icefox94: hello everyone! Sorry it's taken this long to update. I've been busy and distracted. Well, the important thing is I've finally updated, so enjoy the new chapter. I'm editing this at three in the morning, so if you see any mistakes that I missed... sorry.
Disclaimer: you should get it by now. I don't own The Lightning Thief or Maximum Ride, nor will I in the future, so no suing.
Chapter Seven: How To Stop Fights When You're Mute
"Chiron. Will said you wanted to see us?" Grover starts as the group walks out onto the porch. Chiron turns around from talking with a blond surfer with tons of blue eyes covering his body to smile at the flock.
"Yes, I did. I was just arranging transport with Argus here for you to see your mother, Percy."
"So, Kai get's to see his mother now?!" Nudge asks, excitement clear in her voice and facial expression.
"Are we all going to meet her?" Gazzy questions, only to have Iggy answer.
"Of course we are. I don't know about you guys, but with the School after us and monsters after Kai, I'm not letting him out of my presence!"
'Can they come? Please? As well as Max and Fang? They are my family as much as my mom and dad are. I want them to meet my parents as well.' Kai signs. When Chiron and Argus look at Kai in sad confusion, Angel translates for him. When he realizes what Kai is trying to ask, Chiron smiles again.
"Of course. There is no rush. We can wait until your friend is awake and ready to travel."
Kai beams and touches his right finger tips to his chin and pulls them away, a sign Chiron and Argus discovers means thank you.
"You are very welcome. Grover, why don't you show our guests around while they wait for their friend to wake up?"
"Okay. Come on, guys." Grover agrees and guides the group off of the porch and towards the cabins.
"What's with all of the cabins? They all look so different!" Nudge questions as they get close enough to see details.
"Each cabin was designed for a specific god or goddess. The children of these gods that are staying here live in the cabin made for their godly parent."
"What gods have cabins here?" Gazzy asks.
"If you knew anything about the gods, you could tell just by looking inside the cabins, but not everyone is friendly, so I'll just tell you. In order from one to twelve, you have Zeus: King of Olympus and God of the Skies and Lightning, Hera: Wife of Zeus and Goddess of Women and Marriages, Poseidon: God of the Sea, Demeter: Goddess of the Harvest, Ares, God of War, Athena: Goddess of Wisdom and Battle Strategy, Apollo: God of... lot's of things. Mostly light and the sun."
'Apollo... that's the father of Lee and Will, right?' Kai signs.
"Yeah, that's right." Grover answers after Gazzy translates, then continues naming off the gods the cabin's represent. "The cabin over there is for Artemis: Twin sister of Apollo and Maiden Goddess of the Hunt and Moon-"
"Maiden goddess?" Iggy interrupts, wondering why there is a cabin for someone who will never have children.
"She would be offended if she didn't get a cabin. Same as Hera. She's the goddess of marriage and would never have children with anyone other than Zeus, but she would find it offensive if she was left out." Grover explains, correctly guessing the blind mutant's confusion, making him nod in understanding.
"What about the other empty cabins?" Angel questions, looking at Cabins 1 and 3.
"Zeus and Poseidon aren't allowed to have children with mortals, not anymore. That's why their cabin are empty."
"Not allowed to have children?" Nudge exclaims.
"Nope. The Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, aren't allowed to have children anymore because they are too powerful."
"Too powerful?" Iggy repeats."
"You've heard of the Word Wars, right? They were caused by a fight between children of the Big Three."
The five bird kids shivered at that. To cause a world war just by having an argument... it's no wonder that rule was made.
"And what about that cabin? There are so many people there." Angel questions again while pointing to Cabin 11.
"Oh, we haven't gotten there yet. That's Hermes' Cabin. He's mainly the messenger god, but he's also the god of a lot of other things, kinda like Apollo. One of these things is travelers. Anyone who is unclaimed by their godly parent or are the children of minor gods stay there."
"What if a demigod is never claimed?" asks Nudge.
"Than they stay there until they leave Camp Half-Blood for good." Grover says sadly while staring at the overpopulated cabin.
"... So, Cabin 8 was Artemis... Who's next?" Iggy questions in an attempt to change the topic.
"Next is Hephaestus: God of the Forge, then there's Aphrodite: Goddess of Love and Beauty. You already heard about Hermes' cabin, and last but not least is Dionysus: God of Wine."
"Dionysus? As in Mr. D? He has children?" Iggy blurts in surprise, his expression mirroring the rest of the flock.
"Yes, he does. Only two though. They are twins, Castor and Pollux."
"Twins?" Gazzy repeats.
"Yeah. They're over in the strawberry fields right about now, making them grow."
"Strawberry fields? You guys grow strawberries?!" Angel asks excitedly, making Grover laugh.
