A/N: Well, that's about 2 or 3 chapters that have been updated within a month. I'm so happy ^_^ So it's time again for the showing of my gratitude. Here's $100 gift check to our reviewers (how you wish this was real XD): dawn54321, MalikaiDragonSlayer, child of atlantis, Anniriel, Eris Potter-Charmed Child, and Pyros of the World Ignite.
Then for our alerters and favoriters, they get a $75 dollar check from my virtual account (how you also wish this was real): Sprig Of Moonlace, Bombidill95, , donthaveacareintheworld, nzcoker86, DaadyGal26, bookworm131998, nancydrewgirl, verylexiful, Anna1090, .Fire, and tini96.
Thanks sooo much guys! I couldn't have written this far without you. Also, is it weird that at the times I would play a sad song, it would rain or at least there would be thunder? That's what kept on happening to me last night! O.o
Beckendorf sighed and began the gruesome task of reading, knowing all the comments would come sooner or later.
"My Dinner Goes Up In Smoke."He read. Apollo was about to comment but Beckendorf beat him to it with reading.
Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately.
"Another thing to add to that camp's horridness. Gossip." Dionysus grumbled into his wine-filled goblet which miraculously has not run out of wine yet.
Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water.
Hera and Hestia frowned. "It's rude to point." Everyone else looked at the floor guiltily, having pointed at someone at least once in their lives.
Or maybe they were staring at Annabeth, who was still pretty much dripping wet.
Everyone grinned at Percy except for three very angry and/or irritated people. Athena and both Annabeths glared at Percy who was feigning innocence and was finding his shoes very interesting. Older Annabeth sighed and looked away.
"You're lucky I forgave you for that." She whispered. Percy let out an inaudible sigh but still tensed.
"What about your mom and mini-version?"
"My younger version should forgive you too. My mom… eh we'll see…" Percy paled at that one.
She showed me a few more places the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords),
Hephaestus, Beckendorf and surprisingly Ares were smiling at that.
the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),
Hermes cleared his throat and raised an amused eyebrow at the son of Poseidon. A smile was tugging at the god's lips.
"Goat man, eh Percy?" He said, a sly smile transforming his once amused one. Percy blushed and looked away as a nervous chuckle escaped him.
"Um… sorry?" Everyone either rolled their eyes or shook their heads but all had smiles on.
and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.
"I hate that wall!" Connor and Travis exclaimed. At the same time Annabeth (both past and future) smiled.
"Eh. It's ok." The rest of the futures frowned.
"Easy for you to say." Nico mumbled. Annabeth rolled her eyes at her family.
"It's helped before. Right, Percy?" Said boy blinked and had a confused expression. "It did? When?"
Annabeth face palmed. "Don't you remember your second year at camp?" Percy's clueless expression turned into one of understanding.
"Oh yeah. I did NOT like the taste of your shoe by the way." Annabeth and Thalia grinned while Athena smirked at a slightly fuming Poseidon.
"Well, the past is the past. You can't change it because if you do, it would cause a ripple in what the mortals call the space time continuum, therefor-"
Annabeth was cut off by a certain hero who placed a hand on her mouth to stop her ramblings.
"Let's continue the science lesson next time, Wise Girl."
Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.
"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly.
"Aww, don't be like that, dear." Aphrodite pouted. Thalia on the other smirked.
"Yeah, Annie. Don't be like that." Annabeth rolled her eyes and motioned for Beckendorf to hurry up.
"Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets."
"Whatever."
"Ohh rejection." Aphrodite squealed. "I am absolutely loving all this drama."
Beckendorf read on to save others from the goddess' rambling.
"It wasn't my fault."
This got Percy many raised eyebrows and weird looks. Connor even leaned across Will and the arm rest and stared at Percy.
"As much as I would love to tell you that you're convincing, it's not going to work with someone like Annabeth."
All the demigods gave him blank looks. Will pulled Connor back and placed his hand on the prankster's forehead.
"Nope. You're not sick." He said. Travis gasped dramatically.
"Since when did we you decide to show your wisdom? I'm hurt that you didn't inform me earlier!"
Travis got a smack on the head from Katie because of that.
"When will you learn to act like your age?" She asked exasperatedly. Travis pretended to think then grinned. "Hmm… how about when Athena refuses to step into her library for a week?"
Let's just say Katie and Connor had to move away so that they wouldn't get attacked by eagles.
She looked at my skeptically, and I realized it was my fault. I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.
"One with the plumbing… not something you hear every day." Hestia stated. Many nodded in agreement. Hermes and Apollo on the other hand grinned and high-fived each other.
"See? We told you making a plumbing business would work!" Apollo said excitedly. Hermes and his kids had full-blown grins while Poseidon was chuckling to himself.
"You could give it a try." He encouraged.
"YES!" The two gods yelled, high-fiving each other too.
"Um, excuse me?" Beckendorf timidly asked. The gods all turned to him. "Can I continue reading now?"
Zeus cleared his throat and nodded.
"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.
"Who?"
"Now who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."
I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once.
"Not going to happen anytime soon, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth smirked. Percy rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out childishly.
I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking at me from the bottom, so my heart-skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below.
Almost all the men in the room sighed dreamily.
"Naiads." They said in unison. This earned the smacks from the nearest females.
"Ow!" Percy said. "What was that for?" He said, rubbing the spot where Annabeth hit him.
"No reason." She said simply.
They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.
"Well, son, you are in a way, a long-lost friend. You just weren't lost." Poseidon said cheerfully since he considered this chapter to be a nice, non-dangerous, life-threatening chapter.
I didn't know what else to do. I waved back.
"You shouldn't do that." Both Annabeths and Silena said. The daughter of Aphrodite received many glances from her mother.
"Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned.
Nico frowned. "But all he did was wave back at the naiads. You're telling him not be friends with his long-lost-but-not-really-lost-just didn't-know-about-them friends? You are a horrible person, Annabeth."
All the futures (except Nico) sighed. Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose to prevent an upcoming headache.
"Next time, we keep any and all sugar away from you. Like, 10 meters away from you." Percy said, frowning at his usually silent cousin who was now bouncing on his seat and had a huge grin on his face.
