When Gaia Wakes

Two Seaweed Brains

       "Heroes! Warriors! Gather gather!" screams Chiron the centaur.
       Percy and Annabeth are at Camp Half Blood, in their monster fighting class. As they hear their mentor calling for everyone, they head in his direction. Chiron is a pure white stallion from beneath and has a shaggy beard.
       "Yes, Chiron?" Percy asks in a teasingly mocking voice. "Shall I do something for you? Maybe complete your chores?"
      Everyone bursts out laughing. "Nice one, Percy.." Clarisse says between laughs.  "Maybe you should open a joke shop.."
       Annabeth hits him. "Percy!" she scolds. "You shouldn't make fun of Chiron like that..."
       "Oh! But that was fine!" Luke tries to reason with Annabeth. Annabeth blushes at the sound of Luke's voice. "It's okay to have fun sometimes, you know. And Chiron wasn't even hurt by that."
       "Oh, Luke, you too?" Annabeth gets furious. "Boys..." she groans and stomps off as if that is the worst insult she can think of.
       "Anyway, Chiron," Leo says, "You were saying something? Or you wouldn't have told us to gather here!"
       "What I was going to say..." Chiron scratches his beard. "Huh! I  remember now." Everybody sighs and face palms themselves. "So as I was saying, my memory hasn't improved since many centuries, you know... It's getting worse than Mr. D! I wish it wasn't that bad because-"
       "Chiron!" Piper sighs. "Please get to the point! We Aphrodite kids where going to win that basketball game against Apollo for once. And then you interrupted!"
       "Losers..." Some Apollo guy called out from the back. The rest of the demigods snickered. "Oh, shut up," Piper yelled.
       "OK, fine!" Chiron says. "I give up! I was just trying to ease your moods. Anyway, welcome our new demigod friend, Thomas Williamson!"
      "Is that even a name?" some Demeter girl calls out. "And look at his face! Seems like a rag doll come to life." an Aphrodite girl snickers.
       Oh no, Percy thinks. He's gonna get bullied. "Hey, dude!" Percy calls out to Thomas. "You got those rocking sea green eyes and six pack abs, you gotta be my bro." "Thanks, man..." Thomas replies shyly.
       "For now, get settled in the Hermes cabin, Thomas. After you are comfortable, just go to the Poseidon cabin- yeah, the one with the seashells and stuff- and ask Percy to give you a tour of the camp. Okay?" Chiron says. "Why Percy?" Thomas blurts out. "I mean, is he the leader or something?" "Not exactly," Grover Underwood, Percy's best friend says. "But Percy's gone through a lot. Returned from Tartarus. Even Annabeth was with him."
       "Annabeth as in... the scary blonde one, right?" Thomas asks, trembling a little.
      Jason laughs. "Yeah, she's the one. Even I was afraid of her the first time I saw her. She makes most monsters cry for their mommies. But chill, she'll be cool with you."
     Thomas seems to relax a bit. He's adjusting with new friends, thinks Percy. "So, heroes, have a good day." Chiron interrupts the friendly chat, clearly dismissing everyone.
     There is chaos everywhere. "Luke!" Percy calls out. "You're the head counselor for Hermes, right?" "Yup!" Luke answers. "Please take Thomas to your cabin." he says. "And yeah," Percy adds under his breath, "make sure no one bullies him." "O-Okay," Luke stammers, clearly informed of Percy's bad side.
       As Percy walks back to his cabin, he runs into Annabeth who is sitting on the stone steps of his cabin. "Hey, Wise Girl..." Percy tries to console Annabeth. "You angry over a simple matter? OK, fine, I apologize!" There's no response from Annabeth.  "Do you need a kiss?" Percy then asks, naughtiness creeping into his voice. A smile starts forming on Annabeth's lips. Percy takes that as a yes.
       He puts his hand behind her neck and other hand over her waist. Annabeth gets the signal and holds the sides of Percy's head with both hands. As they lean in.....
       "Ah!" Annabeth gasps. It's Thomas who's interrupting them. "Uh, am I interrupting something important?" Thomas asks fearfully, clearly afraid of Annabeth. "No, it's okay, cutie pie," Annabeth says with a hint of laughter in her voice. "You know, we can kiss later."
