The next couple of weeks were some of the best of my life. Being head counselor came to me naturally, much to my surprise. Sure, I wasn't the most popular girl in my cabin when having to admonish people for stealing stuff from the Ares cabin and not expect it to come bite them in the butt. I also had to remind the Stoll brothers that setting the Demeter cabin on fire was not an acceptable gesture of friendship, earning some fake groans from the two of them as they dashed off to pull another prank.
For the first time in my life, I felt like I blended in with others, not the freak amongst a bunch of normal people. Even back home, I'd been picked on for being a nerd, and that was just without Holly, Carol, Kathleen, Mandy, and Ilene contributing to it. Sure, adoration from teachers was nice and all, but I was always the girl that ate lunch by herself in the library. I would've sat with Rebecca and Jade, but their electives made it so they had the second lunch, leaving me by myself.
I guess my previous situation could've been worse. I mean, I still had friends and Mrs. Stetson, so it wasn't all bad. But I hated high school, the way I felt like I was being scrutinized under a microscope by all the older kids whose classes I was in. Not my fault I was taking precalc honors in sophomore year, but they still picked on me anyway.
I was broken out of my reverie by a loud clap of thunder booming overhead. The clouds above camp were dark gray and swirling around violently, ready to burst with an incoming torrent. The magical borders surrounding camp would prevent the rain from landing in the valley, but I still thought that the proximity of the lightning was too close for comfort.
Later, as the sun was starting to set, I heard an angry growl rip itself free from a beast's throat. No one else paid it much attention, brushing off the growl as coming from something in the woods. But I knew better, and it appeared Annabeth did as well.
The two of us dashed to the borders, the rain coming down in slanted sheets, making it impossible to see anything. I saw a flash of red before a black, shadowy figure charged forward, its head getting stuck in Thalia and Luke's pine tree.
"We need to help whoever's out there," Annabeth said, gripping the hilt of her dagger tightly. We both winced as the figure pulled back, a loud snap! echoing through the rain. A figure of a child approached the tree, tugging at something with all their might before rolling backward, clinging to the object.
"Give him a chance," I told Annabeth, fighting every instinct in my body that was screaming for me to go help Percy. When it was clear that he had won, I instructed Annabeth to go find Chiron and tell him of what had happened.
Annabeth looked kind of miffed about not getting to fight the monster, but she didn't argue, sheathing her dagger and taking off for the Big House, her blonde curls bouncing as she ran. I moved out of the way, too, not wanting Percy to see me yet. This was a crucial moment in the books, one that I couldn't possibly interfere with unless I wanted to sacrifice the possibility of Percy and Annabeth's relationship.
From a safe distance, I watched as Percy dragged an unconscious Grover towards the Big House, shouting for someone to help him. Some of the nearby dryads took pity on Percy and whisked Grover away, steering him in the direction of the Big House.
I trailed behind Percy, watching as he fell to his back on the porch of the Big House, Chiron and Annabeth standing above him. "He's the one. He must be," she said, looking up at the centaur.
"Silence, Annabeth," Chiron said. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."
Annabeth then expertly stooped down and wrapped Percy's arms around her shoulders, letting the rest of his body drag behind her as she took him inside. I knew she'd bring him down to the former infirmary in the basement, one that was typically reserved for cases like Percy's. It was much easier to convince a new kid that they were at a camp when they woke up in a cot instead of the hospital-esque setting that the infirmary ran by the Apollo children gave off.
It took two days for Percy to wake up. I visited him a few times while he was unconscious, but whenever I thought he was stirring, I'd cloak myself in shadows, allowing for Annabeth to sit down and feed him some ambrosia. She'd been appointed Percy's nurse by Chiron, which she took very seriously, foregoing her schedule to take care of him.
"Prepare a bunk in the Hermes cabin," Chiron had said, giving me a stern look after catching me walk up the stairs from where Percy was resting. I knew he wanted to know why I felt so responsible for Percy, but I kept my mouth shut and merely nodded, promising that I'd be ready to welcome him when he was awake.
Sure enough, Chiron, Annabeth, and Percy showed up at the cabin as we were dressing for our track training. I'd become the track instructor after Chiron learned that I could run a mile without breaking a sweat in a little under four minutes. Perks of training with Hermes.
The door opened and I heard Chiron say, "Cabin eleven. Make yourself at home." We all stood up and bowed in Chiron's direction, dropping whatever we were doing to show our respect. "Well, then," the centaur continued. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."
Chiron trotted away, and we all stood up, watching Percy carefully. I bit back a snicker when he tripped coming in through the door. Once a klutz, always a klutz, I thought to myself, remembering the time Percy had gotten so excited over a bag of blue candy that he tripped over his shoelaces and face planted on a carpet before shouting, "I'm okay!"
"Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven," Annabeth announced, gesturing to the rest of us.
"Regular or undetermined?" Brian, a son of Hermes, asked.
"Undetermined." This was met with everyone groaning.
"Now, now, guys," I said, shushing all the groans. "That's what we're here for. I'll set Percy up for the night. The rest of you go ahead to the track, and you better have done your mile warmup by the time I'm there or conditioning for everyone!"
Everyone groaned again but begrudgingly stood up, not wanting to face my conditioning again. I didn't give out punishments like Kyle did, instead adding time to training to make the campers understand that my kindness wasn't to be taken for weakness.
Percy blinked twice, as if he wasn't registering what he was seeing. "A-Andy?" he asked, taking a step in my direction, still clutching to the Minotaur horn in his hand like a lifeline.
"Hiya, kid," I said with a smile, bracing myself for the inevitable hug I was about to receive.
"I can't believe this," Percy said shakily, burying his face into my orange camp tee to hide from the rest of the campers. "I wasn't expecting to see you here."
"Same here," I lied, ruffling Percy's hair in an older sister fashion. "But I'm glad you're here now. We'll catch up later, I promise, but I need to go teach my class before our cabin mates set the track on fire. Annabeth will finish showing you around. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."
I pulled out another sleeping bag from a small closet in the back of the cabin, setting it directly next to mine. I told Percy he could set his Minotaur horn on my bag, as the campers had learned the hard way about what happened if they tried to steal my stuff.
Annabeth disappeared with Percy, and I rushed off to the track, not surprised to see the rest of the kids lounging around lazily. After a long hour and a half of conditioning, in which I'm sure most of the kids were begging the gods to curse me, I announced that we were done for the day, eliciting a round of cheers from everyone.
I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and poured the rest of my water bottle over my head, mostly to wash off some of my sweat. After drying my face with my towel, I went in the direction of the showers, wanting to clean up before dinnertime.
As I approached the bathrooms, I watched as Clarisse clamped a hand around Percy's neck, dragging him towards the toilets in very much the same way Holly had done to me all those years ago. Good to know that she passed that tradition on, I thought bitterly, catching up with Annabeth.
"Initiation?" I asked Annabeth, wiping my face with the back of my hand.
"Sadly," Annabeth answered, glaring at Clarisse. She then turned to look at me, as if she was remembering something. "Didn't Holly Garfield do this to you, too?"
"Yup," I answered. "But I shadow-traveled away before she could give me a swirly."
"Are you a child of Hades?" Annabeth gasped, her face pale.
"Nope, but my father is the reason I can shadow-travel."
Before Annabeth could ask anything else, the bathroom exploded with a flood of water. Powerful streams of toilet water pushed the rest of the Ares girls out of the bathroom while the showers attacked us, dousing us in freezing cold water. Guess I didn't need a shower now.
Percy staggered out of one of the stalls, perfectly dry and clutching his gut like he was going to throw up. "You're so dead, Prissy!" Clarisse roared, her brown eyes alight with rage.
"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth," Percy spat.
I smirked slightly when I saw her sisters dragging Clarisse out of the bathroom, spewing profanities while campers moved away from her flailing feet. Some things never change, I guess.
Annabeth shivered beside me, but she was staring at Percy with newfound interest. Percy, noticing Annabeth's piercing glare, scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," Annabeth said, locking eyes with me, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."
That night at dinner, I sat next to Percy, who was forced to share a wooden crate with Sheldon since we didn't have enough room on the bench. I wished that Chiron would build a cabin for the unclaimed campers only, as that would free up a lot of space inside the Hermes cabin, but I knew that wouldn't come to pass for another four years until Percy asked the Olympians.
I waited for the Aphrodite cabin to finish giving their offerings before leading my cabin up to the brazier. Percy was watching us with confusion, and after explaining how offerings worked, he joined us and tossed in the juiciest part of his brisket into the flames. He lingered for a few seconds, his lips moving in a silent prayer.
When he took his seat again, I explained how the enchanted cups worked, smiling softly to myself when Percy's cup filled with blue Cherry Coke. I asked my glass to fill up with blue Cherry Coke as well, earning a weak smile from Percy.
"How's your mom?" I asked casually, already knowing the answer. I didn't want to hurt Percy, but I knew it would be weird for me not to say anything about Sally when she and I were good friends.
Percy flinched so hard his knees banged the underside of the table. His eyes were full of pain, giving me a silent shake of his head for a reply. He took another sip of his Coke, staring mournfully at the blue color.
