A/N: Okay guys, I'm back. Sorry, I planned to upload this chapter yesterday after I finished writing it, but I was sick these past few days and I really felt like crap. I'm better now, and I don't have school tomorrow, so if everything goes as planned I'll be able to upload another chapter tomorrow. Thanks for all the reviews by the way, it really helps me feel more motivated to keep writing. Anyway, if you haven't already, please go to my profile and vote for the poll. So far it's 3 votes for Athena and 3 for Thalia on the poll. I'll also count in the votes from the reviews, since they bothered to leave reviews. Strange how Percy would technically be dating his cousins, or -half-cousin- in this, considering most of the people requested are children of Zeus. And also, I would like to reply to all those who asked questions or left feedback in reviews, and sorry for not doing this earlier:
Lost-In-A-New-World: Thanks for being my first reviewer, and thanks for the encouragement.
Arkyz: The idea seems nice, but it doesn't seem like that's what the others want sorry. The other mostly want Athena and Thalia, though some Artemis.
Djberneman: I have some plans for the Big 3, not completely involving killing them off, but I'm not giving any spoilers
Guest: Thanks for the idea for a poll, and hehe, I'm pretty sure nobody else would want me to go through a crappy completely made up biology lesson on how to have a child with multiple fathers either.
Zokee Chaos: I believe I have answered your question already in a PM.
Drama Llama-Sama: Yeah, I agree the first few chapters have been a bit fast going by. I'll try to take things a bit slower, develop his character and friendships at camp. Also sorry, me being the lazy person I am, only proofread the first 2 chapters. Thanks for the feedback either way, and I'll try to check for any grammatical errors, and I'll proofread the chapters first, unless I'm rushing it out, otherwise I'll edit it the following day.
Guest: Yep, I royally screwed up there. I kind of went blank and said the same thing twice, but for convenience's sake, just take it that Percy said that line to Zeus only, but his rage stopped him from taking what he said into consideration. Also, I quote myself here to answer your second question, "other than the whole man-hating shenanigans, because she fought for a cause. She helped girls who suffered from the company of cruel men and took them in, giving them a place in the Hunt, giving them the family they never had".
Sorry for the super long A/N, seriously, it's almost a page long in MS Word, but I felt it was necessary. Anyway, thanks for reading. Once again, please read, vote on the poll, and if you want, review. The feedback is much appreciated. Now, here's the long awaited chapter 5.
-Chapter 5-
We trudged up the hill, only to be greeted by the pine tree right in the front of the camp borders, which Hestia told me protected the camp. Were it to be poisoned or destroyed, terrible things would happen. Thalia, the person who was turned into the tree by her father, Zeus, would die, and the camp would be completely vulnerable to monster attacks during the time, until they could replace the protection.
As we entered the camp, many of the demigods who recognized my patron bowed respectfully, as they were in the presence of a goddess. Not long after our entrance, we arrived at the Big House. It was a big sky-blue house, which was the administrative building of the camp, where the immortal trainer, the centaur Chiron, and the drunken god Dionysus, and the in-charge of security, Argus, stayed.
As we entered the big house, we saw two of the residents of the building sitting at a table, playing cards. One was a half-human, half-horse, a centaur. He had a bow strapped to his back and a large beard. It was none other than Chiron, one of the few children of Kronos I like, the other 2 being my patrons. The other man was laid back and seemed pudgy. He drank some coke he had on his desk as he put down his playing cards.
Chiron is a child of Kronos, though he has proven his loyalty to Olympus on many occasions. Though not a god, he is an immortal centaur who is in charge of the training here at Camp Half-Blood. He was given immortality by the gods in order to keep training heroes. He was the teacher to some of the greatest heroes, including Achilles, Theseus and Jason. This made him extremely well respected in the eyes of the demigods at camp.
Dionysus, well there's not much to say about him. Another child of Zeus. Why is it that some of the worst of them still get godhood, but the few good ones like Achilles don't? Just like Heracles, Dionysus was another child of Zeus' who was a demigod turn god. Wondering why a 'mighty Olympian god' was stuck here at camp with a bunch of demigods he doesn't care one bit for? Well he was chasing an off-limits nymph, twice, and being placed here as the camp director was Zeus's punishment for him.
"Chiron, this is my child, Perseus, born from the Hearth. He has been made to stay here by the decree of the council." Hestia introduced. Chiron opened his mouth to speak, probably to welcome me and give me an introduction to camp, but suddenly I felt a bright flash of light behind me, causing Chiron to drop to a bow. I turned to see who it was and followed his example.
