I forgot in the previous chapters to put a disclaimer. So here it is. Just in case.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, some settings, mythology or the general idea behind the plot. However, I do own little, specific points that deter from the actual plot line of PJO. Unless, of course, someone has done the exact same story before me.

Chapter 4

Percy Jackson sat in the back of the amphitheater. He watched the campfire quietly as Luke Castellan made it up to the front. The fire in the center blazed with glee and anticipation. People loved new campers.

But Percy couldn't care less. Just another person doomed to another sad, depressing life.

When Chiron began to introduce him, a symbol began glowing over his head. A caduceus. A son of Hermes.

"Luke Castellan, son of Hermes!" Chiron announced.

The Hermes cabin erupted around Percy; most of them were kids who'd arrived after him. Most of them were older. Being a ten-year-old boy, it wasn't uncommon for campers to be older than him. Percy stood up slowly as Luke made his way over. The rest of the cabin mobbed him with high-fives and hugs. Lots of them got a new brother. Some, like him, just got a new cabin mate.

Luke looked about fourteen, and his face looked weary, like he'd been living on the streets. When Luke reached him, Percy extended his hand in a gesture to shake. The rest of the cabin went quiet and watched as the two stared each other down.

Luke shook the hand, and the cabin mobbed him again.

Percy glanced at Chiron, who was looking at him. There was a dark twinkle in the centaur's eyes. Percy knew the centaur could tell what he was thinking about just through his eyes. He gestured toward the beach, and Chiron nodded.

As Luke got settled in with his siblings, Percy slipped away. The capture the flag game wouldn't start for a good half an hour, so he wanted some time alone to think of a strategy. Honestly, Percy wasn't good with strategy. It was more of an Athena thing, but they were playing against the Athena kids. Unfortunately, they only had the Ares kids. And the worst part was that all of them were new. This girl that arrived a couple years ago named Clarisse La Rue, at just eleven, was the head counselor. It was pathetic.

He sighed as he reached the beach. Percy found the beach the most alluring. It seemed like it spoke to him. And he knew why. A couple months ago… it happened.

He was standing in the water, completely dry, wondering about his powers. He figured he was just a son of a water deity, like Achilles or something, but for some strange reason, his tie to the water seemed to be more than just keeping dry.

That abnormal winter day was when his life changed. As he was getting ready to leave the water, a man appeared at his side. The man wasn't dressed for winter. He wore a Hawaiian T-shirt, Bermuda khaki shorts and leather sandals. And the overwhelming presence made him immediately think that the man was a god. Percy had only seen one god in his life, and that was Mr. D. He wasn't prepared to see a god like Poseidon.

"Uh, hello?" Percy remembered saying.

"Hi," the man casually replied. "Nice day."

"Uh. Cold day. Why are you wearing shorts and a T-shirt?"

"It's what I usually wear. I supposed I've gotten comfortable in it. And I reflect my kingdom, which is fairly happy at the moment."

"Your kingdom?"

"Yes. My kingdom."

"Who are you?" Percy demanded.

He never usually meant to be rude. It just happened. He couldn't stop himself.

"You're a smart boy. I'm sure you can figure it out."

Percy snorted. "What god would want to talk to me? All of the gods have ignored me for my entire life. Including my dad."

"Oh, really? Do you know who your father is?"

"Not the slightest clue. Chiron always changes the topic when I ask. Grover keeps telling me I'm probably the son of a minor god. But I have a feeling that… that they're hiding something from me. It doesn't matter. I care about my dad about as much as he cares about me."

"How much does he care about you?"

"Not at all."

"And you're sure about that?"

"I've been at camp for four years, and he's never given me a symbol. Nothing. The best I can figure, I'm the son of a water deity."

"That you are."

Percy gave the man a strange look. "How do you know who I am?"

"I'm the only one who cares about who you are. And the ones that know don't bother to rat me out."

"What?"

The man sighed and pointed down at the water. Suddenly, there was a lamp glowing above the water. As the waves washed along the shore behind them, the water in front of him suddenly stilled. Percy saw his reflection: a boy with messy black hair and green eyes. Then he saw the reflection of the man next to him: a man with messy black hair and green eyes.

It didn't take him long to figure it out.

"You're my dad?" Percy choked. "Who's my dad? Who are you?"

