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chapter ii.
( the lightning thief )
❝ percy jackson ❞

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      I CONTINUED TO LOOK AFTER the boy in the infirmary. Annabeth came in once every now and then to watch me, her eyes wide and hopeful at the boy. He could know everything. He could know where this stolen thing is, who took it, what it was and why.

       He could know the purpose of my gift.

      But he continued to sleep. Only waking for a few seconds before passing out again. In the end, I had to change his pillow multiple times due to the large puddle of drool from his mouth.

       It was mid-afternoon on the first day he was out cold, and I sat beside his head, feeding him some Ambrosia. I tried to keep my laughter in as I scraped the dribble from his chin with the spoon. This boy who killed a Minotaur drools in his sleep like a baby. That was when his eyes fluttered open, and I took my chance.

      "What will happen at the summer solstice?" I whispered urgently.

      "What?" He just croaked out.

      I glanced around, checking to see if anyone was around, in case anyone had heard. I turned back to him. "What's going on? What's stolen? Please, we only got a few weeks!"

       "I'm sorry, I don't ..."

      There was a knock on the door, and I quickly shoved the spoon in his mouth to stop him from talking.

      A day passed, and the boy had now woken up fully. Annabeth and I were waiting for him and Grover at the Big House. Chiron and Mr D were sitting at the card table on the porch while Annabeth and I stood the side, both of us leaning on the rail. I had my arms crossed, if I were to be a bit honest, I was slightly impatient.

      Mr D's small, pudgy hand placed a card down in front of Chiron, six spades. His curly hair, so black it seemed to be purple, blew slightly in the wind.

      Finally, Grover and the boy arrived. He looked much better, and now I had a good look at him. He had a pale face, with sea-green eyes that reminded me of the ocean. His black hair, now dry, was ruffled and stuck up at the back.

      When they came closer, the boy's eyes widened at Chiron.

      "Mr Brunner!" He exclaimed.

      I glanced at Annabeth.

      "Ah, good, Percy," Chiron said with a smile. "Now we have four for pinochle."

      He offered Percy a chair to the right of Mr D, who looked to him with his watery, bloodshot eyes and heaved a long, annoyed sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it." He grumbled, his words slurring. Being the God of wine makes him seem overly drunk twenty-four-seven. "Welcome to Camp Half-blood. There. Now don't expect me to be glad to see you."

      Percy's brows knitted together. "Uh ... thanks." He scooted his chair a little further away from him. Wise choice drool boy.

      "Claire?" Chiron called, and I walked forward, still watching Percy with curious eyes. "Claire, this is Percy Jackson. This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy." A gave him a slight nod as a small greeting. "Claire, my dear, why don't you and Annabeth go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven now."

      I nodded, wondering how the Hermes cabin could fit in any more demigods and said. "Sure."

      My eyes fell to the Minotaur horn in Percy's hands, and I swallowed hard. He is supposed to help me find my purpose for my gift. There were so many questions that filled my head, but I couldn't say any of them with Chiron and Mr D around. So, instead, I looked back to Percy with an unblinking stare and said:

      "You drool when you sleep."

      I then looked back to Annabeth, and we both took off sprinting down the grass. Passing all of the campers doing their daily classes. I glanced back at the porch, somehow finding Percy surprisingly interesting. We stopped at cabin eleven. It was really the only cabin at Camp Half-Blood that looked like a normal summer camp cabin. With wooden walls and door. The brain paint was peeling and there was a caduceus on the door.

      While Annabeth took out her book on Greek architecture, sitting down on the steps, I felt my ADHD kicking in, and I found myself walking in circles, my hands in the pockets of my jean shorts.

      Finally, after a good thirty minutes, Chiron and Percy came down the hill and towards us. When they neared, my eyes caught Percy's sea-green ones, and once again they reminded me of the ocean. Almost, even though I was probably just imagining it, I could hear the sound of waves in my ear.

      "Claire, Annabeth," Chiron said, and Annabeth closed her book. "I have masters' archery at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"

      I was about to protest. I loved masters' archery. But Chiron gave me that look and I sighed, before nodding.

      "Yes, sir," Annabeth stood up while I said, "Fine."

      "Cabin eleven," Chiron said to Percy, gesturing to the wooden structure. "Make yourself at home."

      Percy took in the cabin's exterior, and I sighed before giving him a poke in the back to make him go forward.

      "We don't have all day, Drool Boy."

      He looked back and gave me a look at the nickname, but Annabeth opened the door and his attention was turned to the inside.

      The Hermes cabin is packed with people, and I mean packed. Every single bunk was taken, and nearly every single ounce of space on the floor was filled with swags and blankets. Chiron didn't enter, as the door was too low for him, but every single camper inside bowed respectively to him.

      "Well then," he said. "Good luck Percy. I'll see you at dinner."

      He galloped away.

      I eyed the Stoll Brothers as I entered, daring them to make a prank. Annabeth looked back to Percy, who still stood in the door way.

