Did you guys miss me? Do you even remember me? You know, that epic girl named Selene with the writing skills as good as J. R. R. Tolkien or C.S. Lewis or J. K. Rowling? XD Lol, I'm kidding. I'm definitely not on their level. Currently, my oh-so-amazing cousin is laughing her head off after reading what I wrote. I'll kick her out and continue writing.
Why did I disappear off the face of the Earth? I was too lazy to update. Plus, I was extremely busy with this big test and interview session.
Okay, I feel really bad about not updating. Frankly, if none of you guys review this chapter, I won't mind because frankly, after ditching you people for months, I don't deserve reviews. However, if you do review, thank you very much. By the way, earlier, for another story, I received a really sweet, sugar-coated review with CC in it. My advice is: If you don't like my story, don't sugar coat it. I want to hear the cold, hard truth.
Without further ado, here is the second chapter. And I will be writing a sequel to this fanfic.
-A very late Selene
Leo IV
Leo felt overwhelmed by awesomeness. Come on, there was freaking climbing wall with lava spewing. Not to mention the archery, magic, and monster-fighting lessons. This was the best place Leo had ever stayed in since his mom's workshop…
The smile faded from Leo's face as he remembered that couldn't stay here for too long. He'd have to leave eventually. No place was right for him. All he could do was keep running.
Piper brushed her shoulder against his. "Are you okay?" she whispered as she walked up next to him.
Leo smiled. "Yeah." His answer may have been a lie but his smile wasn't. This was the first place he had found where he genuinely did not want to leave. He had actual friends who cared for him. Piper and…sort of Reyna, although the events that had occurred this morning made Leo question everything he had ever known about Reyna. Yet, he still felt reluctance to leave his new friends and this camp. Maybe he could stay a bit longer.
As he looked around at Camp Half-Blood, a million questions blazed in his mind. He opened his mouth to ask one but realized that Percy and Annabeth were a couple yards away, gesturing to him and Piper to hurry.
"Come on," Annabeth said, starting up a hill at the edge of camp. "We want to show you a view of the camp from this hill."
When they reached the top, Leo saw what was probably one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. He had never really cared for nature, being one to typically stay inside, building something. But as he gazed at the view of Camp Half-Blood, Leo decided that maybe nature was worth admiring.
There were woods to the northeast, a beach with sparkling water, a creek, a lake, green fields, and not to mention the cabins. They were arranged like a Greek omega and had cabins loop around a hearth and had two wings sticking out on the bottom of each side. There were twenty in all.
Leo was thoroughly wowed. It felt like he was miles away from the world outside with the snowy hills and fields.
"No mortals are allowed inside without permission," Percy explained. "We also have magical boundaries to prevent bad weather or attacks." He glanced over at Annabeth. "Cabins?"
"Wait," Piper interrupted. "You've shown us all of this amazing stuff but you haven't answered a single question about what's going on with Reyna or the girl, Drew."
"We'll explain when we get to the cabins," Annabeth said.
Piper hurried to keep up with her, leaving Leo and Percy together.
"You know, she scares me," Leo commented.
Percy laughed. "Who, Annabeth? You're not the only one, Leo. She scares a lot of people, including me."
"All of these cabins are for the children of gods," Percy said. "It's where they live." He gestured to all of the cabins in the U formation.
Leo blinked. He didn't quite understand what he were trying to say. It was almost as if he were saying…
"Our parents are gods?" Piper asked. She looked calm for someone who had just discovered they had godly blood in them.
Annabeth nodded. "You seem to almost have been expecting this."
Piper shrugged. She glanced at the ground, looking downcast for a moment before looking back up. "After this morning's events, it's not hard to believe."
"So we're children of the gods?" Leo asked, still unbelieving. His dad? A god? A wave of bitterness fell over him. So where was his dad all of those years when his mom and him were struggling? Where was he when he had nowhere to go and had been abandoned by all of his relatives?
