Well, It's been over a year now since I've updated this story (I've had classes) and, since I've now got an easier schedule, decided to post the new chapter that's been sixteen months in the making (Literally.) Enjoy!
After my tour was over, Silena said I should visit ''The Big House'' and talk to Chiron. I didn't look for any gigantic mansion; I simply went to the house that looked most important.
Looking up at it, I didn't see why they called it 'The Big House', because there was at least three other houses bigger than it. When I walked in I found Dionysus playing cards with a centaur.
Normally, I would've stared for at least five minutes, but after being told I was a demigod, nothing could surprise me. Or, maybe it was because I still thought this was a dream.
When I walked closer, the centaur noticed my presence and sat down his hand. "Ah, so I see the tour is over then", he said while walking towards me. He was over seven feet tall, with his puffy hair tied in a ponytail.
"Yes sir", I said awkwardly. I still wasn't entirely sure how to talk to mythical beings. I shifted my feet nervously, but he was too busy hitting his ears. "Sorry lad, my hearing hasn't been too good since I went to a family reunion."
"I'm Chiron", he said extending his hand. "Riley", I said shaking his hand. And I'm sure you've already met Mr. D, he said pointing a finger at Dionysus. Before I could answer, Mr. D broke in.
"Well of course he has, I was sent to pick him up after all," the god said with a huff. Chiron led me outside, near the edge of the forest. "Dionysus doesn't always do as he's told," Chiron said after we stopped walking. "Usually, he sends a couple satyrs to do his chores."
"Now, I'm sure Silena told you about this forest?" "Yeah," I said to Chiron. "Well then, I'm sure you know that you shouldn't go into this forest alone at your current level," Chiron said.
"Nevertheless, in spite of you having no prior demigod training, you'll be competing in a capture the flag game tonight," Chiron said, shifting his feet nervously. Or maybe that was just a centaur's way of pacing.
"Sounds cool," I said while looking into the forest. I wondered what kind of monsters would be in there. I've never fought a monster before, but my dad taught me how to hunt and fight, so I didn't think I was at a complete disadvantage.
"Yes, well then, I'll get Skyler and have him give you a weapon," Chiron said, breaking me out of my thoughts.
…
Chiron led me to the Hephaestus cabin, which looked bigger than all of the other cabins by 2-3 times. After Chiron walked away, Skyler led me down into an underground basement.
"So, what type of weapon am I going to get?" I asked looking at all of the different weapons. Some were on walls, some were in glass cases, but most were in piles on the ground.
"That's up to you," Skyler said while pulling on a light switch. I was almost blinded by all the light reflecting off the steel and bronze. "Is this a handgun?" I asked picking up a weapon in one of the piles.
"Yeah, only it shoots Bronze bullets instead," Skyler said while moving around some of the piles. I decided to look around for another weapon. It wasn't that I was a bad shot (because I was a great shot) it just didn't seem practical to have a weapon that was limited to special bullets.
There weren't a lot of guns, but there was at least one copy of every gun model, from a handgun, to a bazooka. It made me wonder why someone would make some of these weapons.
I looked through every pile, but found nothing of interest. Just as I was about to settle on a shotgun (it was more out of novelty) a silvery object caught my glance. "What's that?" I asked Skyler, pointing to the object on the wall. It had a cylindrical, with holes in it.
He looked up from searching through the piles to see what I was pointing to. "Oh, that? That's a Lightsaber," he said as if it was no big deal. I figured it wasn't like the Star Wars version, but I still went over to check it out anyways.
The holes, I realized were buttons, all of them black. I cringed to think who had it last, because it was pretty banged up. When Skyler saw me fiddling with it, he came over quickly to where I was at.
"That weapon's even more advanced than the shotgun you have there," he said while jogging over to me, all the while dodging piles of weapons. "How so?" I asked.