"They call me Poseidon," his dad said quietly. "And I do agree. You have every right to be mad at me for never appearing to you face-to-face. But you know why I couldn't visit. Not until now, when the Olympians are busy dealing with the daughter of Zeus."

Percy gave Poseidon an incredulous look. "Mad? Mad?! I'm furious! For years you left me alone and now… now what? You think everything will be better? Wait… what daughter of Zeus?"

"No. I don't think that this will heal the rift between us. I'd be silly to believe that. But I'm telling you a warning. They've discovered Thalia, the daughter of Zeus. It's only a matter of time before they discover you. Practice your powers in secret and prepare, because the worst is about to hit us."

"So what if they discover me? I've been training for years at this camp. They wouldn't just attack me with everybody else around."

"Then you don't know my family," Poseidon said darkly. "I came here to warn you and claim you. You are my son, whether you like it or not. It's up to you to decide your fate."

"You weren't there for me," he hissed. "I'm not going to be there for you."

Poseidon looked down. "Your choice is your choice. I won't stop you."

A part of Percy wanted the god to comfort him to keep him under his wing, because in truth, he was terrified. He knew this god was telling the truth, but at the same time he couldn't believe him. It was just as crazy as everything he'd been through in his messed up life. He was glad Poseidon wasn't like the dad that pretended to be sorry after years of not being there.

Okay, so he was the son of a really powerful sea god. Just a normal day as a demigod. That's all.

For a couple of seconds, Percy stood there, absorbing the information when he realized something. Staring wide-eyed at his father, he said, "I'm a broken oath. You and Zeus… You broke the oath."

"Which means I've given you a terrible fate," Poseidon said sadly. "I loved your mother. She was a queen among mortals."

"Then why didn't you help us?" Anger rose in his chest. His face heated up. "You could have saved her!"

"And destroy you in the process? Besides, I couldn't have. Sally made me swear to the Styx that I would not help her. She didn't want my help. I offered her protection. I'd offered to build an underwater palace just for her. I was watching that night. I helped bring you to camp. I notified Frisia. I sent a hint to Gleeson Hedge."

Percy screamed. "I hate you! I hate you!"

Poseidon winced. "Very well, Percy. I won't bother you any longer. But remember—you are powerful; use that power carefully and wisely."

With the snap of his fingers, he disappeared in a fine mist.

That day haunted him ever since, and being nighttime just before capture the flag didn't make him feel any better. People… centaurs—knew he was a son of Poseidon, but kept it hidden from the Olympians who were too ignorant to notice that he existed.

Ignorant Olympians, his mind said. They don't care about you. In fact, Zeus would love to kill you. Why help them? Why be their pawn?

Percy gritted his teeth. For years, the voice haunted him in his dreams. It spoke to him, trying to convince him that the gods didn't care about their children. And as much as he agreed, he couldn't bring himself to trust the voice. It sounded dark and evil. Not at all trustworthy.

He brought out his deadly sword—a ballpoint pen. Just a couple weeks after Percy met Poseidon, he had decided to visit the god's cabin. It was empty, lonely… but fresh. It reminded him of Montauk from when he was a little boy. On the nightstand of the bed he found the most comfortable was a ballpoint pen. A piece of paper underneath it read FOR PERSEUS JACKSON. It was the most beautiful, deadly sword he'd ever wielded. It fit him perfectly, even though it seemed far too long and heavy when looking at it. Chiron had asked him where he'd gotten it, and Percy revealed the truth. To other campers, Percy said that Chiron had given it to him.

Its name was Anaklusmos… Riptide in English. Chiron told him the sword had a dark past, which interested him. One day, he was going to find who its creator was. He, or she, would give him the secrets of the sword's ultimate power.

As far as he could tell, it was just another magical weapon. At least the pen would reappear in his pocket if he lost it; he was never good at keeping small items safe.

The celestial bronze blade glowed in the darkness, and as he turned the blade, he caught the reflection of a dark silhouette standing behind him.

He turned and saw the hulking figure of a young eleven-year-old girl. Clarisse La Rue was standing behind him with a scowl on her face.

"I thought I'd find you here," she said.

"You thought right. What do you want, Clarisse?"

