"Fight, fight, fight!" The Ares kids chanted harshly, booing at Raven and hissing rudely at Safdeisha. I have to say, they certainly were creating a great setting for a brawl. Why? Because I was just about ready to punch them out. Only problem with that theory is that they'd probably be the ones punching me out.
I gave Raven a pat on the back as she walked past me, it sort of served as a silent good luck charm. Clarisse sneered at her, jabbing her spear into the air evilly. With the group of Ares kids chanting behind her, it looked and sounded like a war was about to erupt, right here and right now.
"This is your last chance to surrender." Clarisse hissed along with her campers, I can see why Percy isn't keen on her even if he has known her for a few years.
"Nice try beef bucket." Raven glared at her, but gave me a sideways grin.
"What did you call me!? Ya know what, let's get this over with!" Clarisse raised her spear and slammed it onto the ground like she was a rugby player. The head of the spear didn't smash, but penetrated through the stone of the arena flooring. I felt the ground shake a little from the impact, and Kaylee's face fell, as did Raven's.
Raven jumped back a little, startled. Her black hair hit her in the face as she regained balance awkwardly. Her eyes held great hatred for Clarisse, there was no fear, just pure hatred.
"This isn't good..." A boy from my temporary cabin said.
"Felix, calm down." A taller boy with golden eyes said, sighing.
"But Stephano," Felix groaned, "She could die! Hephaestus fixed Maimer for Clarisse last year when Ares asked him too!"
"Give her a chance, it's not our fight." Stephano said strictly.
"But..." He groaned again, his blue eyes watching the fight finally begin.
Raven started the fight with a half-hearted swing of the axe. She was aiming for Clarisse's side, but her target moved out of the way as easy as breathing. Raven then sliced down on her arm, but Clarisse just moved out of the way again.
"Brendon, quickly come over here! The daughter of Hades and Clarisse are fighting!" Somebody called out to someone else. I turned my gaze for a second and watched a good looking guy approach Felix with an odd grimace. He had dark brown hair, almost black and his eyes reminded me of Kaylee's dragon, that warm colour. His eyes suddenly widened at Raven and Clarisse.
He reminded me of someone famous, I just couldn't remember who.
Clarisse finally stopped playing around and twisted her spear at her target's leg, and Raven's hair stood up on end. She collapsed to the floor with a face of agony, but she seemed okay... Then I realized she was taking advantage of the fact Clarisse had turned around to boast to her cabin. Raven pounced up onto her feet, and swung the axe around with a force I didn't know she had in her. It dented and made a loud clanging sound in the daughter of war's armour; Clarisse grimaced and gave a curse, wheeling around with a glare.
Kaylee gripped my arm like she always did when she was nervous. "What are we going to do?" She asked, looking around for something or someone to help. Nobody did anything.
Safdeisha paced around, struggling to keep still, muttering under her breath. When the Brendon kid tried to intervene, Clarisse gave him a look of pure poison. He stepped back and frowned, staring at Felix hopelessly. "She'll get mad at the Apollo cabin if I do anything."
"That's better than beating up a new camper!" Stephano spoke in a shaky voice, full of rage.
"But my cabin would get mad at me, nobody wants to get on the bad side of the Ares cabin, they'd pound us to oblivion..." Brendon mumbled, frowning again. Felix gave a sigh.
The Pedo-dragon was about to lick my face until I smacked him on the snout with a curse. He made an angry snort and fell off of Kaylee's shoulders and landed sprawled on the floor, Kaylee quickly scooped him up again. She placed him on her shoulders and looked at me. She grabbed my wrist and tapped the cuff-bracelet with her fingers.
"What's this?" She asked me curiously.
"I found it earlier." I replied, avoiding her gaze.
"Oh really?" She said lamely, "Hang on, it has writing on it!" She said, her eyes suddenly lighting up.
"It does?" I said incredulously.
