We've got another fairly long one. Personally, I'm just happy to be finally getting into the nitty gritty of the Riordan world and all it's characters. And it's only the beginning! So, I hope you guys enjoy!

CHAPTER 9: ONE OF US

Her voice was harsh, sounding less like a question and more like a direct order. Her intense eyes furrowed just under the bandana that wrapped around her pale brown hair. They beamed into my soul, but first impressions are everything as mom would say, so I stood my ground… or at least did my best to.

"Arthur Pride," I mustered. "I'm new here–"

"Well that's obvious."

It was hard not to flinch, she was pretty intimidating but I made sure I didn't falter in my words. This wasn't the first time I've had to keep up a strong face.

"Yeah, welp, just found out my dad is the god of war and as far as I know, this is where I'm supposed to be."

She continued to just glare at me, like she was attempting to break through my skin with just her gaze. I remained standing tall and upright. Without saying a word she merely jerked her head in the direction of the interior as she moved aside, leaving just enough space for me to squeeze through. I waited one more moment before making a move. Once I felt it was safe enough, I uncomfortably stepped inside as she continued watching me. The inside of the cabin wasn't too dissimilar from the outside. Again, it was furnished like an army barracks, with rows of bunk beds lined up on the sides making way for a center walkway. However, the cabin as a whole looked like it fit a lot more things in it than it should have. In one corner on the far left side, were a group of campers huddled around a dart-board, cursing at each other with every throw. Next to them were another two campers, who seemed to be having a competition of who could hit each other the hardest. Dangling at the center of the room was a tattered boxing bag that was currently not being used, whilst the walls themselves were decorated with all sorts of posters, old weapons and armor. Across from the boxing bag, to the right of the room, was a solitary dumbbell rack where currently somebody was pumping out bicep curls. Oh, and of course, heavy metal was blaring from somebody's boombox.

So far, this had to be the most non-surprising surprising place in the whole camp… and I was kind of alright with that.

"Hey, listen up!" The scary girl slammed her fist against the wall three times. The sound managed to cut through all the ruckus as everyone dropped what they were doing and stared in our direction.

The girl walked in front of me and started pacing back and forth, addressing the rest of the cabin as a captain would to their crew. "This runt's name is Arthur… he's new around town."

A chorus of menacing laughter echoed throughout the rest of them like a pack of hyenas.

She continued. "Oh, it gets even better because apparently he claims to be one of us… he claims to be a child of Ares."

More chuckling ensued.

"Now being a child of Ares means a lot of things, doesn't it?"

There was a resounding agreement.

"Are we weak?"

"No!" The whole cabin yelled in unison.

"Do we run from a fight?"

"No!"

"Do we lose?"

"No!"

"Sometimes!"

I hear someone in the back yelp at the sound of a slap. "Shut up, Lyle!"

She stopped her pacing as she directed the next part of her speech towards me. "In case you haven't realised it yet, you're not in Kansas anymore, 'Dorothy'; You're in the Ares Cabin and you better respect that fact, every second of every day."

Her eyes continued to watch mine, not once breaking contact.

"So, Ar-thur," she scoffed, like it was a bad taste in her mouth, "still think you belong here?"

This kind of exchange was intense but I could tell that I was being tested.

For once the cabin was silent as I could sense everyone waiting on whatever I was going to say next. They all shared a similar scowl on their faces as they observed me intently. I guess they took being children of the god of war seriously. The girl continued to get close to me, clearly trying to make me feel uncomfortable. She was still intimidating, but the more I got used to her presence, the more I felt less threatened. This kind of hazing was something I've seen plenty of times before and no matter what, I wouldn't let myself look frail. And the more I looked around, the more I was reminded that a lot of these people were just kids, like me. Tough looking kids for sure, but still kids.

"You got a hearing problem?" The girl said impatiently. "I asked you a question."

I just smiled, bolstering my confidence. "My hearing is fine, thanks and I'd appreciate it if you backed off…"

Then, I did whatever my natural instinct was telling me to do… I pushed her. Now, I didn't push her that hard, and even if I did I doubt she would have moved much, but it was bold enough of a move that left everyone in shock, especially her. Admitly, that wasn't very 'we don't start fights' of me, but it felt pretty good to stand my ground. Although, that positive feeling slowly deteriorated as I saw the look on her face.

I may or may not have made a mistake.

Step-by-step she made her way towards me, her breath heavy. Even the others looked scared. I could see the rage building up in her eyes, which I now could see why they were so familiar before. These were the same rage-filled eyes I saw in one of my visions. The girl atop the giant, serpent-like monster… it was her. All of a sudden, that same fear I felt watching that nightmare slowly started to take over. My strong composure was beginning to wane and my fight-or-flight began to kick in. She then reached a hand out towards me.

This was it, it's now or nothing.

But before I could make a move, her hand just gently placed itself on my shoulder. I stared at her as the fury in her eyes faded away and was replaced by… amusement? Standing there, in complete disarray, I watched as she immediately bursted into laughter. And it wasn't the evil or sinister kind, but the kind where you couldn't stop laughing after your friend just made a joke so dumb that it was funny. Soon after, the rest of the cabin joined in, some sprawling on their beds as they couldn't contain themselves. Meanwhile, I just stood there, confused to all hell.

She wrapped her beefy arms around my neck into a headlock. "That was good! By the gods, you really went there!"

Their gleeful noises continued.

"Oh, you'll fit right in my friend." She released me from the suffocating headlock and turned back towards the rest of the cabin. "All of you, let's welcome a new brother to cabin!"

Huh...

All the occupants cheered as the chaos quickly dispersed and things fell back into routine. The heavy metal, once again, filled the atmosphere. The girl, for the first time greeted me with a smile. She still looked mean but it felt more approachable this time.

"The name's Clarisse La Rue." She shook my hand. "I'm the head counselor for the Ares Cabin. Your head counselor."

"Clarisse." I quickly made a note in my head to remember that name. "That was, uh… something"

She just chuckled, hands on her hips. "Yeah, we like to play with the newcomers a little, test their mettle. We're no Apollo Cabin but we can put on a show."

"... and the whole swirly thing?"

"Hah!" She squared me on the chest. "That's only for the ones who deserve it. You? You're alright."

"Well, that's good to know."

"You're one of us now," she said, "and I take care of my own."

Wasn't sure, but it felt oddly… nice.

"But let me be clear," her tone got sharper, "if you do anything to jeopardize the safety or reputation of this cabin, I will squash you. Got it?"

There it is. I knew she was being a bit too kind for too long, but I was fine with that. From the getgo it was clear that she seemed to care about her cabin and the people in it, and won't tolerate any bullshit. I respected that and by Mom's standards, Clarisse was a good leader.

"I got it."

"Great."

Clarisse began to take me on a little tour of the cabin. To be honest, there wasn't much of a tour since it was pretty small.

It was only a single room cabin.

"Some of the other cabins may have more fancier stuff," Clarisse explained, "but we don't need all of that. We just need a place to kick back and relax. The real work gets done on the field."

As we walked further into the barracks-like cabin, she introduced me to one of the guys who had just started ruthlessly going ham on the boxing bag. Like the rest of the other cabin members, he was muscular but it looked like that muscle was built on functionality rathe than appearance.

"This meathead on the bag is Sherman Yang," she told me. "Sherman! Say hi to the new kid."

Sherman stopped what he was doing and turned around to meet me. Easily, the first thing I noticed was the jagged scar that ran across the side of his square face.

"Yo, I'm Sherman." He grasped my hand firmly.

"Yeah, I already said that dumbass," Clarisse remarked.

Sherman just rolled his eyes. "Arthur, right? Pretty sweet move you did earlier."

"Pfft, I barely moved," Clarisse objected.

"We all saw the look on your face."

"Oh yeah? What look was that?"

That seemed to have shut him up. It looked like he wasn't too fond of the idea of getting in a fight with Clarisse, though from the look on his face, the temptation definitely crossed his mind.

