Chapter 4 – The Contest Begins
It took a lot of effort to drag myself out of bed the next morning. I just wanted to fall asleep and forget all my troubles.
My first activity was climbing. I was so distracted with thoughts of the contest that evening that I lost my grip and fell into the lava. Fun.
Next, I had a javelin throwing class. I put all my annoyance and anger into my throw, and the javelin flew so far that I almost impaled a wood nymph.
However, there was one bonus to being chosen as judge. When I entered my cabin after class, Kaylie showed me all the gifts that had been delivered to try and bribe me. A daughter of Hecate, the Goddess of magic, had given me goggles that allowed me to see in the dark, and a child of Aphrodite had given me a cream to make spots disappear. To be honest though, the bad factors outnumbered the good.
After dinner, I walked slowly to the Amphitheatre, where the first stage of the contest was.
A hundred campers were seated there, murmuring to each other excitedly. Chiron was standing below them. I went and joined him.
When I saw the brazier in Chiron's hand, I gasped. It was overflowing with bits of paper.
"Good evening, demigods. We will now commence with the first stage of the competition", Chiron announced. Then, he turned to face me. "Percy, pick three names out of the brazier and read them out."
Taking a deep break, I reached into the brazier and pulled out the first name. "Drew Kallista", I read.
All the children of Aphrodite cheered loudly.
I pulled out another name. "Annabeth Chase", I read.
There were a few whoops, but many half-bloods began whispering that I deliberately picked her because she was my girlfriend.
Shoving my hand right to the bottom of the brazier, I pulled out the third and final name. "Katie Gar.." I began.
A flash of dazzling light interrupted me. When it cleared, Hera was standing in front of me.
"This is an outrage!" she shouted. "Athena and Aphrodite both have representatives in this contest, so I should have one, too."
I realized that she was right. In the old days, the three contestants were Aphrodite, Athena and Hera. I had picked out Drew, daughter of Aphrodite and Annabeth, daughter of Athena.
"But you have no demigod children!" I exclaimed.
I backed away as Hera marched up to me. "HOW DARE YOU!" She screeched, her face red with anger. "As I have no children, I SHALL TAKE PART MYSELF!"
"But, I picked Katie Gardner out of the brazier! And having a Goddess against two Demigods would just be unfair. If I don't pick you, you'll blast me to pieces!" I objected.
"Then you'll just have to pick me, won't you?" Hera vanished in another flash of light.
Chiron sighed. "Well, Hera did have a point, and we can't disobey a Goddess. Therefore, our three contestants shall be: Drew Kallista, daughter of Aphrodite, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and Hera, goddess of marriage and queen of Olympus!"
Nobody cheered. We were all too shocked. Katie Gardner started to cry. The campers left with morose faces, and I followed miserably.
How could I choose between Drew – the prettiest girl at Camp, my girlfriend Annabeth, and a goddess?