"Who are our parents?" Piper asked.
Annabeth shrugged. "We have no idea. But we'll find out soon. You guys are what? Fifteen? Last summer, the gods agreed to claim their kids by the age of thirteen. Leo's already been claimed."
"By Vulcan," Leo remembered. "God of blacksmiths and fire."
"Actually, your parent is Hephaestus," Annabeth corrected. "Vulcan is the Roman form. I don't know why Reyna said that. But that's your dad."
Leo felt like the universe was laughing at him. His father was the god of fire? That was so not funny after what had happened to his mother.
Demon child…
"Dude, are you okay?" Percy asked.
Leo snapped out of his thoughts. "Huh, yeah, of course I am. Why?"
"You seem a little…out of it," Percy explained. His sea-green eyes were completely friendly, showing no malice in them.
"It's nothing," Leo said, waving it off. He quickly changed the topic. "So why do gods claim you when you're thirteen?"
"The older you get, the more monsters try to track you down," Percy said. "We try to get to you guys before that happens. We have satyrs, half-man, half-goat, like Coach Hedge, to scout schools to find demigods."
"Does that explain Coach Hedge's weird food cravings?" Leo asked, looking to put some humor into the situation.
Percy grinned. "Yeah. I have a friend, Grover. He –"
Annabeth interrupted him. "Please, do not tell them that story. You have no idea how humiliated I was."
Percy winked at Leo. "Sure." Tell you later, he mouthed.
"So what happened to Coach Hedge?" Piper asked. "He got captured by the storm spirits but is he still…alive?"
"It's difficult to tell," Annabeth said, looking mournful. "Storm spirits are hard to defeat. Even our best weapons, Celestial bronze, can sometimes not do the trick."
"Reyna managed to defeat two of them," Leo recalled.
"Then either she's really lucky," Annabeth said. "If you're lucky, you can send the monster's essence down to Tartarus, a big abyss where the worst monsters come from. It takes months or even years for them to be able to reform again. But Dylan got away…so I don't think that there's any reason for him to keep Gleeson alive."
Leo was too depressed to even laugh at the Coach's name. He had sacrificed himself to save them. Great. Another death caused by Leo.
"Look, guys, we're the same as you," Percy insisted. "Most demigods have ADD or Dyslexia or both. We've been labeled as troublemakers and don't fit anywhere. But this is a place where you guys do fit in."
That was probably the best thing anyone besides his mom had said to him and even though he barely knew Annabeth or Percy, Leo felt an urge to trust them. All of these people, they were like him. He had brothers and sisters here who understood what he was going through. Maybe not completely. He was sure none of them had started a fire that had – but either way, this was the closest place to a home he had been to in a while. Maybe this was one place he didn't have rush things.
"How did you guys get into trouble?" Percy asked.
Annabeth smiled. "By the way, don't feel shy about telling us. You should hear about all the trouble Percy got into. He threw a cannonball at his school bus, he called his teacher an old sot, he played Volleyball of Death with monsters, he –"
Percy scowled at Annabeth and interrupted. "Come on, I wasn't too bad."
Annabeth laughed. "Not to mention –"
"Maybe we should let Leo talk," Percy said loudly.
Leo shrugged. "I got into some trouble, not as much as Percy, though. I mean, firing a cannonball at the school bus? That is awesome, dude. Anyways, I got caught running away from my foster home." Usually, he would stop there, but he felt like he should continue. "It wasn't that the place was bad or the people were horrible but I just felt like I couldn't stay in one place too long."
Percy nodded. "I get it, dude."
"What about you, Piper?" Annabeth asked.
"I stole a BMW," Piper admitted. "Well, not really stole. I mean, no one ever believes me, but all I did was ask the dealer for it and he just gave it to me. And then later, when the police caught up to me, he was too embarrassed to admit it. And my family's not even poor or anything. I don't even know why I did it. For attention, maybe. My dad never really paid attention to me unless I was in trouble."
