A/N Hey Folks! I am back with a new chapter. This will be the last chapter before a well-anticipated break. someone asked to give the Percy-Andrew love story, some told me not to make Percy as oblivious and brash as her male version. So here are my thoughts. For those who wanted some tooth-rotting stuff read the next chapter because there is going to be a lot of fluff. But be careful, cause there might be troubles in the paradise for the couples. Also, you should know that kids are usually brash and impulsive in nature and Percy is no exception. As for oblivious, this Percy is not one but she will act as one to make Andrew confess his feelings. That was all. Hope you like it.
Chapter 18 Lady of the bathroom
Thalia's pov.
I am super excited to read more about Percy. Lord Hades started to read.
6. I BECOME SUPREME LORD OF THE BATHROOM
"Shouldn't it be Supreme Lady of Bathroom," I asked. "There is nothing like supreme lady, Thals," Percy replied. "Sexist!" Most demi goddesses muttered and male ones huffed. Clarisse shifted in her seat looking between the door and Lord Ares like ready sprint out of the room. Does something happen in this chapter?
Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a nice tour, though I was careful not to walk behind him. I'd done pooper-scooper patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few times, and, I'm sorry, I did not trust Chiron's back end the way I trusted his front.
We all laughed and Chiron huffed at Percy, but it was clear he was not offended.
We passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's her."
"You became famous on the first day of the camp?" Jason scowled at Percy. "She is always famous, just for the wrong reasons," Andrew replied. Poor Sally looked extremely worried for her daughter.
Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMPHALF-BLOOD T-shirts, with nothing else to cover their bare shaggy hindquarters. I wasn't normally shy, but the way they stared at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were expecting me to do a flip or something.
I looked back at the farmhouse. It was a lot bigger than I'd realized—four stories tall, sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort. I was checking out the brass eagle weather vane on top when something caught my eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I got the distinct impression I was being watched.
Most Greek campers shivered at the thought of the mummified oracle. Good thing we Rachel now.
"What's up there?" I asked Chiron.
He looked where I was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."
"Somebody lives there?"
"No," he said with finality. "Not a single living thing."
"Chiron is very good at this lying business. Isn't he ?" Travis asked Katie. " Of course he is. How else is he supposed to help the new demigods if can't tweak truth to his use." Piper added "But he is very bad at tact. " " That is true too." We laughed as Chiron looked annoyed and happy at the same time.
I got the feeling he was being truthful. But I was also sure something had moved that curtain.
"Who do you think the person was ?" Lady Athena asked. " Trust me you don't wanna know," I replied.
"Come along, Percy," Chiron said, his lighthearted tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."
We walked through the strawberry fields,
We all licked our lips at the thought of strawberries. "Let us have some refreshment in the break." Hera rolled her eyes.
where campers were picking bushels of berries while a satyr played a tune on a reed pipe.. . . . . . . . . .
Chiron told me the camp grew a nice crop for export to New York restaurants and Mount Olympus. "It pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries take almost no effort."
He said Mr. D had this effect on fruit-bearing plants: they just went crazy when he was around. It worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was restricted from growing those, so they grew strawberries instead.
Mr. D refrained from speaking anything due to which step-monster might get crazy but I could see a few grapevines moving towards Dad in a threatening way.
I watched the satyr playing his pipe. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry patch in every direction, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if he was still inside the farmhouse, getting chewed out by Mr. D.
Now it was Lord Pan's turn to glare at Mr. D.
"Grover won't get in too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean … he was a good protector. Really."
Chiron sighed. He shed his tweed jacket and draped it over his horse's back like a saddle. "Grover has big dreams, Percy. Perhaps bigger than are reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Half-Blood Hill."
"But he did that!"
"Unsuccessfully too, might I add. " Uncle Poseidon looked a bit angry. " Daaaddd !" Percy scolded him.
"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it is not my place to judge. Dionysus and the Council of Cloven Elders must decide. I'm afraid they might not see this assignment as a success. After all, Grover lost you in New York.
" That was your fault."Lord Pan glared at Percy.
Then there's the unfortunate … ah … fate of your mother.
" And your mother's !" Lord Dionysus added not want to be blamed for Grover's failure. "Don't you dare blame it on her mother! She was only trying to protect her daughter. " Lady Demeter cried.
