Once again, a friendly disclaimer!
+ Camp Half Blood belongs to Rick, not me (though, I wish)
+This story deals with alcohol, If anyone is offended, I apologise in advance
A Few more things,
+ I was requested to do Percy's POV
+ I got carried away with this chapter
+ Word count 4,563
That's it, Hope you guys enjoy (:
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o PERCY JACKSON o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
10:13
…
"Crap" Percy quietly cursed under his breath….he was late. Normally, it's okay to be a few minutes late for an activity, because it takes a while to get around camp. But, armed combat started at 10…. It's now 10:13, even worse, he had it with the Ares cabin and everyone knows not to be late when Clarisse is your instructor.
He was stuck in his cabin frantically searching for his breastplate, and there was no way he was going to the arena without one. It was times like this he missed having Tyson around to clean up his dirty underwear and soda cans, screw it, I'm dead anyway was his last thought before he ran out the cabin door and tripped face first down the stairs.
"CURSE MY LUCK!" he screamed in frustration scaring off a few younger campers.
"Not a great start to the day?"
His anger flushed out immediately at the sound of her voice, Percy quickly got to his feet to greet Annabeth, but stopped when he saw the sour look on her face.
"Who got on the wrong side of you?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes in frustration, "you would not beliv-"
"Wait" Percy stopped her, "tell me on the way to the arena"
They began to walk cautiously to the arena, Annabeth seemed to notice, "Is there a reason we're walking slow?"
"I'm trying to think of an excuse for being late"
Annabeth grabbed his hand and pushed him forward, "You're just going to make yourself later Percy"
They were now walking at a normal pace, "So, what happened to make you so mad?"
"Okay, I was at the strawberry fields with the Demeter cabin and guess what they told me about the Stoll brothers!" Annabeth wailed, using theatrical hand gestures.
"Didn't they salt their cabin or something?" Percy chuckled.
"Not that" she whined, "They planned a party!"
"Did they, when?"
Annabeth stopped suddenly and glared at Percy, good timing too, the arena had been just up ahead and Percy could hear Clarisse's frustrated curses over his absence.
"Was...that… the wrong thing to say?"
Annabeth intensified her stare.
"I'm sorry, what's the big deal about throwing a party?"
Annabeth opened her mouth to say something then stopped herself, her expression softened, "I know I'm always the person to ruin the fun, but, it's because I always think logical" her tone was soft but still held an edge of anger, "I care a lot about this camp Percy, and I believe it would be unwise to have a party"
Percy cupped Annabeth's chin and raised it so he was looking in her eyes, "Sometimes, it's okay not to think logical about everything. You worry because you care, I get that, but sometimes you worry for nothing"
Annabeth didn't seem convinced, her expression was still determine, she gripped on to Percy's arm, "I'm going to stop this"
Percy looked down at her, a faint smile played on his lips. "It's just a party"
Normally, at this point, Percy would lean forward and graze Annabeth lips playfully, rather, Annabeth's expression turned sour and she pulled away.
"You don't understand" she pleaded, "They have wi-"
"JACKSON" Clarisse's booming voice broke the conversation.
She trotted down the pathway towards Percy in full body armour, he caught her eyes, they were shiny, like she was about to catch her prey.
"I'm curious, Percy, do you know how to tell the time?"
"Um, well….yeah-"
"SO YOU WOULD KNOW THAT MY CLASS STARTED 15 MINUTES AGO!"
Her voice echoed throughout the camp and beyond the arena, Campers came from every direction to see the source of the commotion. Percy swore he could see Leo laughing like a mad man.
"It was my fault Percy's late, I needed help taming the Pegasus up at the stable" Annabeth spoke in a soothing voice, glaring at all the campers that had gathered to see the show, Clarisse's expression calmed at Annabeth's tone. Then rapidly fired up again when she looked back over to Percy.
"Fine, consider this a warning punk" she gritted through her teeth, Percy quickly turned away from her and faced Annabeth
"Well, I think that's my cue to go"
Annabeth smiled half heartily, still bothered by their conversation. Percy took her hand and pulled Annabeth close and quickly pressed his lips on hers. Someone form the forges told them to get a room. Annabeth pulled away rather quickly.
"You should go, Clarisse is waiting"
"Oh yeah, um, we'll talk later" Percy ran his hands through his thick black hair, embarrassed by Annabeth's rejection.
Annabeth began to turn away, her mind fixed on something else.
