Miss me? Of course you did! How could you not? Don't answer that, please. Daedalus again, in case you were wondering, just here to give you the Third Story here, don't mind me… Ladies and Gentlemen- THE TIME I REALIZED I'M AN IDIOT!

The Third Story

Or,

The Time I Realized I'm an Idiot

This story takes place about a month after my first capture the flag game. So I had made a few new toys, and tested them out in capture the flag. I had made incendiary bolts, sleeping potion bolts, and a few others that I could grab and load up for whatever occasion. I was working on designing a set of armor, to be made with the Drakon scales. I hadn't started work on it just yet, because I wanted it to be perfect. I was going to wear it a lot, and you don't stumble across piles of Drakon scales very often. I also still didn't know who my parent was, which was very frustrating.

Because I still hadn't been claimed, I was kind of a loner. I was allowed to pretty much do whatever I wanted, make my own schedule and what not. The Hermes kids let me stay in their cabin, which I appreciated. I spent most of my time in the forges. I enjoyed making my own weapons and armor. Chiron would pull me aside every so often and we'd have long talks, trying to figure out who my parent was, but so far we'd had no luck.

My times in the forges and the campfires were the best. I've heard at one time the nightly campfires were just for singing stupid songs, but the Apollo cabin had changed it up a bit. Now, sometimes, campfires were story time. We listened to long poems about the different adventures of Percy Jackson, mainly, though others were thrown in too.

Jumba, the satyr that created Yellowstone National Park to protect a colony of dryads.

Eric, the sneaky son of Hermes who, according to rumor, had followed in his father's footsteps and stolen one of Apollo's sacred cows.

Or the ill-fated journey of Terrence and his crew of heroes that spent years building a ship and trying to sail around the world. We still had hopes that one day they would come sailing into the harbor on their magical red trireme, which was supposedly blessed by both Hermes and Poseidon.

This last one got me thinking. Surely if their trireme was blessed by the god of travelers and the god of the sea, then they must still be alive. But where were they? They had set out two years earlier, and no contact had been made since. No Iris-message ever went through. But Terrence was a son of Poseidon himself, and the crew was made of the strongest demigods at camp. Many campers had been friends with Terrence and the rest, and many more remembered them. As such, their story was not often told.

I had done a little information gathering, and had learned that the Red Trireme had been nearly impervious to all assault, whether Imperial Gold, Celestial Bronze, or Stygian Iron. Nothing had been able to make even a dent in the hull of the ship. It also, being blessed by Poseidon, had been able to go underwater, and the occupants had been able to breathe, almost like a submarine. But what really interested me was the rumored stockpile of a new metal, stronger and deadlier than gold, bronze, or iron. This 'god ore' was, according to the stories, found in the old city of Troy. It's said to be enchanted, so depending on how you shaped it, it would have special properties. This ore is supposed to be what the Cyclops used to create the gods' own armor and weapons.

Imagine it. Godlike weapons and armor.

I had made it my goal in life to find the Red Trireme, and bring it home, along with its crew and the god ore. So far, it hadn't been going well.

"NICK! Go UP the wall, not across it! The lava doesn't care about you! Faster Nick, faster!" Garrett was screaming at me as I tried for the millionth time to climb the rock wall. The problem was that I was just not fast enough. I wasn't thin, and I definitely wasn't light. "Shut up Garrett! It's hard enough to concentrate up here without you yelling at me!" And of course, the wonderful crazy lady's voice would pop into my head whenever I was about to die. This didn't exactly help. Move your left hand up to that ledge. Ok, now switch your feet… I usually did the opposite of what she said just to spite her. And that's why I usually fell.

"Nick, what the hell! If you had grabbed onto the ledge with your hand, you could've made it! What is wrong with you?!" Garrett was usually an easy going, but when I screw up he goes nuts. "Shut it, Garrett. Maybe if you'd give suggestions rather than yell at me to move faster, I'd be able to get up the wall without dying every time." I shot at him as I left to go to my next class, medicine.

The good thing is that Eloi has medicine at the same time as me. Funny how that happened…

Nothing had happened between me and Eloi. I couldn't get the courage to ask her out, mainly because I didn't know who my parent was. What if she and I had the same parent? I couldn't even think about that, so I never did anything. Of course, if you've ever had a crush on someone, and then try to ignore the feeling, you end up wanting to be with them more and more until you go insane.

But maybe that's just me.

Another month passed, and my life revolved around waiting for my parent to claim me. I was just floating through life, hoping to do something that would cause my parent to let me know who I was. (In case you hadn't caught on, this is that story.)

I was testing a new kind of automaton. If I could get it to work, it would expand from a three inch figurine, to a six foot Hoplite, complete with armor, shield, and spear. I was entertaining the notion of my dad being Hephaestus, because I loved being around the forge and workshops so much. It made sense, right? And if that was so, then Eloi would be open, because her dad is Apollo. But Hephaestus never claimed me. Nobody did. It went on so long that I decided to move on and not care. The next day I was back to waiting to be claimed.

