Mystified (dropped)

Chapter 8

So IDK how rankings work on Wattpad cause somehow this book is considered 1st under #thelosthero (as of September 8th).

People are actually reading this so thanks and I am grateful to whoever voted on my stories so far, it honestly made my day. I hope you enjoy this chapter and have a nice day!

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Elaine was overjoyed to learn that the campfire sing-along was not compulsory. She already proved how bad she was at fighting as evident by those who nervously looked at her, as if checking she didn't suddenly go crazy. She didn't need to prove how worse she probably was at singing.

The amphitheatre steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners. Elaine sat at the front with Jason. Annabeth being seated beside him.

Leo was nearby, sitting with a bunch of burly-looking campers under a steel-grey banner emblazoned with a hammer - Elaine spotted Tammin among them, giving a small wave which was happily returned. Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen campers with guitars and lyres were jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armour, something about how their grandma got dressed for war. Everybody was singing with them and making gestures for the pieces of armour and joking around. As the energy level got higher, the flames did too, turning from red to orange to gold.

The song ended with a lot of rowdy applause. Elaine spotted Chiron walk in, finally seeing his horse legs, very different from what she was expecting. He was half a white stallion from the legs down, and half a human body, from the head to the torso. He brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. "Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first—"

"What about capture the flag?" somebody yelled. Grumbling broke out among some kids in armour, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar's head.

"Yes," the centaur said. "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" one of them shouted.

"However," Chiron said, "until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?"

He turned to Leo's group. Elaine noticed Leo wink at Piper and shot her with a finger gun, smiling at the interaction. The girl next to him stood uncomfortably. She wore an army jacket a lot like Leo's, with her hair covered in a red bandanna. "We're working on it."

More grumbling.

"How, Nyssa?" an Ares kid demanded.

"Really hard," the girl said.

Nyssa sat down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which caused the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamped his hoof against the fire pit stones — bang, bang, bang —and the campers fell silent.

"We will have to be patient," Chiron said. "In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" someone asked. The fire dimmed even further, the crowd's anxiety rising.

Chiron gestured to Annabeth. She took a deep breath and stood.

"I didn't find Percy," she announced. Her voice caught a little when she said his name. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis—everyone's out looking. We will find him. Chiron's talking about something different. A new quest."