Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs. Anything you recognize as not mine belongs to Rick Riordan, Greco-Roman mythology, and/or their otherwise respective owners.
Author's Notes: Hello, lovelies! Hope y'all are well. I've had a really rough past two weeks. College, medication issues, depression...think I hit the trifecta, lol. Broke my New Year's resolution for a lot longer than I wanted to, but I'm gonna get back into the groove of things today, I hope!
Anyways, not much changed in this chapter. We're getting close to some bigger pulls, though. That's all I'll say about it for now. ;)
Until next week,
~TGWSI/Selene Borealis
Μὰ θεούς – By the gods/I swear to gods
~The Finding Home Saga~
~Finding Home~
~Chapter 8: We Capture A Flag~
Over the course of the next few days, I settled into a routine that almost felt normal, if you don't count how I was getting lessons from nymphs (aka, the girls with the green-tinged pointed ears) and a centaur.
Each morning, I took Ancient Greek lessons taught by Annabeth – who still didn't seem to like me for some unfathomable reason – and we talked about the gods and goddesses, which was kind of weird. Because 1) we talked about them in the present tense, and 2) we talked about how different the "modern myths" were from reality. For instance, apparently Aphrodite was married to Hermes, not Hephaestus or Ares, and Apollo, Artemis, and Persephone were all the children of Poseidon and Demeter, along with a goddess called Despoina and an immortal horse (I shit you not) called Arion. And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that Athena, despite being a maiden goddess, had children, and Annabeth was one of them.
Ironically, the Ancient Greek itself wasn't all that confusing, at least not when compared to the genealogies she was having me memorize. In fact, since my mind was "hardwired" for it, it was even easier than English was, and after a few mornings I could stumble through the beginning lines of the original Homer without too much of a headache.
The rest of the day, I'd rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something I was good at. Chiron tried to teach me archery, but we found out pretty quick I wasn't any good with a bow and arrow. He didn't complain, though, not even when he had to fetch a stray arrow out of his tail.
Foot racing? Yeah, no; I wasn't any good at that, either. The wood nymph instructors left me in the dust. They told me not to worry about it – apparently, they'd had centuries of practice running away from lovesick gods. But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.
And growing strawberries? Forget it. Every time I tried tending to the plants, they wilted. Katie said it was probably because I had too much salt, or something, on my hands. And Castor and Pollux shrugged and told me not to worry about it, because "if you were our half-brother, Dad would've claimed you already."
The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn't the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.
Nevertheless, I knew the senior campers and cabin counselors were watching me, trying to decide who my dad was, but they weren't having an easy time of it. I wasn't as strong as the Ares kids (as I found out when their counselor, aka the girl who had smirked at me that first day, Clarisse la Rue, pummeled me into the wrestling mat, no problem), or as good at archery as the Apollo kids. I didn't have Hephaestus' skill with metalwork or, gods forbid, Dionysus' way with vines.
Chiron, Luke, and Katie all seemed to have some idea about my parentage, though. Although they never said anything, they all had this knowing glint in their eyes I saw during my archery session with Chiron or my tending of the strawberry plants with Katie or my beating of Luke and the rest of our cabin in a canoe race. It was a glint of knowing. They wouldn't tell me who they were suspecting or outright knew, though; something-something about how it was "rude" to tell a kid who their godly parent was before said godly parent did.
But that was okay, because despite the mystery of my parentage, I really did like camp. I got used to the morning fog over the beach, the smell of the hot strawberry fields in the afternoon, and all the weird noses from the monsters in the woods at night. I would eat dinner with Cabin Eleven, and scrape part of my meal into the fire, always sacrificing to the same two gods: Hermes and Dad. Nobody ever commented on my decision to do so, perhaps because I always whispered their names too low for anyone else to hear.
Regardless, for that, I was thankful.
When Thursday came around, three days after I'd woken up and officially arrived at camp, it was time for another outdoor activity: sword-fighting. Everybody from Cabin Eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be our instructor.
