The Adventure That Lies Ahead | PJO x HP

CHAPTER 5

The next morning, Chiron moved Percy to cabin three with the help of Isa, who was more than happy to help.

They didn't have to share with anybody, so they had plenty of room for all their stuff: the Minotaur horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. Even if Isa was the head counselor for cabin three, she allowed Percy to do anything he wanted, unless it was against the rules. Percy got to sit at his own dinner table with his sister, call 'lights out' whenever he felt like it, and not listen to anybody else. The only thing he couldn't do was choose his activities, but Isa allowed him to choose since she didn't really mind doing things he liked since she enjoyed doing all the activities. Except for archery. But they had the same thoughts on that. Actually, they had the same thoughts on most things, they liked the same activities so it wasn't so bad.

And he was absolutely miserable.

Don't get him wrong. He was happy he wasn't completely alone and had Isa to guide him, but just when he'd started to feel accepted, to feel he had a home in cabin eleven and he might be a normal kid⎼or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood⎼he'd been separated out as if he had some rare disease.

But at least he had Isa. Isa was overjoyed that nothing can dampen her mood. Not even the hellhound that attacked her. Percy didn't mind his new sister's obnoxiousness. He still found that hard to believe, that he had a sister... well half, but the same thing. Nevertheless, he was happy he had her.

Nobody mentioned the hellhound, but the siblings got the feeling they were all talking about it behind their backs. The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that Percy was the son of the Sea God; and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill them. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.

The other campers steered clear of Percy and Isa as much as possible. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with Percy after what he'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so his lessons with Luke and Isa became two-on-one. They pushed Percy harder than ever and weren't afraid to bruise him up in the process.

"You're going to need all the training you can get," Luke promised, as they were working with sword sand flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."

Annabeth still taught Percy Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time Percy said something, she scowled at him, as if he'd just poked her between the eyes. After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest... Poseidon?... Dirty rotten... Got to make a plan..."

"Don't mind her," Isa said. "Since Athena and Poseidon have a whole feud, ya know?"

Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill Percy for breaking her magic spear. He wished she would just yell or punch him or something. He'd rather get into fights every day than being ignored.

Percy knew somebody at camp resented him because one night he and Isa came into their cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page. The article took them almost an hour to read because the angrier they got, the more the words floated around on the page.

BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT

BY EILEEN SMY

Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred meters before exploding.