"So Arthur, you look like you can kick some ass," he said to me. "You do any professional training?"

"Not professionally but I've been shown a few things. End of the day, you punch someone in just the right way and they go straight down."

"I like that." Sherman grinned. "Come from a military family?"

"Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Eh, I could tell by the way you compose yourself," he said. "Come from one myself - had to get away, naturally. Step-dad was a prick. Of course I only found out that I couldn't escape that part of my life so I just made it my own here."

"Right... and what happened to your face?" I realized I may have said that a bit too abruptly because Sherman just gave me a weird look. "Oh, nevermind, that might've been a rude ques–"

I was worried I might have offended the guy but he just laughed it off. "You don't gotta be so nice, bro. I dig the honesty. Why? Is it distracting?"

Surprised by his attitude, I responded with my best attempt at sarcasm. "Nah, I think it's pretty."

He started giggling and soon I did too, until Clarisse stepped in between the two of us. "Glad you two are getting along just fine because you'll be bunking together."

Sherman just shrugged. "Eh, beats bunking with Mark."

"I heard that!" said a voice in the back but was quickly dismissed.

"Yang, why don't you help Pride get settled in," Clarisse instructed. "I gotta go get something, first."

"Sure thing."

As soon as Clarisse left, Sherman led me to one of the bunks next to the dumbbell rack. It was your standard steel bunk bed. The sheets and pillows were a matching dull green palette with mattresses that looked like they'd seen better days. There were a bunch of tally marks etched out on the wall adjacent to the bottom bunk, where a knife lay at the foot of the bed. The knife itself wasn't fancy with any bronze materials like most of the other weapons here, it was your standard combat knife. It looked like the one Mom used to carry around the house, until I tried to use it too much.

"This is us," Sherman said, falling back into the bottom bunk bed. "Bottom one is mine, since I ain't no top bunk princess… no offense of course."

Didn't really matter to me to be honest. I enjoyed the climb up anyways. Sherman just laid in bed, twiddling with the knife in his hands.

"We just had a cabin inspection," he said, not taking his eyes off the knife, "so the cabin looks cleaner than usual."

"Right." I scanned the mess heap around me. "Those happen often?"

"Usually every morning."

After some awkward intermission silence, he glanced away from the dangerous piece of cutlery in his hand and looked at my blank expression as I stood there, not really sure of what I should be doing with myself.

"Hey, I'm sure you've been told this a lot so far, but you will get used to it."

"I guess, I got no choice, huh?"

"Nope," he replied, going back to his knife-spinning. "At least you're in the best cabin on camp."

"I appreciate the confidence boost, Scarface."

All I got was a monotone response. "Wow, you're really funny."

"Pride!"

I shifted around to see Clarisse coming back from wherever she went off to. With her, slung on one arm was a large round shield and on the other was the orange camp shirt everyone else was wearing.

"Chiron told me to give you these once you got settled in."

I changed into the camp shirt and it was surprisingly an extremely nice fit. The words 'Camp Half-Blood' were bolded on the front.

When she showed me the shield, I realized it was the same one that I picked up in the fight. She nearly let the whole thing drop on the floor if I hadn't caught it in time. Once again, the shield felt weightless and right at home in my hands, as I mounted it onto my left arm. I glazed my arm across its surface. There were a few scratches here and there from the swinging of blades but overall it was fairly smooth. I hadn't really had time to notice before but the inside of the shield was made of an extremely sturdy wood. The metallic appearance was merely a result of the thin layer of bronze on the outer shell.

'Good. Never lose the shield. A suit of armor may protects you but only a shield can protect the line.'

There was that voice again.

"What?" I said out loud, hoping to catch whoever was speaking but there was no response.

