7. My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke

Word of my using the bathroom's entire day's water supply understandably spread rapidly. Wherever I went after the fight, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water. I smirked every time I heard them wondering how I could use both wind and water as I followed Annabeth as she continued the tour.

She showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords that I knew that I'd return to today), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man), and the climbing wall, which instantly reminded me of Gai and Lee's over excessive training since it actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.

Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. "I've got training to do." Annabeth said flatly. "Lunch is at one and dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

I nodded before I put my minotaur horn down and hopped off the pier causing Annabeth's eyes to widen as I walked casually on top of the water a short distance away before I formed a heavily reinforced clone. Turning around, I saw her wide eyed stare and smiled as I said in a joking manner "Oh come on, this can't be the first time you've seen someone water walk before. I mean, if some guy in Israel two thousand years ago could do it then how hard can it be for the rest of you?"

I turned back around and nodded to my clone who nodded back before he thrust his right arm at me in a pushing motion sending a blast of wind out of his palm as he wordlessly and seallessly let loose with the Gale Palm jutsu. I leapt to the right and tucked and rolled allowing the edge of the jutsu to blow my shirt back before I came out of my roll in a crouch and sent my own pushing motion with my arm. The water underneath me responded to the gesture and a stream of water launched itself from under my feet and shot to my clone who quickly cart wheeled away. As this was happening, I heard the campers who were in canoes as they noticed the spar we were having and began talking to each other. I didn't pay attention to them though since my clone had ran through hand signs and shouted "Wind Style: Wind Senbon Jutsu!"

The clone took a deep breath before he blew out sending over a hundred practically invisible wind senbon at me. I jumped out of my crouched position and over the senbon even as I swung my arm in a windmill fashion before my arm was pointed back at the clone. The water of the lake responded to the gesture as a pillar of water with a five foot radius shot up into the air behind me before it arched over my head and shot itself towards the clone who quickly formed a tornado around himself that froze the water when it hit. The clone then punched the ice causing it to shatter before he sent the shards at my form with another seal less Gale Palm as I landed back on the water.

As soon as I landed and saw the shards rocketing towards me, I brought my left hand up to my right shoulder and spun. As soon as I came out of the spin I threw my left arm out in a half circle. The water responded and a fifteen foot wide wave shot out of the lake and slammed into the ice shards stopping them in their tracks even as the wave continued on its path to my clone who quickly jumped over the wave as he ran through hand signs. Looking out of the corner of my eye to the pier, I saw Annabeth staring at the fight in fascination and I shouted "I thought you said that you had training to do! Wind Style: Horizontal Tornado Jutsu!" I thrust my arms out and a horizontal twister shot out of my hands and slammed into the one my clone had sent my way. Annabeth blinked before she said "I think I'd rather watch you."

There were easily at least a dozen ways you could take that statement but I just shrugged before I rushed at my clone who was just starting to fall and jumped up to his level and placed my left foot on his chest before I pushed off causing us to separate again even as the clone managed to land a hit on my own chest when I first appeared next to him. We both back flipped as we rocketed away from each other before we landed and shot back at each other and started trading blows with our hands and feet using the toad style.

We traded blows for a while before I ducked under a kick and tried to sweep my clone's other leg from beneath him and said "So just out of a curiosity, which cabin are you?"

"Cabin six." Annabeth said. I could see her narrowed eyes out of the corner of my own and I could tell that she was trying to figure out what form of martial arts we were using.

"Which is?" I asked as my clone leaped over the leg sweep and tried to kick my head with the same foot I had tried to hit causing me to roll to the side going into a hand stand and spin with my legs in a split forcing the clone to backpedal a little.

I saw Annabeth straighten as she said "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."

"Now see, I never got that. How can there be two gods or goddesses of the same thing? I mean we have Ares who's the god of war and we have Athena who is the goddess of battle. As far as I can tell, they're the exact same thing. What about your dad?" I asked as the clone caught one of my legs and pulled me toward him. I retaliated by pushing off from my hand stand and turned my whole body sending my other foot towards the clone's head causing him to quickly release my first leg as he blocked the second.

"One is nothing but a berserker most of the time while the other keeps her cool." Annabeth said before she paused and I got the feeling my question trespassed on a touchy subject before she said "My dad is a professor at West Point. I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."

I "Hmm'd" as I landed and began dancing away from my opponent's retaliatory strikes. Dodging a punch aimed for my right shoulder I said "Well my mom's name is Sally Jackson and works at the Sweet on America candy store at Grand Central. She wants to be a novelist but she's had a hard life so far so she's trying to save up money. As for my dad, like I said before, I have a pretty good idea that hasn't been confirmed yet."

