Here was my daily schedule. At five in the morning, Luke will nudge me awake, where we will train for two hours, the first hour being physical training, before we start sparring, while giving me some basic tips for combat. Then we head back to the cabin to return for roll call and breakfast. Then I did the camp activities, and I learned that I had a talent for smithing, even better than Percy and a decent number of campers who aren't children of Hephaestus. Beckendorf was impressed and offered to mentor me with the craft.
It was fun, I didn't think I had a talent in smithing of all things. Beckendorf told me that if I wanted to increase my proficiency, I should make multiple daggers. They are easy and quickly built, allowing me to increase my refinement and skill without wasting much time. So whenever Luke was too busy to train me during lunch or free time, I found myself hammering away, making daggers and analyzing blueprints. I still hung out with Percy and Grover, though not by much, only in camp activities.
At nighttime, Luke and I would chill in that small lake to recover from my muscle strain. By the time it was Friday, I felt more confident and healthier. Don't get me wrong, Luke's training was still hard, but not quite the same level as my first day. This morning I noticed Annabeth and Percy talking; if I remember correctly, she was teaching him ancient Greek. I learned from Percy that, according to Annabeth, the reason most demigods have dyslexia is that their brain is hard-wired to read ancient Greek; that's why other alphabets don't make sense for them.
As for ADHD, they got a super version, apparently, it helps them be alert in battle and gives them great reaction time and senses. Unfortunately for me, I just got standard mortal ADHD, where even getting a little hype causes me to hum while jumping around like a convict who stuffed multiple pounds of happy powder on their nose. It was afternoon and I was sitting down on the pier watching naiads do underwater basket weaving.
Usually, I would be training with Luke or getting better at smithing, but I was saving my energy. Everybody else is. There wasn't much to do on Friday aside from our usual chores at the strawberry fields. But everybody was looking for that one event later...Capture The Flag. Luke said the game is divided into two large teams where...obviously have to capture the flag.
But unlike the tag game I played a long time ago, this version of capture the flag makes the other players fight each other using swords, spears and shields. Pretty gnarly, unsafe and sounds like a heck of a lot of fun. It's like a simulated war; Chiron is overseeing the match so nobody accidentally dies or something like that. I noticed that two of my friends are quiet, which made me raise a brow.
"Hey, what the heck? Who dies-." The words caught in my throat as I remembered Sally's face.
I couldn't believe I kind of forgot about her. Well, not forgotten, more like I put her at the back of my mind. My brain has been occupied with everything that's going on. Still, I felt extremely bad before I cleared my throat.
"I mean, why's everyone gloomy?"
"It's nothing, Clay," Grover said, sighing.
"That doesn't sound like nothing."
"Yeah." Percy joined. "You've been kind of moody ever since Mr. D. What's up?"
Grover visibly deflates. "It's just...I really wanted my searcher's license. I've been wanting to have it even before I knew how to speak properly. Right now, Mr. D suspended judgment. He said I hadn't failed or succeeded with Percy yet, so our fates were still tied together. If he gets a quest and I go along to protect you, and we both come back alive, then maybe he'd consider the job complete."
"Oh! That's not bad, right?" Percy tries to reassure Grover, only for his shoulders to drop even further.
"Yeah, right." Grover shakes his head, "He might as well have transferred me to stable-cleaning duty. The chances of you getting a quest were tiny... and even if you did, why would you want me along?"
I shake my head. "Come on, dude, you're selling yourself short, you probably have some magical nature powers or something."
"I'm not as good as other satyrs.
The mood was down, and I changed topics quickly, asking about the four empty cabins.
"Cabin eight belongs to Artemis, the goddess of the hunt. She vowed to be an eternal virgin forever."
"Okay, then why build a cabin in the first place?"
"It's for her Hunters, they are a group that Artemis leads, and whenever they visit Camp Half-Blood, they use the cabin."
"Okay, then what about the other ones at the end? Why are they empty? Are those the big three?"
Grover cringed when Percy said, Big three.
"No. One of them—Cabin Two—is Hera's," he said. "It's just honorary. She's the goddess of marriage, so she doesn't have kids with mortals. That's her husband's thing. When we talk about the Big Three, we mean the three powerful brothers, the sons of Kronos."
"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades."
"Right. After they defeated the Titans, they took over the world from their father and drew lots to decide who ruled what."