       Thomas' s eyes widen. "We can kiss?!" "Oh no!" Annabeth says and laughs out. "Oh," says Thomas and tries to keep his face straight.
       "Anyway, what is it?" Percy enquires. "Do you need help? Did someone bully you? Bet it's Clarisse, oh, what to do of that girl, she's into nothing but bullying, those stupid Ares kids-" "Percy?" Thomas asks. "Yeah?" Percy answers. "Nobody bullied me. It's just that Chiron told you to take me on a tour of the camp right? So, can you...?"
       "Oh! I almost forgot. Well, Cmon now, Thomas. Let's go on a tour."
                      ***
       "So, your dad is mortal, or your mom?" Percy asks. "What!?" Thomas says in bewilderment. "I mean..." Percy sighs in defeat. "Even that was my reaction the first time! I was like, Oh my God! My dad is a God?! But then I got over it. So yeah, it's your dad unknown to you, or your mom?" "My dad. I've never seen him. So the godly one should be my dad, right?" Thomas asks. "Yup," Percy answers, "You're a fast learner. So now there's a possibility that you might be Poseidon's kid." "Yeah," Thomas agrees, "It will be pretty cool to be your brother!"
       As they stand on top of half blood Hill, Thomas can see the dragon Peleus. "Whoa! Cool dragon that you've got." Thomas narrows his eyes in uncertainty. "What the... Is that the ACTUAL GOLDEN FLEECE? As in the original golden fleece?" "Yup," Percy answers casually. "Not much of a deal. Just wrestled it out of a cyclops's custody to protect camp borders. That was before Luke turned loyal to camp again. He poisoned Thalia's pine tree which secure the camp in it's safe borders."
       "Who's Thalia?" Thomas asks. "Long story," Percy says. "Will tell you someday later..."
       Percy also shows Thomas the beautiful strawberry fields and introduces him to Argus. "That guy was scary," Thomas laughs nervously. "Yeah, I know right? I still sometimes have nightmares about him."
       Thomas is also introduced with all the classes, basketball court, rock climbing place, and all. "And finally," Percy says, "The Big House. This is where most of camp stuff is kept recorded. Overall, camp half blood's a great place."
       "Isn't it dinner time already?" Thomas asks, clearly starving after the long day. Percy doesn't realise that it's 8:00 already. ADHD does that to Percy sometimes. "Oh, I think it's time now." Just to emphasize his statement, the conch horn blows in the distance. "Time for dinner!" Percy screams merrily. "Cmon, I'll show you the place."
                       ***
       "Hey, Thomas, would you like to sit with me for dinner today?" Percy asks Thomas. "I mean, you can excuse yourself that the Hermes table is too crowded..." "I'm okay with it!" Replies Thomas, matter of factly. Tonight there's stew, burritos, mashed potatoes and orange juice for dinner. The usual, Percy thinks. Thomas comes and sits beside him. "No! Don't touch it!" Percy yells when Thomas picks his glass to drink the juice. "Why?" Thomas asks. "I mean, it's meant for eating, right?" "Yes," Percy replies, "but you have to scrape the best part of your meal into the flames." Thomas seems enraged. "Why the hell?" He bellows. "I haven't come here for wasting food, have I?" "Oh, chill Thomas. It's just a sacrifice for the gods. For your godly parent. Ok?" Percy comforts Thomas. "OK.." he seems relieved somehow.
       When Thomas and Percy scrape most of their burritos in the fireplace, they return to the Poseidon table and start eating. Suddenly, Percy hears, "Percy! Come here, fast. There's a big problem." It is Chiron's voice. What could've happened? Percy thinks. As he reaches there he gets to know that the sacrificed food ain't burning. "What?" Percy is surprised. "Are the gods angry for any reason?" "I don't know," Chiron answers, "But it's something very grave...Or they would never refuse food, you know! They are great gluttons!" Hmm... Percy thinks the matter over. "Chiron, you know what," Percy says suddenly. "Actually, I'm very tired today. Could we think about this tomorrow? Or we can conduct a meeting," "OK," Chiron agrees. "See you at the campfire."
       Percy returns to his table to find his juice missing. He doesn't remember finishing it. He doesn't remember giving it to Thomas either. "Thomas...!!!" Percy laughs as he realizes Thomas has stolen his drink.
