Umm? I don't know what to say...

Oh well, here's another chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 5

The Talk of a Quest

After Percy left I did go to sleep. It must have been about midday when I woke up because there was no one in the cabin except for Percy. I tried to sit up, but failed miserably and laid back down with a groan. "Dang Minotaur. Stupid ugly monster. Dumb animal. If I had my sword I woulda-" I was cut off by Percy laughing at my anger directed at a deceased cow, for now.

"Well I think you're feeling better already. The day after the attack and you're already cursing out the monster," Percy said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's just say next time I see him I will personally run him through," I said with a hint of anger.

"Oh yeah? With what you're fists?" he questioned.

I smiled at this because Percy had done just that. "Not quite. I do have something that I got recently. Come here, I gotta show it to you."

He got up from his chair on the other side of the room and walked over to me. "What's your super awesome godly weapon of destruction that's gonna be the downfall of the big bad Minotaur?" he questioned with sarcasm literally dripping from his words.

I smirked and said, "Oh you just watch." And with that I pulled out my base. He stared at it, went wide eyed, and then started laughing so hard he fell on the ground. "Dude, I think you need some more rest. There's no way that you're gonna kill anything with that," he said pointing to my sword base. Now it was my turn to laugh. I raised an eyebrow, and then tapped the hilt against my side. Three feet of celestial bronze grew from the base in a quarter of a second. Percy had on such a shocked yet amazed face that I couldn't help laughing, even though it hurt like I was a being gnawed on by Mrs. O' Leary, our pet hellhound.

"Whe-where'd you get that?"

I said in between laughs, "I got it from my mom."

Percy's eyes went wider than before. "Whoa. That is one good looking blade. After you heal up I want to duel you. Me and Riptide against you and…"

"Sophia. Wisdom. Something that Annabeth tells me you have none of…"

"Hey, hey. Let's not go there."

We both got a good laugh out of that, but eventually I think Percy saw that I was wincing a lot from the pain. He told me, "Well, lunch just ended. There's some nectar here for you. And I gotta do something before I go crazy from doing nothing."

"I thought Chiron said you two were excused from duties for a week?" I asked.

Percy looked bewildered. "Wait, how'd you know that?"

I decided that I would tell him at the meeting on Sunday about my whole visit, six days from now. "I'll have to tell you later." I said trying to hold back a smile.

Percy looked a bit disappointed, but he saw my smile and got all dramatic, "Oh no, what shall I do for six whole painful days of waiting?"

I looked at him with all seriousness and said, "No. Just, no." He looked at me and we both cracked up.

"Well I do have to get going. And if you keep laughing like you do then you're gonna end up breaking something else. Put "Sophia" away and eat then sleep pardner." He even put air quotes around Sophia.

I nodded, shrank my sword, and then put it on the table. I did manage to sit up on the bed frame, with Percy's help, and managed to drink some nectar. After I set it back down he said that he had to go "practice." But, knowing him, he was planning on meeting up with my sister.

The next few days were the most boring days I had ever lived. I sat around doing nothing, absolutely nothing. I tried to read my Greek architecture books, but my head kept being hit with a hammer so I couldn't concentrate. I tried moving around, but the best I could do was sit up against the head of the bed or lie back down. Laughing didn't hurt so much and more of my friends kept visiting me. But other than that, lying in a bed with practically a full body cast all day was not fun. Annabeth and Percy would visit a lot and we'd talk and laugh. Annabeth would check up on the progress of Olympus and Percy would crack jokes. One time it was before dinner and Annabeth and Percy came to check up on me together. At one point during that visit they kissed for a really long time, so I decided to get some fun out of it.

"Oh no! My virgin eyes! I'm blind, AAAAHHHH! Seriously guys, get a room or something."

After I said that they pulled away rather quickly and, in comparison, turned a shade of red darker than blood. I was laughing until I thought I felt my gut burst and they were glaring at me, but eventually joined in too.

Then it was Friday, the night of capture the flag. Technically I wasn't supposed to be walking around, but this was supposed to be a really big game. Ares, Poseidon, Hermes, Hecate, Janus, Morpheus, Demeter, Hades, Apollo, and Dionysus versus Athena, Aphrodite (which really was just to look bigger because they never fought), Nemesis, Hebe, and a few other minor cabins that I couldn't remember. Overall, it looked like Athena and her allies would get stomped quite flat. So, because it was a big game, I got Chiron to let me spectate by the sidelines.

Tonight's gonna be awesome I thought to myself. As I was strategizing in my head tactics, even though I couldn't participate, there was a knock on the door. I was in the cabin with just Annabeth at the time as we were planning the downfall of the other team, but when the knock came Annabeth went to go get it. At that point I decided that I would get some sleep before getting all excited over the big game. I took a sip of my drink, then lied back down and closed my eyes. I fell asleep instantly.

If only I knew how long I would be sleeping for. I felt like I just closed my eyes before I was being woken up already. I groaned and opened my eyes. Unfortunately my vision was a zero on a scale of ten and my brain was in Lala Land. I did manage to hear a voice say to me, "C'mon Aran. There's someone here to see you."

