A/N : So... I was planning on adding recent modern words or references, y'know, until I realized that the first book took place around 2005-2006. I had to search just what, exactly, did we do in 2005-2006.

Disclaimer : I own nothing, only my OCs.

~0~

Who Let The Dogs In?!

~0~

The second day was Percy's first proper day, as his older brother had put it. Now, he had to take classes- demigod-specific classes, such as sword fighting, archery, something like monsterpedia or something, and many more.

Ray had a hand in composing his schedule. According to the thing, his first lesson after breakfast was sword fighting. And his teacher was Percival. Ray reasoned that the sunlight was much healthier in the morning than in any other time, and since he just woke up, his mind and body were still fresh, his reflexes at its prime.

Which was how Percy found himself in the arena with other campers from various cabins, with the air still fricking cold and the ground still moist from the temperature. He wasn't even sure if he was fully awake, he barely even noticed he ate a sandwich for breakfast, and he couldn't remember what was in it.

And yet... he was excited. He couldn't tell if it was his guy genes or something, but the idea of swords clashing, sparks flying and frantic movements to dodge or strike was very appealing.

The arena was simple. A patched rectangular area the size of two soccer fields side by side, surrounded by trees and grass. On one side was the armory, where the weapons were kept, and across it were the cabins, where the weapons were made. In the morning, the dirt wasn't... wet, per se, but it definitely looked moist. The smell though- the smell was very earthly, a far cry from his home, which smelled like engine smoke everyday.

Percival didn't look like he was bothered at all. That morning, the son of Athena wore the regular camp t-shirt and a pair of shorts. He looked like the typical high-schooler if not for the fancy sword and silver gun hanging by his hip.

The guy had them all pick up practice swords, which were on display inside the armory. The others easily picked theirs, but Percy had trouble finding one that fit as well as Riptide. They either felt too heavy, or too light.

At this news, Percival just eyed him with a raised eyebrow, and picked one for him. It felt the least unbalanced, but unbalanced was unbalanced.

And then the lesson started.

Percy scanned the crowd- around 20 kids, from all ages. The youngest was around 7 and the oldest was 14.

"Let's warm-up first, shall we?" Percival asked the rhetorical question calmly.

Percival told them that the most important parts to warm up were the arms, wrists, and shoulders. They did all sorts of sword drills with the heavy yet ridiculously dull blades, some of the moves he had an inkling were from Percival's home country. One of them was Schrankhut (Percy called it Shrank Hut), which was a stance with both hands holding the butt and the hilt of the sword, and another one was called Krumphau, which was twirling the sword around like a windmill.

"Let's start with basic defensive moves," Percival said after they were done. "First, evading. You can backstep or sidestep to evade the enemy's attacks. This move is indeed a simple and somewhat effective defense action, but it can very well be risky. Let me show you an example."

The son of Athena raised his sword a bit in the air. He pointed at someone in the crowd with his free hand and curled his finger, beckoning him to come. Percy grimaced when he saw Percival was pointing at him, but he still jogged lightly to him. None of the other campers commented on the new kid, which was perfectly fine with him. It was a breath of fresh air from the constantly gossiping kids of elementary school.

"I'm raising my sword in the air, and it looks to him as if I'm going to strike vertically," Percival said, then turned to Percy. "Now, evade."

Wordlessly, he quickly stepped to one side. But instead of slicing downwards as Percy expected, Percival slashed to the side. His eyes widened, but before the blade cut off his head, it stopped.

"See what I mean?" their trainer asked. "It looked as if I was going for a vertical cut, but I was actually doing a horizontal one. He could also step back..."

Percival jabbed the sword at Percy's direction, making him flinch.

"...but I can easily follow with a thrust. If you do manage an evasion, you have put your opponent in a dangerous position. You can easily strike them while they are still recovering from their own attack."

The campers listened to Percival raptly. He could see the ones on the front nodding to pretty much everything the guy said.

"The next one is a simple block. Your opponent cuts at you and you put your blade between you and your enemy." Percival nodded at Percy, forcing him to focus back to his current situation, and brought his sword up. Percival swung- slowly- and their blades met, letting out a light clang.

"You can do this several ways, like supporting the blade with both hands, and the such. This is the most common and easiest defensive move there is so that is that. The next one is parrying. Come at me, Percy."

Percy bit his lip, not knowing what to do but at the same time, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of a huge group of kids. In the end, he hung his head and swung his sword upwards, hesitantly. Raising an unimpressed eyebrow, Percival intercepted it with a horizontal slash, pushing his sword aside and leaving him open.

"Like that," the young man simply said, "When your opponent attacks, you can use their momentum to push their weapon out of the way with your own and instantly follow up with an attack to your opponent. You can combine this move with evading or blocking, as that is the safer way of parrying.

"And last but not least is the counter move, or, more accurately, the single temple defense. This is a risky technique, even more than the evasion. Your particular attack will cut your opponent's. For example, Percy will attack me again."

