Chapter Five (Ready Up, Recruits!)

The weak form groups to survive. The strong form groups to thrive.

Percy

I drew in a deep breath, my eyes scanning the arena briefly before I made all the sweat which coated my body dissipate. I wasn't exactly comfortable displaying the finer edges of my control yet. Each step closer I got to making this group a reality, the more I became aware of the pointed stares from the elder campers.

Clearly, there was more to it than their dubious nature concerning my risky endeavour. It made me nervous at times, so I began to hold a few cards a little closer to my chest.

I wouldn't say that I expected them to assault me over my decision and have to fight them all off… but I would say that, after being attacked by the goddess of the hunt, I didn't feel quite as confident as I used to feel.

I let a small whisp of air slip past my parted lips, my eyes shut for a brief moment as I cleared my mind.

A few seconds later, I let my breathing regulate as I felt my tense aura fade away. No sense in scaring off the potential recruits just because I seemed too militant. Of course, I had serious intentions with the group, but I also had my standards to uphold. Seriously, who likes an uptight asshole?

I chuckled lightly as I once again let my eyes rove the room around me.

I had awoken much earlier today, opting to do some early morning training before the first trial began. It was supposed to be a simple procedure, but I had since changed a few of my approaches just as an added indication of the seriousness with which I was taking things.

I felt like I had a lot to prove, more to myself than anyone else, but if they were impressed too, I wouldn't be upset about it.

I heard heavy trodding on the earth outside of the arena. The sweet sounds of a small, armoured group of demigods leisurely approaching the training grounds.

I shook my head, ruffling my hair as I did so, as I capped Riptide and secured it in my pocket.

I slowly made my way to the base of the stands, guiding the demigods to take a seat before me as they entered. A few minutes later, everyone had taken their seats. I let my eyes scan over them, not really noticing anyone in particular as I did a quick head count. There were around twenty-five demigods who had shown up.

I nodded firmly to myself at the number before once again going over the faces, focusing on Adrian and Marc this time, I gave the pair a small smile and a nod.

While there were a good few more demigods than I had anticipated, I was fairly certain that a lot of those present were not going to make it. There were too many young faces… well younger than I was comfortable with, and there weren't many who were comfortable with holding their weapons yet.

It made sense; the older campers were bound to be more in favour of staying safe within the borders rather than running around where the monsters were constantly looking for their next meal. While I was using the naivety of my youngers to fill the ranks, I couldn't afford to choose those who would need to be looked after.

These original members would be the foundation of something much bigger than us, and wiping away the smeared reputation of the many generations of failure before us wouldn't come with poor choices here.

I sighed; I couldn't believe where I was now. Thinking about the formation of a small band of demigods as if I were building an army. I gave a wry chuckle as I let my eyes drift to the entrance of the arena.

Maybe if I was like this before the first war with Kronos, I could've saved more lives…

Clapping my hands together, I forced a smile on my face as I let my attention drift back to the demigods before me.

I suppose I would have to stall for a little bit.

"First, I want to thank you all for coming today. I really appreciate that so many of you took the time to come, but as I have informed you before, not all of you here will be a part of the group after the trials have finished."

Murmurs began to break out in the crowd as nervous energy began to fill the stands.

"I know that that may be a little disconcerting for you, but I can't and won't stress how dangerous it truly is outside of camp. You won't just be going on an adventure where things are never difficult, and so you will have to prove yourselves today."

I spotted a few confident grins and a few who clearly weren't taking me seriously.

Looks like the elimination process began early.

I kept a poker face, hiding my disappointment as I pushed on with the impromptu opening speech.

"I'm sure everyone is familiar with the way that we will be proceeding?"

Most heads nodded in confirmation, but a few doubtful glances were being sent my way. I sighed, better safe than sorry, I guess.

"Alright, I'll give a brief recap of what should be known. The tests will be split into three days, during the free periods which have been allowed for this recruitment period by Chiron himself. Today will be the try-outs for the campers who believe themselves to be most proficient in melee, tomorrow will be archery and on the final day we will be looking at those who can manipulate their parent's domains."

I paused slightly, giving a few of them time to settle down, as they had begun muttering amongst themselves again, before continuing.

"You are free to participate in multiple try-outs, so if you fail today, you may try again in archery and even in the special abilities if you have them. Today may not be the end of your journey if you don't get accepted. Besides, I am even more welcome to the idea of those who have multiple skills, so don't let the nervousness get to your head."

I could see it on their faces, as a few began to sit up and the whispering in the back began to die down. They were beginning to realize that this was actually going to happen.

"Good idea to increase motivation, I guess you aren't as stupid as people make you out to be."

I turned to greet Clarisse with a forced smile. It took her long enough!

I know I had learned how to be a better orator with Chiron, but it didn't mean that I liked all the attention!

"Every dog has its day."

Clarisse chuckled as she stood beside me, letting her eyes scan the group of demigods who stared at Clarisse with a great deal of uncertainty.