"ok then!" The futures sighed again but remained quiet. Beckendorf decided to continue his task.
"Naiads are terrible flirts."
"oh, I can sense jealousy in those four words." Aphrodite said; a sly grin forming on her beautiful face. A lot of people sent glances at the two daughters of Athena.
"Hmm… were you, perhaps, jealous Annabeth?" Thalia asked slowly and sweetly-yet-at-the-same-time-dark voice, sending small shivers up the demigoddesses' spines. Mini-Annabeth tried to hide it and just looked away while Annabeth stared at Thalia head on.
"Why do you ask, Thalia? Are you jealous?" Annabeth countered. Artemis and Zeus stiffly looked at Thalia who was losing composure since she was under pressure.
"Me? Jealous? Annie, have you forgotten that I am a hunter? You know, Hunter of Artemis? Sworn off of men for eternity? Does any of that ring a bell?" Thalia rambled. Annabeth had a smirk on. The huntress saw the smirk and trailed off, realizing what had happened.
"You sneaky little princess." Thalia said narrowing her eyes yet smiling at the same time. "I just got beat at my own game didn't I?" Thalia asked. All the past demigods smiled sheepishly at her while the gods nodded in affirmation.
Thalia sighed and looked at Percy. "What's the score now?"
"Uhh if I remember correctly it's 19 to 1 counting today's argument. It's not looking good for you Thals." Percy said. Nico's jaw dropped. "Are you sure? It's already been 20 arguments? They only made the bet last week!"
"Bet?" Hermes asked, hearing one of the things he likes to do. "What's the bet they made?"
The futures looked up at the gods in surprise.
"I forgot you guys were here… anyway, one week ago in our time, Thalia and Annabeth made a bet that if Thalia could win an argument against Annabeth five times within 3 weeks, Annabeth would have a sleep-over at the Aphrodite cabin complete with make-overs and all that girl stuff." Percy explained. "So far, Thalia's only won one- man that was hard to say- argument."
"What happens if Thalia loses?" Artemis asked warily. Percy opened his mouth but closed it then looked at the two girls. Annabeth sighed.
"You forget things too easily Percy. If Thalia loses she has to sleep in the Arena and take care of Mrs. O'Leary for a week. The bet benefits both you and me."
"Wait, how does it benefit you?" Nico asked. "As far as I know, only Percy takes care of Mrs. O'Leary so the bet only helps him."
"Well you see -"
"Can we please continue with the story now?" Zeus asked. The futures blushed forgetting that they were supposed to be reading about Percy's life.
"Sorry." The four said in unison.
"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."
"Wait what? Back it up right there." Will suddenly said. Then he turned to Percy with a disbelieving look on his face. "You fought a fury, the minotaur, carried a satyr all the way to the Big House, met a god who's over a thousand years old, a centaur who's ALSO over a thousand years old and you've used your powers and got Clarisse soaked in toilet water." Will paused and took a deep breath which he let out again. Then he continued.
"So yeah, all those stuff. Then you meet two Naiads who, by the way, are girls and suddenly you want to go home? Are you right in the mind Percy?" The son of Poseidon kept a blank look on his face. A lot of people rolled their eyes at him but others thought about what Will said.
"You know, he does have a point though." Thalia said. "All those monsters and things but when it comes to girls…" Thalia trailed off, grinning at Percy who was blushing.
"Shut up." He said, blushing lightly and pouting. Thalia only grinned.
"Never!"
Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."
"You mean mentally disturbed kids?"
Percy let out a nervous chuckle and looked at the ceiling as the other demigods cleared their throats and gave him pointed looks.
"Mentally disturbed? I'd understand if it was Connor and Travis but the rest? Eh, not so much." Katie said.
"Hey!" Connor and Travis exclaimed. The gods let out amused chuckles (except for Dionysus and Ares who didn't care).
"I mean not human.
"So we're…"Thalia started then she and Nico gasped dramatically.
"We're ALIENS!"
"That's so COOL!" Nico yelled, grinning like he won the lottery. Most people just shook their heads at the two demigods while others were amused.
Not totally human, anyway. Half-human."
"So we're half-human and half-what?" Nico asked. Beckendorf smiled slightly as he read the next line.
"Half-human and half-what?"
Nico paled more. "Holy Styx. Not again!" Percy pouted.
"What's so bad about thinking like me?" he asked. "Nothing really other than the fact that you have a knack for ticking off people and for being clueless about some things."
Percy was about to protest but thought better of it and shrugged instead.
"I think you know."
I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.
Poseidon got smiles from the females in the room except Clarisse.
"God," I said. "Half-god."
"I swear, if you hadn't got it right, I would have yelled at you." Annabeth said, crossing her arms in the process.
"Was it really that annoying?" Mini-Annabeth asked. Annabeth nodded.
"But if I had known that he hadn't watched the orientation film, I would have gone easier on him… actually, I take that back. I most probably wouldn't have."
Percy pouted causing the two daughters of Athena to laugh. Percy even got a small smile from the wisdom goddess herself.
Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy.
Zeus smirked and poked his brother again. "I thought we had established it already. Poseidon's alive and well… I think."
He's one of the Olympians."
Thalia gasped mockingly. "Really? You never told me your father was an Olympian. How could you Percy?"
The gods again watched in amusement as Percy decided to play along. "Why? It's not like you would have believed me, Thalia. I mean, come on, what kid has a god for a dad?" a lot of people were hiding smiles and laughter behind their hands as they watched the two cousins act.
"Percy, I have to tell you something."
"What?" Thalia pretended to take a deep breath.
"Ok, don't freak out but… my dad's an Olympian too." Percy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.
"What? Why didn't you tell me?"
"For the exact same reason you didn't tell me! You would have thought I was lying!" Thalia exclaimed pretending to wipe away a fake tear. Percy frowned and hugged her.
"Ok, for the sake of our friendship, let's not keep this kind of secret a secret anymore. How about it, Thals?" Percy asked, releasing Thalia from the hug. Thalia grinned.
"Alright. Now can we continue reading? I don't want to keep this crazy act up." As she said this, both Thalia and Percy rubbed their shoulders.