      "Well," She said, prompting him with a jerk of her head, "go on."

      Upon entering, Percy tripped, falling to the ground, and I sighed shaking my head. Some of the Hermes campers sniggered, but they didn't say anything.

      "Percy Jackson," I said, holding my hands out to the people in the room, "meet cabin eleven."

      "Regular or undetermined?" A boy asked, and I grimaced.

      "Undetermined," I said with a wince and everyone in the cabin groaned.

      Luke came forward. "Now, now campers." He said, looking to everyone in the room. "That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have the spot on the floor, right over there." He nodded to a spare spot on the dusty floor.

      "That's Luke," Annabeth said, her eyes going slightly dreamy, but when she saw Percy looking, her gaze hardened. "He's your counsellor for now."

      "For now?" Percy echoed.

      "You're undetermined," Luke said 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 travellers."

      There was silence as Percy glanced around the room once more, his eyes stopping at a few faces and the spot on the floor where he is to sleep.

      "How long will I be here?" He finally spoke, looking to Luke.

      "Good question." The councillor said. "Until you're determined."

      "How long will that take?"

      I winced at his question, and I could tell Annabeth did to. The whole cabin laughed, and Percy looked around, clueless to what was funny.

      "Come on," I said to him. "Annabeth and I'll show you the volleyball court."

      "I've already seen it."

      "Come on," I repeated, more forcefully this time and grabbed his wrist, pulling him out of the building, Annabeth alongside us. The Hermes cabin still laughing behind us.

      When we were outside, I shoved Percy in front of me. "You've got to do better than that Jackson," I said, and he looked back to me.

      "What?" He asked.

      I sighed. I didn't know what about him that made me so annoyed and angry. Maybe it was the fact that he was supposed to be the one that would help me, and yet he knew nothing. "I can't believe I thought you were the one," I grumbled under my breath, starting to continue walking. Annabeth shot a glare at Percy before following me.

      "What's your problem?" He was starting to get angry, his fists clenching as he followed. "All I know is, I killed some bull guy –"

      "Don't talk like that!" This time Annabeth snapped. "Do you know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

      "To get killed?"

      "To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"

      Percy shook his head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories..."

      I glanced back at him. "Yeah?"

      "Then there's only one."

      "Well, obviously."

      "And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So..."

      I rolled my eyes. "And I thought you knew something." He gave me a look. "Monster's don't die, Percy," I explained impatiently. "They can be killed, but they can't die."

      "Oh, thanks." He replied sarcastically. "That clears it up."

      Okay, I was on the verge of throttling this boy.

      "They don't have souls, like you and me," Annabeth said. "You can dispel them for a while, maybe even a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they reform."

       Percy nodded slowly, trying to take it in. "You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword –"

       "The Fu ..." I closed my eyes, biting my tongue. We couldn't say their names, not here, not anywhere. Names are powerful and dangerous. "I mean, you're maths teacher. Yeah, she's still out there. You just made her very, very mad."

       Percy frowned. "How did you know about Miss Dodds?"

      "You talk in your sleep."

      "You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"

      Annabeth and I both went pale, glancing to the ground. I was expecting thunder to fill the quiet air or the ground to crack, but it didn't.

      "You shouldn't call them by name, even here," Annabeth said. "We call them the Kindly Ones if we have to speak of them at all."

      Percy groaned. "Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" I gave him a flat look, annoyed at his whiny state. "Why do I have to stay at cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks over there." He pointed to the first few cabins, and I swallowed nervously.

       "You don't choose a cabin, Percy," Annabeth said, eyeing Hera's cabin, her face pale. Let's just say that Athena and Hera aren't all buddy-buddy. "It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent."

       I could see Percy's face fall, and I couldn't help but feel horrible for him. He had just witnessed his mother die, and now he was finding out that he was the son of a Greek God.

      "My mom is Sally Jackson." He said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."

      I bit my tongue. "Annabeth and I are really sorry about your Mom, Percy. But that wasn't what she meant. We are talking about your other parent. Your dad."

      "He's dead. I never knew him."

      I sighed, my patience was going very quickly with Percy Jackson. "You're father's not dead, Percy."

      "How can you say that? Do you know him?" Percy shot back.

      "No, of course not."

      "Then how can you say –"

      "Because I know you." I interrupted him, annoyed. "You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."

      "You don't know anything about me."

      "No?" I arched an eyebrow. "I bet you moved from school to school constantly, probably because you were kicked out of a lot of them."

      Percy curled his lip inward. "How –?"

      "Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD too." Annabeth added.

      Percy flushed red in embarrassment. "What does that have to do with anything?"

      "Taken together, it's almost a sure sign," Annabeth explained. "The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek."

      "And the ADHD – you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom." I continued on. "That's your battlefield reflexes. In a real fight, and if you learn to use them properly, they will keep you alive."

      "As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortals. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."

      "Y-you sound like ... you guys went through the same thing?"