"Well, you need magic to power it," he said. "But, it looks high-tech, why involve magic?" I asked him while looking at the Lightsaber. "Well, even for Hephaestus kids, some things are too advanced," he said, looking at the Lightsaber. "So, the original creator decided to use magic."
"How hard is that? I asked to use magic?" "Well, everybody has some magic in them, but very few have enough to cast spells," he said. "Apollo kids have the most amount of magic in them, bar none."
I flicked the switch, and a green blade materialized, but quickly dissipated. "Looks like I don't have enough," I said looking up, but he had a look of bewilderment on his face. "What?" I asked.
"I-I was just about to say that you need to channel your magic before hitting the button," he said. "That was amazing! Not even our best Apollo camper can do that." "What caused it to poot out?" I asked.
"Just doing that was unbelievable," he said looking at me like I was super human. It kinda freaked me out, so I took a step back." I'll need to repair it," he said holding out his hand. I handed the Saber to him, and went to set the shotgun back down.
"You can keep that," he said while moving back towards the stairs. "It's just taking up space. Your game's at eight tonight, so I'll get right to work on this." He picked up a small box and handed it to me. "Shells," he said.
When I walked out of the cabin, I saw that Chiron was waiting for me. When he saw me lugging around the shotgun (it weighed about sixty pounds) he chuckled. "I might've taken your father as the ballistics type, but not you," he said with a smile on his face.
"Its okay, but I decided on the Lightsaber," I said. "Ah, a chip off the old block, eh. You know, your father had a weapon with the same amount of nightmarish difficulty," he said while looking down at me.
"He called it Tri-biter, because it was three weapons in one. The name inspired another weapon. Its name was a double meaning, but ended up with the same definition." I didn't get what he meant by that. or even what he was talking about.
"So how did it get damaged," I asked. "A half-blood before you used that weapon in the Titan War, but didn't know how to use it properly and ended up falling in battle as a result," he said looking at me.
"Your game's at eight sharp, don't be late. Dinner is in thirty minutes at the dinning pavilion," he said walking off. "But I already ate dinner," I yelled. Even though he was only walking (I guess. I can't really tell) Chiron was already halfway across the field.
He stopped and turned around to look at me. "Although it would behoove you to eat on your first night here, you won't be able to because of the game." He winced when he said game.
"Then why am I supposed to go?" I asked. It was a legitimate question. "To mingle," he said.
It was pointless going to the dining pavilion or 'mess hall' as the other campers had called it.
That was pretty much all that I had picked up sitting there in my chair for thirty minutes. Although I had been assigned to the Hermes cabin, tonight for some reason I sat with Chiron and Dionysus.
The only one eating at the table was a 14 year old boy, but he kept getting up and talking with other campers (he didn't sit down at the other tables though, as Chiron said that was forbidden.)
When the clock struck 7:30 I rushed out of the cafeteria (which is what it essentially was, complete with cliques.) No one was in the Hermes cabin, so it gave me some time to get ready without someone pulling a prank on me every three seconds.
I decided it was probably best to show up at the edge of the forest at 7:45. Just as I was opening the door, Skyler ran up to me. "Here," he said handing me a box.
The box was made out of blue and white diamonds that didn't reflect light. When I opened the box, a bright white light filled the room. The light was incredibly blinding, so I closed the box just as quickly as I had opened it.
"What's the box for?" I asked after wiping my eyes. "It's a charging station of sorts," he said about to walk of the door. "Why does this thing need charging? I thought it ran off of magic?" I asked.
"It does, but I modified it a bit. You need some training in how to control your magic before you can use it in a full scale battle," he said before stopping in the doorway.
"That's where the modifications come in. Now it can also run off electricity." "But, I thought you said this thing was too advanced to run off electricity?" I asked.
"It is and it isn't. Three hundred years ago when it was created it was too high-tech, but nowadays you can at least make it to where it can use electricity as a second option. It's not going to be nearly as powerful without magic though," he said while opening the door.