"Gods, Thalia. Why the heck did you have to hug me so hard? It was an act." Thalia smirked.
"That's what you get for trying to hug me."
"But you hugged back!"
"Well what was I supposed to do? Would you rather I punched you?" Annabeth groaned and decided to interfere.
"Ok that's enough you two. Honestly. If I didn't know you guys, I would have said that you two were bipolar." Percy and Thalia turned to her at the same time.
"I am not bipolar." They said at the same time. Then the two faced each other and frowned. Annabeth groaned and decided to do the best thing she could think of. She poked Percy in his Achilles heel. Immediately Percy jumped and spun around, looking at Annabeth wide eyed. Then he sighed seeing as it was just her finger. He sat back down.
"Sorry." Annabeth whispered. Percy shook his head but smiled. He looked at the gods and saw that they all had raised eyebrows.
"Uh… it should be explained in the uh… last book I think. Yup. Last book." Nico spoke up.
"Since when were you able to act, Percy? When I met you, you sucked at it." Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, in Goode, you have to learn how to act. It was absolutely horrible. I had to practice at home since Paul was there. Worst 2 weeks of my normal mortal life. Now, no more questions. Beckendorf, you can continue now."
"That's . . . crazy."
"Wait, what were they talking about in the book again?" Hermes asked. Beckendorf read the last few lines to give everyone a recap.
"Ah. Thank you."
"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories?
"It depends on which god you're talking about." Athena said. "If it's Ares, he was starting wars; Dionysus was getting drunk at his parties; Hermes was delivering messages which he still does to today; Hephaestus still builds, Apollo was more responsible back then, believe it or not; Uncle Hades still ruled the underworld while Father… err… there's no way to sugarcoat it actually… he like to blast mortals if they disobeyed and had affairs with mortal women as a punishment to their husbands and/or fiancés."
"What about me?" Poseidon asked. Athena smirked.
"I didn't bother to check what you were doing years ago. I'm pretty sure it was only foolish things." Poseidon made his face passive then shot a water ball at Athena. The goddess got hit and sat in her throne, stunned. Her eye twitched and suddenly Poseidon was being attacked by a flock of birds.
"Ow! Hey, cut it out! Ow! Darn birds!" Zeus tried to forcing down a smile. He succeeded and cleared his throat. "Athena, as amusing as seeing my brother get assaulted with birds is, I do believe we have more pressing matters to tend to."
The wisdom goddess sighed and snapped her fingers. Immediately, the birds attacking Poseidon disappeared. Poseidon snapped his fingers and made Athena's clothes dry only after Hestia sent him a look.
They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"
"Hey!" All the male gods protested. "We do not!"
"Yes you do." All the females said in complete unison and matching emotionless faces.
"But those are just-" I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth.
"Well, looks like I didn't need two thousand years. It's only been… 2 weeks?" Percy asked Annabeth who nodded.
"Yeah. 2 weeks after that and I'm already a myth. Nice going Grandma." Everyone looked nervous as Percy called Rhea grandma.
"Er Percy? I don't think it's safe to call her that." Poseidon said cautiously. A small white circle appeared on top of Poseidon and out of it came a note. Poseidon picked it up since it landed on his lap and read it out loud.
Dear Percy,
It's alright to call me grandma. You could even call me Grandma Rhea if you want. I don't know about my husband wanting to be called grandpa though ^_^ He might not like it if he finds out someone called him grandpa. Oh. I've bothered you enough already. Happy reading!
From: Rhea
P.S. I won't be able to send more of your friends there until it's safe since my powers are on rest for now.
P.P.S. Poseidon, dear, sorry if this note landed on you. The time machine thing is running low on time.
Poseidon looked up. "That was interesting."
"Indeed." Hestia agreed. "Let's get back to reading shall we?"
"But if all the kids here are half-gods-"
"Demigods." Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."
"Then who's your dad?"
Mini-Annabeth clenched her hands into fists and glared at Percy. Athena sent the son of Poseidon a look. Annabeth on the other hand sighed and took his hand into hers and started playing with his fingers.
"Wrong question to ask, Percy." Thalia whispered.
"I know."
Her hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject.
"You did." Mini-Annabeth said through clenched teeth. Katie patted her on the back while Silena placed a hand on the young girl's shoulder.
"My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."
"He's human."
Artemis narrowed her eyes at Percy. Sexism… maybe he's not different from the rest of the male population.
"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?"
"Very sexist." Artemis said, narrowing her eyes further. Poseidon rolled his eyes.
"Give him a chance before you list my son off as the same as the rest of your male population. He didn't know Ms. Chase before so he naturally assumed it was she was in the same situation as him. After all, in a place where the only adult supervision comes from a centaur, you wouldn't who's child was whose if you were a new camper unless you actually asked." Poseidon said.
Many of the gods had open mouths or dropped jaws while the demigods were nodding in understanding.
"That is so true." Silena whispered to Katie.
Athena was gaping at her long-time enemy/rival. "You actually said something intelligent and understanding. I'm impressed!" She joked but underneath it all she was truly impressed. Poseidon flashed a quick smile before motioning for Beckendorf to continue.
"Who's your mom, then?"
"Cabin six."
"Annabeth, he won't know what that is yet." Silena said. Both older and younger version sighed. "I know."
"Meaning?"
Annabeth straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."
Athena sat up straighter and held her head high as she smiled at her two daughters.
Okay, I thought. Why not?
Poseidon restrained himself from laughing. Meanwhile Athena raised an eyebrow at Percy. "Why not, eh?"
The savior of Olympus only let out a forced grin.
"And my dad?"
This time Poseidon grinned. "Me!" He said enthusiastically.
"Undetermined," Annabeth said. "like I told you before. Nobody knows."
"Except me! Oh and your mom too!" Poseidon said dreamily. Zeus looked at his brother with wide eyes.
"You told a mortal?"
"Clear sighted." Was the only thing Poseidon said.
"Except my mother. She knew."
Poseidon sighed dreamily again, causing Aphrodite to squeal loudly.