I slowly woke up and my brain and eyes started working again. I looked up to see Annabeth and a pair of sea green eyes. At first I thought it was Percy, but then I realized the eyes had a different look in them. Whenever I saw Percy, his eyes would show that he was in a good and joking mood. These were, well, different. I saw interest, admiration, confusion, and….. worry? When she saw me we sustained eye contact for what felt like a short time, but eventually Annabeth coughed. I sort of glared at her and she held up her hands defensively, smiled, and said, "Whoa, I was just coughing there buddy. Take it easy."

I couldn't help but smile and neither could the girl standing next to her. She had on what most campers did: an orange camp t-shirt and blue pants. Her brown hair fell casually to her shoulders. She looked about my age, like twelve or so. My brain went into overdrive trying to figure out who this was. I could remember, it was on the tip of my tongue, but I just couldn't tell who the face belonged to. Tan….. sea green eyes….. brown hair….. DING!

"Oh, Lyra. Hi." I said.

She smiled and said, "Yeah. Hey Aran. I didn't expect to see you in this shape."

"Yeah, well I didn't expect to see you visit me," I said while sitting up.

Then Annabeth said, "So Lyra, can I trust you to watch bonehead here?"

Lyra nodded and Annabeth said she'd check up on me before dinner. "So, I hear you got roughed up by a cow," she said raising an eyebrow.

I chuckled and said, "Yeah well, I didn't expect him to be in the borders. And "roughed up" would be an understatement. It was more like a murder attempt." Her eyes widened and through her eyes I could see fear and worry. "Don't worry; I'm here now aren't I? I've only got till Sunday then I can start walking around again."

She seemed to ease up then she asked me, "Aran, when did you get claimed?"

Oh, duh. She's still a new camper. I guess I could explain things to her. "Well, I got here last year and stayed for about a week before my mom claimed me. Why, you haven't been claimed yet?" She shook her head. "Well then I'd say you will be claimed by Sunday. You most definitely will be claimed because the gods took an oath that they would claim their children. Although I do think that I know who you belong to."

She perked up and asked, "Who?"

"Well, I need to be sure. Are you a good swimmer?"

She nodded.

"Do you feel better in the water?"

She nodded.

"And lastly, what color are your eyes?"

"Um, well you would know." I nodded then closed my eyes. I opened them when I was done taking in the information. "Well Lyra, it seems you are a daughter of-" but I was cut off by a hologram image of a sea green trident floating over her head. I stared at it and Lyra got the hint and looked up. We both looked back at each other with wide eyes and sat in silence.

Eventually I broke it by saying, "Well, looks like Percy had a sister. Lyra, you are a daughter of-"

"Poseidon," she finished for me. I nodded then smiled, then thought for a second. How do I go from here? Do I be her friend even though she's from Poseidon? Well, I'm friends with Percy, so how much different could this be?

"Well then, I think we need to tell someone. Could you find Annabeth, Chiron, and Percy and bring them here?" I asked her. I changed my mind on the fly and decided that I'd tell them all now. Besides, the suspense was killing me!

"Yep. Be right back," and she ran out of the cabin with a smile. I sat back and took a sip of my drink.

Then everyone came in. Percy came in first, followed by Annabeth, then Chiron and Lyra. I managed to sit on my bed without the support of anything else with my legs dangling off the edges. Percy talked first, "So what's up Aran? Another Minotaur find ya?"

I smiled then said, "Nope, but something really important has come up. First of all, I would like to introduce you all to the newest daughter of Poseidon," and I waved for Lyra to come forward. She was blushing, probably from all the attention, and Percy clapped her on the shoulder, "Well looks like I gotta little sister." He was grinning like a goof as he said that. Annabeth gave her a hug and Chiron whispered something to her inaudible to us. She nodded and they gave me their full attention. Oh great, pressure. I gulped then said, "Guys, there's something really big happening right now." I glanced around the cabin and signaled for Percy to go lock the door. He came back and I continued softly, "Yesterday night when I was attacked by the Minotaur, I realized that there was something amiss. First, the Minotaur was within the camp boundaries. Second, the Minotaur was so much stronger than I remember it being from when Percy described it. It seemed, enhanced." I stopped for a minute to let everyone take that it. Chiron looked the most worried.

Then I continued, "When I was unconscious, something weird happened to me. Everything went black when I passed out, but then I was out of my body, like my physical body was on the ground in front of me but I was like a ghost. I could walk through things and people but I could still hear and see everything that went on. That's how I knew that Chiron told you and Annabeth, Percy, that you guys were excused from duties."

I could tell Annabeth and Chiron's minds were thinking a thousand things at once, except that Chiron must have been thinking worse things than Annabeth because his face paled.