I saw Annabeth nod before I spun away from a palm thrust that reminded me strongly of the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist style and came out with a round house kick to my clone's ribs.

"Too bad you can't just tell Chiron who you think your father was so that way you can just move into the right cabin. But it's not that simple. Nobody knows who he was."

I snorted as the clone locked my foot up against his body with his arm and turned to pull me off balance as I said "Except my mother. She definitely knew who he was."

Annabeth bit her lip as she said "Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."

I snorted again as I went with the pull from my clone and used it to my own advantage as my foot dropped from the hold and rocketed towards his foot and I said "Well this was one time when mine did. And can you blame me for having a good idea considering what you've seen me do before?"

Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She obviously didn't want to burst my bubble. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign soon. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

I frowned as my clone retaliated with a back hand which I swatted away and sent a half fisted palm thrust of my own at his throat which was swatted away as well as I said "You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

Annabeth ran her palm along the rail of the pier she was standing on and said "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always…Well, sometimes they don't care about us Percy. They ignore us."

Me and my clone suddenly both pushed away from each other before we ran through hand signs and my clone shot a miniature wind dragon at me as I sent wind senbon at him. The dragon blitzed through the needles before continuing towards me before I back handed it with a wind coated hand causing it to burst apart. As this was happening, I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But a large part of me thought that gods should have been better. Or at the very least have kept their sex life smaller so that way they wouldn't leave so many kids wondering.

I shook my head from those thoughts as I sent a wind dragon of my own at my sparring partner who countered by manipulating the water to rise up in a wall that reminded me of the Water Encampment Jutsu. As the dragon slammed against the raised water, I said "So they're stuck in cabin eleven. Can they at least leave the camp once in a while?"

"It depends." Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

While Annabeth had been talking, me and my clone had thrown three more jutsu at each other before we both formed a wind sword and rushed each other to begin a kenjutsu match. I frowned as I said "So monsters can't get in here?"

Annabeth shook her head and said "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

I snorted as I blocked my opponent's swing with a quick upward swing of my blade as I asked "Why would someone do something stupid like that?"

"Practice fights, practical jokes." came my answer.

I rose an eyebrow and said "Sounds a little extreme for a joke."

"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

I nodded before I suddenly slammed my blade into where the hilt of my clone's sword was and spun the blades in a circle causing him to let go and the blade to disperse before I took a quick step closer and head butted my clone causing him to finally disperse. Letting my own sword dissipate into the surrounding air, I heard cheering coming from the campers in the canoes who had watched the whole fight and gave a short bow to them before I turned back to the pier and walked over as I picked up the minotaur horn and said "So I take it you're a year-rounder?"

Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.

"I've been here since I was seven," She said "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."

I frowned and said "Why did you come so young? You said that monsters don't really attack us until we're at least ten."

She twisted the ring on her necklace and sighed as she said "It wasn't monsters that drove me away from home."

"Oh." I said, thinking about what could have driven her away from her home. I shook my head from those thoughts though and looked for a topic that would take her mind off obviously bad memories. Finding one, I said "Do you have any idea what the summer solstice deadline is? I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it at my school but Grover wouldn't tell me anything when I asked him."

Annabeth clenched her fists as she said "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."

I rose an eyebrow and Annabeth said "Some of the year-rounders-Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others-we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."

"So how do you get up to Olympus? The last time I checked, the Empire State Building only has a hundred and two floors. But Chiron made it sound like it was much higher than that." I said.

"Well there's a special elevator to the six hundredth floor. Anyways, right after we visited, the weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping…I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something.

I shook my head and said "Sorry. But I'm afraid I don't know anything more than what you just said now. When I died the first time, the person who's in charge of my realm sent me here as a favor to the head honcho upstairs because the 'middle guys' were going to make a big mess. Kami didn't tell me any specifics though, just that I'd have twelve years to prepare."

Annabeth's eyes widened as she said "Wait, you were sent here because of what's happening now? Then that means-"

I cut her off before she could continue as I said "Annabeth, do not get too far ahead of yourself. I still don't know exactly what I'm doing here. All I know is that I need to keep my skills sharp."

Annabeth bit her lip before she nodded and turned around as she began walking away. I had the distinct feeling that I had just told her to shove off but I knew that I couldn't get her hopes up when I didn't even know what I was supposed to do yet. Although now that I knew that all of the terrible weather was because of something stolen I now also knew that we had someone who was willing to steal from the 'higher' powers. Made me wonder if the object wasn't stolen to provoke a war.

