Adore

Chapter Five

 A Wonderful First Day.

"Can I hit them?"

"Nope. Chiron would scold you so bad you'll do KP for a whole month straight out of guilt."

"Uhm, Luke? What's KP?" I asked him, drawing a big blank on what the acronym could mean. I mean, there could be a whole lot of meanings for those two innocent letters!

"Haha. Forgot you're new for a second there. Maybe because I feel like we've known each other for a long time now." Luke smiled at me, making heat rise up on my face. Stupid hormones!

"Yeah, yeah, Casanova. Way to be subtle there." I muttered, looking away resolutely. WHY must I be attracted to a flirty hottie again?

'Because I said so, dear,' a girl's, no, a woman's voice giggled inside my mind.

I froze in my tracks, blinking rapidly. Did I just hear a second voice inside my mind?

'Yes, dearie. Yes, you did. And you'll be hearing a lot from me! Ciao, Percy!' the voice giggled then faded, as if it never existed. CREEPY.

My expression must've been extreme because the next thing I knew was that Luke was shaking me, and his face was awfully close to mine. "Percy? Percy, you okay?"

"Woah! Too close! Too close!" I said hurriedly, flailing my arms in front of me, hopefully hiding my glowing face from him.

"Hey, now, Mademoiselle's back. How's the trip to LaLa Land?" Luke chuckled, amusement flickering in his eyes.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Casanova," I rolled my eyes, willing my blush to reside. "You're a real charmer, you know that?"

"Meh, no need to be subtle when you look like me, Mademoiselle." Luke winked at me. Seriously, why can't a guy just be good looking without the flirty personality?

"That nickname's gonna be stuck with me from now on, isn't it." I deadpanned, shaking my head in exasperation.

"Just like the 'Casanova' name is with me, so it's fair, right?" Luke smirked, making me harrumph in embarrassment. ARRGH! Damn him for being so suave.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes in exasperation. Really now, why is someone THIS HOT always the one who annoys me EVERY SINGLE TIME?!

He just laughed at me and resumed walking. He eventually showed me a few more places: the metal shop (the children of Hephaestus were surprisingly kind, maybe like their father), the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a huge tribute to Pan), and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough. I definitely would be avoiding that as much as possible. I hate fire. Hmm. Food for thought.

Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. Luke, the incorrigible, handsome i***t, was still smirking at me, probably for the earlier banter and our given nicknames. I swear, if he wasn't sandy-haired and blue-eyed like what my mom described Hermes to be, I'd say he probably was the son of Apollo for all his confidence. Well, the eyes are right, at least. The hair? Not so much.

"So, we'll be having dinner at seven thirty, and it's in máza, so we have to go to the pavilion as a cabin," his voice snapped me out of my pondering. I hmmed and stared aimlessly at the lake, my mind trying to at least put a stop to all of the questions that had popped up during our tour of camp. Luke noticed the sudden pensive atmosphere and dropped his cheerful face, looking at me out of the corner of his blue eyes.

"So, any questions, Mademoiselle?" he asked casually, his eyes roving the bottom of the lake. I looked at him, startled at his insightfulness. Well, maybe Mr. I'm-A-Living-Casanova isn't all pomp. The thought made me smile a little.

"Yeah. Chiron answered the basics of what's happening in this-our world, but, now I'm just plain confused by everything that's happening here in Camp. I mean, why is it like this? I mean, with the demigods. Why are there no kids of Zeus? Heck, even Poseidon? Hades, I'm really not sure because I suppose he loves Persephone to even think about k********g her from his own sister, but what in Hades is happening with the Greek world? What's happening, Luke?" I looked at him, gauging his reaction. His face had instantly darkened. His eyes had an angry glint in them and his mouth was drawn in a tight line, making his scar stand out.

"You're smart enough to realize that even though this is like a fairy tale come true, there are still a lot of problems, right?" he asked after a long moment of silence. I nodded, understanding what he's saying. I mean, even though it really is like a fairy tale to me, I know that this is reality, and there are bound to be problems made by life. I mean, not everyone is inclined to live blissfully and just accept the fact that there are gods ruling their lives. I mean, just look at the gods themselves. Not to mean disrespect or anything, but they did overthrow their parents for the right to their power. But hey, when they formed the Olympians, mom did say that the world was better off than it was before. Though, considering that she's still, and yes, I'm perfectly aware of it, in love with my renegade god of a father, there seems to be a level of bias. Oh well. May as well shelf this as 'unanswerable until proven'.

Anyway, I looked at Luke, figuring that if he was at least decent with me, he'd clue me in to at the very least the reason why all of this was happening. I'll just piece the rest together by myself.

"Man. This is why I hate prophecies. Not that I have anything against Cabin Seven, but still," Luke sighed as he ruffled his hair in annoyance. I frowned at that. Prophecies?