Percy sighed silently so Percival wouldn't hear, and cut slowly downwards from the air. Percival raised his silver sword to block it, but instead of aiming for the sword, Percival aimed at his wrists. They stopped before they hit each other, Percy, on his part, tensing at the close proximity between his fingers and the deadly edge of a sword.

"If the opponent uses a downward cut on me, I can use a horizontal cut to block it while at the same time attacking my opponent. See what I mean? Now, practice these moves with a partner so I can silently judge you and decide what to do with you."

Some campers laughed at the joke, though Percy couldn't tell if that was a joke since Percival looked confused when they laughed.

Afterwards, the campers all dispersed, in search of their own partners. Percy almost joined them, but Percival was faster, so he held back a sigh when he felt a hand gripping his shoulder as he turned around.

"You're with me, Mr. Jackson," Percival said, "I want to see how you fight properly. Come."

Without looking back or sheathing his sword, Percival strode on ahead to the middle of the arena. Some of the campers who heard the order (because really Percival wasn't asking) turned to stare, clearly eager to see what would happen.

'Suck it up,' Percy thought to himself, turning around as well to follow the trainer further into the arena. He saw a pair of twins- he remembered them from Hermes cabin- giving him cheeky thumbs up. He saw a huge beefy girl, probably be one of Clarisse's siblings, grinning evilly at him. Everyone looked like they were expecting him to trip over on the way, making a fool of himself... well, he wouldn't, he'd make sure of it.

Clearly, Percival wasn't going to give Percy a break just because he was his friend's brother. If anything, the guy probably wanted to work him twice as much, judging from the look on his face as he waited in the middle of the arena.

"Um..." Percy eyed the silver sword in Percival's hand after he reached him. "Aren't you going to-"

"No."

"This is training, right?"

"No," Percival said again, "Pull out Riptide."

"What?" Percy's gaze went blank. Did he hear him right?

"I don't like repeating myself." Percival frowned. "Pull out Riptide, the only sword that's balanced in your hand."

This... didn't look like it was going to end well. "Uh... I didn't bri-"

Percival rolled his eyes. "Your brother had it before you, do you really believe I do not know it will never go missing?"

He tensed. Of course Percival would. "Okay, fine. Is it safe?"

"No. These are swords we're talking about, do not be gutless."

The same irritation that showed up when dealing with Annabeth spiked up again. Were all Athena children super annoying or something? How could Ray deal with this guy?

Scowling, Percy put down the training sword and pulled out his pen, uncapping it. He could never get bored at the fluid transformation- it elongating into a deadly bronze weapon, sprouting a crossguard and comfortable leather hilt popping out of nowhere. He held Riptide, his blade. The sword was perfect in his hand, not too light, but not too heavy either.

"Excellent craftsmanship," Percival lightly commented. Percy was surprised at the compliment, but before he could thank him, Percival added, "Such a shame it is wasted on you."

Percy glared at him.

Percival just grunted, and pointed his sword at him, his free hand on his side. "Come."

Percy didn't move a muscle.

Irritation appeared on Percival's face. "Must I tell you-"

Quickly, Percy stepped forward and swung Riptide in a diagonal slash. Percival wasn't bothered by the sudden move, and responded in kind, blocking it.

"Trickery." Percival clicked his tongue. Percy just glared up at him.

Soon, Percy found out just who exactly had the upper hand. He immediately stepped back when he felt Percival trying to move his sword, but his opponent knew what he was planning, and thrust forward.

His body moved on its own, deflecting the attack without a thought. The two of them stared at each other, Percy still glaring while Percival just raised his chin slightly, looking down at him.

"Your reflexes are good, I must admit," Percival said, sweeping his sword with a flourish. "But you are weak. You have no strength to back up your blade. Your control over it is pathetic."

"...That's uncalled for."

"It is a fact."

Percival slashed from below, cutting upwards. Percy quickly slammed his sword down to intercept, but it was, he realized with dread, a feint. Percival suddenly pulled his sword back, leaving him open to a strike that never came.

"What was that?" Percival asked, annoyed.

Percy blinked, genuinely not expecting a response like that. "What was what?"

Instead of answering, Percival scowled. "That is a weapon, not a toy. Do not treat it as if it's a baseball bat, you imbecile, it is an instrument of war. If you can't even treat it properly, it won't save you. It won't protect you. Come at me, properly this time."

Still a bit confused, Percy swung his sword again.

But, apparently, the way he handled Riptide bugged Percival a bit too much. Not even 2 seconds passed, and Percival had slammed the hilt of his sword to his forehead, making his vision stagger for a split second.

When he gained his bearings, Percy found himself on his butt on the ground, Percival frowning at him.

They stared at each other. Then Percival finally said, "...Go find a partner and practice."

Just like that, the guy walked past him without another word, sheathing his sword as he did.