"Chiron, Perseus has sworn loyalty to me, and as such I will let him stay in my cabin… Because there is no Hestia cabin." She stated, continuing to ramble on about how the gods should be a better family and let Hades and Hestia into the council and give them cabins. Chiron nodded in understanding as he got up from his bow.
"Very well, Ladies Hera and Hestia. I will show young Perseus around camp, but I will let you say any goodbyes you will need. I will introduce him at the campfire tonight." He offered. Hera nodded as she shot me a genuine smile which said 'good luck'. She quickly flashed out, leaving Hestia to say her goodbyes to me as she would probably not be able to see me for a while afterwards. Hestia pulled me into a hug and whispered,
"Good luck here, Perseus. Have fun at camp, but don't go around beating up all the demigods who annoy you here. And remember limit your powers. Don't use your birth powers or people will start to suspect something, but if you choose to reveal your secret, I trust your judgment. But remember, I will always be here for you, just pray to me and I will help you in whatever way I can." She kissed me one last time on the cheek in a motherly way and backed away to flash out.
As I turned around again, Chiron ushered me out the door to show me around the camp. As I exited the Big House, I took a good look at my surroundings. From this point, I could see the major buildings, namely the cabins, the amphitheatre, the dining pavilion and the rock wall.
-Time Skip, now about 7pm-
Chiron and I walked around the whole camp, as he showed me the different facilities. There were many, including the amphitheatre where they have their campfires, the dining pavilion where they eat all their meals, the armory where they keep all their weapons and armor, the 12 cabins for each Olympian god, the stables where they keep their horses and pegasi, as well as the forest where they have Capture the flag every Friday.
But the one that intrigued me the most was the rock wall. It had lava pouring out from it and would have the walls clash together if the camper does not reach the top fast enough, tearing and soaking the camper's clothes with lava. It would be fun to see how fast I would take to reach the top. I was probably the only one in the camp who could reach the top painlessly, as I was completely fireproof, as well as my clothes, due to Hestia's blessing and the natural fire resistance that Poseidon's demigods get.
Just as I was about to ask Chiron if he would let me climb the wall, a horn sounded. It wasn't like the Hunters' horn, though. It was more of a flat tone signaling it was time for something. I was questioning its purpose in my head, but then Chiron turned to me and informed me,
"Ah, that's the dinner horn. Come on, my boy. Time to go for dinner. By the way, you can get whatever you want on your plates by just thinking about it. Drinks and food alike." He quickly led the way back to the dining pavilion.
I looked around at the twelve tables as well as the large table where Chiron and Dionysus sat. I quickly found the Hera table and as I headed to my seat, smirking. As I sat down, I saw a plethora of campers looking at me like they had just seen a ghost. They likely assumed that I was a demigod of Hera, the only one in existence, which is almost as impossible as Artemis breaking her oath willingly. I just sat there in silence as I smirked at their varying reactions.
Most of the campers were too shocked to ask me why I was sitting there, but there was one girl, around 12 years old, who approached me. He had blonde hair and unmistakably gray eyes, which looked like they were constantly analyzing your every move. Child of Athena. I mused.
"Ummmm, excuse me, but why are you sitting at Lady Hera's table. She doesn't have any demigods… Does she?" She inquired, curiosity could clearly be seen in her eyes.
"Annabeth, sit down. I will explain to everybody at the campfire" Chiron intervened, stomping his hooves to silence the campers who were now murmuring and whispering about the new mysterious demigod. "Everybody, take your seats, we will now have dinner."
It took a while, but eventually all the campers settled down and stopped their gossiping. They all began to summon their food, as I imagined a slice of pizza and some blue coke. The food and drinks immediately appeared on my plate and goblet respectively. I picked up the slice of pizza and took a bite. Not as good as my own food but it will do. I don't want to summon food and get any more attention than I already have. I thought.
Soon, one by one the campers stood up and headed to the campfire in the middle. I questioned this, but soon I saw scrape some of their food into the fire and muttering some praises. Soon I put two and two together and realized they were offering food to the gods.
I quickly stood up and headed to the fire. I queued up and when it was finally my turn, I scooped half of the food I had summoned and scrapped it into the fire, muttering, "To Ladies Hera and Hestia, thank you for your care for the past 4 years, accept my offering please."
I chuckled inwardly, realizing that I was probably the only one to ever offer food to my two patrons, as they never had their own demigod children, but likely saw me as one of theirs and the other way around as well.