Leo was pretty surprised. She had never talked so much about her family in a long time.
"I can relate," Annabeth said. "If your dad were the god, I'd say you're the daughter of Hermes, god of thieves. He can be pretty persuasive. But since you're mom's the god…" She shook her head, apparently mystified. "I have no idea. Let's just hope that she claims you tonight, at the campfire, then."
Percy glanced at Annabeth. "Has Rachel arrived yet?"
Annabeth shook her head. "I checked the cave."
"Whoa, your friend Rachel lives in a cave?" Leo asked.
Percy snorted. "Actually, her family owns a luxury condo in Queens and she attends a finishing school in Connecticut. Poor is definitely not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of her."
Leo glanced at Piper. "Kind of like–"
Piper elbowed him before he could finish. He stopped talking immediately, and glanced apologetically at Piper for his mistake.
Annabeth and Percy didn't seem to notice since they were in front of them but Leo knew better than to underestimate Annabeth.
"So can you explain to us a bit more about Drew?" Piper asked quickly.
Percy sighed. "There's nothing much to say. She went missing three days ago. And she's not the type to run away or get her hands dirty if she can avoid it. She's a child of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty. She was the counselor for the Aphrodite cabin. The strange thing is, she disappeared soon after Dionysus, the god of wine, our camp director got recalled back to Olympus."
"Did she get kidnapped?" Piper asked.
Annabeth shrugged. "We don't know. The key to finding out what happened to her is Reyna. What do you guys know about her?"
"She came to the Wilderness School about four months ago," Piper said. "And she was quiet and didn't talk much. She scared everyone but Leo and I become friends with her a month after she arrived. We know her really well but I don't know where those tattoo marks came from at all."
Annabeth frowned. "So why was she sent to the Wilderness School?"
Leo started to talk but then froze. "I don't know." He glanced at Piper, who looked equally confused.
The daughter of Athena narrowed her eyes. "How did you guys meet?"
Leo found himself unable to answer once again. He couldn't believe this. He had known Reyna for four months and yet he couldn't remember how they had met.
"I'm ADHD," Leo explained. "I can't remember stuff like that."
Annabeth looked unconvinced.
"I remember!" Piper said. "Reyna was assigned to be my partner for the nature walk and Leo and his partner, Eric, walked with us. It was really awkward between me and Reyna at first because she wouldn't talk and just observed everything but eventually she smiled when Leo cracked a joke."
"That's odd," Percy said, turning to Annabeth.
"Wait," his girlfriend said. "What's Reyna's last name? What's her favorite color? How did she get those marks on her arm?"
Leo, once again, had no idea and it seemed like Piper was stumped, too. "Wait," he said suddenly. "Remember what Dylan said when he attacked us? He said he'd known about us for weeks but his mistress said someone special was coming – Reyna."
Piper stiffened. "But, I don't understand…" She seemed to be on the verge of crying.
Leo felt pretty horrible, too. "You sure we're children of the gods? I'm not feeling too godly right now."
Annabeth sighed. "I don't understand this. It seems like the Mist is influencing all three of you." Catching Leo and Piper's confused faces, she clarified. "The Mist is sort of a veil that messes with your head. It's typically used on mortals to hide the demigod world to them but it can be used on demigods, too. It seems to me that someone manipulated the Mist to have you guys believe that you've known each other for months when, in reality, Reyna arrived recently."
Leo's head was whirling, filled with anger, confusion, and sadness. All of his memories of Reyna were fake? It seemed ridiculous. But at the same time, it made sense. Why else couldn't he be able to remember anything about her?
"No," Piper said, her eyes shining with unshed tears. "I remember everything clearly. The time Reyna, I, and Leo ditched class to go and look at the stars. The time Reyna accidentally destroyed Coach Hedge's baseball bat and we had to go and buy a new one. The time –"
"Piper!" Percy said. He put a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Calm down."
