Back again, I am. Not yet dead, I am. Hmhm. Not yet too exciting, this is. Fights, there aren't.
Grateful for all of you, I am.
Disclaimer : I own nothing. I only own my OCs.
~0~
The Great Flood Incident
~0~
When Percy woke up, he found Ray sleeping beside him, now inside his ordinary black hoodie and a pair of faded cargo pants, his brother's upper half on his bed and his lower half on a wooden chair beside said bed, all covered by a blanket. He looked around, and noticed that thankfully, nothing was hooked up to him, so that meant his broken bones weren't too serious.
Percy's chest was itchy and cold, and when he lifted his t-shirt, he could see bandages wrapped around him. The room he was in was huge and wood-y, like a fancy cabin in the woods you would see in movies. Nobody was around, and the only sound filling the room were chirps of birds from outside. It was interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing, then footsteps on the wooden floor.
A girl walked over to his bed, and stared at Ray with a weird expression, not minding him at all. When Percy tried to wake his older brother up (to help her), she turned to him and irritatedly whispered, "Don't do that."
He looked up again, and the first thing that he wondered after analyzing at her more closely, was if she was Percival's sister or something. She was pretty, he supposed. She was around his own age, with lightly tanned skin and a lithe, athletic build. The princess-like curly blonde hair, the grey eyes, and the cold calculating look that seized him the moment he laid his eyes on them.
She really looked a lot like Percival.
"He spent the whole night worrying about you, I think he deserves some sleep." The girl eyed him with narrowed eyes. "Ray's usually not like this. Are you somebody important?"
"Um..." She was calculating him, he mentally noted. "No, I don't think so?"
"Whatever." She shook her head. "Can you walk? The healers said you're fine, and Chiron wants to meet you. I don't want to wake Ray up, he looks really tired."
"I think so." Ray spent the whole night just sitting there biting his fingernails in worry was exactly him. His brother shouldn't worry too much, seriously. "It doesn't hurt anymore so I think it's fine."
"C'mon, then." She walked around the bed, and held out a hand, waiting for him. "I'm Annabeth."
"Percy." He grasped her hand, trying not to think about how close they were or how her hand was rougher than he expected. He took an experimental step, wincing and ready for a sharp jolt of pain in his chest, and was pleasantly surprised to feel nothing.
Annabeth noticed his expression. She smirked confidently. "Surprised? Our healers are the best in the world, with the best equipments out there. Fixing a few broken ribs wasn't hard for them."
"I... thanks. Is this the camp thing I'm supposed to be?"
"Give some more respect to this 'camp thing', Percy." Annabeth's smirk disappeared, and she shot a glare at him. "This is the only safe place for us in the entire world, where monsters can't get in. Answering your question, how would I know where you're supposed to be?"
Percy sighed. He had accepted the monsters fact yesterday, but he really wished it was all a weird nightmare. Well, at least mom and Ray were safe, and that was the most important thing. Grover too, he hoped G-man wasn't that hurt.
"Fair enough, I guess." Annabeth waited near the door as he searched for his shoes in the shoe rack. If Ray somehow forgot to put those things in there, he was going to take Ray's instead. "So... who's Chiron?"
"One of the camp directors, the other director is Mr. D. Usually though, Chiron just sees to the activities- he prefers archery over everything else, really."
Wow. A summer camp with archery as an activity. That... didn't sound cheap. "Okay. And why does he want to speak with me?"
Annabeth stared at him like his brain wasn't in its proper position. "Let's see it from his perspective, Percy; You just appeared one night with one of our most important campers, after you killed a monster no one could ever harm for millennia. If you were him, what would you do?"
If she put it that way... Percy finished tying up his shoes and stood up. Still, he had some more questions. "One of your most important camper? Who's that?"
"The guy who brought you here, dumbass. Who else?" Annabeth opened the door and stepped out, not before sending a worried glance at a sleeping Ray. "Let's go, Chiron's supposed to be answering your questions, not me."
"Then lead the way, princess," Percy muttered, annoyed. He was just asking some questions, and who could blame him? He was new to this monster business.
Thankfully, Annabeth didn't seem to hear the last part. Shaking his head, he opened the door himself and followed her outside.
And immediately froze.
There were a few reasons for that, honestly. Firstly was just the sight- it was enough to take his breath away. Everything there looked like it was ripped from either history books but polished and just looked better in the eye- freaking Greek architecture with shiny, gleaming marble roofs, a round amphitheater with a huge bonfire in the middle, a circular arena where some people were training with (what really really looked a lot like) weapons, a canoe lake, you name it.
