Hello guys! Sorry it's been a while but here's the next chapter. Please let me know what you think. Enjoy!
To say I was busy over the next few weeks would be an understatement. Things were hectic. The parents of the demigods were all panicking about the bad weather and natural disasters that were occurring, they knew something was up and they wanted to know what it was. My previous assumption that nobody knew Chiron’s office telephone number was proven to be very wrong, it was ringing off the hook with worried parents demanding answers. I spent most of the day in Chiron’s office trying to appease them whilst still trying to look after the ever increasing numbers of campers arriving. Many parents were too worried to have their kids at home, thinking it would be safer to send them here so they were all arriving early before summer started and I wasn’t quite prepared for them. Not to mention the fact that Annabeth and Clarisse were still trying to make me trip up and spill something by accident by flinging questions at me when I was least expecting it!
Ugh, they just wouldn’t drop it! Like I needed the extra stress right now! I was facing the biggest challenge of my life right now, running this camp was the biggest job I’d ever been given and I wanted to prove to everyone that I could do it, and I didn’t need the two of them pestering me about things that I wasn’t even allowed to tell them. They knew that they were starting to annoy me, but this didn’t seem to stop them instead they saw it as a weakness and they kept on picking at it, thinking that if they annoyed me enough I’d crack and give up.
I let out a heavy sigh falling into a chair behind the main table in the dining area. These past few weeks I had been sitting up here by myself, Chiron was away at Yancy Academy with this Perseus demigod and Dionysus still wasn’t back yet so I had the table all to myself. I didn’t like it, eating alone just reminded me of when I first came to camp and I had to take turns sitting at every God’s table so that my parents didn’t feel like I was favouring one of them over another, I ate alone for a lot of the time and I hated it. Like I had needed to feel any more apart from the other kids, I was already different, sitting on my own just made me feel it. No one ever made fun of me or even really commented on how different I was to a normal demigod, but I don’t know if it was just because they never thought of it, or because they didn’t want my parents to strike them down. Don’t get me wrong, I was never ashamed of what I was, in fact I have always been very proud to be linked to every Olympian God that there is ... it’s just that when you’re growing up, you’re very aware of when you’re different to the other kids, and I was very different.
Dionysus still wasn’t back from Olympus. The actual argument (and by ‘argument’ I mean screaming match) between Poseidon and Zeus had ended last week, now they were onto the stage where they weren’t taking to each other, were avoiding each other whenever possible and glaring daggers when they did meet. Childish if you ask me, but they never did, they knew that I didn’t approve of them fighting, it didn’t stop them though. The argument may be over but the tension in the air at Olympus was stifling, I went there a couple of times a week to try and talk to one of them and see if I could get this whole thing worked out but all that ended up happening was that I got an earful about how awful the other was, “Zeus always blames me” “Poseidon has always been jealous”, it went on and on. They never seemed to tire of ranting about the other one, and I was forced to sit there and listen to it over and over again in the hopes that it would release all their anger so that they could stop arguing and put more effort into looking for the master bolt. Of course people were looking for the bolt now, Zeus wouldn’t just sit back and wait, no, he had sent nearly every god out looking for it. I say nearly for I know as a fact that Dionysus was not one that he sent to look for the master bolt, and yet he still wasn’t back here at camp. He was using this argument as an excuse to stay away, he knew that when he got back here he would have more responsibilities as Chiron was away and he didn’t want to have to deal with that. He hated having to work with the kids here, and claimed to hate the kids too, but I knew that that bit was a lie, he didn’t hate them, he just resented that he was forced to stay here, he didn’t like being told what to do, no god did, his ‘hatred’ of the campers was him rebelling against his punishment. I hadn’t expected Dionysus back the day Chiron left, but I have to admit that I didn’t think he was going to leave me on my own for this long, he must know how hard I’m finding this, so why wasn’t he back yet? I tried looking for him when I was in Olympus but I could never find him, I knew he was hiding from me as he didn’t want to be yanked back here, but if he doesn’t come back here of his own free will in the next two weeks I will hunt him down and drag him back here by his ears. There’s only so much that an 18 year old can take, and what with all the frantic parents, nagging questions about what was going on from the kids and the daily pressures of running the camp, I was reaching my limit.
I was stressed, so when Annabeth and Clarisse appeared at my shoulder with matching mischievous grins, I groaned internally. I know that it was their aim to annoy me, and that I should just take the high road, but they were getting on my last nerve and I just wanted to scream at them to leave me alone. For these last few weeks they had been working together and although I didn’t admit it out loud as it was their intention to anger me, they made a brilliant team.
I turned back to my food, ignoring them, I knew what it was they wanted and I couldn’t give it to them.
“So . . .” Annabeth trailed, and I could hear the grin in her voice. When I first met Annabeth I had no clue how annoying she could be when she wanted answers, she was like a bloodhound sniffing for clues. “How’s everything in Olympus?”
