ATALANTA MUN WAS EATING LUNCH when Chiron informed her that she would be taking care of a new demi-god that was in the infirmary.
She didn't understand why the Apollo kids couldn't just do it, but she didn't want to argue. Arguing with Chiron was like arguing with a brick wall.
He didn't want to hear anything she said and because he was absolutely ancient, he thought he was right almost all of the time.
Atalanta Mun had been a camper at Camp-half Blood since the ripe age of four. She didn't remember much but she did remember her father telling her to go across the boarder and him driving off in his black sports car.
Shaking her head to get rid of the unwanted thoughts, Atalanta got up and headed towards the infirmary.
It looked the same as she remembered. Bright white walls with paintings hanging on them. It smelled clean, like laundry detergent, that mostly hid the overbearing smell of the anticeptics.
Glancing at the occupied bed she saw a boy around her age. He had black messy hair and his skin was tan. He was asleep and there was drool coming out of his open mouth.
"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice said from behind Atalanta.
Atalanta turned to come face to face with the resident know it all, Annabeth Chase.
"I'm here to take care of him." Atalanta pointed her thumb to the bed behind her.
Annabeth huffed. "Well I am too." she glanced at the boy on the bed. "I think we should take shifts looking after him. I'll take the first one."
Shrugging Atalanta nodded her head in agreement. "That's fine with me. Just let me know when it's my turn."
The ravenette turned and walked out of the infirmary.
****
"KNOCK, KNOCK" Atalanta called into the infirmary.
"Be quiet." Annabeth shushed as she pointed to the raven haired boy laying in the bed.
Rolling her eyes, Atalanta approached the bed that the boy was laying in. He looked a lot better than when he had first arrived. His skin was more tan and most of his cuts and bruises were healed.
Turning to look a the blonde. Atalanta saw her staring at the boy with furrowed brows and a thoughtful look in her eyes.
"What are you think-" The dark haired girl was interrupted by a soft groan coming for the bed.
"What will happen at the summer solstice?" Annabeth bombarded the boy.
"What?" the boy managed to croak out, his eyes still slightly unfocused.
"What's going on? What was stolen? We've only got a few weeks!" Annabeth rushed, looking around to see if anyone would come in.
"That's enough Annabeth." Atalanta hissed at the blonde.
"I'm sorry" the boy mumbled, "I don't..."
Somebody knocked on the door, and Annabeth quickly stuffed the spoon in his mouth, filling his mouth with pudding.
He swallowed and within a minute his eyes were closed again and he was out cold.
Chiron walked in smiling down at Annabeth.
"How is he?" the centaur asked, completely ignoring the girl on his left.
Rolling her eyes at the centaur, Atalanta went to go do something else. She didn't want to have to deal with Chiron and him picking favorites.
The thing was that Atalanta didn't mind not being a favorite of Chiron's since she didn't care too much about what he thought of her or anything else, but the old horse man seemed to ignore her when she would try to speak and she didn't think she would have the patience to deal with that right now without blowing his head off.
On her walk Atalanta couldn't help but think about the new boy. He seemed to be important because Chiron certainly seemed interested in him.
He had miraculously defeated the Minotaur without a weapon which was a feat in its own, but knowing Chiron, this just meant something big was about to come.
Annabeth seemed to think that this boy was the ticket to her finally getting a quest.
The dark haired girl shook her head.
Atalanta knew that Annabeth seeing the oracle was a bad idea, and she's been interrogating any new camper they have received in the slight chance that they would be 'the one' the oracle told her about.
If asked, Atalanta would say she admired the girls persistence, but in this case, the blonde's obsession was quite unhealthy.
Plus these 'fantastic' quests that Annabeth is so insistent on going on are nothing like what goes on at camp.
At camp if you mess up you get another chance to learn from it, in the real world if you mess up it could could cost yours or someone else's life.
Unfortunately Atalanta had to learn that the hard way.
The black haired girl blinked as she came face to face with the door of Cabin 11. The Hermes cabin.
Atalanta was not a child of Hermes, though she wouldn't be upset if she were since she would have so many siblings, but rather she was a daughter of Hecate. The only one here at camp.
According to Chiron she is the only daughter of Hecate in the last century, but the young girl really hopes that she has some siblings out there somewhere.
She walked in the cabin, surprised to see Luke and a child of Khione awake. Luke was sitting on his bed reading a book and the child of Khione, Aurora, was heading towards the bathroom.
"You're up early" Atalanta commented as she carefully walked towards Luke's bed, making sure not to step on anyone.
