Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson nor any of its characters, I just own my own character Antheia/Alyssa.
After a few days, Percy and Alyssa were settled in a routine that felt almost normal, if the fact that they were being taught by satyrs, nymphs, and a centaur counts as normal.
Every morning, Annabeth would help them with their Ancient Greek. Alyssa was surprised to find that Ancient Greek wasn't much harder than English.
The rest of the day, Percy and Alyssa rotated through different stations. While Percy discovered that he had no talent whatsoever with archery, Alyssa found that she excelled at it, spending most of her time with the Apollo cabin.
Percy had given up on basically everything; he wasn't good at foot racing, wrestling, or metal shop. The only thing he really excelled at was canoeing, which wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur (the part where Alyssa finished it off was kept a secret, due to a persuasive sister).
Both kids knew that the senior campers and counselor a were watching them, trying to decide who their dad was, but lets just say they weren't having an easy time of it. While some suggested Apollo because of Alyssa's talent, Percy failed miserably at it. They weren't strong like the Ares kids, or have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork, or, gods forbid, Dionysus's way with vines. That's what Alyssa originally thought, having that strange connection with plants, but sadly dismissed it, knowing that he would have claimed her already. She also tried Demeter, but also was sadly discouraged when the Demeter cabin told her that their mother claims all of her kids on the first day.
Luke, trying to cheer them up, suggested Hermes-like a jack of all trades kind of guy. But Alyssa could see he was just trying to make them feel better. He didn't know what to think either.
Despite it all, Alyssa and Percy still liked camp. They had gotten use to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, even the weird noises of monsters at night. They ate every meal with cabin eleven, hoping to be claimed.
Percy could start to understand Luke's bitterness and how he seemed to resent his father, Hermes. Ok, maybe the gods had important things to do, but they also had a responsibility to their kids to at least tell them that there theirs.
Thursday afternoon, three days after they had arrived at Camp Half-Blood, Percy had his first sword-fighting lesson. Everyone from cabin eleven would gather in the big circular arena, where Luke would be their instructor. Alyssa tried to sit it out, but with some persuasion from Luke, she finally agreed.
He started them off with the basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. While Percy was doing ok, Alyssa picked it up right away, like she had already mastered it.
The problem for Percy was that he couldn't find a blade that felt right. Either it was too heavy, or too light, or too long. Luke tried his best to find him one, but soon he agreed that none of the practice blades seemed to work for him.
Soon, they moved on to dueling partners.
Luke immediately asked Alyssa, who felt a blush fill her face, but had to decline due to the look Percy gave her. Instead she offered for Percy to be his parter, which Luke agreed to and left Percy scowling at her. She gave him a little smug smirk before going to sit down.
Luke called everyone together for a demonstration, announcing that he would demonstrate on Percy.
"Good luck," one of the campers told Percy. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."
"Maybe he'll go easy on me." Percy said.
The camper just snorted.
Luke showed him thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, he got a little more battered and bruised.
"Keep your guard up, Percy," Luke would say before smacking him in the ribs with the flat of his blade. From her seat, Alyssa let out a chuckle, seeing Percy get frustrated.
By the time Luke called break, Percy was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler, right by Alyssa. Luke poured ice water on his head, probably showing off to Alyssa, and Percy decided to copy him and did the same.
Instantly, he felt better. Strength surged back into his arms. The sword didn't feel so awkward.
"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
Great, Percy thought. Lets all watch Percy get pounded.
The Hermes guys gathered around, suppressing smiles. He figured they had been in his shoes before and couldn't wait to see how Luke used him for a punching bag. Alyssa pushed her way to the front, trying to see what was going to happen.
Luke told everyone he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of their own sowed so that the opponent would have no choice but to drop his weapon.
"This is difficult," Luke stressed. "No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen take years to master this technique."
He demonstrated the move on Percy in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of his hand.
"Now for real."
Percy nodded and Luke came after him. Somehow, Percy kept Luke from getting a shot on his hand. Strength surged through Percy, his senses opened. He saw every attack that was coming and countered them. Luke started to press him with more force.
The sword started to grow heavy, the weight started to feel off and Percy knew Luke would take him down in a matter of seconds, so he tried the disarming trick.
His blade hit the base of Luke's and his sword rattled against stones. The tip of Percy's blade an inch from his undefended chest.