"Yup, look!" She underlined the symbols with her finger. Little delicate curves lined the cuff, no wonder I didn't see it. The writing glowed a little, it was in some odd language, that I figured must've been Greek because our parents were, and so was the person who made me go and dive underwater to get it. πρέπει να χρησιμοποιήσουμε το μυαλό μας πριν τη φόρτιση στη μάχη, whatever that meant, I wasn't sure until seconds later.
It translated to; we must use our minds before charging into battle. Which made no sense in any circumstance, unless it was some lost hand-me-down of Athena's or something, y'know, goddess of wisdom and the strategy of war?
"Well, that's weird..." I muttered, staring at it. Tyson crashed through the door and was holding Percy by his shirt. He tried to wriggle out of Tyson's arms, but seemed to be failing.
"Fire lady, Tyson brought brother for you!" He bellowed proudly, walking up to us with a grin. Grover stared at him; the goat boy had been quiet ever since Raven began the fight with Clarisse, in which Raven was getting beaten entirely.
"Tyson will you put me down!" Percy struggled, and then got put gently on the ground. He rubbed his neck and turned to see Annabeth staring wide-eyed at the fight scene. Percy turned again and then saw Clarisse throw another blow at Raven, this time piercing her upper arm, she grimaced angrily.
"What's going on?" Percy asked, his voice trembling.
"Raven wanted a battle axe, but it belonged to the Ares cabin and so she and Claisse are fighting over it." I said, not looking at him. I watched as Clarisse whacked Raven's shins and the daughter of Hades fell to the ground in seconds. Clarisse raised her spear one last time, a murderous shine in her eyes.
"Stop this, stop it right now!" Safdeisha ran towards Clarisse and tried to stop her from hitting Raven, who was still on the floor, her hair all static. Clarisse paused to give a laugh at Safdeisha's bravery, but then was shocked to see a running half-monster charging at her. Safdeisha stood in front of Raven and tried to protect her from Clarisse, who once again laughed, but this time she raised her spear even higher. As it came crashing down towards Safdeisha, the snake girl looked up at the bully, Letine hissed and looked like she was about to bite Beefy's nose off. Clarisse froze as if time stopped, seconds passed without even a breath from the beef bucket. Safdeisha dragged Raven away as the Ares kids poked at Clarisse, wondering what happened to her.
Then she unfroze, her spear crashed into the ground, once again causing it to shake. Her eyes widened as her spear hit no target. She looked around until she spotted Raven on one of the seats, across the room. She opened her mouth, then shut it again, then repeated. So, she was acting like a very confused goldfish. The battle axe lay at her feet, and poor Raven was beaten up and bloodied on her seat, Percy and Annabeth were already at her side... And so was Brendon. I quickly approached in case Clarisse came out of her stupor.
"How do you feel?" Brendon asked, putting his palm against Raven's bruised forehead, she looked like a wreck. She didn't cry, but she probably didn't have enough strength to. Brendon kind of rolled Raven off of the chair, but she didn't smack down on the floor, she groaned quietly. Brendon didn't seem fazed; he opened his mouth and began to sing under his breath. Whatever he was singing, made sense, but didn't make sense. If it was a song, it didn't rhyme.
"Ας ύμνο μου να μετατρέψουν τις πληγές σας σε ουλές από τις οποίες η λεπίδα των προγόνων μου σας χορηγηθεί. Ας τις επιθυμίες του πατέρα μου τρέχει πάνω στο δέρμα σας και να θεραπεύσει σας μέχρι να είστε και πάλι."
Whatever he sang seemed to have worked, the cuts that had previously been gushing blood, had turned into strong scabs, and her bruises had mostly healed. She must've passed out moments ago; her eyes were swollen shut, so it was hard to tell. I'd get my revenge on Clarisse, when she least expected it.
"I'll take her to the infirmary." Brendon said rhetorically, picking her up and walking away. It was almost cute, if he wasn't a stranger we'd never met before.
"Brendon Urie?" I heard Raven's voice mutter as they disappeared out of the Arena. Oh that's who he reminded me of, and it wasn't just the name.
I looked at Grover, he looked teary-eyed. "I'm sorry, that was my entire fault." He apologized.
