Hey everyone,
Well, with this chapter we will refocus on the PJ part of this story – which seems to make this story more popular than all of my other ones – and we will focus on something that happens when you are left to yourself after an eye-opening experience; you either start moping about it or you start to think things through.
This is the second,

Venquine1990
PS. For Rules Check Chapter 01


Chapter 16
Trouble At Arrival

1st of September 1995
Camp Halfblood
Annabeth's POV

It's been some time since I actually got scared out of the Cabin of the Big Man and since then have I had my own visit to Olympus and seen the surprise that still awaits all the other cabins and to say that it is a surprise that my brothers, sisters and I can appreciate and feel excited over would be to say that our Divine parent is wise.
It had also made me feel all the worse over the fact that, as we left, we had been enchanted not to share the surprise with those not in the know and the fact that, as I came back to Camp, Thalia and the others weren't there was something I actually felt good about as it made sure I didn't have to feel bad about not being able to share the secret.
Yet the thought of Thalia, that new boy Jackson and Thalia's brother Harry and what happened between us before – in an apparent fit of rage that I know was partially my fault – Harry had left and his sister and friends had followed him, even if it was obvious that they had no idea where does get me to do a lot of thinking.

Sure, I don't like it how Thalia's brother and a friend of his are constantly picking on Luke, who – like Thalia – has been with us since we first ran away from home and became strays, but the fact that I let it get so far over my head that I asked my best friend and surrogate sister to pick between me and her brother just sickens me.
I've even been doing some counseling with Chiron – even if I don't tell the Centaur what the topic of our actual disagreement is – and while I'm sure that the wise being is onto my worries as well as my friends' suspicions, has it also helped me in other ways – one of them being keeping the secret without feeling bad to my friends.
Still, I miss Thalia, Jackson and even Harry, who – despite our different beliefs – is a very caring guy and a natural leader; which isn't surprising seeing who his father is and like the rest of Camp, have I come to miss him and the others more and more as more days passed on. Yet while waiting for them, do I have no reason to worry.

This is because, three days after Harry left, the Gods actually visited us and told us that they had followed Harry from Olympus and seen all he had done before helping him past his rage and pain – past the emotional breakdown he actually suffered – and that he and the others were now back in his home country for a while.
This does make part of me worry as I'm not sure if two Demigods who have known nothing but the Divine for years – as well as three Demigods who have only known the Mundane for the same amount of time – can really settle into such a strange world with a different kind of Divine, yet even Zeus had been assured of a good outcome.

And the outcome had indeed been prosper as Harry had been allowed to reconcile with two people he had apparently been really, really close to back in England and he had even been able to get back at a few people who had been both responsible for him for several years and who had wronged him during that same period of time.
That had been a week ago and after that Harry had heard the news that, apparently, at least one of his friends was more or less guaranteed to come with him back from English soil and that there was an invitation to the others to follow through; which one adult and two teens who are apparently of adult wizarding age had accepted.
The others had had a little more trouble with the acceptance and so Harry had taught them the Iris Messaging method to keep in contact and he had also used this to get in closer contact with people he had apparently felt to have left out of his life over the years that his traitor of a friend manipulated and drugged him up.

Seriously, that boy isn't just a natural leader, he has a kindness streak that even the Hermes Cabin, with all their generosity for taking in the Undetermined, can take lessons from and the craziest of it all is that that same kindness streak comes as natural to the kid as reading a book does to me and archery to the Apollo kids.
I won't deny that I have been curious about these four extra guests that will be arriving, not to mention the rumor that the Gods left that two of them have actually been chosen as Champions for very surprising reasons by even more surprising Goddesses, but even I know better than to bet on either Artemis or – heavens forbid – Hera.
Others however have taken great glee in making all kinds of bets, based on the little knowledge we got from the gods about these four, yet other than knowing that two of them are like the Hermes kids, that one got chosen as Champion for her loyalty instead of her intelligence and that the last has sort of a wild streak, do we have nothing.
Still, this doesn't stop any of us from either debating or making bets and my siblings and I have used the last few nights to discuss these few small details and see what we can get out of it. So far we know that one of them will not be one of us, despite having our character trait and that the wild one is probably the other Champion.

The one thing that feels strange though is the time the group had chosen to arrive here; today at eleven o'clock precisely. Sure Harry has told the camp all kinds of things about his school life – Ethan most of all as he seems to grow close to the emotionally scarred boy – but even I don't recall any significance to this timing.
And yet, I know there is one and so, like everyone else, do I gather at the barrier, which is luckily enough still very strong despite the fact that it no longer has Thalia as a base to manage its power from and then, at exactly eleven, does something happen that shocks both me and many of those around me as a fire appears.