~0~

Percival never said another word to him until sword training ended, so he never said a thing in return. After the lesson was over, Percy headed on over to the infirmary to have his bump checked, as several of the other campers in the training had told him.

So after putting cold ice on it, he quickly went to the front of the Keepers' base, where he found his older brother waiting there.

Ray sighed when he came into view. "Dang it, when Alexa said Perce gave you a bump I thought she meant a fist-bump, not a freaking head injury."

"That's a bit too optimistic."

"...Maybe." Ray ran a hand through his hair. "I'll talk to Percival later about his... actions."

"No, please don't." Percy winced. "He already called me gutless, if he thinks I complained to you he'll think I'm a whiny brat."

Ray gave him a look that suggested he disagreed, but he didn't say it out loud. "Urgh... but still, that was really uncalled for."

Percy just shrugged, ignoring his older brother's glower. He looked around, now noticing a lack of black feathers. "Where's Stalker?"

"...In my office. Doing Stalker things."

"Which means...?"

"Doing what Stalker does." Ray shrugged. "Once I put a hidden camera to see what he does when alone, and the first thing he did after left alone was fly over to where I hid the camera, pull it out, and throw it on the floor."

"Nice." He grinned.

"Hm. He's a cheeky bird, that's what he is. Let's go, it's time for your second class- power manipulation."

Together, they entered the base, going down the cave, and into the monster-infested room.

Percy opened his mouth to ask what had his brother been doing since morning, honestly curious, but he heard a muffled sound... a sound he hadn't heard for a year, bringing back memories of home, playing together with his brother in their living room.

"...Three six nine, damn damn fine!" the muffled voice sang- it came from the secret door into the base, Percy noticed. "Move and sing it to me one mo time... Get low! Get low get low..."

"What the...?" he trailed off, confused. Unnatural coldness engulfed him, and he instantly knew Ray cloaked them in the Mist.

It was dark in the cave, he still couldn't see in the dark, but he was pretty sure his older brother grinned at him. "This is Marcus' turn with the music speakers, and I commend his taste in music."

"But isn't this from Underground? The bm dur dur song."

Ray grinned. "Yep. Which is why he prefers the clean version, since the reason he got into this song was from Underground. Ahh... Underground. Do you remember when we used to play that? Sorry I had to give the PS2 away. I saw several monsters stalking around the apartment whenever we played, so I don't want to take any chances."

"So that's why my PS disappeared."

"Don't worry though." Ray's voice was placating. He could imagine his brother was holding his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "Marcus has been making a Playstation replica, with its online properties removed so the possibility of a monster showing up is significantly reduced."

"Nice!" He grinned wider. "I can beat your butt again in Crash!"

"Oh, you know N-Gin's weapon is broken. That thing's overpowered."

"...Drop dat butt- hey! Shake it fast- hey! Pop dat booty to the left and to the right- hey! Drop dat butt- hey! Shake it fast- hey! Pop dat booty to the left and to the right- hey!"

The monsters didn't seem to be bothered by it though. From the sounds he heard, they just shuffled around aimlessly in the huge cave. Were they fed by the Keepers to guard the base? He started to wonder why they were willing to stay here, though maybe it wasn't willing willing per se, but maybe tricked. Maybe they thought this was their home?

He and his brother walked through the secret door, the sound of a guy rapping about seeing butts accompanying them. The rap became louder inside the base, coming from speakers high up on the corridor walls. From the base's main circular room, they went into one of its branching corridors, this one labeled Training Room, Forge, Marcus' Workshop, and Armory.

"Come." Ray tilted his head to the corridor, the coldness dissipating.

At last, they reached the training room door, and ladders going down. The training room looked a lot like the camp's arena- a simple, but huge, rectangular room filled with dummies on the sides, the only difference being small room near the ladders. One side's surface was grass, and the other was concrete. Torches line the wall, lighting the entire arena. The rap was muffled again.

"Wait here," Ray said, walking over to the small room.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm doing what I used to do when I train." Percy could see Ray pressing some buttons on a panel. "...done."

Panels opened up on the grass side, and that one side suddenly lowered into the ground. Water flowed out of the panels, drowning the area that lowered, effectively making a pool of water.

"This is my new training place, you know," Ray suddenly said, walking over next to him. "My last training place's water started glowing, so my desire to touch that disappeared. C'mon."

Percy jogged to catch up. They stood next to the pool of water. Sudden apprehension and excitement puddled in his stomach, turning into nervousness. Learning swordsmanship was one thing, even normal people could do that. Telekinetically manipulating water? He wasn't a water-bender, for one.

Ray turned to him. "Let's start with something simple. Can you make the water move?"

"Sure." He eyed the calm water. "How do I do that?"

"Focus." Percy tried not to roll his eyes. This might as well be a cliché movie. "Heh, don't look at me like that, I'm serious. First time trying to control water properly needs total focus. Get rid of thoughts that trouble you, and fill your head with the sea and the water. Try it."