“Fine.” I replied curtly.
“Really? Because the weather hasn’t let up yet.” Clarisse chipped in. The two of them had become the perfect pair, if you had told either one of them before this that they would ever willingly work together for this long they would have laughed in your face, but right now they both shared the same goals. She was right though, even though they had stopped shouting with each other, the tensions in Olympus were still very high and they were still as angry as they were that first night, hence the bad weather. The only improvement was that the earthquakes had stopped, I had had to talk to Poseidon about that, as he is the god of earthquakes. I had to remind him that even though he was angry people were getting hurt because of him and he had to reign in some of that anger, it wasn’t the humans’ fault.
“Really, everything is fine.” I tried to keep my answers short when they started to interrogate me as when my sentences got longer the temptation to say something inappropriate got stronger and stronger.
“So Poseidon and Zeus aren’t fighting anymore?” Annabeth challenged raising her eyebrows at me.
“There are still tensions between the two but things are easing.” I replied honestly, okay to say that things were ‘easing’ may have been a bit of an exaggeration, but still most of what I had sad was honest.
“And what started all of that again?” Clarisse pried.
“You know that I can’t tell you, so I don’t know why you keep on asking.” I sighed, suddenly feeling drained and exhausted, it was like I was having the same argument night after night and I was so tired of it.
“Because, something is not right in Olympus and we deserve to know what that is. Don’t think that we don’t know how serious this is, because we do and we want to help.” Annabeth said firmly, causing me to sigh again, if only there was something that they could do to help.
“I’m sorry girls but there’s nothing that any of us can do but wait. The gods are working on it, just give it some time, it’ll all work out.” I tried to soothe them but only got glares in return.
“Oh come on! How long are you going to keep this going? Just tell us already! All you keep telling us to do is to sit back and wait, be good little girls. Well, I won’t let this go, we have the right to know.” Clarisse demanded. Now normally I would let these comments slide, but I had just had a very long day, I was tired, stressed and I hadn’t had time to see Alex in ages, in all I wasn’t very happy. I was giving up all my time to be here looking after the demigods, but all I kept getting in return was question after question on a subject that I had already explained I couldn’t talk about. They had been trying for days to anger me and to make me crack and that last sentence just did it, they had pushed me over the edge.
“Ok that’s it!” I said loudly. “I’ve had enough of this! I have already told you that I cannot and will not tell you what is happening in Olympus but you won’t leave it alone. You wanted me to crack? Well here it is! I’ve finally had enough.” I saw the two of them exchange and glance, and slight grins grew on their faces thinking that I was giving in. They wouldn’t be smiling in a minute, I thought whilst chuckling to myself. “You’re both going to be on washing up duty for the rest of the week, and I don’t care if it isn’t either of your cabins’ turn to do it. This is a punishment. Maybe this will be the thing that will make you understand that I won’t tell you what’s going on because obviously my words aren’t sinking in.” Shock was clear on both of their faces, they hadn’t been expecting that. I didn’t usually give out punishments, Chiron was the disciplinarian at camp not me, he usually handled that stuff, but he wasn’t here right now so it was up to me. Once the shock had worn off anger crept back onto Annabeth’s face.
“Stop treating us like kids! Because we’re not too young to know what’s going on! We can help, just tell us what’s happening.” Annabeth shouted, gaining some attention from the other campers who were all sitting down eating. “Do you have any idea how frustrating you are? You teach us how to fight, you train us to be able to kill, things that no normal kid should ever have to do! You know that we’ve all already seen and had to deal with more than most do in a life time and yet you still treat us like babies and wrap us in cotton wool so that we won’t get hurt. We don’t exactly have a childhood anymore, so start treating us like adults!” She screamed. I was shocked, yes Annabeth had been annoyed at me before but she’d never shouted at me like this. Didn’t she understand that I wasn’t protecting her because I thought that she was a baby or incapable of looking after herself? She has already proven to me that she can do that, I have every confidence in her abilities. I was protecting her because I cared for her, I was protecting all of them. Even if I did tell her what was going on, there would be nothing that she could do about it, and I didn’t want her to feel how I did, I felt so useless and helpless. I was stuck here worrying about where the master bolt was, who had it and what they were planning on doing with it, but I couldn’t do anything about my feelings. It was so frustrating to feel this powerless and I was saving her from having to feel this way too as it was not a nice feeling.
“Annabeth,” I started calmly and quietly making sure my voice was soft enough that the other campers listening in couldn’t hear what I was saying. “I am not treating you like a child.” I could see that she was about to protest so I held up my hand to silence her, I needed to say this, and I needed her to understand this. “I am not keeping things from you because I think you are too young or too weak to handle them, because I know how strong you are, both of you. I am keeping this from you because you’re my friends, I care about you and I don’t want you to feel as helpless as I do now. Even if I told you what was happening there would be nothing that either of you could do, just like there’s nothing I can do. Now I want you guys to drop this, because I will not keep having this same argument with you again and again, understand?”
