Hello readers and welcome to chapter 6, I've uploaded my story to wattpad recently, but I will still upload to first; mainly because I'm biased haha.

Anyways, just a reminder that I do not own Percy Jackson and the olympians, Rick Riordian does.

Feel free to leave any criticism you may have in the comments and enjoy!

Chapter 6 - Delphi here we come! (1)

(Percy's POV)

The sun rose, the sound of nature coming to life filled my ears. Slowly I opened my eyes and stared up at the canopy of trees that filled my vision. I sat up and suddenly realized that my time at Chiron's camp was over. He had taught me everything he knew, it was time to move on. It crossed my mind that I should travel with the others, Delia, Cassie… Aris too. I stood up and gathered the items given to me, including my sword, the gift from my father, and the sword from my birthplace, Sparta. My armor was already on and I had a pouch of ambrosia as well.

Sighing, I headed towards camp, Chiron said that he dreamed about creating a camp full of demigods. He wanted to teach them to survive and to become great heroes, heroes that served to protect rather than to take. Arriving in camp, I'd see Delia there along with Cassie.

"Hi, guys!", I'd say with a wave.

Both Delia and Cassie would look over to me and wave, saying, "Hey Percy!"

Delia would speak up saying, "We were waiting for you to get here, Aris is talking to Chiron about something, but we thought we should set out together, and reach the Oracle to get our first quest from the gods."

I'd nod my head agreeing, "Sure, sounds good to me, let's wait for Aris then." I sat down next to Cassie and we started some small talk. I learned that Aris had been gone for only a few minutes after I arrived. So it could be a little bit before he comes back. I also learned that Chiron planned to set off to find more demigods tomorrow. We'd already be halfway to Phocis where the Oracle of Delphi was.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me and I turned to both Delia and Cassie and asked, "So are you guys ready to talk to the Oracle of Delphi?" I'd ask.

"Yeah I guess so, I mean it will be like talking to our parents in a way right? Or more like Apollo…", Delia said.

I'd smile at my new found sister, it was a surprise to us both. We didn't complain, when I was younger I always wanted another sibling. Unfortunately I was too busy training to become a warrior in the Sparta academy. My mother never had another child before her untimely death, but now I learned that I did indeed still have another family member alive- mortal family that is. I suppose I always had my father… even if he wasn't always around.

"Yeah", Cassie said chipping in, "I'm looking forward to it, in my mind it'll be a way to prove to the gods that we as their children can still help them." I looked at her before smiling.

"That's what I had in my mind as well, Cassie. But I also want to prove that Sparta had the best warriors, I want to live up to my legacy." I'd tell them. I felt determined, if the gods wanted something done, I would help them, I wanted to live up to my fathers expectations just as much as Sparta's.

I'd sigh thinking about what might happen at Delphi, something I realized was that when you were a demigod, you just never knew. Life was unpredictable, but it was something I surprisingly didn't mind. Just then I heard footsteps approaching, seeing Delia and Cassie both looking up focused on something, I also turned around.

There was Aris walking back with a grim look on his face.

"What's wrong Aris?", I'd hear Cassie say with a hesitant voice. Aris just shook his head in response. I took it as he didn't want to talk about it, with that we all dropped it.

"Shall we set off on our journey? I have the gear packed.. And Chiron said I could pack some of the camp stores since he'd be gone for a while…", Delia said to us in a soft voice. I'd look around the group, Aris was staring at the ground with an unwavering look. Cassie was staring at the forest with a small smile and finally Delia was staring at me.

I smiled at Delia before saying, "There's no time like the present, let's do it.", looking at my small backpack that contained my few belongings it really hit me that I was leaving. I'd grab the small backpack and look at the others, they had followed suit and we all started walking towards the edge of the clearing. Just then I heard a voice behind us.

"So you young ones are setting out then huh?"

Turning around I'd see Chiron looking at us with a soft smile.

"Yes we are Chiron, thank you for everything. We will not let you down.", I'd say with confidence as I looked at my teacher.

He simply nodded his head and watched us leave with a wave, just as we passed the clearing I heard him yell, "May the gods be with you, original heroes."

*Time Skip ~ 4 hours later*

It was hot. Very very hot. The sun beat down on us almost as if Apollo himself was cursing our existence. The four of us had made minimal progress through the dense forest, the humidity was making the journey highly uncomfortable, but I wasn't one to complain. I sighed looking up, we had been following Cassie through the forest, as her mother was Demeter, she seemed to have a natural understanding of where we should go. So we decided that she should lead the group out of the forest towards Delphi.