"And You're up late" Luke fired back, not glancing up from his book.
"Yeah I was on new kid duty again" Atalanta muttered tiredly as she slunk into his bed and laid her head in his lap.
"How's he doing. I checked on him yesterday, but I wasn't able to get a great look at him" Luke commented, putting his book down.
Atalanta thought it was kind of weird how he sounded so interested in this kid but brushed it off as nothing.
"He's doing much better. He should be waking up today or tomorrow" The dark haired girl said as Luke ran his fingers through her hair.
"That's great. I'm excited to meet the boy who took down the minotaur without a weapon." Luke smiled.
"Well he lost his mom, he had a reason to fight. You and I both know having a reason to fight changes things" she commented offhandedly.
"Yeah." he muttered. "You're right."
"I know I am."
"Go to sleep. You're exhausted," Luke told the girl. "I'll make sure that no one disturbs you."
Atalanta yawned. "Ok Lukey. Goodnight. I love you"
"I love you too." The blonde whispered as he smiled down at the girl resting in his lap.
******
ATALANTA WOKE UP TO something poking her cheek. Slowly she opened one of her eyes to see a younger Hephaestus boy, Theodore, poking her cheek with a huge smile on his face.
"What're you doing?" Atalanta mumbled, turning away from him and snuggling further into the covers.
"It's time to get up Attie. It's past ten o clock" Theodore said crouching down to be eye level with her.
Atalanta turned to face him and was met with the familiar big brown eyes that most of the Hephaestus children shared.
"Is it really that late?" She asked sitting up. He nodded his head enthusiastically and grinned at her.
She couldn't stop the smile that spread on her face as she ruffled his hair and got out of bed.
"I'll be ready in 10. You gonna wait for me?" She asked, heading to the restroom to get changed.
"Yup" Theo replied as he jumped into Luke's bed and snuggled into the covers.
She lightly shook her head at his antics and shut the door to the bathroom.
About 10 minutes later Atalanta walked out of the bathroom with her hair in a braid, her bright orange camp half-blood shirt on and some black shorts that she added embroidery on.
It was a hobby she had picked up from one of her best friends, Silena Beauregard, who was a daughter of Aphrodite and a year older than her.
"You ready?" She asked Theo as she got her shoes on.
Theo jumped out of the bed and gave her a shy smile.
"What do you want?" She looked at him skeptically, knowing his innocent smile was anything but.
"Can you give me a piggyback ride?" He asked, the shy smile now becoming a cheeky grin.
She narrowed her eyes at him but nodded nonetheless. He squealed as he ran towards her and excitedly jumped on her back.
"Ok you cheeky brat, where are we going?" She asked, turning her head to look back at him.
"I have sword fighting at 11" he said from her back. She nodded her head and quickly took off.
She sprinted as fast as she could to the armory and Theo had to hold on tight with how fast they were going.
Atalanta was getting tired as Theo was heavier than he looked, but hearing him giggling like mad made her continue, ignoring her fatigue.
Eventually they made it to the armory where she saw the Demeter kids sparing with each other and some Hephaestus kids sparing in pairs not too far away.
As Atalanta was getting ready to go do her daily activities one of the Hermes kids, ran up to her.
"Chiron needs you at the big house" the Hermes boy, Atalanta now recognized as Ivan Chavez, told her before heading back towards his siblings.
She looked after him slightly confused before shaking it off and heading to the big house.
When Atalanta got there, Mr.D was there along with Chiron, and so were Grover, Annabeth, and the boy from the infirmary.
"Oh there you are Atalanta! You're just in time" Chiron announced with a warm smile.
******
PERCY'S POV
Percy turned to look who was being addressed and he felt his face heat up.
The girl was pretty. Really pretty. One of the prettiest girls Percy's ever seen.
She had her black hair braided down her back that contrasted with her very pale skin.
Her lips were plump and pink and had two scars that went from the corner of her left eye to the top of her lips.
Percy had to admit the scars made her look scary but he didn't think that was necessarily a bad thing.
The last and most captivating part of the girl were her eyes.
They were slanted and surrounded by long thick lashes that almost fluttered each time she blinked.
But the color of her eyes is what really drew the young boy in. They were a bright shade of gold that looked as if they were glowing in the rays of the sunlight.
The pretty girl was tall and lean and extremely athletic looking. She looked intimidating but her smile reminded him of his mom, so that was an immediate green flag.
Snapping out of his daze, Percy tuned in to the conversation going on between the centaur and the girl.
"You needed me Chiron?" The girl asked, but Mr.Brunner..... Chiron?.... Ignored her.