I frowned slightly at the looks. I'll admit that my paranoia and my training had kept me at quite a distance from the rumours and ongoings within the camp. I let my eyes shift towards Clarisse, suddenly doubting her intentions when she agreed to help me.

"I will be assisting Perseus in his recruitment process for today. He has a tendency of softness; I have no such deficiencies."

The group of demigods paused, looking at me for confirmation. I let the wariness on my face slip away as I gave a nod with a cheeky smile.

"There will be many more challenges than being judged by one of the greatest children of Ares in history. If you can't get past her judgement, then I can't see how you will make it when we leave the borders."

After I let my cold words fall onto their ears, I paused for emphasis.

"On the other hand, being picked by her would allow you to join a group that is sure to gain legendary status in our world. This is the first challenge to being immortalized in the history books."

I smiled as the hope once again returned to their eyes. I probably didn't have to send them on such a rollercoaster of emotions, but I really enjoyed it.

I clapped my hands together and motioned for the demigods to make their way onto the open arena.

The melee test I had planned out with Chiron was simple really, everyone was split up into varying groups, and the winners were then seeded into fights with each other, and also the losers. Therefore, by the time the third round reached, there would be winners from the first round fighting losers from the first round. It was a simple enough premise that allowed everyone a more realistic chance.

I didn't want them to think that losing a fight was the be-all and end-all after all, there were many different situations that gave one side an advantage. It was more important to see how the campers could overcome certain defeats, or prevent a total loss, like being knocked unconscious, and understanding when to submit.

Retreating was sometimes just as important as winning a battle.

I noticed that Clarisse had gathered the top five campers together. They had all won each of their battles, but it was clear from the very beginning that the skill gap between these older campers was just too much for the other trialists. Which is exactly why I had asked Clarisse to come.

"All of you work together to fight me!"

I shook my head with a small smile as the daughter of Ares gave them little time to collect themselves as she rushed the group.

I let my eyes linger on them for a few moments, slightly disappointed at the way they handled the initial charge. If this was the best that the trialists had to offer…

I sighed as I turned to walk around the arena.

I made about three steps before a loud shout caught my attention from the group now behind me. I pivoted, curious to see what had changed, and tilted my head in wonder as I spotted the mad grin on Clarisse's face as she battered a few campers with her new spear. She twirled in and out of around five of the campers, effortlessly evading their strikes.

My eyes remained locked on one of the campers in the small group. She was rather tall, around six feet and I recognized her as the daughter of Athena who had previously bested Marc. Her striking grey eyes flickered nervously in my direction after she had been thrown back a few feet by Clarisse. She held my gaze for a few seconds before her eyes steeled and she turned, raising her shield to parry a strike from Clarisse, slipping past her as she barked orders at her, admittedly, useless fellow candidates.

I smirked for a moment, taking a few more seconds to watch her futile attempt to rally her pitiful forces. Her hair, a few shades darker than mine, fell low, and the braided bundles bounced off of her body as she moved. A rather unusual trait for Athena's children.

Her sword struck fast, parrying another strike from Clarisse, before she rammed her with her shield. Clarisse gave a low grunt as she stumbled back, right into the path of the campers who sat in wait with their perfectly set up ambush.

Perfect for an enemy that wasn't Clarisse.

Before the first demigod could raise their weapon, she had dropped into a backward roll, slipping past them before swinging her spear like a bat, knocking them all to the ground. She quickly grabbed a stray spear and launched it at the daughter of Athena, who raised her shield to block, cursing as she did so, beginning to backpedal as she recognized Clarisse's tactic.

But it was for nothing, as Clarisse hadn't fully pressed the advance, instead opting to forcibly remove a helmet from a demigod's head, bursting the straps as she did so, and throwing it at the retreating daughter of Athena. As soon as the younger girl felt the thud of the spear, she dropped her shield to get a visual of her opponent, only to receive a face full of helmet.

Clarisse let out a roaring laugh before swivelling quickly to scan the room for more demigods to fight.

I sighed at the defeat of the group, but I couldn't help but wonder how the daughter of Athena had pulled together the group so quickly under the constant pressure of Clarisse.

Said daughter of Ares rolled her shoulders as her eyes locked with mine. I could feel the beginning of the blood lust seeping from her aura as she was almost begging for a fight.

I considered it for a few seconds, it had been a long time since I'd had a good spar with Clarisse and, judging by the candidates I have here, it would be a while since I could truly spar with anyone once we left. Sighing slightly as I began to take notice of other interesting fights, I gave a sad shake of the head, eliciting a slump of her shoulders as she began looking over the unconscious demigods before her.

She then pointed her spear at the unconscious daughter of Athena for a few seconds before looking around the room at the other fights. I had already made the same judgement; she was a gem amongst the rest. I nodded to her, despite the fact that she no longer could see me before letting my own eyes slip back to the rest of the action.

