Chapter 4: Raiden Terrifies...Well Everyone, Basically
1238 words
I stormed out of the Big House, past the Armory, the Forge, and the Cabins. The circle of cabins had not changed much in 4 years. Many people stared at me as I passed, and I caught a few words as I passed.
"...Yeah, that's her..."
"...the Daughter of Artemis..."
"...I heard her brother betrayed her..."
I glared at the people who whispered these last few words, and they quickly looked away.
When I arrived at the pavilion, I saw Mr. D sitting at the top table with an old guy I'd never seen before. Mr. D looked just the same as he had 4 years ago: a Hawaiian with a leopard pattern, walking shorts, black socks with tennis shoes, and a nose as red as a cherry.
The old guy had a look in his eyes like he was hungry, angry, and fractured (fraungry?) all at the same time and filthy fingernails, a very bad haircut like it had been cut with a weedwhacker, and blue shadows under his eyes. He was wearing an orange prisoner uniform that was threadbare, hung off his very thin frame, and had the number 0001 over the pocket.
I approached the top table very angrily.
"Uncle!" I raged as I halted in front of Dionysus.
He looked up from his Coca-Cola, bored. "What?"
"Why did you fire Chiron?!" I demanded. "He didn't do anything!"
"Ah," Tantalus said, smiling coldly. "Is this the one you warned me about?"
"Unfortunately, it is not," Dionysus said, taking a sip of his Coca-Cola. "This is another forbidden child, however."
"Ah," Tantalus said again.
"For your information, Tantalus," I said coldly, my eyes boring into his. Tantalus's smile wavered, and with some satisfaction, I could see fear starting in his eyes. "I am not someone you want to mess with. I am the Hunter Queen; the Daughter of Artemis. So, watch your step."
With that, I turned around and headed to the Artemis Table. I sat down there by myself, with Zade perched on my shoulder and Agro lying on the bench next to me.
The rest of the camp filed in for dinner.
"Who brought that abomination?" an Apollo camper called, staring at Tyson.
I stood up and glared at them until they sat back down out of fear.
I didn't pay much attention until two arms wrapped around me from behind.
Instinctively, I grabbed the arms of the person and flipped them over my head. They landed on their back on the table, and I drew one of my daggers and pressed it against their throat.
"Who are you?!" I demanded.
"Darth Vader," the person said in a familiar voice.
"Hey!" Tantalus shouted across the pavilion. "We will have no trouble here! It's poop duty for you!"
I glared across the pavilion at him. "Back off, Tantalus!"
He looked scared again and desisted.
I sheathed my dagger and sighed. "Sorry, Raiden."
"No hard feelings," Raiden said, rolling off the table and onto her feet again.
The sixteen-year-old was wearing an orange camp t-shirt, black ripped jean shorts, a leather necklace with 9 clay beads on it, red Nikes, and a black belt from which her Celestial Bronze axe hung. Her black hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and muscles rippled from her arms.
"I missed you," Raiden said, coming to sit on the other side of me and giving me a side hug.
I hugged her back. "How's life been?"
It had been 6 months since I had seen her. See, Raiden had turned down the offer of being a Hunter, but she was still allowed to stay with the Hunt as an honorary member. She would pop in from time to time.
Raiden shrugged. "Same ol', same ol.' What about you?"
I explained about the wildfire. As I talked, a satyr came over to our table with a platter of food. I loaded my plate with a lot of BBQ ribs, strawberries, and potatoes. I handed most of my ribs to Agro and Zade, and they both began to wolf them down (No pun intended).
"Shall we?" Raiden asked, standing up so we could to go burn some our food.
"We shall," I said.
We stood up and made our way to the central hearth.
I grabbed a particularly juicy strawberry, dropped it into the fire, and thought, For Artemis. Thank you for letting me go, Mother.
Raiden had also made it out to Artemis along with Athena. Ever since our quest together ended 4 years ago and she got an axe as a reward for the quest from Athena and Artemis, Raiden had detached herself from Kronos and started seeing Athena and Artemis as her parents.
Agro and Zade also dropped a rib into the fire and made it to Artemis.
When dinner had finished, a conch horn blew from the top table. We all saw Tantalus standing up, grinning wickedly with his yellow teeth.
"My first act as the new activities director," he said, "is to reinstate the chariot races!"
"Are you an idiot?!" Raiden yelled.
Tantalus ignored her. "As I understand it, the chariot races were called off in the past, due to uh... certain circumstances."
"3 deaths and 26 dismemberings," an Apollo camper called.
"True, true," Tantalus said, waving the Apollo camper's words aside. "But I'm sure everyone will join me in greeting in the bringing back of this wonderful camp tradition. The winning charioteers from each month will receive golden laurels. The registration of teams will begin in the morning! In three days, the first race will be held. Did I mention the winning cabin's team will not have to do chores for the month in which they win?"
There was an eruption of excited muttering among the campers.
"Tantalus!" Raiden shouted, getting everyone's attention. "This is incredibly stupid!"
"Sit down, little girl," Tantalus said coldly.
Raiden's golden eyes were blazing with fury after his words. Suddenly, all the warmth in the air seemed to be sucked out. It didn't feel like summer anymore.
Raiden marched up to Tantalus, seized him by the collar of his shirt, and lifted him into the air.
"Call me 'little girl' again," she growled, very close to his face. Raiden sounded quite terrifying, like Kronos himself was there. "And you'll pay."
With that, Raiden set Tantalus down and walked out of the pavilion. As she passed each table, the campers shrank away from her in terror.
Tantalus stood frozen for a moment, before remembering that he was supposed to be talking to the camp. "Anyway, Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson have chosen to bring this abomination to camp. Now, I know these creatures can be bloodthirsty, but perhaps this one will be different. Where shall he sleep? Perhaps the stables?"
I muttered to Agro and Zade, "Any ideas on how to get rid of Tantalus?"
Feed him to the sharks, Zade squawked.
"No, not that," I said to Zade. "It would be cruel to the sharks."
Tie him to a wheel and drop him off a mountain, Agro barked.
"Well! I think we know where to put the beast now!" Tantalus shouted.
I glanced up and saw Tyson standing in a pool of green light. A holographic image of a trident was above his head. It took me a moment to understand, but then it clicked; the Cyclops was a son of Poseidon.
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