AN: I...Live...AGAIN!...Wait...
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
The Ever Twisting Wind: The Lightning Thief
Chapter Four: I Play with Pointy Things and Raggy Symbols
"You up to -?"
"Just hand it over," Nico said dryly as he held his hand out to Frank. The book floated over to his hand and he cracked it to the accurate page. "I'm getting far too used to that..."
Andi took some time to calm down from her emotional response to the revelations about her sister, but even after doing so she spent another half an hour staring at her sister's tree with Annabeth silently observing her vigil. She finally thanked the blonde as they parted ways after leaving the hill, as Annabeth ran towards the arena to explain her tardiness for training, Andi just drifted around camp, observing the day-to-day lives of the other campers. She passed by the smithy (which, judging by the sounds, seemed more a weapons shop than anything else),
"It is," Leo said with a grin. "But not as cool as my bunker."
Hephaestus cleared his throat and Leo rolled his eyes.
"Cabin Nine's bunker..."
Hephaestus smirked.
the arts-and-crafts room with satyrs sandblasting a giant marble bust of another satyr, Pan, as she recalled, and finally the climbing wall (well, walls, she noted to herself.) It really consisted of two adjacent walls that shook violently, dropped boulders and sprayed lava and generally smashed against each other if the climbers were too slow.
"Not fun." Percy mumbled.
Now that last one looked the most interesting to her, she noted while sitting in front of her cabin after her little tour. She was just coming up with a list of what activities she wanted to try first when the smell of barbecue, coming from somewhere nearby, brought her out of her musings. She rubbed her grumbling stomach, she hadn't eaten all day, or in the past few, actually. A horn blew in the distance and she noticed everyone walking out of their cabins.
"Must be dinner time," she reasoned as she stood up and started walking in the direction everyone else was heading towards. She filed in behind the Demeter cabin and Katie kindly told her that she sat at her own table, table one, which was near the entrance of the pavilion.
"All nice and lonely."
"Shut up, Hades." Zeus glared at his brother, who continued to smirk.
They marched up the hill to the mess hall's pavilion. Satyrs joined the campers from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the trees, as if they were a part of them. Andi speculated that they were dryads.
In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Three of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. Andi could see Percy having to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half his bum hanging off. That had to be uncomfortable.
And herself? Well, she sat at her own large table, all alone…joy.
"Ah, segregation...Zeus' greatest idea."
"Shut. Up. Hades."
She saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a pair of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D; Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.
Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.
Clarisse sat in front of her at the Ares' table. She was laughing and belching right alongside her friends. Andi scrunched her nose at the crude behavior.
"So gross," Aphrodite said in agreement. She was so glad all children she had with Ares took mostly after her...aside from those two boys...
Finally, when everyone had arrived, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"
Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"
"To us!" Apollo and Hermes agreed, raising their glasses.
"Huzzah." Dionysus 'cheerfully' raised his diet coke.
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. The sky child's glass was empty, but Katie from a bit over said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want-nonalcoholic though."
"Worst limitation ever." Dionysus scoffed.
Andi smirked at that, so enchanted cups too? "Butterbeer." She said and the magical smooth butterscotch drink filled the cup, but the girl hummed with an adventurous look in her eyes, "Make it Gryffindor red, with gold flakes." She added with a giddy grin and the cool liquid changed to the stated colors. She took a sip and licked her lips, feeling a little bit at home from drinking the familiar brew.
Andi loaded her plate and was about to end the grumbling in her tummy, when she noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates towards the fire in the center of the pavilion. She wondered what was up, but decided to follow with her own plate, still not used to the traditions here.
Katie explained that they offered portions of their meals to the gods, usually their godly parent, in the fire pit.
Apparently they liked the burnt smell.
"It's better than eating leftovers," Poseidon said with a dry smile.
"Pre-chewed, at least he cared somewhat." Hera joked darkly.
"Hera, Poseidon, please..." Hestia sighed.
She was really starting to like Katie. The daughter of Demeter was just so helpful. The girl inwardly shrugged at the burning perfectly good food as an offering bit though, she had heard of weirder things. So, why not?
As her turn came, Andi took a fresh butter melting loaf of bread and said, "Zeus."
When Andi caught a whiff of the smoke, she surprisingly didn't gag.
It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of warm cider, steak on the grill and fresh lilies, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. Having smelt it herself, she could believe that the gods just lived off this amazing scent alone.
When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for their attention.
"More effective than a gavel." Apollo muttered.
"Or a lightning bolt." Hermes mumbled.
Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Greetings and all that you lot. Now, Capture the Flag is tomorrow night, so sharpen your blades and be sure to use the pointed end on other people and not yourselves." He glanced at table one, "Also, I should tell you that our other new camper has finally decided to grace the pavilion. Amanda Potts."
"Nice."
"What?" Dionysus asked.
"Nothing." Apollo mumbled.
"Dionysus, must you get their names wrong?" Rhea asked, a frown on her face.
"Compared to the alternative, Mother, it's not that bad." Zeus rumbled.
"The alternative?" Rhea inquired.
"I used to turn them into animals, send them back to their parents. It was jolly good fun," Dionysus said with a smile. He scowled. "Then Athena had to throw a hissy fit..."
"You turned my son into a barn owl...He was killed by a hunter." Athena glared at Artemis.
"A male, inebriated Hunter." Artemis reminded.
Chiron murmured something.
"Er, Andi Potter," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."
Everybody cheered. They all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. They sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, Andi didn't feel that anyone was staring at her anymore, that she was just one of the gang.
Later in the evening, when the last dying sparks from the campfire were crackling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and they all filed back to their cabins.
Andi closed the large door of her cabin and saw the statue, ever vigilant, staring. She grabbed her sleeping bag and started to move it around until she finally found a spot in the corner where the statue couldn't see her. She tugged along her stuff and plopped down in the bag.
She rummaged through her messenger bag and found something that warmed her heart a bit after such a tough day. Taking out her wand, she cast a quick sticking charm and placed the object that offered her so much comfort, a photo, on the wall by her head, "Miss you guys." She whispered to the people in the image.
"Gee, I wonder who that could be?" Leo asked.
"First year picture." Percy bet. "Magical."
It was a picture of her, Hermione, and Ron at the end of their first year when she got out of the infirmary. She still had a few bandages on her cheeks and such, but her arms were looped around both her best friends' necks, grinning like a loon. Ron had his silly smile on while Hermione gave her own polite one as their heads were bunched together. It wasn't one of the moving photos that magicals used, as she liked the moment just as it was.
"Darn." Percy frowned.
It was a symbol of her first trial of her life as a witch.
"Burn the witch!"
