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IF YOU ASKED PHOEBE, she thought that this Percy boy was taking the news of the existence of Greek gods fairly well .
Sure, he didn't look delighted and was most probably in total denial, but at least he wasn't weeping and crying like most of the kids did . Like she did .
So by her standards he was totally fine.
The boy even had enough nerve to interrupt her card game by arguing with Mr.D , thankfully the god threatened to curse him to a fate worse than death and the game went on . The child of Hecate was totally almost winning when Chiron decided to all take them on a little tour of camp for the new boy .
She strongly suspected he did that in order to prevent her victory .
The girl giggled when she noticed that Percy was being very careful not to walk behind Chiron. Which was understandable; most people did not trust his back end the way they trusted his front.
They passed the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn he was carrying. Another said, "That's him."
The brunette couldn't help but feel bad for him . They all looked at him like they expected the boy to do a somersault or something.
Phoebe noticed Percy looking back at the farmhouse. He was checking out the brass eagle weathervane on top when something caught her eye, a shadow in the uppermost window of the attic gable. The curtains had moved . They exchanged a look ; he had seen it too.
"What's up there?" He asked Chiron.
He looked where Percy was pointing, and his smile faded. "Just the attic."
"Somebody lives there?"
"No . Not a single living thing ."
The centaur was indeed telling the truth, though only half of it . The new boy already had a hard day ; there was no need to make it worse by adding more complicated magic stuff.
But still , just to mess with him the girl used her magic to move the curtains again , while he was still looking.
Percy turned as white as a sheet , absolutely mortified and Chiron sent her a furious glare to which she replied with a proud grin .
Gods, people were so unappreciative of her comedic talents .
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Terribly unamused by her little trick , Chiron had separated the daughter of Hecate from the rest of the group by giving her the horrible job of finding a spot for Percy in the eleventh cabin .
Poor boy will have to sleep on the floor for a long time .
She made her way towards the cabin, smiling and waving at the campers she saw on the way . When she arrived Phoebe saw the blonde Athena kid she'd seen at the big house reading a book on the Hermes cabin's front porch. Weird. The claimed kids usually didn't hang around the eleventh cabin much.
The blonde girl only looked up from her book when Phoebe reached her.
"Aren't you supposed to still be with them?" She asked . Phoebe laughed.
"Nah, Chiron got rid of me, told me to find the boy a spot here."
She pointed at the door of the cabin.
The blonde laughed, though Phoebe couldn't help but notice a hint of pity in it , so small she thought she might have imagined it .
"Well, good luck with that."
Phoebe snorted. "Thanks, I'll need it."
The blonde went back to her book and Phoebe entered the cabin.
As soon as she passed the doorway , Phoebe felt a sudden wave of warmth wash over her , but it wasn't only due to the overcrowding in the cabin.
There was a feeling that only the Hermes cabin gave her. That regular old summer camp cabin with its worn down threshold , peeling brown paint and overcrowded dorms with way more people than bunk beds.
A sense of belonging.
Don't get her wrong, she loved camp half-blood ; it was the only place where she felt safe and at ease , it was home to her . But even there they were misfits: the unclaimed , the kids of minor gods - They had friends and were loved for sure but they didn't have their table , their siblings, their own cabin...
Something to call theirs.
But at least they had each other . And maybe that was something too .
She tiptoed her way in the cabin looking for the familiar blonde boy, careful not to step on other people's sleeping bags or clothes, which was hard considering they were spread all over the floor .
She found him sitting on his bed , looking at some sort of jewelry in his hand .
"Hey Luke!" He jumped, startled . As soon as she spoke his name he dropped what was in his hand , trying to hide it . Needless to say this was very unusual behavior for the son of Hermes .
Luke looked up at her and smiled; now that was more like him .
"Aren't you supposed to still be at your card game with Chiron?" He asked.
The daughter of Hecate sighed. "Nope. There has been a slight change of plans and now I'm supposed to find a place here for some new kid."
Luke winced a little. "A new camper? In our cabin?"
"Yup. I think there's still a spot near my bed. Do you think there's still some sleeping bags left for him?"
He frowned "I don't know I'll see if Travis can steal any- Wait a new camper ? Are the rumors true?" He said , eyebrows raised as if realization suddenly dawned on him .
Phoebe smiled , amused by the thought of the little scrawny boy .
"You bet your ass they are."
