THREE. part i) harlow's tale:
' the prophecy talk '
THE APOLLO cabin, per protocol, where required to call in campers every day for a week after arriving at camp for 'safety measures' to make sure they hadn't gone insane, injured themselves and not spoken up about it or to just make sure that their preexisting injuries where fine and that nothing really bad would happen.
Every morning, because her siblings hated her apparently, Harlow was forced to check up on Percy Jackson's wounds- which had been healing nicely due to the portions of ambrosia given to him and also the fact Harlow was a damn good medic when she wanted to be. Quinlan, the son of Hephaestus, had to come as well (though he usually came ten minutes or so after Percy was finished) just to make sure he was doing well mentally- making sure he was dealing with camp properly and wasn't going bonkers.
The only positive in the whole situation was Annabeth.
Right after Percy was finished with his checkup- he'd have Ancient Greek lessons with Annabeth (just to get him up to speed with reading it fluently. It was like what mortals needed English classes for, Harlow guessed, to make sure they could read all words: big or small).
The positive, of course, was not the fact that Percy had the luxury of spending time with Annabeth- but the fact that Annabeth would walk over to the medical bay and actually talk to Harlow whilst she was checking up on Percy. Maybe it was because they were already somewhat friends- or maybe it was because of something else. But regardless, Harlow woke up every day with a pep in her step for those rare minutes talking with Annabeth.
She called it romantic-
Ataru called it pathetic.
"I get you like her- but chill out about it," he said as they walked away from Archery. "Seriously, though- you've been acting freakier than usual with her." He looked down at her, turning all serious suddenly, "Anything you want to talk about? Is this to do with visions- did you see anything?"
"I-"
"I knew it was a matter of time," sighed Ataru, "am I going to have to give you the talk?"
"The talk?" grimaced Harlow, absolutely mortified. "I'm twelve- not an idiot! I've had the birds and the bees talk!"
Ataru looked blankly at her, "No- not that talk. The other one."
"There's another talk? Is this... the bees and the bees- or er, the birds and the birds talk?" Harlow asked sheepishly, "What are you talking about?"
"The talk- the one we give to every Apollo kid with a slither of prophetic powers," Ataru replied. "That's the talk- idiot. I..." he winced, "Our old cabin councillor- Maia- you won't remember her, but she gave the same talk to me when I was maybe a year older than you."
If I forgot to mention- perhaps I should mention it now: Ataru was a bit of a prophecy fanatic.
Maybe it was some sort of crazy-good memory, but he had every prophecy over the years memorised in his mind (even if he hadn't been there to see it announced or- hell if he hadn't even been born yet). His powers were a bit different to Harlow's- you could tell from the wicked memory he held for prophecies. But if that wasn't enough to tell you his powers were more potent- then there were other things that could prove it. Whilst she saw what she called the 'boring parts' of the future in visions and dreams- he drew them.
Stashed away behind his bed, Ataru had a stack of drawings in a sketchbook he had never shown to anybody, with the whole book bound with some sort of magic- a gift from their dear old sun-god dad, Apollo. He didn't share anything in the book with anybody, nor did he even mention his powers much.
But- once every so often, you'd hear him scramble in the night with charcoal, alcohol markers, oil pastels, acrylic, watercolour or whatever he had on hand. You'd hear the scratching of a pencil against paper- the brushing of flecks of rubber onto the floor, and the frantic muttering of, "Draw, draw, draw." repeated over and over again.
Ataru was a gifted guy in many ways.
He did, however, have the awkward nature of a stick upright in the wind- which meant this 'talk' would be awkward as hell.
The talk, in the end, was done informally during lunch.
"You'll get this weird feeling sometimes," Ataru said, "Like you know what's going to happen-"
"Ataru, we can tell parts of the future. You know I know that, right? This isn't new information to me, man." She scoffed, stabbing at the tofu stir-fry on her plate. "What sort of simplistic talk was this girl giving you?"
"Ok fine- I'll just skip to the dark bits then," he huffed, taking a sip of some sprite before glancing back at her. "Your powers will probably grow, ok? Like- a lot. When I was your age I was just drawing random stick figures and stuff. Nothing to do with... prophecies. It was when I was around thirteen or something I first blurted out a prophecy."
