Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson nor any of its characters, I just own my own character Antheia/Alyssa.
Once Alyssa and Percy had gotten over that fact the was really a horse named Chiron, they actually had a nice tour. As they passed the volleyball pit, several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the Minotaur horn Percy was carrying. Another said, "Thats him."
Most of the campers were around Alyssa's age, their satyr friends were much bigger than Grover.
Alyssa cast a look back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger that she'd realized- four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. She was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught her eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic globe. She nudged Percy, pointing up to the spot and they both saw the curtain move, just for a second, as if someone was watching them.
"What's up there?" Percy asked Chiron.
He looked to where Percy was pointing, his smile faded.
"Just the attic."
"Does someone live there?" Alyssa inquired.
"No." He said with finality. "Not a single living thing."
Percy and Alyssa looked at each other and Alyssa shrugged before turning back to follow Chiron.
They walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe. Alyssa reached her hand down to brush against the bush when suddenly the bush moved towards her, almost like snuggling against her hand.
She quickly pulled back, thoroughly confused, before reaching down again. The vines rose up to touch her hand again as she felt an almost familiar spark, as if she has done something like this before.
She heard a voice call out to her, snapping her from her thoughts as she hastily pulled her hand back to see Percy and Chiron waiting up ahead for her.
As she approached them, she heard Percy arguing with Chiron about Grover.
"Grover won't get into any trouble, will he? I mean... He was a good protector. Really."
Chiron sighed, fiddling with his tweed jacket.
"Grover has big dreams. Perhaps bigger than they are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill. And he didn't exactly do that with you."
Percy looked like he wanted to protest because none of it was really Grover's fault.
"He'll get a second chance right?"
Chiron winced. "That was his second chance, Percy. The council won't be happy about this, but he us still young..."
"How old is he?" Alyssa asked.
"Oh, twenty eight."
"What!" Percy exclaimed. "And he's in sixth grade?"
"Yes, you see, satyrs mature half as fast as humans."
He paused, looking up.
"Here, we should go see the woods."
He starting trotting along, making Percy and Alyssa jog behind him trying to catch up.
When he stopped just at the edge of the forest, Percy realized just his huge it was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.
Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."
"Stocked with what?" Alyssa asked. "Armed with what?"
"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own shield and sword?"
Percy and Alyssa both blinked, not understanding his question.
"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do for Percy, and for Alyssa, perhaps a size seven female. I'll visit the armory later."
Percy wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. They visited the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables but Alyssa was too scared to go inside, the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where they held sword and spear fights. Finally Chiron pointed out the mess hall.
After walking around for a little bit long, they reached the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, and they were without doubt the strangest collection of buildings they had ever seen.
Each cabin had a large brass number on them, and each of them were unique in their own way. Cabin nine had smokestacks and cabin four had vines on the walls with a roof of grass. Cabin seven seemed to be made out of pure gold, making Alyssa suddenly miss her necklace even more.
The cabins all faced towards a giant soccer field type area.
Chiron started leading them past each one. Cabin one was the biggest of them all. Alyssa had a strange urge suddenly to go inside, like it was calling her. And the same thing happened for cabin two, which was Hera's.
she stopped for a second, placing her hand on the walls of cabin two, which had peacocks carved all over them. She suddenly had a memory of sitting on the edge of a fountain with someone who was hugging her, telling her how beautiful she was..
She heard a door open and she turned to see Percy enter a cabin with a worried Chiron behind him. She sighed, rolling her eyes, before going over to them. She stopped when she saw the inside of cabin three. It looked like an underwater sea cave, beautiful and calm. Percy then exited, taking one last wistful look back before continuing down the line of cabins. They passed cabin five, which looked as if someone had beat it up. Inside was some of the roughest and meanest kids Alyssa had ever seen. One girl, who was probably the loudest, wore an XXXL shirt and snarled at Percy as he walked by. His eyed widened and his pace quickened until he was side by side of Chiron.
Up ahead stood the blond girl from the Big House. She was reading a book in front if the last cabin on the left, cabin eleven. When they reached her, Chiron told them he had an archery class and left cabin eleven to Annabeth.
Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin. It was painted am old brown color, with the paint chipped. Over the doorway was a winged pole with snakes wrapped around it.
Inside, it was packed with people, boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Alyssa thought it looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.