"Shut up, Leo." Hazel grunted.
"Oh, right...Sorry."
"It's fine."
She was just about to fall asleep when she noticed something, almost hidden behind the wall. Iron rungs that led upward-a ladder.
"What's that?" she muttered, walking over to it. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she grasped a rung, as she planted her foot on the bottom one and proceeded upward. In short order, Andi made it to a small trap door. Pushing it open, she popped her head out. To her surprise she had emerged from the side of the dome roof of her cabin and onto a flat ledge, pointing north.
She could see the whole Long Island Sound proceeding across the nightly horizon from where she was.
She was so far up, and at such an angle, that no one could possibly even see her. Not even those patrol harpies that enforced curfew which Annabeth had warned her about.
"...Oh, that so figures..." Poseidon rumbled.
"What?" Zeus asked.
"Nothing."
Looking up the magical demigod, found herself gazing at a sea of stars that glittered like diamonds. Her blue eyes filled with awe at the sight. She had seen the stars before, in astronomy class, but somehow, they looked cleaner, brighter here at camp.
Andi was mesmerized. To add to her wonder at the spectacle, just as she blinked, a shooting star blinked by, which caused her lips to curl into a small smile.
Encouraged by the amazing vista before her, Andi mustered her courage to do what she had wanted to do since the moment she discovered her true parentage. Talk to her father. Closing her eyes, she said, "Hullo, um, Zeus…" she paused, unsure what to feel right now, "Nice night, huh?" the breeze on this beautiful summer night was the only answer she got, "Yeah, I guess it is. So...you're my dad...gotta admit, didn't see that coming."
"It is a bit out of left field," Percy said with a nod.
"Only to newbies," Annabeth said. "Or those who aren't so good in their Latin class."
"You're going to hold that against me forever, aren't you."
It made Andi wonder if she was conceived before or after her mum married James. It was a terrible feeling to think she might be the product of her mother having an affair, she was so confused about it that she didn't want to think her mum would do such a thing. But the thought kept worming its way into her mind every so often.
Andi shook her head, no, she shouldn't focus on that. Optimism was the way to go, negative thinking led to bad things. She just had to roll with the punches and find the good, that was how she had always did things.
Offering the sky a forced smile, since smiles made everything better, Andi said, "I...don't know what you want from me, or if I need to do something. I'll admit, I'm confused as all hell. From what I hear, it takes a while for kids to get claimed, so… Um… What I mean is, just, thanks for claiming me. I think." she murmured that last line, at the same time her fingers brushed one of her lightning bolt hair clips unconsciously.
"It's entirely not a good thing," Thalia said under her breath.
Zeus frowned slightly, having heard her.
She wasn't honestly sure what to think about her claiming. On the one hand, she was glad she was claimed so quickly as even as short as a time as she'd had to spend with the other campers, she'd already heard plenty about how crappy it was to be unclaimed, especially if you went as such for a long time. But on the other hand? Well, she knew when something smelled fishy. And she was certain that Zeus had an ulterior motive for acting so out of character for a god and claiming her so quickly.
She could only wonder what was going on. With those heavy thoughts on her mind, the young Potter spent a couple hours just sitting on the roof of her cabin stargazing in silence until her exhaustion finally caught up with her again. She retreated back down into the cabin proper to catch some sleep.
As she got back to her sleeping bag, she quickly grabbed her messenger bag to use as a pillow. It was lumpy but a softening charm fixed that issue. Gotta get a proper bed soon, or at least a pillow, she thought to herself as her eyes closed to the smooth rumbles of the mosaic ceiling.
And that was her first official day at Camp Half-Blood.
"Not so bad," Percy said. "Least she didn't get doused by toilet water."
"...Yeah, thanks for reminding me." Annabeth grumbled.
For the first time ever, Andi felt, dare she say it, at home. A feeling that even the big magical castle in Scotland didn't give her.
It was at that time, something snapped at number 4 Privet Drive, crumbling down as if it was a sand castle wall.
At the same time, a twirling silver device in Hogwarts went haywire, alerting an old man of what had happened.
"Oh snap. Safety changed." Apollo chuckled. He reclined in his throne. "This ought to be good."
It was Friday morning when Andi raised her head out of her sleeping bag. She yawned as she looked out the window of her still way too big cabin and saw the early sun rising in the sky, it was about six or seven or so her internal clock stated. She was always an early riser, not on her own merit mind you.
She felt her ire rise as the reasons for her early bird tendencies crossed her mind, but she calmed herself down as she breathed deeply. She had stuff to do today, right? Andi had to talk to Chiron. She wasn't going to waste time getting angry about those people when she had important stuff to settle.
After a quick shower and a change into her camp attire with her wand strapped to her as always, she quickly brushed her bangs, and she was ready for the day.
Just as she exited the showers the hoot of an owl sounded off. Andi turned her head to see a snowy owl that she knew, "Hedwig!" she said in surprise and the bird flew to her extended arm. Andi petted her owl as it nipped affectionately at her finger, "How'd you even find me girl?" she questioned as the owl held out her chest in a proud hoot.
"Proud birds are very annoying." Poseidon mumbled, glancing at his brother and rival.
"...Is this the one where Annabeth gets nailed by bird droppings?" Thalia asked.
Annabeth growled and folded her arms over her chest.
Percy withheld a snicker.
Barely.
Andi rolled her eyes, "Ah, yes, I forgot who I was talking to." She said in humor to the cheeky bird before letting out a smile, "Glad you're here girl, I needed somebody from home after the day I had yesterday." She murmured.
Hedwig hooted in worry and hopped to her owner's shoulder as she nestled her head into Andi's.
"Aww, how adorable," Rhea said with a smile.
Athena smirked smugly at Poseidon, who rolled his eyes.
"Please, Mother thinks any living creature smaller than her is adorable."
"What was that, Poseidon?"
"Nothing, Mother."
Andi stroked the owl's feathers kindly, "Thanks girl." She muttered. Andi was glad she had let Hedwig out for some exercise before she left. The owl likely would have died if she was left in her cage. She highly doubted the Dursleys would have fed the bird; they would have probably left her for dead just to spite Andi.
"Free dinner though."
Athena snapped a glare over at Ares, who grinned.
"Am I wrong?"
Excited by her pet's arrival and eager to show off her new home, the daughter of Zeus walked around the camp a bit, telling Hedwig all about the stuff she got into this time, as the owl bobbed her head in understanding. As she passed Cabin Seven, the witch could see the children of Apollo were already up and about too, kinda obvious as to why. She waved to Katie as she passed the space in front of the cabins, just as she and her siblings were going to check the strawberry field after having just finished breakfast. Andi assumed that as children of the goddess of agriculture, they had inherited a farmer's mentality to rise with the sun also.