Leo felt like he needed comforting, too. He awkwardly patted Piper's back, having no experience on what to do in this type of situation.
"This has to be the Mist, Piper," Annabeth said gently. "There's no other explanation. Your memories are sharper than most and I don't know why but…I'm sorry, Piper. All of your memories are fake."
Leo squeezed her hand. Although he was in no position to comfort, since he also felt like he needed a hug, seeing Piper like this made him feel like he had to do something. She was his best friend.
Piper seemed to gain a hold of herself and she looked back up, her kaleidoscope eyes fierce. It took someone who knew her really well to see the hidden shattered expression on her face. There was also something different in her expression. Like she'd just made a decision.
"Maybe we should finish the tour?" Percy asked.
"Sure," Piper said. "Let's go."
A few kids were playing basketball. They all were perfect at it. All of the shots went in. They didn't even hit the rim. Just hoop.
"That's Apollo's cabin," Percy said. "As you can see, the word "miss" is not in their vocabulary. I once challenged them to basketball game before I knew how good they were." He grimaced. "I had to be their personal butler for a week."
"By the way, we better get you guys your weapons," Annabeth said.
"Weapons?" Piper asked. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"That's the point," Percy said with a grin.
Leo high-fived him. "Nice pun, dude."
Piper groaned. "Why do I suddenly have the feeling that these two will form an alliance to annoy us for all of eternity?"
Percy laughed. "Anyways, my weapon is this." He pulled out a pen.
"Wow, Percy," Leo said. "That's amazing. But compared to all of the swords and spears I've seen today, it's kind of a letdown."
Percy laughed. "Oh, really?" He pulled off the cap and suddenly, the pen morphed into a huge celestial bronze sword. "Still a letdown?"
"Whoa, man!" Leo exclaimed. "That is so freaking cool? How the heck did you get that? And look at the craftsmanship! It's so detailed and –"
The other boy grinned and elbowed Annabeth. "He's just like you when you're talking about architecture."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. She pointed to a gray building with an owl engraved on the front. "That's cabin number six. I'm the counselor. Athena's cabin."
Leo could make out loads of books, weapons, maps, SMART Boards, and battle diagrams. "Wow," he muttered. "So that's where all of the nerds hang out. They're all smarticles."
"Come here," Annabeth called. She was walking towards the side of the cabin, to a big metal shed that looked like it was meant for gardening tools. Annabeth unlocked it and inside was a huge display of weapons.
"Every demigod needs a weapon," Annabeth said. "Hephaestus makes the best but we have a good selection. Leo will be making his own weapon, being a son of Hephaestus and all. But as for you, Piper…" She handed Piper a huge sword, which immediately crashed onto the floor as soon as Piper held it in her hands.
Percy found a shotgun. "How about this?"
"Um, not my style," Piper said, shaking her head. Suddenly, Piper started walking towards a row of weapons and picked up a scabbard. "Is this a knife?"
Annabeth looked uneasy, "Yeah, but I don't think you'd want that. Swords are typically better."
"You use a knife," Piper pointed out. She didn't wait for Annabeth's response and unsheathed the knife.
"Whoa," Leo muttered as he gazed at it. "That is one fancy knife."
It had a triangular blade eighteen inches long – bronze gleaming like it had been polished just yesterday. The edges were deadly sharp.
"Nice," Leo said. "It looks like it was made for you."
"I agree," Annabeth said. "That's a parazonium. It was mostly ceremonial and was carried by high-ranking officers in the Greek armies. It showed you were a person of power and wealth, but in a fight, it could protect you as well."
"I think it's cool," Piper said. "Why didn't you like it?"
Annabeth exhaled. "That knife drives people away because of its history. Its first owner…well, things didn't go too well for her. Her name was Helen."
Leo nearly tripped over his feet and Piper's knife fell out of her hand but she quickly caught it.