"I said Chiron told me to give it to you." I looked back at Clarisse only to see her eyebrow cocked in suspicion. "Are you sure you don't have a hearing problem?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just–"

I wasn't able to finish my sentence as a searing pain shot down my whole left arm. It felt like hot lava dripping down from my shoulder to my fingers. I could hear the pendant humming and pulsing around my neck. The pain quickly subsided, almost miraculously. When I looked back down, I could no longer see the shield. Where the straps that held the shield on my forearm were, was a bracer. The leather looked worn and tattered but it still felt tough. A crimson metal symbol similar to the one on my pendant was plated at the center of the bracer. Again, the voice spoke.

'Never lose the shield.'

Both Clarisse and Sherman looked at me wild-eyed.

"Well that's new," Sherman said.

It took me a moment to get over the aftershock. I stared down at the leather bracer and there didn't seem to be any laces or straps to take the thing off. I tried to claw it off but it was no use. It was almost like it was stuck to my skin. I kept pulling and pulling, at all different angles but it didn't budge.

"Arthur, think fast!"

In a flash, I saw a bronze dagger barreling towards me. With nothing to defend myself, and no time to move out of the way, I reactively put my arms up to protect my face. I shut my eyes, expecting something to impale one of my limbs but instead all I heard was a loud thunk. When I opened them, I didn't see a dagger stuck into my elbow but a large shield protruding from my left arm, where the bracer was. As I lowered the shield in shock, Clarisse walked over and yanked the dagger out of the bronze shell.

"Called it."

"What'd you do that for!?" I yelled at her.

"Hey, I knew you were going to be fine… mostly." She pocketed the dagger somewhere behind her back. "And now, we know what it does. Another magic shield. Not as subtle as a wristwatch but who needs subtlety anyways."

I inspected the shield once more, and it was still the same one as before. Felt the same, looked the same, all except for one extra detail. The same upside down V symbol on the pendant and the bracer, was now covering a large amount of the shield's surface and was a much brighter and bolder red.

"Lambda," Clarisse sounded out. "Isn't that like Sparta or something?"

"Probably a gift from dad," chimed Sherman.

"Doubt it." She was pretty quick to shoot that idea down.

Instinctively, I flicked my wrist and immediately the shield contracted back into the leather bracer around my forearm. I made one more attempt to try and pull it off but nothing. Sherman offered to cut it off which was an offer I very quickly denined. I was just going to have to figure it out on my own. Clarisse told me not to worry too much, actually complimenting me and telling me that it was a pretty cool gift, wherever it came from.

All I knew was that it was linked to the pendant and that voice. I decided to keep that all to myself, though. Thankfully, I don't think either Clarisse or Sherman cared that much to egg me on about it. And apparently, not many half-bloods get personal magic swords or shields so Clarisse praised the fact that I was lucky in that sense. When they asked me about my 'incident' just outside camp – I guess everyone really has heard about it – I just gave them the same response I told everyone else; monsters.

I found it a little disconcerting about how both of them were so eager to hear of any bloodshed that happened, but I just told them it never got that gruesome.

"Well, at least you got stabbed," said Sherman so nonchalantly. "Wish I got stabbed, my first fight."

I'm learning more and more about these guys with every sentence.

"You don't get many tough satyr's out there." Clarisse sighed. "Birch was one of them."

"Is one of them."

Clarisse gave me a look that could only mean one thing, but I didn't care. I couldn't just accept the fact that he's gone. I know he's alive. He was captured, not killed.

I'll get him back, one way or another

After our little conversation, Clarisse excused herself out of our little huddle to quote unquote 'do counselor things' and left me at the bunk with Sherman, who was still aimlessly playing with the combat knife. He told me that we had a little down time before dinner, so I could either stay inside or go for a walk around the camp. He personally suggested hitting up the combat arena but my body was still a little sore, so I had to pass on that. Looking around the cabin, there wasn't a great amount of things to do. The group playing darts earlier had dwindled whilst the two punching each other were still going at it, though they looked substantially weaker. Heavy metal was still playing, louder than ever. I made up my mind and told Sherman I'd go out for some fresh air, in which he simply replied with a nod.

"Woah, hold on, hold on," the scar-faced boy stopped me. "You're a brother of the Ares cabin now, and I can't accept you looking like some fresh chump."