"Wait- like a full prophecy nobody had heard before?"
"Nope," Ataru said, shaking his head. "I blurted out the Great Prophecy. Chiron held- and is still holding- me to secrecy on that. But it was like... that was the catalyst or something. From then on, I had a three-week period where all I would do was draw scenes in my head. Stuff started coming true and Maia... she gave me this talk. You're going to get that."
"Get what?"
"That point where your powers snap, and everything comes tumbling out. You have a period where it feels like all you see is the future- not the past or even the present." He stared at her, "There's... there's also one more thing."
"What?"
"Maia- she was like you, from what I can remember. She... she died a while back before you came- a quest combined with some rogue monster... I can't remember exactly- I don't think anybody wanted to give me the specifics. But-" he dropped to a whisper, "all of our cabin- the ones who were there when Maia was around... we know it's not an accident."
"It wasn't? Well... what was it, then?"
"Chiron doesn't agree with us, but- a lot of us think it was Mora's fault."
"Mor- but... she's been dead since forever," Harlow said, voice suddenly small. "What has she got to do with it?"
"People say... when she died- she, er... inflicted a curse on our cabin," Ataru said, looking a bit numb. "That... daughters of Apollo would be destined for madness if they saw her in their dreams. And- a week before Maia went for her quest..."
"She saw her?" Harlow whispered, "But... Mora- she's not alive- how can she invade people's dreams?"
"No idea," Ataru said lowly, "But... a lot of people say there's lots of her left around camp. People say she hid parts of herself away in different places- that it's her way of leading more down the same insane path she went down. She's... she's bad news, Harlow. She could look anybody in the eye and tell how they'd die- some of us have heard ghost stories that she wasn't truly somebody with the prophetic gift- that... that what she spoke actually just became the future. Some say that she didn't see the future- that her words became the future."
"And... this has something to do with me?" Harlow asked.
"If you see her- tell one of us," Ataru whispered, "Not even that... if anything feels wrong in your visions, let us know. There's always a chance we can pull you back before it gets bad. We were too late with Maia but... it's not a curse if you try hard enough to break it."
Harlow tried to distract herself for the rest of the day- which is how she found herself in the sword arena, sparing with Barbie Allen.
They'd dropped their weapons long ago, and were now just going with hand-to-hand combat. Barbie raised her leg, and attempted to kick Harlow, but she grabbed the redhead's leg and yanked- causing her to stumble forward, falling into Harlow. But Barbie had other ideas- she grabbed onto Harlow's shoulders and pushed, causing the girl to fall to the ground, with Barbie still standing.
This was, embarrassingly, the third time Barbie had won in a row out of the three times they'd spared in hand-to-hand combat. Which was to say, Harlow had lost every time.
"You're vicious," Harlow declared.
"I am," grinned Barbie, dusting away something on her shorts. "Besides- I need to be in good shape for Capture the Flag."
"Oh yeah- you're on the opposite team," Harlow said, remembering suddenly. "That sucks, why aren't you with us? Annabeth could've asked your cabin to join us."
"Ares got to us first, I guess." frowned Barbie, "I think they needed the bodies." she huffed, looking away. "How's Jacksons' wounds?"
"Better," scoffed Harlow. "Not that it really matters, I mean-"
"-he's so annoying!" the two of them said together.
Then, they paused- both breaking into matching grins.
"You hate him too?" grinned Harlow.
"Of course!" trilled Barbie happily, squeezing Harlow tightly, "Oh- what he said before to me when you guys were touring him! Oh, he's so- so... stupid! And lame- I mean come on! And the jorts? Kill me right now- that's basically a heinous crime!"
"Oh thank the Gods," sighed Harlow, smiling so wide that it almost hurt. "Annabeth seems to tolerate him and-"
"Oh it's just so annoying, isn't it? He follows her around like a lost puppy! To think he doesn't know we're friends with her- that we were friends with her first!" declared Barbie. Harlow, absolutely eating up the fact they were bonding over their shared distaste, let out a laugh that bubbled up.
It must've been contagious, because seconds later- Barbie was laughing too.
"Er-" said a voice behind them.
Percy Jackson.
"Speak of the devil, and he shall appear," muttered Harlow whilst Barbie snorted.