"Continuing, I was also visited by my mother, Athena, before I woke up. She gave me this," and I took out and tapped Sophia turning it into my new Falcata, "and told me that there was still a Titan fighting the Olympians and that I would have to go on a quest to defend Olympus." I saw fear and doubt spread across their faces. Annabeth reached for Percy's hand, probably by instinct, but I think he was too busy thinking about what I said to register her hand. I finished it off by saying, "Chiron, what do you know about all of this?"

He was silent for a long while before he spoke, "Well, we cannot ignore a direct message from the gods. We will have to assign a quest." Everyone's eyes widened except for mine. A long silence erupted and finally Annabeth broke it by asking, "But why did you tell us?"

I remembered what Athena had told me and told them, "Athena told me that I would take three people on the quest. One she specifically said was Lyra. The other two she said I would know, and I think it's you two," I finished by pointing to Annabeth and Percy. Chiron started, "Well, I guess this is final. Unfortunately, we have to wait for your healing to finish as you, Aran, will lead the quest."

Now it was my turn for my eyes to go wide. "But-but, I'm so young. Percy or Annabeth should lead. They've saved the world, camp, and everything. I'm not nearly good enough to lead a quest."

"Now, now. Athena did visit you personally, and you told us she said that you would need three people to accompany you. You. My boy, it is time for you to lead a quest, just not now. We will check on you on Sunday, and if you are well enough you may participate in mild activities, such as sword fighting and archery. Until we are sure that you are fully healed, there will no speak of this."

The evening sunlight was filtering through the windows by the time almost everyone left. Lyra went back to her cabin to pick something up and came back to tell me something. "What's up Lyra?"

She got a sudden interest in the new marble floor, maybe blushing a bit, but eventually sighed then pulled out a pen. It was a deep green clicky pen (y'know, the ones that you click and the pen point comes out?). I stared at it, but then when I thought it was nothing special she clicked the end and the pen transformed into a five-foot three pronged celestial bronze spear. "Whoa. I'm not the only one with a new toy." I said.

"I found it earlier on my bed in the Hermes cabin. It came with a note that said its name, 'Abyss'." She informed me with a smile. I noted the color, dark blue, like an abyss.

"Well it sure looks cool. But anyway," I started as she pressed a button and it returned into pen form, "I need to start making my way to the property line." I started to get up, but fell miserably, again, and groaned. "Whoa, hold on there. Put your arm around my shoulder and I'll help you out," she commanded. I did as she said and tried to stand up again, this time with better luck. I managed to stand up relying heavily on Lyra for support but eventually remembered how to walk and only sporadically had to use her for help. At one point I returned my arm to my side and pulled out Sophia. I tapped it and stared at its beauty for a bit before putting it away. Eventually we made it to Half-Blood Hill, the biggest hill in the ring of hills surrounding the camp, and I sat near the base of Thalia's Tree. Lyra ran to join Percy and I had a perfect view of the whole entire field.

The game came and went. It really did come down to all strategy, and I was glad to know that I helped my sister pull off a magnificent win. She even shouted me out and the blue plumed team shouted in approval. I just smiled and blushed from all the attention.

Then, just when I thought things were going good, I heard a low, deep growl come from behind me. I knew it was a hellhound, so I thought it was Mrs. O' Leary, but when I turned I was wrong. Before me stood a giant hellhound, bigger than even our friendly hellhound. I heard someone shriek behind me and the sound of people shouting, trying to organize some kind of attack. I wasn't too scared, until it crossed the property line with almost no trouble. It snarled and bared its fangs, growling and approaching me slowly like it was trying to enjoy killing me.

Since my arm slings had been disposed of I could use my arms freely and my legs weren't all that bad. I managed to stand up and slowly back up. After my jump back to reality, I whipped out Sophia and tapped it against my hip. The blade grew and the hellhound faltered for a split second before it sprang. Time seemed to slow down and I knew what to do. I rolled to the side, jumped forward, and brought my Falcata down hard on the big, black hellhound's side. I got a really good sized cut in, almost to the bone, but the hellhound didn't even seem to notice. It just jumped again, and all I can say is thank the gods for adrenaline. Even though Kronos has "control" over time, that doesn't mean that he can control all of it, meaning that adrenaline is out of his influence.

It jumped, but I jumped back as well, barely avoiding his claws and teeth. I took this advantage to cut off his maw. It whimpered, but it remembered that it had claws, so it slashed violently at me. I bent backwards, and then sidestepped. I finished by stabbing Sophia into the hellhound's chest up to its hilt, then yanked it out. The hellhound yelled in agony then fell over onto its side before turning into a mound of gold dust. I too felt tired and dropped to all fours. I managed to tap Sophia against my hip and put it in a pocket before the whole camp came up behind me.

I heard Clarisse yell at the Ares and Athena cabins to form into a phalanx to protect me and Annabeth came up behind me. "Aran? Aran! Speak, say something!" I heard her yell. She was probably getting flashbacks to the time she saw me after the Minotaur.

I grinned at my soon to be stupid comment. I looked at her in the eye before telling her, "Something." I smiled then fell to my side and passed out.

Hah, what a prankster! Anyway, I'm in the mood for some mint ice cream... :D

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