I do not own percy jackson, rick riordan does.
Chapter 3
After walking through the woods for a couple of days, I heard the sound of multiple cars. I sheathed my knife and made my bow disappear. For the past two days I was being chased by monsters and had no time for breaks. I was getting closer to the Caldecott Tunnels, which led to Camp Jupiter. I sat down on a nearby log to catch my breath, tired from my lack of sleep, I was desperate for a nice warm bed. After letting out a tired sigh I went through my backpack to check my supplies. I had a few ambrosia cakes left and a couple denarius. Slowly I reached down to retrieve the last remaining cake.
As I was about to bite down on my last portion, I heard a deep growl. Quickly I dodged the large claws as it swung down on the log I was sitting on. The claws destroyed the log into tiny pieces. Out of surprise I dropped my ambrosia cake when I dodged. Appearing out of the shadows a large hellhound appeared with a menacing snarl. It looked straight at me with bloodshot eyes.
"You damn mutt! You made me drop the last cake!" I yelled at it in anger. Quickly I used my remaining energy and summoned my silver bow. The hellhound leaped into the air roaring, claws stretched out to rake me. I strung my bow and out of nowhere three arrows appeared in my fingers. I let the arrows loose, one struck the hellhound in the eye, the other in its mouth, and the final one through its neck. All three hit vital points. The hellhound exploded, covering me with golden dust. The bow in my hand faded away in silver wisps. I landed on my knees and picked up the cake on the ground. It was covered in golden dust, from the exploded hellhound.
"Is monster dust safe to eat?" I said in a sad whisper. I smashed the cake in my hand out of frustration. My stomach was roaring with hunger, and I could feel myself slipping in and out of consciousness. I slumped down on the ground looking up at the afternoon sky. The sun was slowly resting, and the moon was rising. My eyelids were getting heavier by the second, making it harder to not fall asleep.
"Five minutes of sleep won't hurt." I muttered in a small whisper. As I closed my eyelids for a few seconds, I heard multiple howls all around me. I woke up in a start and noticed that I was surrounded by red eyes, looking at me from the dark.
"...shit" One by one multiple hellhounds started to appear, surrounding me in a circle. I had no energy to summon my bow, or any dagger. I slowly reached down my waist and unsheathed my hunting knife. The blade was imperial gold, with a silver handle. The hellhounds snarled as they saw the golden blade.
"One...two...three...damn it, there's gotta be at least fifteen of them." I bit my lower lip in frustration. I took in a couple deep breathes and relaxed my posture. Letting out a deep sigh I cracked my neck.
"Well… if I'm gonna go out, I might as well do it like a true Roman. Come on you ugly mutts, I'll send you all back to tartarus." I growled. The hellhounds snarled, some licked their lips while drooling, gross. A hellhound leaped out from my right and let out a loud roar. I sidestepped, dodging its attack, and plunged my knife in its jugular. It made a small whimper and soon exploded into gold dusts. A couple more hellhounds growled and ran towards me. I dodged their claws and did my best to slash them.
After a couple minutes I managed to take down five more. But I was covered in cuts; blood dripped down from my arms. The hellhounds were relentless, and more kept pouring out of the shadows. My chances of beating them was near impossible, so I did the most logical thing to do... I ran.
The hellhounds were after me, and was slowly gaining. I let out a bitter smile, remembering the times Lupa and her pack chased after me during her tests. As I ran I looked up at the bright moon and scowled at it.
Mother… I would appreciate it if you would help me. Anything would be helpful, I wouldn't even mind becoming a bird to fly away. I silently prayed, hoping that Diana would hear my desperate plea. I looked down at my body and nearly tripped over some roots in shock. My body was glowing silver, and the cuts were closing up with new pink tissue forming over it. I felt a surge of energy, and my legs started to move faster. My mind was no longer tired, it felt as if I drank ten shots of espresso. I could hear the sound of animals from all over the woods. The rushing sound of water from nearby streams, and the rustling of trees in the cold wind echoed in my mind.
The hellhounds couldn't keep up with my speed and was slowly trailing behind. I ran as fast as I could towards the Caldecott Tunnels. As I neared the tunnel I noticed a couple of teenagers in armor standing near it with spears. One of them noticed me and alerted the other. The one who was alerted saluted and went into the tunnels, leaving the other behind.
"Halt!" The teen yelled at me. He was a lot taller than me, with an athletic build. Under his Roman helmet I noticed he had clear blue eyes. At his words I stopped in my tracks and looked back to see if any of the hounds were still chasing me. A couple of them were behind me, but as they saw the tunnels, they stopped and went back towards the woods.
"Who are you?" The young Roman asked me with a commanding tone.
"My name is Arcus, and I have passed Lupa's test. I come here as friend, not foe." I said with exasperated breaths. My energy quickly faded, and I was trying not to faint. The Roman looked at me with a stern look. He then nodded and came over. Gently he put my arm around his shoulder, and helped me walk. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I spoke up.
"How did you know I was not an enemy?" He looked down at me and gave me a smirk.
"It's because I spoke to you in Latin. I knew you were a demigod as soon as you spoke back." I raised an eyebrow at what he said.
"I spoke Latin?" I said with a questioning look.
"You probably didn't realize it. We demigods are hardwired to speak fluent Latin. That's why we all have dyslexia and ADHD. The ADHD is for your battle reflexes so you can survive in an actual fight." He said with a shrug. I nodded at his words, they made sense.
"I see… you know I didn't catch your name." I said
"Its Jason, Jason Grace. Son of Jupiter." He replied. My eyebrow raised as he said the last part.
"So your dad's the king of Olympus?"
"Pretty much. How about you? Who's your godly parent?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulder in response.
"Don't know. I haven't been claimed yet."
"I see." Jason replied. We exited the tunnel, and what greeted me was the beautiful scenery of green hills, and a large flowing river. At the bottom I saw Roman architecture clustered together. Kids in purple shirts were roaming around in the camp talking loudly to one another. Laughter could be heard from the camp. I turned my face to see Jason staring at me with his blue eyes.
"Welcome to Camp Jupiter." Jason said with a wide grin.