Biting his lip, he closed his eyes. He tried to get rid of his fear about his brother laughing mockingly if he failed to meet his expectations. He tried not to think about what awaited him in the outside world, after knowing he was a demigod. He thought about the sea, the churning waters, the strong winds pushing to his face. He thought about the great blue expanse.

When Percy cracked open one eye, he didn't see a change of movement in the water.

"Hmm..." Ray hummed. "No, it doesn't seem to work. Yet you clearly blew up the bathroom yesterday, increasing the pressure in the pipes until it exploded. Hm..."

"Let me try again," He said, determined.

"Go on ahead."

Percy tried again, no thinking of tall waves. He had no idea how to do this, no prior experience to do this, other than the feeling of something tugging his gut. Maybe the muscles he used was his stomach?

"No, nothing's happening," Ray mused out loud, making Percy open his eyes to stare disappointedly at the pool.

"Wipe that look off your face, little brother," his older brother said. "I'm not out of ideas yet. Considering your control over water seems to be based on impulse, I think the water will obey your command in either; a, a life or death situation, or b, your emotions."

Percy unconsciously shifted his foot.

"Oh, come on, have some more faith in me. I'd rather shoot myself in the face than willingly put you in a life or death situation. And so, the only other option available is based on your emotions." Ray raised an eyebrow at him, humming. "So... Percy, I think, your uh, your... your hairstyle's dumb."

"...That insult is so stupid I'm embarrassed for you." Percy gave his brother a look. "Much less angry."

"I assure you I have a much better arsenal when I'm actually facing someone I don't like." Ray assured him. "Let me try again. Blue is a girly colour."

He rolled his eyes. "Even a toddler can hurt my feelings more than you."

"Percival thinks you're stupid."

"I'd be surprised if he thinks otherwise."

Ray frowned. "But you're not, though. Don't believe what the prick says."

"I know. I thought you were planning on making me angry?"

"I'm trying. It's harder than you think."

Percy rolled his eyes good-naturedly. They spent the next few minutes with Ray shooting out 'insults' and him deflecting them, while he was trying not to laugh at his older brother's lack of good insults.

"Okay, okay, we really need to start training." Ray chuckled, smiling at him.

"Well, I'm waiting. You're the teacher, not me."

"...You know, there is one way." Ray's smile faded. "It's, well, it's harmless, but you have to trust me."

"You've been asking that same question since yesterday," Percy mumbled, then said the next sentence out loud, "Yeah, I do. Unfortunately."

Ray's mouth twitched. "'Unfortunately'?"

He shrugged, hiding a grin.

"Heh. Whatever. Stay still, this won't hurt."

Ray reached out to his temple. His brother's fingers were… colder than he thought. Ray's face scrunched up slightly, eyes narrowing as he did whatever it was he did.

"What are you doing?" Percy asked.

"Unlocking your potential," Ray muttered.

"Cool."

Ray stared at him, looking bewildered. "Was that… was that a pun?"

"Uh… no?"

"Oh gods. That pun was so… ughh."

"Hey, even if it is, and it isn't, it's mostly unintentional."

Ray snorted. "Yeah, whatevs. Shut up, bro, I'm trying to blend you in with the Force."

"I'm not your bro, bro."

"Well that's what mom said, bro."

"Don't call me bro, bro."

Both of them laughed again, at the utter dumbness of what they were doing. "Okay okay, I'm serious Percy, I'm trying to focus."

"Okay, bro."

"Shut uuup."

He grinned. Ray just shook his head, and focused again. His fingertips went colder.

"Oookay…" Percy said, "So, out of curiosity, just what the heck, exactly, are you doing?"

Ray didn't say anything. Percy opened his mouth to ask again, but his brother suddenly… popped out of existence. One second he was there, and the next, complete with a 'pop' sound, he was gone.

Silence. The feeling of Ray's fingers on his forehead lingered for a few seconds, before they too faded.

"…Uh." He looked around, a sense of foreboding creeping into his head. What happened? "Ray? You there?"

The lack of answers really shouldn't bother Percy that much, but it did. "I'm really hoping this is a joke, brother, for your sake."

He grimaced at the silence, and instinctively reached for his pen. His grimace went… grimacer when he realized his hands were sweating- cold sweat. He had to… well, he had no idea what to do, but he probably needed to find his brother. Suddenly disappearing didn't seem to be a normal thing to do, even if they were far from normal people.

Percy took a step forward, intending to go to the ladder and get out of here, but something decided to block the way. He held his pen tighter, pulling it out, when a swirling mass of darkness formed on the ground between him and the exit.

He thought this 'secret base' was a secret base? Wasn't the word 'secret' literally meant no one knows where it is?