I sat back down and finished my dinner in silence, still smirking slightly at the few strange glances the campers were still giving me.
Soon, dinner was finished and all campers were told to go to the amphitheatre for the campfire, where I would be introduced and claimed formally. Show time. I thought sarcastically as I stood up and casually strolled to the amphitheatre.
As I arrived at the amphitheatre, I took my seat and snuck a glance at Chiron, who was looking at me, as if waiting for something to happen to me.
Out of the blue, nearly everybody who was seated in the amphitheatre turned to me in shock, their jaws dropping to the floor with their eyes bulging out. I didn't quite understand what everybody was staring at, but then the same girl from earlier, Annabeth I think, spoke,
"T…Th…That s…symbol. Th… The goddess who c… claimed you is H… Hestia." She said, pointing to the symbol that was now hovering over my head. Curious, I looked up, to see the symbol of Hestia hovering over my head, signifying that she has claimed me as her own child.
I smirked, now knowing that their reactions were due to something that was actually a lie. They probably were wondering why I sat at the Hera table earlier. I guess it's time to reveal myself. I wondered as I stood up.
Chiron spoke once again over the gasps, "All hail Perseus Jackson, child of the eldest god, Hestia, born from the Hearth, favored by the Queen of the Gods, Hera."
Randomly, all of the campers started to bow for some reason. I was wondering why they all did this, but then it clicked. Campers all respected children of the Big 3, considering how rare and powerful they were, but they respected me more, considering I was a child of their eldest sister, a maiden goddess, and was favored by the goddess who rumored to have hated all demigods. But in a technically, I was a child of the big 3, as much as I hated that fact
Soon, they all rose from their positions and sat back down. The rest of the night went relatively well, no big surprises. For most of the announcements I just zoned out, but one caught my attention. Chiron told us that there would be capture the flag the next day. I've waited 4 years to actually try out my skills against actual people. I thought, excited to play the game the following day.
Once the campfire had ended, all the campers headed back to their respective cabins, with me taking my duffel bag from the Big House and bringing it to the Hera cabin.
All the cabins were slightly smaller than the Zeus cabin. Arrogant fool has to have his cabin the largest, doesn't he? As I opened the doors, I saw only one bed. I guess they never expected anybody to use this cabin. Hera probably put this bed in here just today. I tossed my bag down to the side of the bed and went to take a shower.
The day was mentally tiring. Having to move from a place I knew for 4 years to some new place filled with strangers wasn't quite what I expected. But nevertheless I embraced the change. Maybe it would let me have new friends. Maybe this was a good thing. Eh, only time will tell.
As I stopped my daydreaming, I went to take a shower. Once out, I dried myself off and put on some clothes. I was about to retire to my bed and have a good night's sleep, but suddenly I heard a knock on the door. Great, third time today when I was interrupted before I wanted to sleep. I thought sarcastically.
I made my way to the large door at the front of the room, and to my surprise, it wasn't Chiron or anybody there to talk to me about more administrative matters. I swung the door open to be face to face with the girl, who spoke to and about me at the dining pavilion and amphitheatre respectively. Her name was Annabeth, if I remembered correctly.
"Hey. Annabeth right? What are you doing here?" I asked her, wondering whether she could become an actual friend here at camp.
"Hey, yeah my name's Annabeth. I was just wandering around. I wanted to ask you a few questions, and maybe get to know you better." She explained.
I nodded and invited her into my cabin, where we both took seats on the chairs that I swore had not been there before. Thanks Hera. I praised as we took sat down.
Over the next few hours, we talked to each other, asking about each other's past and such. Actually it was mostly her asking me the questions, being the curious child of Athena she is.
From what I learned, she came to the camp about 5 years ago, when she was about 7, along with a boy named Luke Castellan and Zeus's daughter, who actually is my… Half Sister? Quarter sister? Gods, the whole godly family tree is going to be more screwed up than it was before, and that's saying a lot considering Zeus married his sister, or forced her into marrying him from what she told me. Anyway, I'm referring to the now-pinecone-tree, Thalia Grace.
Right now, she was the councilor of the Athena cabin at camp. Thought to be the brightest of the children of wisdom, and immediately claimed when she got to camp, Annabeth was unchallenged when it came to the decision of councilor. She frequently led either of the teams in the weekly capture the flag game, and most of the time came out victorious due to her strategies.