Though, the ultimate reason was the winged horse- a pegasus? Flying through the air right in front of his eyes. He... well, honestly, he felt like he should be more surprised then he was, but after everything that happened yesterday, he doubted anything else would be able to surprise him.
Annabeth didn't even care about the horse and his rider, she just glanced back at him to see if he had got out of the infirmary, then motioned to follow her and strode on ahead, not bothered to wait.
As he jogged to catch up, he was piling up more and more questions in his head. How much did it cost to stay there? Everything looked expensive as heck. And Ray was a camper there? Where did he get the money?
Wait, he was forgetting something. Percy looked around, searching for a tiny black shape, and was glad to see Stalker perching right on the roof of the infirmary, looking right at him. When the crow realized he finally noticed him, Stalker flew down and landed on his shoulder, squawking quietly.
Smiling a bit, he reached Stalker's head with his other hand and petted the crow.
Well, tried to.
"Don't." Annabeth suddenly said, glancing back at him. His hand stilled in the air, and he looked at her questioningly. "If you want to stroke a bird, don't do it like they're mammals. Go from the back of their necks, then up."
Stalker squawked in agreement. Rolling his eyes, Percy reached over the back of Stalker's neck and stroked up. His feathers ruffled and his eyes closed as they walked forward and up, to a large farmhouse overlooking the entire camp.
"Stalker doesn't trust strangers," Annabeth suddenly said as they walked, but not looking at him. "No matter how good of a person you are, the first time he meets you, he won't trust you. So, either the bird on your shoulder isn't Stalker, or you know him, and by extension Ray, in a longer-term than I thought."
"You know, you can ask the question 'Do you know Ray for a long time' right to my face, right?"
"Well?" Annabeth, turned her head to look at him, though she didn't stop walking.
Percy sighed, poking Stalker's beak. "He's my brother, Annabeth. Of course I've known him for a long time."
He almost walked into her when she suddenly stopped walking. Stalker flapped his wings to balance himself on Percy's shoulder, while Percy himself stumbled. Annabeth turned around fully, eyes widening slightly.
He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You...?" she muttered, turning back around and purposefully ignoring him. "But he..."
Was it his imagination, or did she sound... hurt? What?
Finally though, she just shook her head and continued up the hill. He could see her shoulder becoming straighter, her stride becoming faster and longer, and her clenching and unclenching fist. He had enough knowledge to know that something was suddenly bothering her.
Was that something he said? Stalker and him shared a look, and he jogged after her once more.
Neither of them said anything as they climbed up the small hill, Percy still trying his best to balance Stalker and stroking him at the same time. Annabeth never said a thing after that, and with a glance, he saw she was looking at the ground, mind clearly elsewhere.
Well, not like he cared. They were strangers, and if she wanted to talk, she would.
With a sudden squawk, Stalker pushed against his shoulder and flew back towards the direction of the infirmary. Percy blinked at that, but shrugged it off as Stalker being Ray's pet and not his.
They finally reached the big farmhouse. It was big and sturdy, with blue and brown paint with a typical white porch you'd expect to see in the countryside. On the porch were several people; a short and chubby guy in a leopard jacket with his back facing them, sitting on the card table, playing with a kid with... familiar curly hair, and another man in a wheelchair. An old man in a wheelchair.
"Mr. Brunner!" Percy's eyes widened, and he grinned wildly. "And Grover!"
The old teacher blinked and turned to face him. Grover perked up, and Percy could tell he wanted to run and greet him, but he glanced at the leopard jacket guy, as if in permission, and he got the shooing away motion in return.
"Good morning, Percy," Mr. Brunner said as he and Annabeth approached, smiling. "You finally woke up. And my boy, I'm afraid the name 'Edward Brunner' was merely a pseudonym- my real name is Chiron."
"Cool," Percy replied, not knowing what else to say. "So... this is your real workplace, Mr. Chiron?"
"Just Chiron alone is fine, lad." Just Chiron alone's smile looked more amused. "Yes, I suppose this is my 'real' workplace. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Percy."
Chiron looked at leopard guy, Mr. D, as if waiting for something. Mr. D sighed and slouched, then turned around in his seat, looking at Percy lazily. Other than his eyes were bloodshot like Gabe's earlier alcohol-loving days, the guy looked like he would rather be anywhere else than there.
"Oh, I suppose I must say it," Mr. D muttered. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, blah blah blah. Just so we're clear, I'm not glad you're here, boy."
"...Cool," Percy said, not knowing what to say again. Just like that, Mr. D returned back to his game and ignored the world.
"You okay, Percy?" Grover asked, part worried and part glad. "Considering what happened yesterday, I'm surprised you don't want to sleep in."
Percy's eye twitched. It hadn't even been thirty minutes since he woke up and two seperate people had asked him if he was okay. Granted, his best friend meant well, but he wasn't a little kid.
