I hope y'all enjoy! I'm almost done posting all the chapters :) I'm so happy haha anyways, enjoy!

Quote of the Chapter:

"There are no stupid questions. Just stupid people."

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Chapter 4: My Nickname is Sharkboy

Luke walked towards the forest after Bryn. He knew it was stupid because knowing his luck, she wouldn't hold back with the zapping and she probably would turn him into dolphin safe tuna.

The forest closed in around him quickly, swallowing him up in a quiet, serene world. Most of the trees towered over him although there were a few smaller trees that Luke observed had branches good for climbing. Luke was going to have to come here again.

Luke continued walking through the forest. The sunlight streaming through the cracks created a soft, surreal glow to the surroundings. He took in the beauty of it all.

His appreciation for it all was interrupted by a scuttling behind him. Whirling around, Luke scrambled back as he absorbed the fact that there was a scorpion the size of a German Shepherd in front of him.

"What the in the world?" Luke breathed as he stared at the creature with a mixture of awe and horror. Creatures like those weren't supposed to exist... The scorpion was solid black save for the piercing red and white eyes staring at him. The scorpion's stinger waved back and forth menacingly. It started coming towards him with the obvious intent to kill him. Luke looked around furtively, trying to find anything that would help him kill the thing. A long, sharp branch caught his attention. Making no sudden movements, he started heading towards the branch but the scorpion saw his course of action immediately. It shot forward at Luke who barely managed to get out of the way. He grabbed a rock and threw it at one of the eyes. The scorpion squealed, a horrible screeching sound. Taking advantage of the distraction, he grabbed the branch. With all his strength, he swung the branch at the scorpion's head. There was a crunch where Luke smashed in some of the eyes.

"That's disgusting!" Luke exclaimed. The scorpion whipped its tail around, knocking the branch out of his hands. Luke swore as the scorpion whipped its tail back around, aiming for his head. He ducked and rolled to the side. The scorpion was fast; Luke knew he wouldn't be able to outrun it. His heart was pounding. He was thinking he wasn't going to get out of the situation.

He backed up, the scorpion followed. He finally reached a creek. It was shallow but maybe the scorpion didn't like water. Luke decided it was his only option. He stepped into the creek. It went up to just a few inches above his ankles but he still suddenly felt a surge of power. A tugging sensation in the pit of his stomach stunned him. Although it was strange, Luke ignored it and focused on the scorpion. Suddenly, the tugging sensation was gone and a jet of water was shooting at the scorpion. Luke shook his eyes in disbelief. Somehow he knew he had done that. He kept the stream of water going until he didn't see the outline of the scorpion in the water-ball he had created. He released the stream of water and found himself staring at water-drenched, exhausted scorpion. Of course, it was still pretty ticked off. It shook off the water and as it headed towards Luke, an arrow sailed out of nowhere and hit the scorpion on its back. The scorpion disappeared in a sulfurous-smelling powder, making Luke gag.

"That was quite impressive," Bryn acknowledged, although Like didn't see her.

"How long have you been watching? And where are you?" Luke asked, looking around. A rustling above him made Luke look up. Bryn was nimbly climbing down the tree directly above him. When she was about ten feet from the ground, she jumped landing gracefully on her feet.

"I was up in the trees the whole time. I was asleep until your little altercation with the scorpion woke me up. I've been watching since you crushed its eyes." Bryn leaned up against the trunk of the tree she had been in.

"And it never occurred to you that I might need help?" Luke demanded incredulously.

"It did occur to me but you seemed to be handling it quite well to me," Bryn said with a shrug. "I wasn't kidding when I said you were impressive fighting that thing. However, when you used that jet of water, I figured I would step in."

"Why then?" Luke muttered, stepping out of the creek. The moment his feet touched dry land, he collapsed... Or he almost did. Bryn was there to catch him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and supported him. Luke felt completely drained of energy.

"You collapsing the moment you stepped out of the creek is one reason," Bryn said, then whispered into his ear, "And because if you're serious about saving your mom and dad, you need to learn how to fight with and without weapons and how to stall for time. And you passed with flying colors... Or in your case, swimming colors," Bryn joked, taking her arms off Luke as he sat down, leaning up against a tree. Bryn kneeled down next to him and pulled something out of her pocket. It looked like... a cookie?

"Is that a cookie?" Luke asked.