I told her a lie about my past, saying I was born to the Hearth, then kept on an island near California, hidden from the view of my gods, where Hera was brought there by Hestia, therefore having her favor me, thus the cabin I'm allowed to stay in. Other than that, I told her of the exact events that had transpired just today. From the appearance of the hunters, to the meeting on Olympus, and finally me coming to camp.
It wasn't long until it was curfew, where Annabeth had to make her way back to her cabin, or else the harpies would eat her. Literally.
"Bye Percy, gotta go now, see you tomorrow. How about you join my team for capture the flag tomorrow? It'll be fun to see how you use your powers. There hasn't been a fire user that I know of that's been here since… Well forever." She informed me as she opened the door to leave.
"Yeah. The games sound like fun. Looking forward to actually be able to use my skills on actual people, instead of dummies or the occasional stray monster. I'll definitely be joining your team, wouldn't want to lose on my first time, would I? Good night." I replied cheekily.
Soon, she exited the room, leaving me alone to do what I was planning to do before she arrived. Sleep. I rested my head on the pillow, contemplating the fun and danger of the game that I would be participating in the following day. Soon, I drifted off to the land of unconsciousness until the next day.
I woke up to the sunlight blaring into my eyes. It was strange to say the least. One day you're happily living on a deserted island with a goddess who found you when you were 8, then the next day you're in a camp filled with children of immortal deities who think you're a child of one of the strongest of them.
Okay scratch that both cases were strange when you put actual thought in it, but at least I was accustomed to the first scenario. I was tempted to draw the shades and sleep in more, but then I realized that at camp there was an actual schedule to follow, not a place where I could do whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it. That would involve a lot of sleeping.
Rubbing the bleariness out of my eyes, I stood up from my bed and headed to the showers. Water no matter what kind always made me feel rejuvenated, but that of the sea was always more refreshing.
Soon, I arrived at the washroom, where I quickly took a shower, which gave me all my strength back, not that I was tired. All I did the previous day was stare at the shocked faces of about 3 groups of people, including a group of man-hating girl scouts, immortals who could easily kill me with a snap of their fingers, 2 being my fathers, and a bunch of their kids.
Jeez, the godly world sure is confusing. I mused as I walked out of the toilet, slowly drying my hair with a towel as I made my way back to my cabin to tidy up a bit first before I went to eat. I purposely let myself remain wet because it would seem strange if I couldn't get wet from taking a shower.
However, I was shaken from my thoughts as I bumped into a girl, seemingly my age, possibly a bit older. Stringy light brown hair and pig-like brown eyes. She was tall and well built, for a girl of her age of course. Overall she looked like a female wrestler, though significantly younger than any who I've seen.
Only one god in the council could conceive a daughter with looks like that. Definitely a daughter of Ares, one of my least favorite gods, though I grudgingly accepted that like almost any other god, he loved his children, though he hides it much better than any of the others.
"Watch where you're going, punk. Hey wait, it's you. That Jackson kid from yesterday night. Son of Hestia huh. Don't look so tough to me. Your mom's the weak one though. Easy prey I guess. Wonder if you're so tough now you don't have your mommy to babysit you anymore. Mark, Jake, get your asses over here. New camper initiation." She told me, saying 'new camper initiation' like it was something I would have to suffer through.
I was going to take it likely and let her do whatever crap she wanted to, but the insult to my mom and calling me weak however was taking it a bit too far. I waited to see what they would do. If I had to defend myself, I would. Clarisse's henchmen soon arrived, followed by her point towards the area where the toilet bowls were located.
Great, they're gonna stick my head into the shitter. I thought sarcastically. The two burly kids managed to grab my arms and restrain me, while being led by Clarisse to where they would initiate me into camp life.
However, as soon as we stepped foot into the toilet, I got more agitated that they were actually able to drag me all the way in here, causing the water in the pipes to flow significantly faster, causing the pipes to rattle clearly. However, I managed to restrain myself. If I did this, it would lead to suspicion.
I managed to control myself so I would not use my water powers. I had a better idea though. Not wanting to hurt them too badly, I started to warm my arms slightly, by creating very small flames dancing on them. This caused Clarisse's cronies to quickly remove their hands from my arms in shock.
Seizing the opportunity, I quickly set my arms ablaze, causing them to back up further, afraid of the flames licking my arms, as if they were hungry for flesh. I then turned off the flames so I could knock them out without them getting any burns from the flames.
