Chapter 3: Claiming
Hello! Sorry I've slacking off on posting. I'm also trying to get back into my other fanfiction, "Breakout" along with a dragon fanfiction on deviantART. Yeah. Anyway, back to the story! Usual disclaimer that I only own Alex, Jackie, and the events that happen in the story. Camp and all the other main characters were made by Rick Riordan.
Alex's POV:
I ran after Annabeth quickly as we ran towards a house in the distance. It was large, and made of old wood. From what Leo told me on the tour, that was the Big House. Annabeth, Jackie, and ran over a bridge, and we burst into the Big House. The left was the infirmary, where I woke up, and a large man with the lower half of his body replaced by a horse, the upper half of his body acting as the horses head.
"Chiron," Annabeth called, and the centaur turned.
"Yes Annabeth?" he answered. His voice was smooth and low, and it kinda calmed me down a bit. Annabeth handed him the dagger, careful not to break it.
"When Alex here touches the dagger, purple light comes out through the cracks in it. I'm starting to think who her mom is," Annabeth said, and took a deep breath. "But, she and Jackie are both 16, which is really old for newcomers. Also, with these obvious signs of their parents, why haven't they been claimed?" Chiron sighed.
"Dinner is soon, so we'll see if they are claimed by then. If not, then they will stay the night in the Hermes cabin. Until then, take them to the arena for them to watch the sword training, see if they can pick up a few tips," Chiron told her, and Annabeth relaxed.
"Come on, let's go," Annabeth said, and we started running all the way back to the arena. When we walked in, Jason and a boy with shaggy black hair were fighting. Leo was standing on the side, fiddling with pieces of metal again. Piper and another girl were sitting and watching. The other girl had dark skin, and messy curls of dark brown hair. Her golden eyes could be seen even from the entrance. Unlike many other people, she had a purple shirt instead of orange. Her shirt said "Camp Jupiter". Must be the Roman camp. We sat down next to them.
"Hi guys," Piper said, looking away from her boyfriend. "This is my friend Hazel. Her boyfriend, Frank, is busy being praetor at Camp Jupiter, so she usually comes here in her free time. Hazel, this is Alex and Jackie." Hazel smiled.
"Did Leo already go?" I asked. Hazel nodded.
"Now Jason is fighting against Percy," she pointed out. Oh, so the black-haired boy was Percy. He did look like a pretty good fighter.
"I guess this is a good chance to get to know you guys better," Piper responded.
Jackie's POV:
Everyone so far was nice. Piper especially. I guess that's because she's a daughter of Aphrodite, though. I sat down as Piper started to ask questions.
"So, where are you guys from?" she asked.
"We live at a fancy orphanage on the outer parts of New York City. White Wood Orphanage," I told her and she nodded.
"Any siblings?" Piper inquired. I shook my head and Alex hesitated before saying "no". The questions continued until the three boys I had met so far climbed up into the stands. We all introduced ourselves, and Alex reached out for a handshake. She then noticed how sweaty they were.
"Um… nevermind," she said. We all laughed and shared jokes for a bit, and Piper shared the information she got from us with the boys. Hazel left to head back to Camp Jupiter right before it was announced to be dinnertime. We all headed out together, and I repeated names and godly parents in my head so I wouldn't forget. Annabeth's mother was Athena. Percy's dad was Poseidon. Piper's mom was Aphrodite. Jason's dad was Jupiter, because apparently he was Roman. Hazel's dad was Pluto, the Roman version of Hades. Frank, whom I had never met, had Mars as his dad. Nico (I only barely heard about him) was a son of Hades.
Alex's POV:
Dinner was fun. Food magically appeared on our plates, and I feasted myself to a pile of calamari and a couple rolls of sushi. As you can tell, I love seafood. Everyone had their separate tables according to godly parent, so I just sat next to Jackie at the Hermes table. Soon people started going up and putting portions of food into the fire. A Hermes girl explained to me that they were giving offerings to the gods. I went up nervously and threw in a California Roll and a few pieces of calamari into the fire. Jackie threw in a large scrap of her sandwich, and a couple crackers. I saw other people throw in things, along with twins burning a bag of M&Ms. Soon, Chiron came up front of everyone.
"Two new campers have arrived today," he started, and had a short speech about welcoming us before he called us over. We went down and stood in front of every single table. I sat Leo looking at me, and as soon as I met his gaze, he smirked and looked away. Chiron introduced us, and I winced at the names he used. "This is Alexa Camden and Jacklynn Rodgers." How did he know our full names? Everyone was coming up to welcome us, and Leo came up.
"Hello, Alexa," he said, in a low voice. He bowed down, as if I were queen.
"Shut up, Valdez. If you were talking to anyone, it should be to Jacklynn over there," I told him, and Jackie punched my arm. Leo smirked and leaned against the firepit. "Umm.. Leo? You're on fire."
Leo frowned and patted down his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm fireproof," he told me. I smiled. Just at that moment, the fire jumped up, sending a messload of sparks in our direction. They all came together over Jackie's head, forming a glowing symbol of crossed swords. Chiron smiled.
