Chapter Six (When the Sun Sets)

At times, it's simply more important to begin…

It had been a week since I had formally formed the group.

I had decided to give everyone a week to gather their things and fully prepare for our departure. Today was the last day before we finally left camp. Each day that passed, I felt like more and more eyes were on me, and I felt unsettled discussing any plans in these borders.

The paranoia whispered in my ears even as I stood at the edge of the sea, urging me to cast cautious and curious glances around me.

I shook my head slightly, closing my eyes and taking deep, calming breaths. The nervous thoughts slipped away as my breath grew even. After some time had passed, I slowly opened my eyes, a smile forming on my lips as I saw that the water before me had begun to mirror my newfound, momentary serenity. I stepped into the glassy water, I peered at the ripples around my ankles until they faded.

I was left with a reflection of myself.

I noticed a light; scattered strands of stubble littered my face from my resignation to cut them. My dark hair hung low before my sea-green eyes, something that irritated me slightly as it constantly required me to shift it.

My self-isolation, outside of scheduled training sessions with my group, had become much grander. I had made a bargain with one of the nymphs to bring food to me in my cabin instead. It wasn't that I had grown too self-conscious with the increased stares and whispers, I had been prepared for that since I started moving like an outsider in the camp.

Rather, I was far too cautious with the councillors.

To me, it was the only logical response to their actions against my selection process. I had offered to allow them to assist me as an act of good faith, having already explained my position wherein the campers I had reeled in were already likely to leave camp on their own free will regardless of my influence. My disdain at what had occurred seeped into my cautious distancing away from the members of the group.

With the disdain, came a desire to shroud my plans with secrecy. I was secure enough in my own paranoia. It offered many crazy schemes that the councillors could be attempting. I knew I could do little to stop any of their plans from forming; but keeping my information close to my chest until it was out of their reach would be key to circumventing any attempts to manipulate plans and, ultimately, dissolve the group to force us to remain within the barriers.

The sea responded to the rise of my inner conflict and a gentle wave rose and traced its touch past my shins before licking the sand at the edge of its reach. I blinked a few times, letting my worries and stress fade away under the soothing touch of the water.

It wouldn't do me well to be so consumed with the role I had chosen for myself before even properly assuming it. Instead, I focused on the other thing which had been on my mind in the past few days.

In my isolation, I had managed to complete my first read-through of one of the books gifted to me by Pelagios. It was titled 'Children of the Sea', a rather conspicuous name if you ask me. It had been an intriguing read, and while it mirrored a lot of the information that had been gifted to me, it was far more extensive. The information that had been implanted in my mind had outlined the abilities of the offspring of Poseidon, but the book had extended to everything within the scope of all sea deities.

It was also an extremely in-depth and theoretical book which was extremely difficult to decipher hence, despite me having completed it already, I was intent on having another look at it, possibly with Adrian or Chrysilla's help. There were things in the book which required a mind much sharper than mine to decipher. It also made me curious about the other two books.

'Children of the Sky' and 'Children of the Earth'.

I felt my consciousness slowly begin to slip away. My eyelids lazily parted in response, alerting me that I had somehow slipped under the wave. I sighed, my eyes closing once again.

I felt the heaviness tug at my eyes, the weight lulling me into a peaceful sleep, which had been escaping me the past few weeks.

"Big brother!"

My eyes slowly opened, only to find myself in the tight embrace of Tyson.

I grinned slightly as I felt the water around me absorb the crushing pressure of my little brother. There were many little tricks that I had learned from Pelagios, all of which I had been doubtful of learning at first but kept showing their use at the most random of times.

"Big brother, I have your armour ready for you!"

I smiled as I slowly managed to untangle myself from my little brother.

His eye stared expectantly at me as my brain slowly rebooted from my impromptu nap.

"Hey, Tyson. How are you?"

I glanced at the small pouch which Tyson held in his hand, before letting my eyes return to his.