       After they finish their dinner, Thomas goes on his way to the Hermes cabin, and Percy back to his good old Poseidon cabin. Suddenly he realizes how lonely he is in the cabin. He decides to call Annabeth in. He walks over to the Athena cabin and calls out, "Hey, Annabeth.. I feel kinda lonely. Care to join me tonight?" "Ok, but I'll just tell Malcolm to finish the war map. Wait for a sec," she replies.
       He waits for a second. "The second's over!" Percy yells. "Ugh, Percy, stop irritating me, please!" Annabeth scolds him. "If you don't wanna come, you should've told earlier!" Percy says angrily. "This war map's more important right now, Percy!" Annabeth snaps back. "Fine!" He bellows and storms off.
                           ***
       Percy goes to the Hermes cabin and calls for Thomas, "Hey Thomas, care to join me on the Poseidon cabin tonight?" "Annabeth rejected you, right? That's why you came to me." "Yes, or no?" Percy asks, who is on the verge of bursting with anger. "OK, fine, I'll come!" Thomas says quickly. But then suddenly they hear the conch horn blow. "Dinner....again?" Thomas asks, confused. "Oh no," Percy says, a smile tugging at his lips. "It's the campfire. See you there, boy."
                      ***
       Percy sprints towards the campfire place. Thomas follows him. "Bro! Wait for me! I don't even know where it is," Thomas screams. "Follow me, dude," Percy says, as if it's obvious (which it is), "I'm no faster than you." "Fine..." Thomas sighs.
       Many campers have already gathered near the fire except for Clovis, who's always sleeping (he's Hypnos's kid). "So now that everyone has arrived, I want to tell a notice." Says Chiron's voice. "Listen," Percy commands. "So," Chiron says, "Today at dinner, Percy and me observed something. The gods are furious for some reason because they aren't accepting our sacrifices. So, we think a big problem has arisen." The campfire, which always reflects the mood of the campers, has now turned fiery purple.
      "Maybe it's because we couldn't kill Gaia?" Connor asks, kind of desperately. "Connor, you know that we can't actually kill her, right?" his brother Travis says. "I mean, what Leo did to her was the most we could do to her!" "Yeah," Calypso agrees, hugging him. "Leo did all he could,"
       "Silence!" Chiron yells. "I think it would be better if we closed this topic now. We'll update you if we've got more news," he says then, more politely.
       Suddenly, a part of the campers gasp. As Percy looks in their direction, he cries out in happiness. A green trident hologram appears over Thomas's head. "What is this thing!" Thomas cries, trying to swat at it. "I almost forgot to told you!" Percy screams in desperation. "You've been claimed, Thomas!" "Claimed? What is claimed?" Thomas asks in confusion. "I don't want to be claimed by anybody. Hey, nobody here claims me! Do you get it?!" "Thomas!" Percy tries to reason with him. "You've been claimed by your godly parent..." "Oh, so who is it?" he asks, clearly excited. "It's.... Poseidon. You're my brother." Percy says in an emotionless voice.
       Suddenly there is silence everywhere. The news takes time to sink in everybody, including Percy himself. "I've got a brother!!!!" he suddenly screams and hugs Thomas. "Dude, I knew you'd be Poseidon's. Those sea green eyes explain everything..." Then the cheering starts. Everyone lifts Percy and Thomas onto their backs. "Poseidon! Poseidon!" they chant. "he's gonna be successful like Percy..." somebody yells. "Oh, I'll never be as brave as him!" Thomas says, laughing.
       Everyone is laughing, but no one notices the figure in the earth trying to warn them what is going to happen.

Hey guys, so this is the chapter. Hope you understood why the title is Two Seaweed Brains. I thought I should keep this chapter long because I won't be updating very frequently as my exams are nearing. After my exams are over, I will update almost everyday. Hope you enjoy this chapter and vote and comment, please. Guys, anyway, wanted you to know that in today's newspaper, I read that Real Madrid (the awesome football team) got ahead of Valencia. Now, Madrid is on the third position. But, when I surfed the internet and searched la Liga updated table, Madrid were still on the fourth position! That's totally not fair. They won 5-2 against someone (I don't remember who) and this victory should have improved their position, which did not? Did their position not change? Or are the newspapers lying? Or has the internet gone crazy? I don't know, but I'm a pure Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo fan.
Thanks for your support, anyway, guys! See you next time!