We started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. Or, that's what everyone else did, anyways. Because when I went to go find my own dummy, my fingers clasping around my pen-sword as I did, Luke pulled me aside and winked. "Just watch them, for now," he said. "Wouldn't want you to get banged up too bad on your first day of sword-fighting."
At that, I didn't know whether to be charmed or annoyed.
We eventually moved on to dueling pairs. Luke suddenly announced he would be my partner, since this would be my "first time," much to the humor of everyone else.
"Good luck," Chris told me. "Luke's the best swordsman in three hundred years."
"Maybe he'll go easy on me, then," I said.
He only snorted in response.
"Come on, Percy," Luke said, ending the chitchat between me and Chris. "Choose a sword and get over here."
I looked at him skeptically, but he only grinned and winked again.
Oh. So that's how it was.
With a grin of my own, I grabbed the pen-sword from out of my pocket and uncapped it, causing it to change shape. Instantly, everyone around me gasped. "How did you get your own sword?" one of the campers, a son of Eris I didn't remember the name of, asked.
"Uh...I stole it?" I replied instantly.
For a second, I thought I would get chastised and everyone would demand that I return the sword back to Chiron. But, of course, this is Cabin Eleven we're talking about. From all around the group, snickers and cheers broke out, while Travis and Connor both wolf-whistled, impressed.
"Alright, alright, that's enough," Luke said with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, Percy. Show me what you've got."
After that, the real lesson began. Luke showed me thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, I got a little more battered and bruised. But Luke wasn't having any of it.
"Keep your guard up, Percy," he'd say, then whack me in the ribs with the flat of his blade for good measure. "No, not that far up!" Whack! "Lunge!" Whack! "Now, back!" Whack!
By the time he called break, I was panting and soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Luke poured ice water over his head, and I thought that it looked like a good idea, so I did the same.
Instantly, I felt better. Strength surged back into my arms.
"Okay, everybody, circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."
"I don't mind," I said quickly – a little too quickly.
Travis and Connor both wolf-whistled again.
Luke ignored them. "The technique that I am about to show you is difficult," he stressed, before telling us what the technique was: a disarming technique that involved twisting the enemy's sword with the flat of your own blade so that he had no choice but to drop the weapon. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this."
He demonstrated the move on me in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of my hand.
"Now, in real time," he said, after I'd retrieved my weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"
I nodded, and Luke came after me. Somehow, I kept him from getting a shot at the hilt of my sword. My senses opened up. I saw his attacks coming. I countered. I stepped forward, and tried a thrust of my own. Luke deflected it easily, but I saw a change in his face. His eyes narrowed, and he started to press forward with more force.
The sword started to grow heavy in my hand. I was starting to tire out. I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Luke took me down, so I figured, what the hell?
I tried the disarming maneuver.
My blade hit the base of Luke's and I twisted, putting my whole weight into a downward thrust.
The sword clattered out of his hands, and then the tip of my blade was an inch away from his undefended chest.
Immediately, the other campers fell silent.
I lowered my sword. "Um, sorry."
For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak. But then, a grin spread across his face, though it clashed horribly with this strange look in his eyes. "'Sorry?'" he repeated. "Μὰ θεούς, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"
I didn't want to. I was tired, and weak, and hungry. But Luke insisted.
This time, there was no contest. The moment our swords connected, Luke hit my hilt and sent my weapon skidding across the floor.
After a long pause, I heard Ethan say, "Beginner's luck?"
Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. "Maybe," he said, but I could tell he didn't believe it. Not really. "I don't know. But it's almost time for lunch. Everyone, get to the showers and clean up –except you, Percy. I want you to stay back."
At his command, everyone besides us filtered out of the arena – the Stolls were laughing, Ethan and Alabaster were talking, and I was pretty sure Lou and Cecil were plotting something.
When they had all left, Luke turned towards me. "Is that sword working out for you alright?" he asked. "A sword needs to be balanced in order for you to learn properly..."
"Yeah," I replied quickly. "It's fine. Great, even."
