I actually got a proper night's sleep for the first time since I left home. When I woke up, it was still pretty early, so I figured I'd freshen up a bit. The camp's facilities were, like, a luxury compared to what I'd seen on my travels, and the chance to wash off all that grime felt amazing.

Once I was done, I noticed that Luke was the only other person up. He waved me over, and I strolled over to him, ready for whatever the day had in store. But then, his eyes went wide like he'd seen a ghost or something.

"Hey," I said casually, arching an eyebrow. "What's up?"

Luke just stared at me, his confusion on full display. "Icarus?" he finally blurted out.

I shrugged. "Yeah, that's me. What's the deal?"

"Your eyes... they changed colour," Luke murmured, still trying to process what he was seeing.

I made my way toward the archery range before answering.

"Really? Wow, I never noticed."

Luke continued to scrutinize my eyes, his brows furrowing. "Yeah, last night they were dark, practically black. Right now, they're... orange?" He stepped back, trying to make sure he wasn't just seeing things.

The archery range was empty, no wonder, it was pretty early

"I don't know and don't care. They've been like that since the day I was born." I replied as I searched for a practice bow suitable for me. Finding one satisfactory, I grabbed a couple of arrows.

"Really? Don't the Mortals get freaked out?" Luke asked me curiously.

I couldn't help but wonder if Luke was truly that dense. I mean, the guy had been on a quest, spent five years at this camp, and held the position of counsellor for cabin eleven. Yet, his questions were all so... well, let's just say they weren't the brightest. It made me seriously question whether all children of Hermes were this perplexingly oblivious.

I stood in perfect posture, my concentration unwavering as I knocked an arrow and carefully adjusted my aim. "Mist," I answered, and in an instant, I released the wooden arrow. It cut through the air with exacting precision, finding its mark dead centre in the bull's eye. Long-range weaponry had always been my forte, and it was no surprise that my accuracy was as flawless as ever.

Luke whistled in delight and clapped his hands in encouragement. I just ignored him and continued shooting arrows.

Halfway through my archery practice, a couple of Apollo's kids, along with Aphrodite's. Soon Annabeth and Perseus followed. Annabeth tried helping him to the best of her abilities, but it really seemed like he was hopeless at archery. He did seem to get a tad better (which meant he managed to shoot his arrow to the ground near the target rather than attacking any passerby), but his practice ended right after that because the Apollo kids demanded to use the archery area. These annoying Apollo kids trying to 'perfect' their archery skills.

"You're good with archery Icarus. You know, you might just be a child of Apollo," Luke remarked. I didn't reply, choosing to observe my surroundings.

Luke laughed awkwardly, attempting to break the awkward silence that had settled between us. "You definitely aren't a Hermes kid, that's for sure. Well, Artemis, Hera, and the big three are out of the question. That leaves us with Demeter, Athena, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Ares. Mr. D would have recognized you if you were his kid."

He frowned as he continued, "Your eyes, Icarus... they're light blue now. I'm really confused. I haven't seen anyone's eyes change colour this fast."

I changed the topic quickly. "Who do you think I share more of my traits with?"

I was leaning on Ares, Apollo or Athena. They made the most sense to me.

"I can't predict like that, Icarus," Luke coughed. "But hey, Percy's hitting the track. You should join him."

He pointed toward Perseus, who seemed pretty wiped out and not too thrilled about more running. There was also a wood nymph next to him, giving Perseus a disapproving look. Truth be told, he wasn't exactly breaking any speed records.

Luke insisted I tag along, and with some reluctance, I agreed. In the end, I managed to keep just ahead of the wood nymph, thanks to my years of running experience, but Perseus was definitely lagging behind.

"Not bad, but not good either, Icarus. And Percy, you know you lost to a tree, right?"

Perseus looked sheepishly at the ground, his face flushed with embarrassment.