She sneered. Ever since she'd gone on her quest last year to slay a drakon (which was a crazy quest and she failed), she had never been the same. She was crueler. Less nice. Not that she was that nice in the first place.

They used to be sparring buddies. He'd started beating her once he turned nine, but now it felt like they were trying to kill each other every time they fought.

"What's with the rude tone?"

"Shut up, Clarisse. Just tell me what you want. And if you're asking about a battle plan, I don't have one. I came down here to think of one."

Clarisse scowled. "I came down to say that I want you in battle armor now. For the capture the flag game."

"Why now?"

"Because we're setting up traps with the Hephaestus cabins, and I don't want you falling into one of them. You may be stupid, but you're the best fighter this camp has to offer."

"Wow. Insulting me and complimenting me in the same sentence. Very crafty."

Clarisse shook her head. She brought up a point to jab at my soft spot. "I don't even understand why you're so whiny. He was just a son of Athena."

"So what, Clarisse? He was a mentor for both of us. Don't you realize how much he helped us? He helped a lot more than Brooklyn did."

She went red. "Don't talk about my sister like that."

"She liked using you," Percy growled. "Don't you remember? She was a bully!"

"Whatever. Be there."

And she angrily stalked off.

Percy closed his fist on Anaklusmos. He couldn't believe Clarisse had the nerve to believe Brooklyn was better than Nathan, the son of Athena who had given his life to guard the borders of Camp Half-Blood and saved the lives of three other guards. Even Nathan cared for her more than her sister. Percy could see that. Why couldn't Clarisse? She was stubborn and prideful. Kind of like him.

He capped his sword and put it back in his pocket. He shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly made his way to the "scary woods." The forest at camp reminded him of Central Park, and sometimes when he was walking alone, just exploring, he saw the shadow of the man who killed his mother. It was probably a hallucination. Things tended to be hallucinations. Or nightmares.

It wasn't hard to find the group of milling campers. They stood around talking in a clearing at the creek lit up by torches of Greek fire, the only fire that can burn in water.

The flames were often green, which, as far as Percy could tell, made them quite distinguishable.

"Hey, Percy!" shouted one of the Hermes campers. "Over here!"

Percy watched as Chiron pounded his hoof, and the crowd parted. The two teams separated: Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite and Dionysus; Ares, Hermes, Hephaestus and Demeter. Athena was blue, and Ares was red.

"Of course," Percy muttered. "We're blood red."

The silk banners stood tall and proud in the center of each team. The Athena banner was glistening grey, ten feet long, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. The Ares banner was bloody red, with a painting of a bloody spear and a boar's head. Last week, Percy had stolen the Hephaestus flag for Athena (a.k.a. He gave the flag to a child of Athena to carry over the creek boundary). This week, he was trying to take it back.

"Heroes!" Chiron announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Is everybody armed?"

Everyone cheered.

Clarisse yelled, "Red team, forward!"

The red team went down the path to the south. The blue team headed off toward the north.

Percy caught up to Clarisse easily. "I'm going with Luke to capture the flag. You and the Ares kids set up a distraction. Use the rest of the Hermes kids as defenders and distractions. The Hephaestus kids will be defence, and the Demeter campers will defend the flag."

"Fine." She repeated the plan to the rest of the team. They all cheered and went to their positions. Luke gave him a surprised look.

Percy smirked. "Don't look so surprised. I hear you're a good fighter."

Luke looked down. "I was on the run. I learned to fight on my own. On the streets."

"Cool. How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"I'm ten."

"And they say you're the best swordsman in the past three hundred years. At least, you have the potential to be. The oldest campers have a huge advantage over you, right?"

"Every person has a weakness in almost everything they do. No one is perfect. In most things, there isn't a 'best.'"

Luke raised his eyebrows. "Pretty smart for a young kid."

"Consequence of hanging around with Athena kids for the past four years of my life," he grinned. "But everyone learns that at one point or another. Just common knowledge."

Luke laughed. "Well, you know this forest better than I do. Why don't you lead the way?"

Percy took the reins, and led him to the edge of the forest. Far away, the conch horn blew. They heard whoops and yells in the woods, but Percy told Luke not to pay attention to it. They needed to be quiet. It was usually a trait of some children of Hermes: stealthy. They crossed into enemy territory and stayed to the edge of the woods.