"Oh," I said quietly, pushing my plate aside, no longer that hungry. "When?"
"The Minotaur," Percy said bitterly, stabbing at his broccoli like he had a personal vendetta against the vegetable. "It crushed her into gold dust."
I stayed silent, knowing that Percy wouldn't appreciate some generic "I'm sorry" statement. Plus, it's not like Sally was really dead. She'd be fine by the end of the month.
Percy's fingers went to fiddle with the star and cloud charms around his neck, and whenever his fingers brushed over the cloud, a shock would run through my body. I knew that was the way the charm worked, but now I was wishing that it only used mind messaging. As for the star charm, now that Percy knew he was a demigod, the most its magic could do is mask him to appear like a child of an Olympian that wasn't a part of the Big Three.
Afterwards, Chiron did the whole announcement to the camp about another demigod, in this case, Percy, having made it alive to Camp Half-Blood. Mr. D also added in his own remarks, calling Percy Jackson Peter Johnson for the first time, forcing me to bite the inside of my cheek so I didn't squeal like the fangirl I am.
Say what you will about me, but when you get to live alongside your favorite characters, it's a wonder you're still able to function on a daily basis. I'll admit, I almost passed out from excitement the first time I met Nico di Angelo (long story), but I had learned to mask my emotions as a result of training in lying with Hermes.
When we went back to the cabin after the sing-along, I watched as Kyle handed Percy a bag of toiletries from the camp store. The exchange made me wary, but I figured this was Kyle trying to get better as a person.
I internally scoffed, remembering what I'd found out the night I'd become head counselor. Since Luke was no longer in any position to be the host of Kronos, my father had turned his attention to another son of Hermes, namely Kyle Martin. But according to the books, Kyle was supposed to act like Luke, so I didn't interfere with their budding friendship even though I wanted nothing more than to send him off into space, far away from Percy and Kronos.
"Lights out," I called, giving everyone enough time to get situated before flicking off the light switch, carefully stepping over the campers on the floor as I made my way to my sleeping bag.
Percy was next to me, glaring at the Minotaur horn in his hand. His fingers were running up and down the horn's ridges, but he refused to touch the tip, which was stained a rusty red from the Minotaur's blood. If a wound was superficial enough, a monster could bleed without turning into dust. But in this case, I imagine the horn had caused the Minotaur to bleed at first, and it wasn't until Percy punctured his heart that he finally turned to dust.
"Hey," I whispered softly, catching Percy's attention. "I'm always here if you need me, Percy." I reached over and tapped at the cloud charm, causing him to scrunch his eyebrows together in confusion. "Remember that."
I then snuggled into my own sleeping bag, hoping to get some peaceful rest tonight. Kronos had been invading my dreams for the past week, showing me images of the world on fire as he stood over my dead body, a dagger hilt deep in my chest while also sporting a thick slash mark across my neck. Yeah, someone give him a Father-of-the-Year-Award pronto.
While I wasn't necessarily afraid of all the dreams – I'd be crazy not to fear some of them – they weren't exactly conducive to a good night's sleep, causing me to wake up with dark circles under my eyes. Thankfully, Chiron permitted for head counselors to drink coffee at breakfast, so I'd been running on the stuff for a week.
And luckily for me, I didn't have any dreams that night.
Friday's capture the flag game couldn't come soon enough for me.
Don't get me wrong, I love our sing-alongs and plays, but my favorite evening activities were the ones where things could get aggressive. Chiron had banned chariot racing a few years back after the staggering amount of deaths and injuries, which had been a controversial decision at the time, but had been accepted over time.
When Friday night finally approached, spirits were high all over Camp Half-Blood, especially amongst the Athena and Ares kids. After getting sweet talked by Annabeth about chores and shower slots, the Apollo and Hermes cabins sided with Athena, while Ares got everyone else.
Malcolm was holding the blue team's flag, a silver banner with an owl perched on an olive branch embroidered in the middle. Clarisse held the red team's flag, a dark red banner with a severed boar's head surrounded in barbed wire filling up the flag.
As Chiron went over the rules, I tightened the straps on my armor, not wanting to suffer the same fate as Jemma Howard, a daughter of Demeter, had last week. Someone had seen that Jemma's armor was loose and managed to rip her breastplate off of her with some deft strokes of a spear. Jemma was fine, other than a scratch on her side, but thoroughly embarrassed.
With a matchup like tonight, I wasn't going to risk the chance of my armor getting used as a weapon against me. Epithymia was already in my hand, ready for tonight's game.
