in his back when someone was behind him.

Clary shoved him and he lost his balance. He grabbed the wall with one hand, the hand with Riptide. "Hey! What was that for?"

Clary put her foot over his hand. It felt uncomfortable. Not painful, just uncomfortable. She reached down and took Riptide out of his hand.

Percy's sneakers could not get enough grip on the weathered down marble walls. His arm felt like it was being pulled out of his socket.

"Sorry kid. You're a bit of a cutie for the eel. Maybe we'll talk if you survive." With that, she nudged his hand away from the edge.

Falling wasn't the most exciting thing to do at night. Especially from a thirty foot wall. Falling from that height would be like falling into cement. Very painful.

FLABOOSH! The bubbles tickled his skin. The ditch was perhaps even twice as deep as the wall was tall. Illusions, this camp is full of them. Percy thought as he dug himself out of the mud. His lungs were already burning.

He swam up to the surface, only it wouldn't let him out. It was like being trapped under glass. Percy punched and kicked it. Maybe this was how they drowned the losers and unwanted.

He couldn't take it anymore. He let out a muffled scream of frustration. Why in the name of the gods does this entire camp hate him! Why couldn't he just be normal, or at least claimed? He remembered at the pyram, how much fun the groups had with each other. Even though he was supposed to be with the Mercury group. It just didn't feel like home.

Sure, it was awesome to learn how to pick pocket and how to tell the difference between a real and a fake love note but it wasn't him.

After his frustration dissipated, He was surprised to find that he was still alive, and breathing. He could feel himself swallowing the water, but it didn't choke him. He made a face, this water tasted horrible.

Percy decided to see if there was any kink in the wall above the water. He swam around in circles for maybe thirty minutes. Wasn't there some type of creature in here? I remember seeing something.

He should've kept his mind shut.

Something dark swam past his peripheral. He turned and found nothing. This water is so polluted, I'm beginning to hallucinate.

Something slapped against his back and slammed him into the mud below, sending the various junk that the camp had thrown in. Percy spitted some mud out of his mouth.

He looked up and was face to face with an enormous eel. Well, at least Percy thought it was an eel. It was more scaly than slimy. It had ram horns, teeth the size of knives and was the colour of stone. It snarled at him, electricity arching in the water.

Percy pushed himself away as the eel attacked where he just was. Automatically, he reached for Riptide. Only to remember that Clary took it.

The eel shook its head of the mud and growled, electricity travelling through the water.

Percy looked around for any weapon. Fifteen feet below him, something sparkled. He ducked the tail and swam toward it furiously.

It was a broken spear. Percy dug quickly. Just as he pulled the spear out, the eel had grabbed his orange shirt and flung him upward.

All of the air (or would it be water?) left his lungs when he had slammed into the force field at the surface. Percy shook his head to clear the yellow spots in his vision.

The eel roared and swam straight for Percy. He didn't dodge fast enough; the eel had grabbed his leg and jumped out of the water.


Clary was still bored. Even that kid, Percy, died a simple death. Lupa had called her earlier and told her to throw Percy to the water drakon.

She had hoped to watch Percy gave some sort of fight. He was a good fighter for someone so skinny. He had simply plopped into the water like a stone and hadn't been seen for a few minutes.

"At least I got a new sword." She mumbled to herself. She swung Riptide around, it was lighter than her gladius, Spiritum and it was longer.

"It's going to take some time to get used to it." She ran her fingers along the double-edged blade.

"Ow!" Clary pulled her thumb away. The darn blade had given her a cut. She sucked on her thumb to soothe the sting. "At least he kept it sharp."

A roar and the smell of ozone brought her attention back to the murky waters. The Ram Eel jumped out of the water occasionally.

Riptide shook in her hand.

Clary couldn't believe her eyes. Percy was in the mouth of the Ram Eel, alive.

"Percy! How are you alive?" She shouted, leaning over the edge in time to see the eel and Percy disappear in the water. "Well, he won't be alive for long."

Riptide was shaking violently. Clary was bewildered. "What in the name of Minerva?" Riptide was pulling her toward the water.

She let go of Riptide. It shot into the water like an arrow, disappearing into the murky water.

"Well, there goes a good sword." Clary muttered as she watched the water.


"Ahhh!" Percy's yell was lost in the wind as the eel launched out of the water. The air made his eyes water and he glimpsed Clary looking at him in surprise, holding Riptide.

Riptide! If only I had my sword. Percy thought as the eel dived again.

He had lost the spear when the eel grabbed him. He tried to grab the fin to right himself. It was as slippery as a seal underwater.

The eel shocked him numb as Percy managed a grip. The eel turned sharply and Percy's head slammed into a rock, shattering it to pieces.

Through his blurry vision, he saw something glint in the dark waters heading straight toward him. He held out his hand and Riptide landed on his palm.

Yes! Percy slashed through his shoe to free himself. He spun in the water from the force. The eel noticed and turned around, snarling and spitting the remains of Percy's shoe out.

Percy held the sword as the eel swam straight toward him again. He swung in an arc and an underwater tornado formed, catching the eel.

Percy grinned and swung Riptide in the other direction, stopping and leaving the eel spinning.

Percy swam toward the eel, seizing the chance to grab its horns. He pulled up and eel shook his head, roaring.

Percy prepared to stab the eel when it swam up, creating electricity.

Apparently, the horns weren't conductive because Percy didn't feel the shock. However, he felt himself being launched into the air. He was so high up, that he could see the entire fort.

The eel had decided to meet Percy halfway. The eel jumped from the water and opened its mouth in a roar.

Percy figured he might not survive if he met those ugly teeth. He looked at Riptide.

The eel arched electricity as Percy threw Riptide straight into the mouth.


It was a win/lose situation.

Riptide hit its mark, going through the eel's entire body through its mouth.

The eel jerked violently before dissolving into powder.

The electricity that the eel launched at Percy also it its mark.

Percy felt like he was on fire, his vision blurred, his muscles turned to jelly and he lost consciousness as he free fell into the water with a sickening splash.

Clary watched this with awe and grim. Lupa's not going to like to know that the eel is dead. She is going to be interest in the fact he survived under water for fifteen minutes.

She couldn't help but watch as Percy landed in the water. "That's gonna hurt."

Something clanged behind her; she turned around to find Riptide land on the walkway. She picked it up; there was a noticeable dent in the blade. Percy's not going to like that.

Bobby was not going to like this. "Camper down! Camper down in the water!" Clary shouted, pointing where Percy had landed in the water.

Falling into the water was common and the campers on Patrol acted quickly. They didn't know that the eel was dead.

While they were fishing Percy out of the mud, Bobby came to her. "Who fell?"

"Percy."

Bobby gave her a glare, "I thought he fell a few minutes ago. And I thought you were going to be silent."

"I didn't think that was part of the plan." Clary replied, watching as they dragged an unconscious Percy out of the water. His armour was melted and his orange shirt was burned to ashes. He did not have any burns, Was he like Jason?

"I thought it would've been obvious! He's not like us! Lupa even said so herself!" Clary had never seen Bobby so angry about something.

"Is this just because he was the second person to beat you?" Clary snapped at him. Everybody knew about Bobby's jealousy.

Bobby stayed silent and Clary took that as a yes. She turned from him and began to leave. "Where are you going?" Bobby asked quietly.

Clary turned around and pointed at her watch. 6:45 am. "It's time to switch Patrol and I have to check on Percy, since he's in my charge."

She felt Bobby muttering to himself. What was wrong with him? Maybe she should ask Gwen, she would probably know.

Riptide turned back into a pen. The pen looked like it had gone through the entire time of middle school. The barrel was cracked and bent and the cap had bent marks.

"First thing's first. I gotta tell Lupa about this." She noticed that Gwen was talking to Lupa. Percy had beaten her to Lupa.

Lupa was sniffing Percy, her ears flat. Not good.

When Clary got closer, Percy was in even worse shape that she thought. The electricity from the eel had melted the armour onto Percy but he still didn't show damage. Percy was barely breathing.

Lupa looked up at Clary, a questioning look in her eyes. What are you doing here?

Clary stopped by Gwen, she held Riptide tightly. "I thought that you should know something about Percy."

Before she could explain, Percy began to glow a sea green. It was so bright; it brought a crowd around them.

Lupa growled lowly, ordering them to stay away.

Clary had never seen the crowd so still. They all gasped and started to kneel. Just like when Jason was claimed.

She glanced at Percy and stared.

On top of Percy's head, there was a spinning trident.