"I am very busy, Percy." He started with a frown, "I want to spend more time, but we're really busy at the Forges!"

"Busy? Shouldn't you all be less busy after all the wars?"

"'There is always a reason to make weapons because there always will be monsters!' That's what the head forger keeps saying at least."

I frowned lightly at that but nodded my head.

"Are they at least treating the general with respect?"

Tyson beamed at me once again, earning a smile in return.

"Of course, they do! That's why I got to leave to come see you! But I really am busy, I have a new weapon that's in the fire, I need to be back soon to get back to work on it!"

"You left in the middle of making a sword?"

Tyson brushed me off with a wave of his hand.

"Swords are easy, big brother, they don't need so much time in the forge. This is something I'm now learning to make! It takes a long time, so I chose to see you while it heats up. Anyway, this is your armour!"

He handed me the pouch which shrunk down to a beautiful ring. It was a simple band with a small green orb embedded in the centre. I quickly slipped the ring on my finger.

"I'm still working on the armour, so I'll ask to get it back to add things when I learn how to do them. But when I'm done it will live up to the name that daddy helped me give it, αδιαπέραστος!"

I stared at the ring for a few moments, shifting it to see that the words had been engraved into the side.

"Impenetrable…" I whispered, more to myself than anything, before looking up at Tyson, tilting my head to the side.

"Isn't that kind of really unlucky to name it that?"

Tyson shrugged his shoulders.

"If Daddy said it, it must be okay. He was really proud of me for making it, do you like it?"

"Of course, I love it Tyson, you know how much I love and appreciate all that you do for me!"

The younger cyclopes blushed at my words.

"How do I activate it?"

"Just squeeze the ring and it'll come on."

I stared at the ring for a moment, just as I was about to squeeze it, Tyson gasped out in panic.

"I'm going to be late, tell me if you like it later, big brother. Be careful and have fun!"

Tyson waved at me as he turned around and sped away. I waved at his retreating figure with a small smile on my face.

Have fun…

All this time I'd been worrying about so many things, but I forgot why I wanted to do this in the first place.

I just wanted to get away from all the things that were weighing me down, but instead, I just found a whole new weight instead.

'Way to go, Percy!'

It was much too late to turn back now though. I couldn't let the group down now that they already were chosen, I couldn't turn back to the campers after everything that was said and done.

It was too late.

I slowly emerged from the water, taking a seat a little bit away from the water's edge.

There was no point in beating myself up either. If shit hits the fan like everyone keeps acting like it will, then I'll just deal with it.

I've been through much worse than death already.

I chuckled to myself at that.

I continued to stare out into the sea, letting the rhythmic crashing of the waves on the sand soothe my anxiety about our coming departure.

"I knew that I'd find you here."

I gasped lightly, turning to see Annabeth on the crest of a sand dune, sending a small smile down at me.

I turned back to the water, yet the waves didn't seem to quell my annoyance as they once did.

She sat next to me, a sizable distance between us; something I still found strange.

"Look, I know that you may not exactly want to see me right now, but this is important."

I remained silent, yet unmoving, letting her talk.

"I know that you feel like you have to do this, but you don't; there is nothing wrong with staying and helping us build New Greece. You don't have to go and take all these demigods into another adventure where death is lurking around the corner. I thought you wanted security, to be safe and free from this life. You'll have that in New Greece, so just stay."

I turned to her, searching as far into the piercing orbs of grey as I could, "So there is something wrong with me wanting to leave? But not you?"

She sighed, looking away.

"When you want to leave, I should just accept it easily, but gods forbid me looking to do something with my life!"

I bit my tongue, shaking my head and calming myself as I heard a wave slam heavily against the sand.

Annabeth scooted a little closer, her eyes training back to mine.

"That's not what I meant, Percy. And this isn't about that! It's about-"

"Your dream?"

She seemed stunned for a moment, flinching slightly.

"Wasn't it our dream?"

I shook my head, with a small laugh.

