Oh hey, Look who's back? Really sorry that I couldn't update for a really long time, I just had a lot of work to do. Anyways, now that I'm back, hopefully I can update more frequently. If some of you can remember, I used to update everyday, so I will try to update more often (most likely once a week).
Anyways, about the chapter... It's from Chiron's perspective and you will see that he has changed a lot. But don't worry, he won't stay stay like this for long ^.^ I just thought that Chiron's character was always so "perfect" because he was never really given that much attention so I decided to change that up! Please let me know how this chapter went, or leave any suggestions. Criticism can help write better and faster.
On with the Chapter...
The night stars illuminated the whole camp, as if there was a giant spotlight shining from above. The fog was thick and the grass was wet, it was a horrible day for a battle, and yet here they all were.
The war horns vibrated through Chiron's ears as they seemed to be coming from everywhere. A single arrow landed next to Chiron and soon, many more followed. He could hear screams and shouts coming from all directions however, he couldn't see anything and for some reason, he wasn't able to move anymore. He tried to get free but it was no use. He was trapped, and soon, the whole camp would fall, and eventually, Olympus would fall. He could hear a coarse laughter coming from the ground. It was as if someone was actually enjoying the war! Who could be that crazy? Oh yeah…
He could make out a faint figure as he squinted into the night. As the large figure got into better view, he realised that it wasn't a person…it was a bomb. His eyes widened as he understand what was going on. Would this be it? Would this be the end of Chiron?
The bomb wasn't exactly like any other bomb. It was like a brick on fire, except this brick was made of bronze and it was spewing out green acid. The brick hit him straight on the head and Chiron collapsed. Great, now he could move. He looked around the dispersing fog and saw what he hoped to never see. On the ground lay all of the campers. All of the people he was responsible to train and keep alive. Conner Stoll, Clarisse la Rue, Chris Rodriguez, Jake Mason, and about 50 others. He tried to yell but no words came out.
Then, all of a sudden, someone kicked him right in the face from behind. He managed to look at his enemy as blood flew out of his nose.
The person who had kicked him was a skinny, bony man who looked like he was just released from the mental ward. He held a teddy bear in one hand and a sword in the other. Chiron wasn't sure which was scarier.
He looked up at the stars once again, and he thought he could make out a constellation he had never seen before. It was so detailed and yet so faint. It looked like a female archer…
Chiron tried to move, but he was once again frozen. He knew he had lost and the Romans had won…for now.
The boy kicked Chiron once again and smiled, "Nights out, old man!" and down came the sword.
Chiron flew out of his satyr-bed (some of the campers from Hephaestus cabin had made it for him) and landed right into a wall. His face was beaded with sweat and for a second, he thought someone was knocking at his door but then came to realise that it was his own heart beat.
He groaned as he rubbed his newly bruised and throbbing forehead. The Dreams had come back, and it was the same dream every day, it was almost as If someone was trying to send a message to him…
He was just about to go back to sleep when he heard someone calling him from outside.
Chiron opened the door expecting it to be one of the cabin leaders nagging to him about waking up so late but instead, at the door, stood a young boy, a demigod for sure who had a worried expression on his scrawny face. He seemed to be around 12 years old and by looking at his camp necklace the boy had probably been at camp for a year or so, yet Chiron still couldn't remember who he was.
"Uh, Chiron-sir, there's someone who'd like to see you. he said that it's-"
"tell them to come back later", said the old Centaur, rubbing his head.
Ever since the group of demigods had left, life at camp had been turning into a disaster. Training had declined, the gods seemed to have disappeared, and just outside the camp was an army of roman demigods planning an attack. But the one thing that had changed the most was Chiron.
When the news reached the camp that Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus everyone had seem to lost hope in winning this fight. He could often hear demigods talking about him.
Chiron was about to close his door when the boy stopped him.
"No listen, he, uh, brings a message from the gods!". The boys eyes met Chirons but then the boy quickly looked away.
That got his attention. Ever since the war had erupted between the Greeks and the Romans, Chiron had been under pressure to resign. He was beginning to forget things, he hadn't even left his room for the past two days and according to the few contacts he had with Olympus, the camp needed a stronger leader.
"I'll be there in five minutes. Tell him to meet me near the lake." Chiron said as he closed the door and got ready. He thought he knew why Olympus had sent someone, and he was pretty sure that whoever the gods had sent wasn't here to give him a sticker...
He exited the building in which he slept and made his way towards the lake near where all the demigods ate. Chiron was surprised to see the sky pitch black. It had to be at least three in the morning. A small group of some the older campers where huddled close to each other in the cold rainy night. He knew something was wrong once he saw them, and why weren't the harpies out defending the camp?