"Yeah, I'll see at lunch" she said more to ground than to Percy
"Okay?" Percy said to himself, Clarisse was already at the arena waiting for him.
Percy half jogged up the hill, tying not to meet her scolding eyes. He was thankful Annabeth took care of why he was late, he could never come up with a believable excuse.
Why was I late anyway? He contemplated, Percy stopped in his path at the sudden recall. He left out an agitated groan, "The stupid breastplate!"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
After a very heated conversation with Clarisse about why he didn't have his breastplate, she came to the decision that due to safety reasons, Percy could no longer participate in today's lesson. He was pretty bummed out about this, it's been a rough morning and combat training normally calms him down. But as much as he protested, Clarisse had her mind made up, he hated to admit it, but she was right.
He shuffled his way over to sit with the other "slackers" which mainly consisted of the Hypnos cabin, the ones that actually got out of bed today.
"ahhhhh, it's too bright out here to sleep" yawned a very exhausted Clovis, "didn't expect to see you down here Percy"
"Yeah, well I forgot my breastplate, you?"
"Nothing, I always sit here, I've never participated in a lesson" Clovis bragged like it was a good thing.
"So, what, you're not trained?"
"I know how to hold sword, just stick 'em with the pointy end"
"So too answer my question, no"
Clovis ignored Percy and attempted to take a nap with the sun shining bright in his eyes, "curse Apollo" he silently mumbled.
Percy ignored Clovis, as he continued to curse every god he could think of and concentrated on Annabeth, Percy didn't understand why she was so mad, it was only a party. Sometimes the camp throws feasts and banquets and they were always great. What would Annabeth have against that? Percy played the conversation over in his head, Annabeth was about to tell him something until Clarisse ruined it, clearly he wasn't getting the full story.
Percy turned his body around to face Clovis, who was now lying on his belly, face down, trying to block out the sun with the palm of his hand.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know about a "party" that's going on?"
Clovis opened up one eye and made some sort of a muffling sound.
"Could you repeat that?"
Clovis groaned and rigidly moved his head so his mouth was visible, "Will and the Stoll's were arguing about a party earlier, during archery"
Of course, if the Stolls were involved in anything, Solace would most likely be involved too, "What were they saying?"
"I don't know" he was struggling to keep his eyes open, "I think they said something about using Cabin One for space"
"Why would they want Cabin One? Why not the amphitheatre?"
Clovis looked at Percy like he was an idiot, "because that wouldn't be very discrete now, would it?"
Percy caught on, "They're throwing the party behind Chiron's back?" Clovis nodded slightly, so that's why Annabeth was so mad. He had to admit though; it wasn't that big of a deal, yeah having it in Cabin One was a bit extreme, but it's just a party. Though he didn't know why it was being kept secret.
Percy looked back at Clovis, "Would you go?"
His face wrinkled as he looked thoughtfully at the ground, "I suppose, if I get some sleep during arts and craft, I should be awake after for the Party"
"Wait, you have a sleeping schedule?"
Clovis looked up at Percy like it was a stupid question, "Doesn't everyone?"
Percy shook his head and leaned back against the wall as he watched the Ares cabin dominate the others, enjoying the peace and quiet, when out of nowhere,
"LEO, YOU CLUMSY THING!"
Percy, Clovis and everyone else peered around the corner of the arena; frantically running down the hill was a panicked Connor with Leo stumbling right behind him, they were both chasing a bottle that was rolling rapidly towards the cabins.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o LEO VALDEZ o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Is it hot in here, or is it just me" Leo remarked to his siblings as he walked into the forges. Leo loved being in here, the sound of clanging metal put him at ease and set his mind into gear. His cabin was already well into work, each completing difficult and advance metal work with ease. Each bench was cluttered with an assortment of different scrap metals, wires, blue tack, bolts, gears, screws, nuts and of course duct tape.
A few blowtorches were going off around the place, sparks of light were flying in every direction, chainsaws where going off along with a continuous rhythm of hammers, sanders and drills. To an outsider, the forge may look chaotic, but for the children of Hephaestus, the dysfunction of the forge was nothing more, then a faultless serenity.
Leo made himself at home at one of the unoccupied work benches, he noticed Nyssa from across the room taking to Harley. Leo waved her over, wanting to discuss the sketches he gave her last night.
Nyssa approached Leo with a warm smile knowing what he wanted, "your sketches are very impressive, but, I had a few ideas myself."
She handed Leo a stack of paper, which were full of Leos sloppy drawings and even worse hand writing. He scanned through the papers, looking at the red corrections.