"Yeah, we do. Come on, I'll show you." Grover offers and turns in the right direction to lead them there when he suddenly stops and bleats nervously. The flock is about to ask him what is wrong when the problem decides to make itself known.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Newcomers?" A big muscled girl with a mean smile asks.
"I don't think so Clarisse. Look at what they got on their backs!" Another mean girl, not as muscled and slightly shorter, comments.
"Oh yeah, the wings. Almost forgot about them. What kinda freaks are you? Ya don't look like harpies to me, and there are only female harpies anyways." Clarisse observes as she circles the group.
"Same for sirens." A third girl says, knocking another possibility off the list. "'Sides, both harpies and sirens are impossible since the barrier keeps out monsters."
"Than what are they?" Clarisse demands.
"We're mutants, not like it's any of your business." Nudge answers, glaring at the trio of bullies.
"Mutants? What, like X-Men?" Clarisse taunts, bursting into laughter with her friends and half-sisters at the flock's glares.
"Hey, what's your problem?! We didn't do anything to you!" Iggy yells while turning the heat up on his glare. Clarisse stops laughing and glares back as she walks up to the strawberry blond and invades his personal space.
"What's my problem? My problem is I don't like having mutant bird freaks polluting my eyes and ears with their freakishness." Here, she loses the glare in favor of a smug smirk. "Especially blind bean poles I can snap in half like the twigs they are."
"Snap me in half?! I'd like to see you try!" Iggy goads, muscles and wings tensing for flight.
"Bring it on, ya blind bird freak." Clarisse antagonizes back.
The minute Clarisse and her cabin mates appeared, Kai knew there was going to be trouble. When no one was paying attention, he had Grover leave to tell Chiron what was happening and have Gazzy and Angel get Fang. Kai decided to stay behind to try to calm Nudge and, more importantly, Iggy, but had little success. When people are really mad, they aren't going to pay much attention to someone tugging on their clothes or trying to pull them away. Without a voice, it was almost impossible for Kai to get the attention of his brother and sister. When it looked like the fight was going to start, Kai, forgetting he was mute, screamed at the top of his lungs.
'Stop it!'
The second the silent scream left the mute boy's lips, the most extraordinary thing happened. No, he did not miraculously get his voice back, nor did his siblings and the bullies notice him. No, what happened was something entirely different. A rumbling was heard, followed by the ground shaking.
"What's going on?" One of Clarisse's friends demands.
"How should I know?!" Clarisse angrily responds right before the question is answered.
The nearby water fountain, the lake, the drinking fountains, toilets, faucets, anything with water burst open as the water they contained shot into the air above the two angry bird kids and three demigods.
"What the he-" was all Iggy and Clarisse could utter before the speeding water covers the group of five.
Camp Half-Blood Infirmary
Max groans in pain as she finally regains consciousness.
"Ugh, my head." Max moans as she slowly opens her eyes.
"It's about time you woke up." Fang teased with a relieved smile on his face. "You're slow." Max grins weakly at this.
"Slow? I was just taking my time waking up. What's the rush?" Not expecting an answer, Max slowly sits up and begins her questions.
"What happened?"
"We were flying when you suddenly screamed and passed out."
"Oh, is that what happened?"
"Yeah, scared the crap out of everyone. When you started to fall, I caught you and was suggesting we find a place to land when Kai was attacked."
"What?! Kai was attacked?! By who?! Is he okay?!" Max questions as she begins to panic and go into mother hen mode.
"Kai is fine, so calm down." Fang orders sternly. Once the brunette leader calms down, he continues. "As for what attacked Kai, I'm not sure. we never did find out. It was a flying creature that kept raving about Kai stealing a lightning bolt."
"A lightning bolt." Max reiterates slowly to make sure she heard right.
"Yes."
"As in, the bright hot things that appear in the sky during storms? The things that will fry you if you touch them?"
"That's what it sounds like."
"Fang... you know how ridiculous that sounds, right?" Max questions slowly.
"Hey, I didn't tell the crazy old screeching thing what to say, I just repeated it." Fang defends himself as he puts his hands up in a sign of surrender.
"But how could anyone steal something as intangible as a lightning bolt? And not only that, who would you even steal a lightning bolt from?" Max demands, not necessary expecting a real answer but got one anyways.
"Zeus."
Not expecting to hear anyone's voice other than Fang's and her own, Max jumps and spins around to face the speaker, wings flared and body poised to attack at any sudden movements from the two boys out of reach in front of her.
"You were right Fang. Thanks for sticking around until your friend woke up. I don't even want to know what would have happened if you weren't here." A blue eyed blond comments as he puts down the bottles he was shelving and turns to face the two mutants. If he wouldn't have been listening to Fang's suggestions while checking up on Max, he probably would be peeling himself out of a wall right now from getting hit by her fists, her kicks, or a flap of those massive wings.