"I just- I think I have sword training next?" Percy said, "I mean... I think I do. I had Archery before this with Chiron. Er... I wasn't great at it, so probably never again." He whistled awkwardly as Harlow and Barbie stood together until he finally said, "You're Harlow, right?"
"Yup," she said blandly, "I've literally spoken to you every morning since you came here."
"Right... sorry. Should've probably remembered your name. I'm not the greatest with that sort of stuff- not great with faces either." He turned, looking at Barbie and waving, "I'm Percy... you are?"
"Your jorts look ugly, you have no fashion sense," Barbie said snippily, strutting away.
Most people, after hearing such an insult, would look like a kicked puppy. Percy, however, broke out into a grin. "She's funny." He looked behind to see her red hair swishing away, cupped his hands and yelled, "NICE TALKING TO YOU!"
Harlow personally thought he was insane because he was grinning like a maniac- as if he'd just made a new best friend in Barbara Allen. He acted like she hadn't just started a war of words with him.
THREE. part ii) percy's tale:
' the red demon '
PERCY HAD gotten a brief explanation from the Stoll brothers as to what Capture the Flag was- before Annabeth had chastised the two of them because apparently, they'd been lying through their teeth.
She was probably about to explain Capture the Flag in her own words- but the conch horn was apparently about to sound- and she sped away, blonde braids flying in the air as her older brother- March, and one of her other brothers (some blonde guy with pale skin) ran with her to get something.
Sure enough, moments later the conch horn was sounding and Annabeth raced black with two of her siblings carrying a silk banner. It was about three metres long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.
Then, from the opposite side of the pavilion- Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but in a gaudy red- painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
Over the noise, Percy turned to Luke- the cabin councillor of the Hermes cabin. "Those are the flags?"
"Those are the very ones, yup!"
"Are Ares and Athena always leading the teams?"
"Not always," he said, "But often."
"So if... another cabin captures one of the flags- what do you do, d'you just repaint the flag or something?"
Luke grinned, "You'll see. First, we have to get one."
"And whose side are we on?"
He gave Percy a sly look- like he knew something Percy didn't. "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you're gonna help."
The teams were then announced. But, by the looks of everybody and where they stood even before every cabin's team had been announced- it seemed like everybody knew who was against who. Athena had made an alliance with the Apollo and Hermes cabin- two of the biggest cabins at camp. Percy craned his neck, seeing Harlow grinning happily, talking to one of her brothers before her smile got all wobbly and she waved at Annabeth, walking over with hands in her pockets as she spoke to her.
Apparently, privileges had been traded. Everything from shower times, chore schedules, dessert privileges and much more were swapped around to win support. However, from what Percy could see in two boys hugging each other and grinning (one from the Athena cabin and the other from the Apollo cabin) it probably hadn't taken much for them to agree to the alliance with the Athena cabin.
The rest of the cabins, however, had sided with Ares.
Percy pretended he had enough knowledge to size them all up as he stared across at the red team.
The Dionysus cabin (consisting of two people) were pretty good runners from what Percy could tell- both the lack of size was what brought them down. Demeter kids had the edge of knowing the forest- and with their cabin councillor, Magnolia Hart (who Percy had heard a lot of in the past few days) being able to slam some random mini-earthquakes, Percy realised they might be a bit stronger than they looked.
His eyes caught on Quinlan- the kid who had brought him to camp with Grover. He was standing beside his brothers and sisters- all of whom were big and muscled due to hours in the forge. He nodded at something they said before some other kid tumbled into him. A boy with curly brown hair that seemed effortless. Valentine- no... Valentino, was it? Val, he called himself that. He'd been there in the infirmary, apparently, with Quinlan. He'd been the one to lug Percy there, actually. Maybe they'd bonded or become friends- mercy wasn't sure. Or maybe, Quinlan thought the son of Aphrodite was a big nuisance and was simply putting up with him (Percy couldn't actually tell. Quinlan, seemed the slightest bit miserable).
Speaking of Aphrodite kids- they were there too. He scanned them, not exactly feeling super threatened by them. They all seemed the same, and he glossed over them quickly- a sea of perfectly styled hair with different colours that practically ranged the whole rainbow stared back at him until he paused again at the Ares kids.
Scary, strong and intimidating- with Clarisse leading them.
Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble. "Heroes!" he announced, "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"
Suddenly, the tables were covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, and oxhide shields coated in metal.
"Are we meant to use these?" Percy asked, totally in shock.
Luke looked at him like he'd grown a third head. "Well- yeah. Unless you want to get skewered by your friends in cabin five. This equipment is from our cabin. We have a section in the armoury for our cabin, like all the others. Every capture the flag- we put our stuff in that section and it gets transported here. Easy, right?" Percy nodded. "Now-" Luke handed him some armour and a shield that probably weighed more than he did, "We found this. Chiron thought they'd fit well enough. You'll be on the Border patrol."
The helmet was probably the most embarrassing thing- even if it was meant to save him from a couple of head injuries. The helmet in question was like every helmet on Athena's side- with a blue horsehair plume on top, whilst the other side had red plumes.
Annabeth yelled, "BLUE TEAM, FORWARD!"
Kids on his team cheered and shook their swords- with Percy scrambling to do the same. Then, they followed her down the path to the south woods with the red team yelling taunts at them as they headed off towards the north.
Percy managed to catch up with Annabeth without tripping over his equipment.
She was stood beside Harlow- whose chestplate shone a silver that was so starkly different to her brothers and sisters. She'd taken her helmet off and was walking easily beside Annabeth- striking up a stuttering conversation with a silver bow in hand and a matching silver quiver with arrows- both covered in swirling stars and constellations.
"I thought Apollo kids were sunny?" He asked as he walked next to Annabeth- startling Harlow.
The girl glared at him- which she seemed to do a lot.
"Sunny?"
"Y'know- gold... that's silver."
"Observant as ever," snarked Harlow, and Percy frowned. Maybe there was a tiny inkling in him that told him that maybe she didn't like him. "Where do you need me again, Annabeth?"
"I want you and Ataru scouting the red teams side. You're decoys," Annabeth said simply, "Make them think you're there for the flag." She turned to him, "You're on border patrol, right? Watch out for Clarisse's spear if she comes near you= you don't want that thing touching you. We'll take the banner from Ares."
"What is Border patrol, though?"
"Well- it's not that hard," Harlow snapped. "It's in the name, man. Just stand by the creek and keep the reds away, leave the rest to us."
"Athena always has a plan," Annabeth said- pushing ahead and leaving Percy in the dust.
"So-" Percy began, turning to Harlow. But, she was already gone, running off with her gold-armoured brother into the woods, laughing as they did so.
Everything was fine.
Well- everything was fine after the Ares kids retreated from him.
Percy still didn't know exactly why they had- but one of them had looked to the skies (or the trees above- he wasn't sure) and then grinned, scoffing.
"Let's find that stupid flag," Clarisse said, looking up and grinning as she cracked her neck and then her knuckles. "Prissy can be occupied by somebody else. We've got a blue flag to burn red."
And, without another word- they ran back into the woods, probably thinking of another way to get in that didn't involve fighting Percy. Secretly, he was rather pleased with himself. Whilst Clarisse's spear had crackled- he hadn't gotten shocked by it, and he'd managed to disarm her two siblings and one of them was knocked out on the floor (Percy had rolled him to the side and taken his weapons- shoving them in the creeks water). Maybe she'd realised he was a bit stronger than he looked.
That in itself was a bit of an ego boost.
He grinned, maybe he was pretty good at this-
Above him, leaves rustled.
"What the-" he muttered, clutching his shield, "I... uh- whoever is there... I'm armed!"
A figure dropped down beside him, decked in reds and pinks with hair like fire. Who the hell was she?
"Of course you are, idiot." She snapped, rolling her eyes.
It took a few seconds for him to recognise her.
"You're the girl from the arena- the one who said jorts suck," he said. "You're funny, you know that?"
She scowled, and her blue eyes seemed to glow in the dark with some sort of rage. She took the red-plumed helmet off, discarding it to the floor, unclipping a pair of sunglasses from her armour and unfolding it. Before his eyes, it materialised into a dagger with greek along the side- covered in heart motifs with some sort of pearl accents in the dagger.
"You're some lame new kid, Jackson."
"I don't even know your name," he replied, "If you're gonna antagonise me- can I get a name from you?" He grinned, suddenly finding the whole situation very entertaining. "You look too nice to be an Ares kid."