"Oh I can't take it anymore! It's like… a Forbidden Love! A god and a mortal, two beings that can never stay together even though both love each other." The love goddess sighed. "Oh, true love." Then both she and Poseidon stated starring into space. That is until Zeus cleared his throat.
Percy blinked then promptly started to freak out.
"Oh man oh man… I totally forgot about our time!" By then, Percy was hyperventilating. "Does my mom know where we are? If she doesn't she must be going out of her mind with worry. And right after the war too! Oh gods oh gods. What am I gonna do?"
By the end of his rant, Percy was pacing back and forth in front of the demigods. Like before a white light appeared and out came a small scroll which Percy caught. He opened it and read just as his father did previously.
Hello again.
This time, the Fates have given you a scroll which will convey any and all messages from us to you. It will glow a light blue color to signify that we have a message for one or all of you. Be sure to take care of it because in the end, it's just paper.
Now onto Percy's problem. Your mother has been informed but was not given specifics. We sent Chiron a letter and told him to tell sally what was on the said letter. She knows you were summoned to Olympus but for nothing drastic. Just to help out with the reconstruction and to spend time with your father. We didn't tell her that you were sent to the past but if with your permission, we could tell her.
Oh yeah, before I forget, this scroll can send messages from you to us. Replying was the term I was told. All you have to do is hold the scroll and think of what you want to tell us. Then the words will be transported to where we are. That's pretty much it. Sorry for disturbing again.
Rhea
P.S. Oh yeah, somehow the Apollo from this time found out about our plans and he says hi.
Percy looked up from the scroll and grinned at Apollo who was blushing lightly. "Nice Apollo. Very nice."
"Shut up, sit down and let's continue reading." Apollo murmured, still blushing at his future self's actions. Percy shrugged, rolled up the scroll and sat back down.
"Maybe not, Percy, Gods don't always reveal their identities."
"My dad would have. He loved her."
Poseidon smiled dreamily again. Then frowned. "I heard loved. With a 'd'." Beckendorf checked and nodded.
Poseidon's frown deepened. "The book's wrong then." To say everyone was shocked and confused was an understatement. Percy's eyebrows scrunched together for a moment and then he talked with a sad tone next. "So does that mean you didn't love her?" Percy's expression caused Poseidon's heart as well as all the goddesses' heart to break.
Percy's head was down so no one could fully see his eyes. His hands were gripping the hem his long shirt. He was biting the corner of his lips and some hair which had fallen over his eyes casted a shadow on them. His breath came out in short gasps, a sign that he was close to tears [1]. Annabeth gripped one of his hands in an attempt to comfort him. The only sounds that could be heard were the cackling of the flames from the hearth and the sniffling of some of the goddess.
Aphrodite wiped her eyes after feeling the heartbreak Percy was feeling for his mom. Then she glared at Poseidon and summoned her entire make-up kit and threw it at the god of the seas. It hit him dead on the face.
"Ow!"
"You jerk! It's pretty obvious that Percy loves his mom so much and then you tell him that what he said in the book was wrong. You're a big jerk!" After her exclamation, Aphrodite burst into tears and was comforted with a pat on the shoulder from Hephaestus as well as a tissue from him which she gratefully took. Poseidon let out a small smile which angered Aphrodite more.
"You're smiling? UGH!"
"Do you want to know the reason as to why I said the book was wrong?" Poseidon asked lightly.
"Of course I do!" Aphrodite said. "Calm down, Aphrodite." Hephaestus said. He squeezed her shoulder as another attempt to calm down the goddess.
"The book Percy said I LOVED her. Emphasis on LOVED." Aphrodite frowned. "What does that have to with why the book was wrong?" Poseidon grinned then turned to Hestia who was also smiling.
"I have a feeling you figured it out, sister." Hestia smiled and nodded. "Would someone just tell me why the book was wrong?" Percy suddenly demanded, hints of tears were in his eyes.
"You see young hero, the you from the book said loved. The PAST tense of love. It is wrong because your father STILL loves your mother." Percy and Aphrodite blinked and simultaneously blushed.
"Oh." Aphrodite bowed her head at Poseidon. "I'm sorry for throwing my make-up kit at you, Poseidon." The god of the seas just waved it off like it was nothing when in fact his face was hurting a lot. "Don't worry about it. I should have cleared up the confusion immediately. I'm the one who should be saying sorry."
Hestia smiled at Percy who was already smiling and was looking like the normal him.
"You see Perseus? It was simply the use of a wrong word." Percy smiled before frowning. "Perseus… why is it that you insist on calling me that, Lady Hestia? I told you before that Percy was enough."
Hestia laughed, walked over to Percy and ruffled his hair as if Percy was only six years old and not sixteen. "Well, it's fun I guess."
Percy pouted as everyone else in the room laughed at what Hestia said. Then goddess returned to her hearth.
"You know Lady Hestia? You really remind me of my mom."[2]
The simple sentence caused Hestia to grin and feel a warmth that not even her hearth could give her. She realized it was something that resembled a mother's love to her child. The goddess decided that should Percy be willing, she would make him her champion.
"Thank you, Percy." Percy's eyes lit up. "YES! You called me Percy, not Perseus!" The goddess pretended not to know what he was talking about.
"What do you mean, Perseus? I didn't call you anything else other than Perseus."
Percy frowned again and crossed his arms childishly. All the females chuckled/giggled. Hestia nodded at Beckendorf as a sign that he could continue reading.
Annabeth gave me a cautious look. She didn't want to burst my bubble.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son.
Percy grinned remembering how dramatic his claiming was.
Sometimes it happens."
"And sometimes it doesn't." Beckendorf thought.
"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"
Annabeth ran her palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always . . . Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."
"That's not true!" All the gods with kids except protested. "Oh yeah? Then why don't you claim your kids?" He challenged. This caused them to look at the floor guiltily.
"If what Lady Demeter did before was how you claim your kids, then you should be able to do it in a few minutes at most." Mini-Annabeth chastised. "It didn't look too difficult." The gods looked even guiltier.
I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come.
All the gods flinched slightly at that. The demigods all sighed. They had gone through it one way or another.
I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.
"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"
"Not if you don't want to. If you don't want to be a year-rounder, you'll have to inform Chiron." Mini-Annabeth said.