"My dream was to be with you, Annabeth. New Greece was just the place where we could do that, be together. This isn't about New Greece; this isn't just about me not wanting to stay."

She looked like she was about to interject so I turned back to the sea, shaking my head.

"Look, you got what you wanted. We're done. This is for me. Besides, I made this decision almost a month ago now and this is the first time you've decided to talk to me about it? When I first mentioned it, you didn't even say anything, you just left. And now that I've put all this time and effort into doing what I want, I'm supposed to just stop? For what? To help you build your dream? What if I want something else?"

"If you helping me with my dream is what will keep you alive then yes! I know you've talked to Chiron, I have too! I know how dangerous this little wish of yours truly is! Why can't you just settle down and let other people take risks for once?"

I huffed as I turned back to her. Her eyes glistened as they pleaded, her emotions begging to seep from the windows of her soul. There was a time when those grey eyes could sway my most stubborn of decisions… I smiled softly at her, offering my appreciation for her display of affection, but I gave up on the conversation.

"There is so much out there in the world…"

"And many monsters lurking, waiting for demigods like you to wander across their paths."

"Demigods yes, but not demigods like me." I replied dryly, once again letting my eyes drift back to the sea. The waves carefully trickled onto the sand in a hushed sweep. The quiet of the ocean matched a lull in the breeze letting an, almost unnatural, silence form.

I could see the way she looked at me from my peripheral vision. She was clearly unprepared for the solidity of my position, and the words that came with it.

"Annabeth, we both know that the things that I am capable of are far from what those monsters can handle."

"And what about the hordes, and the demigods who aren't capable of what you are, but follow you blindly because you're a Hero of Olympus? What about when you aren't there to save them?"

"Then they will save themselves."

I stood up, giving up on the idea of her leaving me alone. She was still too stubborn to do that.

"This isn't a summer vacation I'm leading them on, to smile and skip merrily and aimlessly across the country. This is much bigger than me now. Do you know how many demigods leave camp and die just because they feel claustrophobic? And you're going to build walls around them! I know there are others who feel like me, who maybe even feel like Luke and the others felt! I can do my part in building this group that lets people like them experience freedom. We may not start off the strongest, the most cunning or the best, but if we don't start, we will never grow."

"Why you?"

"Why not me? Would you rather your siblings follow me across the country, or join the next Luke?"

I didn't wait to see or hear her reaction as I walked away from her.

The thunderous sound of a wave crashing against the shore shattered the silence of the past few minutes as the ocean returned to normal.

The early morning sun peeked over the horizon as we stood at the crest of Half-Blood Hill.

There weren't many campers who stood below us to see us off.

My eyes were focused on Chiron, who stared back at me with silent pride.

I gave him a confident grin as an understanding passed between us.

Without any words, I turned my back on the camp, walking past my group as I began to lead them past the borders.

Even with all the preparation, and all my experience, I couldn't help but feel the weight of my actions upon my shoulders.

And so, I walked.

I was vaguely aware of the other demigods trailing behind me, my mind consumed with anxiety and doubt as I second-guessed myself. I tried to formulate some form of a solution, to use some of the teachings from Chiron.

But all I could do was walk as my mind raced.

I suppose all I could think of was to get as far away from the camp as possible.

The further we walked, the more independent we became.

And so, we just walked.

"Percy…" Adrian whispered as he walked to my side.

I turned to him, barely slipping back to clarity as I did so.

"It's almost night man, we should probably set up camp."

I gave him a brief nod as I motioned for the group to stop. I gave a quick once over of our surroundings, before mentally shrugging and giving the order to set up camp.

While everyone began to set up their tents, I trailed a bit further from the group. There was a gap between the trees, which allowed me a proper glimpse of the sky.

I stared in wonder as I failed to see Apollo's chariot but rather Artemis' own streaking across the sky.

I cursed myself lightly at my lack of focus.

My knees bent as I dropped into a low crouch, letting my left hand brush the floor for a moment as I took a deep breath. I drew a water bottle from the bag on my back, drinking some and splashing the rest on my face.