       "The majority of us all here did," I told him, my patience slowly coming back, my voice turning gentler. "If you weren't like us, you couldn't've survived the Minotaur, not to mention the Ambrosia and Nectar."

       "Ambrosia and Nectar?"

      "The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would have killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead." Annabeth shrugged. "Face it. You're a half-blood."

      Percy glanced to his feet, taking everything in. I was about to say something that might make him feel better, but a teasing voice filled my ears, and I rolled my eyes.

      "Well, a newbie!"

      Annabeth and I turned around while Percy looked up. Clarisse, daughter of Ares and three other of her sisters behind her were making their way towards us. Every single one of them dressed in camo jackets and each with a permanent sneer on their faces.

      "Clarisse." I sighed in annoyance, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jacket. "Don't you have better things to do? Like polishing your perfect spear ol' daddy gave you or something?"

      Clarisse narrowed her eyes. "Yeah, sure thing, Miss Sunshine. So I can run you and Miss Princess over here through with it Friday night."

       "Erette es korakas." Annabeth cursed her, and I knew it instantly, it was Greek for "Go to the crows." "You don't stand a chance."

       "We'll pulverise you," Clarisse told us, and I arched an eyebrow. Capture the Flag was the only time I could use my powers publically at camp, and every person who went against me never stood a chance. Clarisse knew this, I could see it on her face, but she hid it well. She then turned to Percy. "Who's this little runt?"

       "Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."

      Percy blinked. "Like ... the war God?"

      I rolled my eyes. "No, the God of Pansies, yes the war God, idiot."

      Percy narrowed his eyes at me and I gave him a sarcastic smile.

      "You have a problem with that?" Clarisse narrowed her eyes at Percy.

      "No," the boy said. "It explains the bad smell."

      Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

     "Percy."

      "Whatever." The daughter of Ares rolled her eyes. "Come on, I'll show you."

      I shook my head, looking to Annabeth for help.

      "Clarisse –" she tried to say but she was cut off.

      "Stay out of it, Wise Girl."

      Annabeth gave a pained look and I stepped forward, clenching my fist.

      "Leave him alone, Clarisse, he's not worth it."

      "I'm fine." Percy snapped at me, and I frowned, stepping back.

      Whatever will happen next, Percy can't blame me.

       Percy handed Annabeth the Minotaur horn and steadied himself for a fight, but Clarisse got there first, and I winced when she locked Percy around the neck and began dragging him towards the bathroom.

       Annabeth and I followed helplessly as Clarisse and her sisters continued to drag Percy alongside her. Percy kicked and thrashed, but it was no luck, the daughter of Ares pulled him into the girl's bathroom.

      Both Annabeth and I stopped by the door, sliding towards the corner. I ignored the stench of the public camp bathrooms. Clarisse and her friends were all laughing.

      "Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse snickered, pushing Percy towards one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. The Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he's so stupid-looking."

      Her friends sniggered.

      I bit my lip in worry while Annabeth watched through her fingers.

     Clarisse bent Percy on his knees and over the toilet bowl. I could see him fight, his eyes wide as he stared at the water.

      Then something weird happened.

      The plumbing started to rumble. The pipes shuddered. I frowned, and Clarisse's grip on Percy's hair loosened. Then water erupted from the toilet.

      The water made an arc over Percy's head, and before I knew it, I was drenched from head to toe. Screeches filled the air from Clarisse and her friends, while Annabeth and I screamed. Percy was sprawled out on the tiles, and what made me frown was that he was completely dry.

      He turned around and more water burst out, hitting Clarisse so hard that she fell to the ground. Her siblings made their way towards her, but every other toilet and shower in the bathroom started as well. Soon water was everywhere, spraying and shooting throughout the bathroom like a hurricane.

      Clarisse and her sisters made a beeline for the exit, pushing and shoving each other on their way out. And as soon as it had started, it all stopped.

      Percy glanced towards me and Annabeth. I watched him in both amazement and surprise, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

      The whole bathroom was flooded, the only dry spot was around Percy, and his clothes had not one damp spot on them, nothing at all.

      He slowly stood up, his legs shaking.

      "H-how did you ..." I could just say.

      "I don't know," Percy replied, his voice as shaky as my own.

      We walked to the door to see Clarisse and her friends sprawled in the mud, and I tried my best not to laugh. A bunch of other campers had come to gawk, and I saw Jay and Lee out of the corner of my eye. They looked at me for an explanation and I shrugged.

      Clarisse made to stand up but slipped. Her hair was flat across her face, her camo jacket was soaked. She gave Percy a look of loathing and said loudly, "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."

      "You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse?" Percy said threateningly. "Close your mouth."

      The other Ares campers had to hold her back and started to drag her back to cabin five. The other campers had to jump out of the way to avoid her thrashing feet.

      Annabeth and I stared at Percy, and he looked at us, clueless. I was partially wanting to throttle him myself for getting me wet, but the other half of me was too surprised to even raise a finger.

      "What?" He demanded. "What are you thinking?"

      "I'm thinking," Annabeth said slowly, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."