Hey Friends! I'm too ashamed for the fact that this took soooooooo long so I'm not going to say anything. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 4: To Be Claimed

The sunlight stabbed my eyes as I peeked them open. I jumped out of bed and looked around for my bag. It was settled at the foot of my bed, slouching against it. I opened it and picked out a pair of tights, a dark red v-neck t-shirt, and my black leather jacket. When I freshened up, I skipped out of the cabin and embraced the morning air. I stretched wide till my muscles felt relaxed, stifling an early yawn; I stepped slowly onto the pine-covered dirt ground of the camp. I slept in Hermes' cabin for the night, as I had nowhere else to go; only children of Hermes or minor gods live in the cabin, with the exception of children whose godparent is unknown. The campfire lasted longer than I expected last night, since there is still smoke and dust coming from the pile of ashes. All of the cabins seemed still asleep aside from the few passersby and me. A brand new day, what should I do? Now that I've reached the camp through Father's help, I have no idea as to what I should do. I guess I have been waiting for this day for so long that I haven't planed as to what to do next. Do I take on a quest? Should I train arts of battle? But for what, why should I train for something that won't likely happen? I rattled my brain for questions and answers, confused as to what I should do next. Maybe I'm over-exaggerating the situation, I shouldn't give the time much importance. I'll just use all of my energy and skills into learning as much new things as I can, while I have the opportunity. I kept on walking till I reached a vast field of grass and a large building similar to a cabin. What surprised me the most was what I saw on the grass field. Almost half of the campers were on the field sparring with swords, shields, and other weapons. Whoa...I chuckled silently as I watched the campers. Seems like I was proven wrong, apparently, all of the campers were early risers. I stood there for about a single minute before a sharp object came flying at my direction. Thankfully, I instinctively moved to the side just in time.

A few bushes started to rustle and a face appeared; it was Grover. "Whew! I'm sorry about that! Remind me next time to never throw knives again. Good thing you're light on your feet, huh?" Two pairs of feet came rustling right behind Grover, they appeared and were revealed to be Annabeth and Percy.

"Oh, um, are you okay?" Asks Percy.

"I'm alright, thank you." I reply.

"Great going Grover! Why don't you try aiming at her face next time?" Annabeth commented sarcastically, giving Grover a firm hit on his arm. Grover winced in pain. "I'm sorry for what he almost did." She said, eyeing Grover, she made sure he could hear the emphasis on the almost. She walked past me and retrieved the knife that was stuck on the bark of a tree.

"By the way, what are you doing here? The arena is over there, why don't you come train with us?" Asked Grover.

"I was just watching, but I'll definitely take the offer of training with you guys." I said, chuckling. Grover smiled

"Cool. Do you have a weapon?" He asked.

"Weapon? No, I don't have a weapon. Do I need one?"

"Do you seriously plan on training without a weapon?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"Uh, yeah! If you're gonna spar with Percy or Annabeth, you'll need a weapon." I thought about it. There are other ways to train asides from sparring but I decided to humor Grover.

"Fine. Where can I find one?"

"We'll have to go to the armory." Replied Percy. Bon à savoir... Percy and Grover starter to walk away. Annabeth and I strolled after them.

The armory was only a five minute walk from the training grounds. Once we reached the entrance of the wooden shed, we went in and explored the space. I was surprised when I entered the room. The large shed was stocked with an uncountable amount of weapons, sheilds, and armor. At the very back of the room, helmets and body armor were stacked and filled mahogany shelves, they glinted of silver. On the left wall, shields were held on the walls by black shelves. Against the right wall, boxes of swords and various weapons were visible and a huge glass frame was hanging on the wall, displaying the many different types of weapons avaiable. I walked towards the right wall and stared at the glass frame. Inside, there were pictures of a dual swords, broad swords, maces, axes, daggers, knives, spears, and other heavy and light swords. But this one weapon caught my attention. Oh my Gods... I dug through the boxes to find the weapon, one box after another, but I couldn't find it till I looked through the seventh box. I picked it up, the handle was gripped in my hand, the leather pad hung loose against the back of my hand. This is the real thing... A slingshot! Ever since I was little, my friend Joshua would boast about his collection of slingshots and he would play with them in front of me, knowing very well that I was told to stay away of them. Oh, they seemed like so much fun, and they were all very beautiful. Overjoyed about the object, I turned towards the group and smiled wide.

"I found my weapon!" I squealed. The group looked towards me and as soon as they saw it, their faces froze. "Do you like it?" Grover face started to squeeze and he smiled, then he bursted out laughing. Then Percy fell apart as well and also laughed out loud. Thalia giggled along with them.

