AN: All right go to Rick Riordan.
Clarisse from the future is Clare and the past is Clarisse. Annabeth from the future is Anna, while the past is Annabeth.
I know I haven't posted in a long while. But school and having a job keeps me really busy. But I'll try to update as often as I can.
~NicoDiAngeloLover7
"Its almost 5:30, after this chapter we'll eat dinner"
Everyone nodded at Athena's suggestion since everybody was starving for food.
"So who wants to read," Katie asked
"I think I'll read as long as nothing bad happens." Poseidon said.
Katie passed him the book. Then the room was engulfed with bright light, and there Sally Jackson, Clarisse, Annabeth and Chris of the future stood. You then went over to Poseidon and sat in front of him.
Poseidon opened the book and read the title "I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom."
The future demigods snickered.
Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.
Everyone snickered as Chiron stumped his foot.
We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."
Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.
"Can you?" Apollo asked. Percy still being asleep snored.
"Guess that answers that," mumbled Hermes.
I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.
"May." Hermes glared at Hades who looked everywhere but Hermes.
"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.
He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."
"Somebody lives there?"
"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."
"And whose fault is that?" Hermes asked.
"Okay I get it, sorry!" Hades growled.
I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.
"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."
We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.
Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."
"Demeter kids rule at that." Katie said while smiling.
He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.
"I hate that." Dionysus mumbled. "Next time listen and you could still grow them." Zeus said.
I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music.
I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.
"Most likely." Grover mumbled.
"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean ... he was a good protector. Really."
"No truer words." The demigods said.
Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horses back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable.
Chiron sighed.
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."
"But he did that!" The demigods said.
"But he did that!"
"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge.
"It should be." Thalia grumbled.
Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there's the unfortunate ... ah ... fate of your mother.
"What happen to me?" Sally asked.
"You were taken by Hades for some reason." Poseidon growled.
Hades was splashed. "Poseidon I let you punch me why'd you splash me?" Hades asked.
"I didn't." everyone looked at Percy who just snored.
Nico just snickered while running his fingers through Percy's hair.
"It's fine." Hades made a towel appear and started to dry himself off.
And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line. The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."
"Bull crap." Nico said.
Dionysus was splashed. "Percy or Poseidon?"
"Guilty." Percy said.
"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"
That was his/my second chance." Grover and Thalia said.
Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age..."
"How old is he?"
"Oh, twenty-eight."
"Mmm, you look great for your age." Aphrodite said. Grover blushed.
"What! And he's in sixth grade?"
"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."
"That's horrible."
"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career..."
"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"
"Yes." Thalia said crying softly. Zeus appeared human sized and hugged her.
"I'm sorry." Zeus said hugging her. Thalia hugged back and snuggled closer as she cried.
The goddess' awwed at the family moment that the King of the Gods had rarely shown.
Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"
Chiron sighed.
But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea—a tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind.
"Oh no, I think I know what he's hoping." Hades said.
"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real ..."
"Yes, child?"
"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"
"Please tell me he's not thinking what I think he's thinking." Poseidon said paling.
"He wants his mother back so I'm impressed of his courage." Hades said.
Chiron's expression darkened.
"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now ... until we know more ... I would urge you to put that out of your mind."
"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"
"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods."
"Chiron." Apollo laughed as Chiron blushed.
As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest 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?" I asked. "Armed with what?"
"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"
"I have to ask you'll be surprised on what demigods bring." Chiron said.
"Yeah I did." Thalia, and Annabeth said.
"My own—?"
"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."
"Riptide and a lake will do me fine." Percy said in his sleep.
I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.
"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.
"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."
"I know." Chiron said as Apollo opened his mouth.
Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.
"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.
Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird.
"I was new can't blame me." Percy said waking up.
"I know, sorry." Chiron said.
"How'd you sleep," Nico asked.
"Not bad."
"We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.
Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.
"Yeah but if they looked alike that would be boring." Travis said.
Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.
"Mine." Beckendorf and Hephaestus said.
Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.
Katie smiled at her mother.
Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.
"Only the best for my kids, who are all good looking.
They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).
In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.
"You saw me." Hestia said smiling.
"Yeah." Percy said.
"Treating the flames?" Zeus asked. Hestia nodded at her younger brother.
The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.
"How'd you do that?" Hermes asked. "Perks of being king." Zeus said.
Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.
"Mine." Hera said.
"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.
"Correct," Chiron said.
"Their cabins look empty."
"Well mine is anyway." Hera said glaring at Zeus who just smiled sheepishly.
"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."
Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.
"That's one way of thinking about it." Artemis said. "Yeah." Apollo agreed.
Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?
I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.
"Of course he would." Hades said
It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor.
"I love getting those." Poseidon said.
"I love getting them too." Percy said.
I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"
"Oh leave him alone, it's not like I'm going to blast my son." Poseidon said.
"With all respect I didn't know he was your son." Chiron said.
Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone.
"It's amazing there." Annabeth, Thalia, and Nico said.
"You all go in there?" Hades, Zeus and Athena asked.
"Yeah to hang out occasionally."
"Or to make out with a certain son of Hades," Thalia whispered in Percy's ear.
Percy immediately went beet red.
Nico just chuckled.
There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."
Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.
Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists.
Ares smiled at his daughters and gave them thumbs up.
The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared. The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer.
She reminded me of Nancy Bobofit, though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.
I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.
"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are a wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."
"Party ponies rule." Apollo, Hermes, Conner and Travis said.
"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really ..."
He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."
"I hate him, he made Zoë feel pain." Artemis said.
"I'm not pleased with that ether." Zeus said.
"But, shouldn't you be dead?"
"Well I don't know about should be." Chiron said.
Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. I gained much from that wish ... and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."
"And you always will be." The demigods said hugging Chiron.
I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to wish for list.
"Doesn't it ever get boring?"
"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."
"Horribly depressing is right." Chiron mumbled.
"Why depressing?"
Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.
"Oh, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."
The blond girl I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.
When we reached her, she looked me over critically, like she was still thinking about how much I drooled.
I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek.
"It was Greek dork." Chris said.
There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.
"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."
Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old.
"Is it really that bad?" Hermes asked.
"Yes." Travis said.
"Well next break after the beach I'll come down and fix it up a bit and try and make more room for you all."
"Cool thanks."
The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it... ?
"A caduceus." Athena and Hermes said.
A caduceus.
Athena and Hermes blushed a little bit.
Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over on the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.
"See I rest my case we need cabins for the minor gods and goddess that why their children don't feel left out." Hermes said crossing his arms.
"Hermes don't push your luck." Zeus said.
"Fine Thena can you draw up some plans for my cabin that way there's room for all of them?"
"Of course." Athena said.
"Thank you, continue Uncle P."
Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."
He galloped away toward the archery range.
I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.
"Most likely we were." Conner said.
"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on."
So naturally I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.
"Naturally." Nico said. Percy glared at Nico.
There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.
Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
"I think it was Conner who said that." Percy said.
"It was." Annabeth said.
I didn't know what to say, but Annabeth said, "Undetermined."
Everybody groaned.
"See your making them suffer." Hermes said.
"I agree with him we could use cabins for the minor god and goddess it will be better." Hades said.
Zeus thought for a minute and nodded. "All right Athena you will be in charge of getting the plains for them." Zeus said.
"Yes Father but it could take some time." Athena said.
"We don't care more room for all of us and we'll be happy." Hermes kids said happily.
The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-colored clay beads. 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," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing.
"Was not." Annabeth muttered.
"Was too," Percy sang.
Who also got a slap on the back of his head.
She saw me looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."
"For now?" I asked.
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "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 travelers."
"Darn right I am, excuse me I have some packages to deliver be back soon." Hermes said disappearing.
I looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.
"Good idea son." Poseidon said smiling.
I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.
"How long will I be here?" I asked.
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
The campers all laughed.
"Well hopefully that's going to change soon." Artemis said.
"Come on," Annabeth told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."
"I've already seen it."
"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside. I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.
When we were a few feet away, Annabeth said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."
"Oh she used the last name you're in trouble." Beckendorf said. "Oh be quiet Beckendorf." Annabeth said.
"What?"
She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."
"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"
"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"
"To get killed, I'd run." Katie said.
"To get killed?"
"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"
I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."
"Yes."
"Then there's only one."
"Yes."
"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."
"Way to confuse me." Connor said.
"You get confused to easily." Clarisse said.
"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."
"He has a point." Nico said. Putting his head on Percy's shoulder.
"Shut up Death breathe." Annabeth said.
"Hey only Percy can call me Death Breathe."
"Or Neeks," Percy whispered.
"That too."
"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them arche types. Eventually, they re-form."
I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"
"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."
"Oh very mad." Percy said sitting up, making Nico protest. And pulled Nico in his lap, who then gladly shut on.
"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"
"You talk in your sleep."
"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"
"I won't call them that nephew, they might come up." Hades warned.
Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her.
"Possible?" Conner and Travis asked.
