Plants, fire and fear.
Chapter 2
Dimitri's POV
After meeting Chiron the centaur and the camp director Mr. D who was the god of wine, Perseus or rather Percy took me on a tour of camp.
We passed the volleyball pit. Most of the campers looked my age. Their satyr friends looked older than Spencer. They were all trotting around in orange CAMP HALF BLOOD t-shirts, with nothing to cover their shaggy hindquarters. Speaking of Spencer, where was he?
"Hey Percy, do you know anything about a satyr named Spencer"
He thought for a moment then said "He got re-assigned to another school, to look for another demigod"
"Oh, ok"
We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushes of berries, while a satyr played reed pipes. Some of them stopped and stared at me for a moment before going back to their activities.
Percy told me that camp grew a nice crop for shipment to New York and mount Olympus.
"It pays our expenses" He explained.
I watched as the satyr played his reed pipes, the music making the bugs on the plants leave in different directions, like refugees fleeing a fire.
I saw a brunette with brown eyes walk over.
China's POV
I spotted Percy walk by. I walked over and noticed that he wasn't alone. The first feature that I noticed in this tall handsome boy with deathly pale skin was his eyes.
Oh my gods, they were terrifying, the colour of fresh blood. The sight of them made me hesitate before going up to them.
"Hey Percy, who's your friend?" I asked, not breaking eye contact with the strange boy. I naturally am a curious girl,.
I'd never seen a
"Hey China, this is Dimitri" He stretched out his gloved arm and I took it. It was hard and cold, almost as if it wasn't skin.
Then the strangest thing happened, his eyes burst into flames. Like his eyes had suddenly become two balls of fire. I jerked backwards, rubbing my eyes. I looked back to see that his eyes .
"Is anything the matter? " He asked in an apprehensive voice.
"Yeah… everything is….. fine' then I sprinted off, the sight of the fire in his eyes permanently embedded in my mind.
Dimitri's POV
"What's up with her" I asked as I watched China sprint off. I have to admit, she was pretty, with her petite stature and brown hair.
"She's a daughter of Demeter, what do you expect".
Percy shrugged and continued the tour. After showing me the armoury, the cabins, the canoe lake, the arena and the rock climbing wall which had real lava flowing from the top.
We were passing one of the cabins when a blond girl ran over and hugged Percy, planting a kiss on his cheeks.
"Hey sweet thing" he said, I rolled my eyes. Then she noticed me and gasped the moment we made eye contact. What was up with these guys, haven't they ever seen a guy with red eyes, I mean come on, they probably thought I was a vampire or something.
"Is there a problem" I asked in an annoyed tone. For a moment she looked terrified, like I was going to grab her neck and suck out all the blood. Then she regained her composure. Percy seemed to be the only one immune to my 'Horrible eyes' as a girl in 7th grade once told me when I bumped into her in the school hall. I had gotten used to the fact that my eyes were terrifying.
"Nothing, sorry… I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena goddess of wisdom in battle."
"Dimitri Medley." She shook my hand and had the same expression that China had.
"Is there anything wrong with your hand?" She asked, her intellectual stormy grey eyes analysing me rigorously.
"Oh this?, its nothing, just a nasty scar" I lied
"So…." I said trying to change the topic "Who do you think is my godly parent"
"Frankly, I have no idea. None of the gods have red eyes" Annabeth said .
Now it was Percy's turn to gasp "For the first time in history, Annabeth doesn't know something" He said like it was the strangest thing in the world.
She glared at him and punched him playfully "Shut up seaweed brain, you can be an idiot sometimes." She giggled
"You mean all the time" We heard a voice behind us. I turned around and I found myself staring at a girl. She had spiky black hair and a black leather jacket. She wore a silver circlet on her head like a princess tiara. My biggest surprise was that she didn't gasp or look away when she saw my eyes.
The thirty other girls with her in white shirts, silver camouflage pants and combat boots weren't so immune. A few of the older ones gasped, while the younger ones shivered and hid their eyes.
"Oh ha ha, very funny Thalia" Percy said as Annabeth ran over to hug her tightly. Then she looked at me without even flinching.
"Thalia Grace Daughter of Zeus, god of the sky" She said
"Dimitri Medley" I said shaking her hand.
"That boys eyes are on fire" I heard one of the girls whisper. She was clinging to and older girl.
"Yeah, I'm scared" another one whispered.
"Um Thalia" She said averting my gaze she was shaking a little, "Can we get to the cabin, he is upsetting the girls" she said.
She said the word he like it was some vile word. I folded my arms across my chest.
"Ok Chloe, you can leave, I'll be with you in a minute" Thalia said
With that they dashed hurriedly towards the Artemis cabin.
"Well, see you guys at capture the flag. Get ready to loose" With that she dashed after the other girls.
"Why exactly does everyone run away when they see my eyes" I said a little annoyed.
"Well…you um…. Your eyes…" Annabeth stammered
"What she's trying to say is that your eyes seem to burn up if you stare at them too long and then you see yourself and everything you hold dear burning, but the fire doesn't seem to consume you, just torture you" I heard china say.
Percy and Annabeth started down the pathway leading to the dining pavilion.
"Hey china, why did you run off at the strawberry fields" hoping she wouldn't run away this time.
"Your eyes, they um.. scared me, but I think I've gotten used to…" Then she rubbed her eyes vigorously "I stand corrected , still as concentrated as before" Then she handed me a pair of sun glasses.
I opened my mouth to say something but was interrupted by a conch horn.
"Dinner time' China said, practically dragging me towards the dining pavilion.