Luke must've seen my frown because he smiled listlessly and leaned against the railings that were enclosing the path. "Yeah, you heard right. Prophecies. The ones that were made by Oracles? They still are being made."

Huh. "So, we still have to ask someone about the future and all of that stuff?" Talk about weird.

Luke gave a sardonic laugh. "Nah. Not those kinds of stuff. We demigods ask the Oracle about our quests." I lifted an eyebrow. "Yeah. Those kinds of things."

"Well, that makes me so much happier," I sighed. I mean, yeah, I expected that we demigods would have to fight monsters and all of that stuff, but to follow the words a spirit decreed through a mortal vessel would be downright weird. I was never one to believe that the future is set in stone. Every little thing you do, even if it was inconsequential now would in turn be a pivot point for most of the big decisions you have to make later in life. It's what makes you, well, you. With the Oracles, I really have no idea on how to react on them. I sighed, as some of the pieces in my mind started gluing themselves together. "Let me guess. There's some kind of Prophecy that made things like this now?"

"Yeah. A Prophecy had been made some seventy years ago, actually. I don't know the full contents, but it's the real reason why Cabin One and Three are as empty as Cabin Two is. Actually, many know that the reason was that the gods were afraid of wreaking havoc again. The Big Three, the Three Sons of Kronos, made a pact. They all swore on the River Styx that after World War II they would stop siring demigods to prevent another one from resulting. Well, that was their cover up. You see, World War II actually resulted in the children of Zeus and Poseidon on one side, and the children of Hades on the other. So, it was really a convincing lie. The only reason I know the truth is that aside from Annabeth, Chiron trusts me the most here in this Camp. And he actually trusts me not to go snooping for the Prophecy since Annabeth did that and she had horrible nightmares for months. So yeah. That's the full story of it. I'm really not sure myself why I'm telling you all of this, since you're a newbie and all. I just have a strange feeling in my gut to tell you this." Luke shrugged stared at the bottom of the lake. I followed his gaze and shook my head, feeling a little amused at what he was doing. I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They giggled and blew kisses to Luke. Really now, even though when we're having a serious talk, he still has enough charm to make any girl give him the goo-goo eyes.

Though, what really surprised me was when they looked at me, instead of scowling at me like Annabeth did, they waved at me, like I was a long lost friend of theirs. My eyebrows rose at this in surprise. Luke noticed this and his eyes gained a calculating glint when he tore his gaze from them to focus his eyes on me. I felt like squirming under his heavy stare. "What?"

Luke just smiled at me, a genuine smile. "Maybe we won't have to wait long for your dad to claim you." I sighed, nodding. Luke just smiled sympathetically. "Yeah. Most of the other campers in our cabin don't even know their parents. Seeing as Hermes is the God of Travelers, we sort of adopt them so that they won't sleep in the forest. That's the main reason why Cabin Eleven is so full. The gods don't claim the people there, or they're just not kids of the Olympians."

"That's horrible. Why isn't someone doing something?" I asked, confused. I mean, shouldn't there be a cabin for every god? Are the Olympians the only ones with the right to sire demigods? Luke sighed and his smile took on a more melancholic tone. "Percy, not even gods can contradict what the Fates have in store for all of us. Remember that." I blinked, startled at what he said. This was all predetermined?

"So, anyway, Mademoiselle, are you planning to be a year-rounder here?" he asked, tactfully changing the subject. I smiled at him, relieved that he snapped us out of our somber mood. "You mean, we could stay here all year long?"

He smiled and fingered his clay-bead necklace. He had five. There were different pictures for each clay bead. "Yeah. Or, you could choose to be a summer-ian. Kinda like those regular Summer Camps for regular mortals." His eyes were glinting mischievously.

"You are so full of yourself," I sighed as I rolled my eyes in mock annoyance. He just winked at me and smiled cheekily.

"I almost forgot, though. If you're a year-rounder, you might be able to come with us to come see Olympus. We just had a tour during the Winter Solstice. Before you ask though, Olympus is currently at the Empire State Building." COOL. Olympus was at New York! Funny. Mom didn't tell me this. Maybe she doesn't know. Huh. Anyways, wonder how they get people up there? Hmm.

"Yeah. Actually, when I think about it, it was after that that the weather started to get weird, and the satyrs got much more nervous than usual. Chiron didn't tell me outright, but I know when someone's hiding info. I just didn't think much about it. Annabeth isn't forthcoming with ideas like usual, so I thought that it was nothing. Hmm." Luke again descended into his pensive mode, leaving me to my thoughts. After the trip, the weather turned bad? That's usually a sign that Zeus is angry, or at the very least unsettled. I wonder what could leave the King of the Gods in a frightful mood. Okay. Deviating from original topic. "Anyways, I don't know Luke. Let's see what happens."

