The Next Generation

Chapter 1 - Kas

Hey everyone reading this! I am writing this book with Bamboo_Cat1130 (Sophie Chase the Leafwing of District 11). We agreed to post this book on my account. Please check out her account! She is writing a great book! This is my second book, so please checkout my other book! I hope you enjoy this book and just so you know, we are posting every FIVE chapters. We switch off characters, from Kas (Bamboo_Cat1130), to Zara, (WUJEK2007). 

Usually I was a peaceful person. Quiet. Shy. Thoughtful. I spent my time in Chiron's library, or the pegasi stables. But my worst nightmare was coming true. Practice battles. I didn't see the point of it. Why in the world would anyone just do a battle to a friend? Cut them until they were bleeding out, just to have the satisfaction of a win? I grumbled uncharacteristically as I watched two kids, a son of Ares and a daughter of Dionysus face off, a celestial bronze whip against two knives, also celestial bronze. I sighed. We had practice dummies for a reason.

Chiron, the immortal stallion-man, who had an amazing library, stood watch, ready to sound the next two in. The Dionysus girl was bleeding wine-colored blood as she growled at the boy, and flung her two knives at his throat, where they lay there, half an inch, maybe less, away from his tan skin. The boy grumbled, and the girl subsided the fight as Chiron blew a large, plastic, orange whistle.

"Alexa wins!" He called, and the few other Dionysus kids wolf-whistled and clapped as the girl reluctantly shook hands with the frowning boy, then took to her seat. "Next!" He shouted over the din, reading two names off of the clipboard he held at his waist. "We'll have Zara Jean from Hades cabin, and Kas from the Iris cabin!"

I groaned internally as I stood up. It wasn't that I couldn't fight, no, I trained at night, it was, just, that I didn't want to fight. Zara was a friend, actually, acquaintance might have been a better word, but the closest thing to a friend I had here, besides books and Chiron. We stepped out into the circle of sand that lay on the arena floor, campers cheering Zara and I on vigorously. Well, mostly Zara. I kept to the side, helping my siblings succeed instead of myself. So it was mostly to everyone's surprise when I didn't follow the red headed girl to the table of weapons.

Instead, I concentrated on the irony smell of fresh blood that stained the once-fresh air, the gritty feeling of sand under my combat boots, the clapping and shouting of my fellow teenagers, who, unlike me, were enjoying this. I dug my heels into the sand, and let out a breath, calming myself. Instantly, there was a flash of opalescent light, and my trusty staff appeared in my hands. The campers gasped, and rumbled the bleachers they were sitting on with all of the noise they were making. I winced. I preferred the library, but, sadly, this was mandatory. Zara had chosen a celestial bronze sword, and came to a halt, about twenty feet across from me.

The girl was wearing a black jean skirt, which I bet she regretted putting on now that she was almost in the midst of a battle, even if it was a practice one, along with even darker, if that was possible, leggings. With that dark look, her bright orange Camp Half-Blood shirt looked even brighter than necessary. Her fiery curls fell down her back in waves, and her usually soft, freckled face was scrunched up in determination. I cocked my head, smiling softly. I knew what I was to do. Chirons whistle tweeted blaringly, and I didn't move a muscle as Zara took the offence and charged at me. Closer, closer. She was a few feet in front of me when I took my move, kicking sand into her eyes, making her blink in frustration.

Blindly, she swiped at me with one hand, the other swiping at her eyes, that I dodged easily. The sword, not her swiping her eyes. My staff twirled through my hands as it hit her, with a thunk, on the side of her head, making her stumble back and fall to the ground, motionless. I covered my mouth. What had I done? I inched forward, my staff still gripped in my left hand, and I crouched down, intending to check her pulse. I never got the chance. As soon as I was in a vulnerable position, Zara sprang to her feet, and around her, the shadows... twitched.

They became writhing figures, swirling in all directions, lifting from the ground and flying, as if magnetized, to the swirling void of darkness she held above her head. She charged, once again taking the offence, and gracefully, I blocked her crushing blow, my staff never wavering as I summoned the sun, the light in the open arena, at my side. At once, my staff shone in all of the colors of the light spectrum, as the heat and light from the sun gathered behind me, facing Zara's shadows.

The light and darkness mixed, seeming to be fighting their own battle as we danced and twirled, as I swiped at Zara's feet, attempting to trip her, but she caught it with her blade just in time. I smiled, confusing her.
"Thanks for letting me try out my new move!" I said softly, before twisting my staff, disarming her. She scrambled for her sword, and once catching it, we held it to each other's throats. If I or she were to move an inch, we would be dead. With one waver of my staff or her sword, we would be dead. The arena was quiet, and I could almost hear the crickets chirping. Then it erupted into wolf-whistling, cheering, clapping, and more noise, that I wished I could avoid. I could be in the library, or the stables, curled up with To Kill a Mockingbird, or another book. Zara hesitantly lowered her sword, and I snapped my fingers. With a popping sound, my staff disappeared in a flash of light. I prayed that the noise would go away, that I could just slip away from the crowd. Then, I got my wish.

The noise died down abruptly, and I sighed contently, breathing in the fresh air. Ah, the sweet sound of silence. Then I opened my eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. At the entrance of the arena, stood strangers. A lot of them. I counted twenty three. But wait. I looked at their faces, adults and children alike, and groaned. I knew who this was. The adults I had seen in pictures on Chiron's wall in the big house. Percy and Annabeth Jackson. Piper and Jason Grace. Nico and Will Solace-Diangelo. Frank and Hazel Zhang. They weren't that bad. I mean, they'd saved the world at least twice. It was their children that made me want to lock myself in a library and stay in there for the rest of eternity.

The littlest kids were cute, and funny. The older kids, though... not so much. People flocked to them like moths to a flame, and they were crowded wherever they went. Long story short, they were popular. Way more popular, than say, me. Even now, people were staring at them with awestruck looks, and some I could tell, probably had crushes on them. But I didn't care. Just give me food, water, and a library, and I can live. More like I'll thrive. I stayed out of their way, like everyone else. I looked over at Zara, who was the only one, beside me, who was frowning. She rolled her blue eyes, and grumbled,

"Ethan. Of course he had to do a dramatic entrance," I glanced at the black-haired boy they called Ethan Jackson. He was staring at Zara as if she was a fallen star, or a diamond from coal. I smirked to myself. Someone had a crush. A green eyed man, Percy Jackson, spoke up.

"Chiron," He called. The centaur snapped his attention to the demigod.

"Yes Mr. Jackson? I assume there is a reason you have come here," The father rubbed the back of his neck, and the grey eyed, blond haired woman next to him, his wife, Annabeth Jackson, spoke for him.

"Well, to put it frankly," She smirked at a man on her other side, Frank Zhang, who scowled at her. "We need your help,"