Penny Ranger and the Lightning Thief

Chapter V: I Learn to Kill Monsters

It took a while, but I was finally starting to feel accustomed to Camp Half-Blood. It took a few months, basically the rest of the school year, but eventually I finally felt like I was home.

I kept practicing my archery everyday, and my sword fighting skills had improved considerably thanks to my new sword. I still wasn't good enough to beat Luke or the children of Ares, who honestly would give pro-wrestlers nightmares, but I could hold my own against most of the other campers.

I  had recently found out that I was also pretty good with medicine, even if I still had a lot to learn. My singing and lyrical abilities left a lot to be desired though.

I also got closer to Max and Annabeth, who had become my go-to partners for many of the activities, apart from my siblings. I learned that Annabeth loved reading books, though they were usually in Ancient Greek, and she had an obsession with architecture. Max, in turn, loved traveling. His mother was a travel photographer and I guess it was something that ran in the family because he could talk for hours about the places he wanted to visit. He even had a notebook where he wrote down all his future destinations, which was something I found kinda cute.

They also eventually told me about how they had come to Camp when they were very young, along with Luke, a satyr and another demigod who didn't make it. Her name was Thalia. She was a daughter of Zeus. And apparently she wasn't supposed to exist.

The gods known as the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, had made an oath after the Second World War, which was apparently caused by their children. They had sworn not to have anymore demigod children.

But, seeing as how the gods' main hobby has always been to get into bed with mortals, you can guess how well that turned out.

The problem was that they had sworn on the River Styx. Now, it took me a while to get this, but basically that means it's an unbreakable oath. And doing so would have very bad consequences.

But Zeus was an immortal god, meaning there wasn't much the Fates could do to him. So Thalia got the short end of the stick.

After battling her way to Camp, she made her last stand on Half-Blood Hill, a rise just outside of Camp, while Luke, Annabeth, Max and the satyr escaped. And as she lay dying, Zeus took pity on her and transformed her into a pine tree that generates a magical barrier around Camp Half-Blood. A barrier that keeps all the bloodthirsty monsters outside of Camp.

When they finished telling me the story, I stayed silent for about an hour. I couldn't imagine going through something like that now, much less being as young as they were. And honestly, the story angered me. Mainly because of how unfair it was that Thalia should pay for her father's mistakes, a father she probably hadn't even met.
However, I eventually decided to focus on my training. Thalia's sacrifice was what made it possible for me to have a home. The least I could do to thank her was to honor that sacrifice.

So I trained and trained, and eventually left behind the old Penny Ranger. I did my best to cast away my old insecurities and focused only on becoming the best warrior I could be.
Which is what lead to my current situation.

"Ow!"

I hissed in pain as I dropped my sword and pulled my right arm back. It was only a superficial cut but it still stung a bit.

"Oh my gods! I'm so sorry, are you okay?!" Max exclaimed as he rushed over to me.

I couldn't help but smile. Even after months of training he still got so worried whenever I got hurt.

"Calm down, Max. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yes. It's barely bigger than a paper cut." I told, showing him the cut on my hand that had already stopped bleeding.

He let out a breath of relief before putting away his sword.

"I think that's enough for today."

I pouted. It really annoyed me when he did that. I was perfectly fine but just because of a little cut we had to cut the sparring session short. I mean, I appreciate that he cares but it's not like I'm made of glass!

"Oh, come on! I'm fine, really!" I complained.

He simply shook his head in response, making it clear that arguing wasn't an option.

I huffed in frustration as I picked up Radiance, turned it into a hairpin and put it in my hair.

"You're lucky I have stuff to do with Annabeth."

I expected him to say something, but judging by his smirk he was clearly too amused by my annoyed behavior to bother. I simply gave him a glare before walking away to find the daughter of Athena.

*

Annabeth was stressed. She had been since about a week after I arrived, which was when Chiron left. He hadn't told us why he'd left, so we were left to guess. Which didn't help reduce Annabeth's stress at all, which in turn added stress to my life.

It also didn't help that the weather had been uncharacteristically stormy. We were nearing the summer holidays and yet there seemed to be clouds covering the sky constantly. I was told that it didn't rain in Camp unless we wanted it to, but I was really starting to doubt it.

Eventually it became too much and I asked Annabeth what was going on. You might be wondering why on Earth I thought she would have an answer. Well, it's simple: one of the advantages of knowing the gods exist is having someone to blame for things that would normally be attributed to sheer chance. And Annabeth was the god expert.

She told me the gods were angry, which frankly I found somewhat obvious. I mean, I've never met Zeus but I don't think thunderstorms are him having fun.

However, the reason why they were angry was because something had been stolen and the gods were accusing each other and getting ready for war. Which, considering that they controlled the literal universe, was very bad.

What was currently driving Annabeth crazy was figuring out what had been stolen.

"I just wish somebody would tell me something!" she exclaimed in frustration.

"I know what you mean. If only Chiron was here, I might be able to get something out of him." I said.

All of sudden Annabeth's eyes widened as she turned to me.

"Wait! Chiron went away before and he came back with you. What if he went back to where you were?"

I frowned. I honestly had no idea why anyone would willingly go back to that hellhole of a school.

"Yancy Academy? Why in Zeus's name would he go back there?"

"Maybe there was another demigod there. A powerful one." Annabeth suggested.

For a second my mind flashed back to Percy. But I dismissed the thought. He already had enough to worry about. I didn't want him to have to deal with the mythological mess that was now my world.

"I don't know..."

"Chiron is back!" a camper yelled.