Or better said, a burst of flame in mid air and while part of me wonders if perhaps the Gods themselves decided to bring the gang over, do I then get proven wrong as all ten of them appear while holding onto the tail feathers of the most mythical and beautifully feathered bird I have ever seen, in a book or otherwise.
An actual real-life phoenix appears above the group of one adult and nine teenagers and while I wonder how that one man is supposed to keep the whole gang under wraps, does the bird then shake its backside, making the others let go off his tail before he starts flying in circles around them, making Harry smile and say:
"Thanks Fawkes. Give Dumbledore our blessing with the coming school year and thank him for letting us borrow you today. Also, sorry he had to rehire teachers on such short notice." And while the bird lets out a musical note that proves the bird doesn't blame the boy, does he then vanish in another burst of flame before us.

Everyone gasps at seeing this, yet Harry seems to have expected it and then turns to us as he says: "Remus, Fred, George, Mione, welcome to Camp Half-Blood." And with that do the four newcomers all look away from where the bird had vanished and as they turn their attention to us, do I decide to take a closer look at them.
Fred and George are clearly the red-haired twins that are standing beside each other with a large trunk each and even larger grins on their faces – making it easy to see why the Gods said they would fit well with the Hermes cabin – and each of them has a duffel bag over a different shoulder that they seem to hold onto with great excitement.
The girl names Mione – who I am sure has a longer name than that – has bushy brown hair and strong russet brown eyes that shine with a wisdom that I can only compare to my own when I first started learning here, yet also with a sense of experience that proves me the girl has seen both plenty of libraries and adventures.

And finally the man named Remus, who shocks me just by looking at him. The man's whole demeanor shouts that of a kind and caring, gentle and intelligent person who would be perfect to be someone's private tutor or even the teacher of a very elite and upstanding private school, yet his looks tell a whole different story.
There are scars marring his face, his hair while brown has a lot of streaks of grey in it, his robes are looking as if he just came back from either a bad quest or a round of Capture the Flag and there is a hint in his amber brown eyes that screams only one message: "Hurt my cub or pack and I will utterly annihilate you."
"So gentle and kind, yet – so ferocious too? Could those guesses of Artemis actually be right? Am I supposed to start feeling glad I didn't join in all those betting pools?" Goes through my mind and then suddenly does something happen that proves that, divine or magical, these four really are ready for any and everything.

A wild boar, one whose very essence just screams he has been touched by something of Dark Divine Nature, slowly emerges from a large cluster of trees and foliage behind the group and while Thalia, Percy and Ethan instantly push Bianca and Nico – who I just remember are still unarmed – behind them, do the others also act.
Four out of the five of them draw strange looking sticks, yet it is the wild, yet gentle looking man that shocks even his fellow partners as he crouches down on all fours and bares his own teeth at the beast, making the beast turn to the growling and snarling man with angry grunts of its own as I think: "Yep, it's actually Artemis, alright."
And while I wonder what shocks me more – the fact that it is one of the Maiden Goddesses or that her Champion is actually male – does Harry then raise an arm at both sides of his defenses and while both keep their weapons at a low, do they not completely put them away, still clearly on the defense – and then it happens.

Lupin is the first to strike, jumping up from where he was crouched and actually wrapping his whole form around the boar, before we get shocked as it seems that the Dark Divine force allows for the beast to grow in size, making Lupin having to grasp onto the fur of the beast as it extends in width, length and overall size.
The boar squeals at this as his growing makes Lupin loose his hold as the hairs he grabs onto get forcefully pulled out of the beast's flank and sides and while part of me cringes in pain, do I not let it bother me as instead Lupin actually pulls his wand and jumps away, landing in front of the beast and starting to move.
Slowly but surely he moves to the right and the boar mirrors him, making the two of them circle each other in the middle of the clearing, their eyes only on each other and each of their stares proving that they each have strong reasons not to back down before a strange sense of familiarity seems to overcome the man.

This sense makes the man's whole stance become more confident and self-assured as he smiles and says: "Well, this certainly is a good example of Wild Magical Beings across the Pond. But I think I've had quite enough of this lesson. Too much of a hassle and plus, you seem to have gotten ahead of yourself with your powers.
Finité." The man chants as he waves his wand and while I am amazed at how calm and collected the man sounded as he said this, does the way he had stopped circling and then lecturing apparently startle the boar enough that he doesn't get to move in time to evade the spell, yet the more the spell works, the more shocked I become.
The reason for this being that, the more the boar shrinks in size, the more he actually starts to lose the signs that represent him as a boar and before my own and my camper's eyes does the boar actually change itself into a small, white and brown furred, hornless guinea pig that squeals and squeaks as Lupin summons it.