The doubts must have been building up for the last week.

I clicked my tongue as that realization crashed onto me. In my paranoia, I had all but left them out to dry whenever they asked any questions. Yeah, I was keeping the campers in the dark, but I had also left my group in the dark…

I stood back up, letting the water wet the floor at my feet.

I spun around, staring up at the moon in wonder as it seemed to twirl with me. There was something oddly comforting and freeing about there being no sight of camp.

I stared out in the distance for a few minutes after I came to a halt, thoughts which were muddled clearing as I finally came to a conclusion.

It was time to put everything I had learned to use.

It was time to lead.

I returned to the campsite to see that there was a fire crackling in the centre of the tents.

Everyone sat around the campfire quietly, a heavy sense of anxiety dulling the mood.

I stepped closer to the group, making my presence known.

They stared up with hopeful eyes.

"I suppose it's time for us to have a little talk." I smiled slightly as I earned a few, albeit nervous, chuckles. "How about we start with something a little light? What are we going to call ourselves?"

"What about the Lost Boys?" Marc quipped sarcastically.

I held back a wince, instead offering a supportive smile, though my eyes glared at him.

Adrian sighed from his seat, drawing attention to himself.

"Well, we aren't lost." Adrian quipped back.

"And we aren't all boys." Helen added.

Marc stared at Helen in shock for a moment before huffing indignantly and shaking his head. I let a small breath of air slip past my lips before offering an appreciative nod towards the two who had just stifled an impending argument.

I let my eyes trail around the group, confident that Marc's muttering would resolve his turmoil without it spilling out now. A few of the demigods stared expectantly at me, but most were staring blankly out into the trees.

"I'm thinking we take a more militaristic approach." Marc's half-brother, Kerwin said suddenly.

I offered him a shrug but was beaten to a response.

"Let me guess, is Ares your dad?" Lily snapped out.

A round of laughter broke out.

"Is Ares your dad?" Kerwin mocked back, causing the laughter to grow at his expense as he continued to mutter to himself, just like his brother.

"I can't say I dislike that…" Marc muttered, his voice barely registering over the laughter.

I smiled slightly at the younger boy, who seemed to have snapped out of his bitter funk.

"I agree," I started quickly as I wanted us to stay on track, "if Artemis and her hunters are the stealth of Olympus then we can afford to be a little louder and more of a powerhouse group."

I heard a groan and turned to see that it came from Ajax. I guess being a child of a hunter deity made the idea of being loud and in your face a little unappealing.

I let out a chuckle for the first time at the boy's plight.

"What about the Battalion of Olympus?" Adrastea offered.

Ares' kids were quite up to the task I noted.

Kerwin and Marc hummed in agreement, almost as if on cue.

I let my eyes wander across the group and saw that they were all staring off disapprovingly at the name, finally trying to think of something of their own.

"I don't think so." Chrysilla spoke up. Everyone's eyes turned to her, and she shrunk in her seat.

I smiled as I finally sat down on the ground beside Cassandra, who gave me a quick glance with tired eyes before laying her head on my lap.

I gave a small smile before I placed my hand gently on her shoulder.

I looked back up as I heard Chrysilla clear her throat, her eyes nervously glancing at Adrian, seemingly for support.

"If we're looking at it as a military kind of name, and Artemis's group is basically a constant scouting party, then we could be the group that arrives first to either destroy the enemy or to hold them and weaken them until reinforcements arrive…"

"Like a vanguard?" Marc spoke up.

Chrysilla nodded.

The group started talking amongst themselves. I glanced around the group, my smile widening as I felt their excitement grow.

It was something very small, but by having a name, they were probably feeling like we were actually becoming official. I honestly had no intention of being a part of the naming process, so long as everyone was comfortable with it, I would accept almost anything.

I let them chatter amongst themselves for a few more moments, hearing them call out the name in different ways, their pride and confidence growing each time they heard it said aloud.