I hadn't realized it until now, but if all these kids were truly all children of Ares, then that made them my half-siblings. I've never had a sibling before. It was a strange, warm feeling.

He reached for something in a duffel-bag next to his bed, pulling out some piece of clothing. He tossed to me a wrinkled, army-green, buttoned overshirt. On the shoulder, was a red patch that read "5" with a symbol of spear going through a helmet.

"What's the '5' mean?" I asked.

"All the cabins are numbered," he answered, "and we are lucky number 5."

I graciously took the overshirt.

"Thanks, Sherman."

Sherman gave an appreciated nod. "No Problem. Welcome to the Fighting Fifth my friend."

Putting it on, I rolled up the sleeves to the elbows for a more comfortable fit. I have to admit, I liked it a lot. It was warm enough if it ever got too cold but also breathable to where I wouldn't overheat. Plus, army-green is always a good color.

"Now get outta here before you start getting sentimental. I hate that shit."

And just like that, Sherman returned to the inspection of his knife.

With my fresh new clothes, I stepped outside and just took a moment to take it all in. Studying the piece of leather strapped to my arm, I couldn't actually feel it like some sort of irritation. It was just there, like some permanent marker you desperately wanted to rub off.

I decided I was going to do what I said I was going to do and grab some fresh air. I needed some alone time to just clear my head. So that's what I did. I went for a walk around the camp, trying to remember all the main landmarks Travis took me too. It was starting to get late in the afternoon, around dusk and I had realised the atmosphere of the camp was unique this time of the day. The sun was just touching down on the horizon, creating that orangey, red sky. When I looked around, there was less rigorous training going on. Campers were just 'hanging out'. Some played by the volleyball courts, others were at the arts and crafts station. When I passed by the camp store, I could see Travis running across the field, shirts in hand, as he was being chased by a very infuriated girl.

It's been a very strange day.

Those guys that attacked Birch and I, from the way they spoke of this place; it sounded horrible. But so far it's done nothing to prove that. I know looks can be deceiving, and this is only the first day, so I didn't want to rule out the possibility. I still haven't even spoken to these greek gods yet, if that's even possible.

If I had to be honest, I didn't really know what to think of this place. It's definitely nice but I still felt off about leaving everything behind and the worst part is that what I left behind is in complete shambles. It all started with Mom leaving and then what happened with Hunter, which is something I wanted to forget as much as possible, then Birch happened and… ugh– I don't even know what I'm doing.

"Oh, would you please stop whining."

My skin jumped. Someone's here. I snapped my head in all directions but no one was there. From the Ares cabin, I had walked into an open field just outside the pegasus stables where there was no possible way a person could hide.

"Yes, always be aware of your surroundings. Good."

"Who is this? Where are you?" I spoke into the empty air around me.

"The one who has been speaking to you."

"What the hell are you–" Wait. The more I listened to it, the more it sounded familiar. It's that voice I keep hearing but it was clearer, more defined this time. "It's you."

"Yes."

"You're the voice I keep hearing in my head."

"Yes. I am not 'in your head' but… yes."

"How is this possible?" I said in disbelief. "Why are you speaking to me? Why do I have your voice inside–" One more time, I feel the faint hum of the pendant, resting on my chest. " –You gotta be kidding me."

"I do not kid."

This whole time. It wasn't just connected to the pendant, it's been this freaking pendant. I mean it seems so obvious now but I just wasn't sure of it before.

"So in the nightmares, that was–"

"Yes."

"And when I went back for Birch, you–"

"Yes."

I clutched the leather bracer on my arm. "And the shield, this is–"

"Yes," the voice repeated in the same monotone manner. "As you would put it; 'this whole time, it's been this freaking pendant'."

"You can read my–"

"Yes."

I should have seen that coming.

"You should have."

Great, first Hellhounds - now a talking necklace… what's next? Oh who am I kidding, I should just be expecting it at this point.

"You should be."

"Okay, you can stop."

The voice went quiet.