"I'm a child of Aphrodite."
"Even better! What are you gonna do, sweet talk me? 'Kay there valentine- take it easy!" He mocked, confidence suddenly mixing with adrenaline from his previous battle with those Ares kids.
"My name is Barbara Allen," the girl said, scowling at him, gripping her dagger tight, "and I can do a helluva lot more than just 'sweet talk' you, asshole."
Swearing almost sounded wrong coming from a voice so melodious- but it seemed like he was mistaken. Barbara- or Barbie, as Percy thought to call her- swung at him swiftly, and he scrambled to parry back with his heavy sword, the sound of metal clashing loudly- verberating to the leaves and trees beyond. She scowled, running at him and ducking as he swung his sword again, crouching and swooping her leg- knocking him off balance.
"What-"
"Did you think I wouldn't be good at this, idiot?" She snapped, "I've been here-" she slammed her dagger against his sword, "since I was eight. I've seen plenty of you guys- thinking your all tough and stuff because even if you're unclaimed at least your not an Aphrodite kid. I've dealt with plenty of boys just like you who act like this. Don't think for a second you're different from any of them," she snarked. She dropped her dagger, and straight up punched his shoulder.
He tripped over a tree root, slamming into a trunk of some old tree.
"You... you're not like them," he said- thinking of the Ares kids. They'd fought with brute force and strength, slamming you and jabbing at your armour- they were fueled in battle by rage. Their strength came from their weapons and the hands that controlled them.
Barbie- this redhead girl with eyes of diamonds- she didn't just hurt you with her weapon. She did it with her words- ripping wounds open with them.
"The Ares kids?" she asked.
He nodded, scrambling to hold out his sword, readying himself to attack.
"Different," he repeated. "You're definitely not like them."
"No," she agreed. Then- with a glint in her eye, she grinned, picking up her dagger gracefully before she folding them away neatly. They shimmered back into pink sunglasses which she placed on her face. "I'm worse."
He charged forward and-
"Drop your weapon."
And then, the strangest thing happened.
Percy dropped his sword to the ground, his arm suddenly feeling limp as the metal clattered to the ground. Everything in him told him not to pick it up that if he did he would have to drop it again, that he'd have to drop his weapon again because it was a must. Drop the weapon, don't pick it up. Do you want to pick it up? Then drop it again. Drop your weapon.
Pick it up-
DROP YOUR WEAPON.
"What the hell are you doing?" he whispered, fumbling to reach his temporary sword again before it clattered to the ground once more. "What are you doing?"
"You call it sweet talk," she grinned, "A lot of people call it charm speak. Words have power, idiot."
After a moment of fighting, he picked it up and found that he could actually hold it again without dropping it. She grimaced and her sunglasses flicked back to a dagger. "I'll give it to you- you're determined."
Then, they fought.
The first two words that come into Percy's mind when he looks back at their fight are these simple two: red demon.
The redhead fought like she was in a war against the world- her dagger slashing and scrapping against Percy's heavy shield, rolling and tumbling around as he shielded himself from her sharp and quick attacks. They played around like this for a while, with Barbie fighting like her life depended on it.
As they continued, they made their way closer and closer to the creek until they were fully dighting in the creek, arms swinging and chests moving up and down. He gripped his sword tighter and swung- the surge of strength coming from nowhere but greatly welcomed.
Then, he managed to make her trip- and just for a moment, he had the upper hand. He parried her attacks and ducked every swing like he knew it would happen- like he'd predicted every move she'd make. He jumped as she tried to swing at his legs and grabbed her wrist when she tried to lodge the heel of her dagger into his sternum, causing it to clatter to the floor.
She ripped her wrist out of his grasp and huffed.
"Your trainers don't match that putrid camp shirt of yours. Y'know you can wear something- anything over than that?"
"What- and be some Ken doll? Not all of us have aspirations to be perfectly dressed, Barbie."
She glared, and that fire returned that made Percy grin deliriously.
Fighting with Barbie could almost be considered fun- mostly because she got so heated it was hilarious. She muttered something along the lines of, "Don't call me Barbie, jort-boy." before she swung at him again with no weapon, just her fists.
