I am back! Have you enjoyed your stream of good luck? :)
Anyway, I'm really upset right now and I can only take pleasure in announcing OHMIGODS 195 REVIEWS THAT'S AMAZING! (I'm upset because I had a dream that I was a demigod and I went to a bookstore and found a special edition of The Lightning Thief that only had ten copies ever made and I bought it but it disintegrated before I had a chance to read it... [that always happens in dreams, doesn't it?] Also, in the same store, was the first three hundred pages of the House of Hades... never got to read that either.)
Disclaimer: Never did I own, and nor do I now.
Hazel
Hazel was a newbie, both at this camp and back at California. She had been chosen because she was the least likely person anyone would suspect to be a spy. Or maybe it was also because nobody else in her cohort had volunteered.
She arrived at camp with her bag packed and ready. She marched up the hill and back down the other side, passing by a tall pine tree. She stopped at the bottom of the hill, trying to remember her cover story.
"Another one?" someone asked, noticing her and jogging over. Hazel desperately tried to recall why she was there.
"Why you here?" the guy asked.
"Uh…" was all she came up with.
"So, how old are you exactly?" asked the guy. A few of his friends walked over.
"Thirteen," Hazel told him, gripping the straps of her backpack so tightly her knuckles turned white.
"Claiming age," added one of them.
"And dateable age," added another, pushing past his buddies to be next to Hazel. He wrapped an arm around Hazel. "So… you available?"
"Yes," she admitted, pushing his arm away. "But uninterested."
"Ohhh… snap," said another guy, wringing his hand as if the rejection physically hurt.
"So, where're you coming from?" asked the first guy.
"California," replied Hazel.
One of the guys whistled. "Well, that's a long walk," he said.
"I flew," said Hazel.
"With your parent?"
"No. My mom's dead." Hazel figured there was no point lying about that part.
"Oooh," said another. "Hit a sore spot."
"It's fine," said Hazel. "She died a long time ago."
Seventy years ago, perhaps? she wished she could add, but that would only bring up more questions.
And questions were the last thing she needed.
-o-O-o-
Two weeks later instead of going to the campfire with the rest of camp, the five Romans headed off toward the armoury where no nature spirits or demigods could hear them Iris Message California. They found Reyna and Jason and the rest of the senate folks sitting in their seats around a table.
"Hello," said Octavian. "How are the Greeks?"
"Crazy!" Christine exclaimed almost immediately. "They have, like, centaurs and stuff!"
"Never mind her," said Lucas, brushing her aside and stepping to the front. "But this is what we've found out about the camp and classified as important; their fighting technique is slashing, not stabbing, so tell the campers to take notice of that. And their weak point"—here his eyes narrowed in determination—"is probably water. They have a dragon at the hill, so there is a very small chance of getting past that. I suggest we sail to the island, then travel through the woods—"
"Beware of monsters," Marcy added.
"—and arrive at the camp. If we arrive by dark, when everyone is asleep, travel by morning and attack by evening, we'll have the camp under our control by sunset. We easily outnumber them by a hundred campers."
"I also have a concern," Christine added. "Several Greeks over here are suspicious of us; oblivious, but suspicious nonetheless. I believe it would be a worthwhile precaution for us to stay here until the attack." Then she realized her mistake. "Oh! Well, I mean, if there is an attack, 'cause I don't know yet, and, uh, yeah…" She winced and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Excellent," said Octavian, his fingers tapping each other in a sinister way. "And there will be an attack, Katy."
"Christine," Christine corrected with a tad of irritation, as if he misnamed her often.
"And who told you that, Octavian?" Reyna demanded, getting to her feet. "We have not yet decreed anything."
"But I am sure you remember our little vote in the past weeks," said Octavian. "You know, the one where the praetors of Rome lost."
Reyna tried thinking up a response to this, couldn't, then returned to her seat fuming.
"But when will this attack be?" asked Hazel, speaking up for the first time.
Octavian regarded her with disgust as if she were too low of a class for him to speak to. "Hopefully, in seven days," he replied to the other four.
"One week," clarified Marcy, crossing her arms in thought. "I could stay here for one more week."
"But what do you suppose we'd do with this place?" asked Hazel.
"Burn it to the ground," replied Octavian. "Kill anyone who puts up a fight. Make the survivors convert to the Roman ways and board them onto ships and planes back to Camp Jupiter. They'll all be placed in the sixth cohort, which is currently being blueprinted. Those who refuse will be either killed or taken prisoner. Although when we're done with the prisoners, they'll prefer being dead. I can guarantee it."
"Well, that's sinister," Christine muttered to Hazel.
Octavian paused.
"The advantages of this attack is that the Romans gain more warriors and dispose of a potential threat," he continued. "Disadvantages of attack are nonexistent, unless you consider four days of plotting and attacking worthwhile."
"Maybe we shouldn't do this," said Hazel nervously, as if she'd had the thought a long time ago and was now speaking it for the first time. "I mean, the weeks I've been here has been pretty peaceful."
"Speak for yourself," said Thomas, crossing his arms. "My 'siblings' have tried to kill me more times than I can count. I lost half my finger!" He showed her the index finger on his left hand, which was now no longer more than an inch tall. "I'll never be able to fight properly again!"
"You're in the Ares cabin. They had freaking land mines set up," Hazel retorted. Remembering the other Romans, she translated—
"Mars."
"Ah," said Octavian, who was pretending to be interested but not really.
"Octavian, you just can't do this," said Jason.
"I'm not," he said. "The camp is."
There was a brief pause.
"Well, I think this concludes our meeting," he added to the group of five. "See you in one week, my spies," he said.
Marcy waved her hand through the picture, and the live video of their home dissolved into mist.
Little did they know that Octavian's little spies had spies of their own.
I'm laughing so hard imagining you people freaking out.
Hazel is the fifth camper! You guys should have seen this coming. I was reading the reviews and you guys said, "Oh, love the three OCs cant wait for the other two', and I just laughed softly and thought, Oh, there only are four OCs.
And what does that mean, "Octavian's little spies had spies of their own"? Guess you have to wait for the next chapter to find out!
-o-O-o-
BookFreak: I got it! Yes, I am so smart! But you're just going to have to wait to see what happens...
-o-O-o-
Anyway, please review because the fifth reviewer after this chapter is the two hundredth.