Percy reached the pine, slightly out of breath. In the field below him, he could see several other demigods, Travis Stoll, Leo Valdez, and Frank Zhang, among others, fighting in the midst of 3 hellhounds, and a manticore. Percy's brow furrowed in confusion as he sprinted to help. 4 monsters? Usually a new demigod didn't attract this many, unless...
He didn't stop to dwell on the thought. Instead, he uncapped riptide and sprung into action, disintegrating the closest hellhound, which happened to be about to leap onto Travis Stoll.
"Thanks Percy!" Travis called, as he had almost been crushed by the monster. "What took you so long?"
Percy grinned as the battle waged on. Within minutes, all the monsters had either been slain or had run off, and their attentions now turned to the unfamiliar face in the crowd.
She was fairly tall, with curly dark hair and sparkly brown eyes, but she looked uneasy. She was holding two swords, which moments ago Percy saw her use to disintegrate the manticore. She flipped the swords around her ring fingers, and they suddenly shrunk into intricately carved black rings. The demigods all gathered around her and started whispering to each other.
Percy felt a twinge of annoyance and sympathy for the girl. He pushed through the crowd and held out his hand towards her. She shook it apprehensively, but she held Percy's steady gaze.
"Hi there," he said warmly. "I'm Percy, Percy Jackson. What's your name?"
She whispered her response, then seemed to catch herself and cleared her throat. "Charlotte Davis," she answered firmly. "Call me Charlie. Um, where am I? And why were those things following me?"
Half the camp was gathered around now, and Piper suddenly materialized next to Percy.
"Come with me," she said, putting an arm around her shoulders. "We'll go to the big house and explain everything." She put a bit of charmspeak into her voice to reassure her, and it seemed to work. Charlie calmed down, and together they walked off.
As soon as they were out of earshot, the crowd started buzzing. Drew loudly said, "Oh my gods, did you see her dirty outfit? She probably hasn't showered in a week!" Travis said "Did you guys see her eyes? They were gorgeous!" From Leo, "Man, could she use those swords!" Then Jason said, as if thinking out loud, "She must be pretty powerful to have attracted all those monsters."
Percy silently agreed with him. He gave Annabeth a look, and they headed towards the big house together.
Charlie was sitting on the porch with Chiron and Piper, sipping iced tea. Chiron seemed to be explaining something, and Charlie was nodding like she was being lectured.
Chiron looked up at the approaching pair.
"Ah, Percy, Annabeth," he greeted. "We were just finishing the explanations. Care for some tea?"
Percy and Annabeth sat down on a wicker couch and Piper passed them each a mason jar of iced tea. Percy took a sip, then asked Charlie, "So, where are you from?"
"Syracuse," she answered. "I lived in an orphanage there."
"Oh, really?" Percy asked, curious but not wanting to pry.
"Yeah," she answered cautiously. Then she seemed to consider them all and continued, "My parents were killed in a gas explosion at my house when I was 4. Some people found me wandering the streets in my neighborhood and brought me to the orphanage. They don't know how I survived."
Chiron raised his eyebrows but said nothing.
"Huh. You're what, 16?" Annabeth asked.
"Almost."
"And you haven't been claimed?" Annabeth asked, and Charlie shook her head.
"How did you get here by yourself then?"
"Well, a few days ago I had this dream. It was so weird," she started, her eyebrows knitting at the thought. "There was this man, he was like a big dark shadow, and he told me I had to get to Long Island Sound. That dream was so crazy, so, obviously, I ignored it. The next night, I woke up at 3 A.M., and the shadow guy was IN my room. I freaked, but he was so... Powerful, that I couldn't move. He gave me those rings and told me to 'use them well' and he also said I had to make him proud, whatever that meant. Then the room went dark and I was suddenly transported outside the orphanage, with my bags packed and everything, not that I had much. I lost the bags by the way," she informed them when Piper started to ask where they were. She continued, "Then it was like there was a magnet or something, pulling me here. I kept getting attacked by weird things though. I was fine, my swords disintegrated the monsters. But it still kind of freaked me out. Anyway, and here I am now," she finished, dropping her gaze and staring into her glass.
"Well that's unusual, child." Chiron said. "It's a miracle you made it here with no guide. You're very lucky."
Charlie didn't seem to know what to say to that, so she just bit her lip and nodded.
"Look on the bright side!" Piper interjected. "Tonight at campfire, you'll probably be claimed!"
Charlie brightened a bit at that, and the golden spots in her eyes seemed to sparkle even more.
"You probably want to get cleaned up before dinner though," Annabeth stated matter-of-factly. "You'll be staying in the Hermes cabin until we find out who your parent is. Unless of course, it IS Hermes, though from what you've told us, that's highly unlikely. Piper and I'll walk you by there, you can tell us more about yourself." she said, rising from the couch. The three girls waved goodbye to Percy and Chiron, and headed towards the cabins.