"These are awesome, like, you're a genius"
"They're from your original design" Nyssa downplayed, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink.
"And?" he shrugged, "I never would have been able to come up with this-"
Leo was interrupted by what sounded like a bear coming out of hibernation, "SO YOU WOULD KNOW THAT MY CLASS STARTED 15 MINUTES AGO!"
Everyone stoped what they were doing and fled out of the forges towards the source of the yelling. Leo dropped the papers he was holding onto the bench and followed his siblings. It seemed like everyone else had the same idea, Nymphs and Strays had stopped gardening at the fields to look at the commotion. The Athena and Aphrodite cabins were peering from the stables, curiosity getting the better of them. An assortment of campers filed out from the armoury, plus, campers running up from the cabins, Leo swears he saw people as far back as the canoe lake looking this way.
At the base of the hill, leading up to the arena was Clarisse going off at a pair of unfortunate campers. Leo should have known, on closer inspection, he realised the pair of campers were Percy and Annabeth. Leo chuckled widely at the two.
"Poor Percy…" Nyssa commented, looking at Leo.
"Yes, poor Percy but great entertainment value"
From the bottom of the hill, Percy leaned over and gave Annabeth a kiss, Leo was quick to comment. "GET A ROOM, LOVE BIRDS!" to which he got a few cheap laughs.
Nyssa rolled her eyes and grabbed Leo by the collar of his shirt, "Come on Leo", she sighed dragging Leo back into the Forges.
"But, this is gold" Leo protested attempting to fight Nyssa's strong grasp, eventually they made it back inside. Leo snatched the sketches from the bench, "As I was saying, you're corrections are awesome, but it still needs work, do you have a pen?"
"How are you Leo?" Nyssa questioned smoothly, the sudden change of conversation made Leo uncomfortable.
"Um, pretty good"
Nyssa caught his eyes, "No, really, how are you"
Leo exhaled and allowed his smile to fade, "I'm worried about Calypso" he admitted sheepishly
All Calypso wanted to do since Leo rescued her was see the world, which was great. He took her to the botanical gardens in Beijing, to the Swiss Alps. They went all over America, she was disappointed to find out Madison square garden wasn't actually a garden.
Calypso really wanted to see Rome, but Leo was in no way ready to see that place again. Above all, she wanted to see her family, Leo couldn't control Calypso, he had no choice but to let her go.
Now, Calypso was on Mount Tamalpais visiting her father Atlas, and of course Leo is worried, he has every right to be worried! What if Atlas doesn't let her leave, I Mean, he could trick her into taking his curse. Though, His main concern was what the Olympians would do if they found out, they could send her back to Ogygia for conspiring with a Titan, without a single protest.
Nyssa smiled softly and cupped Leos face, "You shouldn't be, she a thousand year old nymph, she'll be fine"
Leo returned her smile, "Yeah, she should be fine"
Nyssa and Leo stayed in that position for a while, before Harley ran over, "Nyssa, I'm not allowed to use the blowtorch myself"
"I'll be there in second Harley"
Leo awkwardly coughed; he'd never been this affectionate towards one of his siblings before, "So, sketches?"
Nyssa grabbed the pencil that was tucked behind her ear, "You had more ideas"
Leo took the pencil, his head now suddenly turning with improvements; He leaned over the desk scribbling down anything that came to mind. Leo stopped when he felt someone else's presence behind him, he turned around to face Connor Stoll, who was so close his nose was pushing up against Leos.
"Um, Personal space Connor"
"Oh, yeah…sorry"
Nyssa examined Connor up and down, "What are you doing down here Connor? Wait, how are you even here? Aren't you meant to be at the Lava wall right now, With the Demeter Cabin?"
Connor made a sour face, "couldn't be around the Demeter cabin…after what happened"
"What do you mean, after what happened" Nyssa asked
Connor broke out in his usual grin, "Oh Man, Travis and I completely salted the Demeter cabin, Like, everything they plant dies straight away!"
"You did that!"
"Sure did, but the Demeter cabin didn't find the humour in it, so, I'm trying to keep my distance"
"So…you came to the forges?"
"Well, yeah, I wanted to speak with Leo"
Leo wasn't paying attention to the conversation, he was too wrapped up in the sketches Nyssa had drawn, but looked up when he heard his name "huh?"
"Apparently Connor wants to speak with you" Nyssa said eyeing Connor strangely
A loud thud came from across the forge, followed by a hissing noise and screaming, a gas bottle was rocketing through the room, crashing into everything in its path.