I saw Marc standing idly over an unconscious demigod, his own eyes scanning the room. I nodded once more before following his gaze. Adrian was in a heated battle of attrition with a massive six-foot-two giant of a man. His tanned skin glistened with sweat as he rose a massive war hammer effortlessly into the air, his eyes gleaming with unrestrained mirth as he slammed his hammer into the floor at Adrian's feet, barely missing the son of Athena.

The floor had shattered under the constant punishment from the larger man, resulting in Adrian tripping over a loose clump of earth.

Adrian let out a curse as he fell. The other demigod didn't let his chance go for even a second, his hammer was high in the sky with a massive grin splitting his face as he stared down at the fear-stricken son of Athena.

I heard Clarisse giggling at the prospect of seeing the result of the impact. I sighed, noticing that Marc had begun to sprint towards his fallen friend, but he wouldn't make it in time. I let a small, exasperated smile form on my lips as I saw the hammer begin to descend.

Adrian closed his eyes, crossing his sword and dagger before him in a hopeful attempt.

My hands which had already been in my pocket had already begun to slip out. I uncorked a small vial of salt water from my left pocket, letting a small bullet of water fire off towards the battle. Before the hammer could connect, the water bullet slammed into it, sending the massive boy off balance.

Marc slid to a stop as he stared in wonder at the sight of the hammer being blasted back. His eyes slowly flickered around the room before they landed on me. I took brief notice of this, nodding to myself as I continued to train my eyes on the large behemoth of a demigod who still towered over Adrian.

I was genuinely surprised to see that he still had a hold on the massive war hammer.

The boy groaned as he swivelled quickly, his face contorted in pain and rage as he once again began to raise his hammer. He was clearly in some sort of battle rage, probably driven by the amount of bloodlust that Clarisse was emitting. I clicked my teeth.

I forgot that she could do that.

I grunted in slight disappointment as I realized I would have to get even more involved. I sent another water bullet at the boy as I fished Riptide out of my pocket and quickly closed the distance between us. The water bullet crashed into his left shoulder, the pop of it dislocating accompanied by another fury-driven cry from the boy. I saw his left hand drop limply at his side but stared in amazement for a moment as he held the massive hammer up with one hand.

I quickly cleared my mind as I saw the massive weapon begin to descend.

Stepping over Adrian and using Riptide against the shaft of the weapon, I parried it to my right. As the blade harmlessly turned up the floor, I quickly slipped behind the demigod, reaching for his dislocated shoulder from behind his back. I held it roughly as I used it to force him down to his knees from sheer anguish.

I held his arm for a few moments before I slowly made my way to stand in front of him. The moment I saw his brown eyes widen in panic, I smiled gently at him. Confident that the battle lust had worn off, I quickly popped his shoulder back in place.

He grunted in pain as I took a step back towards Adrian.

"Are you okay?" I asked the boy before me.

He nodded at me, hastily rising to his feet, though unsteadily.

"Name?"

"Chris, sir. Son of Hephaestus"

I returned his nod, with a small wry smile at being called sir.

"You pass."

I didn't take any time to register his reaction. Instead, I turned my back to him and began to walk back to the sidelines, my eyes flickering to Clarisse, who gave me a disgruntled look for interfering.

I groaned at the realization that that had been on purpose. I guess something was going on here after all. I filed that in the back of my head for later and, instead, gained the attention of Marc, Adrian, and Chris.

"You three go entertain our other 'instructor'."

They all stared at me as though I was crazy, but the laugh from Clarisse stopped any complaints.

"I'll take the apologetic gift!"

She then rushed the three.

I quickly picked Adrian up before jumping out of the way as she tackled the large son of Hephaestus. I quickly darted past Marc, pushing him towards the fight before I let myself finally relax.

The rest of the room stared at me curiously as I had interfered in a fight.

Their eyes shone in amazement at what I had just done, but I shrugged it off.

"Are you going to prove that you should join my group or just fawn over my abilities?"

They quickly refocused on their fights and the rest of the trial went by relatively uneventfully.

Aside from Marc, Adrian, Chris and Chrysilla, the daughter of Athena whose name we got after she woke up, there were three other demigods whom I decided to accept into the group. A daughter of Ares, Adrastea, who wielded a sword was the first. Jerome, a son of Hermes, with twin daggers, was the second. Kerwin, another child of Ares, was the third. Kerwin was a rather unpredictable one as his weapon of choice was literally a wooden staff. There was no blade attached to it, but he insisted it was blessed by his father so that it would kill just as efficiently if it were needed, but his skills and Clarisse's approval made up for his odd choice of weaponry.

I stood before the remaining demigods in the arena. Most of those who had not been accepted had chosen to go to the infirmary for further treatment or simply to leave in disappointment.

I silently stared at the demigods before me for a few more moments as I composed my thoughts. While they were clearly the best of the group that tried out today, I couldn't deny that it would be one of the more ragtag groups that I left camp with.

If nothing else, this would be an interesting bunch, and it wasn't even complete yet.

I sighed to myself, thinking of all the training I would be stuck doing for the next few months... or years even.

