GROVER BEING DRAMATIC
Soon enough, it was nearly time for dinner and Annabeth found herself sat on top of the hill with Ariana.
"I'm telling you!" She shouted. "The toilet exploded!"
"Chiron seems to think he's a son of Poseidon."
Ariana said.
Annabeth froze. "What did you say?"
"Chiron think he's Posideons son. I guess blowing up a toilet supports that." Ariana raised her eyebrows, questioning Annabeth.
"A child of the Big Three?"
Ariana shrugged. "I guess."
"Well." Annabeth said, standing up. "We best head to the mess hall. Mr. D will murder you if you're late again."
Annabeth held out her hand; Ariana gladly took it as she pulled herself up from the floor. Quickly, dusting herself off they headed towards the Mess hall.
Throughout their walk Annabeth continued to rant about Percy Jackson.
"And to top it all off he had the audacity to ask who my father was!" She complained.
"He thought he was your godly parent?" Asked Ariana.
She nodded. "Yeah."
"He is probably still very confused. I'll try to speak to him at dinner."
"Clarisse joked about him being big three material. I really thought he'd be the one."
"Don't worry about that prophecy Annie." Ariana reassured the girl she had known for years.
"I cant help it." Annabeth sighed.
Ariana knew she could, she knew her friend all too well. Annabeth had been her head in this prophecy since she knew it and yet Ariana still barely knew what she was on about.
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronzer brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty but cabin elevens was way overcrowded.
"See you soon Annie." Ariana said goodbye before walking to cabin elevens table and squeezing onto the bench. Percy joined soon after, sitting opposite her
Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass 'to the gods'.
As usual, everybody else raised their glasses. Ariana had to nudge Percy to get him to do the same and together they chanted, 'to the gods!'
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread and barbecue.
Percy looked down at his empty glass; Luke helped him out, "Speak to it. Whatever you want - non-alcoholic of course."
Luke was Hermes counsellor and one of the oldest kids at the camp. Ariana was grateful for Luke as he was one of the only ones who didn't necessarily judge her for not being claimed.
Percy said. "Cherry coke."
Then he seemed to have an idea as he repeated. "Blue cherry coke."
The sofa turned a violent shade of cobalt.
Ariana gave him a weird look but nonetheless said nothing.
Ariana loaded her plate with some food before standing up and joining the crowds. On her way she grabbed Percy. "Come on."
Confused, he followed her. Luke muttered in his ear. "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."
"You're kidding." He said finding it amusing.
Ariana shrugged. "He isn't."
When it was Arianas turned she threw one of her bread rolls into the fireplace and spoke. "Hermes."
She always gave her portion to Hermès, it was her own way of saying thanks for allowing her to stay in his cabin despite not being her father.
When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hooves on the floor again to gain attention.
Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello, our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."
A bunch of cheering rose from the Ares table. Respectfully, Ariana clapped. One of their cabin mates, Clarisse, happened to be quite close to Ariana when they were kids.
Even if they had grown distant, Ariana knew she would always be there for the Ares daughter if she ever needed it.
"Personally." Mr. D continued. "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you we have a new camper today, Peter Johnson."
Chiron muttered something.
"Er. Percy Jackson." Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."
Everybody cheered. Together they headed down towards the amphitheater, where the Apollo cabin led a sing-song. They sang camp songs about the gods and ate toasted marshmallows and joked around.
Later in the evening, the horn blew and people begun to walk back to their cabins. Ariana waited until she Percy and walked back to him.
"Are you all right?" She asked him.
He nodded, a slight frown on his face. "Yeah. Im still confused but."
"I get it. Also did Luke give you a sleeping bag?"
He nodded.
"Are you a child of Hermes?" He asked looking straight ahead.
Ariana sighed. "No. I'm not, I'm unclaimed. We don't know who my godly parent is."
She watched as Percy frowned further. "I'm sorry. I've heard from other campers you've been here since you were young."
"That's true." She confirmed. "I've basically been here since I was born and before you ask I don't know what happened to my parents."