Nyssa groaned and ran over to the commotion, "Harley! I told you to wait"
Connor pated Leo on the shoulder, "Do you want to talk outside, things seem pretty hectic in here"
"Please, this is nothing" Leo remarked while following him outside
Connor walked over to a column and talked in a hushed tone, "Listen Leo, what I'm about to tell you is a sort of a secret, so don't repeat this to anyone"
If Connor wanted privacy this was probably the worst place to go. The forge was right in the middle of the strawberry fields, the stables, the armoury and the arena. Plus, just beyond the lake was the big house, Leo could spot Chiron talking to a Nymph from where he was standing.
"A very discrete spot to tell secrets"
Connor brushed off the comment, "have you heard anything about a party?"
Leo shook his head "No"
"Well tonight after campfire, there is going to be a get together in Cabin One, because Travis and I found a bottle of wine in Dionysus old room"
"Wow" Leo said, "That's a bit extreme"
Connor leaned in closer to Leo, "so spread news about the party, but, the wine, I'd rather the wine be more of a rumor"
"I don't understand"
Connor swayed struggling to find words, "I don't know, I just, Like, I want people to think we have wine, but I don't want people to see it, I feel like we're less likely to get caught, if no one has actually seen the wine"
Leo still confused stared blankly back at Connor
"Look, I have wine and I don't want people to see it, but I want people to know about it! Do you understand now Leo?" Connor whispered harshly
Leo raised his arms in defence, "Calm down, I get it!"
Connor settled down, "Sorry, I'm just having doubts if this is still going to work, everyone I've spoken too are really against the idea"
"It's a stupid idea, and stupid ideas are my specialty" Leo joked, "I'm in!"
Connor half laughed, "Thank the Gods, because I need your help, I need you to hide the wine"
Connor lifted his hoodie to reveal the outline of a bottle under his shirt, he grabbed the bottle and sure enough it was the wine. Leo quickly jumped in front of him, blocking the wine from view of the big House.
"Why are you carrying the bottle with you, are you trying to get caught?" Leo was appalled by Connor's behaviour
"I've had nowhere to put it; if I keep it in my cabin someone will swipe it!"
"So why do you want me to hide it!"
"Don't you have, like; I don't know super-secret safes with lasers and robots in your cabin?"
As weird as it sounds, each camper in the Hephaestus cabin has a safe under their bed, with voice activation and personalized traps, "well….something like that"
"Perfect!" with that Connor shoved the bottle in Leo's hands and was about to walk away towards the cabins before Leo grabbed him by the hoodie.
"Wh-, I can't….how am I…." Leo was a loss with words; he was freaking out, what was he meant to do with the wine in the meantime…. He couldn't just keep it under his shirt until lunch…could he? "How am I supposed to hide it now?"
Connor took off his hoodie, "here, just do what I did"
Leo inspected the hoodie and shook his head, "It's too hot in the forges for a hoodie I won't be able to work"
Connor looked back and forth towards the forges and the cabin, "Make something up, I don't have all the answers Leo"
Leo gave the bottle back to Connor, "fine…" he mumbled under his breath
He plodded his way back inside the forges, which was now more tamed since he left; the gas bottle was either caught or ran out of gas. Nyssa was on the other end of the forge, sitting atop of a bench; she was supervising Harley as he used a blowtorch.
Leo slowly made his way over to her, trying to think of an excuse to go to the cabin, Nyssa hated when someone was in the cabin alone, she was a very paranoid person. When he finally reached the table, Nyssa gave a slight smile before questioning him.
"What did Stoll want?
Leo didn't say anything, instead he just stared at Nyssa, which was extremely creepy.
Nyssa jumped off the bench, "Leo?"
"Connor, just…um…" Leo panicked and said the first thing that came to mind, "Wanted to ask me a question about…cats" he said unsurely
"Cats?" Nyssa repeated
"I'm a cat enthusiast…. Have I never mentioned that?"
Nyssa eyed him cursorily, "are you feeling okay Leo?"
"No!" He said a little too aggressively, "I'm not, I, erh, actually feel faint"
"hmm, You do look a little pale"
"I think he should go lie down" Harley suggested
Nyssa clearly didn't love that idea, "I don't think he needs too"
"I really do"
Nyssa hesitated, looking Leo up and down, He did his best 'I'm in pain face', which probably made him look constipated.
"Okay" She finally said, still unsure, "I'll check on you at Lunch"
Leo nodded his head and paced out of the forge, he could feel his siblings starting at him as he left.
