Chapter 4: Dinner and a Sing-Along
The five of us marched off to the pavilion, where we got our own table. We got our food and were about to go eat when we saw everyone go off to a brazier in the center of the pavilion, where they would scrape off a portion of their food into the fire.
Annabeth explained, "It's a burnt offering to the gods. They like the smell."
I made a face. "Who would like the smell of burning food?" I said before I caught a whiff of the smoke. It smelled like freshly cut grass, like brownies straight out of the oven, like my mom's shampoo, like my dad's office, all the things that reminded me of happiness and my family. I almost believed that the gods could live off of that smell.
I scraped a portion of my beef into the fire, and sent up a silent prayer to whoever my godly parent up there was to send me a sign or something. I was getting really curious over who my parents were, or was, however you want to put it.
I sat down at our table where my friends were sitting. We ate in silence, taking in the scene around us. One of the Hermes kids was trying to pickpocket an Ares camper, a Hecate camper had stolen the hair off of an Apollo camper, and an Ares camper, a big mean girl, was trying to declare open war on a pile of mashed potatoes. It was...an interesting scene, and I wondered where my friends and I fit into that picture. I couldn't quite place any of us, so I guess only time would tell.
Annabeth sat over with the Athena campers, and I could tell that she fit in well their. They were deep in a discussion about the validity of Einstein's theory of relativity, and it was an interesting discussion, but not one I wanted to get engaged in. I was lost in thought when the Ares girl I had seen declaring war on potatoes marched up to me and seized me by the leg, dangling upside down.
"What are you staring at? Looking at me that way, huh? You want to fight?" she asked.
"No. I just want to know what you had against potatoes," I said calmly, well, as calmly as one can when hanging upside down.
I saw her turn red. "I wasn't fighting my potatoes, I was just practicing my sword moves."
"Against potatoes?'
"Don't judge me."
"No no. Fighting potatoes. Very macho," I said.
"That's it punk," she said, swinging a punch at my head. I tightened my abs and curled out of the way. Using the distraction, I kicked her in the head with my free leg, and she crumpled. I landed on top of her, pinning her arm to her back in a position to break it.
I whispered in her ear, "I've dealt with bullies worse than you before," before letting her go.
She looked startled. "You've got spunk kid. I like it. My name's Clarisse. Maybe we could use you for Capture the Flag tomorrow night, you know, if you're not claimed by then. If you are, I'll try to recruit your team. I like your spirit," she said, rubbing her head and walking away.
I just sat down in shock. Annabeth walked over, looking pretty amazed. "You know, the only one I've ever seen do anything like that to Clarisse is Percy, and he had to use his power over water. And, somehow you managed to gain a friendship with Clarisse. How did you do that?" she asked.
I just shrugged. "I had to deal with bullies a lot in school, although now that I think about, they were probably monsters, but regardless. I taught myself self-defense mostly from experience. Having really fast reaction times is great too."
Annabeth gave me another calculated gaze, and I could tell that she was analyzing me again. "There is really something different about you Joe. I guess we'll see at the sing-along tonight."
I just nodded and went back to eating, my thoughts whirling. Who was I? And why did everyone think that I was something special? Sure, I was smart and I could fight, but what did that mean? I guess only time would tell.
After dinner, a guy in a hawaiian shirt got up and addressed the crowd.
"Yes, yes. Afternoon. No one cares. Okay, you know we have the sing-along tonight, and tomorrow is Capture the Flag. Yippee, hooray. Now run along you little brats," he said in a very monotone voice. I instantly knew that I didn't like that guy.
"Hey Annabeth, who was that guy?" I asked.
Annabeth assumed a look on annoyance and sighed. "That's our director, Dionysus. He's very sour because he's stuck here for fifty more years because he fell for a wood nymph that was declared off limits. Yippee, hooray," she said, clearly mocking the director's tone. I laughed, and we continued to chat all the way down to the campfire.
The campfire was massive, almost the height of two story house and about as wide as a bus, surrounded by logs so massive you could drive through them with a semi and still not brush the sides. It was quite amazing.