"Alright, Zeus got the sky..." I said.
"Poseidon the sea..." Percy added.
"And Hades, the underworld." Grover finished.
"But wait, that doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't Hades have a cabin here?"
"He kind of does his own thing, and he doesn't have a throne on Olympus either."
I raised a brow as I crossed my arms. "Okay, but that doesn't explain why Zeus and Poseidon's cabin is empty."
I wanted to add that they had no self-control, so it would be impossible for them to try to charm a mortal woman, but I didn't want a lightning bolt to hit me. Yeah, despite both of these dudes being married, they seem to like siring demigods with other women, which causes a whole lot of tragedy. I remembered Hercules was being screwed by Hera because Zeus cheated.
Grover shifted his hooves, looking uneasy. "About sixty years ago, after World War II, the Big Three agreed not to have any more demigod children. Their kids were too powerful. They were influencing human events too much—causing too much destruction. World War II itself was basically a war between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the sons of Hades on the other.
After the war, the winning side—Zeus and Poseidon—made Hades swear an oath with them: no more affairs with mortal women. They all swore on the River Styx."
Thunder boomed.
"That's the most serious oath you can make," I said.
Grover nodded.
Zeus and Poseidon taking responsibility? Huh, maybe they grew up? Wait a minute.
"What about Thalia?"
Percy's face scrunched up. "Who?"
Grover bleated, looking at me in shock. "H-How did you-?"
"Luke told me."
Grover's alarmed face transformed into a depressed one again. I bit my lip. I wanted to distract him from being emo, but now I messed up and made him think of Thailia. One of the events which caused his current predicament.
"Okay, I'm lost. Who is Thalia?" Percy asked.
Grover and I looked at each other. I told him I could tell Percy, but Grover refused; he'll do it. And so Grover tells us the story. Seventeen years ago, Zeus broke his oath and had a child with a TV starlet, and they had a child known as Thalia Grace. But the River Styx is serious about promises. Zeus got off easy because he was an immortal being, but Thalia wasn't so lucky.
And while she was stronger than the average demigod due to being a child of one of the big three, the cost is that her scent is much stronger, making monsters be drawn to her like moths to a flame. Apparently, this enrages Hades for some reason and sends out the worst monsters in Tartarus to hunt her. Which leads to her eventual death, sacrificing herself so Grover, Luke and Annabeth would get away.
"I was supposed to protect them, yet I was nothing but deadweight."
"So that's what Chiron means when you mess up a mission."
Grover nodded grimly. "Yes."
He later finished telling the story when Thalia got turned into a tree to reinforce the barrier at camp. Percy cried out at how unfair it was. And I agreed with him. I remembered Luke's angry look when he told me the story; no, I understand he was angry. Thalia died because Zeus refused to take responsibility; he couldn't keep his hands away and didn't even bother physically interfering when Thalia was in danger. No, he turned his own daughter into a tree and called it a day.
I felt angry. It wasn't just Zeus; there are campers in the Hermes cabin who aren't claimed by a parent. I can sometimes overhear them speak about being unclaimed and feeling frustrated and depressed. And I get it, I know what it's like to be unwanted. The Greek gods aren't good people, I know that.
And it seems they are unchanged in the modern day.
My thoughts were interrupted when Percy asked Grover a question. "Have heroes really gone on quests to the Underworld?"
"Sometimes," he said. "Orpheus. Hercules. Houdini."
"And have any of them ever brought someone back from the dead?"
"No. Never. Orpheus came close... Percy, you're not seriously thinking—"
"No." Percy shakes his head, but I know he's lying.
I frowned, but I didn't call him out.
***
Finally, I was shaking in excitement. It was time to capture the flag. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, shimmering gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree.
From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her friends charged in with another banner of the same size—this one a gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.
I turned to Luke and shouted over the noise, "Those are the flags?"
"Yeah."
"Ares and Athena always lead the teams?"
"Not always," he said. "But often."
"So if another cabin captures one, what do you do—repaint the flag?"
He grinned. "You'll see. First, we have to get one."
I grinned back. I was absolutely ready to throw down. Clarisse turned to look at Percy and me, giving us a dirty look. I glared and scratched my nose using a particular finger, and Percy had the same idea, wiping his lips while pretending to look away with the same finger. Clarisse looked absolutely mad and looked away from us, and scratched her chin with the same finger we were showing her.
It was on.