They looked down at their feet and grudgingly nodded in agreement. They weren’t happy about it but hopefully they would just let it go, I don’t think I could handle saying this one more time. “Good. Now you’d better sit down and have some dinner. You’re going to need your strength for all the washing up you’re going to be doing.” I grinned slightly when I heard them grumble under their breath. I wasn’t about to let them off their punishment just like that, they had been pestering me non-stop for these last few days and I wasn’t going to just let that go.
After that little incident, dinner went past very quickly and without any trouble. It was a lonely dinner, but I was getting used to that. I left the dining area quickly, not really wanting to have to stay there on my own longer than I had to, so as soon as I had finished eating I left.
I wasn’t really thinking of where I was walking but I found myself heading down to my favourite spot in camp, the pier. However, when I got there, I saw that a figure was already sitting in my usual spot. I almost turned away to go somewhere else but then I noticed that it was Luke who was in my spot and I changed my mind.
“Long time no see.” I said as I sat down beside him. Luke gave a little jump. He’d been too deep in his thoughts to hear me approaching. What I had said was true, I was running all over camp trying to oversee everything but I hardly ever saw Luke anymore. “Are you avoiding me?” I joked, teasingly bumping my shoulder into his. I didn’t miss the way his eyes widened slightly at my comment and how he immediately looked away from me. So he was avoiding me.
“You’re the one hiding in an office half the day.” He joked back.
“True, I’ll give you that.” I admitted lying down so that I could get a better look at the sky. Normally I would’ve been able to make out the stars or the moon, but tonight, they were all obscured by dark clouds. I sighed, things were getting so complicated, why couldn’t they just be easy like they used to be? “So what’s on your mind?”
“Huh?” He asked confused.
“There’s obviously something occupying your mind. You came down here for a reason.” I said quietly. “You know you can talk to me, right?” Luke didn’t say anything for a while, and I had just about given up the hope that he was going to reply when he let out a frustrated breath and ran a hand through his hair.
“Have you . . . do you . . . have you ever felt that maybe your life isn’t going the way that you want it to and that you might have made a mistake that you can’t back out of?” Luke almost growled out. I felt my stomach sink, this wasn’t a good conversation. This meant he had done it. He had gone to the other side, he was trying to bring down Olympus. But he was having second thoughts. Maybe I could change his mind. Maybe it’s not too late.
“You can always back out of something. Don’t feel like you have to do something that you don’t want to.” I said firmly. “Are you . . . are you in some sort of trouble, Luke? Because you know I’ll always be there for you and you can come to me for anything, right?”
“No, no! It’s nothing like that!” Luke said quickly. “I was just being over dramatic, forget I said anything.” I knew that Luke was lying, he was in trouble, but I couldn’t help him unless he asked for it. That damn rule!
“Okay. But you know that the offer still stands. I’ll always help, no matter what you get yourself into.” I told him seriously. I knew that he wanted to change the subject, and I let him, but I wanted him to know that I was there for him.
“I know.” He said so quietly that I don’t think he intended me to hear it. “So why are you down here?” He asked
“I’m stressed. I like to come here to think, to get some peace from all that lot.” I said jerking my head back at camp.
“I heard what you made Annabeth and Clarisse do.” Luke said a slight smirk stretching across his face.
“You did? I thought I said it all quite quietly.” I was confused, I thought I had been careful not to shout as I hadn’t wanted to draw everyone’s attention, maybe I hadn’t been as quiet as I thought I had.
“Oh, you were quiet. Annabeth and Clarisse on the other hand . . . well they weren’t too careful about the volume of their voices. Let’s just say that they weren’t too happy about their punishment and they were complaining about it fairly loudly.” Luke said chuckling. I couldn’t help myself, it was such an infectious sound, and I had to join in.
“Well they were getting on my last nerve.” I said defending my actions.
“Hey, I’m on your side.” Luke said holding his hands up innocently.
“You are?” I asked curiously. I would have thought that he would want to know what was going on too.
“Yeah, I think anyone trying to get on your bad side is a fool. And you gave them plenty of warning, but they wouldn’t let it go. They brought it on themselves if you ask me.” Luke said with a soft smile still on his face.
“You’re only saying that because you’re scared of my parents.” I teased, grinning at him.
“No I’m not.” He said almost angrily. I was slightly taken aback by his sudden change in attitude, but didn’t let it register on my face. My stomach felt slightly uneasy by his comment, picking up on its two possible meanings and I wasn’t sure which one of them he meant, that he wasn’t only saying it because he was scared of my parents or that he was saying he wasn’t scared of my parents.
I hoped for his sake that he had meant the first of the meanings because he knew what my parents could do, he should be scared of them. But the way he said it made me worry that he was planning something stupid.