"Alright. Anyway, Mademoiselle, enough thinking for us today. We still have a lot to do!" Luke's suddenly cheerful voice startled me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "What else do we have to do, Casanova?"

He grinned at me, making me narrow my eyes in apprehension. Seeing that look made me remember the looks the troublemakers in my classes at Yancy wore. It usually never resulted in something good. "Why, we need to get you settled in the Cabin, of course!"

When we returned to the cabin, it was just as full as before. Well, the belongings were. The kids had all somehow managed to disappear. Mostly. The only ones left were the ones who I would've bet my money that were Hermes' children, with their uncanny resemblance in looks with Luke. The Twins, Travis and Connor, were still there, apparently waiting for us to come back, because as soon as I entered the cabin, one of them, I'm still not used to seeing them to separate them, pulled me away from Luke and pointed to one of the bunk beds.

"Well, Gorgeous, seeing as Luke hasn't stolen you a sleeping bag from the camp store yet, wanna share my bed?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, looking at me from the top of my head to my feet. I chuckled a little as the other one wrapped his arm around my shoulder, steering me to the bunk bed adjacent to the first one. "Hey, hey, Travis. No two-timing! Strawberry would be heartbroken, you know. But now, this guy's available, Green Eyes." Travis just sighed and made strangling motions aimed towards his brother. "For the last time, Katie is not my girlfriend! I swear, Travis! You're like an Aphrodite kid!"

I outright laughed when the particular motion and comment caused Connor to unwrap his arm around me and wrestle Travis to the ground, mock fighting. The people around just laughed and hooted at them, egging them on. I even noticed that there was someone taking bets. I just shook my head, relaxing in the happy atmosphere. This must be what it feels like to be part of a large, happy family. I sighed wistfully, lost in my own thoughts, when a warm hand encased mine, and tugged me to a direction, bringing me out of my daze.

"Hey, Mademoiselle. When those two were busy being fools, I brought you some toiletries from the camp store." Luke smiled at me as he shook a bag infront of me, emphasizing his point. At this point, I really didn't want to know if he got them or he just plain stole them. I just smiled at him and thanked him, relieving him of the bag, and thus releasing our hands, seeing as I still had the Minotaur horn in one hand. I looked around the cabin, then looked at him, silently asking where in Hades would I actually sleep. It looked like every available space was littered with sleeping bags. Heck, even Connor and Travis were wrestling in top of two of the bags. He smirked at me, making me shake my head.

"Actually, she's sleeping with me." That statement actually stopped the ongoing fight as everyone turned to look at Luke and I. Luke was smugly smirking, the insufferable i***t, making me turn crimson pretty quickly. A few seconds passed in complete silence, before Connor stood up and leapt towards us, aiming for Luke. Luke just chuckled and pulled me to an embrace before sidestepping away, leaving Connor to yelp as he collided pretty painfully with the floor.

"Not fair, Luke! No hogging to yourself!" he whined as he rubbed his red forehead, crawling up to a sitting position. Luke just laughed and tugged me towards the back of the cabin, towards the last bunk bed. The noise in the cabin went back to the normal catcalls and laughs, seeing as Connor was still nursing his red forehead. Travis, on the other hand, was rolling on the floor, laughing his heart out. The others were laughing as well, but the one laughing the most other than Travis was the one who was managing the bets. I shook my head, amusement dancing in my eyes.

Suddenly, the laughs were pierced by a horn, made by a conch shell. How I knew, I have no idea.

Luke just smiled as he pointed to what I'm assuming is his bunk bed. I sighed, amused, as I dropped the bag and the Minotaur Horn on the bed, deciding that I'm going to trust them not to steal the spoil. Luke's smile widened, making me almost shield my eyes with its radiance. I'm guessing it's the first in a long while someone actually trusted them.

"Eleven, fall in!" He yelled, never once letting go of me. This, apparently, was noticed by the whole cabin as they all laughed and some even wolf-whistled. "Ignore them, Perce," he laughed quietly as he adjusted his embrace so that he had slung an arm around my shoulders. He and, by extension, I, led the cabin towards the dining pavilion. During the walk there, many of the other campers would fall behind Luke, the kids who were never claimed, or didn't have anywhere else to stay. Together, Cabin Eleven really made a rag-tag family. It made me smile in realization that until my dad claims me, I'll be part of it, too.

Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down. "Artemis' cabin looks pretty." I said, awe-struck. Luke looked towards it and nodded.

We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods- Dryads. It's amazing how they looked like compared to the appearance of their tree itself. I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a pretty huge maple tree and come skipping up the hill. Amazing.

At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. It simply wasn't made to accommodate the number of kids cramped inside the cabin. So, we ended up mostly improvising. Luke got a seat and pulled me to him, resulting in me sitting on his lap. I squeaked when I realized that every camper could see us in that position. I could feel a burning gaze behind my back, and didn't need to turn to know that it was Annabeth. I just sighed and punched Luke in his arms, resulting in him raising both hands in a surrender gesture. The whole table laughed and Connor catcalled. "You're already whipped, Luke!" That resulted in the whole pavilion to notice what Luke was doing and promptly laughed like the rest, glared, or just simply didn't care.