"The Athena kids are smart," Percy told the son of Hermes.

Luke nodded. "They'll have a trick of some sort. Is it better to stay in a group together or split up?"

"I don't know. I'm not a strategist. I'm a fighter."

They wandered for another couple minutes before they found the Aphrodite kids. Percy groaned quietly, and Luke gave them a weird look. They were all looking at their reflections in mirrors, with their armor and weapons clattered all around them. Even the guys were putting cologne on.

"That is a putrid smell," Luke coughed.

"A what?"

"A horrible smell," he clarified.

Percy nodded. "Yeah. I agree."

Suddenly, Luke moved forward. "What are you doing?" Percy hissed.

Luke looked back. "Don't worry. I have a plan."

Percy watched wide-eyed as Luke rose and appeared in the clearing for all the Aphrodite campers to see. He saw all the Aphrodite kids freeze, and Luke waved. "Hey."

One of the girls said, "Oh my gods, it's that cute new kid. Luke!"

Watching in disbelief, Percy saw the Aphrodite girls swarm him. Looking at Luke now, Percy realized that the guy was good-looking. He watched silently as Luke calmed the girls down. Especially because he had a sharp, pointy sword in his hands. The girls looked like they were ready to tackle him or something. Percy quietly snuck around so he could see Luke's face.

"What's your plan?" he whispered.

Luke raised his hands. "All right. Do any of you know where the flag is?"

"Ew," one said. "Who cares about the stupid capture the flag game? It makes us look ugly, gets us dirty, and is just gross in general. Why don't you join us here, Luke? We could have a… fun time."

The son of Hermes looked a little uncomfortable now. "Maybe another time, ladies. But, uh, do any of you know where the flag is? Or did you just run off to put on your makeup and stuff?"

"I know where it is," a familiar voice said.

The group parted. Standing there was a really pretty girl with brown hair and blue eyes. Her name was Silena Beauregard. She was the second oldest Aphrodite camper, but had only been at camp for a year. Still, she was technically in line to be the next head counselor, unless a more experienced camper wished to take the place.

"Thanks," Luke said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"Silena Beauregard."

"Luke Castellan."

They shook hands.

"They put it on Zeus' Fist, or the Poop Pile," Silena said. "They only have four guards, and if you fight like they say you fight, you should be able to win easily."

"Poop Pile?"

"Long story."

Luke chuckled. "Well, thanks for the information. Um, I'll see if I can hang out with you girls some other time. You know, after capture the flag. See you later!"

"Bye!" they chorused.

As Luke ran into the shadows of the forest, Percy nearly made him scream. Luke obviously wasn't expecting him to be right there. It was a good thing Percy had quick reflexes. He covered Luke's mouth and whispered "Be quiet."

Just as Luke was catching his breath back, Percy glanced around the tree and heard the Aphrodite girls squealing. "O.M.G.! You got to touch Luke's hand."

"I know." Silena sounded stunned.

"What did it feel like?"

"Numbing."

An Aphrodite girl fainted.

Percy fought off the urge to snicker as he turned back to Luke, who now looked more… angry than freaked out. Percy gave him a look, and the two headed off toward Zeus' Fist. Once they were out of earshot, Luke punched Percy in the shoulder.

"You couldn't have told me you moved?" he hissed.

Percy shrugged. "Didn't think I needed to. Anyway, Zeus' Fist is off this way. If they only have four guards, we should be fine. Athena kids are smart, but not all of them are good fighters."

"I hope you're right," Luke muttered.

"I know I'm right."

Zeus' Fist was this random pile of rocks in the Camp Half-Blood forest that, from one angle, looked like a large fist. From any other angle, it looked like a pile of deer poop. Percy told Luke the story about Zeus' Fist, which basically included a lot of talk about deer poop. Chiron had insisted on not being disrespectful by calling the pile of rocks the "Poop Pile" especially because it was named after the king of the gods. And Percy figured Zeus didn't have a sense of humor.

It was the perfect place to put a flag because it was clearly visible but extremely hard to climb. Besides, it was high up enough so that the guards didn't have to worry about being too close. That also meant that they weren't at full attention. Sometimes challenges were fun.

As soon as they approached the rocks, Percy scouted the guards.