As soon as she finished her sentence, they heard a knock on the door . They all turned around to find Percy, the blonde girl and Chiron standing on their porch . Chiron didn't go in, the door being too low for him . But all the kids in the cabin bowed respectfully as soon as they saw him .
"Annabeth, Phoebe," Chiron said, "I have a masters' archery class at noon. Would you girls take Percy from here?"
"Yes, sir"
"Sure thing, boss"
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner."
The centaur then galloped away towards the archery range. Percy stood in the doorway , looking at the kids , they weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at him like he was the weirdest thing they've ever encountered.
"Well?" The Athena girl prompted. "Go on."
As soon as Percy finally mustered up the courage to take a step in the cabin, he tripped and let his face meet the floor .
What a fantastic entrance.
Most of the campers snickered, all except Phoebe who didn't shy away at all and burst out laughing.
However nobody said anything until Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
"Is that even a question?" Said Phoebe.
Everybody groaned.
Luke came forward. "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."
"This is Luke," Annabeth said, and her voice sounded different somehow. The brunette glanced over and could've sworn she was blushing. She saw them looking, and her expression hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."
"For now?" He dumbly asked.
Phoebe totally understood his confusion, but couldn't help but roll her eyes at the question.
"You're undetermined," Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers."
The boy glanced at the tiny section of floor they'd given him . It was a little spot on the floor, right next to Phoebe's own bed .
He then looked around suspiciously at the campers, like he was expecting to be attacked by them at any moment.
"How long will I be here?"
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?"
The campers all laughed , but this time Phoebe didn't.
"Come on," The brunette told him. "We'll show you the volleyball court."
"I've already seen it."
"Come on."
Annabeth grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him outside. They could still hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind them.
Once they were a few feet away, Phoebe said "Jackson, you really have to do better than that."
"What?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."
Now what in the world was she talking about ?
"What's your problem?" He was getting angry now. "All I know is, I kill some bull guy—"
"Don't talk like that!" Annabeth told him. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"
" To get killed?"
"To fight the Minotaur! What do you think we train for?"
"Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories..."
"Yes."
"Then there's only one."
"Yes."
"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So..."
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die."
Wow , this blondie girl really knows how to explain stuff .
Apparently Percy thought the same thing because he sarcastically added;
"Oh, thanks. That clears it up."
Phoebe found this whole argument very entertaining but the whole thing was getting quite boring so she finally explained:
"They don't have souls, like you and me. You can dispel them for a while, maybe even for a whole lifetime if you're lucky. But they are primal forces. Chiron calls them archetypes. Eventually, they re-form."
"You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword—"
The brunette snorted "Then it's surely still out there and probably very pissed off."
Annabeth glanced a the daughter of Hecate then added: "She's right Percy, the Fur- I mean , your math teacher is most certainly still out there"
Percy frowned "How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?"
"You talk in your sleep"
"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?"
Phoebe shivered and took a nervous glance around as if she expected some mysterious force to just appear to annihilate them . "You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all."
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" He sounded very whiny right now . "And why do I have to stay in cabin eleven, anyway? Why is everybody so crowded together? There are plenty of empty bunks right over there."
He pointed to the first few cabins, and Annabeth turned pale. "You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or...your parent."
They both stared at Percy, waiting for him to get it.
He did not get it.
"My mom is Sally Jackson," he said. "She works at the candy store in Grand Central Station. At least, she used to."
"I'm sorry about your mom, Percy. But that's not what I mean. I'm talking about your other parent. Your dad."
"He's dead. I never knew him."
Phoebe shifted uncomfortably . She was not enjoying the conversation anymore .
Annabeth sighed. Clearly, she'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."
"How can you say that? You know him?"
"No, of course not."
"Then how can you say—"
"Because I know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us."
"You don't know anything about me."
"No?" She raised an eyebrow. "I bet you moved around from school to school. I bet you were kicked out of a lot of them."
"How—"
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too." Added the brunette.
Now he just looked embarrassed. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Taken together, it's almost a sure sign. The letters float off the page when you read, right? That's because your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek. And the ADHD—you're impulsive, can't sit still in the classroom." Said Annabeth.
"That's your battlefield reflexes." Continued Phoebe. " In a real fight, they'd keep you alive. As for the attention problems, that's because you see too much, Percy, not too little. Your senses are better than a regular mortal's. Of course the teachers want you medicated. Most of them are monsters. They don't want you seeing them for what they are."