"Good joke." Said Percy.

"Haha, where did you even get that?" Asked Grover in the middle of his laughing.

"Its good that you have a sense of humour but we really have to hurry the process if we want to train at all today." Stated Annabeth. My smile dropped and I just stared at them, I made sure I had a straight face. Annabeth looked at me and immediately dropped her smile. "Wait. You aren't serious, are you?" I nodded.

"Wait, seriously? You want a slingshot as a weapon?!" Grover looked at me with an unsure look.

"Yes," I replied again.

"Are you crazy?! What are you gonna do in battle? Throw pebbles at a person's forehead and whisper them in the ear that they just got a big boo-boo? Don't be stupid!" Said Grover.

"But—

"No." Annabeth took the slingshot from my hand and tossed it back inside the box. She rummaged through the boxes and took out a pair of daggers. She tossed the daggers to me, I caught them easily. "These are real weapons. Fight with these first. After you get the hang of them, you can try a sword and shield next." She grabbed a sword of her own and said, " Let's go now." Percy and Grover gave my brief smiles and followed after her. I looked back at the slingshot one more time, and then a moment later, I also went after Annabeth; but there was a large lump could be seen in the pocket of my jacket. A leather patch attached to a string was hanging out of the pocket.

...

...

Annabeth led us to the middle of the training grounds and twirled her sword, in her hand. Percy had his own broad sword and Grover had a sheid and a knife.

"Percy is going to try to slice Grover up while Grover will try to save his own life, so don't worry about them." Said Annabeth, focusing on me. "While they do their 'man on man action', you'll fight against me. But let me warn you, I'm not Clarisse; she's compulsive. Me, I'm the daughter of the goddess of wisdom. Unlike Clarisse, I'm not stupid or compulsive; I use my brain and think instinctively. Your goal is to last at least 60 seconds with me, if you can do that, I'll consider that you're worth something." I inwardly smiled at her words. Her confidence is worth admiring, I should listen to her.

We got into our ready stances, waiting for other to make a move. I gripped on my two knives and calmly inhaled. Annabeth raised her index finger and signaled at me. The timer begins. I sprinted towards her. I flipped my left knife downwards, ready to throw it. Annabeth leaped low and took a swipe at my legs. I jumped off the ground and immediately threw my knife at her right hand that was holding the sword. Annabeth dropped her sword and caught the knife with ease, she turned swiftly and picked up the sword with her left hand. 3 seconds on the clock. I gripped on my knife and tried to stab Annabeth's spine. Annabeth hooked her right arm onto my right arm and twisted my arm behind my back. I hit her in ribs with my left elbow, loosening her grip. I twisted my left arm behind me and grabbed the knife in Annabeth had on my back. Then I gripped Annabeth's wrist with my right hand and using my left hand as strength, I yanked her hand and twisted it into a painful position. Annabeth grunted in pain, I kicked the back of her right knee and forced her onto the ground. Annabeth lowered herself and dropped her sword. She gripped the back of my jacket and pulled me forward, making me somersault onto the ground. As soon as I let go of her right hand, she grabbed her sword and aimed to strike on top of me. I crossed my knives underneath her sword right before it hit me. We struggled there on the ground for a good 15 seconds. Since Annabeth was crouched above me, I noticed a necklace on her that hung off her neck ; 6 painted beads were hanging on the thread. I kicked Annabeth in the shin, she lost her balance and tumbled a bit. I used the opportunity to throw a knife at her neck, she dodged it. She jumped away from me, giving me time to get up into a defensive position. 30 seconds have past so far... Annabeth and I kept on scrambling for a while, trying to handicap the other person. She would try to land a hit, I would dodge and try to swipe her sword. After quite some time, I made a decision. I loosened my grip on my right knife, allowing Annabeth to kick it out of my hand. She caught the knife in her own hand, did a 360o turn and kicked my other knife out of my hand, catching it as well. I backed away, creating some space. She twirled my knives around with a smirk on her face. I gripped the side of my jacket, feeling an object in the pocket against my hand. I gripped the handle of the object and dogged my other hand in the other pocket, feeling small, round things inside. I dashed towards Annabeth, she also sprinted towards me, with her sword raised. She swinged at my waist, I jumped up high, pushed Annabeth forward and landed on my feet. While I had the chance, I turned around and aimed at Annabeth's hand. I let go of the patch, striking her hand, she let go of the sword. I grabbed the sword and poked her neck with the edge of the sword. 60 seconds on the mark. I win. I looked at Annabeth, crouched on the ground.

"60 seconds are up." I pulled away the sword and let Annabeth get up.