"No, it's ambrosia. Here, it will help with the fatigue," Bryn said as she handed the cookie-like food to Luke who had just noticed he was trembling. He took it warily, not completely trusting her. "I swear I'm not trying to poison you."

With a grimace, he ate it and was shocked to find it tasted like s'mores. Strength returned to his limbs and his fatigue mostly vanished.

"Have any more of that stuff?" Luke inquired hopefully. Bryn merely laughed.

"If you have too much, it'll kill you," Bryn said. "What did it taste like to you? It has a different taste for all of us."

"It tasted like s'mores... So this will probably sound like a stupid question but where are you from?"

"There are no stupid questions," Bryn said, sitting down with her legs drawn up to her chest. "Just stupid people."

"And here I thought you were actually going to be nice to me," Luke chuckled. "So where are you from?"

"I'm from England," Bryn replied quietly.

"What part?"

"Outside of London." There was an edge in Bryn's voice. Luke couldn't quite place what it was but by the look on Bryn's face, he knew questions would be unwelcome in that direction.

"So having me fight that... thing by myself was to give me practice?" Luke queried.

"I want you to be successful when you go get your parents and when that happens, you will need to have superior fighting skills along with battle strategies but being related to Athena that will come easier to you than most."

"So you were trying to help me?" Luke grinned.

"I thought you said you were related to Athena?" Bryn said, which wiped Luke's smirk off his face. "Yes, I was trying to help you."

Luke was about to make a sarcastic remark but a bell in the distance caught their attention. Bryn muttered a curse under her breath that sounded suspiciously like Greek.

"What's that?" Luke asked, standing up along with Bryn.

"Warning bell saying that dinner starts in five minutes. It took a lot longer than that to get back here."

Bryn twirled around in circle, apparently looking for something which Luke decided to ask her about. Bryn didn't reply; instead, she looked at the tree she had been in earlier and started climbing it. Curious to know what she was doing, Luke followed. The tree didn't seem that tall from the ground but being up at the very top, Luke was feeling sick to his stomach looking down at the ground. Bryn, on the other hand, seemed completely unaffected.

"Camp is that direction," Bryn announced, pointing at a smoke plume in the distance. "The problem is I don't think we can get there in time by walking. I hope you're up for running."

Bryn and Luke started climbing back down the tree. Near the middle of the tree, Luke lost his footing. He started to fall, but Bryn grabbed his outstretched hand. With a surprising amount of strength, she held onto him until he found his footing and something to hold onto.

"That's two you owe me now," Bryn said with a chuckle.

"It's one! You didn't help me with that scorpion until the very end," Luke corrected.

"I still saved your rear so it's two. If you're wise, which you should be since you're related to Athena, you'll agree that it's two."

Luke muttered to himself about girls being impossible. Bryn appeared not to have heard it. When the two of them reached the ground, Bryn took off running. Luke chased after her. He slowly shortened the distance between them; being the star running-back on his football team, it was relatively easy to catch up to her. However, by the time he did catch up to her, they had run out of the forest and had a clear view of the camp. Bryn didn't stop running though; neither did Luke.

"Where are we going?" Luke managed to ask between breaths as he ran alongside her. Bryn didn't answer his question (once again) and she slowed down to a walk as they reached the cabins. She was breathing heavily, looking a little pale.

"Are you okay?" Luke inquired.

"Yeah. I don't have that good of endurance," Bryn explained. "I'll see you later. You can line up with the Athena cabin or eat by yourself at the Poseidon table."

"What table are you sitting at?"

"The Apollo one. He's my great-great grandfather so I have a right to sit there."

"So depending on who you're related to, that's what table you sit at?"

"Correct."

"Why is that?"

"It's just the ways it has always been."

"But what if you're the only child of that god without any other god heritage in you?"

"Then you sit by yourself."

"So if Aphrodite was your great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother, and Demeter was your mother, you would still have the choice to sit at the Aphrodite table?"

"Do you always ask this many questions?" Bryn asked exasperatedly.

"Only when I want to clarify on something or when I want to annoy someone," Luke said with a grin.

"Well you're doing a phenomenal job," Bryn muttered. "Now get to the Athena line before I turn you into fried catfish, sharkboy."

"Sharkboy?" Luke chuckled. "You know an insulting nickname usually means that person has a crush on you?"

Luke jumped to avoid Bryn's well-aimed kick to his shin. He dashed off before she could get another shot. When he looked over his shoulder, Bryn was grinning as she walked towards Zeus's cabin.

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