"I'm here, aren't I?" he gestured himself. "I'm fine, G-man, don't worry."
"If you're as fine as you say, young man," Mr. D suddenly spoke up, eyes not moving from the cards in his hands. "Then I expect you to be able to play pinochle."
He glanced at Annabeth, who didn't care and just shrugged. "Uh, sorry sir, but I don't know how to."
The director snorted. "Least the boy has manners. Come here, you will learn. Pinochle, along with gladiator and Pac-man, is one of the greatest achievements mankind has made, and I expect youths such as you to know how to play."
Percy eyed the seats. The only one available was across Grover, but it was right next to Mr. D. And, well, to be blunt, Mr. D looked drunk and experiences with drunk Gabe weren't good experiences. But Chiron motioned him to come and sit down, so came and sat down he did.
"I trust you have introduced yourselves?" Chiron asked, raising an eyebrow at Annabeth, who silently nodded in response. "Very well. Annabeth, dear, can you look at Percy's bunk? Cabin Eleven, I believe."
Annabeth nodded. Without even a glance his way, she strode down the porch and back toward the camp's main ground.
Well. Good riddance.
Mr. D dealt the cards, a feat that didn't seem to be affected by his drunkenness, though Grover winced when his cards landed on his pile. Percy didn't feel uneasy by the small paper things, so he gathered them and scooped them up.
"I must say, Percy," Chiron suddenly said, "I'm glad you're still alive. What you did was... unheard of. In all honestly, I'm still processing it all in my mind. The Clazmonian Sow."
Honestly? He was still too.
"Where is the feather, if I may ask?"
"Oh, it's..." he trailed off. Where did he put the feather last night? No, Ray was the one who put it away. Where did his brother left it? Don't tell him Ray lost the feather. "Ray has it."
"I see."
Chiron was still skirting around the matter. Percy felt like he was walking through a minefield, or opening a can of worms. Mrs. Grelod, the giant pigs, those snake chicken things, and lastly that minotaur. Those things were terrifying, and he had a feeling they weren't even a quarter of the weirdness happening.
He copied Ray's method. Waiting. Just waiting. He and Chiron stared at each other until his limbs became restless.
Finally, Chiron took a deep breath. "You want the whole story, Percy?"
"...Yeah."
"Very well. Let me start with the basics, if you will. Have your mother told you anything about your father?"
His father? Not a lot, only that he looked a lot like his father- green eyes, black hair. Ray had no clue either, though maybe he just didn't care. And how the deadbeat was 'lost at sea, but not dead'. Mom was very specific on that choice of words.
And that was exactly what he told Chiron.
"Typical," Mr. D muttered. "Young man, are you bidding or not?"
"Huh?"
Director guy rolled his eyes and explained how you bid in pinochle. Still having no idea how to play the game, Percy just nodded and bid.
"Do you have any idea at all, child? An inkling of who you are?" Chiron pestered further.
"Who I am?"
"I taught you, did I not? Specific knowledge." Chiron gestured at Grover, who blinked. "What Mr. Underwood is. Don't you know where the Minotaur is from? Giant boars?"
"Well..." Satyrs, if he remembered correctly, were from Greek myths. The Minotaur was from Greek, obviously. Though giant boars he had no idea. Maybe several roamed the forests? "I dunno, Greek legends?"
He phrased that last question as a joke- sarcastically (well, mostly), but Chiron nodded as if he just answered the million-dollar question. "Indeed. A minor correction, Percy. They are not legends. The Greek gods, monsters, and other so-called 'myths' and 'legends' aren't myths and legends. They are very real."
Percy paused. His train of thought just stopped, and suddenly did a U-turn then raced back to older memories. The snake he had strangled in his crib when he was little (mom told him she and Ray freaked out a lot), the stalker (not the bird) with a single eye on his forehead in kindergarten, his family teaching and telling him specific stuff.
It... it actually made sense. It felt like a final puzzle piece- or, remembering yesterday's events, the last nail in the coffin. Chiron's confirmation just sealed the deal. So he wasn't crazy.
Chiron took this chance to explain in further detail. On the existence of gods, living on Mount Olympus which was exactly right on top of the Empire State Building. The connection between the Western Civilization and Ancient Greece. The weird things that happened in his childhood.
In the middle of all that, he saw Grover timidly took an empty soda can from the table (with Mr. D's, permission), and chewed it. Like, seriously eating it.
In the end, Chiron studied him and stroked his chin. "You're taking this better than I thought you will."
He could only shrug helplessly in response. "It, well, I don't know if it sounds weird, but it actually makes a lot of sense."