"Annabeth, you're talking to a book." Katie pointed out. Mini-Annabeth blushed.
"I knew that, Katie."
"It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not real powerful;
The two said goddesses and their children cleared throat. Katie and Silena were giving Mini-Annabeth the look. Demeter and Aphrodite were giving older Annabeth their version of the look.[3]
Both demigods found their shoes very interesting.
monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters.
They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old,
"And I thought old enough would refer to being fifteen or sixteen." Percy grumbled. Annabeth patted his knee in comfort. The interaction was not left unnoticed by a certain goddess.
but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off.
Nico, The Stolls and many more winced at the words.
"Way to be blunt, Annabeth." Nico said. "Very comforting words."
Annabeth kept a passive face. "It's not meant to be comforting. It's the cold, hard truth Nico."
A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very, few are like that."
"So monsters can't get in here?"
"Nope." The past demigods said happily. Percy on the other hand snorted. "I wish."
Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."
Percy remembered the many times that he had been attacked in the forest by monsters and by… Luke.
"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"
"Practice fights. Practical jokes."
"Practical jokes?"
Connor and Travis whistled innocently as Katie and mini-Annabeth looked pointedly at them.
"The point is the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."
"So . . . you're a year-rounder?"
"Yes. Yes I am." Mini-Annabeth said proudly. All the demigods (except for Nico and Thalia) played with their camp beads.
Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of her T-shirt she pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors.
Mini-Annabeth's jaw dropped slightly. "Five years. No way!"
Silena and Katie grinned at her while Percy smirked at his Annabeth.
It was just like Luke's except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.
Mini-Annabeth frowned and looked down at her camp necklace. There wasn't any gold ring on it.
"Gold ring?" Aphrodite mused. "Could it be that someone gave you a promise ring?" She said slyly. The goddess sneaked a glance towards the older Annabeth who was giving her a weird look while Percy, Nico and Thalia were trying their best not to laugh out loud.
"I've been here since I was seven," she said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year.
"Surviving. Unusual word choice but… ok." Hermes said. Both Annabeths shrugged.
"Again, it's the cold, hard truth. We're there to learn how to survive after all."
I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."
This time almost all the demigods' jaws dropped.
"Wow, Annabeth. You're old! Travis joked. Mini-Annabeth's eye twitched and Travis found a celestial bronze dagger impaling the chair he was on, nearly hitting his head. The older Stoll brother stiffened and paled.
"N-now, Annabeth… no need to get violent." Annabeth smirked and high-fived with Katie who was laughing. Silena smiled at the two and shook her head in amusement. Then she looked at Travis who was still white as paper and as still as a rock. Silena stood up and took the dagger on the chair.
"it's just a dagger, Travis." She said. Travis tried to glare at her but failed. "It's not just a dagger. It's a celestial bronze, very pointy and Annabeth-wielded dagger. It's VERY dangerous." He said.
All the gods and the rest of the demigods laughed leaving Travis embarrassed and pouting.
"Why did you come so young?"
She twisted the ring on her necklace. "None of your business."
"Ohh rejection again." Thalia smirked at Percy. "That's two times in a row now, Kelp Head."
Percy rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out. Aphrodite was squealing again while the others rolled their eyes too.
"Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So . . . I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"
Almost immediately, insults were thrown at Percy.
"Are you crazy?" Mini-Annabeth yelled.
"Forget crazy, are you MENTAL?"
"Beckendorf, mental is almost the same as crazy" Annabeth said, smiling.
"Oh."
"Forget all of that, do it!" Clarisse said eagerly.
"You had better not." Silena said worriedly. "It's like signing your own death sentence." Katie added.
Poseidon paled as comments from the demigods were thrown at Percy. His lack of color wasn't left unnoticed by Percy.
"Uh, guys?" He whispered quietly but loud enough that all the demigods would hear it. "Could you tone it down a bit? My dad may be a god but he could still get a heart attack you know." The demigods stopped yelling in unison. Beckendorf cleared his throat and began reading again.
"It would be suicide,
This caused Poseidon to start hyperventilating in silence.
but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless . . . "
"Unless?" Poseidon asked worriedly. Beckendorf smiled again as he read the next line.
"Unless?"
The god of the seas blinked and smiled sheepishly at having said the same thing as his son.
"Like father like son, eh?" Demeter teased. Poseidon took it as a compliment and grinned at his sister.
"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time . . ."
"The last time?" The gods repeated. The past demigods shrugged while the future demigods avoided eye contact.
"I'm guessing it didn't end well?" Apollo asked. Again the demigods either shrugged or avoided eye contact.
"I'll take that as a yes." Apollo said with a frown.
Her voice trailed off. I could tell from her tone that the last time hadn't gone well.
Annabeth sighed, remembering what the quest did to… him.
"Back in the sick room," I said. "when you were feeding me that stuff-"
"Ambrosia." Annabeth supplied.
"Ambrosia."
All the demigods smiled. "Looks like you're still the same even in the future." Silena joked. Mini-Annabeth blushed and laughed lightly.
"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."
Annabeth's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?"
Thalia and Nico bursted out laughing.
"You actually said that!" Thalia said, actual tears flowing from her eyes. Nico was on the floor, clutching his stomach and laughing like there's no tomorrow.
Both Annabeth and Percy blushed and smacked the two simultaneously; Annabeth hitting Thalia in the arm and Percy hitting Nico on the head.
"OW!" The two yelled in unison.
"that's what you get for messing with us." Percy said, a smirk on his face. Nico and Thalia grumbled and rubbed the places where the couple hit them.
"Well . . . no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"
She clenched her fists. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."
Poseidon grinned and looked around the Throne Room. "Yup. Everything's normal here. How about there on your side, Aphrodite?" He joked around. The goddess took it seriously and looked around too.
"well, everything seems alright here too." All the demigods hid smiles behind their hands.
"You've been to Olympus?"
"Where do you think I am right now?" Mini-Annabeth asked. "Did you think I was in Texas?" She asked sarcastically. Percy rolled his eyes.