"No, man, I'm sure it wasn't." Percy said, trying to cheer him up.
"No, it was his fault." I smirked, "Without him, I wouldn't have known how much of a brat Clarisse is." I winked at Grover, "Now let's continue this tour, where too next?"
"Well, it's lunch for most of us, and I'm sure Nico's gonna be there and I need to ask him something." Percy said and Kaylee raised her head when she heard the name 'Nico'. Funny that.
"Yup, mess hall it is, you guys didn't eat anything last night, right?" Grover asked us,
"Nope, but the talk of food is making me hungry." I laughed.
The mess hall was loud and noisy, full of demigods sitting around and throwing food at each other, but from the outside, it was entirely different. It looked like the old Greek buildings I saw in travel brochures and stuff, apart from the view was way more beautiful. Each table had a white cloth with a purple trim, though many were destroyed by barbeque sticks. Apples, grapes, strawberries and other vegetables were in plenty on each table. Percy and Tyson sat together on the table near the fantastic view of the sea.
Everyone seemed to be sitting with their cabins and Kaylee was no exception as she had run to sit next to Leo in excitement. I puffed a tiny sigh as I sat down next to Felix, Safdeisha awkwardly stood in the shadows watching everyone like a sentinel.
"What's wrong with you?" Felix asked curiously, raising his eyebrows. "Are you still shaken up by the fight?"
I stared at him, a plain and very simple stare, eventually he turned away. Westnie took her place by my side, grinning at me; I saw that her nails were bright orange, matching perfectly with her CHB shirt. I should've said how nice it looked, but I never managed to compliment people out loud.
"If I wasn't afraid of spiders, I'd pull a trick on the Athena cabin and steal some of their 'famous books'" Westnie laughed, kicking her feet on the table, Benjamin stared, much like how I had stared at Felix before. I didn't say anything, but some of the other Hermes kids decided to agree with her.
I stuffed a burger down my throat and a large group of grapes and strawberries before walking out of the pavilion. I walked past Percy and Tyson and towards the sea. I looked over at the beach and sat down with a sigh, oh yeah, I was still in bare feet. How had I not noticed? Who bloody knows.
The sand was warm beneath my feet, and I curled in my toes. For a moment, I was tired, but then the sleepy flash ended and I was wide awake again. I shut my eyes and listened to the waves come in and out in pattern, pulling and pushing sand and shells from within its depth. I opened my eyes for a second, and saw a man sat on a rock in the sea, fishing. He was wearing what someone on a holiday in Hawaii would wear, with a cap full of fishing lures. I stared for a moment, what was he doing in the sea on a rock?
"Lyra!" Kaylee's voice called out to me, I turned to see her waving at me next to Safdeisha and Grover and I still felt terrible for Raven. With the smallest of chuckles, I stood up and headed over to them.
"Did you see the guy back there; he was fishing on a rock..." I grinned at them, but for some reason they gave me a 'are you crazy' look, and when I went to point out the man... He had vanished without a trace.
"Um, are you okay, you didn't get heat stroke right?" Safdeisha asked me worriedly.
"I'm fine." I snapped, tucking one of the loose hairs that had fallen out of the bun behind my ear.
"We brought you some shoes, because you'll need them for our next activity; the climbing wall." Grover laughed his goat call and turned on his hooves, walking away. We followed him, talking amongst each other.
"Are you sure you are okay?" Kaylee asked me.
"Yes." I said with a growl.
"Alright, I'm just checking." She said defensively as she threw a pair of shoes at me.
"Whatever." I said, catching the shoes and quickly shoving them on. "Okay let's go, before I see something else that doesn't exist."
"It's just around the corner!" Grover said from a little way in front of us. I looked at the ground until I heard something rumble suspiciously like thunder, but when I raised my gaze, it was more of an earthquake.
The climbing wall was about three stories high, or higher, with lava pouring out from the top. I stared; every inch of my skin began to prickle with the coward instinct of fear. The wall shook with tremendous force, which made me think that invisible giants could've been shaking it. This would not be good, I hated the heat.