"Farmers love me." Apollo grinned cheekily.
"Yes, your stench makes them stir from slumber and your appearance makes them duck their heads down while they work."
Apollo frowned at his twin and then did a pit check.
"I don't stink!"
"You're full of gas, Apollo."
"...Did you just make a-?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Artemis muttered, a sly smile on her face.
Hedwig was perched on her head as she entered the pavilion for a quick breakfast of bread, cereal, and orange juice. She of course remembered to give some bits of bread to her feathered friend to nibble on.
"Hard to forget with talons digging into your scalp." Poseidon mused. He smirked when Athena glared at him.
After breakfast, she headed towards the big house next and saw Chiron reading a book while in wheelchair form on the porch, resting calmly in the warm sun coming over the valley. He no doubt heard her coming as he turned his head with a smile, "Greetings Andi, early worm I see." He said with a nod of approval.
"Yeah." Was all Andi said as she frowned, once again reminded of why she was such. Thankfully Chiron could tell it was an uncomfortable topic and didn't pursue the matter. Instead, the old centaur saw the owl on her head and cracked a faint smile, but said nothing, finding more humor in not speaking of it.
"That's Chiron for you," Percy said with a snicker.
"Well, I'm sure you have questions my dear."
"No doubt about that one." Andi said, taking one of the chairs near the table he was sitting by. Hedwig jumped to the porch railing, ruffling her feathers a tad, and closed her eyes.
"Tell me, who am I?"
"Who am-Man, I'd like to get the second line out before you threaten me once." Apollo dully informed his twin, who held an arrow to his throat.
"Should try to be faster then," Artemis said dryly.
"What? Like Herm? Nah, that's his thing. He's the quick shot."
"...See if I ever deliver your car mags again..." Hermes mumbled.
And so he did. She was a child of the Sky Lord, a child of the Big Three. Which meant she would have inherited some of her father's powers over wind, lightning, and storms. Powers that would be so formidable that weak monsters would scurry away from her, leaving only the strongest to challenge her and do their best to kill her. That as a result of this, she would most likely have to stay in camp for the rest of her life since it would be too dangerous in the outside world, what with so many monsters and even some gods after her. Andi was unsure how to respond to that. She already had a wraith after her, but monsters and gods too?
Man, she just couldn't catch a break.
Then Chiron dropped the bomb.
"And the whole camp exploded." Ares chuckled. "Tragic."
"If only..." Dionysus sighed.
About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more heroes. Their children, like her, were just too powerful.
"Hax galore." Leo snickered.
Andi's light show from the other day was a clear example of that. They were affecting the course of mortal events too much, causing too much carnage. A fact proven by World War II, which was a fight between children of the Big Three. The winning side, Zeus and Poseidon, made Hades swear an oath with them: No more affairs with mortal women. A oath that they all swore on the River Styx.
And Andi figured that was a pretty big thing with how serious Chiron looked.
"It was...and you two broke it..." Rhea frowned at her sons. "And one of you killed the mother of children who were born before the pact."
"..." Zeus had the decency to keep quiet at his mother's glare.
The trainer observed the girl as the news of her birth being forbidden settled in. He could see the ranging emotions going through her eyes, before they steeled, looking right into his own. But he could still see the uncertainty in them though, no matter how well she hid it.
"Is that why my life sucked? Because of the oath? Why my sister died?" she asked the centaur in a soft yet crisp tone.
Chiron was not very surprised at the mention of the first daughter of Zeus. No doubt Annabeth mentioned Thalia to the girl before him, but nodded, "Yes, as an immortal, your father got the easier end of it so to say while-"
"Thalia and I got the short end of it all, right?" Andi interrupted in an accusing tone, her face barely able to stay calm with the anger bubbling in her, as wind begin to circle around her body, coiling as if a viper waiting to strike.
"Snakes. Why's it gotta be snakes?"
"...I don't...Is that a reference?" Hazel asked.
"...Frank...Just...Just go. Go die." Leo groaned as he rubbed his eyes.
"I'm considering it."
"Yes."
Andi remained silent as he continued explaining the basics about being a demigod, but he could see the hurt and anger in the girl's eyes. He went on at length, Andi asking a question here or there. By the time he was done, Andi's face was set in a stoic mask, giving nothing away.
It seemed that she had finally got her rhythm back the centaur observed.
"That is truly all of it, Andi. Questions?"
"What are you smoking? Follow up: Where can I get some?"
"Hermes!"
"What? I'd ask it if I were a mortal."
The ancient trainer of heroes asked kindly.
Receiving a negative shake of her head from his young charge, he continued. "If that's the case here is the last thing I have for you: your weekly schedule." The trainer said as he handed Andi a piece of printed-paper that she promptly looked over.
08:00 AM-09:00 AM: Breakfast and cabin inspection
09:00 AM-10:30 AM: Ancient Greek with Annabeth
10:30 AM-11:00 AM: Magic lessons with Alabaster
11:00 AM-12:00 PM: Archery with Chiron, Sword skills, Javelin throwing, Monster assault techniques, or Pegasus riding
12:00 PM-12:30 PM: Greek Mythology with Grover
12:30 PM-1:30 PM: Lunch
1:30 PM-3:30 PM: Foot races, Tracking skills, Wrestling, or Volleyball
3:30 PM-5:00 PM: Laundry, Cabin clean up, or Climbing wall
5:00 PM-6:00 PM: Free time
6:00 PM-7:00 PM: Dinner
7:00 PM-9:00 PM: Volleyball league, Unarmed combat, Archery knockout, Trials of strength, or Capture the Flag (Friday: Armored gear required, all magical items permitted)
9:00 PM-10:00 PM: Campfire sing-along with Apollo's cabin
10:00 PM: Prepare for bed, lights out by 11:00 PM
"Which is lame."
"Piper..." Jason sighed.
"It's lame," Piper said simply. "I used to be up all night playing my video games-"
Leo cleared his throat.
"Okay, Leo's video games."
"Better."
"Well, it seems you have me all planned out." Andi said, going over it again, "Who's Alabaster?" she questioned with a blink.
"A son of Hecate. One of the best of her children I've seen for quite a while in the mystic arts. If anyone can teach you proper magic, it's him." Chiron answered.
Andi narrowed her eyes in thought, "But I go to a magic school. I've learned from teachers who have degrees in teaching magic." Even though they weren't really the best.
There was a resounding snort of agreement from everyone in the room.
