A New Goddess (Sequel to The Child Of The Dead Sea)

25. Stranger Things

Annabeth

"Is it just me or is she acting strange?" I asked Percy after Kate left.

"No why would she?" He asked.

"Seaweed Brain." I sighed. "Doesn't she seem, I don't know, off to you?" I asked.

"Yeah, a little. But I get it, I mean if I had to send you away I'd be pretty upset and out of it too." He answered.

I smiled at him as we walked outside towards his cabin, taking our time as we walked down the well worn path. We swung our hands back and forth between us, making us laugh a little at the childish behavior. That is, until I saw something I never wanted to see again.

"Percy look." I said urgently, pointing him towards the volleyball court where two campers were fighting. And by fighting, I meant they had weapons drawn and were out for blood.

Percy surged towards them and I went too. Some of the surrounding campers were already helping to break it up, including Clarisse who was trying to get some sense into one of the fighters, her brother.

"What the Hades? What do you think you are doing, Huston?" She was screaming at the kid who still looked like he wanted to kill someone. Two other Ares campers were holding him back and two more were holding the other camper who i turned to.

"Will?!" I exclaimed. The blond boy's usually blue eyes were bright red and he was seething at the mouth, trying to get at the Ares kid.

"Clarisse, take your brother to the big house and lock him in the third room. You two bring Will with us, Kate needs to see this." I told the campers.

Clarisse nodded and walked off with her siblings while the other two holding Will followed me and Percy.

I walked up the steps and to the door of Percy's cabin and knocked before opening it slowly. The others followed close behind and Percy closed the door behind us. Kate was sitting on her bunk with a bowl in her lap. Water was moving across her shoulders and looked almost like a massage machine. When the door clicked closed she opened her eyes and the water froze in place then swirled away to fill the bowl which she placed on the nightstand.

"What happened?" She asked standing to get a closer look at Will.

"Will started fighting an Ares camper. Max Huston, I think." I answered.

"Red eyes?"

"On both."

She sighed and walked over to her bunk, reaching under she pulled out a small wooden box. Kate stood again and placed the box on her bunk. Carefully standing so she blocked the view, she opened the lock and pulled something out of it and immediately closed and locked the box again.

She turned back to us and walked back in front of Will. She held up a vial and uncapped it. With an intense, focused look, she held it under Will's nose and his eyes rolled back into his head, when they returned they were their original blue color.

"What was that?" I asked.

"Smelling salts. An old mortal method to wake someone up. I don't think it's permanent though. Will, what do you remember?" She asked him.

"Um I remember playing Volleyball. Mainly to get away from the stress in the infirmary. Then Max misstepped and...I kinda lost focus or something. Everything just went black. But there was this voice. I can't remember what it said but it made me really angry." He answered. The others had released him and he was rubbing his shoulder like it hurt.

Kate nodded. "You two can go." She told the two campers who had brought Will in. They exchanged a look and left. She returned to her box and once again blocked my view while she tucked the vial away and pulled out something else. "Um...Will, you know what happened to Gunner, Rose, and Lily. Well that is happening to you, so I need to use these. For your own protection." She held up two sets of handcuffs but they were made of a black rock instead of metal.

Will instinctively shrunk away from them.

"Will?" I spoke to him. Even though he was temporarily himself, he still seemed strange.

"I-I just." He stopped himself to hold out his hands so Kate could put the cuffs on and attach them to a post in the cabin.

Once he was secure, Kate looked at him with an intense look on her face. Then she turned her attention back to us. "Leave." She said. It wasn't in a rude way, she just sounded...tired, defeated, maybe.

I nodded and pushed a reluctant Percy outside ahead of me. "What do you think she's gonna do?" He asked.

"I don't know." I answered because for the second time I actually didn't know.

We must of stayed outside for at least a half hour. I had to keep Percy from going inside multiple times because every so often there is a loud clap of thunder overhead and wind picks up, always seeming to blow towards Cabin 3 no matter what side of the cabin you are on. A little while later, a bird flew through the window and still hasn't come out. Although I suspect that it was one of Kate's pets.

The door creaked slightly as it opened to reveal a white wolf dragging an unconscious Will out by his tattered camp shirt. As the wolf cleared the door and porch, it changed into a small dragon and picked up Will, carrying him to the big house.

I followed Percy inside, not bothering to stop him.

"What happened?" I asked. But stopped when I saw Kate. She was already asleep on her bunk, a small, personal storm raging over her. Her hair was being tossed in the wind it created but the papers on her nightstand didn't even stir.

So I turned and walked out the door. It was getting late and I was heading back to my cabin to catch up on some well deserved reading.

"Hey. Aren't you gonna stay?" Percy grabbed my arm. He motioned to the rest of the cabin which was a mess and Kate clearly wasn't gonna help clean.

"Nope. This looks like a Percy problem." I answered and while he turned to look back at the cabin I took off, running to my cabin.

Just before I closed the door I hear his shout, "Thanks Annabeth. Love you too." His voice dripped in sarcasm.