Connor was leaning against the column playing with the string of his hoodie, when Leo joined him.
Connor pushed of the column, "All good?"
"I wouldn't say that, but I can go to my cabin now" Leo breathed
Connor smiled showing all his teeth, Leo noticed that his two front teeth went inwards a bit, "That's all we needed"
Connor discreetly handed him the bottle, Leo immediately placed in under his shirt
"Did you want the hoodie?" Connor asked taking it off; Leo shook his head in response.
"I should be fine, Oh, and If anyone asks, we're cat enthusiast"
Connor nodded slightly confused, "Sure, why not"
"Um, who else has seen the wine?"
"Just you, me, Travis and Will, you know, Will Solace?"
"Yeah, I know Will" Leo answered, feeling slightly honoured he was one of the few that had seen it.
"Hey, thanks for doing this I really owe you one" Connor patted Leo on the shoulder, a little too hard. Leo stumbled forward, tripping over his own feet and fell flat on his face. The bottle escaped from under Leo's shirt, and began to roll quite fast downhill.
"LEO, YOU CLUMSY THING!" Connor screeched at him before sprinting down the hill after the bottle, Leo got to his feet and started stumbling down the hill trying to keep up with Connor. At this point a crowd had gathered from all the commotion, the bottle was only a few meters away from the cabins and Connor was nowhere close to catching up with it.
"IT'S GOING TO CRASH!"
As the word flew from Connor's mouth, it happened, the bottle collided with the back of the Hermes cabin, creating a loud thud followed by a high pitch scream from Connor.
"It's over….the wines gone…" Connor wailed, no longer in a hurry, Leo rushed over to his side and patted him on the back
"We might be able to salvage some from the bottle!" Leo told him in a hopeful tone, Connor nodded his head slightly and they made their way over to the damage, Connor suddenly stopped in his path at what he saw,
"I…don't understand…"
Leo looked at the bottle in amazement, "it hit the cabin with so much impact , how could it not break" The bottle was in one whole piece, Leo picked it up to search for any cracks or even a scratch, any indication that it hit the cabin…nothing, he shook his head in disbelief "impossible"
"Come to think of it…It didn't break when it fell out the cupboard this morning…"
"It must be enchanted by Dionysus…"
"Lucky break…" Connor said giggling at his own pun, "Quickly put it under your shirt people are looking"
"What are we going to do, they all saw the wine" Said Leo, referring the crowd of campers intently staring at Connor and Leo
Connor looked around, slightly panicked, "It's cool, they don't know its wine"
"There not stupid Connor, once word gets around that you have wine, they're bound to make the connection"
"It's fine Leo" Connor half shouted, "Sorry, but, it's fine, everything's fine"
"Maybe you should go lie down"
Connor ran his long fingers through his hair, "Just hide it!"
He stormed off towards the dining pavilion, leaving Leo dumbstruck amongst the speculators.
Leo quickly made his away to his cabin, firmly holding the bottle under his shirt to make sure there were no more accidents. Leo peered inside to make sure no one was around, as he suspected the cabin was empty. Leo crept inside and scanned the cabin again, just to be sure. Leo felt an odd presence in the cabin; He brushed it off and walked over to his bunker. He crouched under to his safe and entered the necessary codes. Leo looked around again, "Hello?"
There was definitely no one around, but he had the feeling someone was watching him…the bottle felt wrong in his hands, like it wasn't made for him. Leo placed it gently in the safe, glad to get rid of it, suddenly the temperature dropped in the cabin and the darkness seemed to swallow him whole. Leo's vision went fuzzy and his mind went cloudy, it felt like someone, somewhere was trying to communicate with him, warn him about something. Leo quickly jumped to his feet and ran out of the cabin; the sudden sunlight blinded him in addition to a ringing that started in his ears, he was completely senseless and shut off from the rest of the world…..then like a flash, it passed over with the sound of a conch horn. The experience left him unstable as he walked to the arts and crafts tent.
Leo couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he sensed something bad was going to happen.
So, feedback?
+ How did you like this chapter?
+ Whose POV would you like next? (I do two a chapter)
+ What kind of things do you think should happen at the party?
+ Do you want the Gods involved? (when I say this I don't mean at the party, but I have set the two chapters up so they could get involved with the story but don't necessarily need to be)
And don't forget,
+ Comments are highly appreciated
+ Also follow and favourite the story
+ Thank you very much for reading and have a fantastic day/evening or night xx