The Werewolf King - A Percy Jackson Fan-Fic

Chapter 2: Claimed and Campfires

Chapter 2: Claimed and Campfires

            I woke up in a bright room. I blinked and looked around me. I was in like an old fashioned infirmary. I tried to stand up with my back still aching like mad. I could hear faint sounds like bullies were on a bullying spree. There were shouts and crunches. ‘Finally you’re awake.’ I turned and fell back on my bed. I wondered if I was dreaming for there was a man with a brown bushy beard with kind eyes. But that was from waist up. From waist down was a white stallion. I gawked at him waiting for the image to fade but it didn’t. ‘Am I dreaming? If I’m not then what are you?’ I stammered.

‘No you’re not child. I’m Chiron the centaur. I’m glad to see you awake. Annabeth brought you here and we healed you. It was pretty nasty the injuries you had. Two broken ribs and a burned throat.’

‘Wait, the Chiron, the one who trained Hercules and Jason?’ I asked.

‘Yes, that would be me,’ he replied. Ok, so this is a centaur that’s like, bazillion years old. Chiron filled me in of what happened whilst I was unconscious. Then he asked me what happened and what attacked me. I tried telling him what it was and explaining to him what happened. After I finished, he said ‘From what you have described child, it sounds as if you have been attacked by a drakon.’

‘Dragons?’

‘No, drakons. Similar species. Only a child of Ares can slay a drakon and you did it. It might mean you’re a child of Ares.’

What was he talking about? Judging from my expression, he must have seen that I was puzzled. ‘Why don’t you go and meet Annabeth. She’s waiting for you.’ I walked out and I gaped. It was like an old fashioned camp. In the distance, I could see a beach in the distance, some really brightly coloured cabin, a smoking room nearby and a whole bunch of other things. I spotted Annabeth talking to a boy nearby. I jogged up to her and when she saw me her face broke into a smile. She ran to me and said ‘Glad you’re finally awake. You’ve been out for five days.’

‘Five days?!’

‘Yeah. So I assume Chiron has filled you in.’

‘Yeah’ I replied.

‘So, what do you remember?’

I filled Annabeth in and watched her face carefully, waiting for her to tell me that this is all a dream. But she didn’t. ‘So are you really a demigod?’ I demanded.

‘Yeah. My mom is Athena and this is Percy, son of Poseidon.’

‘But how can I be a demigod? I’m a loser. I have dyslexia and ADHD. I pretty much fail at all my classes.’ I said.

‘You’re not the only one. I also have dyslexia and ADHD and so does Percy. We’re all labelled as troublemakers. Listen, no loser would be able to slay a drakon without training. They’re one of the hardest monsters to dispatch.’

‘I don’t suppose it died right?’ I asked.

‘No. Monsters don’t have mortal souls. When a hero slays them, their essence gets sent back to Tartarus, the underworld abyss and it can take them months even years to return.’ Then she remembered that Percy was with her. She introduced us to each other, ‘Percy, this is Artemis and Artemis, this is Percy.’ Then she frowned. ‘No it was supposed to be the other way round right?’ I giggled and nodded. I noticed Percy was looking at me closely, ‘Annabeth told me that you killed a drakon right?’ I nodded. ‘You’ll probably be a child of Ares then,’ he reasoned. Percy was kinda cute with black hair and those intense green eyes. I think he’s Annabeth’s girlfriend.  

She gave a quick ‘goodbye I’ll see you later’ and gave me a tour of the camp. It was cooler than I thought. The Mess Hall was interesting. Annabeth said the food is awesome. She gave me a quick brief about the woods and how Capture the Flag was on every Friday. Then we toured the cabins. None of them seemed to strike as my dad. Zeus seemed too formal like, I’m no drinker and I am not the type which sleeps throughout the day. Ares seemed too violent and Hermes didn’t seem to suit me. Then there were satyrs. At first I thought they were half donkey but Annabeth quickly told me they were half goat and that they would kick the hell out of me if I mentioned that to them. ‘Be aware of them. And the dryads and nymphs. They can be quite a show off sometimes.’ Sure. This day is just getting weirder and weirder.

            ‘So who do you think my parent is? I asked ‘Ares seems too violent to me, and  Hephaestus is quite cool. But I don’t know.’

‘We should find out by tonight at the campfire. You’re fifteen right? Demigods should be claimed by thirteen.’

‘Why?’ I asked

‘Long story. Percy made a deal with the Olympian gods during the Titan war some summers ago. He made the gods swear on River Styx to claim their demigod children by the age of thirteen.’

‘Why thirteen?’ I asked.

‘Because the longer they stay in the mortal world, the more dangerous it is for them. Annabeth answered. ‘Thirteen is the usual age that demigods start getting chased by monsters.’

A conch horn in the distance sounded. ‘Dinner time,’ said Annabeth. ‘Let’s go. You’ll have to sit on the Hermes table for today.’

I entered the Mess Hall and glanced around. Annabeth said that their table was the one with a winged sandal painted on it. I headed towards it. People started introducing themselves to me. Their senior councillor Conner Stoll welcomed me. ‘You a kid of Hermes?’ He asked me.

‘I don’t know. Annabeth said I should be claimed tonight at the campfire.’ I replied.

‘Well, nice to meet you. By the way, Capture the Flag is tomorrow. Do you wanna be in the Blue team, our team?’

‘Yeah sure!’ I replied ‘What will I need?’

‘Well, your armour and weapons.’ He paused for a second ‘and any magical items if you have one.’ Well, I didn’t. We ate our dinner and joked around. The food was awesome. Especially the glass which would fill up with your favourite drink so long it isn’t alcoholic.

            Another conch horn sounded and everyone got up. ‘Campfire time?’ I asked.

‘Yep.’ Conner replied.

I started following Conner wondering where we’re going and what the campfire was like. I put some images in my head but they all got erased when I saw it. The campfire was in an amphitheatre and according to Conner, the fire was magic. Its colour changes according to the mood of the people around it.

          The Apollo cabin led the songs. There were kids playing guitars and old fashioned string instruments… lyres? Kids were singing songs about armour and grandmas. There were lots of laughs. Then Chiron entered and pounded is hoof on the floor and the whole camp fell silent. ‘As some people already know, we have a new camper today,’ he began and motioned me to stand up and say my story. I told them how Annabeth and I fought a drakon and how I chopped its head off. After I finished, there was an awkward silence and then someone shouted out ‘She’s got to be a kid of Ares. Only children of Ares can defeat a drakon.’

            Then a collective gasp went around the camp, and everyone near me leaned away. I looked around me and asked ‘What’s wrong?’ A camper mutely pointed to my head and I looked up. There was a glowing black symbol above my head, the lowercase Greek letter Phi. ‘What just happened?’ I asked. Chiron folded his front legs bowing to me; the other campers followed his lead. ‘Hail Artemis Fallow, daughter of Phobos, god of fear.’

            For a second, the whole place was so silent; you could only hear Clovis’ snoring. Then everyone started talking at once. Chiron pounded his hoof on the floor and everyone fell silent. ‘Artemis has just been claimed by Phobos, her father. But sadly, we don’t have a cabin for Phobos so Artemis we’ll have to build a Cabin 21. That will be all for tonight. Return to your cabins and I’ll see you in the morning.’

I left the amphitheatre in a hurry to get back to the Hermes cabin first. Conner had already showed me a spare bed in the back of the cabin. I wanted to avoid all the awkward questions that I was sure campers were going to ask me. I fell asleep almost as soon as my head fell on the pillow. Big and exhausting day. I guess Annabeth was right. My life was about to change forever.