"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.
She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced them to the raven haired boy.
"These young ladies nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, Atalanta, my dears, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."
Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron." while Atlanta nodded her head with a sarcastic smile.
Annabeth was probably Percy's age, maybe a couple of inches taller than him but still shorter than Atalanta, and a whole lot more athletic looking than him.
With her deep tan skin and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what he thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image.
They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take him down in a fight.
She glanced at the minotaur horn in my hands, then back at him. Percy imagined she was going to say, 'You killed a minotaur!' or 'Wow, you're so awesome!' or something like that.
"You drool when you sleep." She replies instead. Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.
"Sorry about her she's not the best with social interaction" Atalanta told him.
He chuckled at that but stopped after Mr. Brunner gave him a look.
"That's enough Atalanta." Chiron said with a warning tone.
Percy expected her to apologize but she just rolled her eyes and left running after the blonde.
Percy glance towards Mr. Brunner but just saw him shaking his head.
******
AS THE TWO GIRLS WAITED for Chiron to finish doing whatever it was he was doing with the boy from the infirmary, they sat in front of the Hermes cabin.
She would occasionally see a friend or cabin mate and would wave to them but it was pretty boring otherwise.
Eventually getting sick of watching people she took to laying down, watching the clouds while Annabeth read.
At one point the daughter of Hecate swore that there was a cloud that looked like Chiron but Annabeth, being her boring, logical self, said it looked like a tree.
Atalanta rolled her eyes at that, but continued to point out a cloud and said it looked like the most outrageous things.
Although the daughter of Athena continually rolled her eyes and brushed off the dark haired girl, she was quite enjoying the crazy things that the other girl could think of.
Eventually there were voices approaching the two, and Atalanta sat up to see Chiron and the boy from the infirmary, Percy, she recalled, coming towards them.
When they reached them, Annabeth looked Percy over critically, like she was still thinking about how much he drooled.
"Annabeth, Atalanta," Chiron said, "I have masters' archery class at noon. Would you take Percy from here?"
"Yes, sir." Annabeth replied while Atalanta just gave a single nod.
"Cabin eleven," Chiron told Percy, gesturing toward the doorway. "Make yourself at home."
As the three walked into the cabin, it was packed with people, both boys and girls, way more than the number of bunk beds.
Chiron didn't go in. The door was too low for him. But when the campers saw him they all stood and bowed respectfully.
"Well, then," Chiron said. "Good luck, Percy. I'll see you at dinner." He galloped away toward the archery range.
Percy stood in the doorway, looking at the kids. They weren't bowing anymore. They were staring at him, sizing him up.
"Well?" Annabeth prompted. "Go on." She said grabbing him by the shoulders and all but shoving him in the cabin.
As he was walking in he tripped coming in the door and made a total fool of himself.
There were some snickers from the campers, but they stopped when they saw the look on Atalanta's face.
Anyone in the Hermes cabin knew not to mess with the daughter of Hecate unless they wanted to suffer from some form of prank or anything vindictive that she could think of.
A son of Nike shivered remembering the time she magically stuck his eyelids open for twenty four hours. He never did anything to anger her again.
Annabeth announced, "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven."
"Regular or undetermined?" somebody asked.
"Undetermined." Atalanta announced.
Everybody groaned. Atalanta shook her head but was too tired to tell them off.
Luke then stepped 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. She had a blush covering her cheeks.
Atalanta looked nauseated at this but didn't say anything, to stop the bile from coming up and to save Annabeth from embarrassment.
She may not have the best relationship with the blonde but she also didn't want anything to mess up Annabeth and Luke's relationship because of a little crush.
"He's your counselor for now." Annabeth told Percy, her voice back to normal.
"For now?" Percy asked.
"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."
Percy looked at the tiny section of floor they'd given him. He seemed to be lost in thought.
Atalanta took the opportunity to talk to Luke. He looked to be lost in thought but snapped out of it once he saw her approaching.
"Hey little sis" Luke greeted a smile on his face as he gave Atalanta a side hug.
"Hey Lukey" Atalanta responded with a smirk.
Luke playfully rolled his eyes at her but that didn't stop the smile that made its way onto his face.
"Are-" Atlanta was cut off by Percy asking a question.
"How long will I be here?" He asked, seemingly snapped out of the trance he was previously in.
"Good question," Luke said. "Until you're determined."
"How long will that take?" Percy asked confused.
The campers all laughed. Atalanta turned and glared at Luke when he let out a quiet chuckle, to which he quickly stopped.