"I suppose."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Mr. D drawled sarcastically. Sighing, he waved a hand, and a shiny golden goblet materialized out of thin air. Red liquid filled it as he continued, "You won't believe how much kids don't believe us. Really, it was terrible enough to be trapped-"
"Mr. D," Chiron calmly said, "Your restrictions."
Mr. D's right eye twitched as thunder rumbled somewhere in the bright sky. Heaving another heavy sigh, he waved a hand once more, and the goblet was replaced by a can of Diet Coke.
Chiron winked at Percy as if he was sharing a joke. "Old D is forbidden from consuming anything that has alcohol in it."
"Yes, because I was going after a wood nymph that my father is planning to cheat with," Mr. D grumbled. "Where was I? Oh yes. It was terrible enough to be trapped in this boring place, much less with kids who refuse to acknowledge you exist in the first place. 'My punishment,' as my father said. Bah."
"...So," Percy said, staring at the can like it was radioactive, ignoring Mr. D's whining. It looked much like the ones littering the table, and that convinced Percy that the guy didn't forget about his restrictions. "Mr. D... does it stand for anything?"
"Names are powerful things, boy." Mr. D grumbled again, taking a sip. "You would be a fool to just throw it around left and right."
Ignoring him, Percy scoured his head for names beginning from the letter D. Demeter? No wait, a goddess. Di...ana? Another goddess. Wine, leopard, and Grover acting like the director was a superior being.
He focused on Mr. D again. "Are you... Dionysus?"
The mentioned guy took a deep breath, and lowered his can. "And now I get brat who doesn't listen to a word I say. How utterly fantastic."
"You're... a god."
"Hm."
"You?" he really couldn't believe it. Dionysus barely looked better than Gabe in his early days. Shouldn't gods look at least a bit dignified?
Mr. D turned to him slowly, and Percy noticed how his bloodshot blue eyes turned purple- not like Ray's dark purple, but more... brighter. Burning. Only then he realized there were actual purple flames reflected on Dionysus' eyes.
In those eyes, he saw sailors laughing hysterically as every one of them turned to dolphins- nose elongated into snouts, arms becoming flippers- each one at a time. He saw grape vines choking people until they went limp.
Then he saw one of them flickered, and he saw himself choking to death.
Welp. Looked like he pushed his luck a bit too far.
"You want to test me, boy?" the god asked quietly.
"No sir."
"Good. Chiron!" Mr. D immediately turned back to the game, the fire dying quickly. "I believe I won this game."
"No." Chiron disagreed. The teacher revealed his cards. "I believe I do."
Percy waited for the purple flames to light up again, but instead Mr. D just slumped in his seat as if this had happened a lot. Without saying anything, the guy- god- stood up from his seat and shambled his way into the farmhouse.
"Cabin eleven, boy." Mr. D announced loudly from inside. "And mind your manners. The others aren't as merciful as I am."
Grover melted in his seat, showing his extreme stress just being there. Chiron patted his back sympathetically. "There, there, my boy. You did good."
Grover gave him a shaky smile, before dropping his face to the table.
"Let's take a walk, shall we Percy?" Chiron turned to him. "I'll explain more as we go. Mr. Underwood will be like this for a while."
"Is he okay? He doesn't-"
Zzzzz, came from Grover's head.
Percy was stunned. "Is he... sleeping?"
"He's tired, lad."
"Won't he get in trouble when Mr. D wakes up?"
"He has a good internal alarm for that," Chiron said, amused. "Let us go, child. My legs are becoming more cramped the longer I wait."
"What? But aren't you-"
Percy cut himself off when he saw Chiron put his hands on the wheelchair's sidearms, and pulled himself up. For more than 5 seconds. He was... long.
When Chiron finally finished, Percy was staring at someone who was clearly a centaur, a guy who had the body of a white stallion minus the head waist down, instead of a pair of legs.
"Are you..." he stammered, stunned. "Are you the Chiron?"
"I'll explain further on the way, lad."
~0~
Percival was somewhat surprised when he found his sister Annabeth scowling over map plans in their cabin. The girl stared at the piece of paper like it just insulted her mother, and was now planning a way to stab it where it hurt the most. The others were on different sections of the cabin, and unlike her, they weren't planning on stabbing a paper.
"Eleven got on your nerves?" he asked calmly as he strode next to her.
Annabeth's tense stance relaxed a bit when she heard him coming. Cabin Eleven's pranks always seemed to irritate her one way or another- though he had to admit some of them were clever and/or amusing, while some were just plain out of the line.
"No," she answered but still looking at the map. "No, it wasn't cabin Eleven."
"Do you want to tell me the problem or are we playing Twenty Questions?"