A dog climbed out of the darkness (what the heck, a portal?). At first he thought it was a dog, but then he realized the limbs it used to climb out were a pair of hands, not claws- well, they were still claws, but not legs- ARGH, he wasn't thinking straight!

It was humanoid at least, with a dog head; black snouts and pointy ears, with cold brown eyes. His body was weird, black like a seal, with limbs looking like a mixture of flippers and human fingers. And not to mention the claws, because of course why wouldn't he had claws.

But apparently he didn't want to use his claws, because he reached into the darkness and pulled out a jagged longsword, just before the portal faded. The new monster snarled at him.

"Er…" Percy held his hands up in a friendly gesture. "Can we talk this out? Why are you here?"

The monster howled, and charged at him, sword at his side and ready for a seemingly horizontal slash. Percival had taught him, roughly, about feints so Percy quickly transformed Riptide and braced himself, his own sword at his side.

When the monster swung, Percy quickly intercepted, knowing it wasn't a feint. Their blades met with a clang. He realized with a prick of fear that the jagged bits trapped Riptide, so he couldn't free himself easily. But the beast was the one who had superior strength and Percy found himself being pushed back.

The prick of fear turned into panic. It disappeared as soon as a surge of strength flowed through his veins, a feeling of something wet entering his shoes (ugh… wet socks). The monster realized he wasn't winning anymore and instead of pushing forward, he pushed aside. Percy followed the direction.

The blades separated in a shower of sparks, the monster jumping back. Percy quickly glanced down, and saw that a trail of water leading from his shoes and into the pool. Or… more accurately, coming from the pool and into his shoes.

He looked up again, meeting the monster in the eyes. "You're still not going to tell me how you got in here?"

Instead of answering, the dog-monster snarled viciously, foam dripping down from his mouth.

The monster was either rabid or had rabies. Probably both.

As if to reinforce the image of a deranged monster, Dog (he got tired of calling the monster 'the monster' so Dog it was!) howled and charged at him while holding his sword high in the air. Now empowered by water, Percy felt his confidence coming back up again. Still, his lips thinned, knowing Dog could easily overpower him even with his 'buff', so he dodged the initial attack, then immediately countered with a thrust.

And then Dog caught his blade with his free claw, grinning maliciously at him as he did. Dust flowed down from Dog's palm as he tightened his grip, but the monster didn't seem affected. Percy immediately let go of Riptide as soon as Dog raised his longsword, ready to chop off his head.

It missed completely, and Dog snarled in anger. He hurled Riptide away from them, into the middle of the training arena.

Percy glared at Dog. Prick.

As Dog ran at him again, Percy ran to his sword, frowning when he felt the water's empowering feeling dissipate because he left the watery area. He had to blink to focus himself when the water was fully gone, suddenly fatigued.

Dog's howl shook the tiredness away. Percy quickly snatched up his sword and turned around, just in time to deflect Dog's slash. They slashed and sliced at each other, but he didn't know when to attack, since, apparently, Dog's free hand was pretty much five tiny knives glued together to form a hand. Dog didn't seem to know when to strike properly either.

But Percy knew he would get tired easier, so he quickly weaved around the monster, and led the fight back near the water.

In the corner of his eyes, he could see a trail of water crawling at him, as if knowing he was in trouble. Dog growled, probably annoyed that this half-blood wouldn't die quickly, and slashed at him with his free claw.

Percy jumped back, and immediately felt fresh again- he landed on the water.

Not waiting for the monster to make the first move, he charged, sword low and preparing for an upwards strike. Dog held his sword with both arms, and held it above his head.

Percy quickly made a plan. If he swung now, Dog would definitely bring his sword down too. And even with the water's aid, Percy wouldn't win that match. He stepped into the monster's reach, and quickly stepped aside as Dog cut down.

Percy slashed in retaliation, aiming for the monster's neck.

CLANG!

His eyes widened as the sword bounced off harmlessly from the Dog's skin. He felt as if he just hit a chunk of iron. And his widened eyes widened more when he realized how screwed he was in this situation. Hoping it wasn't as hopeless as he thought it was, he backpedaled back near the water.

Dog's sword got stuck in the ground; either the swing was too powerful or the blade was heavier than he thought. Either way, as the monster wrenched his sword free, Percy was determined he wouldn't get cut by that. A single strike was enough to cut him in half.

Dog howled, and charged at him again. Knowing that both attacking and blocking Dog was useless, Percy jumped back, deeper into the pool, wincing at the cold water.

And then the coldness of it just struck an idea into his head.

He remembered yesterday, when Ray revealed his parentage- his older brother froze the door with water, probably so nobody would enter at the wrong time. He had controlled the water, making it flow out of the water gallon, onto the water, and Percy could still remember the exact moment it froze, frost and mist rolling out.

Dog was swinging his sword wildly, tongue out and saliva flying all over the place. And he was running straight at him.