And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you dragged him over the property line.
"And that was dad's fault." Lord Hermes commented angrily. And like that, all the glares were thrown dad's way.
The council might question whether this shows any courage on Grover's part."
I wanted to protest.
So did we. Grover is a courageous goat boy.
None of what happened was Grover's fault.
Most of us nodded.
I also felt really, really guilty. If I hadn't given Grover the slip at the bus station, he might not have gotten in trouble.
Grover raised an eyebrow at Percy.
"He'll get a second chance, won't he?"
"That might not be possible. " I muttered knowing very well it was his second chance.
Chiron winced. "I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance, Percy. The council was not anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still so small for his age... ."
"How old is he?"
"Oh, twenty-eight."
"What! And he's in sixth grade?"
"Satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Percy. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."
"That's horrible."
"Let it be Percy's priority to think of staying in middle school as the bad part." We laughed at Percy.
"Quite," Chiron agreed. "At any rate, Grover is a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and not yet very accomplished at woodland magic. Alas, he was anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps now he will find some other career... ."
"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time? Was it really so bad?"
"Yeah, it was !" Grover replied guiltily. Andrew and I glared at him.
Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move along, shall we?"
But I wasn't quite ready to let the subject drop. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he were intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea—a tiny, hopeful fire—started forming in my mind.
"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all that are real …"
"That can't be good," Hazel muttered.
"Yes, child?"
"Does that mean the Underworld is real, too?"
"Seriously! You want to go to lord Pluto, just for your mom. " Frank asked incredulously. The demigods from our time raised our eyebrows at him. He was there when he saw Percy jump into Tartarus just for her boyfriend. Think about what she could do for her mother.
Chiron's expression darkened.
"Yes, child." He paused, as if choosing his words carefully. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But for now … until we know more
"What do you mean by until you know more? Don't you know about the underworld?" Leo questioned stupidly. " I was talking about her mother's fate and not about lord Hades's realm, Leo," Chiron explained to Leo.
… I would urge you to put that out of your mind."
"What do you mean, 'until we know more'?"
"You need to work out your tact," Jason muttered.
"Come, Percy. Let's see the woods.". . ..
As we got closer, I realized how huge the forest was. It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine nobody had been in there since the Native Americans.
"Just because were are natives of America doesn't mean we will always be living in woods like that." Piper huffed at Percy.
Chiron said, "The woods are stocked, if you care to try your luck, but go armed."
"Stocked with what?" I asked. "Armed with what?"
"Stocked with monsters." " Armed with Weapons." Katie slapped both the Stolls on their head and " You are talking to the book." Everyone else looked amused.
"You'll see. Capture the flag is Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"
"Most young Demigods don't have their weapons, Chiron." Andrew pointed out
"My own—?"
"No," Chiron said. "I don't suppose you do. I think a size five will do. I'll visit the armory later."
"You actually forgot to do that," Percy replied thoughtfully.
I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory,
"Ours does !" We cheered.
but there was too much else to think about, so the tour continued. We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Chiron didn't seem to like very much)
Chiron blushed.
, the javelin range, the sing-along amphitheater, and the arena where Chiron said they held sword and spear fights.
"Sword and spear fights?" I asked.
Clarisse looked excited.
"Cabin challenges and all that," he explained. "Not lethal. Usually. Oh, yes, and there's the mess hall."
Chiron pointed to an outdoor pavilion framed in white Grecian columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.
"What do you do when it rains?" I asked.
Chiron looked at me as if I'd gone a little weird.
"That is a legit question." Lord Triton pointed out. " The barrier prevents atmospheric changes inside the camp. So until one or the god doesn't get pissed off, it doesn't rain." Andrew replied to the questioning glances thrown his way.
"We still have to eat, don't we?" I decided to drop the subject.
" One should never stop asking questions. "Lady Athena replied mildly.
Finally, he showed me the cabins. There were twelve of them, nestled in the woods by the lake.
"There were more in our time," Reyna said thoughtfully.
They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.
"What does that mean!" Most Gods and goddesses cried.
Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike.
"Oh! " They blinked.
Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory.
Leo and Lord Hephaestus smirked.
Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass.
"That is ours ." Katie and Lady Dementer replied.
Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at.
Lord Apollo and his sons looked proud.
They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).
"We should play sometime soon. " Lord Apollo and Lord Hermes asked Percy.
In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined firepit. Even though it was a warm afternoon, the hearth smoldered. A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.
"You must be very powerful to see me on your first time." Lady Hestia said thoughtfully.
For a second, Lady Hestia, the goddess of Hearth came into my mind. But before I could question Chiron, he moved on towards the head of U.
The pair of cabins at the head of the field, numbers one and two, looked like his-and-hers mausoleums, big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of the twelve. Its polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.
Dad looked proud while Jason and I winced. It might have been big and bulky and beautiful from the outside, but it wasn't so from the inside.
Cabin two was more graceful somehow, with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.
"That is mine." Lady Hera looked happy.
"Zeus and Hera?" I guessed.
"Correct," Chiron said.
"Their cabins look empty."
"WHAT!" Lady Hera looked shocked and happy at the same time. Everyone else gave Jason and me confused glances.
"Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one ever stays in one or two."
Okay. So each cabin had a different god, like a mascot.
"You can say it like that." Lord Hermes replied.
Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would some be empty?
I stopped in front of the first cabin on the left, cabin three.
"That must be mine !" Uncle Poseidon replied cheerfully.
It wasn't high and mighty like cabin one, but long and low and solid. The outer walls were of rough gray stone studded with pieces of seashell and coral, as if the slabs had been hewn straight from the bottom of the ocean floor.
"That sounds beautiful." Percy's half-brothers said dreamily. Even we sighed at the description of cabin three. "Mine must be even better. Right? " Dad asked pompously. We both winced at the irony of his question. Zeus's cabin was beautiful except for father's statue which looked ready to smite us.
I peeked inside the open doorway and Chiron said, "Oh, I wouldn't do that!"
Lord Poseidon and his sons scowled. Lady Amphitrite hid her smile.
Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty scent of the interior, like the wind on the shore at Montauk. The interior walls glowed like abalone. There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets turned down. But there was no sign anyone had ever slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come along, Percy."
"Ha! Even your daughter doesn't want to go in your cabin." Dad said pompously. " Did anyone notice that these two didn't have any kids other than Percy at that time?" Lady Artemis asked. " You will find that more in the next chapter," Percy replied.
Most of the other cabins were crowded with campers.
Number five was bright red—a real nasty paint job, as if the color had been splashed on with buckets and fists. The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed wild boar's head hung over the doorway, and its eyes seemed to follow me.
"Yeah! " Lord Ares and Clarisse cheered for their cabin.
Inside I could see a bunch of mean-looking kids, both girls and boys, arm wrestling and arguing with each other while rock music blared.
Lord Ares looked proud.
The loudest was a girl maybe thirteen or fourteen. She wore a size XXXL CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirt under a camouflage jacket. She zeroed in on me and gave me an evil sneer. She reminded me of the female version of Nathan Bobofit,
Clarisse looked annoyed at her comparison to the boy.
though the camper girl was much bigger and tougher looking, and her hair was long and stringy, and brown instead of red.
I kept walking, trying to stay clear of Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs," I observed.
"No, they are usually found in wild. " Odysseus answered.
"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kinsmen are wild and barbaric folk, I'm afraid. You might encounter them in the wilderness, or at major sporting events. But you won't see any here."
"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really …"
" Our teacher !" Jerkulus said proudly.
He smiled down at me. "The Chiron from the stories? Trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Percy, I am."
"But, shouldn't you be dead?"
"Really Percy !" Sally admonished.
Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know about should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, eons ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me.
" Humanity will always need you !" Will smiled at Chiron and all the Greeks nodded. Chiron smiled back at us.
I gained much from that wish … and I gave up much. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed."
I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. It wouldn't have made my Top Ten Things to Wish For list.
"what will they be?" Nico asked thoughtfully.
"Doesn't it ever get boring?"
"No, no," he said. "Horribly depressing, at times, but never boring."
"Why depressing?"
"Don't you dare answer that question?" Uncle Hades muttered angrily. " I am tired of all the times I had to stop reading to listen to your senseless talks. If the daughter of Poseidon hasn't found out by now why Chiron's life gets 'horribly depressing', I am more than happy to take her on a tour to Underworld. " " Uncle," Percy said politely," You just answered the question." And His scowl deepened. Percy really has the gift of pissing off Gods.