"Why no. I was thinking more of Miami. I heard Maine is good around this time of the year." Mini-Annabeth's eye twitched and she gave Percy a glare before looking away.
"Some of us year-rounders- Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others-we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big council."
"Speaking of which, why isn't Luke here with us?" Will asked. Connor and Travis stiffened and whistled again innocently, causing all the demigods (well most) to glare at them while Hermes looked at his sons passively.
"Boys, what did you do to Luke?" He asked. Connor and Travis laughed stiffly. "It's a actually a pretty long story…"
"Involving tissue paper, glue, lots of it by the way, a pillow case…"
"Some twigs, a light bulb that never goes out, a video recorder…"
"A test tube filled with blue food coloring, some salt, baking soda…"
"A bit of red clay, a water system, a metal pipe, a remote-controlled van…"
"And… what are we forgetting? Oh yeah! A bit of cardboard chocolate from Silena's dad." The demigods gave incredulous looks at the daughter of Aphrodite.
"Hey, in my defense, I thought they were going to eat it. What else would people do with chocolate?" Stares returned to the Stolls.
"Ok, he's in the infirmary! Jeez. He's unconscious, that's it. He wasn't even part of the prank! He just got hit on the head with the metal pipe. It was an accident." Travis said.
"Let's continue reading shall we?" Silena asked nervously.
"But. . . how did you get there?"
"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator too the six hundredth floor." She looked at me like she was sure I must know this already.
Everyone rolled their eyes (even Percy).
"You are a New Yorker, right?"
"Why yes. Yes I am." Percy confirmed. "At least, last I checked I was."
"Oh, sure," As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.
"What would have happened if you did?" Poseidon asked curiously. Percy thought about it for a second before responding.
"Well, she would have twitched at first then respond with a 'whatever' in the next second. After that, she would continue on as if I never spoke."
Poseidon looked at Annabeth for confirmation. She nodded her head to show that Percy was correct.
"Right after we visited." Annabeth continued, "The weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen.
Athena narrowed her eyes. Something was stolen?
The goddess observed the book that was in the hands of the son of Hephaestus.
"The Lightning Thief"
Athena's eyes flickered over to Zeus then back to the book. The gears in her head were running overtime.
And if it isn't returned by summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping . . . I mean-Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares.
The war god snarled at the goddess only to be silenced by her glare.
And of course she's got the rivalry with Poseidon.
The two gods eyed each other warily.
"Owl Head."
"Fish Face." Zeus groaned.
"Don't even start." He warned. The two deities remained quiet but gave each other dark looks. Thalia gave Annabeth and Percy a glance.
"I wonder how you two manage to be civil. Your parents absolutely loathe each other."
She got shrugs in reply.
But, I mean aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."
I shook my head. I wished I could help her,
Thalia and Nico smirked. "You always want to help her."
"Just two weeks ago you offered to carry the books she was holding. There were only 2 of them!" Nico said. Percy blushed.
"Shut up."
but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask more questions.
Artemis scoffed. "Boys and their stomachs."
"I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem . . ."
"You are too young to be on a quest." Athena chastised. Mini-Annabeth looked down guiltily. "I know, mother."
I could smell barbecue smoke from somewhere nearby.
Almost all the males plus Thalia drooled. Barbecue…
"Hey when are we having lunch?" Apollo asked. Hera rolled her eyes at the exact moment that Zeus sighed.
"You can have lunch after this chapter." Hera conceded. Most of the boys cheered quietly while the girls rolled their eyes.
Annabeth must've heard my stomach growl.
Annabeth smirked at Percy. "I think everyone within ten meters of you heard it before."
Percy rolled his eyes. "Ok, now you're just exaggerating."
"Whatever helps you sleep at night."
She told me to go on, she'd catch me later.
Aphrodite smirked at the couple. "She'd catch you later eh? Usually it's the boys that do the catching but oh well."
All the gods groaned again as the goddess rambled on about romance. Percy and Annabeth were turning pinker with every word the love goddess was saying.
I left her on the pier, tracing her finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan.
Annabeth blinked. "How'd you know I was drawing a plan?"
Percy only shrugged. "I don't know."
"So even then you knew her like the back of your hand huh?" Thalia joked. Percy only grinned in response.
Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around,
"Horsing around?" Persephone asked.
"References to his father, albeit subconscious." Athena said. "Why haven't you claimed him yet?" Poseidon shrugged.
"I must be waiting for the right time." Athena narrowed her eyes but said nothing more.
waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers.
"Nah. That's just the Hermes kids." Will said. Then Travis and Connor raised their eyebrows at him as if asking 'Really Will? Are you sure it's just the Hermes kids?' Will thought about it.
"Ok, I take it back. Happy?"
"Very."
Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my Minotaur horn.
The counselor, Luke, came over.
All the future demigods looked at the floor sadly while mini-Annabeth blushed lightly at the mention of Luke.
He had the Hermes resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact.
Hermes let out a wide grin. "No scar is gonna get in the way of having fun! Or a nice prank either."
"Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."
Hermes grinned again. "That's my boy. Stealing from stores." Then he turned to Connor and Travis. "Have you two done any stealing recently?"
The two brothers grinned and nodded. "Not telling what we stole or who we stole from."
Hermes nodded his head proudly.
I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.
Hermes, Connor and Travis fake-gasped. "We do not kid about stealing!" They said in unison. Percy held his hands up.
"Sorry sorry. He could have been lying too since you know, you're the god of liars too aren't you Hermes?" Percy said. Hermes smiled.
"Nice save there cousin. Very nice save." Hermes said.
"Thanks!" Percy said cheerfully. Then he whispered to Annabeth. "Looks like you're somehow rubbing off on me."
I said, "Thanks."
"No prob," Luke sat next to me, pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?"
"I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods."
All the deities in the room cleared their throats and gave Percy pointed looks which he promptly ignored.
"Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."
Everyone frowned at that but none more so than Hermes.
The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easygoing guy.
"He is." Connor, Travis and mini-Annabeth said in unison.
He looked like he could handle just about anything.
"Well now, he can't handle everything. Even Luke has his limits." Hestia said, poking the coals in her hearth.