Safdeisha looked like she was about ready to die of excitement. Me? I could pass on this one. Kaylee looked at Grover with wide eyes.
"This is the climbing wall?" she asked him.
"Yup, you climb this; you have the right stuff to be a true hero!" He grinned widely.
"And if you don't make it?" I questioned, already partly knowing the answer.
"Well don't feel disheartened, most people don't make it up the first time either." He explained casually.
"Alright, I'll go first then." Safdeisha piped up.
"Is there any equipment?" I said worriedly, raising my eyebrows at the other kids and satyrs who were swinging around with no rope or anything to keep them from a fall to the death.
"Nope, there's none!" He said cheerfully.
"Safe." I noted.
"Totally," Kaylee agreed, looking up at the wall.
We watched Safdeisha get around one third of the way up the wall before making the mistake of looking down. Her body froze up and she fell with a squeak. Luckily, she didn't land hard, unluckily, she was still in pain.
"Is this a death trap?" I asked,
"Nope, camp half-blood is a place for safety, shelter and training for young heroes." Grover exclaimed happily.
"Safety..." I mused sarcastically.
"Guys, I think I've broken something." Safdeisha moaned, rubbing her back as she approached us.
"Oh suck it up buttercup, it's my turn." Kaylee grinned.
She was more coordinated from her training from living in the tree for a month. She smiled as she jumped from one ledge to the next. Nico-not surprisingly- appeared next to me and watched her climb. His dark eyes glowed with interest. Even if Kaylee liked him, I still wasn't sure about him. I also doubted if she only just liked him, or if it was something more. Anyway, Kaylee was one and a half metres away from the top before she fell. Nico caught her instantly; somehow he'd managed to get over to the wall in seconds before she fell. On the plus side she was alive.
I don't know how Nico managed to keep Kaylee up for so long as he was a scrawny looking guy; somehow I think I jinxed his strength. His arms must've given up on him as he and Kaylee crashed onto the floor. They both laughed very loudly. With her turn done, it was now mine. Oh boy, I was going to fail like a chicken trying to dance.
When Kaylee and Nico stood up together and walked over to Grover, it made me feel like that internet meme 'forever alone'. I mustered up any courage I had left, and took my first step on the climbing wall. Instantly, I felt the wall start to shake and rumble beneath my feet as if it were a bird fluffing its feathers. I took a big breath and pulled myself up further. Again, the wall rumbled, this time it grumbled like a dinosaur. I bit my lip hard before taking another step up, my foot almost lost its balance at some point during the climb, but I regained it on another ledge quick enough.
I was around two meters up now and Kaylee was below me, cheering her throat out. I sighed to myself as I got up onto the next set of ledges. As I got higher, the more lava poured down, and the more I wanted to fly far, far away from this wall. Why flying you ask? Who knows, maybe it was because I WAS TWO STORIES UP WITH NO FREAKING EQUIPMENT! Hell, I could fall to my splattering death from here, and thanks but no thanks do I want to die falling. Not going to happen.
Kaylee's voice cracked and she didn't speak, which made me happen to have my...
1. Focus stolen away,
2. My ADHD kicked in and I said to myself 'that's the longest she's ever been quiet for',
3. And did cause me to almost fall to my death when my hand slipped and my heart skipped a beat.
I looked down and saw Kaylee gripping Nico's arm, she gave me a smile, but as I was so high, all I saw was the small curved line. I pushed myself further but the lava was coming down in thicker streams as I neared the top. It almost looked like lasagne. Wait, no, scratch that last part, being attacked by lava doesn't sound that heroic. Gods, I hate my mind sometimes.
I grimaced and looked at my arms, the heat from the lava singed my arm hairs off and well at least I was clean shaven. Somehow my shoes had burned partly off and my heels were getting over heated by the molten lasagne-I mean lava. I really need to sort out my brain.