When we took a break and sat on the benches of the sword's arena, a group of girls gathered around us, giggling among themselves as they pointed towards us.

"Why're they laughing at us? I know I didn't do that well, but if they haven't run for a long time, I doubt they would do any better," Perseus mumbled as he wiped his brow with sweat.

Luke chuckled, "Well, Perce, I'm afraid they're not laughing because of that. Or the two of us, for that matter. They're laughing for a very different reason." I could only roll my eyes at him.

Later we practised with close-range weapons as well, soon realising that it was one of Perseus's strengths. I wasn't as gifted in those areas as he or Luke were. Even though Hermes wasn't known for his prowess with swords, Luke was quite brilliant with it. Honestly made me wonder just how much he had practiced.

The day ended with Luke and the other senior trainers pushing us through various tasks and checking our progress. I was relatively better than Perseus, but that was just because I had loads of more experience compared to him.

This also helped a lot with guessing who my possible parent could be. Since I didn't have any proficiency in medicine, I ruled myself out of Apollo. So, the possible ones were Ares and Athena.

Interestingly, the others had different opinions. Chiron thought I could be Apollo's son, as I was quite good at archery and spear-throwing. He also thought I could be Aphrodite's as my eyes changed colour, which was a feature of Aphrodite's kids, but even theirs didn't change colours as fast as mine did.

I initially considered the possibility of being a child of one of the "Big Three" gods. However, a conversation with Grover, a nervous young satyr, shed some light on the matter. Grover explained that there was a pact among Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades not to have any more children, as their offspring tended to possess extraordinary powers and could alter the course of civilization. A prominent historical example was the Second World War, which had secretly been a conflict between the children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side and the offspring of Hades on the other, all vying for control over the mortal world. They'd even sworn on the river Styx to seal the deal.

I also found out why there was a pine tree guarding the Camp's boundaries and why Grover was so hell-bent on keeping Perseus safe. My conversation with them led me to believe that both Perseus and Grover seemed like decent folks, but honestly, I wasn't here to make friends.

By dinner time, I was tired and eager to finish dinner and head off to bed. Again, I offered the juiciest part of my steak to all the gods and found a seat. I did my usual thing, offering the best part of my steak to the gods before finding a seat. Annoyingly, I ended up right next to the Aphrodite table, where the constant giggles and flirting were enough to drive anyone up the wall. But just when I was about to lose it, the Stoll brothers came to my rescue.

"You've got yourself some admirers, Icarus," one of the mischievous brothers, I think it was Connor, teased, laughing it up.

I shot them a look but didn't say a word, focusing on my meal instead.

"Come on, don't be such a downer," the other one chimed in. "You should be over the moon."

I raised an eyebrow, sceptical.

They both grinned. "We're gonna win, Rus."

"Stop calling me that," I muttered under my breath. Inside, though, I couldn't help but groan. Today was the day when the two teams would battle it out for a rag.

I did have a talk with Chiron about it, but he refused to listen to me. He even went as far as to threaten me with a month's worth of extra chores if I didn't participate in the game. And I needed that time to practice, which meant that I had to comply. Why was this stupid game so important to him in the first place?

Chiron announced the teams. Athena had allied with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins. Privileges had been traded—shower times, chore schedules, the best slots for activities—to win support.

Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Demeter, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus.

From my observations, Dionysus's children, somewhat surprisingly given their pot-bellied deity of a parent, proved to be quite adept athletes, though there were just two.

Demeter's offspring weren't the type to be competitive or hostile. And well, Aphrodite's kids seemed more preoccupied with admiring themselves, frequently checking their reflections in the lake, engaging in hair care, and gossiping, (and giggling and blushing at me, of course), so I doubt they'd be a concern.

Now Hephaestus's children, on the other hand, were huge and crazy strong from their daily work in the metal shop. Additionally, their array of tools could be a challenge for us. Ultimately, the most daunting group was Ares's cabin, housing a dozen of the largest, most menacing, and fiercest guys. Everything about them annoyed me, their arrogance, unnecessary aggression, and their constant need to bully someone.