Luke nodded thoughtfully. It seemed like he wanted to say something else, and I didn't know what to think about that. There were things I wanted him to say, things like something to do with the attraction I was experiencing towards him or my dad. But there were also things I didn't want him to say, like something to do with the reason why I had flinched with him earlier. Because he hadn't so much as grazed my skin with his own since, and I could read in-between the lines about what that meant. Even if I didn't think I would mind if he did it again.
Luke was safe. I trusted him.
"Well, we should probably be following after the others," he said at last, which made me feel both disappointed and relieved at the same time. "Don't want Travis and Connor to somehow destroy the pipes again, after all."
Not knowing what else to do, I nodded, and the two of us made our way out of the arena in relative silence.
Friday afternoon, I was sitting with Katie at the lake, resting from a near-death experience on the climbing wall. Somehow, Katie had climbed all the way to the top without a problem, but the lava had almost gotten me. My shirt had smoking holes in it. The hairs had been singed off of my forearms.
We sat on the pier, watching the naiads – goddesses with black hair, gold eyes, and blue-tinged ears – do basket-weaving, until Katie finally decided to say something. "So, how's things are Cabin Eleven going?" she asked.
"Good, good," I replied, before my eyes narrowed at the teasing note in her voice. "Why? What do you know, Katie?"
"Just that Silena's taken an interest in you, and the only time she does that is when there's 'love in the air,'" Katie quoted with her fingers. "And you have this tendency to blush when Luke is around."
"Oh no," I groaned. "Am I really that obvious?"
"Yes," she said with a grin, before she playfully hit my arm. "Don't worry, I think it's cute. It's been...well, let's just say it's been a while since anybody was interested in Luke that way – besides Annabeth, that is, but she doesn't really count – and I think it's healthy. For both of you."
I coughed at her statement and the meaningful look in her eyes, for more reasons than one. But I only chose to voice one of those reasons. "Annabeth has a crush on Luke?"
Katie blinked. "Uh, yeah? She's even more obvious than you are. How have you not noticed?"
"Uh, I don't know," I said, feeling very stupid. No wonder Annabeth didn't like me. Deciding a change in subject was suddenly needed, though, I proceeded to ask Katie a question that had been on my mind for a while: the empty cabins.
"Well, I'm sure you've figured out by now that number eight belongs to Artemis," she said in response. "Her cabin is kind of honorary, in the sense it's only occupied whenever the Hunt decides to come visit, which isn't often. As for the others, Cabin Two is completely honorary, because Hera refuses to cheat on Zeus out of principle or whatever."
"But what about Cabins One and Three?" I pressed. "Why are they empty?"
Katie looked down at her lap. "Cabin One is for Zeus, while Three is for Poseidon," she answered. "Along with Hades, they make up the Big Three – the three sons of Kronos, the eldest gods. Their cabins are empty because...well, about sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire any more children, because their children were too powerful. I mean, I don't know if anyone told you this, but Hitler and Mussolini were sons of Hades, Churchill was a son of Poseidon, and Eisenhower was a son of Zeus. So you basically had the sons of Hades on one side, and the sons of Poseidon and Zeus on the other. And there was a lot of carnage because of that. So, at the end of the war, the three brothers made an oath to never sire another mortal child. They even swore it on the River Styx."
Thunder boomed.
"That's the most powerful oath you can make, right?" I asked.
She nodded.
"And they all kept their word – no kids?"
Katie hesitated. "Seventeen years ago, Zeus fell off the wagon," she finally said. "I don't really know all of the details, but I do know is he had a daughter named Thalia, Thalia Grace. And...well, Styx is serious about promises, Percy. So while Zeus got himself off easy because he's immortal, he brought a terrible fate on his daughter."
"But that isn't fair," I protested. "It wasn't her fault."
Katie laughed. "Percy, has no one ever told you just how powerful the children of the eldest gods are? They're powerful, scarily so – myself included. And they have this strong scent that attracts monsters from all over. So, when Hades found out about the girl, about Thalia, he let the worst monsters out of Tartarus as revenge. It didn't matter she had two other demigods with her that didn't deserve it. He just wanted to see her die. And she did."