The campers went silent, Alyssa's eyes filled with disbelief. Luke was every too stunned to speak.
He had Percy try it again, but this time there was no contest and Luke easily defeated Percy.
After a long pause, someone from the audience said, "Beginners luck?"
Luke wiped more sweat off his brow, looking at Percy with new interest.
"Maybe..." He said.
Friday afternoon, Percy was sitting with Grover at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Alyssa had gone off to archery, hanging out with all of her buddies from Apollos cabin.
As they sat on the pier, Percy finally asked Grover how his conversation went with Mr. D.
His face turned a sticky shade of yellow.
"Fine." He said. "Just great."
"So tour careers still on track?"
Grover looked down at the naiads. "Mr. D suspended judgement. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with you or Alyssa yet. Maybe if you got a quest and I went along with you and we both came back alive... But the chances of you getting a quest..."
Percy tried to reassure him that it could happen, but it just made him more miserable.
"Grover?" Percy asked." Have heroes really gone on quests to the underworld?"
"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."
"And have they ever returned somebody from the dead?"
"No. Never... Percy, you're not thinking..."
"No." He lied. " I was just wondering... Does a satyr always get assigned to guard a demigod?"
Grover studied him warily. "Not always. We go undercover to a lot of schools and try to sniff out half bloods. If we find one with a very strong aura, we send for Chiron."
"And you found us.."
"Yes and no... For you it was easy, but with Alyssa it was different. She still had a very strong aura, but it seemed somehow blocked, like an invisible cage was around it."
Percy looked worried and Grover, trying to calm him down, said, "Don't worry. Your probably a child of Hermes. Or maybe even one of the minor gods, like Nemesis."
Percy got the feeling that he was just trying to reassure himself more than him.
That night at dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.
At last, it was time for capture the flag.
When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and everyone stood at their tables.
Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silver banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
Alyssa leaned over and whispered in Luke's ear, "Does Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"
"Not always," he said looking down at her. "But often."
"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do- repaint the flag?"
He grinned and gave her a smirk. "You'll see. First we have to get one."
"Whose side are we on?"
He gave her a sly, look, as if he knew something she didn't. The torchlight made his face look almost dangerous.
"We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."
The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins, and Ares with everyone else.
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.
"Heroes!" He announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line is the creek. Prisoners may be disarmed, but no killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
He spread his hands and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment.
Percy looked at the weapons in shock.
"Whoa, we're really suppose to use these?"
Luke looked at him as if he was crazy. "Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. Here, Chiron had some armor made for you. Your on border patrol."
Percy picked up his shield and almost dropped it due to the weight.
Alyssa didn't look so hot in her armor either, her shield the size of her torso.
Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"
They cheered and shook their swords and followers her down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at them as they headed off toward the north.
Percy raced up to Annabeth and Alyssa fell in step with Luke.
"So," she said. "What's the plan?"
He seemed to ponder something for a second.
"Which don't you come up in front with me. I'm in the attack group."
She cast one worried look at Percy, who was chatting away with Annabeth.
"Thank you, but I think I need to stay with Percy. Besides, I'm new at this and I think that it's only fair that I stay on defense."
His eyes widened at the mention of Percy's name, fear filling them. He looked at if that was the worst possible suggestion forever.
"No! Honestly I think Percy's fine..." He said quickly.
Alyssa narrowed her eyes, growing suspicious.
"Ok..." She lied. "But I'll still stay on defense. Help out guarding the flag."
He seemed to relax a little when she said this before turning and finding the rest of his attack team. Alyssa looked around, searching for Percy. She saw him standing by the creek alone, with his big blue-feathered helmet and huge shield.
She made her way over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up in shock, but relaxed when he saw it was her.
"Guess who's your partner for border patrol."
He smiled. "Good. I thought I was alone here."
She hugged him, well tried to at least with their awkward armor.
"Percy, your never alone. I'm always here for you."
Far away, the crunch shell blew. Whoops and yells came from the woods, the clanking if metal, kids fighting. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past them like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. Percy sighed, he always missed the fun.
Alyssa froze as she heard a sound that sent a chill up her spine, a low canine growl, somewhere close by.
Percy raised his shield instinctively, having the feeling something was stalking them.
The growling stopped, the presence retreated.
On the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.
"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.
Alyssa immediately charged, taking down two campers before fighting the third one. Percy managed to sidestep one of them, but soon the remaining two surrounded him. Alyssa looked over at Percy with desperation, trying to reach him.