Whatever.

It would be best to not get into a fight with them.

So basically, to avoid doing something I'll regret, I just needed to steer clear of Hephaestus's, Ares's, and Dionysius's cabin. Shouldn't be too hard.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek's the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are permissible. You must display the banner prominently and appoint no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and I suddenly covered the tables with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, and ox-hide shields coated in metal.

I was going to pick one of the long bronze swords before a voice stopped me.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Turning around, I saw Annabeth clasping the leather buckle of her armour. When I didn't reply, she turned her frosted grey eyes towards me and shrugged when I raised an eyebrow. "Close-range melee is not your strong suit and since you're a beginner, you shouldn't be using a real blade."

My irritation grew with each passing moment as I stared at her. While her first suggestion made sense, her second statement really rubbed me the wrong way. If I was a beginner, what did that make her? I'd faced and taken down more monsters than she could probably even imagine. But I wasn't one to boast about my abilities, and frankly, I couldn't care less about these silly games.

"Sure."

"By the way, Percy and Icarus, you two will be by the creek near the forest end. Got it? Don't attempt to initiate any unnecessary combat," she commanded.

"And here I was, about to go attack Ares's cabin. Gee, thanks Annabeth for such useful suggestions." Perseus grumbled.

Annabeth just rolled her eyes in reply, though I could see a hint of a smile.

I ended up taking a wooden spear and a metal shield along with full body armour accompanied by the blue-coloured horsehair helm that all of our teammates wore. In other words, I looked ridiculous. Whatever I guess, I couldn't say anything.

So here I was, standing by the creek near the forest end with Perseus beside me, who might have looked even more ridiculous wearing the costume than I did. The air was thick with humidity, and fireflies danced around, creating intermittent bursts of light in the darkness. Occasionally, a distant, eerie howl from a monster echoed through the woods…. It was eerily silent for a war game and I had a feeling I knew what was about to happen.

On the other side of the creek, the underbrush blew up. Five Ares kids burst out of the darkness, their voices raised in battle cries.

"Cream the punk!" Clarisse's shout led the charge as she sprinted towards Perseus, who swiftly raised his shield in defence. Her helmet obscured most of her face, except for her intense, angry pig-like eyes, which peered through the narrow slits. In her hands, Clarisse held a menacing five-foot-long spear, its barbed metal tip ominously glowing with a fiery red hue. By her side, her fellow Ares siblings brandished their standard-issue bronze swords, ready for the impending skirmish.

As I moved to assist Perseus, a small bomb suddenly detonated beside me, causing me to jolt in surprise. When I turned to face the noise, I narrowly dodged a wooden sword aimed straight at my arm. I found myself caught between two of the burly Hephaestus kids who had closed in on me. Alright, so this was her strategy? To fight bullpower against brains? No, that couldn't be it. She was here with two Hephaestus guys to keep me from helping Perseus while she maims him.

"Listen up. You could put your weapons down and I could go help my teammate or you could try to fight and get thrashed by me. The choice is yours." That seemed to piss the Hephaestus kids further, and they attacked with newfound energy.

"Time's up, Icarus," Shane's voice called out from behind his red-plumed helmet as he swung a fist at me. While I wasn't exactly a wrestling champ, I could dodge a punch or two and throw some moves of my own. But what set me apart from most of these camp kids was my experience. I mean, I'd faced like six monsters at one point, so I had a bit of an edge.

Seeing that the two brutes were, let's say, not the speediest, I decided to go on the offensive. I dropped my shield, freeing up one of my hands, and let my battle instincts kick in.

I dodged the incoming punches and sidestepped the other attacks from the two burly Hephaestus kids. Quickly, I seized one of them by the wrist and applied an impulsive twist, resulting in a satisfying "SNAP" sound as he groaned in pain. With his torso now shifted, I delivered a jab to his waist using my knee, followed by an immediate kick to his bent knee, causing the leg to lose contact with the ground. The boy fell face forward, incapacitated. In the distance, I could hear Perseus doing his best against Clarisse and her troglodytes.

I swiftly delivered a hard bash to the skull of the remaining Hephaestus kid using my spear's handle. Blocking his punch, I then poked the sharp wooden end of my spear into his abdomen. He bent forward in pain, providing me with an opportunity to grab the back of his head and forcefully bash his face into my waiting knee. With a well-timed elbow strike to his back, I sent him tumbling to the ground.

Meanwhile, Shane had recovered and was about to launch another attack when we heard cries of joy. We both turned to see Luke holding the red team's banner aloft. They had successfully crossed the creek, securing victory for the blue team.

"Well, that went just amazing," the other one remarked, slowly getting up and giving his shoulders a dust-off before taking off his helmet.

"Charles?" I blinked, a little taken aback.

"You're never gonna call me Beckendorf, are you?" he asked, to which I just shrugged in response.

Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. And we picked up our supplies as we went towards the tools shed to keep all that we took. We were just two meters away from the creek when we heard a growl.

I came to an abrupt halt, my heart pounding as I twisted my neck in the direction of the growl. What I saw made my blood run cold. Two massive, rhino-sized hellhounds with jet-black fur, razor-sharp fangs, and eyes that burned with fiery intensity stood no more than seven meters away from us. They fixed their unwavering focus on... Perseus? So, we had a couple of big problems on our hands. First off, these weren't your run-of-the-mill dogs; these were straight-up hellhounds, like, from the fields of punishment, you know? Secondly, they were here with one seriously sinister agenda — they seemed dead set on getting a taste of Perseus's blood. Talk about a rough situation.

Chiron's voice rang out in ancient Greek, "Stand ready! My bow!" His command came just in time as the hellhounds surged forward with an insatiable thirst for blood. They charged directly towards Perseus, their fiery eyes burning with malevolence.

And even though I wasn't exactly a people person, I couldn't just stand by and let the kid bite the dust. So taking control of the situation, I pushed the two Hephaestus kids aside and rushed towards Perseus. Just in the nick of time, I swung around and struck one of the hounds with my spear as its menacing jaws came dangerously close to my back. The hellhounds hesitated for a moment, their fiery eyes locked on me, uncertain about their next move.

But I wasn't about to give them the upper hand. I charged toward the nearest hellhound, determined to keep them away from Perseus. With my spear at the ready, I lunged forward to strike. However, in a matter of moments, the hound grabbed the back of my T-shirt and flung me into the air like a frisbee.

I was soaring through the air, my entire body suspended, and I just let that sensation completely surround me. I twisted my body, doing a backflip about three meters from the ground, and positioned my spear beside me. The gasps of those around me were barely registered in my mind as my focus remained fixed on the unsure hellhound below. It had stilled as if shocked by my actions.

Midfall, I pulled my arm behind my head and positioned my spear. Everything happened in slow motion as I threw the wooden spear straight into the mouth of the closest hellhound and descended after it. The fiery red eyes of the beast widened in shock as it realized my plan. I followed the spear's trajectory, descending alongside it, and landed on the hellhound. The creature convulsed as its life force drained away, and by the time my first foot made contact with the massive dog, it burst into a cloud of golden dust. The remnants slowly dissipated into nothingness.

Meanwhile, Perseus had tried to assist me. He lunged forward with his sword, attempting to strike the other beast and divert its attention away from me. However, the hellhound had different plans. With a vicious swipe of its massive paw, it sent Perseus flying through the air. He soared through the night, screaming, towards the camp's lake. He became silent upon falling into the lake, and my worry only grew.

