章 895: 3
Campers avoided Percy like the plague. It was a sad sight to see. Cabin mates had surrounded him the entire week and all of a sudden, he's now alone. The only person who really talked to him was Grover, but Grover didn't exactly count. He was a satyr.
I'd have to admit that even I didn't approach him often. However, I never went out of my way to avoid him because I didn't have to. Percy had his own schedule now that he was in a different cabin. He had an entire cabin to himself. Although I treasured my alone time, even I would be depressed in his situation. For the most part, he'd tag along cabin eleven for group activities since he couldn't do certain classes by himself. Sword classes with him were incredibly awkward. I wanted to slap my forehead many times when seeing campers practically scuttle to the other side, away from Percy. No one wanted to spar with him anymore after hearing how he had taken on Clarisse and her siblings. And plus the hellhound incident, Percy was basically an outcast. The only one who would actively approach him was Luke, so they had a lot of one-on-one fights. I've never seen Luke push anyone so hard in sword class before, so I did look every once in awhile when Percy would suddenly stumble and fall on his back. And while Percy was feeling bad, Annabeth wasn't any better with her mutterings every minute of the day.
After Percy's claiming, Annabeth had come straight to me and asked for my thoughts. She wanted to know if he'd be the one that was in the prophecy. Of course, I couldn't tell her even though I knew, so I answered with a truth and an omission of a truth. Annabeth can tell when people are being dishonest with her, so I get around that by telling truths, but not the truth that completely answers her questions.
So when she asked if Percy was "the one", I just shrugged.
"My dreams aren't telling me much," I told her. "I can't say."
Both of the statements were true. My dreams had shown me images, but they haven't revealed to me the complete identity of the demigod of the big prophecy. My dreams didn't have to, I already knew who it was, but regardless, the fact that my dreams did not tell me was the truth. And yes, I couldn't say either. It was the perfect response.
Annabeth only frowned and looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't. She liked forming ideas, plans, or some sort of list in her head before proposing things and she was having a hard time doing that after learning about Percy's parentage. Annabeth was getting frustrated because she didn't expect a child of Poseidon to come along. She had wanted a demigod like Thalia, one of Zeus and an amazing monster fighter, but this was not what she planned for; she got Percy, a demigod who only recently discovered his godly father and made dumb comments every day. Not only was Percy a newbie, he was a son of the sea god, an old rival of Athena. It seemed shortsighted and prejudiced to use history and godly parentage to judge another person, in my opinion, but I couldn't say that to Annabeth without her blowing up in my face.
It was almost two weeks after the hellhound attack when a storm rumbled into camp. Camp Half-Blood rarely has bad weather, so that meant an angry god caused these dark clouds. And judging by the rumbling and flashing lightning behind the grey sky, it must be Zeus.
I had always thought Zeus was a bit uptight, but of course, I could never say that thought out loud. He'd probably throw a lightning bolt at me or something.
All the campers knew about the weather patterns at Camp Half-Blood and they kept their eyes on the storm. Although the fact that the phenomenon was the result of the irate king of Olympus, I liked the sound of rain and thunder. It was something that lulled me into sleep. There was something about being curled up in cozy blankets and a nice pillow inside a comfy cabin with rain and wind outside that was soothing. I was planning on skipping camp activities today, I had even got settled in my bunk and everything, but a voice stopped me. The same voice that told cabin eleven 'lights out' every night.
"Jade, Annabeth wants to talk to you."
I sighed. Ever since Percy Jackson's arrival, it's been difficult to get a power nap. I'd get interrupted or something just comes up and I'd have to get out the cabin.
"Jade, come on," Luke implored. "She says she doesn't have much time, and," Luke's voice dropped to a whisper so other campers wouldn't hear.
"I think she's going on a quest with Percy. Grover will probably be with him too."
My hand twitched at that.
Minutes later, Annabeth and I were talking at my favorite spot next to the lake. The water there was churning even though it wasn't connected to any moving bodies of waters.
"Even Poseidon is bothered," Annabeth explained, catching my gaze.
"Luke said you're going on a quest?" I laid on my back and folded my arms behind my head.
Annabeth turned a little pink at the name. I couldn't help but tease her a little.
"Oh come on," I said jokingly. "I only said his name and your entire face shoots lovesick hearts."
"My face does not," she replied hotly and then quieted.
"I volunteered to go with Percy. He can't take anyone else. It has to be me." Annabeth said it like she wanted to convince herself that she was right. She was subconsciously asking for confidence and so I gave it to her.
"Well, it seems like you're the only one who can keep him alive."
Annabeth's spine immediately straightened and she nodded resolutely. I had a feeling that Annabeth used to look up to Thalia like an older sister. As a younger sister, you'd want some sort of guidance and special attention from an older sibling. She had Luke, but not an older sister now that Thalia was gone. I think I might have unintentionally filled that spot in a small degree. We were only a year apart, but Annabeth knew that I didn't exactly act my age so she treated me differently.