"Jacklynn has been claimed by Ares!" he announced, and a group of kids roared in approval. Those must be her siblings. The sparks burst outward, showering the rest of us in them. Well, everyone but me. They just kinda hovered around me, until they died out and fell all at once. When they hit they ground, a thick mist swirled around me. I swatted it away, and it turned purple and condensed, forming the picture of a torch over my head. Chiron smiled again. "Alex had been claimed by Hecate!" he yelled, and a different, smaller group of kids roared. I saw Annabeth hold her hand out to Percy, smiling, as her boyfriend reluctantly gave her five bucks. I laughed.
"Alexa," Chiron started. "Since Hecate stays the same, Greek or Roman, do you wish to stay here or go to Camp Jupiter?" I almost immediately said that I was staying here. This time every camper roared, but Percy groaned as he pulled out his wallet and gave Annabeth another five bucks. I smiled and started talking to Leo and Piper.
"So… now that I'm claimed, I have no idea what's happening. Any ideas?" I asked Piper. She was being more help than Leo, who was fiddling with the metal pieces again. He started playing with a spring, but it bounced into the fire. I saw the metal turn liquid as it melted. Leo ran off, probably to get a new spring.
"Jacklynn!" someone yelled, and I saw a girl with long brown hair in a ponytail ran towards us. She had various weapons strapped around her waist, each one looking deadlier than the last. "I'm Clarisse, the Ares Cabin leader. Come on, I'll show you our cabin."
"Okay," Jackie said. "Oh, and call me Jackie, not Jacklynn." Clarisse shrugged and they ran off.
"Well then," Piper said. "How are you feeling?"
"Better," I replied, "but still a little confused."
"Don't worry. Let's go get you cleaned up, then I can take you to your cabin. Adam's the cabin leader there. He's nice, and he'll help you get started," Piper said. I followed her to the building I learned was the bathrooms. I took a quick shower and put my clothes back on. I was rinsing off my face at a sink when Piper came up. "Do you wear contacts?" she asked.
"Umm…" I muttered, then dried my hands. I leaned close to the mirror and carefully removed my contacts showing my true eyes. Piper gasped before speaking.
"You're eyes are…"
"Yeah," I said, looking away. "They're purple." Piper leaned in closer.
"I think I see golden flecks in them, too," she observed. I checked the mirror. I had never noticed those before. "Do you were them to disguise your eyes?" Piper asked.
"Correct! But I guess I have no use for these now," I threw them in the trashcan. "Oh, and one more thing." I shook my head side to side, then stopped to reveal that my brown hair turned blonde at the end.
"Anything else I should know?" Piper asked me. I shook my head for "no". I continued to wash my face as Piper left and a large group of girls come in, wearing bright colors that almost made my eyes hurt. They wore makeup heavily, and chatted amongst themselves, giggling occasionally. The leader of the girls looked at me, she was Asian with dark hair, and frowned.
"So," she sneered. "Your Jackie, I assume?"
"I'm Alex, actually," I answered. Did she not pay attention at dinner? That's when the perfume hit me. I gagged over the sink, choking in the potent stew of aromas sitting before me. I cleared my throat and tried to focus on her words.
"Oh. Hmm… I guess you both have boys names," the girl said, and her little protégés snickered at her remark. My hair had shaken onto my face, covering my eyes. I shifted my head a bit to reveal just one of them.
"Look, I really don't want to get in a fight on my first, er… third day here," I said, smirking at bit when one saw my eye. The others gradually followed her gaze and gasped. I pushed past them to leave. "Oh, and also," I added. "You don't want to mess with me. I started to head towards what I think was the Hecate Cabin. It was more of a tower than a cabin, and when I got close I could pick out runes on all the crumbling stone bricks. I walked inside the old wooden door to see bookcases on the far wall, along with various desks and what I assumed were magic items on the side. A boy with close cut brown hair and freckles. He walked up to me.
"Hey, I'm Adam, Hecate Cabin Leader," he said. I shook his hand.
"So… How do I use my magic?" I asked, saying the last word in a spooky voice. He led me into a room to the right of the bookcase. It smelled like fire and the walls were painted various colors, some parts blackened. This was gonna be fun. Adam began to explain all the basics of magic, how it made up all of Camp Half-Blood, blah blah blah. Then we got to the actual ka-boom stuff. I almost jumped up and down, but I needed to keep my calm-cool. I simply followed directions, and smirked a little when I got to shoot at a dummy on the far side of the room.
"Okay, so just take deep breaths and try to focus all your power into your hand, but try not to use the Mist," Adam told me. It wasn't easy but I held back the Mist, which still confused me a little. I watched as a dark purple ball of energy shot out of my hand, but it hit the corner of the room, way above the dummy. More purple balls spewed, causing small explosions on impact. Adam made a large shield and covered both of us with it. I got up once the explosions stopped. "Well, you got good power," Adam said. I looked back at him, out of breath. "Maybe we should work on your aim."
I glanced at the former-dummy that had gotten obliterated by the random explosions. I tried to talk between breaths.
"I still hit it, didn't I?"
So that was Chapter Three! Sorry for the long wait! School started, and I've been really busy. Okay, that's an excuse. But low intension span is a really bad thing if you're a writer. I got focused on other things, especially this thing I've been watching online called Red vs Blue. Future fanfiction? Maybe so. I also had some writer's block, but it's receded more towards my other story. Sorry if you also read that, chapter 2 is almost halfway there! Anyway, signing out, this is mflame323. Peace!
Word Count: 2026
