Percy Jackson: A New Hero

Chapter 9: Who Wants a Cheesesteak?

A few days later

Today's it; the day I start my quest to save the Alliance. I know I should be nervous like crazy, but I also feel a little confident.

Over the past few days, my dad's trained me for what I might come across on my quest. It was great spending time with him, but damn, his training was harsh. I mean, he made me do a hundred burpees and forty suicides as a fucking warm-up! Who does that?!

But right now, I'm completing the most boring part of prepping for a quest: packing.

I stuffed about three pairs of clothes into my backpack; a Camp shirt, shorts, and some regular "mortal" clothes.

I packed some other necessities in my backpack, which was magically enhanced to never get full.

As I finished up, I heard a knock on the door. "Come in," I said.

Skylar opened the door and walked in, "It's time to go, Luke."

I nodded. I zipped up my backpack and slung it onto my shoulders. As I was about to shut the door, I looked back into my cabin.

Even though I haven't stayed here very long, this cabin has become like a second home to me --- and so has this Camp. For the first time in my life, everything makes sense. Whether it's why my parents left or why I felt so different compared to everyone else, I now understand why.

I'll be back, I thought. I shut the door and followed Skylar to Thalia's Pinetree.

As we walked through Camp, Skylar said to herself, "This quest is sure going to be interesting."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Skylar explained, "The Olympians have never come to Camp to assign a quest, even when your dad was a kid and Olympus was on the brink of war."

"Speaking of," I asked Skylar, "Last week, when the Olympians were here, what did my dad mean when he said he was stronger than Zeus? I mean, Zeus is the king of the gods; no other god can be more powerful than him. Right?"

Skylar shook her head, "In Zeus's ideal world, that would be correct. While Zeus is the king of the gods, he's not the most powerful. Poseidon and Hades are on the same level as him, and you can even argue that they're more powerful. On the other hand, your dad is way more powerful than Zeus. He's as powerful as a primordial and could easily take out most of the Olympians."

"Then how does Zeus still let my dad live? Zeus has always been described as being selfish."

Skylar nodded, "That's true, and he would. However, your dad's too powerful for Zeus to kill alone. He would need the help of his brothers, which they would never give."

I was shocked. Ten days ago, my dad was just some regular dude, and now I learn he's the most powerful Olympian, and it's not even close.

By the time I could even wrap my head around that, we had arrived at Thalia's Pinetree. Waiting for us were Chiron and Argus. FYI, Argus is the Camp's head of security, which is kind of ironic since he literally has eyes on the back of his head. Actually, he has eyes all over his body.

Chiron smiled at us and said, "May I see your backpack, Luke?"

I handed my bag to Chiron, and he stuffed some supplies (i.e., extra ambrosia and nectar, water bottles, Gatorade, protein bars, etc.), some more gold drachmas, and what looked like a map. Chiron explained, "This is a map of the U.S. I highlighted the locations of all the major Supernatural groups. Your first stop will be Philadelphia, which is the closest to Camp. Argus here will drive you down, but once he drops you off, you'll both be on your own."