The Legend of Elodie Grant (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter Fourteen

I looked around at the tired group of people sitting around the ping pong table. Every single one of us was tired after weeks of being plagued with attacks. It had been a non-stop barrage and even the Aphrodite campers were looking a little rough around the edges.

The more time that passed us, the more monsters arrived, becoming worse and worse. Just this morning we had faced the minotaur. Unfortunately, we hadn't been able to kill him, but we were pretty confident he wouldn't show his face around here any time soon.

I was pulled out of my thoughts as the Hermes cabin leader, Nate, slammed his palms against the table, sending balls and paddles to the ground. I narrowed my eyes at him, warning him to calm down.

"How is this happening?!" He snarled, glaring around at the rest of us. "This can't all be some test by the gods! Something bigger than that is happening."

"Sit down, Nate." I hissed, clenching my fists. "Now is not the time to question everything. We have to put all our efforts into defending the camp, not coming up with conspiracy theories."

"Oh, shut up, Elodie!" He snapped, "You don't even belong here! Nobody has elected you cabin leader, you're just too much of a tyrant to let anyone else get in a word edgewise! Daisy would be ashamed."

I flinched. I couldn't help it, it was almost involuntary. Daisy had been the Demeter cabin leader, but a couple weeks ago, she died bravely in a battle against a couple chimeras. I had started going to the meetings with the other leaders and nobody bothered trying to stop me, so here I was.

"That's enough." Arsen said, his voice leaving no room for argument.

"Oh, come on! You can't defend her everytime, Arsen! I get that you have the hots for her, but you need to have some self-respect." Nate snapped angrily.

I jumped to my feet, ready to tell him off, but Arsen grabbed Mt hand, pulling me to a halt. I looked down at our clasped hands and immediately calmed down.

Arsen and I had grown a lot closer over the weeks. We often fought by one another's sides, and flirted together constantly. Despite the fact that everyone realized we were interested in each other, nothing had happened. But, even I realized, I was falling for him. Fast and hard.

I was falling in love with him.

I sat back down, but I didn't turn my glare away from Nate. Arsen sighed, running his hand down his face. He was working harder than anyone else, trying to make sure everyone is safe. I could see the exhaustion grow in him everyday.

He sat back down, waving for the meeting to continue, refusing to deny Nate's claim, or take a hold of the meeting that was quickly going downhill.

"Maybe someone should go on a quest?" The Apollo leader, Sienna, suggested.

"That would prove useless." I argued, "They are targeting the camp. We need to stay here and fight."

"Careful, you're sounding like Ares." Demetrius, the Aphrodite leader snapped, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, and what are you going to do about it, son of Aphrodite? Stop the Hellhounds with your makeup brushes?" I retorted, glaring at him.

He leaped up, shouting incomprehensible words at me. I leaped to my feet, yelling back at him. Soon enough everyone at the table was yelling at each other, every view disagreeing with the one before.

Suddenly Arsen climbed to his feet, slamming his fists against the table, causing everyone to fall quiet abruptly. He glared around at all of us and said, "Everyone shut up and sit down."

We reluctantly obeyed, all sinking slowly to our chairs. We looked up at him, waiting for him to continue talking. However, he stayed silent, watching us all with narrowed eyes. I sighed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"So what do you suppose we do?" Sienna finally asked, refusing to wait for him to speak any longer.

"We fight back." I said, doing my best to sound casual.

That lead into another round of arguments. I stayed silent this time, watching as people yelled at me. I sighed, my eyes drifting over to meet Arsen's. I smiled softly at him, which he returned. Eventually the other leaders settled down when they realized I wasn't going to rise to the bait.

"And who is going to lead this...this battle?" Nate asked, raising an eyebrow. He leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"This isn't a battle! It's a war." I snapped, my irritation with the boy growing to a new level. He sneered at me, obviously trying to get a rouse out of me, but I refused to do anything that would only egg him on.

"Enough."

At the sound of Arsen's voice, we all quieted down, looking back towards the head of the table where he stood. He met everyone's eyes individually, lingering on me for a couple more seconds than he had the others.

"The gods do not even matter right now." He finally said.

Thunder boomed outside, but none of us seemed bothered by it. We were too distracted by this sudden change of events.

"They may have decided to test us, but they do not understand what they have done. This is our home that is being run over by monsters and I know I'm sure as hell not going to let that happen. I do not care what the gods have in store for us, I just care that there is a Camp Half-Blood by the end of this all."

I looked down at my hands, pride swelling in my heart for the boy standing up in front of us.

"I am not asking you to fight." He amended, "But we could always use the extra hands. I am not going to lay down and take this beating from the monsters. I am willing to lay down my life for this camp, just as Daisy was."

I closed my eyes at the mention of her name, taking in a deep breath.

"Elodie was right. This is a war. This is a was against me, my friends, my home, and the people I love. And I am not going to stand for it. I will lead this war against the monsters and against all odds. I will be your leader."

Nobody dared to challenge him on it. We kind of already assumed that's what he was.

"Who is with me?"