"Chiron asked you to have the camp store loan Percy mortal money and drachmas," Annabeth informed me.
"Sure, how much?"
"A hundred dollars and twenty drachmas should be enough. We have a time limit of ten days, counting today," Annabeth replied thoughtfully.
"Whoa, wait, ten days?"
I didn't know that. Ten days was one heck of a deadline.
"I'm not allowed to say anything else. Percy's supposed to get his quest determined from the Oracle right now, so I don't know everything yet." We let a moment of silence settle between us. I personally have never seen the mummy upstairs the Big House and I hoped that I never would.
Please, no prophecies for me.
"You should head over to Chiron's office," I said as I stood up and brushed grass off my jacket. "I'll go to the store now."
"Yeah," Annabeth started walking away and asked a final question.
"You'll see me off, right?"
I rolled my shoulders back and grinned. "Of course, I have to give you guys the money loan from the camp store. Besides, I'll make sure Luke is there too."
Annabeth turned red this time and stomped away. I chuckled and walked to the store. Katie Gardner was behind the cash register, tending to some plants that sat at the windowsill. I liked watching the Demeter cabin at work in their gardens. It was like watching magic to see how they take care of their plants. I've never seen a plant go bad with a child of Demeter near it. Even the most withered and unnaturally yellow of plants turned healthy with their care.
"Hey Jade, watcha need?"
"Chiron told me to get a money loan for a quest. One hundred dollars and twenty golden drachmas," I told her.
Katie started to search the back closet, where the drachmas lay when she turned around and put her hands on her hips.
"This isn't one of Travis and Connor's tricks, is it?" She glared at me.
I sighed. "No, it's not."
Katie scanned my face, but didn't hold her stern gaze for very long. After a few moments, she handed me a pouch full of cash and gold coins with a critical eye on me.
"If I ever hear about the Stoll brothers buying something...," she warned.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll take responsibility." I was about to exit the store, when I paused at the door.
"Oh yeah, Katie, did you ever wonder about your last name? You know, since it's Gardner and your mom's Demeter?" Katie's glare intensified further so I backed away and slipped through the door.
"Yeesh, can't even take a joke," I muttered and headed to cabin eleven to get Luke. Thankfully, the Hermes place was devoid of campers. If the Stoll brothers or any Hermes child had heard the jingle of drachmas inside the pouch that was in my hand, they would've swiped it without warning.
"Luke," I called out. "I'm going to Half-Blood Hill to give Percy and his party some cash and drachmas. You coming?"
Luke's head poked out of the doorway and nodded.
"Yeah, just hold on, I'm getting something for him too," he replied and I heard some rummaging before he finally came out of the cabin carrying a pair of basketball shoes.
"You're giving him your winged shoes?"
"Yep." And Luke didn't elaborate any further, silently putting the topic to an end. I didn't mind. It wasn't like I wanted to get involved anyway. We trekked up to the tall pine tree where Chiron, Argus, Grover, Annabeth, and Percy had already gathered. Grover was standing next to Chiron, who was in his wheelchair. Grover looked like he was going to chew the nails off his hands out of nervousness. I had to hide a smile when Annabeth blushed at the sight of Luke.
I handed her the money pouch and whispered in her ear.
"So obvious." Annabeth promptly shot me an embarrassed look. Luke explained to Percy how to activate the basketball shoes and had a semi-sweet touching moment with him at the same time. I wanted to gag. None of the people around me were even aware about his intentions. Even Chiron.
And weren't those winged shoes cursed or something? Something about dragging you to down there?
"Thanks, man," Percy said to Luke. When Luke stepped away, the attention suddenly turned to me.
Oh, I was expected to say some sort of goodbye too. I cleared my throat.
"Don't die."
Short and simple. Chiron's serious face didn't even twitch. He probably whole-heartedly agreed with my parting words. Argus didn't say anything. I've never heard him talk before so I didn't expect him to now.
Percy only blinked back and nodded, at loss of how to respond to my crude words. Annabeth scowled at me while Grover bleated.
Luke nudged my shoulder. "Be nice," he chided, so I tried again.
"Please, don't die….?" It sounded like a question. Luke huffed and took over the rest of the goodbye routines. Watching Annabeth getting hugged by Luke was downright amusing and I waved goodbye to Percy and Grover. Chiron stayed behind to give the travelling party his last words of advice. Argus was the driver and had already gotten into the camp van that was used to transport boxes of strawberries.
They were going to live. They had to.
I gave Annabeth a tight hug and then followed Luke, in the direction of our cabin, fully intending to spend the rest of the day sleeping and dreaming.