"First off, I would like to offer my congratulations to those who have been accepted. I'm assuming that those of you who remain have intentions to take either one or both of the next two tests?"

I paused, and seeing the nods, I returned one of my own.

"Well, I wish you all luck in advance. You will have the small advantage of knowing just how strict my judgement will be. I'll see you all tomorrow, I'd like to have a more personal moment with the successful seven right now."

I gave them time to vacate the arena, letting my thoughts settle once again as the pattering of feet slowly died down.

"I'll keep this brief as you all must be eager to get some rest or check in with an Apollo camper." I started, earning a few chuckles. "I'm not going to sugarcoat things, while you all are without a doubt the best of those from today, you are still severely underprepared for what we may be facing when we leave camp."

I felt the atmosphere grow heavy as I let my eyes linger on each demigod before me.

"Today marks the beginning of a new life, not just the end of your time at camp. Things won't be better; it won't be easier, and you won't have a lot of the luxuries you were afforded here. The next few days will be the last time you have to truly appreciate them for a while. It may be the last time you ever have it and with the people here."

A few began to shift anxiously on their feet, but I smiled at the steely gazes of Marc, Adrian, Chris and Chrysilla.

"Of course, I'm not just trying to scare you away from the group after everything you've just done to get in. I'm just letting you know up front that this decision will be a crucial point in how long you live. That being said, there is no way that I would even be here before you all if I didn't think there was a way for us to survive the outside. Once we leave camp, things will be very different, yes, but I will be doing everything in my power to make sure it is not impossible."

I stared at them for a few minutes longer, before nodding at them.

"You're free to change your mind within the next few days. If you're committed to the idea, learn as much as you can in the next few days as to what will help you the most. Train as hard as you can now because training with me will be torture when we leave. Enjoy the time you have here. Make sure you don't give up on those you're leaving, hold onto them so you're more motivated to make it back to them. Like I said, this isn't the end, it's just the beginning."

I was about to dismiss them, but Clarisse stepped up.

"Ah, before they go, could I speak with them in private, Percy?"

I gave her a stern look, showing my wariness of her intentions before nodding.

"Look out for notice of your other team members so you can meet up with them before we leave. The day we leave will be decided in two days, after the last test, so look out for that as well. Good work again everyone. I look forward to travelling with you all."

With that, I turned and left the arena.

Whatever Clarisse would say would likely be rebuffed by Marc and Adrian anyway. Besides, I wasn't looking to take people who were second-guessing their decision. The final decision was their own.

I sighed as I entered my cabin, heading straight to the bathroom.

There was still too much more to do than worry about things outside of my control.

So instead, I decided to focus on the warm water that would be trickling down my back and finishing my plans for the archery test in the morning.

'Perseus!"

I mumbled lightly as I turned under my sheets.

'Perseus!'

"Urrgghh, call me Percy…"

'Whatever! Percy, Wake Up!'

"Fine!"

I tossed the sheets to the side as I sat up on the bed. I stared outside my window, expecting to see Apollo's chariot high enough to indicate that I was late. I was very disappointed to see Artemis' chariot only just disappearing over the horizon.

"You better have a damn good reason for waking me up so early, Pelagios!"

I heard a soft chuckle in my head.

'Besides wanting to see your reaction?'

Before I could erect a mental barrier, he quickly continued.

'Yes, I do. We're very clearly coming to the end of our training at the camp, and the further you get from the sea will only make it harder for Poseidon to cover up our communication, especially since you'll be in other domains. I know that you've taken a liking to reading, so I took the privilege of copying a few of the books that we have in Atlantis that I think will be of great use during your travels.'

"I'm not going to say that I don't appreciate it, but I can't say that I'm overly fond of learning about sea facts, nor can I see how they'll be useful."

I sighed into my hands as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I guess my bitterness from being so rudely awakened didn't escape my tone.

'If I didn't just wake you up at the time I did, I'd be offended.'

I gave an apologetic chuckle as I made my way to the bathroom.

'Putting your attitude to the side, these books focus on the innate power of divine beings. This descends even to nature spirits and of course, demigods. The Atlanteans have not just focused on the powers of Poseidon's children, but the nature of power itself. I can't speak much more without simply explaining the entire set of books and taking time from your trials.'

"Okay well, why tell me this now and not… I don't know, after the trials? And why didn't you just do the information thing from before?"

I sighed as I turned on the shower, letting the water patter against my skin.

'I… I'm afraid I cannot say. I must admit that giving you these books is already a great risk, so you-'

"Should I keep this a secret?"

'No, your father doesn't fear the consequences. Neither do I. Use the books as you deem fit. They have, however, been enchanted so that only those you allow to read it could understand the words and should they lose your favour, and you decide it to be so, they will lose all memory of what was read.'

"You know, despite being a superpowered half-god, there were still moments when I thought, yeah that's about as crazy as things could get. Somehow, the longer I spend in this half of my world, the more I realize that there is no limit to what can be done."