Percy clapped his hands together and half smiled. "Looks like she's going to be very interesting," he remarked as the girls disappeared into the distance.
"Indeed."
Everyone from the Hermes cabin had gone to the lake to go swimming, except for Travis, who had been patiently waiting for someone to walk through the door.
But not her.
When he heard the knob turn, his face cracked into an evil grin, but his expression turned into shock as he realized it was the pretty new girl from that morning.
He was surprised, but he shouldn't have been. Of course she would come here, she hadn't been claimed yet, duh! he thought, mentally face-palming himself.
"Wait, go back!" he shouted at her. She froze, but too late. The door had already triggered the trap. A huge water balloon exploded on her.
"What the-" she gasped, soaked.
Travis cringed. And that isn't even the worst of it, he thought.
Suddenly, a waterfall of green slime rained down on her, completely covering her.
She stared at him, shocked. Her intense sparkling brown eyes jolted him out of his surprise, and he leaped off his bed towards her.
"Oh, gods, I'm so sorry!" he apologized, hurriedly attempting to scoop some goop off her.
She kept staring at him.
Wow, she really does have gorgeous eyes, he thought again, I just wish they weren't giving me that murderous look right now.
"I'm so so so sorry," he stammered again. "That was meant for someone else. Anyone else, really. I'm so sorry, oh gods, I'm such an idiot!"
She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again. She regarded him for a moment, and then started to giggle.
"What-?" Travis asked, confused.
She couldn't answer as she was laughing too hard. Travis was bewildered, but her laugh was so infectious he soon found himself also laughing hysterically.
"Wh-what are we laughing at?" he asked, still giggling with her, a few tears leaking out of his eyes.
"Oh my gosh, just nothing!" she burst out along with more giggles. "It's just, today has been so crazy. And now this! This is just-" she cut herself off with a huffed laugh.
Travis's laughter slowed until he was just grinning from ear to ear.
"Sorry again. It's Charlotte, right?" he asked.
She started to correct him, but then nodded instead.
"Okay Charlotte. Well, I'm Travis Stoll. Don't mix me up with my twin brother Connor, though, I'm much better looking than he is anyway. Um, you probably want a shower now," he said, looking her over and swiping a glob of slime out of her dark curls.
"Well yeah, that'd be awesome."
"The bathroom's back there," he said, throwing his thumb over his shoulder. "There's soap and stuff in there, use whatever you like."
He held out his hand and helped her step out of the pile of goo.
"Thanks, I'll be quick." she said, heading to where he pointed.
When the bathroom door had closed, Travis sighed happily, then walked over to the sink to wash his hands and grab some cleaning supplies.
20 minutes later, just as he finished scrubbing the floor clean, he heard the shower shut off, then Charlotte called him.
"Travis?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, I don't have anything to wear."
Travis stood up and brushed his knees off.
"Hold on!"
He walked over to his dresser and pulled out a clean Camp Half Blood t-shirt, then went over to one of his sister's dressers. He accidentally opened her underwear drawer and shut it quickly. He blushed a little when he realized Charlotte would need other stuff too. He grabbed a small pair of shorts from a different drawer and walked away, leaving it open.
He went over to the back wall and pushed their "Extra Stuff" dresser right in front of the bathroom
door. He laid his shirt and the shorts on top of the dresser and knocked on the door.
Charlotte opened the door a crack, and steam billowed out.
"Here's a shirt and pants, and there're new packs of... Understuff in the drawers," he said, blushing lightly again.
"Oh, thanks!" she said, grabbing the clothes. Travis went over and flopped down on his bed while she changed.
A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom, fresh faced, her wet hair smelling like oranges.
"Did you find everything you needed?" he asked, sitting up.
"Oh, yeah. Thanks," she said again.
"No problem. So, what do you think about camp?" he asked, wanting to start a conversation.
"It's really nice!" she said, smiling. "I can't wait to see more of it."
"Well, I could give you a tour sometime," he said, hoping she'd take the hint.
She smiled bigger. "I'd like that."
They talked for a while about random things until Travis checked his watch.
"Uh oh! We're late for dinner!" he exclaimed, jumping up. He grabbed her hand and they rushed out the door.
After dinner, everyone walked up the hill to campfire. Well, not quite everyone. Jason kind of hovered and Frank turned into an eagle and flew, which everyone thought was unfair.
Charlie walked with Annabeth and Piper, and the three of them were smiling and laughing like old friends. Travis wasn't far behind, and he smiled when he heard Charlie's laugh again.
Nico and Percy were at the back of the group, talking quietly to one another.