"Don't be rude. He's new here" Atalanta whispered harshly, elbowing him in his ribs.
"Sorry" he whispered back, rubbing the spot where she elbowed him.
Searching his face, she nodded, believing his apology.
"Come on," Annabeth told Percy . "I'll show you the volleyball court."
"I've already seen it." Percy said with a scowl in his face.
"Come on." Annabeth said as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him outside.
Atalanta could hear the kids of cabin eleven laughing behind them.
When they were a few feet away, Annabeth rounded on Percy, "Jackson, you have to do better than that." She said harshly.
"What?" Percy asked confused, the irritated look back on his face
She rolled her eyes and mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."
"That's enough Annabeth." Atalanta said, her eyes narrowing at the blonde. "He's new at this give him a break"
"What's your problem?" Percy snapped. "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?" Percy asked incredulously.
"She meant being able to fight the Minotaur. That's what we train for here" Atlanta explained calmly.
Percy glanced at her and shook his head. "Look, if the thing I fought really was the Minotaur, the same one in the stories ..."
"Yes." Annabeth said
"Then there's only one." Percy said slowly
"Yes." Annabeth said again
"And he died, like, a gajillion years ago, right? Theseus killed him in the labyrinth. So ..."
Atalanta scowled at the mention of Theseus. She hated him for what he had done to Adriadne and then how everyone just let it go like nothing happened.
"Monsters don't die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don't die." Annabeth tried to explain
"Oh, thanks. That clears it up." Percy said sarcastically.
Atalanta smirked at the comment before trying to better explain, "Monsters 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 arche-types. Eventually, they re- form."
"You mean if I killed one, accidentally, with a sword-" Percy questioned lost in thought.
"The Fur ... I mean, your math teacher. That's right. She's still out there. You just made her very, very mad." Annabeth explained bluntly.
"How did you know about Mrs. Dodds?" Percy turned to look at her, an accusing look in his eyes.
"You talk in your sleep." Atlanta answered for her, receiving a glare from the raven haired boy and a small grin from Annabeth.
"You almost called her something. A Fury? They're Hades' torturers, right?" Percy asked turning back to Annabeth.
Annabeth glanced nervously at the ground, as if she expected it to open up and swallow her. Atalanta looked a little uneasy but that was out of concern for the other campers, not that Percy knew that.
She didn't need to worry much about the furies since she and the Lord of the Dead were on pretty good terms, especially after he started training her to use her powers that related to the dead.
Ok so maybe training was a strong word. It was more like he made snide comments that were actually tips and she had to figure it out on her own when she got back to camp after doing whatever little thing he requested she get for him.
It was ridiculous what some gods ask for from demigods.
Lord Hades is a busy man, Atlanta can acknowledge that, but she didn't think it was necessary for him to send her across the country and even across other continents just so he could have things that he could've summoned with a snap of his fingers.
Shaking her head, Atalanta tuned into the conversation again.
"You shouldn't call them by name, even here. We call them the Kindly Ones, if we have to speak of them at all." Annabeth told Percy cautiously
"Look, is there anything we can say without it thundering?" Percy sounded whiny, and Atalanta thought that although it was overwhelming to come into this world so quickly, if he would he would just let them explain everything, he would probably be in a better mood.
"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." Percy complained, pointing to the first few cabins.
Annabeth turned pale.
"You don't just choose a cabin, Percy. It depends on who your parents are. Or ... your parent." She stared at Percy, waiting for him to 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 she meant. We're talking about your other parent. Your dad." Atalanta explained softly.
"He's dead. I never knew him." Percy said bluntly, annoyed and confused.
Annabeth sighed. Clearly, they'd had this conversation before with other kids. "Your father's not dead, Percy."
"How can you say that? You know him?" He glared at the two girls accusingly.
"No, of course not." Annabeth said quickly.
"Then how can you say-"
"Because we know you. You wouldn't be here if you weren't one of us." Atlanta butted in.
"You don't know anything about me." Percy said defensively.
"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-" he started, a weary look in his eyes.
"Diagnosed with dyslexia. Probably ADHD, too." Annabeth continued much to Percy's embarrassment.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Percy asked, his voice shaky.
"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. That's your battlefield reflexes. 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 really are." Atlanta explained.
"You sound like ... you went through the same thing?" Percy admitted, extremely confused.
"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." Annabeth told him patiently.
"Ambrosia and nectar." The dark haired boy stated but it came out as more of a question.
"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." Annabeth said bluntly, the patience from before, nowhere to be seen.
