Everyone believes that Camp Jupiter is the only ever secret camp kept from the greek demigods, well they are wrong.
The Forgotten Children.
A camp so secret not even the gods know about them. There has always been a divide between the powerful and...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The light slowly died away, Leo blinked, shaking his head, he could barely see anything for a while. His eyes were sore. He almost stepped back in complete shock. They were...in Olympus. Within the council hall. The gods had also decided not to shrink down to human size, they were giants, looking down on Leo and judging him.
Judging them.
He looked around startled to see that his friends in Camp Ceres was with him, along with everybody else in Camp Ceres! They were all here, standing before the council of the Olympians.
"Please! You can't do this to me, you are not even in your Romen forms! I was only trying to help them! I helped them! Didn't I Leo Valdez!?"
Leo turned a little to his left and his mouth fell open in shock. Ceres was in front of him but she was in chains? Her eyes on him, desperately and pleadingly.
Leo felt himself scowl.
"Enough! You hid the camp from us. You are lucky we are not Romen or your punishment would be far higher! You also used them to become more powerful. We've already talked about this for too long. No more arguments. Camp Ceres will no longer exist because you are banished and no longer permitted to go near or talk to any of them. Enjoy banishment and human life!" Zeus boomed.
A white light surrounded her and Ceres started to scream.
And then she was no longer there.
Leo noticed Apollo looked incredible uncomfortable at this form of punishment, his usual arrogant expression was replaced by a troubled look as he looked at the space Ceres had been.
"Allright, now its your turn" Aphrodite giggled, turning to Camp Ceres.
Position rolled his eyes at them and said more gently "She doesn't mean that"
Now all of the gods eyes were on them.
No one spoke at first, completely shocked at what had occurred.
"Why did she know your name Leo?" Tabitha asked, her voice low.
He winced, remembering his earlier meeting with Ceres and said looking down on the floor "She saved me after you uh...tried to..."
Tabitha, Damon and Ash looked at each other, they looked a little red and more pale.
"Oh" Was all Tabitha could say.
"So she was there? All along" Teresa muttered.
"Yes and no. She was there but she was just using the camp to get sacrifices and add to her power, she made me promise not to say anything" Leo said, his voice bland, not looking anyone in Camp Ceres in the eyes.
"Enough! You will not talk amongst yourselves while you are in our presence!" Zeus growled, standing up, he towered over them.
That shut everyone up. Leo stepped forward, he knew he should really kneel but after everything he didn't feel like it and didn't want too.
"If I may ask, why are we here?" He asked, trying to sound as polite as possible, despite really wanting to scream at all the Olympians, especially Zeus and his father.
"You are all here because of two things. Despite Hephaestus being forgiven because of you, those machines would have decimated all mortals on earth, including demigods, as you can see that would a problem for us. I'm offering you a reward and you would be wise to take it!"
Leo blinked, eyes wide, he didn't understand.
"What my brother is trying to say is thank you. He has a problem with showing humility" Poseidon said, with a small smile.
Leo decided he liked Percy's father.
Hades was not there, though every other Olympian god was. Leo was glad, he believed Hades would freak him out a lot more than all the other gods combined. And he didn't really want to think of the underworld right now...
Zeus glared at Poseidon but didn't correct him.
"However I said two things. That is the first. The second is that now we know what has really been going on and Ceres is banished. Camp Ceres will be no more. Each of you must either go and have a mortal life, or join Camp Half Blood or Camp Jupiter, you will have no other options" Zeus voice was clear and commanding as he glared down at them.
Shock ran through Leo's friends and the rest.
Camp Ceres was no more? That couldn't be. They hadn't registered what he'd said before.
But at the same time they were in front of the gods, the gods were talking to them, taking notice of them, isn't this what they all wanted? What the camps ancestors wanted all along?
Leo could practically feel the uncertainty in the air.
He glanced at them, could see the worry in their eyes and worry over the future. He knew what he needed to do.
For them.
"With all due respect it wasn't just me that helped stop the metal beasts. Without them I wouldn't have been able to make it through. It was Camp Ceres that laid down their lives for this."
He thought of Jen.
"With that said, you mentioned a reward, I have a guess at what it might be but instead I want to ask a favour instead"
He glanced at Samantha, hoping he was doing what was right.
Zeus's eyes narrowed "What kind of favour?"
Leo smiled.
Then said firmly and his voice strong and fierce "I want you all to acknowledge your children, especially your Demi-god children. I want you all to come down to earth and visit the camps. I want you all to make sure you give attention to every single one. And I want you all to do your best not to have favourites. I know you can't really help what abilities your child gets but the weapons and tools?"
Leo shook his head.
Then with a deep breath he took of his tool belt and put it on the floor.
Hephaestus, stood up a little but sat down at Zeus's look but said "Leo?"
He looked even a little hurt.
"Either every one of your demigod children gets a tool belt like mine or you can take it back. I won't be favoured any more. That goes for the rest of you. Some only have one child so I get it. But the others? This has got to stop. It's just making your other demigod children feel ignored and feel like they don't matter as much, that will just cause more problems for you in the future, you know what I mean"
He glances sideways at Ares, remembering Clarrisse, thinking of her electric spear that none of her siblings had.
Leo said, feeling the ache in his chest over his belt but he knew it was for the best. Why should he be the only Hephaestus kid to have this? It wasn't right, wasn't fair to his siblings.
"What I want is you to stop favourites. I want you to either give every demigod child your attention and make them feel that they do actually matter to you, or don't make contact at all" Leo said.
With that he finished, taking a couple of steps backwards.
He looked at his friends who were staring at him in wonder and pure joy.
Yes, Leo believed he had done the right thing.
Camp Ceres would be remembered once more, and never feel like outsiders or forgotten again.