"Good luck," he said walking out the door. I tucked the box in my hoodies pocket and walked toward the forest. It took me about five minutes to reach the spot I was told to go to.
As I walked up to the edge of the forest, I noticed Silena, Darrell, and about 13 other campers arguing over something, while Chiron was trying to break up the argument. When I walked up, everyone stopped and looked at Chiron expectantly.
"Most of you know the rules, but for those of you who don't I will now explain," he began. "Two teams of eight will compete to obtain the opposing sides flag. The rules are the same as traditional capture the flag, but physical combat is allowed. Those who kill, maim, or seriously injure will face consequences."
"I will be the referee of this game since Mr. D has other matters to attend to. Each side is separated by the creek bed, otherwise known as the neutral zone. This is the area where one can no longer place troops in pre game strategizing."
"You have fifteen minutes to set up your strategy before a horn goes off. That horns sound indicates the start of the game. When the horn goes off again, that will indicate the end of the game. With the rules explained I bid you all good luck."
"The two teams are Kiss of Death, led by Silena Beauregard, and War Cry, led by Darrell Hamilton. The two newcomers, Riley and Mikey, will be on Ms Beauregard's team. Does everyone understand the rules?"
A couple on the War Cry team grunted, which Chiron seemed to take as a yes. "Well then," Chiron said looking at both teams "You may begin!"
Every camper (myself excluded) picked up a duffel bag that was lying behind them and ran in opposite directions. When we got to a clearing, everyone set their bags down and pulled out what appeared to be armor and a helmet.
"Here," Silena said handing me a balled up piece of what appeared to be chain mail. The armor was two sizes too small, so I was going to have to take off my hoodie and Hanes T-shirt.
I went behind a bush (because frankly I didn't feel comfortable undressing in front of seven people I really didn't even know) and put on the chain mail. The first thing I noticed was the weight. It had to be at least fifty pounds. The second thing I noticed was the fact that when you put on the chain mail (mine was like a shirt. Not sure if all are like that) you could see the spots where it had been damaged and repaired.
I decided to ignore the former for the time being, but the latter was a constant anvil on my body. To make matters worse my arms were covered up from my shoulders to the back of my hands. What this meant was that I was going to look like a stiff board because of this undersized piece of armor that not even a three year old could fit into.
When I walked back out from behind the bushes (with my hoodie back on) Silena was giving assignments to the other campers. When I walked up, Silena said "You'll be following me. "
When she noticed my stiff walking she said "Too undersized?" "Yes, and too heavy," I said annoyed.
"I didn't know what size to get you, so I got a small, and your armor's only five pounds heavier than everyone else's." That was impossible, plain and simple. That kid Mikey was a four-foot six twelve year old, and couldn't have been no more than eighty pounds, but was walking around like nothing. "No way," I thought to myself.
"By the way," I began; "I don't know the rules to Capture the Flag outside of Call of Duty games."
"It's pretty much the same rules. Incapacitate anyone that gets in your way, get the flag, and bring it back. Oh, and don't die." The way she said that last part made me realize the whole No killing, maiming, or causing serious injury rule was a joke.
In the distance a loud conch shell went off, signaling the start of the game. The moon was already high in the sky, which made a chill run down my spine. I hated night time warfare (as my dad called it) because I didn't exactly have great night vision.
Silena slapped me on my back, breaking me of my thoughts. "Let's go," she said, already running down a path way. To my credit, with fifty pounds of armor on, I ran at a pretty fast speed, but Silena was always a good twenty-five feet ahead of me.
After about fifteen minutes of running, we came across a clearing similar to ours. The only difference was ours was surrounded by trees, while this one by rock formations. There was a giant elm tree in the middle of the clearing, with a red flag positioned right in front of it.
We hid behind a tree seventy feet from the clearing, and Silena pulled out a pair of binoculars. Meanwhile, I was too busy wiping the immense amount of sweat off my face that had accumulated from running two miles in such a short amount of time.