Again, Percy had no idea how to do this. But Ray said his control was based on impulse. Now, he was no genius, but he at least knew that it meant his control was based on split-second decisions. And now when he had run out of options, with a seemingly invulnerable enemy, and quickly tiring down, this was a time for some split-second decisions.

'Get colder,' Percy thought, imagining he was talking to the water. He really hoped the change of temperature around his calf was real. 'Colder.'

Dog stepped into the water so hard it jumped around his leg.

A tug in his gut. 'Freeze him!'

The water jumped on the monster as if it was a living being. It coiled around Dog like a snake, and with sounds of cracking ice, froze itself, trapping the monster inside, with his sword raised high in the air. Dog's eyes were wide inside the ice, surprised frozen into his face.

Percy took a deep breath, lowering Riptide. He instantly tensed again when he heard more cracks, but this time, the cracks appeared on the ice. Realizing Dog was about to break free, Percy gathered more water around him again, masses of constantly moving light blue swirling around him as a barrier of sorts, ready to strike again.

The ice Dog monument (that looked a lot like poo) exploded in a cloud of mist, sending shards of ice flying everywhere. Percy thrust his hand out like it was second nature, and the water around him obeyed, shooting themselves into the mist.

But then they stopped. He could feel his control over them being… overtaken by something more powerful than he was.

The tendrils of water in the air suddenly evaporated. He heard coughing inside the mist- familiar sounds- and when both the coughing and the mist faded, Percy stared…

…at his older brother, who was sitting on the ground and rubbing his throat.

Ray coughed again. "Dang it, I was taking a breath. I can feel ice in my throat! Blergh!"

Percy paused, still trying to process what just happened. Dog was inside the ice, he was sure of it.

But then, it clicked. Ray's cold hands before he disappeared, his disappearance itself, Dog's sudden appearance. Ray's words before he disappeared- you have to trust me.

He realized what just happened. Orbs of water rose from the pool as he raised Riptide.

Ray saw what he was doing. He sent him a hesitant smile. "Uhh… Percy? It worked, didn't it?"

Percy lowered his blade, pointing at him. The balls of water followed his command, throwing themselves at his brother.

"Mercy!" Ray cried out, right before the water slammed to his face.

~0~

"Nicely done, Percy!" Ray cheerfully said, an ugly purple bump in the middle of his forehead, courtesy of Riptide's hilt. "It took me several months to be able to freeze water, you know. I can tell you're a natural."

Percy rolled his eyes, releasing his control over the water he froze above the pool. He muttered under his breath, "Jerk."

Ray heard him, of course. His older brother's shoulders sagged as if he just declared that he hated him with all his heart. "I'm sorry."

Percy inwardly groaned, knowing how futile it was to stay mad at his brother. Well… it did work, and now he could easily control the water as easily as breathing, but still...

"You know I won't willingly put you in a life or death situation, Percy," Ray said, in a tone suspiciously close to pleading. "But I can't anger you, either. I had to make you think you're in a life or death situation."

"What, you think I'm not angry at you right now?"

His brother looked down again. "I'd be blind if I don't. But you have to understand- this is the best and most harmless way you can learn to use water properly."

And the absolute best freakin' thing was, Percy had a feeling his brother was right. He didn't want to be put in a real life or death situation, though that Dog illusion felt real as heck. And, well, he really preferred it if Ray didn't make him angry for him to use water. If that happened, he'd probably lose control or something, and Ray would get hurt.

Huh. Now that he remembered it…

"Hey Ray."

"Yeah?" Ray asked back excitedly, eager to make things right again.

Percy inwardly winced at that. Tricking him wasn't his first choice, but he would take that over the other alternatives any day- his brother shouldn't feel bad. "I was just wondering, when I sliced at your neck earlier, it bounced off like I was hitting metal with a baseball bat. How did you do that?"

"Oh, that trick? It doesn't include any fancy-schmancys or anything, I just made a shield on my neck. Lemme show you." Ray tilted his head, showing as ice started to cover his neck,. "See?"

He stared at the ice. That… didn't look pretty thick.

Now that he thought it over, in hindsight, the only one in real danger was… Ray. The only one with a real weapon was him, his older brother was just flailing around a fake sword made of ice and water- water when Ray attacked so it could pass through Percy if it hit, and water when he was in the defensive- like when their swords locked.

Percy internally shuddered to think what would happen if Ray wasn't able to block his attacks. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he hurt his brother.

"You know…" he said, changing the subject. "You're not bad with a sword, Ray."

Ray chuckled to himself, a weird mixture of nervousness and amusement. "No I'm not."

"Uh… yes you are. You blocked all my attacks, remember? And I wasn't holding back at all."

"No," Ray repeated, as water flowed up into his open hand and formed a sword. A water sword- a harmless cool thing. It floated in mid-air, suspended right above his older brother's palm. "I'm not. I'm not good with swords. That fight? I'm telekiteni- teleke- I moved the sword with my mind, not my hand."