She twitched. "No, we don't have to."
The girl finally turned to him, which allowed him to see just how upset she was. Visually, there was nothing different about her, but her eyes were troubled. It looked familiar...
Ah, of course. She found out something.
Percival raised an eyebrow. "I'm assuming this is something I have the ability to explain?"
She twitched again. It almost made him smile. "...Yeah. Percival, be blunt with me. Do you trust me?"
Trust? What did he do which elicited this sort of question from her? Oh well, not like this was a difficult question. "Yes, of course, Annabeth. What makes you ask that?"
Annabeth sighed, closing her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me about Ray's brother?"
Oh. Oh. That. "So... you made the assumption- false, I remind you- that I didn't trust you because I didn't tell you about my friend's family business? I thought you were more mature than that, Annabeth."
This time, she winced. It pleasantly surprised him she didn't hide it. "No, sorry, that came out wrong. It's just..."
He waited.
"It's just, well, you never hide anything from me. Ever. I just thought I did something that- I don't know, something that disappointed you."
Never hide... oh Annabeth. If only you knew. "You never did anything which disappointed me. Now, if you mean dislike, there was that one time you ran off into the forest doing who knows what." He admitted. "And the other time you brought in an owl which defecated on my desk, and another one which tore my notes apart. You also didn't listen when I specifically told you that-"
Annabeth looked down. Oh, bloody hell, did he say something wrong? He inwardly grimaced, backpedaling quickly. "Yes, I suppose that was untrue. But you never did anything that made me not trust you. Though, I guess I mean distrust yourself because I will never trust another owl you bring in here ever since one of them-"
She suddenly laughed, looking back up again. "It's fine, I know what you mean. I guess I was pretty childish. I mean, Ray's business is his own, right? I bet he just forgot to tell me about his family."
No, Ray just didn't want the entire camp to know about his family. Not yet, Jackson had told him. But obviously, Percival wasn't going to tell his sister that- Ray was paranoid when it came to his family. "Maybe."
She smiled at him, but a troubled look slowly entered her face. "Wait... did he tell you about his family?"
Percival didn't say anything.
Annabeth looked down again. "So he's the one who doesn't trust me."
"It's... complicated, Annabeth." He tried to cheer her up, desperately thinking of anything. "Jackson... he... well, he believes he is a target. He doesn't want to tell anyone out of the Keepers about his family, because he knows he can trust us and we can protect ourselves."
There was also another entirely different reason but telling her that would be a terrible idea.
"Who would target him?" she asked suspiciously.
"Annabeth. The Keepers is a group ordered directly by Lady Athena herself. We have plenty of important- and classified- information. The funds we have aren't a few, either. Logically, Ray is a perfect target to gain all of that."
"Okay, I see your point," Annabeth admitted. "But... I can protect myself."
"Yes indeed, my dear sister," Percival said in an almost sarcastic tone, "But Ray is paranoid when it comes to his family. He believes that there is a spell, a device, or a technique that allows the user to, quote-unquote, 'Rip knowledge right out of the target's mind'. Truthfully? I won't be surprised if such a thing exists."
"Me too," she agreed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm... I'm sorry for being immature. You guys already have many things to worry about, I shouldn't add more problems."
Really now, the only reason Annabeth had the idea of apologizing was just because he was her older half-brother. If he was any other person, he doubted she would do that. Her- all of their hubris as Athena's children made sure of that.
"It is no problem at all," he assured her. "However, I hope you understand. I am hiding things from you. I will never hide anything about myself, but there are classified information that I will need permission to disclose."
"Of course! It's fine."
At last, Annabeth was smiling at him again, an act that reminded him of the little girl she was years ago, begging him to bring her to his architect father.
Percival closed his eyes, an idea forming in his mind. "To show there are no hard feelings... Annabeth, give your brother a hug."
The smile disappeared, replaced with uncertainty. "What?"
"Come on..." hiding a smile, he spread his arms. "Don't leave me hanging."
Annabeth glanced around them quickly. Nobody was around. "Percival, I'm not a kid anymore. This is embarrassing."
Percival faked a frown. "So as you're older you don't love me anymore?"
"No that's not what I meant! I mean..." she groaned. "Ugh, fine. Come here."
Inwardly chuckling, Percival wrapped his little sister in a hug. She returned it, and even though she said it was more embarrassing as it got older, she hugged him back tightly.
Whether she liked it or not, in his eyes, she was still his little girl.
After a while, they pulled back. Annabeth was red in the face, flustered as she made sure nobody saw that. Percival just smiled, knowing the only ones who had special treatment from her were just him and Thalia.