"Doesn't appear to be anyone guarding it," she said while putting the binoculars back up. "Darrell's leading this team, right?" I asked. "Yeah," she said. "Then there are at least four people around the flag," I said while visually scanning the clearing.
"What makes you say that?" She asked. "The dude uses the same strategy for video games. He sends half his group to obtain the flag, while he and the other half stay behind to defend," I said matter-of-factly.
"Soooo, where would he be hiding at?" She asked. I pointed to the tree, "Two are in the tree." I then pointed to one of the rock formations," One there. And finally, one there," I said pointing to a bush.
"You sure?" She asked. "Of course," I said.
"Alright then, I go in to get the flag, and when they come out, you sneak attack them," she said while pulling a pin from her hair. In an instant, the hair pin transformed into a battle axe, a sight that caused me jump ten feet back wards, or at least I would've if it hadn't been for this armor I was wearing.
She walked out of hiding and went towards the clearing all nonchalant, like it was normal to be carrying a three-foot battle axe and be ambushed by four people.
No one came out until she actually picked up the flag, at which point Darrell and a chick that looked scarier than Silena's battle axe jumped out of the tree, weapons already drawn.
Silena still had that cool look on her face, only now there was a hint of fear in her eyes, and I knew why. Now not only was she carrying here comically oversized axe, but also the flag and she couldn't let either go.
I wanted to begin a sneak attack, but it was still too early. They were ready for something else (even if they didn't know what that "else" was)
"Two against one, you insult me Clarisse," Silena said. "Don't hype yourself up as better than you actually are," Clarisse said.
The other two opposing campers came out of hiding and joined Darrell and Clarisse. For a brief second I saw an electrical current form at the tip of Clarisse's spear, before she jabbed it at Silena.
Silena dodged the strike and immediately swung her axe, but Clarisse ducked her body, and jabbed with her spear. It connected right in Silena's abdomen. A spark of red electricity flashed, and then Silena's flying backward a good twenty feet.
"Crap," I thought to myself. There were two options I had at the moment. I could make a mad dash and grab the flag from Silena's hand and run like hell (the less honorable path, but the most militaristic) or I could try my hand at a four-on-one handicap match.
Deciding there was no other option but to step in, I took off my hoodie, followed by my armor (which was a pain since my sweat glued it to my skin.) After catching my breath, I bent down and pulled out the diamond box that housed my Lightsaber. When I opened the box, the light wasn't quite as bright as before, but I still had to turn my head away.
I quickly ran out into the open, which was a mistake since the other two campers (whose names I didn't at present know) jumped in front of me and tried to strike with their swords.
I dodged both strikes with the grace that can only come from years of training. Before they could launch a second attack, I grabbed the one on the right and threw him to the ground.
When the other prepared for a strike, I punched him on the right side of his jaw, causing him to knock out instantly. When the other one got up, I threw a roundhouse kick and connected with the side of his face. Maybe it was against the rules to throw punches and kicks, but I was working on the logic that it wasn't any worse that trying to impale someone with a sword or get shish-kebabed by an electric spear.
Clarisse's face was twisted in a snarl as she walked over to me. I looked over at Darrell and expected him to be walking over as well, but he was calmly leaning against the tree with a smirk on his face. His reaction to the situation was downright sending a shiver down my spine, as he only used that look when he was absolutely confident about something.
Clarisse's spear charged again with electricity, and the smell of burnt paper filled my nostrils, almost causing me to gag. She charged with a quickness that made my previous two opponents look like snails. Before I could put up a defense, her spear connected with my ribs on my right-hand side, and just like Silena I too flew backwards.
I don't know how, but I was able to get up immediately afterward. I felt power flowing through me, and I realized that her spear had went clean through my ribs and that the electricity had numbed out a portion of my body. But the power was rejuvenating me, and all of the numbness except for the spot on my ribs faded.