Then my body went into shock from the pain of my heels. I started to climb faster to try and get rid of the heat. With a final glare at the holes where the lava was coming out from, I made it to the top. Kaylee cheered, but again her voice cracked and she had to stop. Meanwhile, I was digging my nails into the wall and perching cat-like, not prepared to go down.
Eventually they got a satyr to carry me down; I did not like the lasagne-...lava at all, and refused to go down encase I got burned again. My body ached a little, but when I touched solid ground, it was a much calmer feeling. Being on the wall was like being on a volcano as it erupts, literally. Kaylee must've had way more fun than me.
Next Grover took us to the amphitheatre, but we didn't go in there because there really was no need. Why? Because it's just a stage, that's all. It's probably a replica of the one in LA, but then, that one was a replica of the one in Greece. Is it me or is everything based off or replicated of something? Jeesh, we need to get creative.
Next up, was probably my favourite thing here at the camp; the canoe lake. Even better because of the hot weather (as much as I disliked it). Grover turned to grin at us, the lake shimmered and glowed, sparkling brightly like the sun and coexisting blue along with the sky. I stared for a moment.
"Let's take a break, you guys can go swimming!" Grover laughed.
"Oh look, a tree." Kaylee said, already climbing up it.
"Why are you going up a tree? Aren't you gonna go swimming?" Grover asked her.
"No, I'm not going near the water. The beach was fine as I was far enough away from the sea, but I won't be going swimming, no way." Kaylee said shakily.
"Kay's just a scaredy-cat when it comes to water." I explained to him, seeing his confused face. Then I waded into the water from the little sandy area that we were in. Safdeisha quickly followed.
The water at my feet was just the right temperature; cold. If Kaylee was in the water she would of turned it into a hot spring. I sighed, watching her climb the tree and grip the branches shakily, her eyes staring at the water with pure fear. Safdeisha shivered when her toes touched the water, and her body froze up from the change in temperature, I smiled at her, beckoning her with arm movements.
"Hurry up, Saf." I laughed.
"There's a silent F!" She growled frustratingly.
"Yeah, yeah." I rolled my eyes and splashed water at her face. Letine hissed at me, flicking her forked tongue.
"...It's cold, how are you so deep in?" She asked me, a confused look in her eyes.
"I adapt quickly," I winked at her, then it was her turn to roll her eyes at me.
"Alright, I'm cold, it's been two minutes and I'm done." And she walked out. With no other option than to be alone in a lake, I followed her. Kaylee groaned miserably.
"We're done now, you can come down." I said breezily, grinning at her as she slowly slid herself down. I wonder what she would do if Nico hadn't managed to disappear on the way here, she probably would've just stayed away from the water and try to keep a cool profile... I let my grin go, and looked at Grover, who was having a conversation with Safdeisha; it seemed that they were wondering whether Raven was okay. For some reason, I wasn't worried because I trusted Brendon.
The arts and crafts building was large enough for an entire army squad to hideout in, well, if they knew how to get into a camp with a magical border that was full of monsters and demigods then sure. Kaylee was happy to get away from the lake, but the building made her ecstatic. She rubbed her hands together and barged through the door without us.
For such a large building, it was a shame that it was empty of all human life. But to see one place that was silent in this large camp was a good feeling. At the least there was one place that was peaceful and quiet, as I looked out at the outside building, I noticed how late it was getting.
A wild redheaded girl fell out of a cupboard and screamed when she saw us as well as falling over again. The poor girl looked like she hadn't seen the sun in weeks and had large bags under her eyes, maybe she was just missing out on sleep perhaps?
Kaylee shook the girl's shoulders with a beaming grin on her face, "Did you do these?" She flicked her hand at the collection of paintings on the wall.
"Uh, yeah, I did." The girl admitted, trying to loosen Kaylee's grip on her shoulders.
"I'm Kaylee-" and then with a quick change of subject, "-Your artwork is amazing!"
"I'm Rachel, and, uh, thanks?" She replied, accidently scratching her forehead and leaving a large smudge of paint where her hand touched instead.