I quickly roundhouse kicked the slightly smaller kid, Jake, right in the chest, causing him to fall backwards and hit the ground, knocking him unconscious. It might leave a headache afterwards but it could not be avoided if they were trying to shove my head where crap should go instead.
I quickly turned around to face a wide eyed Mark, shocked that I was able to knock out his half-brother so easily. I proceeded to punch him in the stomach, just enough so he would have the wind knocked out of him, causing him to bend forward. Speedily, I grabbed his head with both hands and slammed it to my knee, leaving his body to sag down. Maybe a broken nose. Nothing the Apollo kids can't fix.
I turned to my left to stare at who I thought would be my last victim. Most people would have looked at me in fear, after I knocked out two demigods in around 10 seconds. But instead, she stared at me in pure hate, as if I had disgraced her by knocking out her brothers so easily.
She hastily stuck her hands into her pocket, as if reaching for a concealed weapon, much like my ancient blade, riptide, causing me to mimic her actions. However, rather than a spear or sword, she came out with Celestial Bronze knuckles and quickly slipped them on.
"I'm gonna have fun beating you up Jackson, nobody hurts my brothers but ME!" She yelled, her face contorting to one of concentration as she charged me, swinging her fists high in an attempt to bash my skull in with them.
I did not bother replying to her, though I admired her loyalty to her brothers, not letting anybody hurt them. I sighed as I easily ducked the strike and stuck my leg out to sweep her legs from out under her. But I was surprised as she predicted the move and jumped up, aiming to kick my head with her combat boots.
I backed off slightly, her foot missing my nose by a hair. This girl sure knew how to fight, but that's what I wanted though. Somebody to fight, I decided. I got up to my feet again and got into a defensive position.
She swung once again, only for her fists to meet the air in the space where I was not long ago. I sidestepped her strike and charged her with my shoulders, effectively causing both of us to tumble to the ground, with me on top.
I quickly established a dominant position, with my forearm to her throat in a position where I could easily choke the air out of her were she to try to continue the fight. She raised her free arm, ready to punch my face once again for pinning her to the ground, but this time she was interrupted by the stopping of the hooves which clattered on the ground, which we were oblivious to during our short skirmish.
We both turned to the entrance of the washroom to see none other than Chiron, staring at us with wide-eyes. He looked around the room and noticed the two other demigods who lay sprawled on the floor, unconscious.
"Perseus, get off of her. You two better be able to explain what happened. And get the two of them to the infirmary." Chiron demanded, with a glint of disappointment in his eyes.
Grudgingly, I got off the girl, who was now glaring daggers at me. We both quickly scooped up either one of her half-brothers and carried them to the infirmary, staring at each other with hate as we did it.
Once we finished depositing them where they could rest until they regain consciousness, we made our way to Chiron's office, where he was doing some paperwork. I cleared my throat to gain the centaur's attention.
"Ah yes, you two. Care to explain what you were doing fighting in the toilets earlier?" He questioned us, staring at me as if I was the one at fault.
We quickly explained the situation to the centaur, mostly Clarisse defending herself and saying it would make her look bad if she did not show the campers she was still in control. I however decided it would be best to reserve judgment for the camp activities director and told him truthfully what had happened.
After a stern scolding, Chiron let us both go, reminding us not to get into fights, unless it was during the capture the flag game. We made our way out of the Big House, neither of us even sparing a look at each other, as we made our way to the dining pavilion for breakfast.
Alright, maybe I shouldn't have done that, but what could I have done? They were gonna stuff my head where all the shit goes. Eh, doesn't matter now. One friend, one rival. Actually scratch that. I'm probably going to have the whole Ares cabin on my back now. Eh, pretty good for a new camper I think.
Finishing that thought, I soon arrived at the dining pavilion, where I separated from my rival and proceeded to walk to my table, with Clarisse sitting at the Ares table, continuing to give a death glare. Her siblings at the table seemed confused as to where their two brothers were, causing me to snicker.
The rest of the day was rather uneventful, other than the fact that I got a chance to climb the rock wall which I saw yesterday. I stifled a few laughs at the campers who watched me in awe as I climbed it with relative ease, and that the little bit of lava that came managed to come into contact of my skin did not harm me in the slightest.
However, soon it was time for the Capture the Flag game I've been waiting all day to play. I knew the Athena cabin was on one side, the side I would likely join, while the other team was led by the Ares cabin. It would give me a chance to fight Clarisse one on one, with weapons. There was no way I was going to lose to her, unless she summoned two more of her goons like in the morning.