"You both sound like...you went through the same thing?"
"Most of the kids here did. If you weren't like us, you couldn't have survived the Minotaur, much less the ambrosia and nectar."
"Ambrosia and nectar."
"The food and drink we were giving you to make you better. That stuff would've killed a normal kid. It would've turned your blood to fire and your bones to sand and you'd be dead. Face it. You're a half-blood."
Before they even had the chance to further explain this huge revelation to the poor boy, they were interrupted by a husky voice yelling :
"Well! A newbie!"
Clarisse Larue .
The big girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward them. She had three of her step-sisters behind her, all big and mean looking like her, all wearing camo jackets.
"Clarisse," Annabeth sighed. "Why don't you go polish your spear or something?"
"Sure, Miss Princess," the big girl said. "So I can run you through with it Friday night."
"Erre es korakas!" Annabeth said.
Wow Blondie can curse.
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eyes twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward Percy. "Who's this little runt?"
"Percy Jackson," Phoebe said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."
He blinked. "Like...the war god?"
Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"
"No, it explains the bad smell."
Phoebe winced. Bad move.
Clarisse growled. "We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."
"Percy."
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you."
"Clarisse—" Annabeth tried to say.
"Stay out of it, wise girl."
Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it, and Percy didn't really look like he wanted her help either . The brunnette did want to warn him but she understood what he was feeling . He was the new kid , he had to earn his own rep.
He handed Phoebe his minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before he could react, Clarisse had him by the neck and was dragging him toward a cinder block building that was the bathroom.
The boy was kicking and punching , but Clarisse had hands like iron. She dragged him into the girls' bathroom.
Clarisse's friends were all laughing.
"Like he's 'Big Three' material," Clarisse said as she pushed him toward one of the toilets. "Yeah, right. Minotaur probably fell over laughing, he was so stupid looking."
Her friends snickered.
Phoebe looked at her shoes like they were the most interesting thing she'd ever seen while Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers.
Clarisse bent the boy over on his knees and started pushing his head toward the toilet bowl. He strained to keep my head up. He didn't look like he particularly wanted his head in that scummy water.
Then something happened. The plumbing rumbled, the pipes shuddered. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over his head, and the next thing they knew, they were sprawled on the bathroom tiles with Clarisse screaming behind them.
Water blasted out of the toilet again, hitting Clarisse straight in the face so hard it pushed her down onto her butt. The water stayed on her like the spray from a fire hose, pushing her backward into a shower stall. She struggled, gasping, and her friends started coming toward her. But then the other toilets exploded, too, and six more streams of toilet water blasted them back. The showers acted up, too, and together all the fixtures sprayed the Ares girls right out of the bathroom, spinning them around like pieces of garbage being washed away.
As soon as they were out the door, the water shut off as quickly as it had started.
The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth and Phoebe hadn't been spared. They were dripping wet, but they hadn't been pushed out the door. They were just standing in exactly the same place, staring at him in shock. There were long seconds of silence before Phoebe broke it by busting out in laughter .
Now that was some worthwhile entertainment.
Percy stood up, his legs shaky. Annabeth said, "How did you..."
"I don't know." Looking at his expression of utter shock , they didn't doubt he was being truthful.
They walked to the door. Outside, Clarisse and her friends were sprawled in the mud, and a bunch of other campers had gathered around to gawk. Clarisse's hair was flattened across her face. Her camouflage jacket was sopping and she smelled like sewage. She gave Percy a look of absolute hatred. "You are dead, new boy. You are totally dead."
"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth." Said Percy .
Phoebe only doubled up in laughter .
Her friends had to hold her back. They dragged her toward cabin five, while the other campers made way to avoid her flailing feet.
Annabeth stared at him intently , then said;
"I'm thinking that I want you on my team for capture the flag."
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lujain speaks !
Hi guys !
So it's been a minute... again ...
Least I can say is that school has been *absolutely* kicking my ass lately so didn't have much time to continue doing stuff .
But yeah it's mainly just my fault I admit it lol .
Anyway did you guys like this chapter ??
What did you think of Phoebe in it ?
I know it's a little early for that but any headcanons??
QOTD: I've been making a playlist for this fic , so any song recs??
Anyway next chapter will be up once I find motivation to actually write stuff so hopefully soon lol .
Love y'all,
lujain
Ps: Phoebe is my queen love her <33