Percy Jackson and the Armies of Chaos ~ Complete

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Alkaios's POV

I couldn't move. My bones were frozen, and I stared out at my old home. I was going to be the last one out, but then I felt a hand pressing against my spine.

"Go. It's nothing, it's a stretch of land, a meager spot on this whole planet. This place did nothing to you. Go." Era breathed into my ear, her eyes darting around.

It was the shock that I needed. I shook out my arms, and walked out of the truck. The smell assaulted me, it was so familiar.

"Deep breaths," she murmured, walking calmly next to me. "Breathe it in until you get used to the smell." Her eyes were focused on the people walking in front of us, her hood covering her face so no one could see her lips moving.

"Why?" I said back. She understood the question I was really asking.

"Because," she said, her face taut. "I know what it's like to go back to a place that you hate." She pressed her lips together and strode forward into the crowd.

That was the only bit of information that she ever gave about her past.

Luke's POV

I scoffed to my friend Hunter, "Oooooh, the Seraphim. I could probably take them all!" I said, my chest inflating. I had become an outcast, but there are some people who still realize how amazing I am. Hunter, for example.

All those years ago, Percy Jackson, my brother, never realized that my personality was all an act. I resisted the urge to scoff. He was a pushover.

I opened my mouth to say something again, but the girl in the gold hood brushed past me. "Take us all?" She said. "Please, you couldn't take the weakest foot soldier that we have." She scoffed, and pushed back her hood, shielding her brilliant gold eyes from the sun.

I didn't get a good look at her in the throne room. Wow, she was gorgeous!

I brushed my raven black hair out of my face, drawing her attention to my eyes. That kind of trick always worked. But she just rolled her eyes.

"Really, Princess?" I said. "I could-" I was about to say take you, and your friends, but her foot slammed into my throat, knocking me to the floor.

"My name," she said, in a lethal whisper, "is not Princess." She spat the word at me, her foot still on my throat. She sank into a crouch, peering into my face. "Understood?"

I gulped and nodded, gesturing for her to remove her foot. She reminded me of Annabeth. The last thing that Percy ever said to me was the only correct thing that he ever said. I did have my work cut out for me.

I gaped like a fish as she ground her heel into my chest for good measure. Then, she back flipped off of my chest so that she was standing, and prowled away.

I stood there, massaging my neck, watching her go. What a fine catch she would be.

Alkaios's POV

I glowered at my brother under my hood when I saw him talking to Era. I don't know why I did it, I just did.

I walked towards her, hoping to ask her what happened to make her help me, but I stopped as soon as I realized where we were.

Half-blood Hill.

I started to run over to where Thalia's tree is. I kicked some dirt at it, making sure that nobody saw. Then I laughed at myself. What am I, in kindergarten?

We made it to the hearth, and immediately, all of the campers filed into their cabins. I asked Chiron, "Where are we staying?" He pointed towards the make-shift cabin at the edge of the woods. Era snorted.

"I can do much better than that." She raised her palms, and a bolt of black lightning hit the cabin, razing it to the ground.

I wasn't the only one staring.

She then crafted a small palace out of obsidian. "Too much?" She questioned, tilting her head. She looked towards me. I nodded, not letting my shock show.

"Fine." She sighed, adjusting a few things until it looked like a small house. Made out of obsidian.

If Era wasn't Era, I'm pretty sure she would've pranced inside, just to unnerve people more.

"We'll stay in there." I told Chiron coolly, as if that had been the plan all along. He nodded dumbly. I was pretty sure that that was the only time I ever saw Chiron shocked.

I didn't have time to savor the image though, because Annabeth came walking towards us.

What I could see of Era's face tensed, and she subtly moved closer to me.

"Welcome to Camp Halfblood." Annabeth said professionally, holding a clipboard under her arm. She stretched out her free hand to shake, somehow managing to look professional even though she was wearing a bright orange camp shirt.

Era shook her hand stiffly, her hood falling back from her face on a phantom breeze. The two girls locked eyes, and I thought that I was about to witness a dominance battle for the ages.

Annabeth broke first, pleasing me. She looked away, and then back again, handing us some schedules. I took mine gingerly from her hand, taking care not to touch her.

"These are our camp schedules," she explained, pushing back a strand of her hair. "You don't have to follow them, of course, but we thought that you might want to know, so you can join in whenever you like. We also have a designated training time for them, this empty space here." She pointed towards a spot on Era's paper. "We thought that you might want to use that time to train the campers." She looked up, and Era cracked her knuckles.

"Oh, we'll definitely use that time," she said, with a savage grin. "We'll put them all to work." The smart people had the good sense to look scared

There was a catcall from the crowd, undoubtably aimed towards Era. I tensed, but Era was already scanning the crowd, looking for the person, looking for... Luke.

A knife made of a material that couldn't be found on this Earth landed, quivering, on a column next to his head. Era stalked through the silent crowd to retrieve it.

"One more time." She snarled. "One. More. Time." Aiyla snickered, presumably at the shocked faces of the crowd. Soon, Hale joined in and then all of the Seraphim were howling. The campers looked at us like we were insane, but even the laughter wasn't enough to distract me from the look in my brother's eyes. A look that meant that he was going to pursue her until the end of time.

And for some reason, I felt myself wanting to stop him.