The Legend of Elodie Grant (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Chapter Ten

"Joey is going to kick your butt!"

I looked up in the direction of the speaker. It was a small girl, maybe ten or eleven. She was glaring down at me, obviously disgruntled at being trapped.

"Tell him to kiss it while he's there!" I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest and raising an eyebrow.

Arsen started barking out orders, distracting me from the prisoners. I turned to face him, curious as to what he would say next. I had proved him wrong with the attackers, but I was unskilled nonetheless.

"We need to watch the prisoners and make sure they don't escape. I want you five doing that." He said, pointing his finger at a group of kids. Then he turned and pointed to another group, "I want you guys to watch the flag. Don't let any of the blue team get it."

He finally turned to me and said, "Elodie, I want you to--"

"No need." I interrupted, "I already know what I'm going to do. I'm going to go deeper into the woods."

He gaped at me, stunned at the audacity of my words. I gathered that he was not someone who heard the word 'no' often.

"No you're not." He argued, frowning deeply.

"Watch me." I retorted, propping my hands on my hips.

"It's not safe."

I looked around pointedly at the people I had literally hanging in the air, before turning back to him and saying, "I think I can take care of myself."

"Take someone with you, at the very least." He sighed, reaching up and rubbing his face tiredly.

I grinned and started making my way towards him. He tensed up, seemingly ready for a confrontation. I couldn't help but smirk at how unnerved I made him feel. However, when I reached him, I just walked past, patting his butt on the way.

"You coming, then, pretty boy?" I asked, winking at him.

When he whirled to catch up with me, there was a blush covering his face, just barely visible underneath his dark skin. I smiled and turned back to the woods, eager to get moving.

"I'm Pretty Boy?" He called after me.

I laughed, but didn't respond. I cut through the woods, stomping through the undergrowth. Arsen soon caught up with me and began clear sticks and other obstructions out of our path. I smiled softly at the gesture, but quickly smothered it.

"So," I finally said, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, "Tell me what Demeter's children are usually like."

Arsen sighed heavily as if this was the most exhausting topic in the world. I frowned at his attitude, but didn't say anything as I watched him use his battle axe to hack away a branch.

"You saw them." Arsen eventually said, "All they do is make flower crowns and hold hands."

I frowned at the bitter tone in his voice. He had a lot more animosity for my cabin than I thought was possible, considering he invited us to be on his team.

"They can't all be that useless." I defended, crossing my arms over my chest.

Arsen turned to look at me with a measured expression. He didn't say anything and that was enough of an answer.  He had made himself clear; I was the only Demeter he believed was anywhere near useful.

"They just didn't grow up the way I did." I muttered.

Arsen gave me a curious look, but I kept quiet. Finally, he couldn't resist the temptation and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I hadn't always had the most stable environment to live in. Until I was old enough to help my Dad, my life had been a mess, because he's always so distracted." I said, keeping it simple, "I learned to be independent and loud in order to fight my way through this world."

He looked at me and seemed to realize I was feeling vulnerable and anxious, because he said, "My mom had PTSD from the war and killed herself."

I didn't say anything, only nodded. I knew it was a completely different thing than what I had been discussing, but it was his way of comforting me and telling me that I wasn't alone.

We didn't speak for the next couple of minutes. We just focused on making our way through the forest. I wasn't sure where we were heading at this point, but it seemed as if both of us had forgotten the game while we were in each other's company.

Which was saying a lot, considering how competitive Arsen has revealed himself to be.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Arsen open his mouth to speak, but he was suddenly cut off by a huge growl. I tensed up instantly, recognizing the sounds.

"Okay, I know you said there were monsters in these woods, but please don't tell me you actually have hellhounds roaming around." I muttered, keeping my voice low.

Arsen crouched down, keeping his head low. He had a deep frown on his face when he heard my words and I knew immediately that they didn't keep hellhounds in the woods.

Something was seriously wrong if one was walking around inside the camp.

I lowered myself down closer to the ground, following Arsen's lead. He was pale and unmoving.

"Let's turn around." I whispered. I had been cocky earlier about my abilities, but I had now performed two major forms of my power and I was starting to feel it in my muscles.

"No, we need to take care of it." Arsen argued, as he started to move forward, towards the sound with his battle axe at the ready.

"Now is not the time for your hero complex." I hissed, but I followed after him anyway.

He lead me to the borders of the camp. A large hellhound -- bigger than the ones I faced -- was standing at a large tree, snarling. It batted a paw out, but I relaxed when I saw it bounce off.

"See?" I said, "It's okay. It's not getting through."

However I was proven wrong when it batted out again, and it's meaty paw broke through the invisible barrier, stepping into the camp.

I yelped and leaped away, tripping and landing on my butt, with fear racing in my heart. Arsen's words from earlier came back to me.

"If anything ever gets through, then everything will get through, but that day won't come."

But the day had come. It was today.

Arsen leaped into action as the hellhound lunged and decapitated it in one swing of his battle axe. Then he turned to me, a grim expression on his face.

"We need to find Chiron."