They entered Hermes cabin. "If there was enough space on my bunk I'd offer you the bottom end but i prefer to sleep on my own."
Percy laughed. "Night Ariana."
"Night Perseus."
The next few days went in a blur. Ariana helped Percy settle into his new home and answered any questions he had.
On top of that the girl continued to train hard in every aspect. Chiron helped her practice her archery, Luke helped her with her sword fighting and she practiced her cardio anywhere she could.
From time to time she also sat with the Demeter cabin as they practiced growing flowers and plants. Although she couldn't grow anything, the cabin seemed to like her company.
Again, since she was a child she had been a good friend to Katie Gardener.
Ariana was surprised to hear Percy was able to beat Luke in a sword fight. It was already clear to her he would become a powerful demigod, though she was determined to be better then him.
Friday afternoon, the girl found herself sat on the pier by the lake whilst Grover and Percy spoke to each other.
They wouldn't of been the girls first choice of company but she couldn't find Silena or Annabeth anywhere. It seemed everyone had decided to disappear.
"Why are four cabins empty?" Percy asked the satyr.
"Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis." Grover spoke. "She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabins is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one she'd be mad."
"Yeah, okay. But the other three, the ones at the end. Are those the Big Three?"
Grover and Ariana tensed. They were getting closer to a touchy subject.
"No. One of them, number two is Heras." Grover told him. "That's another honorary thing. She's the goddess of marriage, so of course she wouldn't go round having affairs with mortals. That's her husbands job. When we say the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the son of Kronos."
"Zeus, Posideon and Hades." Recalled Percy, looking at the unclaimed girl and the stayr.
Ariana nodded, taking over from Grover. "After the Titan war, they took over from their dad and drew lots to decide who got what. Zeus got the sky, Posideon got the sea and Hades got the underworld."
"But Hades doesn't have a cabin here."
"No." Grover said, over taking from Ariana. It reminded Ariana of a game of ping pong. "He doesn't have a thrown on Olympus either. He sort of does his own thing in the underworld. If he did have a cabin here..." Grover shuddered causing Ariana to roll his eyes.
"He's being dramatic." She told Percy. "Hades is allowed on Olympus during the winter solstice meeting, he gets an honours throne."
"But didn't Zeus and Posideon have loads of kids? Why are their cabins empty?"
Grover shifted his hooves uncomfortably. "About sixty years ago, after World War Two, the Big Three agreed they wouldn't sire anymore heroes. Their children were just too powerful. They were affecting the course of human events too much, causing too much carnage. World War Two, you know, was basically a fight against the kids of Zeus and Posideon on one side and kids of Hades on the other. The winning side Zeus and Posideon forced Hades into swearing an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They swore on the river Styx."
Thunder boomed.
"That's the most serious oath you can make." Percy spoke slowly.
Ariana nodded. "It is."
"And has the oath been kept?" The boy ventured even fit her.
"No. Seventeen years ago Zeus fell of the wagon. He had a daughter, called Thalia, with a mortal women. The river Styx is serious about lathes being promise and so the teenager suffered a terrible fate. Zeus himself got off easy." Ariana told the story. She remembered glimpses of Thalia.
It was the day she met her best-friend, Annabeth.
"But that isn't fair! It wasn't the girls fault!" Percy complained.
Grover hesitated. "Percy, children of the Big Three have powers greater than any other half bloods. They have a strong aura, a scent that attracts monsters. When Hades found out about the girl, he wasn't too happy about Zeus breaking the Oath. Hades let out the worst monsters out of Tartarus to torment Thalia. A satyr was assigned to be her keeper when she was twelve, but there was nothing he could do. He tried to escort her here with a couple of other half bloods she'd befriended. They made it all the way to the top of the hill."
"They couldn't make it with all the monsters. A hoard of hellhounds were after them as well as the three kindly ones. Thalia sacrificed herself to save her friends. Zeus took pity of her: turned her into a pine tree. Her spirit still helps protect the borders of camp." Ariana finished. "I'll show you it one day."