She jumped on him, arms around his neck as she pushed away his shield, pushing him onto the ground as his sword clattered away too, running to kick them away before she lugged him up and dumped him off the side of the creek.
"What-"
"You don't get to insult my cabin like that," she snapped. "I could break your arm so easily right now if I didn't want blood on my clothes- or if I wasn't a good person. Don't you dare talk about about my siblings, because I will and can do worse than this."
"You'd lose dessert privileges," he mocked, voice faint as he was out of breath- breathing ragged from fighting. He stood up, holding his sword. "You don't play fair."
"Oops- cry about it, idiot." With a final shove, Percy landed in the creek with a thump once more- soaked to the bone water. He felt himself ease just a bit- his tired and ragged body almost repairing itself bit by bit. Maybe it was the water in the creek- the coolness bringing him some comfort, but he wanted to stay there. It was better than being beaten up by Barbie again.
She stood above him, a tube of lip gloss in hand as she swiped it across her lip. "Besides, I never drew blood. That was all Clarisse's siblings. I play by the rules, Percy. Mostly- that is. And-"
An elated whoop came from behind them.
Her grin faltered, "And I think my team lost."
She was right about that.
Percy looked up just in time to see Luke racing towards the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high- flanked by Harlow and Ataru and a few hermes kids who were covering his retreat. Clarisse emerged from his teams side, flanked by two Apollo kids who'd apparently taken her as a prisoner along with her other cronies who'd tried fighting Percy.
"It was a trick!" Clarisse shouted, "You stupid-"
It was too late, the red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. People on the blue team whooped and cheered and a few congregated together to lift Luke up and carry him on their shoulders.
Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. The game was over. Percy's team had won.
"Well," Barbie said, shrugging simply as somebody ran over to her, squeezing her tightly, and then somebody else came over. She ruffled the boy's hair who'd squeezed her. "We might've not won, Val. But I think I'm ok with that."
"Did you beat him up?" Harlow, the other person beside Barbie, asked. "...without me?"
"They're joking," said Annabeth's voice- right next to him in the creek. She stared up at her friends, "I think they are, that is. Not bad though, hero."
Percy looked, but she wasn't there.
"Where did you learn to fight like that?" she asked. The air shimmered, and she materialised, holding a Yankees baseball cap as if she'd just taken it off her head.
Percy probably should've been fazed at the fact she'd just appeared out of thin air, but he found himself getting annoyed.
"You set me up. You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me whilst you sent Luke around the flank. And Barbie-"
"Not my name, jort-boy!"
"-did you know she'd be here?"
"Sort of," shrugged Annabeth. "She holds grudges, and you offended her. I knew she'd want to do something."
"How?!"
"Never mind that," Annabeth shrugged, "what matters is we won. I told you, didn't I? Athena always has a plan."
"Yeah- a plan to kill me."
"I was enjoying myself, ok? Barb is a good fighter and you were matching quite well with her. Besides- Barbie always fights like a demon, she's fun to watch."
"Thanks, Beth!" called Barbie, "Are you hurt- do you need help getting out of the creek? I know it can be a bit slippery, so-"
"I'll be fine- I'll help Percy get out of here and..." Annabeth frowned, gripping his arm, "How did you do that?"
"Sword cut," Percy said, frowning. "What do you think? Clarisse better get her stupid dessert privileges revoked- she literally drew blood."
"No- it was a sword cut. Look at it now."
The blood was gone.
"What is taking the two of you so long?" huffed Harlow, "Barb- come down there with me. We need to find what's holding them up-"
"There's no blood," frowned Annabeth, staring up at Percy as Barbie and Harlow slid down to join them, walking over to Percy as well. The three girls inspected his arm where the huge cut had been. All that was there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading.
"But..." frowned Barbie, "I was fighting you- I saw Clarisse give you that. I was waiting to ambush you when I saw that happen."
"What's wrong with you, man? Scars can't heal that quickly," frowned Harlow. "What did you do to it?"
The four of them watched as it turned into a small scar and then disappeared. Above them, Percy heard some guy yell down at them to get out of the creek.
"WE'LL BE OUT IN A SECOND, VAL!" Barbie yelled back. She turned to Annabeth, who'd been silent for quite a while. "Go on- say what you think."
"Step out of the water, Percy." was all the blonde said.