I should crash on mom's dreams later tonight just to let her know how I'm doing.
It's been two days after Percy had left for his quest. Camp Half-Blood has settled back into its usual pace, somewhat, now that there weren't thundering clouds hanging over our heads. Cabin eleven was having our usual sword-fighting lesson. After Luke demonstrated today's technique, we split off into pairs, practicing. Normally, I'd be with one of the Stoll brothers, but today I was facing Luke. It wasn't like I had never sparred with him, but still, it wasn't too often when I got to. He was always helping one of the more inexperienced campers.
"Can I ask you for some girl advice?"
In the middle of crossing blades, I tripped over flat ground and looked at Luke warily. The situation was weird.
It's always Luke who gave advice. He's the head counselor. He has the most years at camp and pretty much knows the life of a demigod inside out. Heck, he ran away from his home and survived while fighting off monsters by himself. Basically, Luke doesn't need help for anything. And why the heck would he need girl advice for? He's hot.
Totally involuntarily, I glanced and might've given Luke an elevator look without him noticing. He was wearing his usual camp outfit of sleeveless orange t-shirt, cutoffs, and sneakers. Sweat glistened on his toned arms and neck and beaded his face. He looked alive, eyes bright and alert from sparring. I probably had the same half-crazed look since I was sweating just as much as he was. His muscles were also coiled and bulging.
A part of my brain I didn't approve of purred appreciatively at the sight. Most teenagers would have suppressed the hormonal urge, but I let the feeling pass over me like water. Since I was thirteen, my body was undergoing puberty. I figured out that the best way to deal with the physical changes was to simply acknowledge them and go with the flow. The method has been working fairly well mentally whenever I felt stupid pheromones flooding my brain. Therefore, I acknowledged the fact that my hormonal raging body was reacting at the sight of Luke's own toned body.
I jabbed at him with my practice sword before asking him.
"What kind of girl advice?"
Even though he was already flushed from exercise, Luke's face turned even pinker.
"Like, get-to-know-a-girl advice."
"So you wanna be her friend?" I asked in false innocence.
Luke performed an unnecessarily sharp shank towards my left knee, my weakest spot of defense.
I made a pathetic block and scowled when the sword was forced out of my grip.
"Alright, alright, so it's how-to-get-a-girlfriend advice."
Rude.
Luke and I shared cleanup duty for sword fighting lessons, so when we were finished, I helped him gather all the swords and put them back in their sheaths. We walked to the shed together to hang them on the racks and I couldn't help but get curious. What kind of girl makes Luke ask for advice?
"So…,"I drawled. "If I'm going to help you with girl stuff, I need to know who she is."
Luke's back tensed, but he gritted his teeth and mumbled a name aloud.
"Silena."
Silena Beauregard.
Oh, Annabeth was not going to be happy if she ever finds out about this.
I nearly stop in my tracks when another thought hits me.
Silena was a spy for Kronos' army during the final battle at Manhattan. Is Luke making a move on her now?
"You won't tell anyone?"
I gulped. It's at times like these when Luke's scar suddenly gains a more threatening look.
"I won't."
"You promise?"
I was about carelessly say 'promise', but a third thought hit me like a brick.
Charlie dies. Charles Beckendorf dies because of a leak on intel for that one attack on a cruise ship, right? He dies because Silena gave away that information.
Charlie was cool. I liked him as a fellow friend and camper. A lot. A lot as in I don't want him to die and would willingly risk to change something so that his death wouldn't happen.
"Promise," I lied. My fingers were crossed in my pocket.
We left the shed and happened to pass by the Aphrodite cabin at the pegasus stables, who were all in the middle of their morning riding session. As expected, Silena was at the head of the, er, flock? Herd? While in midair, Silena caught sight of us and waved.
Luke and I waved back and sat on one of the sturdy wooden fences that lined the stables. My eyes followed Silena as she raced across the sky on a pegasus. There was a slight tinge of envy that I became uncomfortable with as she maneuvered skillfully and gracefully in the air. I could never get completely used riding a pegasus.
We waited for the Aphrodite campers to finish and Silena soon walked over to us. Actually, Silena has a figure and face of a fashion model, so her gait was more of a runway strut. But it didn't make her look arrogant, Silena was too nice to push people around. I muffled a yawn with my hand and tugged on my hoodie, flicking the hood over my head. The fact that even though the daughter of Aphrodite had just flown through the air moments ago and still looked perfect didn't help mask the scent of sweat I carried. Deodorant could only work so far when you're sword fighting.
When Luke suddenly groaned, I followed his line of view and made a face. Another camper of my age, Drew Tanaka, was scampering after Silena like a follower. Drew idolized Silena for her popularity and beauty, but just as Silena was kind, Drew was fake polite. As they got closer, I noticed Drew eyeing Luke.
