Really sorry about the time its taken me to do this one, I've been caught up with homework and stuff. Please review.
Chapter 10-
"Good morning, everybody!" Enrique called brightly to the sleepy Greek campers, attempting to avoid conversation about the previous night's events. The ten of them were assembled outside the pyramid on a vast stretch of desert. "First day of training, should be fun. Is everyone here? Good. Now, I'm going to be your supervisor, as one of the head counselors here at Camp Tut. We are going to start with an obstacle course." He spread his arms wide, revealing the course.
The obstacle course was long and winding. It had several sections, including a swamp, what looked like monkey bars, and apparently an underground section. All in all, it would have done a military boot camp proud.
"I'm going to go through it once, just to show you. Remember, I've been doing this a long time, so I know all the tricks. You don't. No powers on the obstacle course, and you have to carry your weapons with you, like you would in a real situation. So here I go." Enrique took off a jacket he had been wearing and threw it onto the ground, revealing his expansive wings. He had his scepter strapped to his back in walking stick mode and his sheathed sword hanging loosely at his side. He took a breath, and began.
The first portion was simply running through tires, or so it seemed. Every so often, a massive serpent would erupt from one of the tires that his foot had just left, snapping at the air. The audience cringed every time Enrique came close to having his leg bitten off. The next section required him to crawl through a matrix of wire, made more difficult by his wings, which he had to keep folded tightly against his back.
At the swamp, which was the next section, he took out his walking stick and started tapping the ground in front of him as he walked, like a blind man. When he reached the end of the swamp, he suddenly dove into the water and disappeared.
He emerged about a hundred yards away, barely even wet.
The rest of the course took him about ten minutes to complete. The monkey bars, which were about ten feet off the ground, posed no challenge for Enrique, who simply flew.
"I thought you couldn't use your powers," Leo protested when Enrique returned.
"My wings are a part of my body. They don't count as powers." He replied with a wicked grin. "I could easily go back and do them if you want, though."
"Nah, I'm good. I don't want to be embarrassed when I fall and break my neck."
"Suit yourself. So who's up first?" Enrique called. Everyone immediately looked around, hoping that someone else would volunteer. Jason sighed and was about to lift his hand when someone spoke.
"I'll do it," Nico said quietly, and walked to the front. "No powers? No problem." He braced himself with a breath and ran onto the course, jumping through the tires. He took well over twice the amount of time as Enrique, but nonetheless he finished.
Inspired by his example, the others immediately began volunteering. However, none were able to complete in a time even close to Enrique's. When everyone was finished and panting, Enrique shook his head slowly.
"We've got some work to do," He muttered.
…...
"Weapons class!" Enrique said brightly, dropping the group off in a dark armory in one of the lower levels of the pyramid. This time, there were other campers sitting in assorted seats.
"I co-teach this one," He said, going to the front of the class. Beside him was a tall brown-haired girl with emerald green eyes.
"Hello," She said. "For our newcomers, my name is Alexa. I am a daughter of Horus, or Apollo to you guys. I teach this with Enrique, but you already knew that. Now, everyone, lets see if the Greek people can answer some basic questions about our weapons. Enrique, can I see your sword? Thanks," She said, holding up the shining white blade.
"Tell me," She asked. "What is the blade made from?" No one answered, just a group of blank stares. Alexa sighed, and turned to Enrique.
"Ivory," He said. "From the first sea monster I killed. Leviathan ivory is indestructible, and never gets dull. It also forms a bond with the user when made into a weapon, and very unfortunate things would happen if anyone other than me tried to use it without my permission. Now, can you tell me what this is?" He asked, holding up his scepter. This time, Annabeth raised her hand.
"A was scepter. A symbol of power."
"Nice. Can you tell me the other two kinds of scepter and what they stand for?"
"There's the djed, which is stability, and the ankh, which is life."
"Right again. At this camp, when you graduate, you get a scepter. You are given a walking stick with the potential to become any one of the three, and it will become the scepter that suits you best. How am I doing, Alexa?"
"Great," She said. "Now if everyone would please take out your weapon, we will begin discussing how the balance of your blade can save you or kill you in a fight..."
