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chapter iii.
( the lightning thief )
❝ light's kin ❞

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      THE TOILET INCIDENT SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE. Soon, campers were whispering and pointing at Percy as we passed them. The only thought that really stayed in my mind was that I might not have to tell my siblings.

      Annabeth and I were still drenched from head to toe as we continued to show Percy around. He looked around with wide eyes and glanced at me in aghast when I showed him the climbing wall.

      "Has anyone ever gotten to the top?" He asked me, and I arched an eyebrow.

      "You're looking at one," I replied and continued walking. Percy frowned, muttering a few incoherent words before following.

      We finally returned to the canoe lake, which had a trail that leads back to the cabins.

      "Claire will be agreeing with me when I say we have training to do." Annabeth then said, glancing at me. "Dinner's at seven thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."

      "Annabeth, Claire, I'm sorry about the toilets." Percy then said, and I looked to him.

      "It doesn't matter." I said while Annabeth muttered a, "whatever."

      "It wasn't my fault."

      I arched an eyebrow at him and he faltered. It was his fault. I just don't know how, but it was.

       "You need to talk to the Oracle." I then said, and Annabeth's gaze snapped to me.

      "Who?"

      "Not 'who'. What." I told him. "The Oracle. Annabeth and I'll ask Chiron."

       I saw Percy stare down at the water, and I rolled my eyes when I saw two Naiads grinning and waving up at him. My eyes rolled even more when Percy waved back with a small grin.

      "Don't encourage them." I was about to say but Annabeth got there first. "They're terrible flirts."

      "Naiads," Percy repeated airily. "That's it. I want to go home now."

      Annabeth frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."

      "You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"

      I glared at him. "She means not human, Drool Boy. Not totally human, anyway. Half human."

      "Half human and half what?"

      "I think you know that already."

      "God," Percy said after a small silence. "Half God."

      Annabeth nodded. "You're father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."

      "That's ... crazy."

      "Is it?" I asked him rhetorically. "What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you really think they changed their habits, even after a few millennia?"

      "But those are just –" he stopped and said something new. "But if all the kids here are half gods –"

      "Demigods," Annabeth said. "That's the official term. Or Half-bloods."

      "Then who's your dad?"

      I sent Percy a warning look. The subject of Annabeth's father was a touchy one. The daughter of Athena tightened her grip on the railing, her tanned skin turning white.

      "My dad is a professor at West Point," she said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."

      "He's human?" Percy's brows shot up high, and Annabeth gave him a sour look.

      "What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a female human attractive? How sexist is that?"

      "Who's your mom, then?" Percy said, slightly annoyed.

      "Cabin six."

      "Meaning?"

      Annabeth stood up straighter. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle strategy."

      "Oh," Percy said, he then turned to me. "What about you?"

      I pointed a finger to the Apollo cabin that gleamed majestically in its all-golden light in the sun.

      "See that cabin?" Percy nodded. "That's mine, cabin seven. My father's Apollo, God of music, archery, healing, light, truth ..."

      "Yeah, you lost me at archery."

      I gave Percy daggers. "Yeah, no wonder, since your brain is full of drool."

      "Well, you are definitely a little ray of sunshine." He retorted back sarcastically.

      I growled. "All right, that's it."

      I went to punch him, but Annabeth held me back.

      "Stop it," Annabeth said. "You're both giving me a headache."

      We both stopped, and I straightened up, glaring at Percy from where I stood beside Annabeth, he narrowed his eyes right back at me.

      When the both of us finally settled down. Percy asked quietly.

      "And my dad?"

      "Undetermined," Annabeth said. "Like Claire said before. Nobody knows."

      "Except my mother. She knew."

      "Maybe not, Percy. God's don't always reveal their identities."

      "My dad would have. He loved her."

      I curled my lip, and I could see Annabeth was hesitant. The both of us didn't want to say otherwise due to his recent loss of his mother. Despite how much he annoyed me, I didn't want to burst that bubble.

       "Maybe you're right," Annabeth said cautiously. "Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."

       "You mean sometimes it doesn't?"

      I stayed quiet, staring off into the water. Every time I saw the Hermes cabin, it always made me sullen. It was full to the brim with kids waiting to be claimed, to be loved by their Olympian parents who before they came here, they never knew existed.

       "The gods are busy." I finally said, not looking at Percy. "They have a lot of kids and they don't always ..." I sighed, "... well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."

      Percy frowned. "So I'm stuck here, that's it? For the rest of my life?"

       "It depends," Annabeth said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year."

      "But, for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave," I explained. "We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble – about ten or eleven years old – but after that most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

      "So monsters can't get in here?"

      Annabeth shook her head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

      Percy scrunched his nose up. "Why would anyone want to summon a monster?"

      "Practice fights." I shrugged. "Practical jokes."

      "Practical jokes?"

      I rolled my eyes. "The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm. It's kinda like Harry Potter. To muggles, Hogwarts just looks like a run-down, bordered up castle in Scotland."

      Percy nodded, slowly beginning to understand. "So ... you guys are year-rounders?"

      Both of us nodded and pulled out our bead necklaces, Annabeth had one extra: her father's college ring.

      "Claire and I have been here since we were seven," Annabeth said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. We've been here longer than most of the counsellors, and they're all in college."

      "Why did you guys come so young?"

      Annabeth twisted the ring. "None of your business."

      "Oh," Percy glanced to me, and I looked away, giving the impression that I didn't want to tell him.