The other boy, obviously an older relation of the first boy and the one who spoke first, slowly sits up from the bed next to Max's, being careful to avoid her outstretched wings. You can only tell he has just woken up by the slightly cloudy look in the teens half lidded eyes, and even that is fading fast.
"Yes, she is jumpy and that can be annoying sometimes, but it's saved us more times than we can count, so I don't mind." Fang explains before turning to Max, who he had grabbed by the shoulders when she jumped and spun around. "Max, relax. These guys helped us after you passed out. Lee Fletcher here is in bed because he passed out from exhaustion from helping us. After he passed out, Will Solace over there made sure to check on you in between restocking shelves just to make sure they didn't miss anything until you woke up."
"Really?" Max questions. Fang simply nods in answer. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Not for very long. I'd say somewhere between two to three hours. Thirty minutes to an hour was spent here in the infirmary." Lee supplies as he looks at Max's face and the position of the sun outside.
"How do you know that?" Max and Fang question at the same time as they stare in shock at Lee.
"He's just that good. He can tell how long you've been sleeping just by a quick look at your face and he can tell how much time you've spent here by looking at the position of the sun and where it was when you first came here. That reason and many more are why Lee is the counselor of the Apollo Cabin." Will says with pride as he walks up to Lee's bed and hugs his half brother, who blushes at the praise.
"Wow, that's amazing." Max praises with an impressed look on her face. Fang nods his head in agreement. Lee just rubs his head in embarrassment, refusing to admit the fact that he hid his face in Will's stomach as he did do. He wasn't hiding his face, Will just happened to be standing in the direction he was looking.
"It's not all that impressive. You just have to learn the signs of sleep and how to tell time using the sun. Every son and daughter of Apollo learn these things."
"Yeah, but none of them are as good as you are. Stop being so hard on yourself and give yourself some credit." Will admonishes,as if he were the older of the two. Lee smiles at his younger brother and ruffles his hair.
"Thanks Will." Lee thanks.
"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Stop treating me like a kid." Will scolds with a blush of embarrassment as he tries to fix his messy blond hair. Lee just laughs at the scolding.
"Watching them kinda reminds me of our family." Fang says quietly as he moves from the chair to the bed, sitting next to Max and rests his chin on her left shoulder.
"Yeah, they kinda do." Max agrees as she calmly leans her head against Fang's, not realizing how intimate their position could be seen as. Being reminded of her flock made her frown. "Where is everyone?"
"Outside, looking around. They're fine." Fang answers and assures in the same breath, not wanting her to go into mother hen mode again.
"That raises another question. Where are we?"
"Some place called Camp Half-Blood. There's a barrier around this place that keeps out monsters and humans, so we're safe here."
"Monsters? You mean the thing that attacked Kai?"
"Yeah. Apparently there are more around looking for him, so we followed someone who works here from California to.. well, this place. Apparently it's in New York, but I wasn't paying much attention because our transport was three mostly blind crazy taxi drivers."
"You came here in a taxi and it only took an hour or two..." Max repeats, a disbelieving look on her face.
"They were really crazy taxi drivers." Fang says, a slightly horrified look on his face as he remembers the drive to camp. Seeing the look on her right wing man's face, Max shutters. For once, she was glad that she was passed out the entire time.
"I don't wanna know, if remembering about it scares you that much." Max denies, tensing her muscles enough to stay upright when she feels Fang slump against her in relief.
"Thank you." Fang graciously thanks as he wraps his arms around her waist in a grateful hug. Having her back to him, Max doesn't return the hug, but rubs his arms with her right hand as her left pats Fang's head.
"There, there. Everything is okay. The taxi is gone and the crazy drivers with it, and there's a barrier around this place, so the crazy flying thing can't come in here either. Speaking of which..." Here, Max turns to the two brothers, who had gotten back to work by then. "Lee Fletcher and Will Solace, correct?"
The two turn from restocking to look at the two winged teens, both noticing their comfortable position but deciding it best they not say anything. It seemed to be purposeful on Fang's part, but Max looked oblivious and seemed to be the type to freak out and distance herself if she noticed she was getting too close to someone.
"Yes, that's correct. I'm Lee and my younger half brother is Will. Did you need anything Max?"
"Yeah, earlier before you two startled me, Fang and I were talking about a supposedly stolen lightning bolt, and when I asked who you would steal lightning from, one of you spoke. What did you say?" Max questions as she stares at the brothers. The two sons of Apollo exchange uneasy looks before Lee turns back to answer.
"I was the one that spoke. I said that you could steal a lightning bolt from Zeus." Here, he pauses and both brothers stare nervously at the ceiling as they hear the sky rumble.