I took another breath. "So, did– did my mom put you in there… or?"

I heard laughter but, again, when I looked around nobody was there.

"No, Arthur. I've been 'in here' far longer."

"Okay, then who exactly are you?"

"I'm Dienekes, or rather his spirit. The bravest of the 300! I fought alongside King Leonidas at the gates of fire. The persian archers claimed so numerous, that their arrows would block out the sun. 'We shall have our fight in the shade!' I told them, and so a glorious death I was gifted but not before the Persians had theirs!"

I waited quietly for him to continue, but he didn't say much else.

Dienekes sighed. "I'm also your ancestor."

Oooookay… lets just back up a little… did I hear that right? Is he actually my ancestor? Does that mean Mom was telling the truth? I'm a… descendant of the 300 spartans.

"It really is numbing to hear your thoughts sometimes."

"Well, I'm sorry Deeny– Dini… Diane–"

"Dienekes."

"Whatever! This is just a lot to process right now, not to mention the other 50 things that have popped up in my life."

My head genuinely started to ache with the bombardment of new information about my life in the past 24 hours.

"Ah, yes. Son of the God of War, Ares. I had hoped for Lady Athena but it will do."

"Thanks."

Another moment of silence past.

"Well, can you at least take this thing off me?" I gestured to the bracer.

"No. I told you, 'a Spartan never loses his shield'."

"I'm not going to lose it, okay? It's just– does it have to be stuck to my arm?"

"Do you not want constant protection?"

"That's not what I–"

"I think it's a good look, don't you?"

I sighed. "Nevermind."

Slumping down towards the luscious grass of the fields of Camp Half-Blood, I tried to allow myself just a moment of peace. I wanted to be near the pegasus stables, hoping I could distract my mind and catch another glimpse of one of them flying again.

Currently at the stables were a few other campers tending to the pegasi and some horses, just regular horses, in the outside paddock of the stables. I could only recognise one of them; Valerie, the Hermes girl I met at the forge. She looked like she was just doing what she could to help the others.

Watching the pegasi, my mind gradually began to feel at ease. That was until a loud crack thundered through the air making me jump once more, which was strange as there were no clouds in the sky. The pegasi didn't seem to be too phased by the noise but the horses were not amused. Some of the campers did their best to keep them contained but a few managed to bolt away into the forest nearby. The situation wasn't looking too great. I watched as demigods started to panic, scurrying around trying to repair the damage. Half of them stayed to keep track of the remaining horses while the other half went in pursuit of the ones that fled, Valerie among them. I made my way towards the stables to see if I could help somehow. The distress on everyone else's faces was rapidly increasing.

"They shouldn't be going into the forest!" one of them said. "It's getting late. They're not even wearing any armor!"

"We can't just let those horses go, Brent."

"Well, someone should tell Chiron!"

I rushed into the conversation. "Is there anything I can do?"

They both simultaneously looked at me, slightly startled to see me, before jumping back into action mode.

"We're fine here," Brent said, "but the others that ran into the forest… it's too dangerous!"

"What's gonna happen to them?" I asked.

"That's the thing, we don't know. They could get seriously hurt– or worse."

I looked around once again for any sign of help, maybe Argus or Chiron was around or demigods with armor but it seemed like it was just us. I had to think fast. All I had was the shield, but from previous experience that should be enough. I was still recovering from that last fight but I could move freely... I think. I was just a little more sore than usual.

It's not like I'll have to fight anything, right? I just need to bring the others –and the horses– back. But am I really in any condition to– ah, screw it.

"Go get help," I told them. "I'll look for them."

Immediately, I started running as fast as I could into the forest, ignoring the initial strain on my legs as they started to wake up. The voices in the distance shouted something to me but they were only getting softer and softer.

I spoke once again into empty space as I ran. "Hey, you still there?"

"Yes," he instantly replied. "I must say, I was worried you were about to do nothing."

"You're meant to protect me right? That's what you've been doing?"

"Of course."

"Good, because I'm gonna need you on this one."

"Glorious."