"What-"
"Just do it."
They all climbed out of the creek- and immediately, Percy felt bone tired again. His adrenaline rush left him, and his arms went numb. Suddenly all those punches and kicks Barbie had given him hurt a tonne. He almost fell over, but Annabeth steadied him.
"Well," Harlow said, cursing herself. "I knew it would happen eventually. I guess I can never be wrong." She muttered a few curse words, "One stupid vision mentioning some sea god and-"
"I thought it would be Zeus," muttered Annabeth, shaking her head.
"Water freak," finished Barbie. "Why couldn't you be just some plain-"
"HELLHOUND!" yelled Val, cheers dying immediately as snarls replaced them.
Chiron shouted something in Ancient Greek, which Percy would realise, only later, he had understood perfectly: "Stand ready! My bow!"
Around him, campers' weapons materialised again. There on the rocks, just above them, was a black hound the size of a rhino- with lave-red eyes and fangs like daggers.
The worst part?
It was looking right at Percy.
"No-" whispered Harlow, "what the..."
"RUN, PERCY!" yelled Annabeth, but they were too late. The hound was far too fast- and it lept over them- an enormous shadow with teeth- and hit him. He stumbled backwards and a snarl ripped through the air once more as razor-sharp claws ripped through his armour. He felt a sharp pain jolt through his body before there was a thwacking sound, like forty pieces of paper had been ripped one after the other.
"STOP!"
Then- the hound lay limp, and it was like nothing had happened as a confetti of arrows hit its back, dissolving into dust seconds later.
Behind the dog, six kids stood. Barbie- flaming red hair sprawled everywhere- with her mouth opened. She'd been the one to yell the words at the hound. Silently, Percy wondered if it had done anything at all. This 'charmspeak' she had- would it even work with a monster? He had no idea.
Next to her, five Apollo kids had their bows drawn- a river of silver and gold arrows clattered to the floor as the dust settled, the monster gone.
By some miracle, Percy was still alive.
He kept his eyes up at the trees, not wanting to look underneath the ruins of his shredded armour. His chest felt warm and wet, and he knew he was badly cut. The numbing sensation really served to further that fact.
Chiron trotted up next to them, his face grim.
"Di Immortales," Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to..."
"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."
Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.
Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"
"Be quiet, child," Chiron told her.
"You're hurt," Val, Barbie's half-brother said, walking over to him and frowning. Quinlan walked over too- and Percy felt like it was just like it was at the beginning. All they needed was Grover, some mud, and for him to be unconscious and it would almost be just like how he arrived at camp.
"Quick, Percy, get in the water," Annabeth instructed him.
"I'm ok," he said.
"You're not," Harlow snapped, "get into the water before I push you."
"Harlow, cut it." Annabeth said- turning to Chiron as she said, "Watch this."
Percy was too tired and too pained to argue. He stepped back into the creek, the whole camp gathering around him. Instantly, he felt better- like the deep cuts on his chest were sewing themselves back together- like he hadn't been mauled in the first place.
Some of the campers gasped, and some (Harlow and Barbie) scowled.
"Look, I – I don't know why," Percy said, trying to apologise. "I'm sorry..."
But they weren't watching his wound heal- they were staring at something above his head.
"Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um..."
By the time he looked up, the sign was fading, but I could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.
"Your father," Harlow said, not sounding shocked at all- like she knew this had been coming like she knew who he was without even needing to see the hologram- without even needing him to be claimed. "The earthsaker..."
"This is really not good," muttered Annabeth.
"It is determined," Chiron announced.
All around him, campers started kneeling, and Percy's brows knitted together in confusion.
"My dad?" he asked, completely bewildered.
"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."
rosie speaks!
the way i had too much fun writing this.
i love being sick tbh idk my brain is just so
much more creative when i'm sick apparently.
anyways i love screwing around with the format!
i thought this would be cute, idk i'm trying new
things out and i can't say i hate them.
HARLOW AND BARBIE BONDING
OVER THEIR SHARED HATRED OF
PERCY IS TOO FUNNY???? like bitch me
too !!! bffr these girls slay so hard.
percy is being a bit of an asshole so
it's so understandable why barbie literally
girl bossed him tbh.
anyways have fun!
thoughts?
word count: 6,169 words