When Sun Meets the Sea ~ PJO 1

~04~

        ~Percy POV

         As all of the cabins marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion, satyrs joined from the meadow, naiads emerged from the canoeing lake and a few other girls came out of the woods. Percy saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill. In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads.

        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 table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven was way overcrowded. Percy had to squeeze onto the edge of a bench with half his butt hanging off. 

        Percy looked around and found the familiar faces that he knew. Grover was 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 looking very familiar with the same determined gray eyes. Clarisse sat behind Percy at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends. Then Percy's eyes fell onto Andromeda who sat at the table next to him and he noticed that she was also on the end so the two were in talking distance. He saw that she was using a dagger to cave into the wooden table while holding a conversation with a boy across from her. The Apollo cabin kids all had Andromeda's golden-brown eyes that, Percy saw, were just golden in general. 

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

        Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"

        Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. Percy grabbed a bit of it, not really feeling the happy atmosphere as his butt continued to slip off the seat. 

         "Is there a Greek god of disappointment?" Percy spoke. He had started thinking about how he had just gone around the camp with Luke to try and see who his dad could be and see what he was good at, but he was bad at everything. "Maybe someone should ask him if he's missing a kid.

        Luke was about to speak when Chris piped up from next to him. "Oizys...but she's a goddess. And her whole thing isn't disappointment, it's more like failure." 

        "We're going to find the thing that you're good at. I know it." Luke said cheerfully before a bell chimed from around them. "Our turn." 

        "Our turn for what?" Percy asked. 

        "Burnt offerings," Chris answered before he left the table and went towards the fire in the middle. 

        "The gods like the smell, so it gets their attention before you say a prayer." Luke further explained. 

        "They like the smell of but mac and cheese?" Percy raised his eyebrow.

        "They like the smell of begging." Luke corrected with a chuckle. "You burn what you'll miss the most. Then they know you mean what you're about to say, so they listen."

        After Luke said that Andromeda walked past with her plate and Percy quickly stood up to walk with her. "Hey." 

        "Oh. Hi, Percy." Andromeda said with a little shock in her voice. "I heard about the bathroom incident." 

        "Yeah...I don't know how to explain that." Percy answered and Andromeda let out a small chuckle before tossing her mashed potatoes into the fire. She closed her eyes for a moment muttering something under her breath before she opened them again to look at Percy. 

        "If you want, you could try and throw something into the fire to see if your dad might listen?" Andromeda suggested. Percy shrugged and looked at his plate picking the best piece of steak that he had and throwing it into the fire. 

        "What do I do now?" Percy asked, his eyes going from Andromeda to the fire. 

        "Well, normally you'd say your fathers' name but obviously you don't know that." 

        "Ouch."

        "Truth hurts." 

         The kids looked at each other with small smiles before Andromeda finally helped him. 

        "Just close your eyes and think about what you want to say, maybe he'll hear." Andromeda said and Percy nodded before doing what she said. Afterwards, Percy opened his eyes to see Andromeda watching him. "Good job, hopefully he heard."

        Percy smiled and he went to say something, but he noticed that Andromeda had begun to look past him, and her eyes fell slightly. She tried to excuse herself, but Percy quickly grabbed her arm which stunned her as she turned back towards him. 

        "I just wanted to say thank you for trying to help me lately, It really means a lot to me, Andromeda." He spoke and she smiled. 

        "It's honestly no problem at all Percy. I understand why you're so desperate to figure out who your dad is. No one here blames you for wanting to try so hard. I'm sorry about everything you've been put through these past couple days." Andromeda replied and she went to turn again but she turned back. "And it's Andie, by the way." 

        Then with that she quickly excused herself. Percy watched her go and saw that she had been summoned by Annabeth who was now hurriedly whispering to her while Andie nodded to everything. Percy smiled at her words, making a mental note to remember her preferred name. 

        Percy returned back to his seat along with everyone else and he began to finish his meal and soon Chiron pounded his hoof for their attention. Percy watched as Mr. D stood up from his chair with a large sigh and Andie scurried back to her seat. 

        "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." Mr. D spoke and there was a bunch of cheering that came from the Ares table."

        "Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

        Percy heard Andie giggle as Chiron murmured something and he rolled his eyes at Mr. D purposefully getting his name wrong. 

        "Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

        Everyone cheered around Percy and soon they all started heading down toward the amphitheater. Percy was a bit confused since he didn't know there was some fancy campfire, but Andie quickly grabbed hold of his arm and heaved him out of his seat. 

        "Come on, Percy, you'll love this." She spoke as she pulled him down the hill and soon everyone was sat around the campfire where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along. 

        Percy sat next to Andie who sang along to every song, and he couldn't help but hear how amazing her voice was. He was astounded at first before he remembered that she was a child of Apollo, the god of music. They sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around. But what Percy enjoyed the most was getting to know Andie. She was very talkative and very open with a lot, and he was shocked at how friendly she was too him. He had only known her for about a day and he felt like he'd known her for years. Percy had learned that Andie's favorite color was purple, that she hated pickles, and that she did actually enjoy the poetry aspect of being a child of Apollo.

        Later in the evening, the sparks from the campfire soon dwindled to almost nothing and the conch horn blew again, signaling for everyone to file back to their cabins for the night. Percy watched Annabeth and Andie chat for a second before saying their goodbyes, since Athena was cabin six and Apollo was cabin seven the two went in the same direction, but Andie looked over her shoulder, waving a goodbye to Percy which he waved back too before heading to his own cabin.