Chapter Five
Gossip
Stranger: Hey kid, want some candy?
Me: SURE!
Stranger: Here, enjoy. he hands a note to me.
Dear Ncoley, This chapter from this book had nothing to do with Gossip, How dare you call this gossip Nickki, and what theHades is wrong with you? Taking candy from strangers... Hugs and kisses, Selena.
Me talking to the note: Silly Aphrodite kid, I chuckled. I wadded up the paper and threw it out.
Back to the story, sorry for that rant but is some way it was a massage to all of you :) I think.
Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately like wildfire around camp. I seceded to dry off in the sun so I showed Percy parts of camp that he hadn't seen: the forges (where kids were forging their own swords), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of the lord of the wild, Pam) and the climbing wall.
Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.
"I've got training to do," I said flatly. "Dinners at seven thirty, just follow your cabin to the mess hall."
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets." Percy said.
"Whatever." I told him.
"It wasn't my fault." he despretly exclaimed.
I looked at him sceptically it was his fault, really.
"You need to talk to the Oracle." I said.
"Who?" he asked.
"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron." I explained.
He stared at the lake; two water naiads were sat there, cross-legged at the base of the pier. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They waved at Percy, flirtingly. Percy waved back.
"Don't encourage them." I warned. "Naiads are terrible flirts." I felt something build up inside me not anger and not sadness. Something in between, WHOA! Jealousy? nooo way I thought he was 'the one' for the quest beggining thingy not 'the one' that way. Aphrodite might be messing with my mind again.
"Naiads." He repeated. "That's it. I want to go home now." Poor boy. Hes overwhelmed.
I frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."
"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?" HA! He wishes. Hmm, never mind thatssomewhat true.
"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human." I told him.
"Half-human and half-what?" He is SO in denial. I can see it on his face.
"I think you know." I resisted the urdge to slap the back of his head. How could he be so clueless? Calm down Annabeth, hes new.
"God," Percy said. "Half-god." Good, I just thought he was playing dumb.
I nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians. I knew witch one but I really hope I'm wrong.
"That's" He started. Finnaly he gets it. He might start a long conversation about something deep and try to find out witch parent is his. "...crazy" he said. URG! Stupid.
"Is it? What's the most common things god did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"
"But those are just-" He almost said myths. Then he stopped himself. "But if all the kids here are half-gods-"
"Demigods," I interrupted, "That's the official term. Or half-bloods." I love being a know-it-all.
"Then who's your dad?" WHAT? Oh my gods! I...He...We...I just...arg, boys.
My hands tightened around the pier railing, I did not like talking about this particular subject.
"My dad is a professor at West Point," I said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history." Not a lie, just not the whole truth.
"He's human." I wanted to roll my eyes.
"What? You assume it has to be a male god who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?" I was mad.
"Who's your mom then?"
"Cabin six."
"Meaning?" I love mentioning my mom. She was so pround of me. She still is ya' know.
I straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."
"And my dad?" Hmm, I dont think I should mention Posiden. He is of course, only a hypothesis.
"Undetermined." I said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows." Except me! And Chiron maybe.
"Except my mother. She knew." I dreaded having this conversation now.
"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities."
"My dad would have. He loved her."
I didn't want to burst his bubble so I said, "Maybe your right. Maybe he'll send us a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has too send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens."
"You mean sometimes it doesn't?"
I ran my palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always...Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."
He thought about it for a while until he said, "So I'm stuck here," and then, "That's it? For the rest of my life?"
"It depends," I said, "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble- about ten or eleven years old- but after that most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."
"So monsters can't get in here?"
I shook my head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."
"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?"
"Practise fights. Practical jokes."
"Practical jokes?" Very funny ones at that...Ah, yes I rember the "Monsters under the bed"prank that Luke, Travis, Connor, and a few others pulled off. Although I don't think that they should have done it to the Aphrodite girls. They shreik like maniacs.
"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm." (Mmm strawberries,)
"So...you're a year-rounder?"
I nodded. From under the collar of my T-shirt I pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colours and a large gold ring strung on it, my father's collage ring.
"I've been here since I was seven," I said, "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counsellors, and they're all in college."