As of late there hasn't been a lot of talking, though I figured that was because of the heat. Everyone was focused on not sweating to death. I wiped my hand across my head and it came away sticky with sweat, it really was hot. Thankfully I had plenty of water at my disposal, so staying hydrated wasn't a big problem.

I looked up once more and had a sense of deja vu, the single file line reminded me of Sparta… and my mother. A sense of sorrow crossed over me, I had moved past her death, but I swore to myself that I would never forget the cause I was fighting for. My mother and Sparta. I would prove myself to the gods- and I would make my people- the people of Sparta proud.

Suddenly I heard Cassie say, "We're almost out of the forest, at least that is the feeling I'm getting."

Sure enough, a few minutes later, we were out of the forest. Stepping out of the dense tree line and onto a grassy plain was refreshing. A new change of scenery was highly welcome, unfortunately the heat did not diminish in any way.

Aris spoke up saying, "It's only a few days walk from here to Delphi, at least according to the map Chiron gave me…" I'd turn around and see him holding a map, I was a little unimpressed by the fact that he hadn't shared this fact with us before leaving but I shrugged it off. I walked over to him and gazed at the map.

"Yeah, looks like you're right", I'd say. Hearing him give an annoyed grunt I'd walk back towards Delia and begin to walk.

I'd look at her as we were in the back of the group, Aris and Cassie walked in front of us, leading the way.

"So how are you?" I'd ask, I knew it was a lame conversation starter, but I didn't know what to ask my newly found sister.

I'd see her smile and say, "I'm good thank you for asking. Though this heat is something else, thankfully we have enough water to satisfy."

I'd nod my head in agreement, "Yeah it's really something else today. Especially considering that it's just getting out of the summer season." I'd reply.

She'd nod her head before looking at me and asking, "Uhm, Percy?"

"Yeah?", I'd say

"So we haven't really talked about it before.. But you're my older brother and I'd really like to know more about you.", Delia said to me with a shy smile.

I'd feel heat rising in my cheeks that had nothing to do with the temperature outside. I'd beam at her saying, "That's sweet Delia, anything you want to know I'll tell you, after all I have to catch up with all the years we've missed."

She'd smile and we'd start catching up on all the years we'd missed together. It felt nice to finally talk to someone who wasn't a military officer, it was good to let me guard down for once.

I lost track of time after talking with Delia about everything ranging from why we were given the names we had to what we thought about mountain tops.

I heard Cassie call, "Hey there are more people on the trail to Delphi!" I'd look up, frankly I had been surprised that we hadn't come across anyone before these supposed travelers.

Since Delia and I were in the back it took a moment before we could see them. There was a woman, and a younger figure who I assumed was a child. However, I couldn't be sure until we saw them. They were pulling a small cart that was covered by a tight nit figure cloth.

As we got closer together I started to make out details of their faces. The tinier figure was indeed a child, another female by the looks of it. They were both dressed in the traditional Greek toga. The older female, who seemed to be in her late 30's had deep brown hair, it seemed to be quite abundant in nature and size. Quite healthy looking hair, her skin was tanned from years in the sunlight, and maybe the most interesting part was her dull yellow eyes.

We waited in the shade for them to approach, I wasn't sure why Cassie and Aris wanted more people to travel with, perhaps they were bored of hearing Delia and I talk. I decided it was best to not argue the point. As the two approached, the older woman raising his hand in greeting, I found myself raising my own back in a form of good will.

"Is something the matter, young ones? You seem to have waited for us to catch up with you.", The old woman said as he pulled his cart into the shade on the side of the road.

Aris spoke saying, "Nothing is the matter, we simply wanted some more company on the road. Only if you don't mind that is." I found myself admiring the woman for a moment, she was quite pretty. I noticed Aris was also stealing glances at the woman while she thought about the offer.

The woman looked at our group thoughtfully before saying, "The more the merrier, my name is Tammi and this young one here is Kelli."

"Pleasure to meet you", Aris replied with a smile, "I am Aris, and these are my companies." I felt a surge of annoyance flash through me. But I quickly took a deep breath and listened once more to the conversation.

"This is Cassie," Aris said, gesturing to her.

"Hi nice to meet you.", Cassie said.

"Those two over there are Deli and Percy, they're siblings.", Aris said pointing to us. The woman looked at us with a curious stare.

I heard her mutter under her breath, "Siblings already… well I can't-", she seemed to her me listening and smiled saying aloud, "Sorry I have a bad habit of speaking under my breath, are you all headed to Delphi?"

I nodded in reply saying, "Yes we are, is that your destination as well?"