Pelagios chuckled at that.

'And you haven't even seen the half of it.'

I stayed silent at that, opting instead to turn off the shower and step outside the bathroom to gather my clothes.

I paused slightly as I saw the small stack of massive books at the edge of the fountain.

"The gods really do love their things in threes, don't they?"

'Not their kids!'

I chuckled at that as I ignored the books and quickly donned my clothes, putting Riptide into my new pocket as I approached the door.

"Well since I'm up, I might as well do some training."

'Ah, yes. I'll leave you to it.'

I paused as I held the doorknob in my hand.

"You're such a dickhead for waking me up. You literally talk to me in my head, you could've literally mentioned that at any time of the day!"

I stared at the door in annoyance as I got no response before muttering under my breath as I continued to make my way to the arena.

A few hours later, I stood in the archery range. I couldn't hide my discomfort as the memories of all the failed attempts at archery popped into my mind.

I heard a chuckle from my side which broke me from my haunting thoughts.

"Ah yes, Kelphead. I never thought I'd see the day that you'd be coming here of your own free will."

"I'm so grateful that you'll be taking my place for this one. I will be as far up those stands as they let me go."

"What would you have done without me?"

I knew she was just teasing, but as I caught a glimpse of one of the targets, I couldn't help but wonder.

Shaking my head, I turned to face her.

"Well, I managed to speak to Will…"

I sighed at her pointed look.

"Nico spoke to Will for me, so he'll be helping out a bit."

"If only our fathers could learn from us and trust each other."

"Well, they may be brothers, but we're the real family."

She gave me a smile and was about to offer something else to the light-hearted conversation, but Will quickly approached us.

"Okay, I'd really appreciate it if we can get this started quickly. I'm not trying to be an asshole or anything, I just have a few other things that I really need to get done today."

Thalia and I paused for a moment, before staring at each other and shrugging.

"We were only waiting on you anyway."

I bit back a chuckle at that remark as I stepped forward to the group of trialists.

There were fifteen of them in a slightly scattered group before me. I recognized five faces from the day before and offered them a small smile and nod in recognition.

"Alright," I began, clapping my hands, "Thalia and Will here will be leading this session on my behalf. I can appreciate good archery as much as the next person, but I need you to be tested properly so I will just be observing. It will be almost entirely up to them to determine who joins and who doesn't, so remember to do your best to impress them and not me."

I let my eyes pass over them once more, satisfied with all the nods that I had received as I slowly made my way to the pavilion.

The other instructors were far less keen on the starting time I had set, I realized. Both Thalia and Will were a few minutes later than the other demigods, so I had already gone over the basic instructions which I had yesterday.

I sighed as I took my seat in the stands.

I can't say that I was entirely upset with my situation.

I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting my mind slowly wander as I idly manipulated the temperature around me. I wasn't sure how long it had been, but I heard a sharp whistling that could only be from Thalia.

I sighed, sitting up straight, and peeking at Zeus' daughter who gave me a mischievous smile. I quickly glanced over at Will, who seemed furious that I wasn't giving this as much attention as he was.

What can I say? I had complete faith in them.

It wasn't like I was bored or anything…

I noticed Thalia beckoning me over, so I gave a low groan as I raised to my feet, letting the temperature around me return to normal.

"We have an interesting case here."

I tried my best to hide my utterly bored expression as I nodded at her to continue.

I quickly turned my eyes to the girl in question.

She was gorgeous despite being a few years my younger and her most striking feature was her eyes. They were a stunning pink colour, yet, as she fidgeted from being the centre of attention, I noticed that it seemed purple as she turned away from the sunlight. It made me question how I hadn't noticed the girl before.

I shifted my gaze back to Thalia, the poor girl was clearly nervous enough as it was, but I still couldn't understand what I could offer to help in an archery situation.

"Well Helen here is a daughter of Aphrodite that's quite good with her bow and will probably become amazing in the future, but right now she just isn't what you're looking for."

The daughter of Aphrodite winced at the truth.

"But she is saying that she can also use one of the arrows as a melee weapon quite effectively."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. I quickly turned my gaze back to the fidgeting girl.

"Specially made arrows?" I asked her.

She shook her head.

"I just started practising because… well I have this friend and I did it to impress them and I've been training like this for a while with them, so I guess my actual bow skills got a bit worse over time…"

I nodded, smirking widely as I ignored any attempts to hide the fact that I knew she was interested in this 'friend'.

I instead let my eyes linger on her bow for a few moments longer, curious at its design. While it was of a simple craft, it was much thinner than a typical bow with a dull shade of pink as its coating which made it look like either a child of Aphrodite needed camouflage, or a child of Ares wasn't thorough enough with their cleaning. From her short background, I wasn't entirely sure it wasn't both…

"Well, that is interesting, I suppose you can follow me to the arena and the rest can carry on as they were."

She paled slightly but nodded anyway.

I gave her a reassuring grin before walking towards the arena. She stayed slightly behind me, her nervous energy the only indicator that she didn't decide to run away.