Clarisse thrust her spear at Percy, who deflected it with his shield, but his hair stood on end.
Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.
Percy fell to the ground while they laughed at him. Alyssa quickly hacked her opponent in the side, bringing him down. She ran over and started fighting the last camper besides Clarisse.
"The flag is that way." Percy told her, wanting to sound angry, but it didn't quite sound like that.
"I don't care about the flag. I came here to beat up the guy who made my cabin look stupid."
"You do that without my help." He told her, which probably wasn't the smartest thing to say.
Clarisse struck Percy straight in the ribs, the electric point just about shocked his teeth out of his mouth.
He looked down at his chest. Seeing his own blood made him dizzy- warm and cold at the same time.
"NO!" Screamed Alyssa. She pushed aside the camper, racing towards her brother. She swung her sword at Clarisse, who ducked just in time, feeling a chuck of her hair fall off.
Percy fell into the stream with a crash.
Suddenly, something strange happened. The water seemed to wake Percy's senses up. Clarisse pushed Alyssa down and went after Percy. She got nearer and nearer, her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, Percy caught the shaft between the edge of his shield and his sword, and he snapped it like a twig.
"Ah!" She screamed. "You idiot! You corpsed-breath worm!"
She probably would have said worse, but Alyssa stood up and hit her between the eyes with her sword butt and sent her stumbling backwards out of the creek.
Yelling made them look to see Luke running, flag in hands, as he crossed the border- making the flag turn into a blue flag with a huge caduceus.
The game was over. They had won.
The air shimmered, and Annabeth materialized, holding a Yankee baseball cap like she had just taken it off her head.
"Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" She asked.
Percy felt himself getting angry.
"You set me up," he said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."
Annabeth shrugged. "I told you, Athena always has a plan."
She noticed his wounded chest, "How did you do that?"
"Clarisse's spear cut me." He said. "What do you think?"
"No. It was a cut. Look at it."
He looked down to see the blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scar, which was slowly fading.
Alyssa gasped. "Percy, how?"
Annabeth was thinking hard.
"Step out of the water, Percy."
"What-"
"Just do it."
He came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. His arms started to go numb and he almost fell, but Alyssa caught him.
"Oh, Styx." She cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want... I had assumed it would be Zeus.."
Before he could ask what she meant, he heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest.
The cheering stopped, Annabeth grabbed her sword.
There on the rocks just above them stood a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava red eyes and fangs like daggers."
It was looking straight at Percy.
"Percy, run!" Annabeth yelled, trying to stand in front of him, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over and just as it hit Percy, he stumbled backwards and felt razor-claws ripping through his chest.
Alyssa felt the stirring in her stomach, the same as the night her mom died. All she could think about was Percy. She screamed-a horrifying scream that made campers cover their ears. Multiple vines shot out, wrapping around the beast, surrounding it until it was completely covered, before squeezing shut, leaving what should have been the beast, nothing. A thick rain fall started pouring down, even through the magical borders.
Everyone was staring shell-shocked at Alyssa, who looked like a nightmare. Her eyes filled with rage, her long hair whipping around her neck. She took a breath, racing towards her brother, laying on the ground in a bloody mess, the rain still pouring. She quickly helped him into the stream.
His pain instantly disappeared, his cuts on his chest start closing up. Some of the campers gasp. He heard a now calmer Alyssa gasp too, and he saw her staring at something above his head. By the time he looked up, the sign was already fading, but he could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tilled spear: a trident.
"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."
"It is determined." Chiron announced.
All around Percy, campers started kneeling. He looked at Alyssa, expecting her to have the symbol too, but nothing appeared.
Alyssa's eyes filled with tears, noticing Percy's confusion. She got up slowly, looking around at all of the staring people. She clutched her necklace, shaking.
"Alyssa..." Percy said, his eyes wide.
"I...I'm..sorry." She stammered before turning around and racing away into the woods, the trees closing around her disappearing body.
"ALYSSA!" She heard her brother yell. She let out a sob, but continued running...
Back at the stream, Percy watched as his sister's fleeing body disappeared, the only family he had left besides...
"Poseidon." Said Chiron. "Earth shaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
Author's note:
Feel free to give me any suggestions to make this story better. Also thanks to all of my followers:) new chapter up soon. Also please review***