"If my calculations are correct," he began, making Annabeth's eyes turn back to him. "Percy and Chiron will soon reach Cabin Eleven. And, I assume Chiron will leave him there as soon as they do. Go back there, and help Ray's brother."
She snorted at the 'calculation'. "Okay, why me?"
"Because Ray trusts you to handle his brother."
Annabeth sighed. But she still walked away to the door.
Percival turned to the map she had been previously glaring at. Before he could pinpoint where exactly did she thought was a mistake in either the material or the geography, her voice made him look up.
"Percival." Annabeth hesitated for a second. "Thanks. For not being disappointed in me."
"That's a stupid idea." Percival looked back down to the map. "That is a blasphemous, ridiculous, flawed, and foolish train of thought. But an understandable one. You never disappoint me."
He knew she smiled at him again (Percival was really lucky he was himself. The girl wouldn't do that a lot if he wasn't), and finally exited the cabin.
Percival shook his head, and focused on the map.
Since Percy was finally at camp, that meant either Ray would relax, or he would be more active more than ever.
Chuckling quietly to himself, he wondered what Ray would do when Percy finally goes to his first quest.
...Bloody hell, what would Jackson do when Percy finally goes to his first quest?
~0~
Ray had an initial moment of panic when he saw an empty bed in front of him. When he realized there was a blanket draped over him, he rationalized that Percy had woken up first, saw him sleeping, then left.
He limped over to the door after getting his shoes on (sleeping on a chair wasn't an ideal position), and was greeted by an old friend, who squawked when he saw him.
"Stalker," Ray greeted. "Good mor... is it morning or noon, bird?"
"Squawk."
"Thought so. Can you guide me to where Percy is?"
Instead of answering, Stalker pointed at the dining pavilion with his talon.
"Food can wait," Ray assured him. "Speaking of, do you know if Percy had gotten his breakfast?"
"Squawk."
"Of course." He had no idea what the bird was talking- er, crowing about. "Just lead me to Percy, would you?"
Stalker's eyes glowed purple, then he took off from the railing he was perching at. Mildly wondering what Stalker was for the hundredth time (it always happened when he asked to crow to find something), Ray followed after him.
As his limp slowly turned into a slightly weird walk, he observed the camp around him. He had rescued a number of demigods he could say he was proud of. Last month the Keepers had escorted 12. And the month before that was 10. Last year they had safely sent around 150 half-bloods to camp, and until now since the year started were 45.
But the camp was still somewhat empty. Most of the campers had friends and family still waiting for them, so only a few decided to be year-rounders. Thalia was nowhere to be seen, so Ray made a mental note to visit her later near the tree. If she wasn't there, he'd ask Stalker instead. He saw Sophia had staggered outside of her cabin, chatting with a cabinmate, towels on their shoulders and other bathroom appliances in their hands.
None of the Ares kids were visible- it wasn't as rowdy as the summer, so he guessed they took this chance to sleep in. Athena's kids were already up and about, some playing sports while most were busy debating each other. The only campers from Apollo he could see were the archers, which meant the healers were inside. Like Ares', Aphrodites were still inside, due to their beauty sleep, he would assume. Charles Beckendorf and two other year-round Hephaestus campers were in their forge, happily banging away.
At last, he reached Hermes' cabin. As more and more kids arrived at the camp, there was less and less room available inside there. He had given a suggestion in the last monthly counselors meeting, to build several new buildings right across the two head cabins, past the fire, but this time for unclaimed campers alone.
Mr. D didn't care, but Ray knew the god would just shrug and say sure. Chiron would need time to think about it, but he did say it wasn't a bad idea. And to put the cherry on top, Ray had given Annabeth the chance to put her architecture knowledge to good use.
Most of the kids in Cabin were still unclaimed, yes, but that didn't mean they didn't have any families. And thus, the remaining few campers there were Alexa, the Stoll twins, and several other unclaimed kids.
At first, Ray thought that Stalker led him there, since maybe Percy was already put there by Chiron, but then the bird swerved and headed to a restroom nearby. He blinked, but then chalked it up as his brother wanting to go to the toilet.
Suspicion started to build up when he noticed a familiar blonde girl standing near the entrance to the girls' bathroom. Annabeth. It wasn't her herself that made him narrow his eyes, but instead the fact that Annabeth was standing with her hands on her face, but the fingers were still wide enough to peek through.
As Ray walked closer, he heard... muffled laughter coming from inside the restroom. Why would people be laughing in there?
Stalker landed on Annabeth's shoulder, making her jolt. She looked at the crow, puzzled, and then looked around. When her eyes landed on Ray, there was a brief moment of panic on her face.
"Good morning, Annabeth," he greeted after he arrived, pretending not to notice. Stalker flew again from Annabeth's shoulder and landed back on his.