At the end of Percy Jackson's fight with the titans, he made a deal with the gods, that their children would be claimed by their thirteenth birthday. I started thinking that maybe I wasn't actually a demigod. Maybe the crazy lady's voice in my head was wrong. Of course, this was always a cue for her to join the internal conversation. NICHOLAS HELMAN! I AM NOT WRONG! YOU ARE A HALFBLOOD, WHETHER YOU THINK SO OR NOT! And that pretty much ended that thought.

But if I was a halfblood, then who was my parent? I found out the answer while playing capture the flag that Friday. Actually, looking back on it, I really already knew the answer. I just wasn't thinking.

Because I was my own cabin, I could make my alliance with anyone I wanted to\, and I usually made mine with Apollo (three guesses why). "So Hephaestus, you're on defense with Apollo, and Morpheus. Ares, and my own cabin will be leading. Nick… just raise hell." Erica, the Athena cabin's Head Counselor had such a high opinion of me. Raise hell. Well, I guess I can do that.

Eloi walked with me to our flag, placed in a low valley far away from the red team. We stood awkwardly together for maybe ten minutes, before the game started. "Nick, you know, you might have been claimed before you got here," Eloi said. "Nah, I think I'd remember a giant flaming hammer popping out of thin air over my head. That kind of stuff would be pretty weird at school." She chuckled and shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. But have you ever had any kind of sign? Like anything at all? Cause some people get just tiny bugs in their bunks to let them know who they are." I gave her a weird look as I jogged away to wreck havoc on the blue team. "Bugs in their bunks? Dear God, I hope that doesn't happen to me!" and I disappeared into the trees.

I slipped past their guards by shooting him with my crossbow from far away. Far enough that he didn't see my bolt until it was flashing down out of the cloudy skies at him. I ran forward and collected my bolt, then fired another at the next guard who had just stepped into view. I crouched, then snuck forward, taking my bolt and patting the fallen guard on the helmet. Soon I was in sight of their flag. Strange that I had only met two guards… I immediately strapped my crossbow to my back and extended my glaive, spinning it in a circle as five Hermes campers surrounded me, appearing out of the air. And suddenly, in front of me, a figure in a dark black robe appeared, melting out of the shadows. I grinned beneath my helmet. Quinton Adams, son of Hades.

Quinton raised his arms, summoning skeletons from the earth to fight me and wear me down. I would have none of that! Before the skeletons could climb out of their pits, I slammed my glaive through each of their skulls. I could see Quinton's pale face grin as he shed his robe, standing before me in pure black iron armor. He smiled, drawing two long black knives. I grinned back, and we began our deadly dance. The Hermes campers waited in a circle around us as we fought, my glaive spinning and flashing, and his knives sweeping and cutting. Usually, when Quinton and I fought, he would win unless I pulled a trick on him. But he had seen all my tricks before, and they wouldn't work on him anymore.

So I had made some new ones. I jabbed the butt of my glaive at his head, making him jerk back, and then twisted the shaft, making two weapons, each about two and a half feet in length. His eyes widened as I stabbed him with the spear head of the second weapon. Of course, the Hermes Campers attacked as soon as I did, and I had a hard time fending them off till I put my glaive back together. And while I was fighting for my life, retreating back across the river, I saw both teams racing for the opposite side. Garrett had the Red flag, and was almost to the river, while Erica had the Blue flag and was sprinting as fast as she could.

So I did the natural thing. I swept my blade in a circle, giving me some space from my attackers, and threw my glaive straight at Garrett. Weaponless, I was cut down, but before I was, I saw Erica leap across the river, and Garrett's teammates make a desperate grab for the Red flag on the ground.

"Nick. Nick get up… Oh for crying out loud, GET UP NICK!" a voice yelled in my ear, startling me out of my bed. Erica stood in front of me, arms crossed and angry faced. "Chiron said you saved the game. You let yourself be cut down rather than lose? What kind of a plan is that?" I smiled weakly "a good one it seems! We won! Sacrificing myself was the only way too-" and my voice trailed off, as a silver owl glowed above my head. Erica stood staring at me, her hands covering her mouth. "Oh no… no not you…of all the cabins you could have been from, why mine?" of course, Chiron, Willie, and Garrett took that moment to enter the room. Chiron stopped and bowed, saying "Hail Nicholas Helman, son of Athena." The other two just stared, weakly repeating Chiron's words.

Are you happy now, Nicholas? Is that what it takes to get you to do well? I will help you plan, if only because you seem incapable of doing so on your own. Welcome to the family, Nick.

And that's all I've got for you! Sorry about the long delay, school and work and such… oh, and because I didn't mention it up there, I'm not Riordan, so none of his work belongs to me. So Nick finds out he's an idiot for not realizing who his momma is, and saves the game by sacrificing himself. Cool guy. Wish I was him. Toodle-oo, See ya'll soon!