Percy grinned when Ray's tongue stumbled on that particular word, but his words interested him. "Can I see it?"

"See me fight? Okay… but what do I fight?"

Percy uncapped Riptide. "Me, duh."

"What?" Ray looked as if he just swallowed a lemon. "No, I absolutely refuse."

"C'mon, it'll be fun."

"Uh, no it won't."

"Yes it will."

"No it won't."

"Yes it will."

Ray sighed. "Why do you want it so bad, anyway?"

Percy shrugged. "I'm just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat." Ray pointed a finger at him, but the sword beside him didn't disappear. "If you want proof, remember that Cookies was too curious for her own good, and she got ran over by a car."

"Don't remind me of that. I still miss her sometimes."

Oh Cookies. She was just a little kitten when he picked her up and brought her home, years ago. He should've kept an eye on her better, so she didn't run out of the apartment as soon as she saw the door opening and got herself killed.

"Besides," Percy continued, coming back to the present. "I'm not a cat. Curiosity can't kill me."

"You know that's just a saying, Percy."

"C'mon… just a few minutes? Why don't you just go into the defensive while I attack you, if you're that worried?"

Ray let out a long groan- it sounded like he was whining. "Fine, fine. Just… be careful, alright?"

"I should be the one saying that to you, brother."

His older brother rolled his eyes, and put his hands in his hoodie pocket. Ray went into a relaxed stance, but his purple eyes were vigilant, staring at him. The sword beside him- a jagged longsword like before- froze, turning into a solid state, and flew in front of Ray, spinning in place.

Percy took this as his cue. He charged and swung Riptide in a downward slash.

Ray didn't even blink, and his sword changed position to intercept.

Percy felt the power behind Ray's illusion before, but it honestly still surprised him when he saw a single floating sword being able to hold back against him. Without the illusion, it was as if his mind opened up and realize, wait a second, this is ice, and ice is cold.

Riptide's hilt slowly became colder. Knowing that Ray wouldn't attack him, he broke off first from the lock and struck again, this time in a horizontal arc. Like before, the frozen blade changed position to block. Percy kept attacking and attacking and Ray's sword kept blocking and blocking. And it didn't even seem to melt- if anything, the sword seemed to be getting colder, frost flowing off from its smooth blue surface.

"Okay," Percy panted, wiping sweat off his forehead, and capping Riptide. His arms ached, his breathing was out of control, and images of a warm bed kept flashing in his head, but he was grinning widely. "That was awesome."

Ray merely raised an eyebrow as his own flying sword melted and evaporated. "I guess. Are you okay?"

"Hoo, yeah, I'm fine. Just… let me catch my breath."

His older brother turned to look at the room with the panel before, and water slithered on the ground and into the room. When it pulled back, it carried a bottle of water with it. Ray picked it up, held it in his hands for a second, and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he panted, taking it. Cold water, nice. Ray nodded, looking worried at him. Percy tried not to roll his eyes.

He drank like, half of it, before pulling the bottle from his lips and asked a question. "How were you able to control it that easily? I had to move my arm around like a Jedi just to make the water move."

Ray shrugged. "I've been training in secret since I was ten. It's the only thing I'm good at, other than, you know, Mist-y things."

"Wow… you've been doing this since ten?"

"That is what I just said, yes."

He grinned at his older brother's dry tone. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why ten?"

Ray shrugged again. "It was when my school got attacked. Mom got extremely worried so he sent me and Percival to camp. Buuut since we were worried something would come for you, mom and you came along too."

"Oh." He remembered it now. "The… fire?"

"Yes." Ray nodded. "I… still don't know what caused it, to be honest. Percival was knocked out somewhere near the school, so he didn't know what either. The only one that seemed to know what it was is Chiron, but… I can't help but feel that he had something to do with it."

"What? Why?" If Chiron caused his older brother to be traumatized by fire, got a hole in his stomach, and had to take medicines every week then he wouldn't be very happy.

His brother shrugged. "Oh, you know, subtle things here and that. I can see he felt guilty about something whenever we talked. Side glances whenever we talked about what happened when I was ten. The fact that there is no document that detailed on whatever happened on that day, and mortal news' explanations were all different. Gas explosion, short circuit, raving madman… you name it."

"Oh." Still, he felt uncomfortable now that they talked about this. When he saw Chiron, he immediately thought the old centaur looked like a wise old man. You know, like… Dumbledore, maybe. "Can we trust him?"

Ray had to think before answering. "For now… yes. His guilt- whatever it is- is connected to me somehow. It's one of the major reasons I'm allowed to make this group- he probably felt he owed me or something. Though to be fair, he probably thought the Keepers weren't going anywhere in the beginning. "

"Okay." He forced himself to relax. Ray knew Chiron longer than he was, and, honestly, even with the illusions and secrets and stuff, he trusts Ray more than anyone else in the world- well, other than mom, of course. "How about that lion-goat-snake monster thing?"