Chiron seemed to turn hard of hearing again.
"Oh, look," he said. "Andrew is waiting for us."
Lady Aphrodite squealed loudly. Damn goddess of love.
The blond guy I'd met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.
When we reached him, he looked me over critically, like he was still thinking about how much I snored.
"He always looks at that and to everyone. " "It's the Athena thing." Leo and Percy commented.
I tried to see what he was reading, but I couldn't make out the title. I thought my dyslexia was acting up. Then I realized the title wasn't even English. The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek. There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.
"Andrew and architecture, you can't separate them from each other," I told them remembering how he was when he was a child.
"Andrew," Chiron said, "I have a masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"
"Yes, sir."
"Cabin eleven," Chiron told me, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."
Out of all the cabins, eleven looked the most like a regular old summer camp cabin, with the emphasis on old.
"Hey! " All the sons of Hermes cried. Their father winced at the condition of his cabin.
The threshold was worn down, the brown paint peeling. Over the doorway was one of those doctor's symbols, a winged pole with two snakes wrapped around it. What did they call it... ? A caduceus.
"George and Martha, remind me in future to check up on my cabin from time to time." Lord Hermes said in his Caduceus.
Inside, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds. Sleeping bags were spread all over the floor. It looked like a gym where the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center.
"Someone has been quite busy ." Lady Artemis raised her eyebrow at him. " I don't think all of them are mine. " Then he turned towards all the other gods and announced. " You better claim them in the future. " All he got were half-hearted nods.
Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."
He galloped away toward the archery range.
I stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at me, sizing me up. I knew this routine. I'd gone through it at enough schools.
"Well?" Andrew prompted. "Go on."
So naturally, I tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of myself.
We all snickered. Oh, I wish we were there to witness that.
There were some snickers from the campers, but none of them said anything.
Andrew announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven.
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
I didn't know what to say, but Andrew said, "Undetermined."
Everybody groaned.
" Again! Claim them ." Lord Hermes said all other gods and goddesses looked embarrassed at the demigods' behavior.
A guy who was a little older than the rest came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."
The guy was about nineteen, and he looked pretty cool. He was tall and muscular, with short-cropped sandy hair and a friendly smile. He wore an orange tank top, cutoffs, sandals, and a leather necklace with five different-coloured clay beads. He had a thick white scar that ran from just beneath his right eye to his jaw, like an old knife slash, which gave him a bad boy look.
"Luke !" I muttered angrily. Even though he turned out to be a hero in the end, I could never forgive him for what he did.
Now I am not the type of girl to get googly-eyed at some random handsome stranger, Andrew being the best example
Andrew blushed while some gave him evil eyes * Cough * Sea family* cough*.
, but this guy seemed so friendly that I for once relaxed under his gaze.
Now the eyes turned towards the book. Even Andrew looked annoyed by Percy. I, on the other hand, could easily understand Percy as I knew that Luke could be charming when he wishes.
"This is Luke," Andrew said, and his voice sounded different somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn he looked annoyed. He saw me looking, and his expression softened again. "He's your counselor for now."
"For now?" I asked.
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."
"Actually, he was the only one who gave me straight answers and was very helpful," Percy told us and now most of us were scowling. Even I would also have helped had I been there.
I looked at the tiny section of the floor they'd given me. I had nothing to put there to mark it as my own, no luggage, no clothes, no sleeping bag. Just the Minotaur's horn. I thought about setting that down, but then I remembered that Hermes was also the god of thieves.
"Awww. That would have looked awesome with one of my kids." Lord Hermes said only to get glared down by Uncle Poseidon.
I looked around at the campers' faces, some sullen and suspicious, some grinning stupidly, some eyeing me as if they were waiting for a chance to pick my pockets.
"The ones who were eyeing you are his sons." Lady Dementer said pointing at the God of thieves.
"How long will I be here?" I asked.
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
The campers all laughed.
All the gods looked ashamed. Dam, I didn't know it was that bad.
"Come on," Andrew told me. "I'll show you the volleyball court."
"I've already seen it."
"Come on." He grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.
"Oooh! Someone is jealous! " Lady Aphrodite winked at Andrew.