I shook those thoughts away before I began walking away from the lake to the metal shop. I had been living in this world for twelve years without a proper weapon and it was time to change that, I wanted that feeling of security that having a kunai near you at all times gave you.

When I entered, most of the campers looked up at me briefly before they went back to work. One of the older kids came over and said "Can I help you?"

I shook my head and said "What I need to make is probably something you guys don't. I know how to make them though."

The kid looked confused and said "And what would that be?"

"Kunai." I said before I began collecting the necessary supplies.

"Kunai?" The kid asked and I could tell that he had no idea what those were. Some of the other kids glanced back up at us momentarily in confusion when they heard the word but quickly went back to work.

Nodding, I said "They're ninja throwing knives. I want to make a set of twelve so that way I have something to fight with that's easier than using a sword. Got any steel in here?" I asked that since I saw most of the campers were working with a metal that while looked like bronze, shone more like silver or even gold.

The other kid frowned and said "We have some. But we don't really use it for weapons, we use celestial bronze for that."

I frowned in turn and said "Well that could be a problem. Would it be alright if I use the steel instead? That's what the kunai I've used before was made out of."

The kid shrugged and said "I guess you could. It's not very effective against monsters though. Also, celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals which is why we use it since it's frowned upon for us to harm mortals."

I 'hm'ed before I walked over to the large cabinet the kid gestured at and opened it to see bars of almost every kind of metal you would find that you could safely use in a metal works shop, with the main focus on celestial bronze. I picked up a bar of said metal and examined it.

As I had observed before, the bronze shone in a way no normal bronze did. It also felt heavier than it should have. It must have weighed at least half again as much as a bar of steel. I grabbed a nearby bar of steel and noticed that I was right in my estimation as I weighed each bar alongside each other. Out of curiosity I channeled chakra into the bronze and was pleasantly surprised when the bar began glowing with a shell of blue around it. It seemed that whatever this stuff was it was an excellent chakra conductor.

I turned back around and said "Mind if I use two bars of bronze and ten bars of steel?"

The kid shrugged and said "It's there for our use. Are you sure you know how to use all of the equipment here properly?"

I nodded and said "I've worked with a blacksmith before for a few years. I remember a few things." As I talked, I remembered the ten years I had spent helping Ten Ten around the weapon's store that she had started when she retired during my free time.

The kid nodded and went back to his own project. I in turn grabbed an apron and some more bars of metal as I ran through a mental check list of what I would need and what steps were needed to make kunai.

Five hours later I walked out of the metal shop with my new kunai set wrapped in a bundle as I made my way to the arts-and-crafts building to see if I could make a kunai pouch. As I walked I absentmindedly noticed that I had missed both breakfast and lunch but didn't pay the fact any mind.

Half an hour later, I walked out with a pouch attached to my belt. The satyrs inside had been very helpful with finding me the proper type of cloth that could take a lot of wear and tear. We had settled on the denim that is used in Levi's that was doubled layered and sewed together with enough stitching to easily hold itself together for the next ten or so years.

I looked around wondering what I should do next before my eyes landed on the forest and I grinned as I once again noticed how big the trees were. It had been just over a decade since I had the chance to tree hop, now seemed the perfect time to do so. Plus I could get a lay of the land inside for Friday night. I took off towards the woods in a blur shocking the campers who were playing volleyball against some satyrs as they saw me rocket towards the woods before I took a huge chakra enhanced jump and landed on one of the tree branches in the first tree before I shot off of it and continued into the forest.

Five hours later, I walked into cabin eleven to see everybody talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. I took the time to notice that a lot of the campers had similar features that made it clear that they were the regulars: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers. None of them paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot where my sleeping bag was so I slipped the horn into the inside pocket of the sleeping bag that was there for you to keep objects from freezing if you were in cold climates like radios. What wasn't as well advertised was the fact that there was a storage seal in said pocket which I place the horn in.

After a minute of watching all of the kids interacting, I saw Luke walk through the door and automatically zoom in on me. As he came over, he smiled and said "I was able to steal you some toiletries from the camp store. Figured you could use them."

It took all of my experience as a shinobi to tell that he was just joking about the stealing part. I smiled as I thought that if I could choose who my father was then I'd definitely choose Hermes since these guys looked like practical jokers and prank masters. I shook those thoughts from my head and said "Thanks, I've only got a limited supply of my own and those are for emergencies."

Luke nodded and sat next to me with his back pushed against the wall as he said "No prob. So what do you think of the camp?"