"The Chimera," Ray corrected. "Yes. Percival and I figured our parentage before that, so I think that had something to do with it."

"Percival knows we're Poseidon's kids?"

"Every member of the Keepers do. Well, other than Sophia, but I plan on telling her later."

"Why are you telling them?" Percy asked, now confused.

"The Keepers isn't technically an official organization, but the gods sometimes turn to us if there's a problem they can't handle. Other than, you know, escorting half-bloods to camp. The point is, this group is based on trust between each other- between friends."

"Oh."

"Yes. Don't worry, we can trust them. I mean, when we get paid, the money we have is just shoved in a vault. Whenever a member wants to buy something or just need some money, they can waltz in and take however they want."

"Wow."

"Yes." Ray smirked at him, amused. "Wow. Are you done?"

Percy took a deep breath, and stood straight, putting Riptide in his pocket. "Yup."

"Good. We have about…" Ray glanced at a clock in the room with the panel. "…A half an hour left in our class, but I can see you're tired, so why don't you go to my office and rest? I know how uncomfortable it feels to be in sweaty clothes, so I'm going to bring you some fresh clothing. There's a shower in the base, just follow the signs."

Percy grinned. It was nice to have a brother in Ray's position. "Yes, sir."

~0~

After taking a shower while listening to Chingy's IDo (he felt like he was in a garage watching a souped-up import car), a 15 minute nap in Ray's office, and a quick snack of several cheese sandwiches, Percy went back to the camp's main ground and searched for Annabeth, for his Greek history class.

At last, he found her, sitting in front of the Athena cabin, reading a book about architecture, like she did the day before, and probably the day before that too. Percy looked around carefully, just in case a certain blond, sword-hilt-smacking-loving, German demigod was near. When he caught a glance of Percival teaching in the arena, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"You're not late," Annabeth said, actually sounding disappointed.

Percy shrugged. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Unfortunately," she muttered, which he raised a confused eyebrow at.

They went into the cabin, where he saw some of Annabeth's siblings reading books or writing in books. They ignored him, something he was grateful for. Their learning was uneventful- well, anything else was uneventful compared to what happened earlier that day (Dog's deranged howls echoed in his ears- he forgot to ask just what was the monster Ray became an illusion of). Other than the weird feeling of saying gods in present tense and several headaches of reading too much, Annabeth shooed him away at the end of their class.

The rest of the day, he tried looking for activities he was good at. Chiron had approached him and offered to train him in the ways of the bows and arrows. But after not even a minute of training where one of the arrows had somehow missed and bounced until it lodged itself into Chiron's behind.

They agreed that archery wasn't his thing.

Percy then tried doing wrestling, but Clarisse was a regular attendee of wrestling class, so whenever he went into the mat, Clarisse always raised a hand so she could beat the crap out of him.

Nothing else interesting happened that day, other than some other things he tried for. Footracing? The nymphs easily beat him. Metal-working? The only thing he could make was annoying metal sounds as he tried to make something. Stealing? He… didn't try it. He didn't really want to know if he was good at it.

In the afternoon, after several more failed try-outs, he found Grover sitting near the canoe lake, watching some naiads weave some basket, so he joined him. Hesitantly, he asked how things went with him and Mr. D.

Surprisingly, Grover shrugged in a nonchalant way. "I didn't get a searcher's license."

"Oof. I'm sorry, man. I heard you wanted to be… why aren't you looking worried right now?"

Grover looked at him, and- out of all things- grinned at him. "Oh, he said I succeeded in bringing you in. I just refused the searcher's license."

"What? Why?"

"Like I said, I didn't feel good about using your situation to make things easier for me. I refused. I wanted to prove myself, you know? So, I'll finally get my searcher's license properly if I go with you on a quest and succeed…" And then nervousness hit Grover like a train. "Uh, that is, if you want me to go with you. I mean, I understand if you don't- I mean, if I were you, I wouldn't want me to come with me, so I totally under-"

"Grover!" Percy had to shook his best friend's shoulder. "I'll be glad if you go with me."

"I… I mean, I didn't really do anything useful the last time we were in trouble, Percy."

"Bullcrap. You were plenty of help. I'll gladly take your help any day, G-man."

Grover smiled weakly at him, then turned back to look at the naiads. "Thanks, Percy. But… I really don't have any useful skill."

Percy tried to assure him that, yes, he did have plenty of useful skills, but Grover just looked glummer the longer the topic dragged on. So, in an effort to cheer his furry friend up, Percy changed the subject into something else. When dinner's horn came in, they were in the process of talking about the pros and cons between the Nissan Skyline GT-R (Grover's chosen car in Underground) and the Mazda RX-7 (Percy's chosen car in Underground).

They bid each other goodbye as they went to separate places, preparing for dinner.

~0~

A/N : Only sub-plots for now, boyos. Please review.