ᝰ.ᐟ CHAPTER ONE:
The New Kid Drools on the Newly-Washed Pillow Cases
THE STORM WAS loud when Annabeth and I stepped into the infirmary. There he was. Lying in his bed. Annabeth was sure he was the one, but I was still skeptical.
Sure, he killed the Minotaur. But he seemed like a normal guy. And that was not just because I was getting tired of stalking all the new kids that made it to Camp. He genuinely seemed like a normal person.
Plus, when I imagined the one, I would normally picture a person who does not drool on the pillowcases that I had just washed.
Like, come on, dude!
Annabeth stood next to me, arms crossed, focusing on him intently. I sat on the bed next to his, still grumpy about the drooling blond.
Suddenly, he started to stir. His eyes blinked open and it was evident he was only half awake. "Where am I?" he groaned.
"You drool when you sleep," I stated.
Annabeth slapped lightly me on my upper arm, a quick action that clearly said Get over it, Val! I looked down at the ground.
"Huh?" the blond said, right before he blinked back asleep.
I turned to Annabeth, a questioning look on my face. She looked pointedly at me. "'You drool when you sleep'? Seriously, Val? That's the first thing you say to him?"
"I just washed those sheets," I said with a shrug. My friend just rolled her eyes and walked away, her braids flicking over her shoulder as she turned.
I quickly stand up to follow her, taking one last look at the boy and closing the door. We walked down the steps into the pouring rain and sticky mud, heading to the cabins, and waving each other a short goodbye when we reached the doors.
The door of the Apollo cabin creaked slightly as I pushed it open. Every one of my siblings' heads snapped towards me.
"How is he?" Will, my youngest (and favourite) brother, asked me.
"Dead."
A chorus of exclamations and shocked yells echoed through the cabin. My eyes turned wide. "Oh, my Gods! No! He's not dead! How are you all that gullible?" I shouted, causing them the stop. "Grover and I are going back over in the morning to check on him."
"Aww, Val cares!" someone from one of the top bunks chuckled. The rest of the cabin laughed, 'aww'ing as well.
I rolled my eyes, choosing to ignore it and making my way to my bunk above Sunniva's. I could still hear siblings' chuckles were still scattered around the room, until Sunniva spoke up.
"Everyone, quiet," she said assertively. "Capture the Flag is tomorrow, so I want everyone to get a good night's sleep."
With groans flooding from their mouths, they lay down, turning away from their previous conversations.
"All right, all right. Shut up, y'all," Sunniva laughed softly before the lights are flicked off. It was silent, apart from the roaring of crashing waves on the beach, the thundering storm, and the screeching of the cleaning harpies. Gods, I hated those things. They were annoying at hell.
It didn't take me too long to fall asleep. It never does. Which would seem like a good thing. But, as a demigod, I never liked sleeping. It wasn't the sleeping itself, it was what happened during that sleep.
"VALERIE." THERE IT was. That same voice for the thousandth time. It was the same voice I had been hearing in my dreams since I arrived at Camp. It was terrifying. Each time I heard it, it seemed to get—only slightly and barely noticeably—louder, and louder. Tonight, much louder than last time.
"Valerie!" And again. And again, and again, and again. And then, suddenly, the scene changed.
Every other night, it was the room with the door. And it was always still. The doorknob never rattled, the hinges never squeaked, the lights didn't flicker. It was always as if a picture was taken and shown to me under my eyelids at night.
But tonight, the door opened wide, and I was pulled forward onto a beach. I recognised it. It was Camp Half-Bloods beach. But something was different. Usually, the beach was calm and clear.
Then, in my dream, and much like tonight outside of my dream, the waves crashed harsh against the shore. The tide was high, and lightning tore through the sky.
I look to my right, where the dock was. Someone was there, sitting at the edge with their feet kicking the angry water.
"Hello?" I called out the them.
The person's head turned to me. Their blond curls stuck to their forehead, and their blue eyes pierced my brown ones. The new kid?
I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. "Hey, um, whatever-your-name-is! What are you...doing...?" My words fizzled out as he stood.
Before I could blink, he let out a dog-like roar and suddenly, he was no longer a boy, but a hellhound pouncing towards me.
"Shit," I muttered, turning to run. But my feet were stuck to the ground. My breaths shortened as I pulled at my legs, looking up every couple seconds to keep an eye on the blood-thirsty dog.
My struggles were to no avail. The hellhound pounced, opening its mighty jaw, and showing its yellowing teeth. One last bark and that familiar yell of agony and fear echoed in my ears before everything fell silent.
I AWOKE WITH a gasp, sitting up. Sweat trickled down my forehead as I struggled to catch my breath. I was about the lay back down, but knock suddenly sounded through the door.
Grover looked through the stained glass window. With a quiet groan, I threw my blanket off and climbed down the ladder. Grover smiled at me as I walked over to the door, pulling it open.
The morning was nothing like the night before. It was completely sunny, with birds in the trees chirping. You could hear the faint grunts and yells of campers training and playing.
"You ready?" he asked me. I nodded, tying my shoelaces lazily. I jumped up off the ground and Grover looked me up and down. "Are you gonna change?"
I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. A camp shirt and pyjama shorts. I just shrugged. "Why should I? He'll be too delirious to even notice."
"Why would he be delirious?" Grover questioned.
"'Cause he'll have just woken fully after fainting, which happened because he was tired from killing the literal Minotaur. If he wasn't half delirious, I'd be worried."
The satyr tilted his head. "Huh."
I pushed the door of the infirmary open, wiping the bottoms of my converse on the mat to get the mud off. He was still there, nothing had changed about him. Yet it was hard to look at him. The last seconds of my dream played in my head again. The blank look in his eyes, before they turned into the furious red irises of a hellhound. It was a shame, really. His eyes were quite pretty.
Grover dragged one of the chairs from against the wall to in front of the bed. I sat next to him on the bed opposite to the new campers.
"What was his name again?" I whispered, leaning closer to Grover.
He turned to me. "You don't know?"
"No. Why would I?" I scrunched my face up. "I don't even thinks Annabeth knows his name. And she knows everything."
"Wait, I didn't tell you?" Grover asked.
"No!" I whisper-shouted. "You've told quite literally no one."
Grover tilted his head slightly. "Oh. Well, it's Percy," he said before adding: "Percy Jackson." I nodded, and just then, the boy in questions woke up.
He inhaled deeply, bringing his hands up to rub his eyes. When they opened, they stayed pointed at the ceiling.
"It's okay. You're safe," Grover reassured. Percy's eyes snapped to him. Then, they flickered around the room, finally landing on the Minotaur horn on the table in the corner.
"It really happened," he said.
Grover and I looked over at the horn. "Well, it's a big deal to kill a monster like that. So, I wanted everyone to know—" he started, before being cut off by Percy.
"Did you see it?" Percy asked. "Did you see what happened to my mom?"
I furrowed my brows in confusion as Grover looked down. "Wait, what happened to his—"
"Not now," Grover whispered, interrupting me before focusing back at Percy. "I did. I'm sorry...for...everything."
Percy snapped his gaze away from Grover.
"My job was to protect you, to get you here safely. Maybe if I'd told you the truth a little sooner your mom would still be here—"
Again, he was interrupted by Percy. "Please...stop." he brought a hand up to wipe his cheek.
Grover still continued. "I know this isn't easy but I wanna talk about it."
"I don't," Percy said. He threw the blanket off him and swung his legs over the side of the bed, putting on his jeans. "Your job was to get me here alive. So your job is done." Percy walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" Grover asked.
Percy turned to us. "It was so important I get here 'cause my father's a god. So I'm gonna go find him."
"Yeah, but it isn't that..." Grover started, but he had already pulled the door shut. "...simple."
"Well, that went well," I said.
Grover sighed. "Shut up, Val."
"Sorry."
We sat in silence, just thinking for a while of what to do next. Then, suddenly, we heard a faint yell. "Peter Johnson is here!"
Our heads snapped towards each other. "Mr. D!" we said in unison, panicked. Grover stood, racing out the door as I followed not too far behind. We rushed out of the building and onto the veranda. Our gazes darted around, looking for Percy.
"There." I pointed to the conservatory where Percy was talking with Mr. D.
Grover and I ran over. "Wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait," he repeated. I think he wanted them to wait?
I jogged over to join them. "Percy, um," Grover continued, "Mr. D, Camp Director. Mr. D, this is, uh, Percy Jackson."
"Yeah, Grover. I heard him the first time," Mr. D said, chucking his sunglasses on the wooden table in front of him.
Percy looked at him confused. "Yeah. But did you?" he asked. I let out a soft chortle at his comment. Grover pulled him back.
"You really don't wanna start with this guy," Grover cautioned.
"He's starting with me," Percy retorted.
I rolled my eyes. "Percy, the D is for Dionysus. That's Dionysus."
Percy looked at the god then back to Grover and I. "What do you mean, Dionysus? The— Like, the god, Dionysus?"
"Yes," I said.
"No way."
I repeated, "Yes, way."
The three of us turned back to Mr. D. "Excuse, Your Highness?" Percy said. I chuckled at his formality as Mr. D groaned. "I think my dad may be around here somewhere. I don't know how to ask for him. I don't— I don't even know his name. But I think I should see him. I just... I think I really need that right now. Can you help me?"
Mr. D uncrossed his legs, leaned forward, and set his can of Coke on the table. "Actually...,I think I can." He took a long pause. "Son."
"Dad?" Percy questioned, confused. I rolled my eyes. Mr. D had done the same thing to me on my first day, except he didn't know I had already been claimed.
"Yes, Peter."
"It's Percy," the boy corrected
"Now, before we get to know each other, there's something very important I want you to do for me, okay?" Mr. D asked. Percy nodded. "In the galley, there is a bottle of 1985 Château Haut-Brion. Will you go fetch that for me?"
Percy shook his head. "Is that really all you have to say to me?"
"Hey, um, Mr. D, even if Percy was—" Grover tried, but was cut off by Mr. D.
"Uh, uh, uh, bup! Grover, quiet, please. This is a nice moment, don't ruin it."
I tried to do the same as Grover. "But, Mr. D, you can't—"
"Miss Adlao!" the Camp Director interrupted. "What did I just say to Grover? Now, the galley is right down that path. Grab that bottle and I'll talk to you about whatever you want. You know, uhh, you, uh...me, who cares?"
Percy looked at Grover and I, then started to walk away. But he's stopped at the sight of Chiron. The centaur trotted up the steps as Percy stares at him.
Chiron clicked his tongue. "Percy."
"Mr. Brunner?" Percy asked.
"Who the shit is Mr. Brunner?" I muttered to myself.
Grover stepped forward. "Uh, Mr. Brunner's real name is Chiron. Camp activities director, immortal trainer of heroes, he is—"
"Grover, thank you," Chiron stopped him. "I'll take it from here. Oh, Percy, this must be a lot for you to process."
Percy shakes his head. "Oh, no. It's—it's fine. I mean, you're a horse." I laughed slightly at his sarcasm. Chiron looked pointedly at me.
"What?! He's not far off!"
"Umm, anyways. My father won't talk to me unless I get him a drink. Well, this all seems totally normal and reasonable."
"Oh, no, no, no. No." Chiron shook his head. "Mr. D is not your father." Percy and Grover looked at Mr. D incredulously.
The god shrugged. "I could be."
"Yes, but are you?" Chiron asked.
"Why must you ruin everything?"
Chiron groaned softly and turned back to us. "Mr. D knows that Zeus has forbidden him from consuming alcohol. And that demigods are able to do things for gods that gods are forbidden to do for themselves. Mr. D was taking advantage of that."
Percy turned his head to the Camp Director as he shrugged.
"Percy," Chiron grabbed his attention yet again. "Walk with me, and we'll start again. Hm?"
Grover tried to stay with Percy, but Chiron stopped him, asking for a moment. I kissed my teeth, rushing through the gap between Chiron and the railing, deciding to spend the rest of my day hanging out with Will.
ᝰ.ᐟ AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Approx. 2500 words
I'm kind of happy about this chapter. It could be better, but still, not much really happens. Next chapter will mainly be about capture the flag, and I'm hoping to fit in a really cute Percy and Valerie scene, even though they've just met.
The episodes were so awesome I can't wait for next Wednesday. I am going away for Christmas so I won't be able to work on the episode three chapters until maybe the Saturday, so I apologise in advance.
Anyways, 5 days til Christmas, oh my god!! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, and I will see you next update!
love, divinebqv
xx