"Why did you come so young?"
That was a soft spot. I almost cried but I kept my eyes from becoming misty.
I twisted the ring on my necklace. "None of your business."
"Oh." He stood there for a minute and then said. "So...I could walk out here right now if I wanted to?"
"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give you permission unless..." I trailed off.
"Unless?" he urdged me to continue.
"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time..." I didn't like to think about it.
"Back in the sick room," He said, "When you were feeding me that stuff..."
"Ambrosia."
"Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice."
My shoulders tensed, so he might actually know something..."So you do know something?"
"Well...no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it. Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?"
I clenched my fists. I absolutly HATE not knowing stuff. It makes you hard to be a know it all, you know?
"I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me. Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything was so normal."
"You've been to Olympus?"
"Some of us year-rounders - Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others- we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That when the gods have their big annual council."
"But...How did you get there?"
"The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at the Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six-hundredth floor."I looked at him, he must know already where the most important building is in the western civilization! "You are a New Yorker right?"
"Oh, sure." Maybe I should have considred that fact that they 600th floor is not something your everyday 12 year old boy would know about.
It was silent for a bit until I said "Right after we visited," I continued, "The weather got weird, as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of time since, I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping...I mean- Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course she's got that rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."
He shook his head. "Too bad" I thought to my self.
"I've got to get a quest," I muttered to myself, I was right. Chiron and his restrainghts saying that no no no, your much to young child. You cant do this, It might be to complicated.
"I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem..."
The smell of barbecue smoke was coming from the kitchens, near the mess hall.
Percy's stomach growled quietly. I said (or thought for this matter) this before and Ill ay it again, ARG! BOYS!
"Go on," I smiled, "I'll catch you later."
"Okay. Bye," He left me at the pier, I traced the tiny lines that were engraved on the railing.
A few minutes later, I looked to the east,it was nearly time for dinner. I started to head towards the Athena cabin. Just as I got inside the cabin the conch horn blew. "Cabin six, fall in!" I shouted. The whole cabin, about ten of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in seniority order; I was at the very front of the line because I had been at camp the longest. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three main cabins and Artemis' cabin.
We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. The wood nymphs came out of the trees and skipped up towards the pavilion.
In all, there were hundreds of campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads. Percy was stearing at a tree for some reason, I...I don't wanna know. Maybe a nymph startled him.
At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. The central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin sat at their own table. Four tables were empty, but the Hermes cabin table was over crowded, I could see Percy squeezing on the end. I could see some of his butt. I mentaly slaped my self. DONT LOOK AT HIS BUTT!
Grover was sat at table twelve with a bunch of other satyrs and Mr D. Chiron stood to one side, they table being way too small for a centaur.
Clarisse was sat at the table behind Percy. She seemed to have got over being hosed down because she was laughing and belching loudly, right alongside her siblings. Idiots.
Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof on the marble floor of the pavilion. Everybody fell silent. He raised his glass. "To the gods!"
Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread and barbecue. I took my cup and said, "Mineral water," The cup was instantly filled with clear, fresh water. Luke wispered into Percy's ear than Percy mumbled something and his glass (goblet, he had a goblet right?) filled with red-ish liquid. He had a glint in his eyes than it suddenly changed blue.
Hmm, blue is Zues' color. Maybe, just maybe. I was wrong. Now I knew I didn't have to ignore him because of the whole Posiden Athena thing.
"Here, Annabeth," Katie passed me some fresh bread and warm, smoking chicken.
"Thanks," I said. I loaded my plate with more food and then got up and walked over to the fire. I scraped a portion of my meal into the fire saying "Athena," The smell of fresh olives filled my nose.
When everybody had finished their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof on the floor again for our attention.
Mr D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels."
The Ares cabin cheered.
"Personally," Mr D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." I surpressed a smile.
Chiron murmured 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. We all headed down towards the amphitheatre, where Apollo's cabin led the sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate toasted marshmallows. The Hermes cabin was stealing lots of marshmallows out of the marshmallow bowl, nobody noticed. Except me of course.
Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back into our cabins.
When all my siblings were in bed I called "Lights out" The lights switched off. And as soon as I closed my eyes I fell to sleep.