The Truth Behind The Myths

Scary Border Rock

Third Person POV

Frank had some burly kid with bright red lips lead Percy around camp and show him the ropes.

"So what did you fight with when you trained with Lupa?"

"Sword."

The boy nodded and unhooked a flask at his hip, taking a long swig then offering it to Percy. "Want some?"

"What is it?" Percy asked hesitantly.

"Kool-aid." The guy grinned at him in a way that made Percy suspect it wasn't just Kool-aid in the contrainer.

"I'll pass. Bright red lips would make me look like a doll, especially with this complexion." He motioned to his pale skin.

The other boy nodded and they continued through the demigod city.

"This is where the Praetors live." He pointed to two nicely decorated houses right next to each other.

"Who lives there?" Percy asked.

"Well you met Frank already. And you'll meet his partner soon enough."

"Hey Dakota!" A girl shouted from their left. "Shouldn't you be taking the newbie to the Fifth Cohort's bunking so he can start out?"

"Nah!" Dakota shouted back, flashing his wild grin that Percy decided was a trademark. "Zhang said he wants to do a fighting trial from this one, since he's been spoken so highly of by the border guards."

"Alright, know when that's gonna start?"

"Not a clue, Leila, but I think Zhang was sending Lares to spread the word."

"What are Lares?" Percy asked as the girl waved and jogged off to meet up with a tall, rugged looking teen with brown hair and the beginning of a beard. He noticed that the kid was wearing a black robe that seemed to contrast with the togas or tee shirts and jeans he was seeing other kids wear.

"They're kind of like these weird protection deities that float around the city. Their power level is basically zero and they're about as deadly as rabbit kittens, but they're pretty fun to hang around sometimes." 

"Oh."

They were approaching a rather large group of buildings, but suddenly a large statue of a man appeared before them.

Only his waist and upward was depicted, the rest simply a marble post, and he had no arms. 

"Weapons!" The statue barked in a rather reedy voice.

"I don't have any." Percy replied with a small smirk, "Unless you count these guns." He flexed his arms.

Dakota laughed and the statue scowled. He seemed to take in the boy's appearance. "Think you're funny, boy? You won't be laughing when I'm through with you. See that store with the blue awning? General store. Buy yourself a ruler and fix your hair. Regulation, Dakota will tell you the length. Tuck in your shirt, shine your shoes, put on a shirt that doesn't have holes all through it."

"Give him a break, Terminus, he just fought off a gorgon." Dakota said.

"I don't care! There is no excuse for being sloppy." Terminus turned his attention back to Percy, his frown slowly deepening as he looked the boy up and down a few times. "Don't feel any weapons."

"You're feeling me? Dude, buy me a drink first." Percy laughed. "How can you even feel for weapons if you don't have arms?"

Terminus looked like he was going to explode.

A small giggle drew Percy's attention to a young girl sitting mostly out of sight behind the statue's base.

"Well hello there." Percy smiled at her. "Who're you?"

"Julia." The girl flashed him a smile that completed her adorableness with two missing teeth.

"Well hi, Julia. I'm Jack. What are you doing here?"

"She's my assistant, I would appreciate if you stopped flirting with her!" The statue barked.

"Terminus, I'm sure he wasn't trying to flirt-"

"She's like, 10. Definitely gonna be a looker though, maybe I'll come see her in 10 years." Percy grinned at the obvious rage he was causing the statue.

Dakota dumped his weapons hurriedly in the bucket that was sitting next to Julia and steered Percy away. "You got a death wish? Never anger gods."

"He's a god?" Percy laughed. "Dude doesn't even have arms!"

"You're insane." Dakota muttered.

"I mean, he's basically the equivalent of putting a hall monitor in a room full of delinquents." Percy said, remembering his days at school. "Utterly useless and completely irritating."

"I will have you know, Mr. Timber," Terminus appeared in front of them, "That I have a very distinct job."

"If you keep scowling that hard someone's gonna carve it into your face." Percy smiled wolfishly. 

"How dare you-"

"Okay, we're leaving!" Dakota grabbed Percy by the arm and dragged him off. "Will you stop doing that?"

"Doing what? Making Stony grumpy? Oh, I'm so scared of the border rock!" Percy laughed loudly.

Dakota rolled his eyes and sent a silent prayer to the gods to save him from the insanity of this kid.

[A/N scary border rock! It's hard to write in the dark....]