Gross.
Silena was all smiles and even I felt the corners of my own lips turning up without meaning to. Since Silena was a genuine person, her powers as a daughter of Aphrodite affected people easily.
"Jade! Luke! What's up?"
Luke shot a slight panicky look at me.
Oh God, he wasn't that hopeless, was he? Does he actually like her?
Even though I was supposed to play as wingman, I had a legitimate question for her to get a conversation started.
"I wanted to ask, since you're good with the pegasus and might know, what's a group of pegasus called?"
Silena laid a hand on her hip, leaning on one leg, and squinted at the stables. I saw Luke's eyes outlining the curve of her hip and legs. I tried not to roll my eyes. I was supposed to be the one dealing with messed up hormones.
"Hmm, well a herd is for horses and a flock is for birds, but for pegasus...Luke, what do you think?"
Luke snapped out of his ogling.
"Um, uh, a flock-herd?"
This time I did roll my eyes.
"Fabulous answer," I complimented sarcastically.
Drew batted her eyelashes and gushed, "Well, I think it works. How about we talk over at the lake?"
Although none of us moved, my legs suddenly itched. Charmspeak, I realized to my horror. Drew was already working on her charmspeak.
Thankfully, our chat didn't last much longer because the conch horn blared to indicate lunchtime. Hermes' table, as usual, was crowded and the Stoll brothers were flinging vegetables at the Demeter kids.
"So," I started conversationally. "What are your plans, if you ask her out?"
I wasn't worried about other people eavesdropping. Everyone was too engrossed in the food fight that had erupted once Katie had retaliated by throwing her knife and spoon at Connor and Travis, respectively.
Luke ran a hand through his hair and grimaced.
"Sword fighting?"
I snorted. "Silena loves sword fighting just as much as the next Aphrodite child, and there are none who do."
Luke winced. "Show her my sword?"
I grinned.
"You wanna show her your sword?" I repeated and raised an eyebrow suggestively.
Luke choked on his water and pounded his chest, coughing out fluids.
"WHAT?"
"Your sword," I said. "You know, the new one you got recently." I tilted my head, pretending obliviousness.
"Luke, that is what you meant, right?"
Luke glared at me, but didn't say anything. Once he finished his plate of food, he got up and hung around the Aphrodite table, predictably close to Silena. When I cracked jokes, they normally had a consequence of befalling embarrassment as someone's expense. I also happened to be the only one who has the nerve to make even slightly sexual jokes, but it gave amusing reactions nonetheless.
Lunch was quick and easy-going, but what happened after lunch was not.
Only fifteen minutes after our plates and silverware had been cleared, I sprinted into Chiron's office, panting.
"Chiron-,"I breathed. "-fight, down at the Big House. It's pretty bad." I held onto the doorframe for support. Chiron had been sitting on his wheelchair, but the second I told him the news, he rose up to his natural form of centaur.
"Show me," he commanded. I gulped and nodded. A serious Chiron in discipline mode was always a force to be reckoned with. The hard look in his eye reminded me of how long he's been having his job as a teacher to demigods, but it also comforted me, knowing that with his years of experience, he could handle anything.
I ran outside and Chiron galloped next to me. We soon reached the meadow in front of the Big House where dozens of campers were facing off. My mouth tightened to a grim line when I saw the sight. The Ares cabin, backed by Aphrodite and Apollo were screaming and yelling at Athena's kids, who weren't as rowdy as the other three, but their facial expressions weren't entirely pleasant. Luke was at the porch of the Big House, holding his bronze sword. If I had more time to scrutinize him, I would've detected the subtle, spiteful satisfaction that had been masked with a face of false concern.
"Luke, what is going on here?" Chiron rumbled.
Luke stood up straight and reported.
"A rumor spread during lunch today about Percy's quest and the Zeus-Poseidon feud. It's turning into the Trojan War down there. Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo for Poseidon against Athena for Zeus," he listed. I glanced sharply at Luke and then down, watching the fight growing more and more violent verbally. Camp fights have never been this bad of a situation.
"And the other cabins?"
"I told their head counselors to gather their cabin mates and to stay at their cabins," Luke replied. Chiron gave a terse nod.
I cut in with a warning tone, "Chiron, they're pulling out their swords."
"Jade, go back to the other cabins and tell them that I am taking care of this and that they will stay at their cabins until I have sent Luke," he instructed. "Luke, stay here. I will go down and break up the fight."
Luke and I nodded, but Chiron was already halfway down to the meadow. I looked on as spectator for a few more seconds before heading towards the cabins.
"See you," I called out to Luke, but he didn't respond. He was too fixated on the scene in front of him.
What could he be thinking about?
Eight more days until Annabeth, Percy, and Grover come back.
x
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