"Are you talking about Helen of Troy?" Leo asked. "The Helen that caused the Trojan War. The Helen that ended up being killed? I mean, I don't know much about mythology but even I've heard that story."
Annabeth nodded. "Its name is Katropis, which means mirror because that was what Helen used it for. It was a gift from her first husband, Menelaus."
Piper glanced at the blade and for a second, Leo thought she was having a seizure because her face became pale and the blade fell to the floor with a loud clang.
"Piper? Piper?" Leo shouted. "You okay?"
"It's – it's okay," Piper managed, her voice raspy. "I'll be fine."
"Sure?" Percy asked.
"Yeah," Piper insisted. "Everything suddenly just hit me about how weird everything was. But, um, can I borrow a phone? To call my dad?"
Leo knew something was definitely up. Her father was Tristan Mclean, the famous actor, and the last few weeks, Piper had avoided talking about him.
"We aren't allowed phones because they send a signal up to monsters, letting them know that we're here," Annabeth explained, her gray eyes stormy and intimidating. "But…I've got one." She pulled out a blue cell phone out of her pocket.
Piper took the phone gratefully and stepped away.
Percy raised his eyebrows. "Wise Girl, breaking the rules? Not so wise, is it?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy. "What's not wise is helping the Stolls to dye all of the campers' hair blue."
"Shhh," Percy said, glancing at Leo.
Leo laughed. "It's all right, dude. I love pranks. In fact, this one time, I stole Coach Hedge's baseball bat and returned it with an extra feature. For an entire week, every time the coach spun the baseball bat, it wouldn't stop and eventually ended up hitting him on the head."
"I've got to introduce you to the Stolls," Percy commented. "It'll be like love at first sight."
Piper returned, looking annoyed. "Thanks," she said and gave the phone back to Annabeth.
"Your last name's Mclean?" Annabeth asked. "That sounds really familiar." She paused. "Sorry, I'm being really nosy."
Percy glanced at Annabeth. "Wait, remember the movie that we saw a while back? King of Sparta or something like that? Wasn't one of the actors last name 'Mclean'?"
Piper shrugged. "Common last name."
Leo could tell Piper was becoming really nervous by the way she was fidgeting with her hands.
Thankfully, Percy didn't seem to notice the tension, although Leo couldn't say the same for Annabeth. "Let's continue the tour," Percy said. "You ready?"
"Yeah," Piper mumbled with a nod, her thoughts obviously being preoccupied. She shook her head quickly and looked up. "I mean, yeah! Let's go."
As they passed by a couple of cabins, Annabeth gave a brief explanation on each one, but nothing really called out to Leo and by the looks of it, they didn't interest Piper either.
When they passed by a silver cabin that had a faint glow to it, Piper stopped. "Artemis?"
"You seem rather knowledgeable when it comes to Greek mythology," Annabeth noted.
Leo realized that Piper's guard was down and quickly stepped in. "Coach Hedge made us l-learn some," Leo interrupted. "I guess now we know why."
"Hmm," Annabeth responded, her eyes revealing nothing. "Well, Artemis is the goddess of hunting and the moon. Brother to Apollo. She's an eternal maiden though so no campers."
"But she has the Hunters of Artemis," Percy added. "They're not her children but they're kind of like her handmaidens. They're all immortal girls who adventure together and hunt monsters and stuff. My friend Thalia is their lieutenant."
"That sounds pretty cool," Piper commented.
"But no dating," Annabeth said. "They have to swear off boys."
The light in Piper's eyes faded a bit but she still looked interested. "It would still be cool, though. It might be fun. Maybe if I had the chance, I'd join."
Thunder boomed from above rather suddenly. Leo jumped, startled and looked up at the sky.
Annabeth glanced up at the sky and cracked a smile. "Looks like someone doesn't approve of your choice." Noticing Piper's defiant face, she shrugged. "Artemis typically accepts any girl there. She cares for them a lot, too. She cares for any girl that doesn't cross her, really. Like once, I got captured and had to hold up the sky. Artemis arrived and took the burden just before I died, though."