"Oh very possible but I doubt they'll do that to a daughter of Athena. They respect Athena more than anyone here but me and possibly Demeter being Persephone's mother." Hades said.
"So they fear Athena?" Demeter asked.
"Well they've seen her mad when they killed Serafina."
"Not pleased with that." Athena said sadly remembering her daughter.
"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care.
"Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."
I pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."
She stared at me, waiting for me to get it.
"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said.
"Not what I meant." Annabeth said.
"She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."
Hades didn't look guilty but deep in thought.
"Why don't you look guilty?" Demeter asked harshly.
"Trying to figure out why I would even take her I don't have anything against her even if he broke the oath. I wouldn't take a child's mother or father for no reason." Hades said still thinking. "And I'm sorry I did that."
Everyone but the future looked at him shocked and surprised he had a heart. "What? Just because I live in the darkest part of the world doesn't mean that I'm heartless."
"I know," Percy commented.
"How?" Hades asked curious.
Rolling his eyes, "I am dating your son. So it kind of obvious." Percy said.
"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."
"He's dead. I never knew him."
"Um last I checked right here Percy." Poseidon said.
"Sorry." Percy said.
Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids.
"And hate having it." Annabeth said. "Sorry I should be doing that." Chiron said.
"Your father's not dead, Percy."
"How can you say that? You know him?"
"No, of course not."
"Then how can you say—"
"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."
"You don't know anything about me."
"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."
"How—"
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."
"You're going to embarrass him. Here Uncle Hades I have a letter for you." Hermes said appearing and then disappearing after giving the letter to Hades. Hades read the letter.
"I'll be back traffic jam down in the underworld." Hades said disappearing in shadows.
I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"See." Hermes said appearing and giving Demeter roses. "From Persephone." Hermes disappeared again. Demeter made a vase appear and put the roses in there then sent it to her living room.
"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battle field reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."
"You scared us when you did that." Chris said. "Yeah." The other demi gods said.
"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?"
"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."
"Ambrosia and nectar."
"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."
"Man you make it sound awesome." Silena said.
"Thanks." Annabeth said.
A half-blood.
I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.
Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"
I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.
"Mmm so Clarisse comes in now." Thaila smirked.
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"
"Yeah right Miss Princess." Clarisse said.
"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."
''Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said, which I somehow under stood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."
"Yeah no chance one bit." Ares grinned at Athena. "You're going down."
"Oh we'll see about that." Athena said.
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"
"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."
I blinked. "Like ... the war god?"
Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"
"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."
Why you little punk." Ares said as everyone but Clarisse laughed.
"NOT FUNNY!" They yelled.
Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."
"Percy."
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."
"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.
"Stay out of it, wise girl."
Athena flinched. "So that's how it started." The future demi gods said.
Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.
"And he did." Anna said smirking at Clarisse
I handed Annabeth my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.
Chiron glared at the young war child who whistled innocently.
I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron.
"Bet I do."
She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.
Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.
"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets.
"Funny because he is." Poseidon and Athena said. The two blushed.
"Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."
Annabeths punched Clarisse hard on the arm.
"OW!" She said rubbing their arm.
"Not stupid looking."
"Ok ow that hurt."
"Good."
Her friends snickered.
Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.
Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.
"Stubborn." Zeus said.
"Hey gets that from me." Poseidon said.
Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach.
Clarisse sunk down father intel she was on the floor. Poseidon laughed.
"What's so funny?" Ares asked growling.
"Your daughter is about to get it." Poseidon laughed.
I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.
Clarisse put her head in her hands as everyone but Chris and Ares laughed.
I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt
Chris grabbed Clarisse's hand and squeezed it.
The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall.
She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her.
But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.
"Never mess with my kids." Poseidon said.
As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.
The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared.
"You couldn't spare her could you?" Athena asked. Looking at Percy.
"Sorry I hadn't any good control over my powers can't blame me." Percy said.
She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door. She was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.
I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.
"Sweet." Chris said.
I stood up, my legs shaky.
Annabeth said, "How did you ..."
"I don't know."
We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."
Funny Clarisse I'm still here." Percy said.
"Shut it Prissy." Clare said through her knees.
I probably should have let it go, but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."
"Nice come back." Hermes said appearing and giving Hestia a letter. "From Khione." Hestia took the letter and just buried it with her hand. Hermes disappeared.
Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.
Annabeth stared at me. I couldn't tell whether she was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing her.
"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."
"Who wants to read next?" Poseidon asked marking the page.
"I will, but let's eat first" Chris said.