chapter three

─── i'm getting bad vibes

          𝔚as it too much to ask for me to have one five minute period where nothing potentially life altering happened? I didn't think it was that big of an ask, but apparently it was.

Previously, I'd been on a breaking bridge with some teenager waving a knife at me and another guy trying to mediate but doing a failing job. Now, I was on the back of a chariot with the afore mentioned knife wielding teenager, the mediator, Leo and Piper. It was an explosive combination, one that I felt was destined to lead to somewhere miserable as we rose above the Grand Canyon and headed east.

More storm clouds gathered behind us as an icy wind ripped through my windbreaker. I huffed, pulling it tighter around me and zipping it up until I could bury my nose into the collar. It was far too big to me, loose and long at my arms and waist. I was practically enveloped in the fabric and I couldn't work out who it belonged to.

We hit a particular gust and something twitched as my hand shot out, grabbing Leo before he was launched out of the back of the chariot.

 "This is so cool!" He spat a pegasus feather from his mouth as I grinned beneath the collar of the windbreaker. "Where are we going?"

"A safe place," Annabeth paused in her muttering to tell us that, still looking annoyed. "The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood."

"Half Blood?" Piper choked out, turning to look around as I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "Is that some kind of bad joke?"

"She means we're demigods," I corrected. "Half god, half human."

I surprised myself with that knowledge if I was honest. Annabeth turned to glare at me again. "You seem to know an awful lot for an amnesiac, Cressida. But, yes, demigods. My mum's Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess."

Leo choked. "Your mom is a rainbow goddess?"

"Got a problem with that?" Butch glared.

"No, no," Leo said. "Rainbows. Very macho."

"Butch is our best equestrian," Annabeth told us. "He gets along great with the pegasi."

"Rainbows, ponies," Leo muttered. "What's next?"

"I'm gonna toss you off this chariot," Butch warned.

"Demigods," Piper said and I let go of Leo's jacket to grab onto the back of hers and hold her upright, because she looked like she was going to faint. I didn't particularly want to jump over the side of the chariot and have to fly again. "You mean you think you're...you think we're—"

Lightning flashed. The chariot shuddered, and my eyes widened as a smell filled my nose, before I turned back to the front to yell, "Left wheel's on fire!"

White flames lapped at the side of the wooden chariot, as I began to think of escape plans, wondering how quickly I could get everyone off of the chariot and what the best way to deal with this was.

"Why are they—?" Piper's voice echoed over the wind, as I paused to look at the lightning, that formed horses in the air, each one rearing and crackling. The hair on my arms stood upright as I twisted to look for another way down.

"Anemoi come in different shapes," Annabeth called, though even she looked like she was panicking. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough."

Butch flicked the reins and the pegasi put on a burst of speed, almost pushing me off of the chariot as my stomach decided to take a trip into my throat. I thought I might be sick, but when I looked again, we were in a completely different place.

To the left, a grey ocean stretched to the horizon. To the right, snow-covered fields, roads and forests went as far as the eye could see. Directly below us, however, was a green valley that looked remarkably out of place as it was rimmed by snowy fields and water to the north. There was a cluster of, what seemed to be, ancient Greek temples, a large blue house, basketball courts, a lake and a climbing wall that seemed to be partly on fire.

I tried to process it, but we dropped out of the sky before I could. 

Annabeth and Butch tried to maintain control. The pegasi laboured to hold the chariot in a flight pattern, but they seemed exhausted from their burst of speed, and bearing the chariot and the weight of five people was just too much.

"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!" 

I cried internally, now realizing that my day could get far worse that I first thought.

There was a moment of pause, before we slammed into a cold, cement like surface. I almost gasped, before struggling away from the wreckage as it sank further, knowing it would create a slight whirlpool. Hands grasped onto my shoulder, hauling me upright and tossing me onto the shore. Immediately, I was pulled up right, had the sand brushed off of me, blasted with a big, bronze leaf blower and then wrapped in a towel. 

To say I was disorientated was an absolute understatement.

The pegasi pulled themselves out of the water, rearing as Butch cut the wrecked harnesses off of their bodies, but they were in good shape otherwise. The chariot, on the other hand, looked like it had been hit by two grenades and then reconstructed for a laugh.

"Annabeth!" I turned as a guy with a bow and quiver on his back pushed through the crowd, an affronted look on his face. His hands were trembling like he couldn't decide whether to smack her or not. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth sighed, looking tired. "I'll get it fixed, I promise."

Will scowled in despair, looking like he was about to cry, before he turned to size up me, Piper and Leo. I never felt more exposed in my past three hours of memory, standing taller to try and be intimidating though I felt a little short to do that. "These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

The words, 'claimed' struck a chord with me. I knew what that vaguely meant. The whole vaguely knowing what was going on was starting to annoy me. I know that sort of came with the whole 'amnesiac' thing but I despised it.

"Claimed?" Leo asked.

Before Annabeth could explain, Will said, "Any sign of Romy?"

My brain connected the clues quickly, trying to harvest as much information as I could. Romy was this Andromeda person, who was the knife girl's big sister and obviously important to the camp if they were all looking so hopeful.

"No," Annabeth admitted.

The campers all muttered and I realized that this 'Romy/Andromeda' was a big deal if they were so worked up over this. Butch had said she was only missing for three days, yet for these guys, it seemed to be like she was missing for months.