I picked up my fallen spear and turned to face the hellhound. It hesitated for a moment, its fiery eyes fixated on me, and I could see a glimmer of uncertainty in its monstrous gaze. It seemed unsure of whether to continue the attack or back off. But as I prepared to defend myself, the hesitation turned into anger. Suddenly, the hellhound lunged straight at me, a vicious snarl on its monstrous face. I tried to react, but I was a tad bit late. The massive creature slammed into my chest with incredible force, and I completely lost my footing

Looking towards the hound, I saw my fallen spear lying on the ground while the hound was running straight towards me before a wave of water attacked it and, giving one last growl; it burst into golden dust like the previous one. Water? How the hell did that happen?

I couldn't think clearly. Every breath of mine felt like a laborious struggle, and every inch of my body throbbed with pain. As I lay there, disoriented and vulnerable, a crowd of concerned onlookers rushed to my side.

I closed my eyes for a second, as I tried regaining my composure.

I wished she was here now…Cassie.

She'd been with me for years… she was my perfect counterpart and was the only one who could understand me. But she died, and that's just because of...me. Maybe she was waiting in Elysium for me? It's a wild thought. Like, in this mythical place, and there's Cassie, just waiting for her ol' buddy to show up. Maybe.

I knew I shouldn't think about these negative things, but I couldn't stop myself. It was this that I hated about memories. They came back in the most daunting situations of life. Like right now, if she were here, she would be like, "Don't worry dude we'll get through this," and she would've managed to think of some way for us to survive. But she wasn't here, and a part of me seemed to just realise that.

I noticed Charlie and Shane rushing towards me, but they came to an abrupt halt as a faint glow began to emanate from the side. I turned my head, and my eyes widened in shock.

There it was, a glowing green-coloured symbol hovered over Perseus.

A trident was hovering over the shocked boy's head everyone gasped both in shock and surprise. I guess thats the mystery solved why he was good at canoeing. Now we could just leave him in the water and let him show his potential.

"Poseidon," Chiron announced. "Earthshaker, Storm bringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God." Chiron kneeled, and the campers followed suit. I felt happy for the kid and would have bowed too if I was not busy dying.

My ribs were pained, and I gasped at the lack of oxygen. Looked like my time had come. I would have to pay her the three drachmas when she said I wouldn't be able to survive five days without her. It was true because today was the fourth day since she left and I was already dying.

My pained gasp seemed to rouse the two kneeling Hephaestus kids, and they rushed towards me. I attempted to get up on my elbows but fell back, unable to muster the strength. My consciousness was slipping away as my eyelids grew heavy. I was on the brink of losing connection with the mortal world when a brilliant flash of light appeared right above my eyes.

Lightning.

It was something I loved. No, I liked thunder. Thunder, rain, the way clouds get all loud and grumbly, the sound of raindrops hitting the ground, that earthy smell when the sand's soaked in rain, and even daydreaming about stuff like that — they're all just things I had a real liking for. But love? Nah, not quite there yet.

I was gazing at the beautiful sight when, all of a sudden, my world turned bright. There was light everywhere. I could only body felt like it was being thrust into a fire. The pain was momentary, and the feeling disappeared as quickly as it had come before everything cooled down and the surrounding brightness vanished into nothingness.

Above my head, a vivid symbol of a thunderbolt glowed brightly. It emitted a pure, unaltered white light as it rotated lazily on its axis.

It had been done. I had been claimed.

I slowly got up. All my broken ribs, punctured lungs, torn muscles, clots and ruptured blood vessels had healed and I was completely fine. In fact, I was bubbling with energy.

"Lightning Lord, Executioner, Father of Eagles and Bulls. Hail Icarus, Son of the King of Gods." Chiron announced, and everyone around me bowed. Annabeth pulled Perseus along with her, and they knelt around me.

"Well... Shit."

chapter two done, nod

thanks to mah editor magnus! and ofc dev for the story

next chapter next Sunday, :elmotherebel:

have a good day guys!