"Whoa," Leo said. "You held up the sky?"
His expression must've have been pretty funny because Percy laughed.
They kept on walking until they reached the next cabin, which looked like a mini Barbie mansion. It was almost completely pink with a strong smell of perfume that made both Annabeth and Piper gag.
"Is that where supermodels go to die?" Piper asked between coughs.
Percy smiled. "Actually, that's cabin ten, Aphrodite's cabin.
"So that's where all of the beautiful people are?" Leo asked. He stared at the cabin for a moment before saying, "I totally belong there. Is it possible to be a child of two gods?"
Piper punched him lightly on his arm. "For you, it isn't."
"This was Drew's cabin," Annabeth reminded, killing all of the humor in the air. She grimaced. "Let's move on."
They got a brief introduction to a few of the cabins but all of the information simply faded from Leo's brain within a minute. Piper didn't seem particularly interested either. They got to the end of the line of cabins and started walking towards the other side, where there were more cabins.
When they got to Cabin 12, Annabeth turned to Piper. "This is where you're going to be staying for now. I doubt you'll be staying here for long but just in case, you can meet the members and get your stuff set up."
"I have stuff?" Piper asked. Annabeth nodded and led her inside.
"So what are we going to do?" Leo asked. "Am I going to see my new brothers and sisters?"
"Yeah, sort of, well, actually we've got to get you set up at the Hephaestus cabin and then –"
Right at that moment, a bunch of kids that looked like they had spent hours lifting weights rushed passed them, all holding weapons of some kind.
Percy frowned. "Um, well, they're your cabin members…looks like they're trying to fix the problem. Here, I'll get you settled at the cabin and then –" He had barely finished his sentence when Leo rushed after his brothers and sisters instinctively. "Whoa! Leo! You shouldn't –"
"Demigods are supposed to do dangerous stuff, right?" Leo called back. "Let's be dangerous, then."
Leo was completely lost. His sense of direction basically sucked. With a frown, he looked around. All of the trees looked the same to him. He started walking in a certain direction but suddenly stopped and walked in the opposite direction. Finally, he groaned and muttered, "This was probably one of the stupidest ideas I've ever thought of – and that's saying something."
He looked around him. Was he even in the forest at all? It didn't look like it. There were only a couple trees here and there. He kept on walking in a random direction. Finally, he reached the hills.
Finally, a familiar place, Leo thought.
All of a sudden, he blinked. A woman in a completely black dress with a shawl hiding most of her face besides her dangerous dark eyes was sitting on the grass, watching Leo. She smiled knowingly. A wrinkly finger outstretched, she motioned for him to come closer.
Leo froze. "Tia?" The last time he had saw her, she had tried to kill him. He didn't want to come closer but his body slowly moved forward. He felt himself becoming warmer and warmer and, as he looked down, he realized his hand was starting to catch on fire. But he felt no pain.
Oh no, he thought desperately. Not now. I don't need this happening to me right now.
As he came closer, Tia began to fade. She morphed into a girl with frizzy red hair and freckles splattered on her face with paint-stained white jeans. The girl suddenly rushed towards him, her arms outstretched. Her eyes were glowing green.
Free me, Leo Valdez, the girl chanted as she grasped Leo's shoulders tightly. Free me or their king will rise and we will all be destroyed. I am your only hope.
Images began to dance before Leo's eyes. His mother, a woman trapped in a cage, him riding a bronze dragon, the world catching on fire. They swirled around in Leo's mind until finally, he was overcome by darkness.
And that's where we're going to stop. Thanks for reading. I once again apologize for this being late. This is where it starts to get exciting. By the way, next chapter is going to be in the PoV of someone new. Anyone want to guess? The first person to get the correct answer will receive a dedication in the next chapter and...virtual cookies? XD
Got any CC for me? I'll willingly accept it.
-A very excited Selene