Chiron breathed through his nose, clearly upset at the insinuation that wizards knew the first thing about teaching magic properly, "You use a wand child, they are training wheels to the true practitioners of the art. The wand movements and wand in general are not needed, they are just a helpful foci that later on cripples magic users since they come to rely so heavily on them. Trust me." he said to her, having seem his share of magical demigods before, he knew this to be fact, "Why, I even trained your half-brother Godric."
Andi's eyes bugged out, "Wait, you trained Godric Gryffindor? The Godric Gryffindor? I'm his half-sister?!" she gasped in surprise.
"Whoa...I didn't see that coming!" Apollo gasped.
"You can't. Python is back at Delphi."
Apollo scowled at Athena. "Thanks for the reminder..."
Chiron smile at getting her off guard with that comment, "Yes, I trained both him and Salazar."
"Then what about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?" Andi asked with confusion.
Chiron gave a shrug, "I am unsure." he answered, "But whatever their ancestry, they were certainly not purely mortal."
"What can we say? You monkeys know how to get your freak on." Apollo grinned at the demigods.
"...Yes, thank you, Apollo." Rhea smiled forcefully at her grandson. "That was a lovely image you just gave me."
"...Sorry, Gram."
"They were all demigods too? Of other gods besides the Greeks, maybe?" The child of Zeus asked.
"Who can tell." Chiron deflected and continued on,
"Oh, great." Zeus rubbed his head. Just what he needed to hear after Hades' daughter's tale.
"Slytherin was a child of Hecate. He and Godric were a pair of the finest magical demigods to be trained by myself." He said with pride. "Though their rivalry could get to be a bit too much at times."
Andi looked a bit pale at the news that at least half, and possibly all, of her school's founders were demigods, "It explains so much, I mean, how strong they were and everything. I knew about the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry bit, it's a part of Hogwart's history too. But the rest? Wow!" Andi said as she shot Chiron a wan smile.
"Yes, and they used magic the right way, not the wand waving way." Chiron stated with a twinkle in his eye. "Though they did pick up wands for those among their students who needed help."
"Can I start learning now?" Andi gushed, wanting to know how to properly use her magic.
"You'll have to wait." He said to her and chuckled at her pout. He looked at the sun and blinked, "Hm, still about seven ten, fifty minutes before breakfast."
"Didn't she already eat?" Leo asked.
Apollo grinned. "Oh...I remember what happens next."
"...Dammit." Zeus grumbled.
"But I already ate." Andi said with a blink.
Chiron nodded to this, "Then why not head to the archery range? Lee should be there with his siblings for morning practice."
"Apollo cabin?" she asked and got a nod, "Um sure, to be honest, archery looked interesting to me."
"And then some."
"Aphrodite!"
"Oh, don't deny it, Demeter. You like Apollo's boys, too."
"They get all those looks from me, you know." Apollo grinned at the goddess of agriculture.
"Apollo!" Demeter turned a healthy shade of gold.
"What? I ain't lyin'."
The old archer's face broke into a smile, "Well, some practice before I teach you would do you some good then. Hopefully, you'll fare better than Percy," he grimaced, "Now, off you go my dear. I need to prepare for the day." He said kindly.
Andi flushed, "Oh, sorry." She muttered to him for wasting his time with her issues.
He waved it off, "Think nothing of it." He assured as he wheeled into the big house.
Andi stood and turned to Hedwig, seeing the owl still asleep. The girl poked her feathered friend, who in spite of that, refused to wake up, "Fine, sleep. You've earned it. I'll go do something productive for the day girl." She ruffled the head of the owl and scampered off to the archery range.
"They make her sound like a cute little animal."
"Mother..." Zeus sighed.
"Well, she is rather petite..."
"Poseidon, shut it."
The first thing she noted was that almost all of the children of the sun were sun-kissed blond and had sky blue eyes that complimented their handsome/pretty features . As she walked over and made introductions with the head of Apollo cabin, Lee Fletcher. They welcomed her for some practice. He was even nice enough to say that he would help her out.
That boy Will was there as well. He had literally shot forward and said he would help her out too, much to Andi's confusion and Lee's apparent amusement.
"Yeah, go Will!" Apollo cheered. He noticed the scowling Nico and grinned. "Oh, don't worry, Nico, I'm sure Will is willing to share."
"...Did you just make a pun with your son's name?" Artemis asked dryly.
"It felt right." Apollo shrugged.
After getting her a bow for her size, Will showed her the proper stance and fixed any errors he saw. He blushed whenever he adjusted her form for some reason, but Andi just shook it off. Maybe it was a teaching thing between his siblings? Wanting to show he could to do it.
She made her first shot, nailing it in the ring before the bulls-eye's one. Excitement swelled in her for getting close to the bulls-eye and her stubborn determination made her want to keep going until she could get it right in the middle.
After about five shots, in which she managed to keep getting closer to the middle ring, fixing her feet here or her shoulders there, just to get into a more comfortable position while shooting.
Will noted that the wind was ignoring her shots, and Lee speculated that since she was the child of the sky god, her powers might include some aspect that made the wind ignore her shots unless she willed it to get in her way.
"Hax! I call hax!" Apollo jeered.
Zeus smirked. "Prove it."
"...Only Arte and I should be that good at using bow and arrows."
"She had to improve her skills, Apollo."
"Arte...She could try and take your place."
"Now you're just being petty."
"Well, yeah! It's what we do!"
On her sixth shot, Andi hit the bulls-eye ring and she gave Will a half hug out of thanks while jumping a bit in excitement. He was just smiled at that, happily ignoring his siblings' snickers.
Nico scowled and Thalia grumbled under his breath.
"...Well, maybe I'll be an uncle in that life."
Thalia and Nico then glared at Jason, along with Zeus, while Hades scoffed.
"Believe me, nephew, it's overrated."
They continued to shoot to around 8:50 and much to her joy on her last shot, she got her first perfect bulls-eye.
Andi smirked; she really liked using a bow.
"Bullcrap..." Apollo grumbled. Artemis rolled her eyes.
It was the afternoon and Andi had just finished doing the climbing wall. She got singed a bit, but the girl just imagined the lava as the Drakon she had faced when she climbed the statue of Slytherin to avoid being a snack. Using that imagery to help her focus, she had successfully conquered the wall too.
Right now though, she was taking a break and trying to think up what she could do during Capture the Flag.
Annabeth had told her after their ancient Greek reading session when Percy left earlier in the day about it. The two had proceeded to make an alliance between Athena and Zeus cabin in exchange for stories from Annabeth about Thalia. The blonde was surprised at such a simple request when she would have just done that anyway if asked, but Andi assured her that was all she wanted. And from the stories she got, well, Andi could tell that if she had ever met Thalia, they'd either be the best of sisters or be arguing left and right at how similar they were.