With the flip of a switch the metallic green blade of my Lightsaber came into view. I don't know what she was more surprised at: my sudden recovery or my Saber. Either way she sobered up quickly and charged with the same speed she had used before.
There was a difference though. Now I could see her with even more clarity than I could the other two guys. I dodged her strike and swung as hard as I could at her chest. The result was an "Ooph" from her as it connected.
I realized that I didn't want to cut her in half (in spite of having a gaping hole in my ribs currently) which must've been why my Lightsaber only hit like a supped up baseball bat.
I expected Darrell to cower at my previous display, I mean the guy was excessively timid, but instead he touched his gold chain on his neck, and a katana with a hazel colored blade materialized in his right hand.
He still had that smirk on his face as he took a couple steps towards me. "Why the smirk?" I asked.
"You got lucky against Clarisse, but that won't happen to me," he said.
"Oh and why is that?" I asked.
"I was just given the title of level two swordsmen," he said. I gave him a look that said why am I supposed to give a crap about that. "What that means is, I'm officially a master, and in your case, lightning has never struck twice."
My energy that I had against Clarisse was tapped out, but I knew I could still take Darrell. "You say you just became at master, at the age of sixteen. Am I correct?" I asked.
"Yeah, what's your point?"
"My point is there's a reason my parents didn't worry about me not coming to this boot camp for several years, and that reason is that my dad's trained me in every single aspect of fighting since birth. In short, I'm a war machine," I said with a smirk on my face.
"Again, I ask what your point is?" He asked with obvious annoyance in his voice.
"The point is that what you just becoming a sword master is something I've been since I was ten," I said. I could feel some of that power again, but it wasn't a lot. I didn't need a lot from what my previous two battles showed me.
Darrell charged and swung his sword at my neck, but I (somehow) managed to duck out of the way. "Are you crazy? You could've killed me! I said while getting back to my feet (as I had buckled during the duck.)
He showed that same smirk on his face as before, and I realized that he wasn't coming at me with his full power. He was toying with me, and that pissed me off. I charged at him in much the same manner as he had, and sure enough he managed to duck as well. There was a difference though, and that was that he didn't trip, and performed a sweep with his sword right at my knees.
I jumped to avoid it, and swung my Saber down in an arc pattern. He moved to the left to dodge it, but I used his previous sweep strategy on him. He managed to block the blow, but unfortunately it was with his left wrist.
Because I wasn't trying to severe his hand, the Saber merely billy clubbed his wrist. "AHH!" he yelled. The strike didn't cut his hand at all, but it ripped through the armor on his wrist like a knife through butter.
He let his arm dangle to his side, and lifted hid katana with his right arm. Because I was feeling generous (and EXTREMLY cocky) at the moment, I decided to put my left arm behind my back. "Only seems fair," I smirked.
The look in his eyes turned murderous, and he came at me three times faster than before. We dueled for about fifteen seconds before we separated to catch our breath. It had only been just over a minute since I came out from behind the tree, but I still decided to check on how Silena was doing.
Imagine my surprise that she was nowhere in sight, and neither was the flag. I don't know when she had done it, but she had bailed without a sound. I looked back over at Darrell expecting him to go running off down the clearing, but much to my surprise he still had that same look in his eyes.
He hadn't noticed her disappearance, which meant the only thing to do was make my own escape. He charged at me again, but this time I met him halfway. Three seconds into our second duel, I saw an opening and kicked as hard as I could at his abdomen
He was falling backwards, when I turned around and ran as fast as I could down the clearing. When I was eighty feet down the trail, Silena jumped down from a tree and started running alongside me.
I had a couple of questions I wanted to ask, but decided they were better suited for another time. I kept looking over my shoulder expecting Darrell, or that battle axe Clarisse to be right on our heels, but after running for only forty-eight seconds we were back at our flag.
The next chapy probably won't be as long, but should be up in a couple days. R&R