All eyes turned to Alyssa and Percy as they filed in. Annabeth pushed them forward.
"Well Percy and Alyssa, meet cabin eleven."
"Regular or undetermined?" Someone asked.
Percy and Alyssa exchanged looks of confusion as Annabeth replied, "Undetermined."
The whole cabin groaned and Alyssa looked sheepishly down at her feet, the feeling of being not wanted already hitting her hard.
A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward.
"Now campers, this is what we are here for. Welcome, Percy and Alyssa, you guys can have the spot over there on the floor."
The guy looked to be about nineteen. He was tall and muscular, with a short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. The only thing unsettling about his appearance was a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash.
"This is Luke," said Annabeth, and her voice got this light airy sound. Percy looked over and saw her blushing. She caught Percy rolling his eyes and her expression hardened again.
"He's your counselor for now."
"For now?" Alyssa asked questionably.
"You're undetermined," Luke said staring at Alyssa with gorgeous blue eyes, "they don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travels."
Percy looked to the small section of floor that he and Alyssa would have to share. They had no luggage, no clothes, not even a sleeping bag. Alyssa suddenly remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves, and she looked around suspiciously.
Percy's voice rose up, "How long will we be here?"
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
The campers all laughed and Alyssa inwardly groaned. Of course her brother would make a fool of them.
"Come on," Annabeth told Percy. "I'll show you the volleyball court."
Percy's eyes raised in confusion. "I've already seen them."
"Come on."
She grabbed him wrist and dragged him outside, leaving Alyssa behind with all of the campers who were once again laughing.
Alyssa looked around shyly, hating the way the people were staring at her. Luke seemed to sense her anxiety and offered to show her around more which she eagerly accepted. The two of them took off on a worn path that led them to the forest.
"So," Luke started. "How old are you?"
"Fifteen." She said feeling somewhat comfortable around him.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened yesterday?"
Alyssa winced as unwanted memories yet again filled her mind. Luke, seeing her pain immediately apologized.
"Oh gosh! Listen Alyssa, I'm really sorry. I won't bring it up again, I promise."
Alyssa looked down at her feet, an empty feeling growing in her heart.
"Look, it's ok. You didn't know and curiosity is a natural thing so I'm not mad."
He chuckled as they continued walking. They came to a little stream where some flowers were growing around in a beautiful display. Luke stopped, staring at the running water.
"Hey, Alyssa. Did you happen to lose anything last night?"
Alyssa immediately went to her pocket, remembering her necklace.
"Ya, actually I lost a.."
"Was it a necklace?" Luke said, cutting her off.
She looked up in amazement.
"Yes.. How did you know?"
He reached I to his pocket and pulled out the very golden necklace that Sally gave her last night. He held it out and she gratefully accepted it, feeling the now familiar warmth the necklace brought, before fastening it around her neck. She turned and gave Luke a hug, which seemed to surprise him.
"Thank you so much Luke! You have no idea what this means to me! It's the last thing my mom gave me before she... Anyway I don't have any other parents besides her so thus really does mean a lot."
He returned the hug before saying, "Your welcome Lis. But you know, you still have a dad. He's just an Olympian god."
She looked up, bewildered. Luke's face seemed hard, like he didn't like that subject.
"I.." She was interrupted when a loud explosion was heard from camp, coming from somewhere by the bathrooms.
The two looked at each other before racing back, wondering what in earth could have happened.
When they reached the bathrooms, they could see a soaking wet Annabeth and that scary girl from cabin five and Percy, standing in the middle, completely dry.
"You are so dead, new boy. You are totally dead." Said the girl, her eyes filled with hate.
Percy, looking mad, replied, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."
Her friends had to hold Clarisse back. They dragged her back towards cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.
Alyssa walked over and grabbed her brother, checking to make sure he was alright. His eyes were bright and he had a smile in his face.
"Alyssa, you will never believe what happened!"
"What happened?"
"Well... I kinda made Clarisse mad and she was going to toilet dunk me and then all of the toilet bowls just exploded, sending water all over except it completely missed me."
Alyssa turned to Annabeth, who was competed soaked with an expression that she couldn't tell was just grossed out or angry at Percy for dousing her.
"What?" Percy demanded, looking at her. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."
***Please Review***