She pointed to the giant pine tree on top of the hill, the one my mom had said we had to get past. "Five years ago, Thalia sacrificed her life right there for the two demigods that were with her. She died alone, on top of that hill. But Zeus took pity on her...he turned her into a pine tree just as she let out her last breath. Since then, her spirit has helped protect the borders of the valley, keeping us all safe from harm. That's why the hill is called Half-Blood Hill."
I stared at the pine tree in the distance.
The story made me feel hollow, and guilty. A girl, presumably around my age, had sacrificed herself to save her friends. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn't seem like much.
Especially not when I had lost my mother in the process.
That night, after dinner, there was a lot more excitement than usual.
At last, it was time for Capture the Flag.
When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and we all stood at our tables.
Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse la Rue and some of her cabin-mates ran in with another banner of identical size, but theirs was gaudy red with a painting of a boar's head and a bloody spear.
I turned to Luke and yelled over the noise, "Those are the flags?"
"Yeah."
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"
"Not always," he said. "But often."
"So, if another cabin captures one, what do you do? Repaint the flag?"
He grinned. "You'll see. First, we have to get one."
"Whose side are we on?"
He gave me a sly look, as if he knew something I didn't. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help."
The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo and Hermes, the two biggest cabins, and Demeter. Apparently, privileges had been traded – shower times, chore schedules, and the best slots for activities, among other things – in order to win support.
Ares had allied themselves with everybody else: Dionysus, Aphrodite, and Hephaestus. From what I had seen, Castor and Pollux were actually good athletes, but they were the only children of Dionysus at camp. Aphrodite's five kids weren't very threatening, or at least, Drew, Laurel, Mitchell, and Lacy weren't. Silena was a possible threat, though, if only because I had the feeling she was something of a wild card. Hephaestus' kids were probably the most concerning out of the three cabins, given their abilities, but there were only four of them.
Ares' cabin, of course, pulled the biggest muscle out of the group, both in the size of their cabin – there were over a dozen of them – and in how strong they were. They were also probably extremely skilled in combat, if my experience with Clarisse was any any indicator.
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble floor.
"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magical items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered in equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal, and just about every other kind of weapon or protection that would be useful.
Luke gave me a shield and a helmet with a blue horsehair plume on top, like all of the helmets on Athena's side. He assessed me for a moment once I had uncapped my sword, before he grinned and nodded. "That'll do, Percy. That'll do."
Not even a second later, Annabeth shouted, "Blue team, forward!"
We cheered and shook our swords and followed her down the path to the south of the woods. The red team yelled taunts at us as they headed off towards the north.
"Alright, Eleven," Luke shouted. "You know the drill! Alabaster, you and Ethan are on banner duty. Lou, you're on defensive duty," here, the daughter of Hecate grinned evilly, "along with Cecil. Everybody else is on offensive duty – except for you, Percy. I want you on the border patrol near the creek."
I blinked. "What? Why?"
He winked. "Just trust me, will you?"
Well, when he put it like that...
It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Luke stationed me next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then he and the rest of the team scattered into the trees.
Standing there alone, I felt like an idiot. Why did I have to be on border patrol when everyone else got to have all of the fun? I didn't get it.
Not like it mattered, though, because at that moment the conch horn blew somewhere far away. Instantly, I heard whoops and yells in the woods and the clanking of metal. A blue-plumed ally from Apollo – I think it was the cabin counselor, Lee Fletcher – raced past me like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory.
Great, I couldn't help but think snidely.
For a while, I just stood there, waiting, but I didn't need to wait for long. Suddenly, on the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded ferociously as five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.
"Well, well, well," Clarisse sneered. "The newbie's on border patrol. And here I thought Athena was supposed to be the goddess of battle strategy."
"Uh, hi?" I replied, shuffling nervously.