"There are four of them," Percy whispered to Luke. "Just like Silena said. But I have a feeling there are Apollo campers hiding in the trees. We're going to have to be quick. Apollo's got a lot of different arrows, and you don't want to get hit with a sonic arrow. Those suck."

Luke bit his lip. "If there are Apollo campers, then we're screwed because we can't see them. And I don't think it's possible to disarm opponents in their friendly territory. Can we knock them out?"

"No killing and no maiming," Percy said. "You tell me if there's anything about knocking people out."

Then it looked like an idea in his head lit up. The son of Hermes pointed at the top of the rock. "Wait, so that's in plain sight? What we can do is draw them archers out with a distraction, either you or me. And then the second person can take down the campers who are shooting from the trees before taking the flag and running off."

"Will it work?" Percy asked.

Luke chuckled. "We should leave the strategy-making to the Athena kids."

"Great. Let's do something stupid."

"Am I going out or are you?"

"I'll do it. They'll expect me to come. And we better hurry, before the Athena campers win."

Without waiting for an answer, Percy burst out into the clearing and made sure he was immediately spotted. All four guards came to attack him. He knew that he couldn't fight them all at once so he leaped straight up onto Zeus' Fist. Scrambling up, he felt a blade cut his calf. Wincing in pain, he brought his legs up.

The guard shouted, "Sorry, Perce!"

Suddenly, a screaming arrow slammed into the rocks next to his face, and he nearly lost his grip. He couldn't hear anything out of his left ear. It was ringing like crazy. Looking down, he saw the four guards spreading out to make sure he couldn't escape. Arrows whizzed by him like he was caught in a rainstorm, trying hard not to hit him, but trying to make him fall off.

As he slowly made his way to the top, he noticed the number of arrows being shot at him decreased. Luke worked quickly. Very quickly.

It wasn't long before no arrows were being fired at him. But the good thing was that there were no kids clambering down to aid the Athena guards. It didn't take long for the children of Athena to figure out there was something wrong. But by then, they were too late.

A streak of light came out of the woods and nearly impaled one of the guards through the neck. Then the screaming arrows, the sonic arrows, came and the guards momentarily lost their focus.

With Anaklusmos in his hands, Percy grabbed the flag and slid down the fist. He cringed in pain as the fabric of his pants rubbed against his wound causing friction. As he came down, Luke appeared out of the woods and began fighting off the guards. When Percy got off the rocks, he immediately sprinted back toward the creek.

He'd never felt better. And his instincts told him Luke was on his tail, fighting off anyone who tried to attack them. He saw Hermes kids in jail cheering as he ran past, and those still fighting pushed on to rescue their comrades from jail. Clarisse and her group of Ares kids joined the pack as they ran back toward the creek.

The people around him fought like demons, especially Luke, creating what seemed to be an impenetrable force field around him.

Once they were twenty feet from the creek Percy grabbed Luke and shoved the flag into his hands. Percy turned to face the Athena and Apollo defenders and held the force field.

Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Their side exploded into cheers. The grey banner shimmered and turned to silver. The owl and the olive tree were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the red team picked him up and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron came out from the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. They'd won.

Percy grinned and pointed at Luke, who grinned back. And after the celebrating, Percy knew he'd found a true demigod friend at last.

A/N. Hey everybody!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'm beginning to get more into the action, though the point of this chapter is to show Percy that he is able to work with other demigods other than his mentors and people he knows he likes. He puts his faith and trust in Luke to fight it out together. Now, I know the description of this story points out that Percy wants revenge. However, in the actual story, he is always in doubt. He is hesitant about his morals and the justifications of his actions. Percy's character is quite stale at the moment, but I hope to develop him some more. In fact, a major (or minor; I still haven't decided how much to change him) change in him comes from a somewhat unlikely source.

In the next chapter, I do reveal that Percy does have a kind heart, but like some have pointed out. PTSD. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. If you watch your parent die, I'm sure it would be a lot more devastating that you'd think, and it's especially because Percy loves his mother so much that it would affect him so greatly. I won't reveal much more than that, but I want that background information to linger in your mind as you read this story. Unlike my other series, I'm going to make the PTSD be a real factor in his personality, his actions and his rate of maturity. Especially now that he's had a lot of time to calm and collect.

Thanks so much,
SharkAttack719