At least the fact that she was still here proved that she wasn't lying about her skills.

We walked into the arena and made our way to a large section where no one else was. I quickly built a small makeshift partition of training dummies between us and the other training demigods before checking that she had enough room.

"Helen?" I questioned idly while still making sure the space I had created would be sufficient.

After a few silent moments in response, I turned to face her. She stood nervously about fifty meters away, checking her bowstring and arrows with her face scrunched up.

"Helen?!"

Her gaze darted from her bow to my eyes, her grip loosening as the pink arrow slinger nearly fell from her grasp. I gave her an inquisitive look, pausing from my careful ministrations of the dummies as I did so.

She mumbled out a soft response which I probably wouldn't even have heard if I was standing with my ear next to her mouth.

"One more time?"

"Yeah."

The meek response barely trickled into my ear.

I gave a soft sigh, turning back to my work, losing faith in the girl. Even if she were decent with using an arrow as a weapon, she would still need to be confident in a fight. I couldn't risk taking someone who wasn't confident in their abilities, less so someone without at least an inkling of courage.

I thought taking her away from the prying eyes and the pressure of the group would make things a little easier for her, especially since she had clearly failed the archery test. She didn't show up yesterday, I'm sure I would've remembered her face, so I guess technically I can count her as a late applicant for the melee test.

Not just an excuse to leave the archery range and see something cool and new…

I shook my head, regaining focus as I finished my self-assigned task and turned to face the child of love.

"I won't be using my powers, but I'll be checking how effectively you can switch between distances more than anything else. You only need to impress me now, I'm not sure if that makes you more confident or not, but it's well-known that I suck at archery which is why Will and Thalia took my place at the range in the first place."

She let a small chuckle slip from her lips. Yeah, I might suck at archery, but I had faced and seen enough archers in my life to pick apart the best from the worst. But she didn't need to know that. I stared at her for a few moments longer, watching her stand up straighter after my little pep talk.

I nodded at her, pulling Riptide from my pocket, and tapping my watch with its blade once it had fully emerged. With my weapon and shield hanging loosely at either side of me, I shook both hands as I let them get adjusted to the new weights. Nodding to myself, I saw her nod back at me from the corner of my eyes, earning a small grin.

"Alright, the first move is yours."

She barely hesitated to let an arrow loose. I quickly raised my shield, already stepping to my right, allowing me to peek around the shield as I deflected the first arrow.

I smiled softly as I saw her running to a new position already, sliding as she already had the second arrow notched and ready to fire.

The second one came, falling just short of me as I jumped back.

And so it continued, I let her shoot a few more arrows, figuring out her range and how she adapted to my movements. Once I was confident in Thalia's assessment that Helen wasn't quite at the level I was looking for, I quickly rushed her.

She jumped back, shooting at me repeatedly until I was a few metres from her, and then she drew two arrows. One she fired point blank, forcing me to raise my shield. As I lowered it, I saw that her bow was planted firmly on the ground, standing upright. My smile widened; she probably had the bottom fitted with some blade of some sort to allow her to not have to completely discard her bow. I quickly slashed at her, a powerless blow just in case she was still bluffing.

To my utter surprise, she didn't even try to tank the blow, nor did she even stand by her bow. She twirled around my strike, sliding the sharp edge of her arrow horizontally across my extending arm. I winced slightly as I swivelled to meet her, letting my shield take another slash from the arrow-wielding daughter of Aphrodite.

I shook my head in disbelief that her ordinary arrow was still in one piece.

"You noticed me raising my shield and readjusted your thrust to keep your arrow from shattering against it?"

She nodded meekly.

"Interesting…"

I then did a double take as I realized she had another arrow notched in her bow and shot at me.

I dove to the side, still in disbelief at the agility of the girl and her insane battle intelligence. I didn't even think that she would grab the bow, using her body and attack as a feint to retrieve it and the second assault to keep it out of sight, giving her enough time to fully notch another arrow.

"You're one hundred percent in the group."

I said as I rose to my feet. Chuckling as I was forced to quickly deflect another arrow she had released, presumably in shock at my words, with Riptide.

"We'll work on your actual archery when we're travelling, but I'm really impressed at this use of an arrow."

She smiled at me, her eyes dancing with mirth as she squealed. Hopping in place in excitement. I chuckled at her excitement as I quickly moved to dismantle the barricade of training dummies.

"I'm going to take a shot in the dark here."

I looked up, pleasantly surprised to see that she had begun helping me put the dummies back in their correct positions.

"Your… friend, already got into the group yesterday and that made your aim extra out of sorts?"

She paused, her eyes widening in shock as I chuckled.

"I won't ask you who it is. I'll just make sure the tents are soundproof and you make sure his tent and yours are nowhere near mine."

I smiled as the girl blushed.

"Come on, let's get back to the group."

Upon our arrival, Thalia was the only instructor left and she stood with five other demigods.

