Wow...It feels like such a long time. I'm so sorry for not updating this more! I even realized that I was a couple chapters ahead and that I just had forgotten to post on here. Thanks so much for the reviews and I will try my best to keep up the work. Thanks for reading!

~Rocky

I thought about going to wood chopping. I had no idea where the activity officially started, but I thought about figuring it out. However, as I walked through the woods and discovered the tranquility of the area, I completely forgot about wood chopping and decided to just not go to wood chopping. I had plenty on my mind and I doubted that I could even chop wood with my little noodle arms.

I walked through the woods for a while until I found the edge where it let out onto a beach. It was quiet, thankfully. The last beach I went to was nothing like it. Kids and loud families and raucous parties. It was infuriating. Anyway, I sat down in the sand and took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. I knew what ADHD felt like, even though it's actually battle instinct or something, but this was like ADHD on steroids.

Every time I tried to focus in on the trigger for my powers. Some emotion or some memory that I could access when. The first time I used my power, I was angry. I tried that, but every time I got close, my brain would surge away from it. It made me think for a second that Zeus did this intentionally. That somehow he managed to block the exact part of my brain that I would need to use to control something that would more than likely be useful in my whole monster-killing-and-world-saving business.

Maybe I would have benefitted from some yoga or something. Or a de-magnetizer. It had been almost a week since I had been struck, but there were moments where I felt like I could light up a light bulb by being near it. After a few more attempts at finding my chi or my zen point or whatever it was I was trying to accomplish, I left my spot on the beach and headed along the beach, walking by the water.

I walked into the woods on the other section of camp. It was equally quiet. I was hoping that some sort of inspiration might jump out and grab me, but nothing happened. No matter where I sat. No matter what I thought about. How I sat. Which eye I closed. It didn't matter. My brain was too scrambled. I would start to focus in and then I would lose it. The bad part was how frustrating it was. I didn't want to be known as the guy who has no control over his body. That sounded better in my head, but it remains true.

I tried again and again, but it wasn't working and I got so fed up that I had that familiar feeling once again. My skin heating up. I was smoking and it burned up much quicker this time, not even giving me time to start sprinting toward the beach. I moved as fast as I could, smoke rolling off my body. I finally reached the water and dove in, the cool water soothing my burning skin.

I emerged from the water, feeling a little grateful that I didn't have my phone anymore. I mean, if it didn't melt then I wouldn't have wanted it to get ruined in the water. I stayed under for as long as I could before I emerged. I stood and ran my hand through my hair, slicking it back as I wiped the water from my eyes. I wasn't smoking anymore thankfully, but there was a cloud of steam around me.

I waited for a little while for the steam to disperse before starting to walk back to shore. I wasn't sure how long I had been skipping whatever my now soaking wet schedule had said, I decided to head back into camp and to my cabin to get some fresh clothes on. It, sadly, took a minute or two to find the cabins, but once I did, I walked into the Hecate cabin to find my bags by the door. No one else was in the cabin, so it's not like it magi—Well, it probably did magically move itself, but because someone told it to do so.

It was so great that I was welcomed so warmly into the cabin I would be residing in for the next several years. Well, until the gods upstairs claimed me. I walked into the cabin, moving my bags back to my bunk. I pulled out a towel that my mom had no doubt tossed in at the last minute and that I was now incredibly grateful for.

I took off my shirt and started to undo my shorts when the door opened again, revealing Jillian who looked like she had seen a ghost. She quickly realized what she had walked in on and quickly blushed, slapping her hand over her eyes.

"I…uhm…" She mumbled before saying what sounded like some Greek that shouldn't be translated. "I thought I saw you come in here, but I was confused and I…I don't know. I had to come in here and check that it was actually you and…I am so sorry…" She finally said, closing the door and leaving. I stood there, covering myself with my shirt as best I could, a little shellshocked by the intrusion.

I quickly got dressed in fresh clothes and scattered my things about my bed slightly as a deterrent for my cabinmates to not try and move my stuff again. I then left the cabin and spied Jillian stalking toward off away from the cabins. My stomach grumbled and I suddenly felt conflicted between one of the most important things in my life and a girl that I met a week ago. I kept following her, but my stomach grumbled again and I finally gave in, heading for the mess hall.

I walked in and quickly filled my train, since I was one of the first people in there. I was glad because I didn't want to deal with my cabinmates and their judging glares and I felt bad, but I didn't want to chance Lindsey seeing me. She would probably drag me into something and as excited I was to be hanging out with her and being so close with Crefeld's most eligible bachelorette, I kind of just wanted to chill out with Jillian. She seemed like someone who would be cool to just talk with. I still had to try with Lindsey.

I woofed down the barbeque and the two slices of bread that I had grabbed. I grabbed the apple and shoved it into my pocket then chugged a glass of Mountain Dew in what seemed like a matter of seconds and I was pretty sure it was a matter of seconds when I suddenly felt like I was going to lose my lunch as I started to run out of the cafeteria. I regained my composure and put the apple in my mouth as I grabbed another piece of bread and put my tray away. I switched the apple with the bread and left the pavilion, heading to where Jillian had headed.