The woman would nod and before I knew it we were all back on the road once more. Delia had decided to go and talk with our new company, foiling Aris's plans of picking up a girlfriend on his first chance.

Cassie walked alone in the front of the group, leading the way to Delphi which left me in the back behind the cart. I preferred watching over the group anyways, even though these people were not dangerous you never knew when bandits could come. I silently thought about the hellhound from before… a vicious monster from the depths of the underworld itself. I was wondering when I would encounter another being like that. This time I'd be ready, I thought to myself as I walked along the packed, dirt path.

I noticed that the sun was nearly down and said to the others, "We should set up camp."

"Sure, sounds good to us", Tammi said and Aris instantly agreed with her. I rolled my eyes and headed a bit off the path; I was searching for a good camping spot when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"I can find us a spot quickly Percy, no need to trouble yourself searching in the dark.", Cassie said.

"Oh yeah- I forgot about that sweet ability you had. Thank you", I'd tell her with a chuckle. It sure was nice to have someone who could navigate nature with ease. Just a few minutes later, Cassie introduced us to a very suitable camping spot. There was plenty of space to set up the tents that Aris and Delia had been carrying. Tammi seemed satisfied by the camping choice and settled down by her cart.

I sighed sitting down on a rock as I watched Cassie and Aris start working on the tents. Delia approached me and sat down next to me on the rock.

I looked at her and asked, "What do you think about our new companions?" for some odd reason they seemed a bit strange. I hadn't seen nor asked what was in the cart. I was assuming it was personal or perhaps they were merchants. I had a feeling it wasn't the former.

"They have quite a story to tell if you ever get a chance to listen to it. They seem to be merchants of some sort, but… they don't really remind me of merchants if I'm being honest." Delia said with some conviction.

I nodded and said, "Yeah that's the feeling I was getting as well. I haven't really made a solid effort to talk to them. If they stay with us the whole time I'll probably end up hearing it at some point."

She nodded and looked back at Aris and Cassie who had set up the tents with surprising speed. Cassie motioned us over and we both stood up walking over.

"Let's get dinner started!" Cassie said. I nodded and rummaged through her backpack looking for the meal. Aris started a fire in a secluded area where none of the grass would ignite.

"Did you guys really just pack cured meat for the whole trip?", I asked Delia.

She hummed a Mhmm! Back to me as an answer. I just sighed, it wasn't the worst thing under the sun, but my pallet could use a bit of variety. That was the one thing I always looked forward to after the Sparta Military Academy. The new foods available to soldiers was vast, unfortunately, Chiron seemed to adopt the meat for warriors ideology inside of camp. Pulling out the meat allocated for tonight, I brought it over to Aris who was taking care of the fire. I set the meat down next to him without a word and watched him stoke the fire. Eventually the entire group, including Tammi and Kelli, gathered around the campfire. The heat was perfect for the cool night air. The smell of the meat cooking was enough to get my mouth watering, I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I smelled the meat.

A few minutes later it was finished. Using a small dagger that Cassie kindly provided, we cut up the meat into six sections. A piece for everyone, we dug into dinner with ravenous intent.

"Wow that was really good", I commented to nobody in particular. There was a chorus of agreement as well all sat by the fire. Slowly as the night progressed people started falling asleep. First went the two new travelers, Tammi and Kelli. Then Delia, who I waved goodnight too, finally it was just Aris, Cassie and I.

"We should probably have someone take a nightwatch.. We can rotate, but we should keep a lookout for… anything out of the ordinary.", I told them, hinting at the fact that monsters may come during the night. They both nodded and surprisingly Aris volunteered to take the first watch.

I smiled at him and said, "Alright thanks man, wake me up whenever you want to sleep and I'll take the second watch if that's fine with you." Aris nodded in reply and I left Cassie and Aris be. Heading over to a small tree, I laid down against it, thinking about how it was our first day out of camp; and it had gone pretty smoothly. No monsters or crazy mortals had messed with us yet, and our trip to Delphi was going smoothly.

I slowly closed my eyes as I fell asleep to the soft sound of the campfire; and the night time noises of nature.

Time Skip

I awoke to the sound of steel on a strange noise. There was yelling and fighting, my eyes shot open as I jumped up from the tree. It was pitch black outside, the moon was in a small crescent shape and Artemis didn't seem to be in a thoughtful mood. The stars were dull and void of any only thought in my mind was, had monsters come during the night?

End of Chapter 6

Hopefully you enjoyed, sorry about the huge time delay.

I'll publish the next one soon, hopefully the cliffhanger isn't too mean, let me know if there is anything I can improve!

~Nyx