The Quest For The Thief

New Romans

After my first adventure at Camp Half-Blood, things calmed down for a while. I helped fix the dining pavilion, trained, designed new cabins and temples, helped my team win every game of Capture the Flag.

One day, when I was practicing my archery—by far my worst combat skill—Tyson came running up to me.

"Hurry! Clarisse and Percy, fight!" he panted. Oh gods!

Percy was my half-brother; Clarisse was his arch-nemesis, a daughter of Ares. For some reason, she hated him, but was one of my best friends. Sighing, I took off running.

I reached the basketball court quickly. A huge group of people had gathered. I pushed my way through.

Percy was facing Clarisse with Riptide, his magical sword/pen. Clarisse held her three foot long spear. I pulled my bracelet off. There was only one thing to stop them. I touched a new combination I'd been working on. My double sword sprang to life. I ran to stop the collision of my brother's metal sword and Clarisse's electrically charged spear. My hand carefully placed on the leather grip, I jumped between them. I swung my sword, sending Percy's sword flying with one part and Clarisse's spear into the ground with the other. My bracelet changed to my will (another thing I'd been working on). I spun the new iron rod round, hitting them both in chest, pushing them to the ground. They landed ignominiously at the same time.

"Nothing to see here! Get lost!" I called out to the crowd, who had watched my performance in awe. They stayed for a second, then dispersed. I glared at Percy and Clarisse. They stared uneasily at the rod in my hand. Jason called out suddenly, saving them an explanation. For now...

"What happened here!? Another fight?" he stared at the rod in my hand. I willed it back to a bracelet. "You're getting way better with that thing, it scares me."

I smiled, but still shot a glare at Percy and Clarisse. Everybody knew I hated using my bracelet to stop Percy and Clarisse. Then Ben came along.

"Whoa! You two need to stop fighting!" He exclaimed, seeing Percy and Clarisse on the floor. They got up. Ben started to say something, but Clarisse butted in first.

"Rue, if I swap you first shower privileges, will you, and the rest of Poseidon cabin, play for Ares tonight in Capture the Flag?" she asked.

"So that's what this is about..." I sighed.

"I can do better than shower privileges!" Ben said suddenly. Oh yeah, it was Ares vs. Apollo today. I turned to Ben.

"Constant daytime sunlight in your cabin for a month, shower privileges, and you can carry the flag across the finish line!" Ben offered. I turned to Percy.

"What do you think, Perce? Both are good offers." Percy didn't hesitate. He pointed at Ben. I nodded. "Sorry Clarisse, it's Percy's choice in the end." I sighed in sync with Clarisse. She smiled briefly at me.

"I better go see if I can grab Hephaestus cabin real quick. Leo likes dishwashing deals." She said, heaving another sigh.

"I'll remember that!" Ben smiled at me. Percy shrugged and walked off with Jason to practise sword fighting. He was ashamed that I could beat him. I sighed. This was going to be a fun day. Instead of heading back to archery, I went to Cabin Three.

It was a mess. Percy's clothes were in a heap in the corner, the fountain was covered in grime, Tyson's bits and bobs were strewn across the floor. I started cleaning, knowing it was a job that would keep both my hands and mind busy. I changed the style of the room. My first design was more floral, this time I tried a classy approach, knowing Annabeth (who was doing room inspection later today) would like it.

When I was done, the fountain sparkled, all dirty clothes had been washed and put away, the white and silver chintz sofa had been repaired and placed, the beds had been stripped and had brand new covers that I had embroidered myself, even Tyson's bits and bobs were polished until they sparkled and put away in a box Mark stole for me. I added a some rare coral in a selection of places and looked at my work. It was okay... but we desperately needed some better acoustics in here. I had a whole corner for CDs in my chest. I made a mental note to find some carpet or at least a rug for the cabin. I was finally finished.

There was a knock on the door. Just on time, I thought as I opened the door.

"Hey—you're not Percy...?" Said a girl with caramel skin and long curly chocolate and gold hair. She was roughly Percy's age, but a lot smaller. She stood next to a boy, again about Percy's age, with what you could just about call a childish face. Apart from that, he was heavily built and tall. These were Roman demigods.

"Huh, you wouldn't believe how many times somebody's said that to me!" I laughed. It was true. It had happened at least six times. Grover did it to me—how could he!?—Thalia Grace (Jason's sister) did it to me, Annabeth once or twice, Blackjack (Percy's pegasus, don't ask), even Chiron did it! This was seven.

"Who are you then?" The boy asked. By his appearance, I guessed he was a son of Mars (the Roman version of Ares). The girl was sweeter, but she had a dark air about her which made me think she was a daughter of Pluto (Roman version of Hades).

"Percy's sister. Rue, daughter of Poseidon. You are...?" I looked at them. How did they know Percy?

"Never mind that, where's Percy?" the girl asked. Never mind!?

"Okay, I may have only known him a month, but I'm not that quick to sell out my own brother." I said. "Who are you?"

The girl sighed.

"I'm Hazel, daughter of..." She trailed off, like all Roman demigods did when they told a Greek who they were.

"Pluto. You're Nico's sister." I finished for her. She looked confused and slightly thrown. I turned to the boy. "And you?"

"Frank. Son of Mars." He didn't hesitate. "We're friends of Percy's. We want to just tell him hi. I also have some news for him about Camp Jupiter." Oh yeah, Camp Jupiter, the Roman demigod camp. It was way different from Camp Half-Blood. I would know.

"Oh. Alright. Percy's training in the arena. I'll show you the way." I said, putting my bracelet back on. If these guys were actually enemies, I wanted to be prepared. I'd heard there were some monsters that could change form to trick unsuspecting demigods. Frank raised his eyebrows, but made no comment. I led them silently to the swordplay arena. Percy was sparring with Jason. He saw me with Hazel and Frank. He grinned. Unfocused, he was pushed to the ground by Jason. Remembering a trick I'd pulled with Nico and Ben, I rushed forward, slipping my bracelet off my wrist. It changed into my sword. I stopped Jason's moving sword and used the force he had put behind the swing to topple him over. Then I took my dagger out of my boot and threw it backward. I heard it land in the sand. My sword point touched Jason's undefended chest.

"I do believe I win, again." I smiled and looked over my shoulder to check my throw. My dagger was stuck in the sand next to Percy's throat. Perfect. My sword morphed back into a bracelet in my hand. Jason and Percy got up, both blushing furiously.

"You had to do it in front of Hazel and Frank, didn't you!?" Percy grimaced at me. "You are the most annoying sister, EVER!"

"I love you too, bro." I said with a smile. Percy covered his eyes, but that didn't stop him from grinning. "You should go talk to Hazel and Frank. They have some news." I told him. Percy sighed and went to go talk to them. Jason grinned at me.

"How do you do that?" He asked in amazement. I shrugged. "And you annoy Percy at the same time." He sighed, still awed.

"You should go with Percy. I'm sure you want to know what's going on." I said. He rushed off, happy. I shook my head and headed off, planning to go back to my cabin and finish my cleaning.

I never got there.