"So your dad is Hermes?" I asked.
The god grinned and waved at the people that looked his way. "Hiya!"
He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me,
Poseidon's eye twitched and he gripped his throne lightly. He glanced at Hermes then at Percy who shook his head lightly.
but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes."
The grin on Hermes' face suddenly melted off. "are we on bad terms in the future?" He asked the future demigods.
They avoided eye contact with him but answered.
"Sort of." Hermes frowned at the vague answer.
"The wing-footed messenger guy."
Many of the gods covered their smiles and snickers. Hermes on the other hand blinked at the space in front of him.
"Wing-footed messenger guy…. Not really how I introduce myself but oh well." Suddenly, Hermes' phone vibrated. "Oh. One minute please." He took out the phone.
"Wing-footed messenger guy… I like it. Rats are better of course."
"Hush George. They're in the middle of a meeting."
"You're no fun."
Hermes sighed at his symbol of power. "How come I'm the only one who's symbol of power talks?" He asked the gods. Zeus raised an eyebrow.
"You were the one who requested talking snakes." Hermes pouted childishly and set his phone on vibrate.
No! Not the vibrate.
George, hush! You're the reason we're being put on vibrate.
No way. I haven't gotten my rat ye-"
George never finished his sentence since Hermes finally placed them on complete vibrate. [4] Beckendorf decided it was ok to continue.
"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors."
Poseidon frowned having noticed that Luke had called Percy a nobody, although it might not have been intentional.
I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind.
Poseidon blinked at having thought the same thing as his son but smiled nonetheless.
"You ever meet your dad?" I asked.
"Once."
I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.
Annabeth sighed inaudibly. "It doesn't."
Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people.
"Mostly?" Poseidon, Zeus and Hades asked. The three brothers eyed each other warily.
"This never happened." Zeus said. Poseidon and Hades nodded in agreement while the rest rolled their eyes.
After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."
"It sounds more… realistic when you say it Perce." Nico said a hint of sadness in his voice.
"That's true." Thalia agreed. "you actually mean it."
Percy frowned. "Luke meant it too. He was just twisted by him but he remembered it in the end." He said, giving Annabeth a smile in the end. After all, only four people were there when Luke actually died. Only four witnesses to the truth.
He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him-even if he was a counselor-should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me.
"You're not uncool." All the demigods said. "You're the opposite actually." Apollo and Hermes said. Most of the gods smiled and even nodded in agreement. Percy smiled at them all.
"Thanks!"
But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.
"Awww…" All the girls (except Thalia and Clarisse) cooed.
I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Being Three' material. Then Annabeth . . . twice, she said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"
Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."
"So do we." All the futures said. This caused Apollo to pout.
"don't hate on my oracle's prophecies!" He received stares for that. Percy decided to be stubborn.
"I'll hate on them as long as I want. Why do they have to be so confusing and almost always have double meanings?" Percy complained. Apollo only remained silent.
"What do you mean?"
His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate.
"Ouch." Apollo said. "You really shouldn't bother the old centaur. He's lost too many campers due to quests."
Mini-Annabeth and Annabeth looked down guiltily. They received pats on the shoulder (mini-Annabeth) and hugs (Annabeth) from the people closest to them.
He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until . . . somebody special came to the camp."
"Somebody special…" Aphrodite said, glancing at the couple who was purposely avoiding eye contact with her. She internally frowned.
I'll find out if there's something going on between you two. I will.
"Somebody special?"
"Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinnertime."
All the boys groaned and looked at Hera pleadingly. She kept on a stern face.
"After the chapter, then you'll have lunch."
The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.
Annabeth groaned. "There were so many clues leading to who your dad was! Why didn't I put the pieces together? Argh." Annabeth put her face in her hands in embarrassment. She was supposed to be the smartest child of Athena yet she couldn't even figure out who Percy's father was before he was claimed.
Percy awkwardly patted her back.
Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"
The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.
Artemis and Thalia smiled at each other at the mention of their cabin.
"Ok, I have to admit, that cabin 8 really is beautiful at night." Silena said. Artemis smiled warmly at Silena and made a mental note to ask if she wanted to join in the hunt but a look from Aphrodite made Artemis banish the thought.
We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girl came out of the woods-and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of woods. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill.
In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.
All the demigods grinned. It was their family at camp after all.
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded.
Hermes frowned again and glared at the gods with unclaimed kids.
I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.
Percy immediately groaned and face palmed while the boys laughed at him or smirked while the girls gave him raised eyebrows.
"Ok, Percy. I'm saying this only once. TMI." Thalia said, shaking her head at her cousin who was blushing again.
"TMI?" Artemis asked.
"It means too much information. It's a future slang." Annabeth explained.
I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.
"I feel bad for Chiron." Katie said. "He has to stand every time we all eat."
Athena and Hephaestus shared a look. Somehow, someway, they were going to help the old centaur. It was the least they could do for the respected teacher.
Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair.
"You all do look the same. Not literally of course." Nico pointed out. "All have gray eyes and blonde hair."
"I don't even get that. Athena has black hair but all her children have blonde hair." Everyone turned to Athena.
"I wanted to prove to the mortals that being blonde does not mean someone is dumb."
Clarisse sat behind me at the Ares table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.
Clarisse glared at Percy. "I'll get you for that, punk."
The hero of Olympus smirked. "I'd like to see you try." Beckendorf started reading again to prevent a fight.
Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"
Apollo grinned and summoned a glass filled with Nectar. He raised it and smiled childishly. "To us?"
Everybody else raised their glass. "To the gods!"
Apollo nodded. "To us then." Then he gulped down the nectar much to the amusement of the gods and demigods alike.
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue!
Most of the boys groaned and glared at Percy.
"Cousin, you may be awesome, but your descriptions are making me hungry!" Hermes whined. Hera sighed.
"I told you before, once the chapter ends, you could have lunch." She said, a hint of exasperation in her voice. The males groaned again.
"How long till the end of the chapter?" Connor asked Beckendorf. He checked and counted.
"There's only three pages left." He said calmly. Then he looked up to find all the boys with big pleading eyes.
"Ok, ok, I'll read…"
My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want-nonalcoholic, of course."