"Good morning, Ray." Nice. To her credit, she hid her feelings pretty well. "Why... uh, why are you here?"
For others, the question could very well be thought as confusion. Why on Olympus would he walk across the entire camp to go to the restroom when there was another cleaner one near the infirmary? However, since he had learned the art of reading emotions, he was somewhat confused to notice it was more... anxious.
"I asked Stalker here." He gestured at the bird, who squawked. "To guide me to a new camper I just brought here last night. Have you heard?"
"Oh, yeah, I have." Annabeth nodded. "His name's Percy, right?"
"Yes." She was becoming more and more anxious the longer he spent talking to her, he realized. Was she... hiding something? "Annabeth, have I ever told you I have a brother?"
"No."
The answer was quick, dismissive, and absolute. Hmm... was she lying to him? And her tone was carefully neutral. Interesting. "Well, I just wanted to tell you that I do, in fact, have a brother. I was waiting for him to be old enough so I can bring him to camp, you know, as this life is dangerous and I want him to live normally as long as possible."
"Huh."
Was it just him, or were the laughter becoming louder? "Uh-huh. My brother's name is Percy."
He waited to see her reaction. She refused to look at him. "Are you implying what I think you're implying, Ray?"
"Yup!" he cheerfully said, "The new camper is my brother. I wanted to talk to him one more time before I go to work, but since Stalker led me to a toilet I can only guess he's in the toilet. Are you showing him the camp, by any chance?"
The anxiety and panic returned full force once more, but, once more, she hid it quickly. "Er... yes."
Eh, enough was enough. He wanted to confront her about her blatant hesitation, but he didn't want to antagonize the poor girl. Silently, he walked over to the boys' side of the restroom. He ignored the halted, surprised shout from Annabeth.
Before his hand reached the doorknob, his water sensors blared to life. Stalker was faster- the bird jumped from his shoulder and flew high. As fast as Ray could, he whirled around, grabbed a surprised Annabeth, and shielded her with his body as the restroom behind him exploded in a burst of cold water.
Ray willed the water to make him wet to not make cause any suspicion. When freezing toilet water stopped raining him, he peeked behind him, and saw the Ares campers Clarisse La Rue, Amelia Gascogne, Eleanor Spada, and Lydia Krieg being blasted off by water so powerful they were thrown out of the restroom and into the clearing in front of it.
Oh, godsdammit. Percy was inside, wasn't he?
Lo and behold, his brother staggered outside, perfectly clean and not a drop of water on him at all.
Ray felt Annabeth wriggling out of his hold. She then stood next to him, stunned, looking at the four Ares campers in the mud, then back at Percy.
Clarisse spat out mud. She glared at Percy, eyes blazing with rage. "You are dead, new kid. Imma kill you myself."
"You want more toilet water, Clarisse?" Percy snapped back, even though he was shaking like a twig in the wind. "Shut up."
La Rue almost sent a punch flying, but her sisters were vigilant. They saw Ray standing there, eyes widening, and quickly pulled Clarisse away, flailing as she did, back to Cabin Five. Some other campers either saw or heard the commotion, and came to look closer.
Then it was Percy who realized he was standing there. His little brother's eyes widened as well. Percy quickly glanced back at the restroom, with the girls' side absolutely flooded, complete with still dripping pipes that had been forcefully pulled from the wall, aimed right at the door.
Ray didn't see any of that. He was lost in his own thoughts, thinking rapidly. Had Percy known he was a son of Poseidon? Since when could Percy control water? Was this deliberate, or indeliberate? How much suspicion would this raise?
When everything went silent, Ray realized that everybody there was staring at him, waiting for him to say something. Stalker landed back on his shoulder.
He opened his mouth, then closed it again, thinking of something to say. Finally, he just said, "Well, this isn't how I imagined my morning would end up to be."
Percy furiously pointed at the general direction of Cabin Five. "She started it!"
"Uh-huh. Come with me, Percy." Ray turned around to the gawking kids, gathering his most authoritative tone. "And all of you, back to your training. There is nothing to see here."
Gradually, the year-round campers returned back to whatever they were doing, though most of them pointed at Percy and murmured something about toilet water. Stalker squawked, not caring at all.
Frowning, Ray wondered how much damage control did he have to do. Someone will surely suspect that they were children of Poseidon.
But he wouldn't do anything just yet, he didn't want to be brash. After all. the Keepers will inform him if something goes wrong. For now, the kids had some explaining to do.
He turned to Annabeth. "I expect an explanation from you as well, young lady."
Annabeth sighed.
~0~
Both of them were silent. Percy, perhaps because he thought he was in trouble for blowing the toilet up? Annabeth, well, perhaps because she knew she allowed it to happen.