      After a small awkward silence, Percy spoke again. "So ... I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"

      "It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr D's or Chiron's permission." Annabeth said. "But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless ..."

      "Unless?"

      "You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time ..." She trailed off and I gulped, remembering Luke's incident too well.

      Percy then turned to me. "Back in the sick room, when you were feeding me that stuff –"

      "Ambrosia." I answered for him.

      "Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."

      My eyes perked up, my shoulders tensed. "So ... you do know something?" I asked hopefully.

      "Well ... no." I sighed, disappointed. "But back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it." My eyes perked up again. "Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"

      I clenched my fist. "I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, and they won't tell either me or Annabeth. Even after I mentioned my dream." I sighed, annoyed. "Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time we were there, everything seemed so normal."

      Percy's eyes widened. He had that look on his face as though he needs a 'time out'. "You've been to Olympus?"

      "Some of us year-rounders – Luke, Clarisse, Claire and I and a few others – we took a field trip during the winter solstice," Annabeth said. "That's when the gods have their big annual council."

      "But ... how did you get there?"

      "The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six-hundredth floor." I said, frowning at him. "You are a New Yorker, right?"

      Percy gave me a 'no shit' look. "Oh, sure." He said sarcastically. "Like the accent isn't enough."

      I narrowed my eyes at him. "I will hit you, you know that?"

      "Right after we visited," Annabeth continued quickly, not wanting a fight to break out, "the weather got weird as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since, Claire and I have overheard satyrs talking, and then Claire had a dream. The best we can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble." She glanced at me. "When you came, we were hoping ... I mean – Apollo isn't a problem, they get along with everyone except for some Hermes kids ... old rivals ... trust issues ... stolen cows ... you know the story – and Athena can get along with just about anybody, excluding Ares. And of course, she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, we thought we could work together. We thought you might know something."

      Percy shook his head and I closed my eyes. If he couldn't help us, no one could.

      "I've got to get a quest," Annabeth muttered to herself. "I'm not too young. If they could just tell me the problem ..."

      All the while, I stared at my fingers, rubbing my thumb and forefinger together thoughtfully. How could Percy help me find the purpose of this power? He knew nothing, absolutely nothing.

*

      AS SOON AS I STEPPED INSIDE the Apollo cabin, my siblings started to pester me continuously about Percy and the bathroom incident. Lee fetched a towel as I was still quite wet and I took it with a grateful smile.

      Once I had had a shower and changed into a new pair of clothes, I sat on my bed and told everyone as much as I could. I left out the bit about the summer solstice, not that everyone was suspicious about the strange weather, but because I didn't know much myself.

      I mainly complained about how annoying Percy was, and how much I wanted to push him off the lava wall.

      Soon after I was finished, Lee started to round everyone up for dinner. I sat beside Jay on his top bunk, and the two of us had a conversation between the two of us, and I told him everything else.

      "Well," Jay said after I finished. "You can't ignore your dreams. If Percy will help you find the purpose of your powers, then he will. For all we know, he could just make you decide yourself, give you determination."

      I snorted in a un-lady like manner. "Percy? He's full of kelp."

      Jay let out a laugh. "Maybe he is."

      "He is."

      "Whatever you say."

      I gave Ji Sung a look when the conch horn blew.

      "All right guys, that's dinner." Lee called out, and we all headed out.

      We all filed into the Apollo table, and I glanced at the Hermes table, where Percy pushed his way on, half on him hanging off the side of the seat.

      I covered my hand over my mouth to hide my giggles and turned to my drink, which was filled to the brim with soda.

      "You singing for the campfire?" Michael Yew asked me as he took the seat opposite. "Or are you going to play the guitar?"

      "... Both?" I asked innocently and he grinned.

      The Apollo cabin always led the campfire sing-a-long after dinner. We usually sang songs in Greek such as a grandmother getting ready for battle. I usually sang with Jenna, while Jay played the guitar, but I decided to join him this time.

      Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

      I grinned as I raised my glass. "To the gods!" I said along with everyone else. The nymphs then served our food, I smiled and said a thank you as they placed a steak with cheese, strawberries, grapes and a small fresh bread roll on my plate.

       We then followed everyone to give their offering. When it was my turn, I scraped half of my grapes into the fire. "Apollo, receive my offering."

      But silently, I pleaded. Please help me. Percy Jackson has arrived -- if he is the person who will show me what it means to have these powers, but I need guidance. I can't do this alone. Please.

       The smell that replied was a sweet one of cinnamon and vanilla, and I hoped that was a good sign.

      When everyone had finished their food, Chiron pounded his hoof against the stone once more, getting everyone's attention.

      Mr D got up from the Dionysus table that was filled with satyrs, himself and his two twin children, who looked almost exactly like him, except had blond hair instead of black. He heaved a huge sigh.

      "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."

      The Ares cabin gave a loud, ugly cheer.

      "Personally," the wine god continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

      I stifled a laugh. Chiron murmured something to Mr D.

      "Er, Percy Jackson." Mr D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

      I joined in when everyone cheered.

      We all headed to the campfire, where I joined with my siblings in signing, and when we finished, we all joined everyone in the seats of the amphitheatre and toasted marshmallows. The traces of people singing the songs continued throughout the campers, and the magical fire rose high and burned the marshmallows from the people who sat in the front. I continued to play the guitar along with Jay and sang a more modern song, and soon everyone was singing that too.