"Probably the latter." Annabeth mused.
Thalia frowned at her. "Annie…"
"Thalia, be honest with yourself."
"...I would get along with her."
"People who are too similar tend to be the most difficult to get to work together."
"Like you planning without telling me the plan." Percy pointed out.
"I told you the plan, Kelp Head. You just went off without listening to a word I said!"
"You never told me the plan-!"
"Percy, Thalia, this is exactly what I was talking about." Annabeth sighed.
The Potter told the child of wisdom as much and assured Annabeth that she would win every argument, getting the blonde to playfully push the shorter girl and roll her stormy grey eyes.
"So I got this spell, it's a stunner! Bam!" Andi said, punching her palm with her little fist, "Won't even see it coming."
"Psh, now I will." Thalia snorted.
"Don't think she was talking about you, Thalia."
"Quiet, Jason."
she told Thalia as she lounged against her trunk, "Besides, that... Well, I dunno... I mean, I don't have a lot of spells to help me out. Chiron wanted me to ease off the magic lessons today to save my energy for tonight. He thinks I might pass out again or something." the child of Zeus rolled her eyes, "I'm perfectly fine though. Well at least I, finally, get my first real magic lesson tomorrow, cool right?"
"Does she get a top hat?" Percy asked.
"Percy...Wrong magic."
"No, no...He's got a point. Rhode and Alkaid are destined to be knockouts," Hermes said with a grin. "Dressed like sexy magicians..."
Leo, Apollo, Hermes, Ares and even Percy succumbed to the dopey grins that crossed their faces.
They were quickly snapped out of their dazes by respective others, friends or family.
"OW!" echoed in the room until the Seer appeared.
"Who's hurt? What happened and why...do I feel like I missed something hilarious and awesome?" he asked.
"No one is hurt, Seer, just a few boys being boys," Rhea said with a kind smile.
"Oh...Ahem. Carry on, then." The Seer vanished in a flash of light.
"Such a nice man," Rhea sighed. Unaware of the glowers on the Big Three's faces, she nodded to her grandson. "Read on, Nico."
The branches just swayed in a light breeze.
"Yeah, I thought so."
Andi just kept chatting to the tree, she was sure her sister was lonely after all these years. Andi knew how horrible that feeling could be and so was determined to alleviate it for Thalia as much as possible now that she could. Plus, it made her feel a bit more connected to her older sister when she talked to her tree. And to be honest, she felt safe around the pine. Andi had noticed of course that everything she was doing was looked upon and judged one could say by the other campers.
It angered her, to be judged by people who didn't even know her; it just honestly pissed her off.
"Ah, so that's why you were so quick to claim the realm of law and order." Poseidon said to the King of Olympus, a grin on his face.
"Shut up, Poseidon." Zeus grumbled with a glare.
"I will...For now."
Zeus scowled heavily at his brother, who only grinned in return.
So what if she was a child of Zeus? She was also half mortal too dammit; she wasn't going to be the best at everything she touched, so why did they expect her to be some super child? She shook her head and took a deep breath to calm herself since her powers were acting up again. After her breath, she looked up.
Hedwig was up on one of the branches, sleeping. Lazy bird.
"Not. One. Word." Athena warned her rival, who looked ready to speak.
"...Hades?"
"So, during our meetings, when your eyes are closed, are you thinking or napping?" Hades asked in Poseidon's stead. While Athena and Zeus glared at him, as it could be dealt to either, he turned to Poseidon. "There. Now we're even."
"Indeed we are, brother. Indeed we are."
Though the sight of her feathered friend brought up a funny memory. When she had introduced Annabeth to the owl earlier at lunch, the owl had landed on the blonde's head which caused the girl to think the bird liked her. But Hedwig just pooped on her head, and promptly fled from the blonde to the pine tree to roost.
"...Percy, one peep out of you, and you'll be bird food."
Percy tried not to laugh while the other demigods did.
He cracked a smile.
"You'd better sleep with one eye open, mister."
"Annabeth, come on!"
"Humph!" Annabeth just pointedly looked away from him.
In response, Annabeth had sworn revenge on the sacred animal of her mother, or at least this one.
It was still hilarious though.
"Oh yeah." Leo snickered.
"Hi-larious," Piper said through her giggles.
"You guys suck." Annabeth pouted.
"Do they spit or swallow?"
"ARES!"
"And he was doing so well, too." Aphrodite sighed. She was so impressed and willing to give him a reward for good behavior.
As Andi continued to relax under her sister's tree, she took in the sights a bit and looked to the lake pier to see Percy and Grover. She waved her arm up high at them as Percy waved back while Grover gave a bit of a weaker one. They seemed to just be chatting too.
That night after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than what Andi remembered from yesterday. It was time for Capture the Flag.
"Best. Game. Ever."
"Do you have to say that every time?" Jason asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes. Yes I do." Percy huffed. "Just like I have to remind all of you that blue is best."
"Debateable." Thalia scoffed.
"There is no argument."
"Percy, Thalia, please let your cousin finish," Rhea said to her grandchildren.
"Yes, Lady Rhea-"
"Grandmother, dears."
Thalia and Percy shared a look before they corrected themselves. "Yes, Grandmother."
When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and everyone stood at their tables waiting.
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 siblings ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
"Beautiful." Ares wiped a fake tear from his eye and sniffed.
"Arguable." Athena drawled.
Andi turned to Katie at table four. Andi asked if the teams were always Ares and Athena. Katie, helpful as always, answered that it was just most of the time.
Just as Katie finished explaining that little bit of trivia, the teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Zeus, Apollo, and Hermes, the two biggest cabins and what some joked was their 'Secret Weapon'. Apparently, privileges had been traded-shower times, chore schedules, and the best slots for activities-in order to win support.
"Also, sexy time photos."
"Apollo!" Artemis glared at her brother.
Apollo pointed at Annabeth. "She made the deal."
Percy looked at his girlfriend, whose face turned bright red.
"...I didn't make those deals." Annabeth quickly hissed.
"Her brother did." Athena glared at Apollo. "After your daughter talked him into it."
"Hey, she knows what she likes." Apollo shrugged.
Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what Andi had seen, Dionysus's kids were actually good athletes, but there were only two of them. Demeter's kids had the edge with nature skills and outdoor stuff but they weren't very aggressive, unless you got on their bad side. From the Aphrodite campers, she didn't have to worry too much. They mostly sat out every activity and checked their reflections in the lake, did their hair and gossiped. Hephaestus' kids were rough looking, and there were only four of them, but they were big and burly from working in the metal shop all day. They might be a problem. That, of course, left Ares' cabin: a dozen of the biggest, ugliest, meanest kids she'd ever seen.
"And beaten by the dreaded toilet water."
"Piss off, Jackson." Ares sneered at the demigod.
Andi's examination of her opposition was interrupted by Chiron hammering 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!"
"Isn't that a bit contradictory?" Frank asked. "Arm yourself, after warning not to kill or maim."
"...Just sit and enjoy, Zhang." Ares grunted, his own head spinning in confusion.
He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, and ox hide shields coated in metal.
Andi scanned over the spread to see what she wanted. For armor she grabbed a rough leather cuirass, since she didn't want to be bulked down by the heavier armor. Next some greaves and armbands made out of bronze. She grabbed a quiver of arrows and threw it over her shoulder along with a bow. Last, she snagged a short sword and tied the sheath around her waist.
The child of Zeus already had her wand and invisibility cloak with her, but out of Chiron's suggestion, she left the ring in her cabin so she didn't kill someone. Andi took a blue headband and tied it around her forehead, not wanting a clunky helmet in the way of her eyesight. Looking over to the rest of blue team, a sight made her laugh.
"...Oh, no..." Percy groaned as his image appeared on screen.
"Not so fun when it's you whose being made fun of, is it, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked, smirking.
Percy had a shield that was the size of a large sign, with a big caduceus in the middle, and looked like he could barely lift it. He had a helmet, like all the helmets on Athena's side, which had a blue horsehair plume on top.
Leo, Piper, Hazel, Frank and Jason started to laugh.
Thalia and Nico smirked.
Percy rubbed his face in embarrassment.
Ares and their allies had red plumes.
Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"
Blue team cheered and shook their swords and followed her down the path to the southern end of the woods. The red team yelled taunts at them as they headed off north.
Andi rushed up to Annabeth at around the same time as Percy, who looked like he was almost tripping over his gear, "Hey." Percy said to the blonde.
She kept marching, but turned to the other girl, "Andi, you're with Apollo cabin, some magic could help out." Annabeth said abruptly, ignoring a frowning Percy.
"Hurtful."
"Shut up, Percy."
"Gotcha." Andi nodded as she rushed forward to meet up with Lee, who was leading the team of archers and was talking quickly with Luke.
"Hey guys." Andi said to them.
"Where's your helm, Squirt?" Luke asked as he smirked at the twitch in Andi's eye. Luke had apparently come up with a nickname for her. The blue eyed girl hated it instantly! And by his smirk, he knew it too.
The jerk.
"Biggest of jerks."
"Oh, he was being manipulated!" Hermes protested.
"Yes, because of his daddy issues." Ares smirked.
"That's because-!"
"Don't start." Zeus interjected firmly. He did not want to go through this roundabout blame game again. Especially with his mother glaring daggers at him.
"Don't need it." She said sharply, "Don't call me that."
"Probably got some hocus pocus thing going on." Lee joked with a grin.
"It's Mystiokinesis; don't call it something so lame feather-head." Andi frowned at the older archer, using the proper term for magic, something she'd only just learned during dinner when she'd briefly talked to Alabaster about her magical training.
The councilor of Apollo cabin held his chest and had a mock pained look, "Ouch, last name jokes? How cruel, Potter."
Andi rolled her eyes as the older boys laughed.
They had the grace to stop after a moment or two though and get back on topic. Outlining their strategy, Luke said that they were going to take a small squad to move fast. The group consisted of Luke, 2 Hermes kids, Lee and about 3 Apollo kids along with Andi herself or as Lee teased, their 'Secret Weapon'.
"Secret up until the clouds roll in and the sky lights up."
"Shut up, Poseidon." Zeus grumbled.
The conch horn blew. Whoops were shouted as blue team raced into the woods.
They met three kids of Ares first. Luke acted fastest; knocking one kid out like it was second nature. The second one went down almost as quickly from a horde of blunt arrows from the Apollo team. The third one was Andi's. Using a quick Expelliarmus, she knocked his sword out of his hand, and finished him off with a Stupefy.
"Magic is cheap." Thalia grunted out.
"You're still mad at Alkaid?"
"Shut up, Annie, you know you are, too."
Annabeth had the decency to blush, as did Percy, for entirely different reasons.
They quickly moved on but soon found themselves waylaid as arrows suddenly came flying out of nowhere. They ducked behind some trees, but it wasn't enough. They still kept getting pelted.
Andi rolled in front of the tree she was behind and held up her wand at the next volley, "Spongify!" As her spell hit, the arrows turned into Styrofoam. That surprised the mix of the Demeter and Dionysus cabins enough to give Lee and his siblings the opening they needed to return fire. Andi quickly joined in and soon their opponents were out of the fight.
"Nice save Squirt, come on." Luke ordered as they continued through the woods as yells and clangs of metal could be heard all around.
"This is like one of those battle scenes that goes on in the background while the main characters do something insignificant in comparison." Apollo mused.
"...This is insignificant?" Artemis asked.
"Kind of...I mean, we've already seen this, and the entire battle would be way more interesting to see as a whole, but, this is literature so we have to follow the protagonist." Apollo shrugged. "Cinematically, no one wants to follow one person during a war."
"Yeah!" Ares nodded firmly. "It's the one thing me and the sunspot agree on."
"...Well, that and Double D's are awesome no matter the situation."
Artemis whacked her twin and glared at the snickering oaf that was her brother.
Typical boys.
As they moved further into enemy territory, another group started to chase them as they headed to the flag. Andi turned to Luke and spoke, "I've got an idea, meet you at the flag." She said, separating from the group before Luke could even rebut.
As she thought, at least a little more than half of the group chased after her, most likely seeing her as a 'bigger' target so to say. She fired some arrows at random to mess with the pursuers and ducked behind a tree before she whipped her cloak out and covered herself, making herself invisible to the oncoming group.
"...I should do something about that." Hades grunted.
"Oh, come on." Poseidon sighed. "Why?"
"Invisibility is the lack of light, embracing one's non-existence in sight, i.e., the shadows."
"...Fair enough." Poseidon conceded.
"Where'd she go?" one asked, only to get shrugs in response; not giving up on their pursuit though, they fanned out to find her. Once they had scattered behind her, Andi dashed back in the direction of where the flag should be. After getting some distance, she took off the cloak and wrapped it around her waist again. It was kind of hard to run while wearing a cloak.
She made it to the flag, and saw two kids guarding it. And one was Katie. Andi grimaced, she didn't like fighting friends, but her competitiveness was calling for a win. And seeing that Luke and Lee's group wasn't there yet, this would be the perfect chance for her to pull it off on her own. Wouldn't it show all those idiots up, when she won the game with practically no training? She couldn't wait to rub that into everyone's faces.