The lesson continued for half an hour, until Enrique gestured at the group and mouthed "Let's go," They quietly left the room.
"I can't stand that class," He said in a relieved tone. "You wouldn't think a class about weapons could be boring, but that comes close."
"Then why do you teach it?" Rachel asked.
"All of the senior counselors have to teach three classes. You choose one, you earn one, and you are assigned one. That was the one I was assigned. We're going to the next class I teach, fight class."
"Did you choose that or what?" Leo asked. Enrique gave another wicked grin.
"I earned it,"
…...
Ten minutes later, they were in a large, bright room with a sunroof. The floor was padded and there was a vending machine in the far corner.
"Welcome to the dojo," Enrique said to the group, as well as some Egyptian campers that had the class as well. "Where we learn how to fight. We're going to start this mano a mano, so drop your weapons. I'm gonna ask all you new people to stand way back, and let's see, Carl, can you come up please?"
A short and stocky, but muscular guy walked up and acknowledged the crowd.
"Carl is a son of Sekhmet. The lioness goddess. Now prepare to have your minds blown, cause this is something you don't see everyday."
All of a sudden, claws began growing out of Carl's fingers. His teeth sharpened into razor-like points. He crouched like a cat about to pounce, and there was no doubt that if he did it would be several feet in the air. A gasp emanated from the Camp Half-Blood campers.
"Easy, kid. You may know that a lot of our gods had animal features. Thus, certain children of our gods have certain animal features of their own, like Carl here."
"Do you have that?" Leo asked.
Enrique shrugged, spreading his wings wide. "Well..."
"No Valdez, he's obviously completely human," Piper said.
"Right," Leo muttered.
"But isn't Anubis a jackal?" Annabeth asked. Enrique shrugged again, and this time claws emerged from his fingers, though not quite as prominent as Carl's. And only his canine teeth became sharper.
"Yes, I have some characteristics as well, as you can see. Not to the same extent as my friend here, but yeah."
Leo whistled. "Remind me not to get into a fight with you,"
Enrique grinned. "Valdez, front and center. Thanks for volunteering."
"Whoa, I didn't volunteer, wait," Leo complained as Piper and Jason pushed him towards Enrique.
"I'll go easy on you," Enrique said.
"You go easy on me? I'll try and go easy on you." Leo countered, hiding his nervousness.
"Ready, then? Let's go."
The two circled each other, like two alley cats. Enrique had a laid back look in his stance and demeanor, but Leo was all business. He was not about to embarrass himself in front of everyone, especially since he had done so on the obstacle course. He had been the only one unable to finish.
In a blur, Enrique ran at Leo, who barely managed to dodge the attack. Without skipping a beat, Enrique turned on a dime, facing his opponent.
"All right, man, what happened to going easy on me?" Leo asked, biding his time.
"I lied," Enrique said just loud enough for Leo to hear.
"Then I lied too," Leo responded, and willed his hands to catch fire. This time, he ran at Enrique.
"Looks like you got a couple tricks," Enrique said, impressed despite himself.
"I try," Leo said, launching a fireball, which hit Enrique in the chest. The latter collapsed, and Leo marched over.
"Looks like I won," He said confidently.
"Not even close," Enrique said, struggling to rise. Leo aimed a flaming punch at him, but Enrique caught Leo's hand by the wrist, inches from his face. He dragged Leo down as he pulled himself up, and Leo's knees buckled.
"Looks like I win," Enrique said slowly. "All talk and no game makes Leo a dull boy," He taunted. Leo looked around desperately. He was running out of options. He scanned his eyes around the room for anything that could help him. The light from the sun glinted off Enrique's sword distractingly.
And then it hit him.
The sun.
He could feel it energizing him, his body leeching strength from the great ball of fire in the sky. In one fluid movement, he broke Enrique's iron grip and threw him to the ground. Leo stood over his opponent, both his arms completely covered in flames. He pointed a finger menacingly at Enrique, who's eyes widened. Finally, Enrique shrugged.
"You win," He said softly. "Well played. Maybe you guys have some potential after all."
He got up, brushing himself off.
"But you guys are gonna need a lot more than potential if you want us on your side," He added ominously.