I shrugged and said "It's nice, but some of the company outside of this cabin could use improving."

Luke laughed and said "Yeah, those Ares kids can be hard to get along with."

We stayed silent for a few minutes before I said "So your dad is Hermes, right?" When Luke nodded, I said "So are you guys all Speedy Gonzales' cousins, or more like Melvin the Martian with his jetpack?"

Luke laughed again as he said "Well our dad does give us shoes like his when he comes to claim us, but I've never seen any of us go so fast as to leave a dust trail." He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket and flipped it open and used it to scrape the mud off the sole of his sandal.

"So he actually comes here instead of sending a sign?" I asked, glad on the inside that at least one god seemed to be a responsible one.

Luke nodded and said "Yeah, it's great for us who have him as a father since he usually shows up within a day of us coming here. Of course, it's probably because he's down here a lot anyways since he's basically the mail man for the gods."

I h'mmed before we fell back into silence again. I looked around before I thought of another topic and said "Pardon me for saying this, but Annabeth seemed a little…restless I guess you could say."

Luke sighed as he folded his knife which he had been absentmindedly playing with and said "I hate prophecies."

I rose an eyebrow and said "Okay, I'll bite. Why do you hate prophecies, and what does it have to do with Annabeth wanting to go on a quest so bad?"

Luke's face twitched around the scar as he said "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until…somebody special came to the camp."

I sighed and said "Well now I know why she freaked out when I told her that I had been reincarnated."

Luke's head snapped over to look at me and I heard at least one joint crack as he said "You were what?"

I turned my head to look him in the eyes and he suddenly flinched as my eyes went from a twelve year old with unusual abilities to a ninety eight year old shinobi. Grinning, I said "Like I told Annabeth earlier, this isn't my first time on the road of life. I'd appreciate it though if you didn't go around shouting that fact."

Luke was about to say something in response when a horn blew in the distance. I could instantly tell it was a conch shell even if I had never heard one before. Luke shook his head before he yelled "Eleven, fall in!" Turning back to me, he said "We'll continue this later."

I shrugged and followed the rest of the cabin, about twenty of us, as they filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last, not that I minded. Campers came from the other cabins too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.

We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. What I assumed to be Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods-and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill. In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off and using chakra to keep the other half on the bench.

I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur. Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair. Clarisse sat behind me at Ares' table. She'd apparently gotten over what happened this morning since she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everybody else raised their glasses and said "To the gods!"

Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. My glass was empty, but Luke said "Speak to it. Whatever you want-nonalcoholic of course."

I gained a thoughtful look before I grinned and said "Konoha's Bean Soup."

The glass filled with the drink that I hadn't had in over a decade and I took a sip before grinning again. Then a thought stuck me and I grinned bigger as I said "Blue Bean Soup." The soup turned a light shade of blue and I took another sip and found it to taste even better. Laughing, I gave a silent toast to my mother and her fascination with the color. I promised myself I would get her out of the underworld as soon as possible, even if I had to take on the head honcho himself to do so.

Luke brought me out of my thoughts as he handed me a platter of smoked brisket and said "Here you go Percy."

I loaded my plate and was about to dig in when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. Glancing at Luke as I followed suite, I said "Tribute to the gods?" remembering Chiron's toast.

Luke nodded as we walked over and said "They like the smell of burnt offerings."

I frowned and said "I don't think I'd like the smell of burnt anything. Well maybe some kinds of wood, but still."

Luke gave a shrug before he tossed a cluster of fat red grapes into the fire and said "Hermes."

I was next and I took a big slice of brisket and tossed it into the fire as I silently thought 'Poseidon.' I caught a whiff of the smoke and suddenly knew why somebody would like the smell. It smelled nothing like burning food. Instead, it smelled like hot chocolate and fresh baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together but did.

When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention. Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.

"Personally," Mr. D continued "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Jackson."

Chiron murmured something and Mr. D corrected himself as he said "Er, Percy Jackson. That's right, hurrah and all that."

I snorted drawing attention to myself as I said "Pleasure being here too."

Mr. D rolled his eyes as he said "Yes well, all of you can go run along to your silly campfire now. Go on."

Everybody cheered and we all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around. I decided to have some fun and made a few clones who transformed into the Three Stooges and we began performing different parts of the show to the camper's delight even as they wondered how I did it.

Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. As we reached cabin eleven I stopped and looked up at the night sky and thought 'I have to admit, this wasn't so bad.' I then turned and walked into the cabin ready for some sleep.