"Sorry Perce, you had three more but Will convinced them to stay in camp and ran off quickly."

I muttered a curse under my breath before shrugging.

"If anyone else has any doubt you can leave too, I don't want to be bothered to come back to camp to drop off anyone afraid or put off by the reality of the situation once we face it anyway."

The demigods remained firm; their eyes steeled as Helen joined their ranks.

"Don't worry Perce, I already talked to them. These lot are fully committed."

I nodded, letting my eyes run over the group.

"Well, what are their names?"

There was Katherine a daughter of Apollo, Teucer a son of Apollo, Jordon a son of Apollo, Lily a daughter of Hermes and Crystal a daughter of Hermes. I gave a curt congratulatory speech before dismissing myself and quickly heading back to my cabin.

I couldn't deny that I was bitter about the way Will had gone about what he had.

I quickly shut the door behind me, sitting at the edge of the fountain next to the books from this morning. At least I had decided to handle the last trial by myself. At this point, there weren't that many people I could rely on. Thalia would be leaving later today, and Nico was still in the Underworld.

I couldn't help but be bothered by the elder campers' actions. It only made me want to get away from camp more. I stood up from the fountain's edge, took the top book and moved to my bed.

One more day and then I can start planning to leave.

I sat in the pavilions in the arena. It was about six in the morning already and I was beginning to think that Atlantis had a different time zone. There was simply no other explanation. I can't say I was particularly upset with this early morning call as the last one, but I was still upset that my last few days of sleep in a comfortable bed were being forsaken!

I shook my head lightly, rubbing the bridge of my nose as I continued to wait for the last group of trialists.

Tyson had called.

He had apparently heard rumours about me going to die and how the Atlanteans were already mourning their latest prince.

I can't say that I was particularly fond of their overwhelming confidence in me.

Though I couldn't exactly blame them. The legacy left behind by those before me hasn't exactly painted this whole expedition as all sunshine and rainbows. It probably helped even less that my track record was stained with impulsive and seemingly luck-oriented decisions. I wasn't going to deny that I certainly have been very lucky, but I still couldn't help but feel a little hurt that it was assumed that I hadn't matured after all of my experiences.

I sighed, thinking back to what Tyson had called for.

He hadn't tried to argue with me about my decision, he hadn't told me that I would die or that it would be impossible he simply said.

'My big brother beats impossible. If the impossible is trying to beat back big brother, then Tyson will make armour to help big brother beat the impossible more!'

I was man enough to admit that I cried a bit after that conversation.

There was nowhere I could go where I didn't feel the pressure and doubt from everyone around me. It's why I started eating at different times from the rest of the campers. I could always feel their pointed looks and hear their quiet whispers as I walked past. It wasn't only them either, if I walked to the lake to get away, the satyrs and, both the tree and the water, nymphs would do the same.

I had taken to becoming a hermit of sorts because of it all, and added to that what Clarisse and Will had done?

If it weren't for Pelagios and Chiron, I might have already left by myself a few weeks ago. I took a deep breath. Tyson made everything seem so simple.

Just beat the impossible.

Even if it wasn't that many, if some people were believing in me, then I should at least believe in myself.

I slapped either side of my face as I stood up.

Once I wear Tyson's armour, I would become the Bane of the Impossible.

With that burst of motivation, I stepped towards the training dummies to pass the rest of the time.

Six demigods turned out today.

I frowned slightly at them. I had expected the number to be small, but I didn't know any of them. I was hoping to at least see one or two more familiar faces.

Well, something is better than nothing.

"Let your powers do all of the talking. If you're good at anything else other than the powers you have, we can hone them later. Feel free to go as wild as you want, we'll be leaving camp soon so they could handle the mess while we're gone."

As they chuckled, I realized that they had relaxed. I cursed myself mentally of course they'd been more tense because I was standing in front of them with a huge frown on my face.

"Have faith in your abilities. I'm very interested in what you all can do; I just had a rough night so it may not seem like that from time to time."

They eased up further, nodding in complete understanding.

Night-time and demigods weren't always the best of friends, whether in bed or not, things never really stopped coming for you. I felt a little bad about using that card, but it wasn't entirely false…

"Alright then, who's first?"

This trial went a lot smoother than the ones before. With much fewer eyes and only one, admittedly easygoing, judge, everyone seemed to be brimming with confidence.

The first demigod was Tassos, a son of Demeter. He had also tried out in both of the other trials, but he had been honestly average with both a sword and, according to Thalia, a bow. He had put on a great display of his power, as he pulled a few seeds from his pockets and threw them across the ground, causing us to become entangled in vines and thick grass within minutes. He even showed off further by having the grass slowly slither up his body like a snake, to which had asked me to attack him. When I tried to swing Riptide at him, the grass darted off of his body, wrapping itself around my sword and tossing the blade away.

I was thoroughly impressed, especially as I heard that he had only arrived at camp a few months ago. If this were his skills a few months in, I was eager to see how far he could go with the group.