"Dirty tricks are to be expected," Chiron announced, earning some chuckles from campers, especially from my cabin. "No maiming or killing, please! Heroes, arm yourselves!"
Chiron waved a hand over a large empty table, weapons magically showing themselves on the wood. I scooped up a fallen dagger to make up for the one I'd given Leo, and stood next to Annabeth and Cleo, the head counselors of the Athena and Apollo cabins, respectively.
"Athena and Apollo will take the offense," Annabeth said confidently. "Hermes will cover defense. I want Andy and Uriah guarding the flag at all times. Anything else you'd like to add, guys?"
"Stay safe, have fun, and let's win this thing!" I cheered, raising my sword up in the air. Everyone else gave one last cheer before dispersing, going to where Annabeth had commanded them to either attack or defend.
Percy was wandering around like a lost puppy, but Annabeth quickly told him he was on border patrol, gesturing to where the creek was. Inwardly I winced, remembering what had happened the last time I was given border patrol at the creek. Percy would be fine, I told myself, picking out a spot for Uriah to plant our flag.
Chiron blew his whistle, and the game began, the sound of cheering and metal clashing filling the air. Uriah and I stood opposite each other at the required distance of nine feet away from the flag, circling around it as we watched out for red-plumed helmets.
"Watch your three!" Uriah exclaimed, grunting as he got punched by someone from the red team.
I caught the edge of Wendy's sword with Epithymia, pushing upward, forcing the blade away from me. We both attacked in a deadly dance consisting of slashing, parrying, and lunging, but I managed to keep her away from the flag.
More members of the red team were coming our way, so I slammed the hilt of my sword at Wendy's chest, sending her stumbling back into a trip wire the Stoll's had rigged up, nasty green goop pouring from a bucket onto her head.
"You're our prisoner now!" Travis Stoll chirped happily, practically having appeared out of thin air.
"This way!" Connor finished, pausing to trip some more of our opponents as he and his brother led Wendy away.
It got to the point where Uriah and I were fighting five campers each at a time, meaning that if we so much as missed a beat, we were dead. By some miracle, the flag was still on its gold pole, shimmering in all its glory.
Just as we were about to be overrun, Chiron blew the whistle twice, signaling that the game was over. The red-plumed campers chucked their helmets to the ground in defeat, but I didn't stay behind to gloat, running towards the creek. A low growl flooded the woods, and I pushed myself harder, needing to be there when the hellhound attacked.
When I found Percy, Annabeth was commenting about the sword cut that had healed on his arm, asking him to step out of the water. The second Percy wasn't standing in the creek, he stumbled and would've landed on his face if Annabeth hadn't caught him.
"Oh, Styx," Annabeth swore, turning to Chiron. "This is not good. I didn't want…I assumed it would be Zeus…"
Another howl tore itself through the forest, killing off any remaining cheers from the campers. We all were tense, preparing ourselves for an attack. Good thing, too, because when I finally saw the hellhound, I knew why Chiron had been so concerned in the book.
This thing had eyes redder than the lava Hephaestus used in his forges and fangs the size of daggers. This wasn't the biggest hellhound I'd ever witnessed, about the size of an adult male rhino, but the way its eyes glowed with intelligence, it sent shivers down my spine.
"Stand ready! My bow!" Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek.
"Percy, run!" Annabeth yelled, drawing her sword and stepping in front of Percy.
It was useless. The hellhound leapt over Annabeth, its meaty paw swiping across Percy's chest, sending him stumbling back. I grabbed my daggers and threw it at the hellhound's neck alongside the arrows that Chiron and Cleo had shot, causing for it to fall at Percy's feet, melting into shadows moments later.
Percy's face was pale as he pressed a hand to his shredded armor, blood starting to seep through. Chiron's face was grim, his fingers white on the string of his bow as he scanned our surroundings, making sure that there weren't any other nasty surprises intent on making demigod delicatessen meat.
"Di immortales!" Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't…they're not supposed to…"
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."
Kyle walked over, the now blue banner still in his hand, his moment of glory forgotten.
Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!" causing me to scoff at her pettiness. What exactly was Holly teaching her younger siblings?
"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her, clearly knowing that she was wrong.
"You're wounded," Annabeth told Percy, grimacing at the amount of blood that had seeped through his armor. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."
"I'm okay," Percy protested, his skin quickly paling from blood loss.
"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."
Percy staggered into the creek, visibly sighing in relief as the water healed his wounds. I looked above his head, smiling softly to myself as a brilliant sea green trident appeared above his head. Around me, campers gasped, staring at the trident in a mixture of fear and awe.
"Look, I-I don't know why," Percy said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry…"
Percy finally realized that we were all looking above his head, causing him to turn to Annabeth, who pointed up and said, "Percy, um…"
By now, the trident was starting to fade, but Percy looked up, staring at the symbol like he wasn't sure of what to make of it.
"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."
"It is determined," Chiron announced, and I kneeled, the rest of the campers quickly following in suit. I heard some of the defeated Ares camper grumbling and glared them into silence.
"My father?" Percy was completely lost, having no clue what the trident meant or what the heck was going on in general.
"Poseidon," I said, cutting Chiron off, having this one line memorized for this very moment. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
"Always this damn creek," I heard Holly mutter, shooting me a not so subtle glare. I gave her an innocent smile, waving her goodbye as she whispered something to Clarisse, the both of them storming off towards their cabin.
The rest of the campers started to head back to their cabins, whispering about Percy's claiming. As for Percy, he was still standing in the creek, still hopelessly lost. I told the Stoll brothers to cover for me for a bit, just until I was sure Percy was okay.
For once, they were completely serious, promising me that they'd get the kids tucked in before curfew. I thanked them, promising to cover for them the next time they got caught pulling a prank, which put splitting smiles on both of their faces.
Within two minutes, the only people still at the creek were Chiron, Annabeth, Percy, and me. Annabeth was glaring at Percy like he'd put a cockroach in her shirt – I would've said spider, but she would've killed him if that had been the case. Then, wordlessly, she turned around and ran off, reminding me painfully of the way she'd looked at me in fear after our first capture the flag game.
"Andy," Chiron warned me as I stepped into the creek, disregarding the feeling of the cold water seeping into my shoes and socks.
"I've got this, Chiron," I said, pursing my lips together as Percy kept staring at the spot above his head where the trident had been.
Chiron merely sighed, knowing better than to try to argue with me about this. He slung his bow across his chest and walked off, only pausing once to look at us before returning to go check on the rest of the campers.
"Andy, what's going on?" Percy asked miserably, sounding like he was about to start crying. I didn't blame him. This week was nothing if not an emotional rollercoaster for him.
"Annabeth explained about your father, right?" Percy nodded. "That was him claiming you as his son. Your father is Poseidon, the god of the seas."
"So when Mom said lost at sea…?"
"She wasn't exactly lying," I confirmed. "But Poseidon didn't want to leave your mother, Percy. Zeus forced him to or else he would've killed her – that's why he was never around."
"I remember a warm glow, maybe a smile," Percy said wistfully. "Could that have been him?"
"It probably was. Your father would do anything for your mother."
"Then why did he let her marry Smelly Gabe?" Percy shook his head in disbelief, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. "That's the reason Mom took us to Montauk; his friends found us."
"I'm going to kick their sorry behinds all the way to Hades," I growled, feeling my fingertips start to steam. I breathed in deeply, not wanting to torch this part of the forest again. "I'm sorry for the circumstances that brought you here, but this is a safe place for demigods."
"A hellhound just tried to kill me," Percy reminded me, gesturing to the general area where the shadows had consumed the overgrown dog's remains.
"Usually, this place is usually a safe place for demigods." Percy smiled at my amendment. "If you don't mind, could I see your wounds? I want to make sure they're not going to get infected."
"Since when have you been a doctor?" Percy joked, fumbling with his armor straps before finally asking me to help. I set his shredded breastplate aside, giving him time to lift up his destroyed shirt. Like I suspected, the cut marks had practically vanished completely from how long he'd been standing in the water, and the little silvery lines were starting to vanish as well, leaving him without those scars.
"Two years ago," I shrugged, pulling out a new Camp Half-Blood shirt from my bag and handing it to Percy, picking up his shredded clothing to throw away at the nearest trash can. "Wow, that's amazing."
"Phew, no scars. I'd hate for people to always ask me about those when I go to the beach."
"I imagine." I looked up, the last of the sun's rays starting to disappear below the horizon. "We should start heading back for the cabins. Cleaning harpies aren't nice to any demigod, head counselor or not, that breaks curfew."
Percy's eyes widened. "You mean I'm…?"
"Yup, you're the head counselor of cabin three. I'll help you move in tonight."
"That eager to get rid of me, huh?"
My eyes widened. "Of course not, Percy. It's just camp policies, that's all. Mr. D will punish my whole cabin if I don't set you up in your cabin."
"Okay," Percy agreed, albeit a little sadly. "At least I get a bed, right?"
I smiled, stepping out of the creek and gesturing for Percy to do the same. "You get a bed," I confirmed. After quickly moving his stuff over and helping him get comfortable, I gave Percy a hug, promising to talk to him in the morning.