We started to sing some crazy songs about stuff like Hades' underpants and a wood nymph down by the creek. The choruses were easy to remember, and I sang along with vigor. Toward the end, Annabeth gave me a wink and motioned for everyone to quiet down.
"As you know, we have several new campers tonight, yet unclaimed, but one of them has volunteered," she said, putting special emphasis on the word, and giving me another wink, "to give us a song. Joe, if you would," she said, sitting down again.
"Oh great," I muttered under my breath, but I made my way down to the base of the fire, near a big tree stump. "Alright, anybody got a fiddle?" I asked. An Apollo camper passed one down to me, and I tuned it up, I don't know how but I did. I pulled the bow across the strings to test it, and began the introduction, a rather rapid intro, but somehow I managed before launching into the song, which was a rather rapidly sung song, while my friends started the clapping.
Well the devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind, 'cause he was way behind, he was willing to make a deal. When he came across a young man sawing on a fiddle and playin it hot, the devil jumped up on a Hickory stump (here I actually jumped on the stump) and said "Boy let me tell you what. I bet you didn't know it but I'm a fiddle player too, and if you'd care to take a dare I'll make a bet with you. Now you play a pretty good fiddle boy,
but give the devil his due, I bet a fiddle of gold again against your soul 'cause I think I'm better than you.
The boy said my name's Johnny and it might be a sin, but I'll take your bet, you're going to regret, because I'm the best that's ever been.
Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard, 'cause hell's broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals the cards. Well if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold, but if you lose the devil gets your soul.
The devil opened up his case and he said "I'll start this show" as fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow. He drew the bow across the strings and it gave an evil hiss, and then a band of demons jumped in and it sounded something like this.
I launched into a solo of the devil's part, the whole crowd cheering. The solo was hard, with some plucking of the strings and some strumming, but it came out awesome. When the instrumental was done, I launched back into the song.
When the devil finished Johnny said, "Well your pretty good old son, but sit down in that
chair right there and let me show you how it's done." Fire on the mountain run boys run!
The devil's in the house of the rising sun! Chicken in the breadpan apickin' out dough!
Granny does your dog bite, no child no!
I then proceeded on with Johnny's solo.
The devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat, and he laid that golden
fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet. Johnny said, "Devil just come on back if you ever
want to try again. I done told you once you son of a gun, I'm the best that's ever been."
And he played ire on the mountain run boys run!
The devil's in the house of the rising sun! Chicken in the breadpan apickin' out dough!
Granny does your dog bite, no child no!
I finished the song with one last solo, before taking a deep bow. The crowd cheered, demanding an encore, but I was exhausted. Playing the fiddle (which I actually had no idea how to play, I kind of just went along with the music) that hard and that fast was just draining. I climbed back to my seat with my friends, where they congratulated me and laughed. They always loved that song.
All of a sudden, the whole crowd went silent. Everyone was staring at us. I was wondering what was going on before I saw a light shining on us from above. I looked up and gasped.
Hovering above Aaron, Mary, Maggie, and my heads were two symbols each, for Aaron a bushel of wheat and a trident, for Mary a sword and a lightning bolt, for Maggie a star and caduceus, and for me, an owl and a lyre. All the symbols were gold except for the lyre on top of my head. We all watched as they moved together into one symbol for each person, a combination of the two. It was eerie, but cool looking.
Chiron looked panicked, as did Annabeth, and everyone else just went into mayhem. Chiron and Annabeth shared a knowing and panicked glance, and then both nodded. Chiron slammed his staff on the ground and everyone shut up immediately.
"Calm down everyone. You four and Annabeth, come with me. Everyone else will go back to your cabins. I will announce to you tomorrow what just happened here."
I followed after the centaur, half of me extremely happy, and the other half like a raw nerve, exposed to the world, like a revealed spy. I wanted to both crawl in a hole and proclaim myself to the world at the same time. It made me sick. I had the feeling the following conversation was one that I would not want to have.
I wish that I could claim credit for the awesome song, but that belongs to the Charlie Daniels Band. The song is entitled "The Devil Went Down to Georgia." I know, very original name right.