"How did you hit my hands?" She asked. I pulled out the round, wooden balls in my pocket and showed my weapon to her.

"Told you the slingshot was my weapon." She stared at the object and started laughing.

"Oh! That was good." She exclaimed, then paused. "Wait, is that a bead? Is that my bead?!" She groped at her collarbone. "How did you—When did you—What?"

"I needed something to launch on the slingshot, then I noticed your necklace when we were playing 'who can push harder' on the ground. Did you really think that you dodged that knife?" I asked. Realization dawned on Annabeth and then she chuckled.

"You had plenty of opportunities, you could've ended it instead of struggling during the time." She said.

"Your right; I did have choices: I could've ended the match early. But my goal wasn't to end it early, my goal was to make it last for 60 seconds, and that's what I did." Annabeth gave me a smile.

"Well Diana, you're definitely worth something alright; good job." She said.

"Thank you, but I already knew that." I replied. She shook her head.

"Arrogance, that's a curse during battle. And for a second there, I thought you had potential to possibly be me." She said.

"Ha! And what you just said wasn't arrogant?" I said.

"Of course not. That was self respect and confidence. Let me show you: Lets fight again, this time, seriously."

I laughed. Then suddenly, something happened. It felt like the ground didn't exist for a moment, as if my whole body was weightless. I was appalled, confused. What caused that? I had an itching feeling in my gut that I knew what could have caused it, but what? Then it hit me. The Hellhound! When I realized that, my whole body screamed to go to the forest and check on the animal. I was confused on how I should go, what do I say to the group who followed me last night because of the same reason, that I looked suspicious. While I pondered on my choices, I fidgeted and squirmed like a swimming goldfish, my mouth would open and close, open and close.

"Is something wrong?" Asked Annabeth. I jumped out of my skin.

"What?! Uh, um, n-no, n-nno nothing wrong. I just have to go...to.. um.. to, um, to the washroom. Uh, can, can I go?" I stammered.

"Sure, by all means." She replied. I gave her a relieved smile and speed walked away from the training grounds. As soon as I was out of sight, I sprinted towards the direction of the forest.

Branches scraped my cheeks gently as I dashed past the scenery. My body remembered last night's run and instinctively led me towards my destination. Adrenaline rushed through my veins and for some reason, I was really excited to see the Hellhound again. When I finally reached the clearing, I recognized the ring of scorched grass and looked around for the beast. A black figure appeared from my right, the hound had fresh game in its mouth.

"Looks like I'm just in time for breakfast, huh?" I said, grinning. The hound ignored me and laid down the meat, soon ripping through it. I waited for it to finish its meal and once it did, it looked at me and came closer. The hound's eyes seemed to tinkle red for a moment. "You don't plan on eating me as well, do you?" I said warily. The hound rolled it's eyes at me. "Anyways, do you plan on leaving now?" The hound just stared at me then shook its head. "We had a deal last night." I reminded it. But the hound just stared back. I paused for a moment in thought. "Why are you here?" I asked it seriously.

I came to send a message.

"What was that?!" I asked.

You were smart last night, at least try to be smart now, little one.

Don't tell me...

Yes, it is I. The Hellhound, Ambrose.

Ambrose...

Yes. I have been sent by the King, His Greatness, Lord Hades. My breath hitched in my throat. I've come to warn you, little one, the King has received information of a recently spoken prophecy by the Oracle, Delphii. He wants you to tread carefully, trouble will come for you in the future.

"But why has Hades sent you to tell me this? What does the prophecy mention that I have to be wary of?" I asked.

I have said what needed to be said. The rest, you must find out.

"But how?"

Chiron, he will tell you the rest of what you need to know. I must leave very soon, but only after I fulfill my last task.

"What would that be?" The hound came closer and before I anticipated it, he swiped at my arm, leaving a deep gash on my arm. "OHHHH! Oh my! What?! Why did you do that?!" The hound smirked a tiny bit at my pain, making a flame light inside of me.

Get that wound treated, and you'll soon know the purpose of my doing that. I must leave now, it was... fine, to meet you. Have a good day.

"No, wait—

But the hound disappeared in thin air before I could say anything else.

"Good bye."

SOO? How did you like it? It was pretty long in my POV but I don't matter. For those wondering, Ambrose is a Greek name which comes from the word 'ambrosios', meaning "to be immortal". And By the way, yes, Diana can speak French, and I hate to say this, but not because of my efforts, the credit all goes to Google Translate. Oh, where would we all be without our dear friend Google. Cheers to Google! Please comment, follow, and vote for this story and I guess I'll see you guys later.

I do not own the Percy Jackson series but I do own A Legend.

-UniqueFAYS :)