Deciding to cement it before anyone could argue against it and deflate the mood, I spoke up.

"I like the name; Vanguard has a nice ring to it." They all smiled at my response before bursting into more chatter.

"The Vanguard of Olympus?"

"Nah, I'm thinking more of Perseus' Vanguard!"

I grimaced immediately. And there was the 'almost' part of anything.

"This is our group, I want people to think of all of us and our accomplishments, not just mine."

They smiled once more, before quickly returning to their discussion.

"If we're mimicking the hunters slightly, we should just be the Vanguard!" Ajax called out strongly.

I quickly zoned out, deciding to let them figure this out themselves as I began to plot the rest of the meeting to follow after we came to a decision.

A few minutes later, with a plan in mind, I concluded that they had deliberated long enough and would get nowhere without a clear decision.

"I hear everyone, but 'The Vanguard of Olympus' just has a certain ring to it." I heard a few groans from some of the demigods around me. "But" I saw them perk up, "unofficially we can go by just 'The Vanguard'. This will let us earn a few points with Zeus by being a group for the gods but maybe over time that can just be understood, and we can be called 'The Vanguard' alone."

Some didn't seem overly pleased at the decision, but they'd get over it eventually.

"Now that we have a name, there is more to talk about before we sleep."

I looked around the circle of demigods before continuing.

"We need to figure out what exactly we are going to be doing moving on from here, and we also need to discuss some of the roles and positions that will be necessary."

"You mean like a second in command?" Oliver asked, causing Adrian and Marc to look challengingly at each other.

I noticed their silent battle and sighed.

"Amongst other things, yes."

Everyone seemed to perk up.

"But I want to focus on more pressing roles first. We're going to need someone in charge of acquiring food, whether we are in the woods or not, food and water will always be essential." Ajax perked up but Jordon, a son of Apollo also seemed eager for the role.

"I also want to have one of you in charge of Archery lessons, and another in charge of the melee training." Jordon seemed to have a slight change of heart hearing that an archery-based role was on the table and all the children of Ares grinned maliciously at the prospect of training everyone. I instantly decided that I would have a child of Athena be in charge, for the better health of the group.

"What about those with special powers?" Cassandra asked.

"I will be in charge of that." Those with powers nodded, smiling as they seemed to feel confident that they were in good hands.

"Other than those basic roles, I think I'll let there be a chain of leadership just in case we get into a battle, and something happens. I'll let the children of Athena do weekly lessons on tactics and, after we have a few fights, we will decide those ranks based on skills in a high-pressure situation and how well they can apply knowledge."

Everyone seemed shocked at that, as though they didn't expect me to think so far ahead, but I couldn't exactly blame their expectations for being limited right now; that still doesn't mean I wasn't offended though.

"If you are all finished being shocked at my planning, how about we decide on roles? I think we could have a main trainer and a second trainer just in case to help with everything"

Everyone nodded and then began to offer themselves up. I decided to split it up into sections, deciding on the trainers of each activity first.

For the food gathering, Ajax was the main guy and then Jordon.

For the melee training, I had Adrian and Marc run that.

For the archery training, Teucer and Katherine were in charge.

Until I felt more comfortable with everyone using their powers, I was going to run that alone.

And finally, Adrian and Chrysilla would oversee strategy meetings, with my presence of course.

"Now, about our plans for the future…" The building murmuring ceased immediately as everyone stared at me in anticipation. "I know I've kept a tight lip about a lot of things other than the dangers but, now that we're out here and there is no turning back…" I paused at the sight of them leaning out of their seats.

"I have no real plan except for the training." I saw a few of them tumble forward off of their chairs as groans rang out around the clearing. I bit back a chuckle as I pushed on before anyone else could speak.

"This is because I know that the gods would wait to see us tested before they begin to acknowledge us." Looks of confusion broke out amongst the group. So, I explained the whole situation to the group before me.

