Melancholy Kaleidescope | PJO

Ch. 1: The New Guy

The last thing eleven year-old Jinora Hayes expected at the beginning of the summer was for a new camper holding the honor of killing the Minotaur to arrive. The news had spread rather quickly after the boy dragged himself and Grover, his satyr protector, to the Big House drenched from the rain.

Grover had been healing fine over the last couple of days. His minor injuries had healed and he was up and moving. Jinora had sat by the boy's bedside, feeding him the ambrosia and nectar as he lay there unconscious. His name was Percy Jackson, Grover told her, and his mother had been killed by the Minotaur trying to buy them time.

"Grover," she tried to assure her friend, her jet black hair pulled back into a low bun to keep it out of her face. She rested her hand on his shoulder, urging him to look away from the blond laying in the bed to her. "It's not your fault, okay? He's here, and he'll be safe now."

Grover shook his head. "I can't believe I let this happen again–"

"You really need to stop beating yourself up about last time," Jinora told him, tightening her grip on his shoulder slightly. "She made the decision to stay behind and fight so we could make it to camp. That was her decision, which means it's not your fault."

He sighed and began picking at his horns which barely poked through his dark curls. Jinora reached up and swatted his hands away. "You really need to stop doing that."

"I know," Grover responded. He fiddled with his fingers before standing up. "I need to get some fresh air. Will you come get me when he wakes up and stays awake?"

Jinora nodded and watched the satyr leave through the door. The moon was high in the sky and the stars shone brightly. Percy had woken up a couple of times briefly, the longest nearing a minute. He was never fully there and he never stayed awake for long. She wasn't sure what made her volunteer to keep watch over him the past couple of nights, though she was sure her brothers, Travis and Connor Stoll, were going to be giving her a hard time about it once she got this boy up and moving.

Percy took a deep breath before his breathing evened out again. Jinora placed the nectar back down on the table and leaned back in the chair, wincing slightly at the ache in her shoulder blades. She readjusted her charcoal gray jacket over her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and huffed quietly.

She furrowed her eyebrows at the sleeping boy. "What is it about you, Percy Jackson?"

The rest of the night was rather uneventful. He woke up a few more times for a few seconds before slipping back into sleep. The first time he woke that night, Jinora couldn't help herself.

"You know you drool when you sleep," she blurted out. He just held his confused daze and muttered a confused "huh?" before falling back to sleep.

The next time he woke was when Luke Castellan, another older brother, came to check on her. The final time was when Jinora had been trickling nectar into his mouth and Annabeth, her friend and daughter of Athena, came barging in, asking him a flurry of questions about the solstice and something stolen.

"Annabeth, he's not even lucid!"

That was the last thing he heard before passing out again, staring at the girl with the raven colored hair.

Percy didn't wake up for good until midmorning. By then, Grover was the only one by his bedside and Jinora had been pulled away for her daily chores and activities. She had just got back after training with swords when Annabeth led Percy into the Hermes cabin. Chiron bid farewell and headed off to his archery class he taught at noon. Immediately, the boy tripped and nearly fell on his face. Snickers traveled through the entire cabin as the new kid steadied himself.