Atalanta elbowed Annabeth harshly in her ribs and sent her a warning look.
Annabeth just shrugged her shoulders not looking sorry at all.
Before any of them could say anything else a familiar voice yelled, "Well! A newbie!"
Atlanta looked over with a heavy sigh. Clarisse, a tough girl from the ugly red cabin was sauntering toward them.
She had three other girls 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, which translates to 'Go to the crows!' though it was a worse curse than it sounded. "You don't stand a chance."
"We'll pulverize you," Clarisse said, but her eye twitched. Perhaps she wasn't sure she could follow through on the threat. She turned toward Percy.
"Who's this little runt?" Clarisse asked glancing and nodding at Atlanta, which the dark haired girl returned, before staring down Percy again.
"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, "meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."
Percy blinked. "Like ... the war god?"
Clarisse sneered. "You got a problem with that?"
"No," Percy answered, "It explains the bad smell."
Atlanta shook her head and sighed.
Her and Clarisse weren't the best of friends, but it wasn't good to insult them based on their father. Especially because they actually had a decent father.
"We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy." Clarisse growled.
"Percy." He tried to correct but everyone knew the girl didn't care.
"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you." Clarisse said approaching Percy as if he was her prey.
"Clarisse-" Annabeth tried to say.
"Stay out of it, wise girl." Clarisse sneered and Annabeth looked pained, but she did stay out of it. Atalanta put a comforting hand on her shoulder which relaxed.
"Clarisse leave him alone. He didn-" Atlanta started before she was cut off.
"I can handle myself" Percy snapped at her irritably.
Atlanta scoffed and shook her head "Fine. Continue to act like that a no one will want to help you."
Percy rolled his eyes before he handed Annabeth his minotaur horn and got ready to fight, but before he knew it, Clarisse had him by the neck and was dragging him toward the bathroom.
He was kicking and punching, but Clarisse continued to drag him into the girls' bathroom.
Clarisse's friends were all laughing, and Percy was trying to find the strength to fight her off, but it just wasn't there.
"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." Clarisse taunted a huge smirk on her face. Her friends snickered.
Annabeth stood in the corner, watching through her fingers. Atalanta didn't want to watch so she exited the bathroom.
While waiting outside Atlanta her a rumble from inside the bathroom and peeked her head inside.
What she saw was a surprise. Water shot out of the toilet, making an arc straight over Percy's head, and Atalanta quickly ducked her head back outside.
She heard Clarisse and her friends screaming and let a smirk to grace her face. She heard more water and Clarisse and the other Ares girls were thrown out of the bathroom.
Atalanta couldn't help the laughs that escaped her as she watched the soaking wet Ares campers gasp for breath as they stumbled over each other.
She felt a little bad about how they must smell but couldn't find it in herself to care that much. They were asking for it with the way they were treating him.
Yeah her and Clarisse were on pretty good terms but that didn't mean that they wouldn't laugh at the other person's expense
Realizing she missed getting doused with toilet water, Atalanta re entered the bathroom a smirk on her face.
The entire bathroom was flooded. Annabeth hadn't been spared. She was dripping wet, but she hadn't been pushed out the door.
She was standing there, soaking wet, staring at Percy in shock.
Atalanta glanced at Percy and realized he was sitting in the only dry spot in the whole room. There was a circle of dry floor around him.
He didn't have one drop of water on his clothes. Nothing. He was completely dry. Atalanta paled a little thinking about it.
She was pretty certain now about who Percy's godly parent was and it would only get worse from here.
There was a possibility that it could be a minor god, but with how powerful he seemed to be, it was leaning towards one of the olympians. Specifically one that controlled water.
Shakily Percy got up.
"How did you..." Annabeth stammered out, at a loss for words.
"I don't know." Percy replied looking just as confused as Annabeth.
The trio walked out of the bathroom just in time to catch Clarisse and the other girls still muddy and drenched in toilet water, make it to their cabin.
Percy let out a laugh at their expense. Atalanta thought it was nice that he was slightly more relaxed than he had been when he first arrived here, but was still irritated with his attitude since being here.
She understood how overwhelming it was to be introduce to all of this but there was no need to act like a brat to anyone that was trying to help him.
Hopefully he would get with the groove of things quickly seeing as things weren't getting any better between the Sea and Sky gods.
Looking at Annabeth, Atalanta saw her staring at Percy.
She couldn't tell whether Annabeth was just grossed out or angry at Percy for dousing her.
"What?" Percy demanded. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking," she said, "that I want you on my team for capture the flag."
(4950 Words)
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