Another girl stepped forward from the crowd, her face pulled together in annoyance as she shook her head. 

"Well, I hope they're worth the trouble that we went to to get them," 

Leo snorted. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding," I muttered. "How about some answers before you start being rude—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

"Cressida," Annabeth turned to me, holding out a placating hand as I huffed and narrowed my eyes. "I promise we'll answer your questions. Drew, all demigods are worth saving. But, I'll admit the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"Hey, we didn't ask to be brought here." Piper seemed to be redoing her braids, but she stopped it to turn and glare down at the other girl.

Drew sniffed, but didn't say anything else, biting her tongue.

"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away, their jaws dropping. I froze, turning as my faced was bathed in a red glow. Floating over Leo's head was a blazing image of a hammer.

I knew that symbol though, I was sure of it.

"That," Annabeth presented, "is claiming."

"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake, fear on his face. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse—"

"Butch, shut up," Annabeth said. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"

"By a god," I interrupted, nodding to myself. "I know that symbol. It's the symbol for Vulcan, isn't it?"

Then I felt eyes on me and paused. I hadn't got that wrong, had I? Fiery hammer was the symbol of Vulcan, I was sure of it. Well, as sure as an amnesiac could be.

"Cressida," Annabeth said calmly, though it didn't make me feel calm. "How did you know that?"

"Am I wrong?" I shook my head, suddenly feeling very doubtful.

"Vulcan?" Leo demanded, looking panicked. "I don't like Star Trek, I'm a Star Wars fan. What are you talking about?"

"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth said, still looking me up and down as I grew on the defensive, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."

The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. "The god of what? Who?"

Annabeth turned back to Will. "Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in Nine."

"Course," Will nodded, before reaching out to wrap his arm around Leo's shoulder to pull him away. The Latino boy looked panicked, glancing back to me and Piper. I winced, not liking being split up as I trusted Piper and Leo slightly more than the rest, but Annabeth had fixed her piercing grey eyes on me in a warning to stay still 

"What's Nine? I'm not a Vulcan, honest,"

"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." Annabeth watched them go, before turning back to me as I looked for a hole to throw myself in.

"Hold out your arm."

"What?"

"Your arm," Annabeth repeated. I hesitated, not liking being told what to do before reluctantly holding out my arm.

After I had come out of the lake, I had pulled the windbreaker off, tying it around my waist and leaving me in the hoodie and t-shirt, as I had been growing hot cause of the leaf blower. It turns out I had a lot more secrets than just the stuffed bird in one pocket and the golden coin in the other, for there, right on my arm, was a tattoo.

"Woah, that's new," Piper muttered, her and Annabeth hovering over my arm as they looked at it. I furrowed my eyebrows, because I didn't feel like this was new. It felt like I had it for years. 

The tattoo itself was pretty straightforward. There was a dozen straight lines below an eagle with the letters SPQR.

"I've never seen marks like this," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"

"Still an amnesiac." I said, for probably the sixth time that morning. "Dumping me in the lake hasn't changed that."

"They look burned into your skin," Annabeth noticed. I furrowed my eyebrows, before something came back to me. It wasn't a memory, more flashes of pictures, a larger hand holding my arm, a soft smile sent my way, the smell of burning.

"They were," I muttered, before the memory was snatched away and my head pounded. Why would I associate something being burned on my arm with a good memory? "I mean...I think so. I don't remember."

"Cress you need to-" She stopped, turning. "Drew, take her up to the Big House."

"If I must." Drew stepped forward, nodding for me to follow. "Come on then."

"It's alright. I'll take her." Everyone paused, turning and looking around as I turned too. The crowd parted and for a moment, there was a name on the tip of my tongue, but it was gone in an instant as I looked at the man. My hand went for the coin in my pocket, my muscles tensing, adrenaline pumping through me. This man was dangerous.

He was tall, nearly a foot taller than me at least, with an unsettling scar trailing down one side of his face, pale white compared to his tanned skin. It was an old scar then but it hadn't blinded him. He was dressed in cargo trousers and boots, a large hoodie thrown over the top and a sword present on his back and I shifted my feet in case I needed to fight or run.

He seemed to notice, a smirk appearing as if he knew my intentions, and my hackles raised further.

"Luke..." Annabeth smiled as the other campers seemed to relax. "You're back? I thought you were still in New York for a few more days."

"Nah, came back to see you lot. Heard about the whole, Grand Canyon thing..." Luke turned, saying hello to some others, as chatter started up, talking to him and asking him questions. It was sort of like he lead them, or at the very least, they held a lot of respect for him.

They all looked at him like he was some kind of famed hero from a myth, and I tightened my grip on the coin.

"Tell me about it later, yeah, Annie?" She nodded, a tension leaving her shoulders as the man turned towards me. "Come on, kid, think you and I should have a chat and a tour, huh?"

He might have phrased it as a question, but he didn't leave room for no as an answer. I gulped, shooting Piper one final look, and getting a panicked one in response, before reluctantly following the tall man.

∘☽༓☾∘

Hiya,

Cressida is just very confused and not a happy bunny but we love her for it. Also, cause we always see Luke from Andi's POV, thought it would be a good little reminder that this man is crazy intimidating and Cress is just worried that she's gonna die.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx