Frances' POV
It's morning at last! I stretched out and was surprised to see that everyone was still asleep.
I went out of the cabin slowly so that I wouldn't wake anyone up.
Hmm... What should I do?
I roamed around Camp Half-Blood wondering what to do. I had an urge to go to Dianne's cabin and wake her up, but maybe she needs to sleep.
I walked and walked until I reached the border gate, there I saw Grover playing music in his pipes.
"Hey Grover," I said.
Grover turned around and saw me.
"Hi Frances," he said. "What are you doing so early?"
"Nothing," I said. "What time is it anyway?"
"Almost 5:00 in the morning," he replied.
"Okay," I said. I suddenly remembered something, and that something I remembered makes me decide on what I'm going to do.
"Grover," I said. "Could demigods go outside Camp Half-Blood?"
"No," he said. "Unless you're granted a quest. What are you thinking?"
"I wanted to see Camp Jupiter," I said truthfully. I am really curious to go there, I've heard that is a wonderful place. "Could you please take me there?"
Grover shook his head. "I'm sorry but you are not allowed. It's dangerous out there, there are monsters!"
"My parent is not part of the Big Three," I said. "And you're my protector, you could protect me. Besides, I trust you."
Grover seemed to ponder this. I was hoping he'd say yes, but to my dismay, he shook his head no.
"Grover please," I said, but he still shook his head. "Ugh, I knew this was a long shot. You're just like my Mom. I could take care of myself you know?"
I started to turn back, but Chiron's voice stopped me. He was standing on the corner of the porch of the Big House.
"Frances you may go," he said. "Grover come with her."
"But Chiron-" Grover started to say.
"Go," he said. "Be safe, but be back before Cabin Inspection. I will alert Camp Jupiter that you are coming."
Chiron then went back inside the Big House.
"Well, Satyr, you heard what Centaur said," I said, smiling widely.
Grover groaned. "Just take a weapon with you," he said.
"I always have my weapon," I said.
And then both of us walked out of Camp towards another Camp which I think is very far away.
After an hour of walking and 20 minutes of slipping and tripping, Grover stopped.
"Why'd you stop?" I asked.
"Shhh! I smell a monster," he said.
"Well, sorry if I smell bad," I said. "No need to compare me to a monster."
"No, it's not you," he said, completely annoyed. "It's something else. Ready your weapon."
I did as told.
Suddenly, I saw a big figure lumbering towards us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It's silhouette reminded me of a football player that seems to be holding a fuzzy blanket over his head.
"I never thought.... Now Frances, when I say go, both of us go to a separate direction," said Grover.
"Why? What is that thing?" I asked.
"You ever heard of a minotaur? Half man - half bull?"
"It seems familiar, yes," I said. "But how could a football player be a minotaur?"
Grover didn't reply. As I looked closer at the figure, I noticed something different about it.
I realized that the figure, or minotaur, couldn't be holding a blanket on his head because his hands were swinging at his side. There was no blanket, that means the fuzzy mass that was too big for a head was his head and the points that look like horns ARE horns.
"Oh my gods! You're right Grover, it is a minotaur," I said.
"Don't say its name! Names have power!" He replied. "Now wait for my signal."
I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
The minotaur was running near us already. I was starting to get worried.
"Grover-?" I said.
"GO!" he said.
I sprinted towards the left while Grover ran towards the right. The minotaur stopped where he was and turned his head to the left then to the right, in confusion.
The minotaur ran towards Grover. Grover ran as fast as he could, but sadly the minotaur ran faster.
The minotaur suddenly hit Grover with his big bulky hand and Grover immediately passed out.
"Grover!" I cried out.
Good thing the minotaur didn't continue slaughtering Grover, but it faced me instead! The minotaur started to chase me so I ran! Good thing the caduceus made me faster.
I ran and ran until I saw that I was holding my sword. I had a sudden crazy urge to fight the minotaur, and so I did.
I know, I know, I'm crazy to do that! I haven't even trained properly! But I have to do this for not only Grover but also for me.
I jumped on the hand of the minotaur and climbed towards his shoulders. It wasn't that easy considering that his hands were hairy and he was swinging it. But I managed.
When I was on his shoulders, I got my sword and stabbed him. I stabbed him and stabbed him saying, "Die minotaur die!" Well, I AM immature.
Anyway, the minotaur kept moving and moving, trying to remove me from his shoulder. But still, I held tight to him like glue.
The minotaur didn't notice the tree in front of him as he moved and moved so, two of his horns hit a big tree, a big coconut tree to be exact.
As his horns made contact with the tree, a coconut fell on his head and immediately he passed out. He fell hard, the tree was almost uprooted. One of his horns was stuck on the tree, the other was on his head.
I pulled out the horn from the tree, very hardly, and with my last strength, I stabbed the minotaur using his horn.
Call me offensive, because I am!
I left the minotaur which later evaporated into gold dust, but the horn and my sword were still in my hands.
I went towards Grover. He was still there lying on the ground, but two people, were on his side.
"Hey! Get away from my friend!" I said.
I looked at the two people and saw a girl about 13 or 14, with curly black hair and a brown complexion. With her, was a big man, with black hair and a white complexion. His eyes told me he was Asian.
"Who are you?" I asked both of them, drawing my sword. Who knows? Maybe they are enemies.
Both of them stood up.
"I'm Hazel, Hazel Levesque," said the girl with curly hair. "He is Frank Zhang," she said, referring to the big Asian man.
Something about their names seemed familiar.
"Are you by any chance, demigods?" I asked them, lowering my sword.
Both of them nodded. I put out my sword.
"Well, hello, I am Frances Smith, daughter of Mercury," I said with a big smile. First impressions matter!
"Hello Frances, I am a daughter of Pluto, Frank is a son of Mars," replied Hazel.
"Okay," I said. "I'm glad we are friends! Do you by any chance know where Camp Jupiter is? You know Camp Jupiter don't you?"
Hazel nodded.
"Come with us," she said. "Your friend, the faun, needs medicine."
"Actually, Grover's a satyr, not a faun," I said. "But, yes, he needs medicine."
"Frank could you carry him?" asked Hazel, doing her best puppy-eyes.
And for the first time, I heard Frank speak, "Yes, Hazel."
He carried Grover, but I saw it in his face that he didn't really want to. It made me smirk.
"So, you're from Camp Jupiter?" I asked Hazel.
"Yes," she said. "And you're the one from Camp Half-Blood. Chiron Iris-messaged a while ago, telling us a demigod and a faun - sorry - satyr, will be coming, so I guess you're it."
I nodded.
"I see you fought a minotaur," said Hazel, looking at the horn I still had in my hands.
"Yes, that monster is dead now, no need to worry about!" I said.
"Actually, monsters don't die Frances," explained Hazel. "Their essence just go to Tartarus, the deepest place in the Underworld, but after a few days, weeks, months, or maybe years, they come back."
"Oh," is the only thing that escaped from my mouth.
"Are we going?" asked Frank.
"Yes. This way," Hazel pointed North.
So we walked and walked, until we reached a tunnel.
"This is the Caldecott Tunnel, entrance to Camp Jupiter, come on," she said as she went in it.
I looked at Frank. He just shrugged. "Just go," he said.
I did as told, and soon I saw a river. But over the river there was a beautiful valley.
"The Little Tiber," said Hazel, probably referring to the river. "The valley on the other side is Camp Jupiter. Come on!"
She went over a bridge, I followed.
Hazel went inside a gate, that was labeled Decumanian Gate. I followed her.
Inside was a girl with long black braided hair who was wearing a purple toga, beside her was a blonde boy with crystal blue eyes, wearing the same type of clothing.
"Hello, welcome to Camp Jupiter," said the girl. She had a look that was fierce and had the same expression Annabeth had, no offense.
"Uh - hi! I am Frances Smith, daughter of Mercury," I said in a perky voice. "Nice to meet you!"
I held out my hand for a handshake but they didn't take it. It seems that Romans aren't that friendly.
Now THAT is scary, considering that I'm supposed to be here and not in Camp Half-Blood.
"I'm Reyna," the girl, Reyna, said. "This is Jason," she said referring to the blonde boy.
Jason waved at me. Well, at least someone's friendly.
"Hazel, we must do the usual. Let us question her at the principia then we'll send her to Octavian," said Reyna.
"What are you going to do with me?" I blurted.
"Before we accept anyone into camp, we must interrogate them and read the auguries," said Reyna.
"What are auguries?" I asked.
"You ask too many questions," said Reyna, turning away from me.
"Annabeth said that that was good, asking questions I mean," I said, smiling.
"Come with us," said Reyna. "Your faun will be alright, Frank, you know what to do."
Frank nodded and went off.
So, Hazel, Reyna, and I went inside. And there I saw ghosts. As in plenty of ghosts.
I wasn't that terrified of them, it's just I got used to nymphs and naiads in Camp Half-Blood.
"Are those really ghosts?" I accidentally blurted out.
"Ghosts?" said Hazel, laughing a bit and shaking her head. "They're Lares. House gods."
"Oh," I said.
"By the way, auguries are something that are used for seeing the future," said Hazel. "Like the oracle and prophecies, you know them right?"
I nodded.
Our conversation was interrupted by Jason.
"We are here," he said.
"I assume this is your headquarters?" I questionably said. Is questionably even a word? I honestly don't know.
"It's called principia," said Reyna. "Anyway, start from the beginning, introduce yourself. And don't ever ever lie, Argentum and Aurum doesn't like liars."
And on queue, two dogs, one silver, one gold, growled and appeared out of nowhere.
"Don't worry, they don't attack, unless you try to steal something, or you lie, or I tell them to," said Reyna, as if it was the most obvious and normal thing in the world.
"Anyway, just start," she said.
"I am Frances May Smith, daughter of Mercury. I will turn 16 in a few months," I began nervously.
"You're almost 16? Too old for a recruit," said Reyna. "If you spent that many years alone without training, you should be dead."
"I have a half-sister but she's in Camp Half-Blood. My Mom, well she was really strict. She didn't allow me and my sister to do plenty of things, and she kept secrets from us," I paused at my mention of Mom.
"I've been chosen for quest that will start in a week. And a while ago, I fought a half-man half-bull thingy. Grover told me not to say its name. He said that names have power. But I don't know. So far, those are the only things interesting in my life," I said.
"Okay, I see," said Reyna, looking at the horn in my hands. "You must go to Octavian, Jason take her there. Hazel, I need you to do something for me."
"Come on," said Jason.
And I went with him.
"So," I began. "You guys are divided into different cabins?"
"Sort of," replied Jason. "We have five cohorts of about forty kids each. Each cohort is divided into barracks of ten - like roommates, kind of."
I've never been good at math but I tried to multiply. "You're telling me that there are 200 kids at camp and all of them are children of the gods?"
"Not all of them are children of gods," said Jason. "There are lots of campers here who are legacies - second or third generation. Maybe their parents were demigods or their grandparents."
"Okay," I said. I don't want to hear "lectures" anymore.
So we walked and walked. There were plenty of interesting sights, but I didn't question.
I didn't mind much about the surroundings but anyway, when Jason cried out that we are here, I paid attention immediately.
"Jupiter Optimus Maximus," I read out the engraving on the door. "What does it mean?"
"If you are truly Roman, Latin will be easy for you," he replied.
"That's the meaning?"
Jason smiled. "No."
"Oh," I said. I looked again at the sign. Then suddenly the meanings popped into my head.
"Jupiter the best and the greatest," I stated. "How did I know that?"
"You'll get used to Latin," he replied. "Anyway, Octavian's inside. Let's go."
So we went inside, and there I saw a tall and skinny kid with straw-colored hair, oversized jeans, a baggy t-shirt, and a drooping toga.
I assumed he was Octavian.
"Octavian!" called Jason.
Octavian faced us, in his hand there was a teddy bear, in his other hand there was a knife. It appears that he is slaughtering the bear. My eyes widened with terror. I used to have a teddy bear named Cutie Pie, I miss her.
"Jason, I see you're with a child of Mercury," Octavian said.
"How'd you know?" I asked.
"I saw it here in this bear," he held out the bear.
"Ookaay," I said.
"So, Frances is new here," said Jason. "She's from Camp Half-Blood, she's training there for a quest she's assigned in."
"Okay," said Octavian. "Why does she train there and not here? She's Roman not Greek!"
Octavian has a point...
"I have a half sister there," I blurted out. "I'm not even sure why I'm here, I just-"
"I see," said Octavian, not wanting me to finish my sentence, which I find really rude. "So you fought a min-"
Jason glared at him, probably warning him that names have power.
"So you fought Pasiphae's son," said Octavian referring to the minotaur.
I nodded.
"Just read the auguries, Octavian," Jason suddenly said. "If the auguries say she shall join the legion, she will, after her quest."
"Okay," said Octavian, snatching my Minotaur horn.
"Hey!" I said.
He slashed it, as if he didn't hear me.
"Good news," he said. "She may join the legion."
I quickly snatched the horn back to me.
"I think nobody likes you," I muttered referring to Octavian.
"What did you say?" asked Octavian. Oh my gods, did he hear? "It sounded like something with the words: you and like. What did you say?"
I gulped. Then I remembered something.
"I said YOLO, it's an acronym," I said smiling.
"What does it mean?" he asked curiously.
"You Obviously Love Octavian," I replied, smiling widely. "Now I have to go back to Camp Half-Blood. Chiron said I must."
"See you again, Octavian," said Jason and both of us headed out.
"You are funny," remarked Jason. "You remind me of Piper..."
"Your girlfriend?" I asked.
"Yes," he said.
So, while we were walking, Grover ran towards us.
"Frances! Oh my gods! Are you okay? Did the bull hurt you? Last time I remembered..." Grover ranted, until he saw the horn in my hands.
"I'm okay, Grover," I said. "Now let's go back to Camp Half-Blood."
"Okay," he said. "Hi Jason!" He waved to Jason.
"Hey," replied Jason. "How's Piper?"
"Missing you," replied Grover.
"Now, I talked to Reyna," Grover told me. "She told me that Arion, Hazel's horse, can take us back to Camp Half-Blood. It's the fastest way I think."
"Okay," I said. "Let's go!"
Hazel came in a little while, with a beautiful horse. We rode the horse to Camp Half-Blood in like 10 minutes.
The horse was like super fast! It's faster than light! I became dizzy during the ride, good thing I didn't throw up.
So now, we are here at Camp Half-Blood, safe and sound.
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A/N
So, what do you think? Sorry to end it here...
Frances at last visited Camp Jupiter! And she met Octavian...
By the way, just to let you know that I update faster if you comment. Don't be a silent reader!
And, I'm not sure of this but I have heard that Rick Riordan tweeted that not all of the seven in the prophecy are going to live. And I was starting to panic.
What if Hazel died trying to save Frank's wood, remember, she promised to keep it safe always. (An oath to keep with a final breath.) Awww....
Anyway, vote if you think it is worthy of doing so.
Comment what you think, or any predictions and suggestions.
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Lea V.