Tales of Camp Half Blood

Tale 21: Camp Peacemakers

People often underestimated Demeter children, it was something Katie was very aware of. But they all failed to see just how important a part cabin four played in the grand scheme of this camp. They may not be the strongest warriors or the smartest strategists, but they were the peacemakers.

Ever since Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had left on their quest, tensions had started rising to dangerous levels in camp. A rumor had started about the reason for the gods' anger being that Poseidon had stolen Zues's bolt and there would soon be a war.

"That's absolute shit! Can't we just kill the kid?" Katherine yelled.

"Katherine! No killing kids!" Tatiana replied.

In Katie's opinion all this arguing and choosing sides nonsense was far too preemptive. They didn't even know if the rumor was true or not, and if it was, then Percy's quest was clearly an attempt to find and return the bolt. Him, Annabeth, and Grover could succeed and then all of this would have been for nothing.

It had all started with the Athena and Ares cabins, as usual. Aaron, Annabeth's older brother whom she had placed in charge during her absence, had said some stupid insult to Sherman. Then Clarisse had jumped to her brother's defense, which only caused Aaron's sisters Cindy and Ally to join the conflict as well.

The only thing that had stopped them from an all out brawl during breakfast was Chiron's intervention. From there it had only escalated though. The Ares cabin had firmly taken the stance on Poseidon's side, and the Athena cabin had started to call them traitors and usurpers.

If it wasn't such an annoyance, Katie would have found the whole thing ironic. The Ares kids despised Percy and yet they were the first to jump to his fathers side. Meanwhile the Athena head counselor was currently working side by side with a son of Poseidon to resolve this, and yet her siblings were supporting Zues and aggravating tensions.

Once the Aphrodite and Apollo cabins chose to side with Ares, not even Chiron's intervention could stop the fights. That's where the Demeter kids came in, the cabin that wasn't so useless after all thank you very much.

For some reason most Demeter kids had the ability to produce a naturally soothing aura if they chose to that would decrease feelings of aggression and anger. It was a skill that she was aware some kids in the Apollo cabin had as well, namely Lee and Mary. It made it all the more frustrating that Lee had chosen to engage in this petty conflict when he could be helping her calm it. Usually he wouldn't be one for such childish behavior, but he had always been protective of the little kids at camp. She doubted he was very pleased that Zues's petty anger was the reason two twelve years olds and a young satyr had to embark on a life threatening quest.

"Katie!" Her youngest sister's voice dragged her out of her sulking. She glanced up to see Mollie looking frazzled and exhausted, "they're fighting again, this time the Stoll's are joining in!"

Oh gods! That was the last thing they needed. Luke had thankfully declared his cabin as neutral, but he didn't have total control over his siblings or the unclaimed kids and many of them were aiding both sides indiscriminately in order to raise tensions.

"I'm just gonna watch." Katherine decided.

Outside there seemed to be the biggest conflict yet brewing. Clarisse and Aaron were screaming at each other, gesturing to their cabins as they argued. It seemed that the Athena cabin had been egged and the Ares cabin had the words 'traitors' written in spray paint. Both cabins now seemed to be accusing each other of the vandalism. But off to the side, the Stoll's, Cecil, and Lou Ellen were giggling to themselves like this was the funniest thing in the world. They were the obvious culprits, egging wasn't really the Ares cabin's style, and neither was graffiti for the Athena cabin.