"It's his symbol of power." Will finishes weakly. "His master bolt has been stolen. The Lord of the Underworld must believe your friend Kai stole it if he sent a Kindly One after him."
"A Kindly What? Lord of the Who? What are you guys talking about?" Max demands in confused frustration. The two exchange more uneasy looks and turn back to answer when Angel and Gazzy burst into the infirmary.
"Fang! Max! Come quick!" Angel shouts as she sees Fang with an awake Max.
"Angel! Gazzy! What's wrong?" Max asks as her and Fang jump up and the healers quickly walk up to the four.
"Iggy and Nudge are getting into a fight with three strong looking girls. I think one of them was named Clarisse?" Angel answers with a question at the end as she turns to Lee and Will.
"We need to stop them then. Clarisse is a daughter of Ares and counselor of the Ares Cabin. She's dangerous." Lee answers the look as the group hurries to the front of the Big House.
"Ares? Isn't that the Greek god of war? And you mention Zeus earlier. That's the Greek god of the skies."
"Correct and correct." Will says. "The gods are real. This camp houses, trains, and protects the half-human, half-god children of the Greek gods. The creature you guys encountered was more than likely a Furie, what we call Kindly Ones. They work for Hades, the Lord of the Underworld. The taxi you came here in was run by the Gray Sister's Taxi Service, run by the Three Fates. We give everyone nicknames and use titles instead of their real names because names are powerful and should be used wisely. The rumbling earlier is because I said the name of the God of the Skies. I know it all sounds crazy, but it's true."
"How could any of this possibly be true?" Max demands to know as they walk out of the Big House. They are joined by a goat man and a centaur just in time to witness all of the nearby water shoot into the air and race to the middle of the cabins where it practically drowns three muscled girls and two scrawny bird kids. Another bird kid is panting heavily in disbelief at the drenched group in front of him.
"... How else would you explain all of this?" Lee finally questions as he indicates the wet mutants and demigods, the centaur, the satyrs, pegasi, nymphs, naiads, and everything else only explainable through mythology that had gathered to watch the fight.
"... Let me get back to you on that." Max replies hesitantly as she tries to take everything in. Giving up after an awkward pause, she jogs down the Big House steps and starts towards the waterlogged group, the rest of the group following her.
"What ha-" Grover is about to ask when they hear a commotion by the entrance of the camp.
The campers who were gathered around the group out of simple curiosity scattered at the noise of destruction. The more gentle and inexperienced run away from the noise while the brave and experienced grab their weapons and run for the entrance.
Chiron orders Grover to get the panicking campers to calm down and go somewhere safe, than has the Apollo siblings go prepare the infirmary for possible injured. Once this is taken care of he gallops towards the entrance, fluidly pulling a bow and arrow off his back as he did so.
"Argus, what happened?" Chiron asks as he continues up the hill.
"The Minotaur, among other monsters, are trying to break the camp barrier." Argus answers grimly, a few blue eyes staring at Chiron and Mr. D on his other side while the rest stayed aimed towards the front.
"How long do we have before the barrier falls?" Mr. D questions, almost sounding bored. If the need arose for him to fight, he would do his duty and protect the camp and campers, he was more than enough to take out the creatures, but he wouldn't step in unless he was absolutely needed.
"I can't say. We've never been under continuous assault like this before. Considering the amount of monsters and their strength, I doubt it will take very long.
"Can the archers shoot through the barrier without breaking it?" Max questions as the flock hovers over the campers.
"Well, yes. It is a magic barrier, so there is no problem with us defending ourselves inside of it." Chiron answers. Max nods.
"Good. Have the archers aim for the monsters. We'll handle the Minotaur." Max orders. Before Chiron can protest, the flock fly out of the barrier and hit the bull man with aerial attacks.
"Archers, attack!" Chiron orders to the archers on either side of him atop the hill. In unison, they nod, notch their arrows, and fire. Next, he turns to the rest of the fighters in front of him. "The rest of you, I want you to be ready to fight when the barrier falls."
End Chapter 7
Songs
Radioactive by Imagine Dragons
Bells of Notre Dame (female cover) sung by Marina Brouwer (Hunchback of Notre Dame)
River Flows In You by Yiruma
Flying Spaghetti Monster by Doctor P
Star Wars (John Williams is the Man) by ApprenticeA
Baba Yetu by Christopher Tin (Civilization IV)
Devil's Never Cry by … peoples (Devil May Cry)
Twister byTakeharu Ishimoto (The World Ends With You)
Ghost by Gackt
Avengers Assemble (One Direction Parody) by Screen Team
The One Star by Takeharu Ishimoto (TWEWY)
One Man Les Miserables Medley by Nick Pitera