As he approached the group they all looked at him. Some with sadness, desperation, and even guilt...?
A tall figure stood alone near the lake. His or her back was turned towards everyone. He looked like the Slenderman modelling in the rain.
"May i ask," said Chiron as he approached the figure, "What you are doing at my camp?"
"Your camp?", the figure turned around to face Chiron. He wore long robes and was well built. The man's eyes were static blue and based on the guys beard and scars, he had been in a recent battle.
"My name is Ganymedes and I serve Zeus, the king of the Olympians, ruler of the winds"
"And the breaker of winds", said one of the campers from Athena cabin.
"...The bringer of storms-" continued the man.
"Yes, yes. We get it. Now why are you here?" Chiron demanded.
The man put on his reading glasses and then pulled out a scroll. From it he read:
Due to the current misfortune's falling upon this camp and the outbreak of war; The Olympians have found Chiron, current leader of the Greek demigod camp, unfit for duty and hereby place him under watch to be examined. He will after be determined based on his leadership, on what actions should be taken. If he is found unfit for duty, he will be replaced and is to step down and leave the camp.
There was a murmor of voices from the campers.
"Are you insane? Has Olympus gone mad?" He said. "We are at war, my team and I have been through hell of a lot and now you're saying that I am not 'fit'? And you are right my friend, this IS my camp and we all will defend it even if Olympus falls. I have a plan to save this camp, and you are not part of it. Do you understand?"
Until now, Chiron had never shown his anger in front of anybody. He was usually the wise guy who people could trust or seek assistance. But no one truly understood what was really going on. Every day...every second, the Greek Olympians were tied up between both camps. He had seen it in the war before and was seeing it happen now. Eventually, the gods will have to take sides or else they would go crazy. And Chiron had a feeling that thy were turning more into their "roman" forms because of the war breaking out. And if the gods reached their roman forms, meaning that their Greek forms were gone, would they still help the Greek demigods and camp Half-blood?
"And you believe your plan will keep the roman's and giants from taking over this camp?" said Ganymedes
"My plan is the only thing keeping the roman's and giants from taking over this camp." said Chiron, returning back to himself. "And I will continue to help this camp no matter what happens"
"Say what you want, but orders are orders. I will be watching you under the microscope for the next two days." The man began to fade away.
Chiron was about to protest but the man raised his hand. In Ancient Greek, he said:
"I know, there's got to be a good reason to break up a camp."
It felt as if hours had passed but it was still dark outside. Chiron could hear thunder above as the rain poured down. The remaining campers sat in the cold, thinking about what Ganymedes had said.
When the man disappeared, Chiron felt himself age another hundred years. He turned to face the few campers that had come. He saw Chris Rodriguez, Clarisse la Rue, the Stoll brothers, Malcolm from the Athena cabin, Jake Mason from the Hepheastus cabin
and Will Solace from the Apollo cabin.
"What are you all doing here?" asked Chiron.
For a while, no one spoke but then Malcolm stepped forward.
"Uh we heard some noises coming from outside and we thought we should go check it out. When we came, the guy was just standing there looking at the sky"
"What? Why would you come here with the harpies..." Chiron realised that there WERE no harpies walking around the camp...
"Where is the boy you sent for me? He looked around twelve" said Chiron pacing back and forth.
"We never sent for anyone, Chiron" said Clarisse. "Hey wait!"
Chiron raced towards the outskirts of the camp, the others followed behind. Once he arrived, his worst suspicions were confirmed. He could feel the wind picking up again.
On the ground, slumped next to a tree was Michael Yew, who was supposed to be on guard that night.. There appeared to be a dart stuck to his neck. Chiron could also see an old white teddy bear head next to him.
"Oh no..." said Will as he appeared beside Chiron and then examined Michael. But Chiron didn't need anyone to tell him what had happened. He already knew. The Romans where inside the camp.
How they had gotten past the camp defences was unknown, but they were here for sure, Somewhere in the camp, waiting to strike. They had seen the opportunity and took it, and Chiron knew that it was all his fault.
Beside the unconscious Michael lay a small white note. It read:
One day, you will wish you had died earlier. That day is today.
Everyone looked at Chiron for guidance. But he was tired, he felt like giving up. He was supposed to be the leader of this camp, he was the one expected to always be perfect, but he was tiring.
"I...I cannot" Chiron said before anyone else could speak. Maybe Olympus was right. Maybe this camp needed a new leader.
"Chiron, maybe then guy just shot himself in the neck or something. He is an idiot after all" said Clarisse. But that still wouldn't explain the note.