Kids. Amusing.
Ray led them to the other side of the canoe lake, asking a pair of campers for the time as they walked. The naiads beneath said lake peered curiously when they passed, but didn't do anything else, bar from one waving at Percy (who waved back). The two looked at him questioningly, and he snapped his fingers, coating them in a dome of thick, invisible Mist, so that anything that would be said would remain there, in case of any... dangerous knowledge being spread.
Ray gestured at them. "Do start."
Percy and Annabeth glanced at each other (Ray noted that there was some hostility between them), but they did start explaining.
It was just like he expected. Clarisse the bully, bada bing bada boom. When Percy mentioned that he had no idea why the toilets exploded, Ray almost sighed, somewhat relieved. Annabeth was skeptical about that, but she didn't say anything.
Nothing seemed to point at Percy being found out he was a son of Poseidon, so with a light warning at Annabeth for letting the bullying happen in the first place, she was let go. Besides, Ray wouldn't be at camp 24/7, Percy would need his own reputation to prevent him from being on the shorter end of the stick.
At last, it was only two of them. His younger brother wouldn't look at him in the eyes, stubbornly looking at the ground. Ray was wondering why, until Percy finally spoke up.
"Ray, I'm really sorry about that toilet," he apologized quietly.
"It's really no problem." Ray shrugged, Stalker squawking as his perching spot moved. "That was a filthy restroom anyway, and destruction just makes it easier to change things."
"But isn't it expensive?" Percy asked.
Yes, if they were speaking mortal terms. He knew for a fact that most high-ranking US mortals were greedy pricks, and some plumbers were, unfortunately, no exception. Immortal terms, on the other hand... "No, not really. Don't worry about it, it's fine, really. I just wanted to know how you managed to do that."
"To do what?"
"How you exploded the toilet."
His brother shrugged helplessly. "I don't know how, honest. I was just thinking I didn't want to drink toilet water, and the water just jumped over me."
Based on impulse, then. Good, it could be controlled, Percy only needed guidance and training. Ray was filled with excitement and dread. Excitement, at finally teaching his brother at something he could do actually well in. Dread, for the reason why he'd need to train Percy in the first place.
"Hey Ray?"
"Huh- yeah?"
"I'm hungry."
Did nobody seriously give Percy breakfast? It was already 10, so the dining pavilion was empty, the wood nymphs had better things to do than just hanging around in there. The only good chef they had was Alexa, and knowing her, she was still asleep. If push comes to shove...
Remembering just where exactly did they keep the ingredients, Ray said, "I can try cooking up some breakfast. Would you want that?"
Percy raised his eyebrows. "Don't you have, I don't know, work to do?"
"No, I don't. I was planning to go home yesterday because I don't have work for a couple of days. The others are capable anyway, so whaddya say?"
Mouth curling into a smirk, Percy replied, "You're just gonna give me a stomachache."
Ray gladly took the bait. "Then you'll have to make sacrifices. Choose, boy! Would you rather be hungry, or be full? Pay the cost of greatness!"
Stalker screeched, to increase his dramatics.
Percy grinned. "If the price of greatness is being poisoned, then I refuse, old one. If I wanted to be poisoned, I'd go back home and smell your one-hundred-year-old cheese at the back of the fridge."
"Twelve! They said it's only twelve years old! Why does everyone think it's really old?"
"Are you kidding? It's as old as me!"
Well, when Marcus suddenly barged into his office back at the cave, claiming that an abandoned Hephaestus forged was ripe for the taking somewhere in San Giovanni Branco (and when he meant somewhere in he meant beneath the Brembo river), Ray took this chance to buy a slice of bitto. Bitti were said to be the oldest edible cheese so of course he wanted to eat some.
"I will not stand idly by as you insult my cheese." Ray stood straighter. Stalker flew up and away, already knowing his intent. "You will taste some, young man, and you will like it!"
Plans of seeking destiny were postponed as Ray dragged Percy to the dining pavilion, his kid brother laughing as they did. He would use the most delicious cheese from his inventory in camp, and by the gods Percy would be impressed by it!
~0~
A/N :
Bloodboooorne! Where big or small it really doesn't matter!
Bloodboooorne! When Yharnam's always filled with slaughter!
Bloodboooorne! At dim workshops where hunters gather!
Bloodboooorne is hoooOOME!
Bloodboooorne! Where nightmares await inside of dungeons!
Bloodboooorne! When Old Ones fight, they'll stomp your bunions!
Bloodboooorne! For the young at heart- and scythe-wielding curmudgeons!
Bloodborne is home!
Please review. I like 'em. I like 'em a lot.