The next chapter. Please review. The lack of reviews is kind of depressing. Even if you dont, enjoy!
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Chapter 3: In Which I Discover that a Large Part of My Family Likely Wants me Dead.
Percy walked quickly for an older guy. He was up from his chair and almost out the door before I even got out of bed. I managed to catch up by the time he was outside in the hallway though. He lead me up a set of stairs and out through a pair of doors onto a roofed porch, like the kind you always picture senior citizens sitting on while they play Bingo or do whatever elderly people do.
"You were out for three hours." he said as he walked onto the porch. "We'll have about an hour and a half or so for the tour, and then it will be time for dinner."
I nodded and followed him off the porch, and down into what I guessed was the main part of the camp. There was a large open-air pavilion lined with columns and other Greek architecture, and off in the distance I caught a glimpse of a lake and some woods. Percy, however, was heading towards a cluster of cabins set down away from the dining area.
"How old are you, Sander?" he asked as we walked, turning to face me.
"Fifteen." I said, and then hit him with a few questions of my own. "Who is Titus? What is Camp Jupiter?" I asked in a rush, desperate for some answers.
Percy gave a small smile, and shook his head sadly. "Fifteen? And you've made it you're whole life without an incident like what just occurred? You're lucky. I guess we let you hear too much about our camps troubles." he added, chuckling. "But curiosity is not necessarily a bad thing. This camp here," he said, gesturing with a hand to the whole valley around us, "is a training camp for children of the Greek gods. Demigods, we call ourselves, or half-bloods. In the west, just before you reach San Francisco, there is a camp for the children of the Roman gods. The Greek and Roman gods are really the same beings, but with different aspects of their personalities; one Greek, one Roman. Children of the gods in their Greek aspect come here, those of their Roman aspect go to this other camp. This is Camp Jupiter."
He paused to make sure I understood. I nodded, willing him to go on and answer my other question. Percy sighed, and did so.
"Titus is the praetor of the legion quartered at Camp Jupiter. The Legio XII Fulminata. Rather unfortunately, the only remaining praetor. We lost contact with the other one, a son of Mercury named Erik, during one of his trips here, to Camp Half-Blood. Titus claimed the Greeks were holding him against his will, or had killed him. I tried to convince him otherwise, and as a result I was asked to return here in person and investigate. Titus told me to stay for a week, and then come back. That was six months ago, and he continues to delay my return. And now that you've shown up, I'm beginning to think Croesus may be right. War may be inevitable."
"Whoa." I said, "Hold up a second. What do I have to do with any of this?"
Percy took a deep breath and then looked straight at me, his green eyes boring into my brown ones.
"Children of Alale are very rare, Sander. I've never met one before you, and Chiron tells me that in three thousand years of training heroes, he's known exactly two. Alale was only a Greek goddess, that is, she didn't take on a Roman aspect like the other gods did. But the dangerous thing about her children is that they are far more powerful than kids of minor gods and goddesses usually are. Almost as powerful as your average child of Ares. Your mother is a companion of Ares, the god of war. She rides with him into battle and fights along side him. She is, essentially, a war goddess. Chiron knows far more about this than I do, but from what he's told me, every time a child of Alale has appeared, a war between Greek and Roman demigods has followed shortly thereafter."
It took a good twenty second for me to understand exactly what Percy was saying, and when it did, it was shocking.
"You're saying I'm going to start a war." I said quietly, still mentally reeling from the prospect. But Percy shook his head.
"That's not what I'm saying." he said calmly. "I'm saying that your arrival at this camp signals that a war could very well be coming. The events that may have led to it have already happened. You could die tomorrow and it could still happen. Or you could live to be one hundred and never see a war between the camps. Fate is not written in stone, Sander. At least not usually. But take care, because the side with whom the child of Alale fights has always been the victor. If Titus finds out about you, he'll likely devote all of his considerable resources towards having you killed."
By now we had reached the cluster of cabins. Percy started pointing out which ones were which god's or goddess's. As we passed the most elaborate of them all, a massive structure of marble and stone faced with columns, a shadow crossed Percy's face. I followed his gaze, and found that he wasn't looking at the cabin, but rather at a mound off to the side. There was no headstone, only a short sword thrust into the earth, with a round pommel sticking up into the air, but it was clearly a grave.
Percy touched his hand to his forehead in a reverent salute, "Recquiesce in pace, mei amicus." he murmured softly. I wanted to ask who was buried there, but the look on Percy's face told me that to do so now would be inappropriate.
He finished the tour without speaking much, only pointing out various facilities of the camp like the armory, the stables, and a huge climbing wall the spewed fire and lava. His attitude, however, was enough to tell me that he was still dwelling on the prospect of war with the Roman camp. Then I realized that Percy had clearly spent time at the other camp. He probably had friends there, was probably close to most of the campers. Being a son of a Greek god, he would feel obligated to fight with Camp Half-Blood. But then he would be fighting and killing most of his friends. It was no wonder the guy looked depressed.
Just then a man ran up. Well, not really a man, since he had furry goat legs from the waist down, and curly brown hair from which projected a pair of curling horns. It was probably the weirdest thing I had seen since showing up.
"Perrcy!" he bleated, "Chiron's back. He wants to talk to you."
Percy forced a smile. "Thanks Grover." he said. "I'll be right up."
Then he turned to me. "You'd better come too." he said. "I know Chiron's going to want to meet you, and we'll have to figure out where you can sleep."
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