"You're Rachel? The Rachel, wow!" Kaylee's jaw dropped.
"Not sure about the 'the' part, but yes, I am Rachel- the host of the oracle." Rachel explained.
If I could've kept a straight face, I would've, but all I could think of was the matrix. "'The host of the oracle'?" I prompted.
"Yes, one who spews prophecies and doesn't remember a god damned thing afterwards." A very straight forward reply came from her, and for some reason, this girl was one of the few I could respect quite easily. With a small step forwards, I decided to look at her paintings. As it turns out, I shouldn't have stepped forwards as I only took that same step in the opposite direction.
The paintings were gorgeous and full of life, but four of these paintings were dark, but beautifully foreboding. With a small chomp on my lip, I took a look at the nearest one of these four paintings. My eyebrows were raised to their peak with interest.
I don't know what it was supposed to be depicting, but that was the good thing about art. Only the artist knows what he/she has created. To me, it looked like an underwater picture... with chains? No, it couldn't be.
The second painting was a ring of fire surrounding the moon, which I totally did not understand, but Kaylee was entranced with it muttering about pretty fires. The third painting was just as weird. It was an eye and in that eye was a white circle being surrounded by darkness. My first thought was fear of something, anything. It was so eye catching that Grover and Safdeisha had to cough loudly to get my attention away from it.
The fourth painting though, was extremely magical. It was a frosted field, so pretty but then it looked so fragile too. But what was in its centre was the most important, a stairway to the sky-
"It's getting late, we can check out the volleyball court later, let's go eat and meet at the campfire later." Grover told us with an awkward side pout.
"Alright." I agreed, "See ya Rachel."
She waved us off and we ran to the mess hall playing the game 'last on there's a rotten egg'. I was happy at this camp though I still felt alone, but that was the only problem.
As the dinner was finished when everybody was full, we all filed out and walked quickly back to our cabins. I once again reached into my pockets as I said goodbye to Kaylee as Safdeisha had left long before to get to her 'home' before dark fell completely.
Chiron began the campfire and all of the kids filed out, I watched from my window. The flames circled dangerously in the air, and I saw the pedo-dragon leaping at the ashes that strayed away from the big flames. I gulped slightly and gripped my ankles in my famous ball position. Fire was something I did not get along with.
There was stomping on the cabin deck and then all of a sudden Kaylee's face was flushed with a light mock anger. "If you do not come out and be social, I will drag you out by your ears."
Instinctively, I raised my hands to cover and protect my ears. How dare she bring my ears into this! Goddamn it my ADHD-ness really annoyed me. Really, I could do with a break from my mind going haywire.
So, as it turned out, I walked out of the cabin by my own rules; which were; don't touch my ears or I'll kill you. What's a little threat against best friend's anyhow? Well, Chiron cracked his knuckles and everybody stopped talking immediately. His voice boomed out at everyone around the campfire(Which make no mistake I was sat far away from).
"For our new campers, and due to the unexpected visit from the hunters and Lady Artemis herself, we will be playing a game of capture the flag tomorrow afternoon. I expect you have all prepared?" The campers cheered loudly and almost made me deaf. Chiron continued. "Well, for now we have prepared you all some marshmallows!"
The campfire died out fast and we all went to sleep eventually, I must've been one of the last to go to sleep, but I wasn't the last because I saw the figure of one the boys stalk out with a mumble. It was weird, because I couldn't see them entirely.
The day started off normally... I kind of slept in until twelve. The capture the flag members had gathered already but Kaylee quickly yanked me into the group. I was still half asleep so I probably agreed to things I didn't even acknowledge. As we were pushed into the forest, I realized we didn't have any weapons or armour, which totally freaked me out as the other kids did. I looked at Kaylee and she looked at me.
"You two can hide our flag." Percy told us with his thumbs up.
We looked at each other again with identical smirks as we held the flag. "Let's go up a tree." Kaylee grinned, I nodded. My first game of capture the flag, but for some reason I had the urge that something was going to happen later on, today but it was something I wouldn't be able to fathom.