"A South American Transfimian. You definitely see a lot of them around the parts of Long Island and the Sound, though I'm guessing you never really saw any of them as your powers would sooner attract beings like Trolls and Hydras, am I correct?" And while many are shocked at this little lesson, do I nod and then the man asks:
"Chiron right? I was told by the Gods that, due to having kids here who descent from her Lady Wisdom, you have several classes here alongside your courses. Would it be wrong of me to ask if I could partake in one, so I could learn about your kind of beings while helping your group of teens learn of our own?"
And while I am shocked that the Gods decided such a thing – and part of me wonders if this will be an example of what we can expect at the surprise – does Chiron himself smile as he says: "As long as the Gods approve and you continue the brilliance you have proven here and now, do I see no reason to object to this request."
Which actually makes a lot of those around me cheer and while Lupin uses a small spell to cage the little critter and while the others put their wands and other weapons away, does Harry then help them all through the barrier, the eyes of the foreigners widening as they get their first real glance at the camp – before a new shock arrives.

Two symbols each appear over the heads of both our new teacher as well as Harry's friend and while one of them is the same each and represents their roles as Champions are the other two shocking as they prove the betting pool correct. Above Remus Lupin is the symbol of Artemis and above Hermione's is that of Hera.
This shocks all those at Camp, but then suddenly something I have read about is done by the Magicals, but that I never really believed in happens as a beautiful white owl appears from the tree tops and flies to Harry before sticking out her leg as he asks: "Hey beautiful, when did you arrive here? Haven't seen you in a while."
And while I am shocked at how easy-going the boy is with my mother's sacred animal and while I have no doubt that some of my siblings may take offense to this, does Harry read the letter and say: "It's from Lady Hera. She asks that you keep her Cabin as the symbol of her own loyalty so Hermione is to bunk with me and Thalia."
This seems to hurt the girl in question, but then Lupin says: "Don't worry, Artemis requested the same of me. Lady Athena told me this when she had the teachers tested a week ago." The girl nods, now apparently cheered up and then the one thing I had more or less predicted happens as one of my brothers steps forward and says:

"Black, in name of our Mother –." Yet that is as far as he gets before the subject he wished to discuss shocks him as the owl suddenly gets extremely ruffled and lets out a loud screech while spreading her wings as wide as possible, all the while setting an extremely hateful glare on my brother through her beautiful brown eyes.
My brother Marius looks shocked that his attempts to honor his mother's sacred animal got disrupted by said animal, but then Harry gives the letter to Hermione with one hand and uses the other to stroke the owl's feathers as he says: "Hey there, hey there, easy girl. How we live and how they live is different, remember. Easy there."

And just the easy, caring tone that he uses as well as the loving touches that he gives as he caresses the owl over the front of her chest feathers seems to calm the anger the majestic avian is feeling as her feathers return to normal and she clasps her wings back against her form before suddenly focusing on grooming Harry's hair.
The boy smiles at her and then says: "Marius, Hedwig is my familiar. She bonded with me a year after I got her as a birthday present. She has my level of intelligence and has long since regarded me as her hatchling. We may not be able to speak with each other as other familiars, but trust me, we are close and do respect each other."
The owl hoots and Marius, who still seems rattled that he got reprimanded and almost attacked by an animal he and I and our siblings worship, nods and while Harry further leads the four newcomers and the four Demigods into Camp, can I only think one thing: "How many more unlikely betting pools can I win if Harry stays?"


Wow, that just – happened.
And with that do I mean that way more happened in this chapter than I originally planned. My original plan was for Camp Half-blood to anxiously await the return of their fellow Campers, yet halfway through the week recap, did my fingers get a life of their own and I got to admit, for a short chapter – a lot happened.
Next chapter will probably be about the first weekend – which won't be the weekend of the 2nd as that is just too soon and I do need a recap of the English settling into the life at Camp – and after that will I be making another time jump, yet I can't be sure of how far as I need to keep in mind how many gods there are.
This because of the amount of weekends that it would take for all of the Demigods to get to Olympus and see the surprise, but I did already make one decision; Hermes, Apollo and Athena all decided to take the previously Undetermined and now Determined Demigods that belong to those below the Olympus Twelve.
Okay, enjoy,

Venquine1990
PS. For Rules Check Chapter 01
PPS. Starting July I will be down to 14 stories – jay!