Clarisse brandished her spear at me in response, which was five feet long and had a barbed tip that was flickering with red light. Then, with a guttural cry, she and her siblings charged at me from across the stream.
There was no help in sight. I could run, I thought to myself. Or...I could defend myself against half of the Ares cabin.
I managed to side-step the first kid's swing, but unfortunately the other ones all surrounded me, and Clarisse thrust at me with her spear. My shield deflected the point, but I felt a painful tingling all over my body. My hair stood on end. My shield arm went numb, and the air burned.
Electricity. Her stupid spear was electric.
I tried to fall back, but another Ares guy slammed me in the chest with the butt of his sword. I hit the dirt.
"Come on, Percy – or should I say, Prissy?" Clarisse laughed with the rest of her siblings. "You've got to be better than that!"
Prissy. Hot, unadulterated anger pooled into my stomach at the nickname, because I'd thought I'd left it behind me when I left Yancy Academy and, by extension, Hudson Lake. But here somebody was again, calling me it, even if she had no idea what it really meant to me.
With a grunt and push of adrenaline, I stood up and hissed, "Don't. Call. Me. That."
"Oh, yeah?" Clarisse cackled. "What are you gonna do, Prissy? Stab me with your sword?"
I moved to do just that, when suddenly there was a tug at my navel, unlike anything I had ever experienced before, except for maybe when Hudson had somehow gotten pushed into the fountain.
From behind Clarisse and her siblings, the creek started to bubble profusely. With wide, disbelieving eyes, I watched as the water from it started to churn violently, before six tendrils rose out and wrapped themselves around the six children of Ares.
"What the fuck!" Clarisse screamed as the tendrils pulled her and her siblings off the ground. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I – I don't know!" I spluttered. The tug from behind my navel was only getting stronger and stronger, but for some reason, I couldn't stop it.
I didn't know how to.
Then I heard yelling and elated screams, and I saw Luke racing towards the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by Travis, Connor, and Chris, who were all covering his retreat, along with a few Apollo kids who were fighting off the Hephaestus kids from behind them.
Watching them, I felt the tug behind my navel quickly decrease until I couldn't feel it anymore.
The water that had taken ahold of the Ares kids let go of them, causing them all to crash to the ground.
I heard cheers as everybody converged on the creek just as Luke ran across our side and into friendly territory. Vaguely, I watched as the red banner shimmered and turned a light blue, and as the spear and boar's head were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of Cabin Eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn.
The game was over. We'd won.
I swayed. Something didn't feel right – I felt like all of the energy had just been drained out of me, never to return again.
Just as my legs gave out from beneath me, somebody grabbed me; it must've been Clarisse or one of her siblings. I was too tired to even flinch at the sensation, though my instincts very much wanted me to.
"Holy shit," I heard Clarisse breathe from right above me.
Ah, I thought mildly. So it is Clarisse.
"Put him in the creek," Annabeth said from behind us – since when did she get over here? "Now! He's about to pass out from exhaustion!"
Clarisse complied, although she dropped me in the creek a bit harder than I was expecting. With a grunt, I fell in it, but as soon as I did, I felt much better – like I had just had five coffees on top of one of those energy pills, even.
By that point, everyone had noticed the commotion going on from around us. They all walked over, Chiron included. "What's going on?" he asked.
"He controlled the water!" Clarisse shouted, pointing at me.
"What?" several campers gasped.
"But that can't be!" one of the Athena kids yelled.
"They made an oath!" another one shouted.
"Look," I said, trying to apologize as I watched all of their faces pale. "I'm sorry..."
But they weren't looking at me.
They were staring at something above my head.
Nervously, I looked up. Directly above me was a hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear. A trident.
"Oh no," Annabeth groaned.
"It is determined," Chiron announced.
All around me, campers started to kneel. I stared at them, bewildered.
"All hail Perseus Jackson," Chiron said, his expression grave, his eyes grim. "Son of Poseidon, God of Seas, Storms, Earthquakes, Soil, and Horses."
Word Count: 4,425
Next Chapter Title: I'm Forced Into A Quest
