Keeper of Camp Half Blood

Chapter Three One Big Fiery Mess

Leo's P.O.V.
   It's no easy task returning to friends after dying. I'm not good with tears, and there were a lot of them. At least I got some Leo love.

   When Calypso got to Camp Half-Blood, the first thing she did was tackle Percy. He, the great Percy Jackson looked terrified of my Sunshine. I had to pull her away from him, kicking and screaming.

   It was a mostly ordinary day at Camp Half-Blood. I had just finished forging a cool contraption that was supposed to allow you to talk and text like a cell phone but didn't attract monsters, called an imparter ( I got the idea in a dream last night), and was heading towards the rock wall, when Jason called over to me.

   "Leo, Nico just found EIGHT new recruits."

   That's how I met Keefe Sencen, the greatest of all greatnesses. We were to busy planning a prank on the Ares cabin to listen to the conversation. I heard them say something about languages, though.

   There was something about that Sophie girl that screamed, leader. So, when the conch horns blew, she charged ahead. At dinner, rather than all sitting at the Hermes table, the new group sat at the Artemis table.

   Chiron clapped for silence. "Today, eight new people joined our camp so let's give them a warm welcome. We will be playing capture the flag tonight, so organize your teams. I believe as we stand, we have Olympian children, minus Ares, against the others."

   The Fitz boy raised his hand. "I don't think it's a good idea to have us play on a team," he started. "Sophie would dominate, I have a special connection with her..." the Aphrodite cabin snickered. "And we're all pretty tight-knit."

   "I've got an idea," Sophie said. "Everyone against Fitz and I."

   "Sophie no."

   "Sophie yes!!!"

   "How about Camp Half-Blood against them then, if they're so good!" Clarisse shouted.

   "Okay," Keefe said. "But don't day we didn't warn you about Mysterious Miss F over here."

   "Wait a minute!" Dex yelled. "You never explained how to play!"

   "Oh yeah," Sophie said. "It's basically Base Quest."
=============Time Skip==============
   I crept silently, willing the leaves under my feet not to crunch. So, obviously, they did. Sophie twirled around, her blonde hair gracefully smacking her in the nose. I giggled. So much for a sneak attack. She was scrunching up her face as if concentrating hard. She didn't have a weapon, but neither did I.

   I desperately wanted to win. So, I did what competitive Leos always do. I surrounded her in flames. They weren't close enough to her to possibly hurt her, but she slumped to the ground, holding her head. She groaned over and over again about a "bent stick", or maybe "Can Rick". The haunted look in her eyes was that of a madwoman. I just about have up when I was shoved to the ground.

   "You idiot!" the person seethed. "How could you not tell us you were a Pyrokinetic?!!!" My flames receded, but it wasn't my doing. It was the person who pushed me. I could now see that she was the Marella girl.

   "Now, Ella..." I said.

   "Marella! Not Mare! Not Ella! No nicknames!!!!!" she screeched. "Now get out of the way, you good for nothing little..."

   Marella approached Sophie like a wild animal, which is kind of how she was acting. She looked around wildly, like everything was out to attack her. There may have even been drool hanging from her mouth.

   "Sophie," Marella whispered. "It's okay. You'll be okay. You're strong. Don't break on us. It wasn't your fault. Say it. It wasn't your fault."

   "It wasn't my fault," Sophie said as if she had never used her mouth before. "It was Fintan's!"

   "Yes, it was Fintan's. Good girl. Now let's go get you some mallowmelt."

   "Mallowmelt!" Sophie croaked.

   "What were you saying about Canrick?" I asked. Sophie went back to looking spooked. Marella scowled at me. She tried reassuring Sophie, but she didn't respond.

   "Get Fitz!" Marella yelled at me. "FITZROY AVERY VACKER! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!!!!!" That girl had lungs.

   Fitz sprinted over, so fast it was practically impossible. "What is-" At the sight of Sophie, he faltered, and tears began to fill his eyes. "She looks like my dad looked," he whispered, barely audible. "What did you do to her?!" he screamed at me. Why was this my fault? Their friend was obviously mentally unstable. "She looks like my dad looked," he repeated, and the same haunted look came to his eyes. "I yelled at her. I called her a malfunction."

   "Fitz," Marella replied patiently. "You also fulfilled her dreams with your whole 'I want it to be you,' thing. You're the only one who might be able to help her. Snap out of it!"

   "But she's broken, and WE'RE COGNATES!"

Marella rolled her eyes. "I'm aware of that. Just as aware as the fact that I can't lie to Keefe because he's an empath, and that 'there's no reason to worry'. Everyone I know is so predictable."

   "This is definitely a reason to worry, Marella! Sophie's broken, and she's the only mind healer!"

   I got an idea. "Let's take her to the big house." Then, Clarisse came out of nowhere and tagged all three of them. "Clarisse, the game is over," I informed her.

   "Says who?"

   "Says me. Now hurry and tell Sophie's friends to come to the Big House!"
==============Time Skip=============
   Biana was the one to come up with the idea. "Fitz, couldn't you heal her, possibly, since she's your Cognate? And Keefe, can't you do some of those enhanced emotion-sending thingeys, since Fitz isn't an inflictor?"

   "It's worth a shot."

   The only people allowed in the Big House were Fitz, Keefe, and Sophie, along with a few Apollo kids, which meant her friends and I would have to wait outside. Normally, I wouldn't have cared, but I felt personally responsible.

   "What exactly happened?" I asked the Desk dude.

   "It looks like you broke her mind. Elves can't handle guilt, so when she saw your flames, she was reminded of something that wasn't her fault. She felt too much guilt, and she broke. It's kind of like going insane. She's the only one that can heal a broken mind. Fitz and Keefe are some of the best though, so there's always hope."

   What have I done? One of these days, I need to remember that flames ALWAYS hurt more than they help.