I could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind me.
When we were a few feet away, Andrew said, "Jackson, you have to do better than that."
"Stop being so mean to her." Andromeda admonished Andrew.
"What?"
He rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."
Lady Aphrodite stopped smiling.
"What's your problem?" I was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"
"Don't talk like that!" Andrew told me. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"
" Yeah everyone wants to get killed by Pasiphae's son," Perseus said sarcastically.
"To get killed?"
"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"
" To survive. Not to do suicide." Bellerophone cried.
I shook my head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories …"
"Yes."
"Then there's only one."
"Yes."
"And he died, like, a gazillion years ago, right?
"Gazillion is not a word !" Athena muttered trying to defend her son.
Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So …"
"Yay, she remembers me, "Theseus exclaimed happily
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."
"That clears everything. " Heapteatus muttered. "You are listening? " Dionysus asked. "Of course. The story is very interesting." Came the reply.
"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."
"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."
" So you are saying the monsters we defeated are still alive in your time." The older demigods asked worriedly. " Yep !" Came the reply.
I thought about Mrs. Dodds. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"
"The Fur … I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."
"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"
"You talk in your sleep."
"You were looking at her sleeping! "Lord Triton asked incredulously with a hint of anger in his voice. Uhu! Boy it will get very complicated when they find out about Percy and Andrew's relationship
" Glad to know you like to watch random girls in sleep. Also, you almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"
Andrew glanced nervously at the ground, as if he expected it to open up and swallow his.
"Oh come on I am not that dramatic. That is Zeus's job. " Nico's dad huffed in annoyance.
"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I sounded whiny, even to myself, but right then I didn't care.
"That girl is so stupid." Lady Athena stated. "She is new to this world. So give her a break. " Lord Triton spat out angrily. What is going on between them? Then I remembered, Lady Athena killed Pallas by mistake. Pallas was Lord Triton's daughter. Greek family sucks.
"Why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."
I pointed to the first few cabins, and Andrew turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or … your parent."
He stared at me, waiting for me to get it. But I was in total denial. How could I not when everything around me seemed like a nightmare? I wished my mom was here...
We all felt sad at her thoughts. How could I ever think she didn't know how it felt to lose a parent? She suffered a lot just like all of us. And she still sees good in everyone even after everything.
"My mom is Sally Jackson," I said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to." I didn't want to admit about the other one.
"Get yourself out of grief. Or you will get killed faster than you can say, mommy." M. D said but I could see he didn't mean it.
"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."
"He's dead. I never knew him." I said refusing to admit anything else.
Andrew sighed. Clearly, he'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."
"How can you say that? You know him?"
"Technically yes !" Lord Apollo pointed out trying to diffuse the situation.
"No, of course not."
"Then how can you say—"
"Because I know you.
"You knew her. You met her like two days ago. " Piper frowned at Andrew.
You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."
"You don't know anything about me."
"No?" He raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."
"How—"
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too."
I tried to swallow my embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"In my defense, a) I thought she saw the initiation video and b) I was just trying to pull the band-aid really fast so that it might hurt her less," Andrew replied to all the glares and frowns send his way. Athena looked angry that anyone dared to question her son's motives.
"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek.
"Actually, she is good in Greek as well as Latin," Hazel said.
And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom. That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, they'd keep you alive.
" And that has helped her a lot of times in quests and battles," Grover added.
As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's.
"The only problem is she doesn't listen to her senses." I ended, giving Grover a high five.
Of course, the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."
"You sound like … you went through the same thing?"
"No, but I know several people who did," Andrew replied.
"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."
"Ambrosia and nectar."
"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid.
"What if she actually was a mortal ?" " She might not have been able to survive the minotaur."
It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."
A half-blood.
I was reeling with so many questions I didn't know where to start.
"Start the way Nico did," I smirked as Nico blushed.
Then a husky voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"
Clarisse groaned.
I looked over. The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward us. She had three other girls behind her, all big and ugly and mean-looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.
"Clarisse," Andrew sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"
"I hate that spear. " Percy muttered. Clarisse smirked.
"Sure, Mr. Prince," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."
"As if you could !" Andrew said challenging Clarisse. Before Athena Vs, Ares would start uncle Hades started reading.