She crept as silently as she could and took her bow out and aimed at the boy talking to Katie, nailing him on his helmet covered head, knocking him out with a thud.
"With what? A blunted arrow?" Apollo asked.
"...Boxing glove arrow?" Leo suggested.
"...Hephaestus-!"
"NO! Apollo, for the hundredth time, NO! It's NEVER going to be a real thing!"
"Aww..." Apollo pouted.
Katie whirled around, sword in hand as Andi dropped her bow and quiver while pulling out her sword. This was the second time she ever held a real one, but Andi was confident in herself, "Hey Katie." the child of Zeus waved weakly, geez this felt awkward.
"Hi Andi." Katie said with a smile of her own as she held her round shield in a guard position, "Going after the flag?" she asked, just shooting the breeze.
"…Man this is awkward." Mumbled Andi, a frown on her face.
"Not really, you just got called out is all." Ares shrugged.
Katie just shook her head, "Andi, have some fun. It's not we're trying to kill each other. It's just a game." She assured the new girl.
Well that made Andi feel a bit better at having to fight her new friend. Andi held her sword tightly; her free hand clutched her wand. It was a beat of a second later that Andi moved. She was fast, which seemed to catch Katie by surprise, but the more experienced camper recovered quickly enough to block the first strike from Andi. The brunette swung her sword at Andi, showing far more technique than what the shorter girl had.
"Aha! I knew it had to be the size!" Ares declared, slamming a fist onto the arm of his throne.
"It's not size, it's technique," Athena said, stressing the word. "Tactics!"
"Bah! Strength, Size, same thing. They're what matter most!"
"It's how one can counter the enemy, those are factors used under the mind!"
"The brains are just lucky bastards who can guess right!"
"...Do you even know how stupid you sound?"
"...Still stronger than you!"
"Athena! Ares! Enough!" Hera barked out. The two war deities went silent, glaring at one another.
The argument that had been persisting for millennia wasn't ending any time soon.
Andi tried her best to block, but Katie was starting to overwhelm her.
Deciding to step things up, Andi aimed her wand at her friend. An Expelliarmus shot out of Andi's wand, knocking the shield from Katie's arm. Undeterred, the resident of Cabin Four charged at the child of Zeus, giving a few slashes that Andi blocked, if only barely. Already hard pressed by her more skilled opponent, the daughter of the sky's guard collapsed and she felt her leg get snagged. Andi looked down to see her leg held in place by vines.
Capitalizing on the distraction of the daughter of Zeus, Katie moved to smack the butt of her sword on Andi's unprotected head in hopes of knocking her out.
Andi caught sight of Katie's intentions just as the sword was about to make contact and yelped. The sound that escaped her lips was loud, far louder than it had any right being, it was as if the child of Zeus's cry was like a bomb had gone off. Katie went rigid at being hit by the sound at point blank and fell over with a thud.
"...Oh, come on!" Apollo pouted childishly. "That's total BS! She gets a Canary Cry, but I can't even have Boxing Arrows?!"
"It's impractical!" Hephaestus bellowed.
"It's hilarious!"
"When would you use it!?"
"I dunno, if I was turned into a mortal again, maybe...though I must stress the highly unlikeliness of that occurring!" Apollo gave a pointed fear-filled look aimed at his father.
Zeus was already weighing the pros and cons of such a thing.
...The pros were outweighing the cons.
Andi was stunned and stopped slashing the vines off her legs for a moment, "Uh, Katie? You okay?" she asked with worry. When she got no response, she quickly cut off the rest of the vines and ran over to her friend's side and began shaking the girl's shoulder a bit. Still getting no answer, Andi checked for a pulse and was thankful that the girl was still breathing.
The child of Zeus was still worried about her friend though and was wondering what had happened, but once again her competitive nature overcame her. Katie'll be fine, she reasoned to herself as she headed for the flag.
She was just a few paces away from the flag when Luke's group suddenly busted through the woods and saw Andi there.
Blue eyes met and a silent challenge was made as they stared at one another.
"Oh shit. It's on." Eyes went to Percy.
"It's ONNN!"
"...Ah, New Yorkers. They never fail to correctly capture the northern American Stereotype." Leo sighed. He played with his belt and stuck his jaw out a bit. "Unlike us good ol' Texans, yee-haw!"
"Nico, please, hurry up and read," Piper said while she tried to conceal a laugh at Leo's (ironically) very poor impersonation of a stereotypical Texan.
Both Andi and Luke rushed for the flag. With Luke's longer legs and more years of training competing against Andi's natural speed.
It was a good thing she had a closer start.
Andi snagged the flag a millisecond before Luke and held the long ugly red cloth with a grin.
Luke gave her a playful glare and she felt the need to defend herself, "Well if you lot didn't take so long, maybe you would have taken down the guards."
Luke rolled his eyes and snorted, "Fine Squirt, you earned it." He answered, "Now, let's go." He said as the group started to run.
As they ran, the Hephaestus kids, who had apparently been tailing Luke's group for some time now, chased after them as Andi held the flag. Part way to the creek though, as Andi was distracted by avoiding being crushed by a honest to the gods boulder thrown their way by their pursuers, Luke grinned and swiped it with his natural born sticky fingers, getting a surprised look from the new girl.
"That no good..." Zeus scowled.
"Like father, like son, as the saying goes," Athena said dryly.
Hermes and the Big Three looked heavily insulted.
"Hey!" Andi cried out as the older boy laughed.
"It's capture the flag Andi, you'll get it one day!" he said, speeding up.
Andi growled like a tiny tiger. The wind picked up suddenly as she shot off the ground. Flying over Luke,the daughter of Zeus snagged the flag back from the shocked older boy.
"Hey!" Luke cried out this time.
"It's capture the flag Luke, you'll get it one day!" Andi shouted back tauntingly as she flew over the creek even while the Apollo kids continued to fight off the pursuing members of Cabin Nine.
"A trick!" Andi heard and saw Clarisse on the ground nearby holding a broken spear with Percy a stone's throw away from the stocky girl. The daughter of war was clearly upset as she shouted again, "It was a trick!"
"I still don't understand how it could be a trick." Percy admitted with a shrug.
Andi landed in friendly territory in a tumble, stupefied that she actually was flying on her own power. When the blue team saw her land though they exploded into cheers. With good reason, they'd won. As evidenced by how the red banner shimmered and turned to gold. The boar and spear replaced with a huge lightning bolt, the symbol of Cabin One. Overcome by their desire to celebrate, her teammates picked up Andi as she squeaked (not that she would ever admit it) in surprise.