I started running, but I cramped pretty quickly and proceeded to walk the rest of the way. I made a mental note to get in shape out of embarrassment. Run away from the monster! Nope. Too many times eating Chinese takeout four meals in a row. I thought to myself, resulting in a chuckle as I took a bite out of my apple. I finally came upon a large circular stone structure and I made my way inside. I probably could have figured it out from the exterior, but it was the arena. Made sense for a child of Ares to be there.

I looked around in awe, examining the dummies and the wall of weapons. Looking at each scrape in the wall and each large claw mark that I imagined happened during a fight with a gargantuan beast of some sort. I closed my eyes and imagined myself locked in battle with one, dodging around it's movements and making my own strikes and somehow my mind shifted into leading one into battle and tearing this arena to the ground. I shook myself and looked up again as I heard the sounds of someone fighting off to one side of the arena.

I walked over to Jillian and found her practicing against a dummy with a spear and a shield. It was a little weird seeing her attacking like this, but it was to be expected from a child of Ares. She stabbed into the dummy, keeping the shield tight against her person as she advanced then bashed the shield into the dummy, tearing it into splinters. She then dropped the shield and turned, throwing the spear like a laser into the dummy across the arena, the weapon lodging into the torso of the dummy with a loud thungk.

"Dammit…" she said with a sigh. I raised an eyebrow.

"Why dammit? That was incredible." I said with a chuckle. "I'm not sure that I could fire that spear out of a cannon that well." She smiled.

"Just…this thing that Clarisse said some Hunter did. He destroyed a dummy by—" She shook her head. "Never mind. It's not important."

"Who is Clarisse?" I asked after a second. "She sounds like a big deal. Did you tell me and my brain just kind of buzzed it away or—"

"No, no. Sorry. Clarisse La Rue-Rodriguez. She's my half-sister and cousin." She said, reaching into her pocket and retrieving a toothpick.

"Okay, is this one of those 'I'm my own grandpa' situations or—" I asked with a laugh. She grimaced, but still had a small smile on her face. She tapped the toothpick on her palm three times and it suddenly grew into a javelin which she nimbly spun once before clearing her throat.

"Okay. Her mom is my aunt. We're both children of Ares. I'm her cousin and her half-sister." She explained, stabbing the javelin into the ground and retrieving two more toothpicks.

"So, Ares did—"

"The nasty with a pair of sisters. Yes. The sisters La Rue." She said, putting one of the toothpicks in her mouth and tapping the other one in her palm three times again, it growing into another javelin. She looked at me for a long moment then stepped forward and took my partially eaten apple from me, taking a bite out of it. I shrugged and took a bite of bread.

"So, why is it Clarisse La Rue-Rodriguez? You're Jillian La Rue, so—"

"Tracy. Jillian Tracy. My mom got married and Thomas is a helluva lot better dad to me than Ares has been." She said, taking another bite of apple and stabbing the second javelin into the ground. "And Clarisse is on her honeymoon, actually. She just got married to Chris Rodriguez. Son of Hermes."

"That's pretty awesome. You have a Chris?" I asked casually, not paying attention to the subtext that could come from a question like that.

"No, of course not." She said blushing softly. "I don't have time for nonsense like that."

"Oh. Got it. Must be tough work being the camp's hard ass." I said with a chuckle. She glared at me and I just smiled back. She quickly tapped the third toothpick on her palm twice and it grew into a sword of what looked like bronze.

"Do you have a weapon yet?" She asked, stepping toward me. I shook my head and she quickly offered me the sword, making me flinch in slight trepidation. I looked down at it and then clear my throat.

"Actually, I have my uh…slingshot." I said, retrieving it from my back pocket. She rolled her eyes.

"An actual weapon. Not a toy." She said, putting the sword closer to me. I finally relented and took it, holding it up for a few seconds. I finally put it down, letting it hang at my side. It was strange holding this weapon. I could feel the energy humming through the metal, but it felt like it was weakening. Like I was absorbing it or something. I looked and the shiny metal seemed to get a bit darker.

"So, where did you get the toothpicks?" I asked, taking a few small swings with the sword.

"Yep. Not talking about that." She said, grabbing a javelin from the ground. She broke it in half and it turned back into a toothpick which she tapped twice on her wrist. It grew into a sword which she spun in her hand. "Alright. Let me show you your basics." She said , taking a stance.

"Jillian!" A voice said from the doorway. I looked and saw Walker, looking at her and waving her over. "Chiron wants to see us in the Big house!" He said, turning to leave again.

"Maybe another time, then." Jillian said, breaking her javelin and dropping the toothpick in my hand. "See you around, Peter."

"Yeah. I'll see you." I said with a nod. "And hopefully I won't look like a confused kid with an umbrella when I do." She laughed softly.

"I'm counting on it. Later, Peter." She said, finally exiting the arena. I nodded and slipped the toothpick in my pocket. I walked toward a dummy and leaned on it, watching her leave. Time for practice.