''Erre es korakas!" Andrew said, which I somehow understood was Greek for 'Go to the crows!' though I had a feeling it was a worse curse than it sounded.
"It means 'go to Hades'," Will told the Romans.
"You don't stand a chance."
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat.
"Why do you have to be so perspective? " Clarisse groaned again. Chris patted the back of her hand.
She turned toward me. "Who's this little runt?"
"Percy Jackson," Andrew said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."
I blinked. "Like … the war god?"
Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"
"She is going to say something stupid, isn't she ?" Frank made a face.
"No," I said, recovering my wits. "It explains the bad smell."
"EXCUSE ME !" Lord Ares growled. I winced at Percy's stupidity
Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."
Lord Poseidon's eye twitched.
"Percy."
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."
"Clarisse—" Andrew tried to say.
"Stay out of it, wise guy."
"WHAT YOU GOT IT FROM CLARISSE!" We all shouted. Yay at least her nicknames for us were original.
Andrew looked pained, but he did stay out of it, and I didn't really want her help. I was the new kid. I had to earn my own rep.
I handed Andrew my minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before I knew it, Clarisse had me by the neck and was dragging me toward a cinder-block building that I knew immediately was the bathroom.
"Another new camper gets his head dunked in a toilet." The Stoll brothers cried.
I was kicking and punching. I'd been in plenty of fights before, but this big girl Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged me into the girls' bathroom. There was a line of toilets on one side and a line of shower stalls down the other. It smelled just like any public bathroom, and I was thinking—as much as I could think with Clarisse ripping my hair out—that if this place belonged to the gods, they should've been able to afford classier johns.
"That is a good question. Why can't gods, who built such a beautiful city for themselves, could give us a better and cleaner loo? " Katie asked thoughtfully. The gods shifted in their seats and looked at dad for assistance. " we will discuss it later !" Dad nodded.
Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and I was trying to find the strength I'd used to fight the Minotaur, but it just wasn't there.
"Like she's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed me toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, she was so stupid looking."
The entire sea's wrath was on Clarisse in the form of glares.
Her friends snickered.
Andrew stood in the corner, watching.
Now it was on both Andrew and Clarisse.
Clarisse bent me over on my knees and started pushing my head toward the toilet bowl. It reeked like rusted pipes and, well, like what goes into toilets. I strained to keep my head up. I was looking at the scummy water, thinking, I will not go into that. I won't.
Nico started laughing abruptly, then stopped when he saw us giving him a weird look. " What! It was funny." Percy snorted and clasped his shoulders.
Then something happened. I felt a tug in the pit of my stomach. I heard the plumbing rumble, the pipes shudder. Clarisse's grip on my hair loosened. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over my head, and the next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind me.
The entire sea family broke into smiles.
I turned just as water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backwards into a shower stall.
We all laughed as the war god and his daughter looked like tomatoes.
She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the camouflage girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.
"Yay Go, Percy!" Leo cheered.
As soon as they were out the door, I felt the tug in my gut lessen, and the water shut off as quickly as it had started.
"Sloppy control, but very good for a beginner. " Lord Triton commented looking proud.
The entire bathroom was flooded. Andrew hadn't been spared. He was dripping wet, but he hadn't been pushed out the door. He was standing in exactly the same place, staring at me in shock.
"That's because I was doused by the shower water," Andrew replied.
I looked down and realized I was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around me. I didn't have one drop of water on my clothes. Nothing.
I stood up, my legs shaky.
Andrew said, "How did you …"
"I don't know."
"When do you! " I said. She pouted at me.
We walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave me a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new girl. You are totally dead."
I probably should have let it go,
"Probably," Reyna said.
but I said, "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth."
Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.
Andrew stared at me. I couldn't tell whether he was just grossed out or angry at me for dousing him.
"I was both."
"What?" I demanded. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," he said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."
" And the end of the chapter. Shall we have the much-awaited break now? " Everyone nodded...
Ok, folks! I hope you will like this chapter but there is an important announcement regarding the story. You see, I am writing two fanfics simultaneously and the next chapter is a break where they will have refreshments and talks. While in the other one, the break will happen after two chapters. So I am bound to finish those two chapters first before coming back to this story. Hence the next update should be the around first week of November.