"NO, don't you get it? When I was given this job, I thought I would be the hero people could rely on. The guy who would be helping the cat out of a tree. But I have to see people on the worst day of their lives. And I have thousands of lives at my hand, and I feel my hand getting heavier day by day. I must be perfect or I will lose everything."
"Then why, " said Jake, "Why do you do it?"
"Because there is no one else who will do it and until there is someone who even can, I will have to " Chiron remembered what he had told Percy during the Titan war.
I am your trainer, your teacher. That is not the same as being your leader.
Well now Percy was gone, there were only a few people left who could lead the Greeks to victory, and everyone knew that Chiron was one of them.
"I guess that's what makes you the hero Chiron. You do this job- you need to take control of this camp because right now, there isnt anyone else who can do it. There isn't anyone who CAN do it." said Malcolm.
At that moment, the sky turned bright orange as an fiery explosion engulfed the camp and shrapnel hit them all in the face as everyone was knocked down from the heat blast..Everyone else but Chiron. To make matters worse, it appeared that the explosion had come from the cabin entrances. The camp was gone, the cabins were gone, and the campers, if they remained, were trapped.
It was time for Chiron to decide what he would do. He could feel his strength and power returning to him. If he didn't lead the camp now, then they would lose everything they had worked for. And Chiron would not let that happen. And he knew for sure that whoever had planted this bomb would regret it.
He could see the fire dying out, but debris still covered the entrances. Even if they blasted the side of the cabin to rescue people, the whole building could come down. He could hear terrifying screams from inside.
"We're dead! Chiron, this is it! There's no way we can stop it now!" screamed Will as he fell to the ground.
All they could do was look at what remained of the camp. What remained of their memories. Was this it? Would Camp Half-Blood come to an end here? And what was the point of fighting? They were all so weak and the building even more weaker.
"HEY, listen to me. Today, you, all of you, are going to see things that you will not like. You're going to hear things that will try to break you down, because that's what happens. But the best thing we can do right now, the only thing we can do right now, is to be calm and help each other out. You can't live forever but you can always make something that will. Years from now, we might look back at what happened today, so let's be sure to remember it as the day when we worked together, fought back against everything wrong right now, and saved hundreds of lives. There are people in there who need your help right now, and you're not helping by giving up. You have been given a chance to be proud of something today, so let's use that opportunity"
Everyone was quiet for a while.
"What's the matter? To cheesy?" said Chiron.
"Not at all, Chiron." said Malcolm, "And he's right, you guys". Chiron realised that everyone was looking at him. Looks like the old Chiron was back, and this time he would stay fighting until the end.
"Clarisse, Malcolm, Chris and Jake, set up a command post. Find out who this guy is and where he is. You don't enter the camp just to blow a wall down, and you don't just bring only one bomb." Chiron could feel himself returning back to himself. "The rest of you, go and help the wounded, there is going to be more of them. Let's find a way to get the wounded campers out of there and into a shelter. And I want every healthy half-blood looking for this guy. Find clues, prints, anything."
Chiron knew that the roman's could attack at any time, and if they decided to attack now, with almost all of the camp trapped, they would lose everything. The giant war too. And Chiron had a good feeling that there was an army of giants marching towards camp half blood right now. However, Chiron also had been told that the Campers had retrieved the Athena Parthenos but they still had no idea how to use it. But he did have his ideas. The statue had broken Greece's spirit in the old days, and had still kept Athena angry at the Romans. According to the Romans, every civil war between the two camps was started by a child of Athena. Could it be possible that bringing that statue to camp Half-blood would please Athena? Could she prevent the war from breaking out? After all, she was the Goddess of wisdom. Chiron knew that he had to find a way to contact Leo to bring the statue back to camp. It was the only way to prevent the war.
The wind became increasingly faster, lightning and thunder covered the pitch black sky.
"It is going to be a while until we see daylight again," said Chiron looking up at the stormy black sky. "The battle for Camp Half-Blood...has begun".
Well, that was fun to write :D And it will only get better from here. Sorry that I couldn't combine the next chapter with this on these can take a while to write and I'm not done the next part, but I can promise that A LOT of things happen in the next part, especially with Chiron. Let's hope no one dies...
I will also answer any question in the next chapter. But about the Statue of Athena...I'm still not exactly sure about it's importance although I have some ideas of how it can stop the war. This chapter was basically an introduction to the next big one so I couldn't add too much information here.
Anyways, ON WITH THE NEXT CHAPTER! :D
SO UNTIL NEXT TIME, GOODBYE AND REMEMBER TO REVIEW/FOLLOW!
HEY YOU! YEAH YOU...DO YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER? THEN WHY NOT PRESS THIS NICE BUTTON BELOW?