The second demigod to step forward was the other familiar face from the group. His name was Ajax, a son of Aristaeus, a minor deity of hunting mainly. His trial went quickly as it was simply him explaining his abilities more than anything. I couldn't exactly ask him to go and hunt something and prove that he could, but I remembered that Thalia had spoken highly of him, mentioning that if only had something else to offer he would be a practical choice, but just on archery alone it wasn't enough.

It wouldn't make sense to not have a food gatherer, especially since we were going into the forest mainly. Of course, I could rely on the Apollo campers, but I decided it might be worthwhile to have a natural-born hunter.

The third was Shaquille, a son of Hypnos. Unsurprisingly, he had great control over consciousness, but what caught my eye was how easily it seemed to come for him. He was an older camper by the standard of everyone else so far, but I suppose I wouldn't have noticed him with how much he and his siblings tended to just lay around inside. Apparently, his abilities were different in that he could also awaken those who were asleep, and, as a child of Hypnos, while asleep he remained alert and aware of his surroundings. He also mentioned that there were things he was learning but couldn't quite control properly yet and I was intrigued to explore the possibilities with him.

For some reason, I felt like I was being blessed with these demigods. Their powers were all so suited to the group, it was as if they were tailor-made to join the group.

I was thinking about it all until the fourth demigod stepped forward.

She was Cassandra, a daughter of Tyche. It was the most bizarre moment I had had in a while. She couldn't have been older than ten, but all she did was stand up swaying from side to side with the most adorable little grin I had ever seen and, without realizing I had done it, I had accepted her into the group.

She had to be extremely favoured by her mother, I decided. Similarly, to how I was favoured by my father, allowing my own abilities to exceed the norm. I wondered if that affected the child's level of power more than anything…

Thoughts for another time and another chapter.

I had only just begun the first of the books Pelagios had sent me after all.

The fifth demigod was Oliver, a son of Aeolus, the god of the winds and the air. All it took was me seeing him fly, to be honest… Well, hovering a few feet off the floor, but he mentioned he was still working on it.

I had talked a lot with Jason about his ability to fly, and even to Thalia to figure out if she could. She had admitted that, even if she weren't afraid of heights, she would still have a very difficult time doing so, as manipulating the air currents was an extremely difficult and precise thing to do. While she could produce massive, extraordinarily powerful lightning bolts, Jason could fly, and they were both okay with that.

The final demigod was Zina, a daughter of Bia, the goddess of force, power, physical strength and compulsion, anger, and raw energy. Some minor gods make it clear just how powerful the Olympians truly are. I had stared in complete shock as Zina stood gathering raw energy from the air, creating a beam of energy that left a crater where the group of training dummies, that I had previously been using, stood.

On that bombshell, I had chosen the final members of the group.

"When I said to destroy things because we would be leaving… I didn't mean literally."

I finally tore my gaze from the crater in the floor.

"Okay," I said quickly, clapping my hands, "You're all accepted, now scatter before Chiron-"

"PERSEUS JACKSON! I THOUGHT I TOL-"

My eyes widened as I saw Chiron galloping furiously towards my small group. I quickly turned back to them, panic clear in their eyes as it was in mine.

"Run!"

After spending the rest of the day repairing the arena with help from Chris who took pity on me as he saw me struggling, I decided to gather the group for the first time.

We met up on the beach, and I smiled widely at all of them.

"I'm going to be honest with you all, I still don't have a name for the group." I started, causing light laughter to break out amongst the demigods.

"We aren't just going to be some ragtag group wandering the country. No, the situation is far too grave for that. As you are all aware by now, we will be, by no means, safe once we leave the borders of the camp. There will be no nights in a cabin bed, and it may even be the last time that you see your half brothers and sisters, your friends and loved ones. The threat against our very existence isn't simply constant, it will be unknown. There will be moments when we will have to change from relaxing to fighting instantly, and we will never truly be aware of when danger may strike. This is far from a vacation, a getaway card from building New Greece. We will be stepping into battlefields daily, without even knowing it. This will be the true nature of the journey you are accepting to join."

The mood dropped as the severity came crashing down on the demigods.

"Do you still accept this?"

For a moment there was silence. The demigods looked at each other, searching for comfort and agreement, also for weakness to make sure that their own lives could be trusted in the hands of the others.

Then slowly, one by one, they all agreed.

And, after an intense day of trials, the group had its first official number of demigods; twenty.

A/N: You would not believe how long this chapter took me to write. I almost decided to quit on this chapter so many times while trying to edit this one too. Jeez. That being said, it's one of the chapters I'm not overly fond of, but I think it gets the job done. I really hope you all enjoyed it though.

All things aside, all that is left for life at camp are the final little pieces. It's been a really slow start but there is so much ahead of them to be seen. I can't wait to show you all the beginning of their journey and to hear what you all think.

That's all for this week. Thank you all for reading and as always, I hope everything is going great for you whenever you read this, and I'll see you all next week for the next update.
-ZedricSOZ