"Even with a Hero of Olympus, the gods have mostly written us off as dead." I concluded, seeing the fallen faces I sighed. "That's partially why I was so silent before, I had come to the realization that almost everyone assumes that we are going to die out here. But I've been in many situations where the odds were against me, where death seemed to be the only option, but here I am."

I was about to stand, but instead, I smiled down at Cassandra's sleeping figure. So much for a cool speech.

"I focused all my planning on training you all so that we can become stronger than whatever monster, or groups of them, dare try to make us their meal. The reason I waited so long to leave wasn't that I was unsure, but because I was learning all that I could about being a proper leader, about strategy, about the monsters we could encounter, to keep you all safe. When I said I want us to be a group I wasn't lying, we can always decide on a new adventure together, but my priority is to ensure that you are alive to be on that new adventure, strong enough to defend each other under attack, confident enough to face the world. Because as demigods we don't often get the chance to see what's out there without the fear of monsters, but now, well we will make that chance to see the world!"

The group's faces lit up as everyone seemed livelier.

"Now, in terms of what the plan is, I'd very much like to hear what you all would like to do. After a few weeks of training and getting used to each other, we will begin our first adventure to wherever it is we all decide to go, or wherever the gods take us. Does that sound fair enough?"

The group agreed and I nodded smiling,

"Okay, well go and sleep, we're up early for the first training session, Marc, Adrian and I will take the first watch."

"What!" Marc cried out as the rest of the group began filtering towards their tents.

"Relax you little crybaby!" Adrian quipped as I chuckled.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me out while I was out of it back there."

Marc began mumbling under his breath.

"Oh, suck it up." Adrian muttered, and I smiled.

"I also wanted to let you both know that, as of right now, you both are the front runners for second and third in command, work hard these next two weeks and we'll see if you can beat each other, or the others to the spot." I smiled as their eyes went wide.

"Now go and sleep, boys. I'll handle the first watch after I put Cassandra to bed."

I felt an iron grip around my neck as I shifted the girl's smaller body into my arms, standing up.

"Um... actually I think I'll stay up and keep watch, why don't you go to sleep Percy, you can trust me."

"Us, you can trust us to handle it, I'll stay with him to make sure he doesn't keep sulking and let some monsters eat us all!" Adrian quickly added.

I laughed.

"Work hard from tomorrow! I will keep watch tonight, now go and sleep. You will need it."

They stared at me defiantly for a while before Adrian yawned, before Marc could quip the contagious yawn passed onto him. I gave them a pointed stare and they sighed, saying goodnight before retreating to their tents.

I quickly followed them, stepping into Cassandra's tent which had been set up next to mine, which I was surprised that someone had set up for me in my absence. After a small war, getting the little girl off of me and into her sleeping bag, tucking her in and watching over her sleeping figure for a few moments to make sure she was comfortable, I stepped back in front of the campfire.

I turned towards the fire of the hearth, pulling Riptide out of my pocket, and letting it sit in my hand in pen form. I smiled at the fire as I felt like, for the first time, I was truly free from the eyes and the pressure that had been building as expectations grew in camp. As I slipped Riptide back into my pocket, a clinking sound reminded me of the ring that was now on my finger.

Αδιαπέραστος.

Impenetrable.

Just as this armour would protect me, I would protect these demigods with my life and prove to the monsters that we will not hole up behind walls and let them rob us of a chance at life.

I guess in that sense we actually were like a vanguard, unafraid to face the enemy head-on.

I chuckled to myself before settling down to keep watch for the rest of the night.

A/N: Had a pretty tough day the day I was editing it. Nothing to do with the story, just life. I fought myself to finish the work I had planned out and it helped, just a little bit but it helped. A small bit of advice is just to keep going. Whether it's to find your aim or to make your way to it. Just keep going.

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. We're finally out of camp! I really hope that the next set of chapters catch your eyes, because this is truly where the story becomes my own.

I hope you're all having a great day whenever you're reading this. See you all next time!
-ZedricSOZ