"Put me down!" Andi shouted at them as they started carrying her around on their shoulders, ignoring the small girl. Chiron cantered out from the woods just as they finished the first full rotation of their impromptu parade around the clearing where Andi had landed and blew the conch horn.
The game was over. They'd won.
"Huzzah." Dionysus cheered dully.
Andi's head swiveled around as she looked through the throng of cheering campers, seeing Annabeth chatting with Percy, though the boy looked mad about something.
Andi floated up and landed near the group that had been carrying her around, holding up her hands and the flag, "Look, guys, thanks for the attention, but easy on the girl-handling." she ordered. As while she liked attention at times (very much so), she did need some room to breath.
She was about to continue when a howl ripped through the forest, interrupting her.
"Ah, Luke's welcome present," Percy said dryly. "Right on cue."
"The least you could've done was compliment him," Hades said with a huff. "Honestly, Percy Jackson, do you know how hard it is for a demigod that wasn't one of mine summon a Hellhound like that?"
"...Very?"
"Very."
"...Oh...But-!"
"I don't care that it was sent to kill you, you should still respect your foes' skills."
The campers' cheering died instantly. Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which Andi understood somehow as, "Stand ready! My bow!"
"...Is he talking to his bow?" Frank asked.
"...Frank, do you talk to your bow?" Leo scoffed. "Of course he's-"
"Yes."
The demigods, and Ares, turned to look at the Canadian beefcake.
"Eh, that's not so weird. I talk to my bow." Thalia shrugged.
The twin children of Zeus nodded.
"The words of reinforcement keep it sturdy," Artemis said.
"And bring in the ladies." Apollo added.
"...Well, I think I realized why I'm not good with bows," Poseidon said dryly.
"Ditto." Percy mumbled. He might have to try that next time he practices archery.
Annabeth drew her sword as Percy looked confused while looking up in the direction of the howl.
There on the rocks just above them was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers.
It was looking straight at Percy.
"Yum, a healthy Hellhound's favorite dinner!" Apollo chuckled.
"A bit on the scrawny side."
"Who asked you, Ares?" Percy grumbled while the War God smirked.
Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"
The blonde had tried to step in front of Percy, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her-an enormous shadow with teeth-and hit the green eyed boy. It shredded through Percy, leaving him a bloody mess in a matter of seconds before it swiveled around, setting its sights on Andi. Letting out another terrifying howl, it charged towards the child of the sky lord ready to repeat what it done to the black haired boy.
Andi was stock still, trying to mumble an incantation, but everything in her head had become a blank. Panicking, she shot her hands forward, dropping the flag, eyes closed. Fortunately for the girl, her powers reacted and a wall of wind surged into being before her, making the large hound roll over her, as its mass collided with the invisible wall. Andi fell to her back in a thud in shock at the sound of the monster impacting with her unexpected defense.
"...Shock saved her?" Hades asked, grinning at his brother.
"Hades..." Zeus warned.
"Well, if she needs shock to save her, I can do that, I'd suppose. It is the duty of a 'loving' uncle to protect his niece, is it not, brother?"
"Hades, be nice to your brother." Rhea chided.
"Yes, Mother." Hades kept his smirk on his face while Zeus scowled.
The hellhound recovered quickly from its tumble, but before it could make another move, a series of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of silenced gun fire whistling through the air resounded throughout the forest. Just as suddenly from the hound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell over Andi and exploded into dust, coating the young girl in gold as she shook somewhat from her near death experience.
It took a full minute, but Andi finally regained enough of her wits to check if she was injured. She was just beginning to experimentally prod the various parts of her body when Will ran up to her and while assuring her she was alright helped her up. As she got to her feet she noticed Chiron standing over Percy! Oh gods!
"You okay?" Will asked her in concern, as she stumbled.
"Ten fingers, ten toes, so yeah." She squeaked out and shakily moved forward to check on Percy. She stood next to Chiron, who had his bow in hand, his face grim.
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said, looking pale. "That was a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to..."
"But they did, get over it!"
"Shut up, Ares, who asked you?" Athena remarked.
"Well, someone's feeling defensive."
"Ares. Would you like to spend the next three chapters as a mortal without a mouth?" Rhea asked kindly.
"Yes, Ares, I would be glad to see to it you could," Zeus said firmly.
Ares, not too dimwitted, was able to recognize the threat and his mistake. He'd interrupted one too many times again for stupid reasons.
He silenced himself with a scowl. This was totally bogus.
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said, his voice rumbling. "Someone inside the camp."
Luke came over, worry on his face.
"...It must have been Travis."
Annabeth palmed her face at Percy's faked stupidity. Had he said that before they'd known each other for half a decade, she would've really believed he thought it was Travis.
Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"
"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her, obviously not believing her.
"You're wounded," Annabeth told Percy. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."
"Oh my!"
"Aphrodite, shut up." Artemis sighed.
"So eager to see him wet though, and at such a young age!"
Annabeth turned bright red and crossed her arms.
The action was noticed by one other, who decided to keep quiet for now.
"I'm okay." Percy croaked out, clearly not alright.
"No, you're not," Annabeth said sternly. "Chiron, watch this." She urged the trainer.
Percy was barely able to stand, but nevertheless did as told. He stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around him.
Instantly, the cuts on his chest were closing up. Some of the campers gasped. Andi blinked in surprise, only ever seeing such regeneration powers being the result of the use of Phoenix tears. But Will nudged her; she looked at him as he pointed above Percy's head, "Look." The boy told the sky child.
She did so and her eyes widened at the sight of the symbol over the Jackson boy.
Oh geez…not good, as if her being alive wasn't enough of a bad sign.
"Look, I-I don't know why," Percy said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry..."
"...Wait, you're sorry that you can heal?" Leo asked, disbelieving.
"I-Wha-I thought I was in trouble!"
"You're an idiot, dude."
"Finally realize that, Valdez?" Frank asked good naturedly.
"No doubt he's Heph's now." Hermes smirked. "My kids are quicker on the uptake than that."
"Oh ha-ha-ha." Leo laughed sarcastically.
But they weren't watching his wounds heal. Not anymore. They were staring at something above his head.
"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."
By the time he looked up, the sign was already fading, but he could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.
"Your father," Annabeth murmured while looking back and forth between him and Andi. "This is really not good."
"It is determined," Chiron announced.
All around Percy, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it. Andi knelt as well, just looking surprised.
"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
Andi had one thought going through her head.
Wait, he's my cousin?!
"Mosel tov!" Hermes cheered.
"...Uh, wrong language, Herm."
"Bah, it's a sign of celebration!"
AN: Yeah, I'm back. For now. So long as work and school permit...and my ADD...
Uh, anyway, review!
...please?
(I missed you guys!)