Dionysus grumbled since he couldn't drink wine at camp.
I said, "Cherry Coke."
The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid.
The boys were drooling at the word caramel.
Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke."
The futures including Poseidon smiled. "Only you would ask for that Seaweed Brain. Only you." Annabeth said lovingly plus a hint of laughter in her voice.
"I wonder what would happen if they didn't have blue food at camp." Nico blurted out. Percy blinked then his expression turned to one that looked like he'd been punched in the gut.
"You better hope that you didn't jinx it, di Angelo. If I can't have my blue food, you can't have your Mythomagic cards." Percy said threateningly. Thalia hid a smile behind her hand.
"You still have those?" Nico turned a nice shade of pink.
"You promised you wouldn't speak of it again!" He said indignantly at Percy who just shrugged. "You can only blame yourself. You should've made me swear on the Styx." Nico pouted while Thalia started laughing. Annabeth on the other hand shook her head and sent everyone else a look. One that said : see what I have to deal with nearly every day?
Beckendorf decided to be a good friend and continued.
The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt.
I took a cautious sip. Perfect.
I drank a toast to my mother.
All the goddesses including Katie and Silena cooed again. Clarisse, Thalia and both Annabeths just smirked/smiled.
She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday . . ."
Cue in glances at an evilly smirking Hades who soon got hit on the head by Persephone.
"OW!"
"No smiling evilly while the boy thinks about his poor mother."
"Yes dear." The rest of the male gods snickered quietly. Poseidon leaned towards Zeus and whispered.
"Whipped. Whipped soo bad" Zeus had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from laughing.
"Here you go, Percy." Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket.
I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something.
Artemis rolled her eyes again. "I guess since nobody decided to tell you, I won't judge you yet… boy."
Percy only smiled and shrugged.
"Come on," Luke told me.
As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.
All the gods groaned and sent Percy their why-the-heck-are-you-torturing-us-with-mentions-of-food?
The son of Poseidon could only grin sheepishly.
Luke murmured in my ear. "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."
"You're kidding."
"You know, when you say it like that, it sounds very stupid." Demeter said. Suddenly Hermes started chuckling.
"I remember when Ares tried living off of that smoke for a week." He said, grinning. Apollo joined in.
"I remember he was moaning while sleeping in the infirmary." Ares twitched going for his sword. Aphrodite gave him a look though.
"You will NOT fight do you hear me, Ares?" The god of war grumbled but nodded his head.
His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.
"Well, it doesn't really smell of burning food."
"I know, Lad Persephone." Percy smiled for good measure.
Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes."
Hermes looked at the hearth, waiting for the smell to come. When it didn't he pouted.
I was next.
I wished I knew what god's name to say.
"That's easy." Thalia said. "You say Hestia." Then she grinned and made a peace sign at Percy. The gods smiled and Poseidon even laughed.
"I wouldn't have minded if you said Hestia's name instead of mine." Hestia smiled brightly at her brother who grinned back.
Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.
"I will." Poseidon said to Percy mentally. His son smiled back.
I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames.
When I caught the whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag.
All the deities sighed because even they had to admit the smoke smelled great. It was one of the mysteries that couldn't be solved.
It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke.
Apollo and Hermes smirked at Ares who was looking at a random pillar. He wasn't doing anything. Just staring at it.
When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention.
Mr. D got up with a huge sigh.
Dionysus sighed too just like his book self.
"Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats.
Zeus narrowed his eyes at his son who avoided looking at the king of the gods.
Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."
Clarisse smirked at mini-Annabeth who refused to make eye contact.
A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.
Clarisse and Ares glared at Percy who shrugged it off like it was something he dealt with everyday. Knowing him… he probably does.
"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."
"Percy Jackson." Poseidon said slightly irritated at Dionysus's behavior towards his son.
Chiron murmured something.
"Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected.
All the demigods gasped. "He got your name right! You weren't even angering him nor in deep trouble!" Nico said astonishingly.
Dionysus rolled his eyes at the demigods.
"That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."
"Dionysus, we'll be having a little chat before you go to lunch, understand?" Zeus said. Dionysus looked panicked before sighing.
"Yes father."
Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along.
Apollo and Will grinned.
"Don't the Apollo cabin always lead the sing-along during campfire?" Thalia asked.
Nico and Annabeth smirked. "Well…"
"There was that one time…"
Percy laughed nervously and covered Nico's and Annabeth's mouths with his hands.
"That's a story for another time." Thalia's eyes widened. "No tell me!" Percy glared at her.
"No."
We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.
Everyone smiled at each other (except Ares and Dionysus who both fell asleep). Percy wrapped an arm around Annabeth's waist secretly and whispered.
"I am home." Annabeth smiled and nodded.
Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag.
My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts:
Hera and Artemis smiled.
her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would tell me not to let the bedbugs bite.
This time everyone was smiling. The ideal mom…
When I closed my eyes. I fell asleep instantly.
Percy scooted a bit nearer to Annabeth.
That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood.
"The first out of many." Percy said happily. Beckendorf smiled but frowned as her read the next line.
I wished I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.
Beckendorf sighed and closed the book. A small silence filled the room as curious glances were thrown at Percy who had his cheek on top of Annabeth's shoulder. Silena and Aphrodite squealed quietly. Others were smiling or smirking. Poseidon had a small smile on his face. Athena however cleared her throat, causing Percy to remember where he was.
Percy let out a nervous laugh and cleared his throat lightly.
"So… lunch anyone?"
A/N: and it's done Time for the explanation thingy and questions.
[1] Was this too mushy? I was thinking while I was typing it that I made Percy seem weak. I don't really know anymore.
[2] I guess this is all I can do for Mother's day… that sucks and it was only a small portion :/ I'll make a one-shot sometime later.
[3] The look doesn't really exist… or does it?
[4] Hermes' phone, in my story has 2 phases of vibrate; semi-vibrate and complete vibrate.
Review if you so desire! I won't be able to update next week though T.T Maybe next next if I'm lucky bit since school is starting soon for me, I might have to put updating on hold. That's all. Stay tuned for the next chapter! ~Demi