I pointedly ignored all of this, observing the pavilion. I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur. Annabeth sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with her gray eyes and honey-blond hair. She was the only one from her table scowling at my direction, and seeing as the other were pointedly shaking their heads, it must be common knowledge that she has a huge crush on Luke. Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She and the rest of her siblings, apparently, didn't care about what was happening, though Clarisse had a small smirk, nodding her head towards me in recognition.

Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!"

Everyone in turn raised their own empty glasses. "To the gods!" Seeing as I was sitting on Luke's lap, I just copied him. And I KNOW he's smirking at me. The sexy bastard.

Then, wood nymphs came forward with platters of food; grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbeque. Luke was already loading my plate with a bit of everything, which made me scowl. "Hey, I'm not an invalid, you know."

Luke just chuckled at that. "I know. I just want to serve you." Hooboy. There goes my indignation, and enter my embarrassment. Stupid Casanova. My face must've been pretty red because the table was once again catcalling and hooting, calling Luke a lucky bastard. I just crossed my arms, weathering out the teasing. I noticed Luke grab his empty goblet and spoke what suspiciously sounded like 'Grape Ponta', but I could be wrong. I shrugged, and grabbed my goblet. "Cherry Coke." To my amazement, the goblet suddenly was filled with the sparkling caramel liquid. Hmm. I wonder. "Blue Cherry Coke." The beverage turned a nice shade of cobalt blue. I grinned. I drank a toast to my wonderful mother, hoping that when she got back home, Gabe had mysteriously disappeared and left her with everything.

"Blue?" Luke asked behind me. I twisted around slightly to look at him. He was eyeing my drink with a raised eyebrow. I laughed and told him that my mom and I had a definite fondness for making food blue. He looked at me for a second before shaking his head, smiling. He then nudged me to get up, so I did. He then got his plate, gesturing that I should do the same. He then guided me toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.

"Burnt offerings?" I asked, suddenly feeling lost. Who was I supposed to call on?

"Yeah. Go on, Perce," he nudged me to the brazier. I stood there for half a second before scraping off a big slice of brisket into the fire and muttered, "Lord Hermes, thanks for letting me stay in your cabin. And to Lady Hestia, too." I then returned to the table.

When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention. Mr. D then got up with a huge melodramatic sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels." Clarisse and her sibling let out a huge roar.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Penelope Johnson." Chiron muttered something from the side. "Er, yes. Percy Jackson. That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. We sang camp songs about the gods and ate smores and joked around. The whole time, Luke didn't leave my side. Well, that, and Cabin Eleven had gone from hostile to being a family, had me realize that this right here could be my second home. A home away from home. The thought left me with fuzzy feelings the whole night.

As I lay at my side of the bunk bed, I couldn't help but think about the guy that I was sharing the bed with. He really didn't have to do the things he did today. I mean, he was a counselor. I was a newbie. Why did he do that? Why is he so concerned about me? And what in Hades' name is that giggling?... Wait. GIGGLING? There was only one god who I can think would be interested in pairing up mortals.

'Please stop giggling inside my head, Lady Aphrodite. It IS you, isn't it?' I thought, completely exasperated. Mom was right. Aphrodite was BIG on hooking together mortals that amuse her.

'Of course, dear! Who else? Artemis? Hmp. Like that girl would know anything about love. And of course I want to pair up interesting mortals. I need some entertainment. Ares is getting a bit too clingy for my tastes,' the voice harrumphed, making me sweatdrop.

'Don't you like it when men get clingy to you?' I thought, thinking back to all the stories my mom told me about men who worship Aphrodite with their very lives. Many girls would sacrifice their souls to get that kind of attention.

'That's exactly the point, dear. I'm sick of men throwing themselves in front of me. I want a real man, not a baby pretending to be a man. Do you know that Ares still depends on Hera almost half of the time? I mean, if he's 35 it's totally understandable, but when you're 2000 years old? That's simply pushing it! And don't get me started on his-!'Aphrodite ranted incessantly. I sweatdropped at the profanities Aphrodite was ranting about. Thank Hades Ares has no idea what his girlfriend really thought about him or there'd be World War III AND IV.

'Erm, Lady, if I may? Why don't you find someone else?' I thought uneasily. These things really don't come naturally to me.

'Hmm. Someone else? Maybe, dear. It has some merit. Well, dear, it has been a fun day, hasn't it? Look forward to tomorrow, my dear Percy. I have a feeling things are going to get exciting for you very soon.' After that, the giggling totally left, leaving me to my thoughts.

Exciting, eh? Bring it on!