"Percy, I don't know about her," Nico said in a hushed tone. "She's obviously really powerful, but how could she have survived that long in the mortal world? Do you think she's a child of the Big Three?"
"You know what I was wondering?" Percy said, his ADHD getting the best of him. "If Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades are the Big Three, does that make you, me, and Thalia the Little Three?"
Nico rolled his eyes. "Percy-"
"Right, sorry. Back on topic," Percy amended, rubbing the back of his neck. "I dunno. She kind of reminds me of you though. I guess we'll see soon."
Nico shoved his hands in his pockets and trudged on.
Drew, who had apparently been listening, came over and started to walk with them.
"Whatever you guys do, don't trust her," she charmspoke. "She's weird, and she's not even pretty!"
"Go away, Drew." Percy said annoyed, willing himself not to be drawn in by her words.
"Really, you know she's strange. She's probably a spy!" She said, pouting, as she flipped her hair over one shoulder.
Percy never hit girls, his mom had raised him right, but his hands balled into fists.
"Drew, knock it off and go away," he said through gritted teeth. "We give everyone a chance, we all need to trust each other."
"That's an awfully good way to get yourself in trouble," she said haughtily, and stalked off.
Nico frowned. "After that, I think I trust Charlie."
Campfire that night was rowdy and full of energy as usual. Everyone was singing loudly and enthusiastically, so the fire blazed bright and rainbow colors. The highlight of the singalong was when Leo ran up the hill, late, with his hair on fire. Charlie screamed, but when it became evident that nothing was wrong, she started laughing along with everyone else.
The time came for Charlie to introduce herself to the camp.
"And today, as I'm sure you all have heard, a new camper arrived! I'm sure you'll do your best to make her feel welcome," Chiron said, then looked pointedly at the smirking Drew.
"Charlie, would you come up and say a few words?" Chiron asked her.
Charlie hopped off the bench and walked up front to the microphone.
"Um, well, hi everybody!" She started, not sure what to say. "My name's Charlie Davis, and I'm 15 years old. I'm an orphan, uh, except for whoever my godly parents is..." she trailed off.
"Thank you, Charlie." Chiron said. "You may step down now."
Charlie started to hand Chiron the microphone, but a strong gust of wind came from out of nowhere and blew it into the fire. The outline of a man started to form in the flames, which had now inexplicably turned a coal black. A few campers screamed, some drew their weapons, and others slowly backed away.
Except for Charlie. The magnetic feeling she talked about that had led her to Camp Half Blood was back, but this time it was drawing her towards the flames.
"Charlotte!" A voice called from behind her. Probably Travis, as he was the only one who called her that.
She kept walking.
When she reached the edge of the fire pit, the fire formed into a 15 foot tall man, who spoke.
"Child," he addressed her. "I have come to claim you. You followed my instructions, and you are on your way to making me proud. Continue to do so, daughter of Hades." The flaming figure reached out his hand and touched her on the forehead.
Suddenly, Charlie could see random spirits and ghosts, imprints of those who had walked the earth long ago. She looked into the fire and saw not a flaming figure, but a real person, apparently Hades. He had black eyes, and a stern gaze, but she could feel a connection to him that was unexplainable. She nodded, and he withdrew his hand, and the world went back to normal.
Except for one thing.
She was a ghost.
She gasped and felt herself rise a few feet into the air. She raised her hand in front of her face to look at it, but instead, she looked THROUGH it.
Startled, she dropped her had, only to have it accidentally go through the fire. She quickly drew her hand away, but realized the fire hadn't hurt. Tentatively, she reached her hand out again to touch the flames. She felt nothing.
She looked around at the faces of the startled campers. Hades was still there, in flame form, and was watching her expectantly.
Charlie closed her eyes and focused, envisioning her hand and body becoming solid again. She felt herself slowly lower to the ground, and was relieved when he felt her feet touch the earth. When she opened her eyes, she quickly brought her hand up in front of her face. Solid.
She sighed with relief, as did the other campers, and Hades almost smiled in approval.
"Well done, child. Use your gifts well, there will come a time when they are needed."
Charlie nodded, and the fire slowly shrunk back to its original size.
A black helmet symbol blazed brightly above her head. Most of the campers stared at it in shock.
"Well, child," Chiron said, bowing on one knee, as the whole camp did the same, though Drew followed suit reluctantly. "You have just been claimed. All hail Charlotte Davis, daughter of Hades!"
A/N
This oneshot is for Girl-With-The-Fiery-Wings, who owns Charlotte Davis:) I hope you all enjoyed it! Please review and or follow and or favorite! The demigod submission form is still on chapter one, you can submit as many as you like, and I'll do them all! Please submit more!:)
Also, you can request a follow-up story for your character if you want more. I may also include your character in future stories! (e.g. Charlie may make an appearance in other oneshots)
Xoxoxo
EmMarie