ichor - jason grace

I

As with most days, the morning has started out quiet for Nell.

She woke up to the sun streaming into the cabin. Thanks to their father and the sun chariot flying over the camp first thing (thanks, dad). She rushed for a shower before her sister Sofia woke up and no doubt used up all the hot water with her hour-long performances. Then, her and Will rounded up everyone and headed to the dining pavilion. After breakfast, they split up and headed to their different stations. Kayla took a group to man the infirmary, and Nell took the rest to the archery fields for a few hours before Lunch. It was a very slow day, so far and Nell was so absorbed in her boredom that she almost failed to notice their chariot making a crash landing in the lake.

Quickly shaking herself out of her shock, she caught up with Will and headed towards the lake. As she arrived, she took note of the three people Annabeth and Butch had brought back with them. The first boy was a Hispanic looking boy with a mischievous face and curly hair who was always moving his hands as though he needed something to tinker with. The second girl had feathers in her hair and still looked beautiful even with her messily chopped hair. The last one was a tall blonde boy with a purple shirt and the most gorgeous blue eyes she's ever seen.

Nell noticed that someone had the bright idea of bringing the leafblower to try and dry everyone off, she supposed it was better than everyone catching a cold.

"Annabeth!" she heard her brother shout from next to her, and she had to laugh at the boy's exasperated face as he caught sight of the wrecked chariot, "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry." Annabeth sighed "I'll get it fixed, I promise."

"Chill out, dude. We'll get it fixed" Nell said, grinning at the look on Will's face.

Will rolled his eyes at her and turned to the three strangers. "These are the ones? They look way older than thirteen, why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Claimed?" the curly one asked.

Before anyone could get a word in, Will said "Any sign of Percy?"

Nell turned her head towards Annabeth, hoping to hear some news about her lost friend.

"No," Annabeth said

"So what, the sign led you to them instead?" Nell said, peering to the newcomers.

"Well," Nell heard, and saw Drew Tanaka step forward "I hope they're worth the trouble."

Nell rolled her eyes, blocking out the daughter of Aphrodite's voice. She caught sight of Drew raking her eyes across the newcomers. The girl glanced at curly and turned her nose up at the girl before focusing on the blonde boy as though he was the only one worth her time.

"Gee, thanks," Curly snorted "What are we, your new pets?"

"No kidding." she heard Blondie speak up. "How about some answers before you start judging us - like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

Nell smirked, she had to admire his attitude.

"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew" -she frowned in her direction- "all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"Hey," the girl said, obviously offended, not that Nell could blame her, "we didn't ask to be brought here."

Drew sniffed, "And no-one wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

Nell rolled her eyes at Drew's catty comment as the girl stepped forward, ready to smack her. She was interrupted as Annabeth said, "Piper, stop."

"Jeez Drew, at least let her settle in before you start bitching will you," Nell said, a frown directed the girl's way.

"Both of you, enough." Will sighed, he was more than used to his sister and Drew sniping at each other.

"Will's right. We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with a pointed look in Drew's direction. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"Would somebody like to tell me what claimed means?" Piper explained, sounding frustrated, in the least.

Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers were looking over towards Curly with a look of awe. An orange glow lit up his face, and floating over his head was a holographic hammer - the symbol of Hephaestus.

"That," Annabeth said, "is claiming."

Hephaestus. Nell wasn't surprised, it was obvious by the way the boy's hands seemed to be moving at all times as though he is used to constantly fiddling with loose objects.

"What'd I do?" Leo said, backing up. He glanced up at the fiery symbol above his head and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He tried ducking out of the way, but the symbol just followed, bobbing and weaving as though he was doing some funky new dance.

"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse-"

"Now now, Butch," Nell interjected, throwing the boy a sharp look. "There's no need to panic him, is there?"

"Leo, you've just been claimed-" Annabeth began.

"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"

Nell regarded him with a quizzical stare, wondering why he was using the Roman terms.

"Jason," Annabeth said carefully, "How did you know that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE star trek. What are you talking about?"

"I mean, Jason was close," Nell said, with a nod in Jason's direction. "Vulcan is the roman form of Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmiths and fire."

The fiery hammer had faded, but Leo was still swatting the air as though it would reappear any minute. "The god of what? who?"

Annabeth turned to Will. "Will, would you take Leo and give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in cabin nine?"

"Sure, Annabeth," Will said, seeming to forget his anger over the chariot for now.

"What's cabin nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

"Come on, Mr Spock, I'll explain everything." Will put a hand on his shoulder and steered him off towards the cabins.

Nell smiled to herself, shitty jokes and puns were something she and Will had a shared love for.

Annabeth turned her attention back to Jason, studying him as though he was a complicated blueprint. Finally, she seemed to some kind of conclusion and said, "Hold out your arm."

Nell looked at what had caught Annabeth's attention, and her eyes widened. On the inside of Jason's forearm was a tattoo. How Piper hadn't noticed this before was beyond her, it wasn't hard to miss. The tattoo was darkly etched and of a dozen straight lines, and over that an eagle with the letters SPQR.

"I've never seen marks like this," Annabeth said. "Where did you get them?"

Jason shook his head. "I'm getting really tired of saying this, but I don't know."

The other campers pushed forward, trying to get a better look at the marks, it set them on edge. The marks seemed to bother them a lot - almost as though it was a declaration of war.

"Dude," Nell muttered. "they look burned into your skin."

"They were," Jason said. Then he winced as though he had a sudden headache. "I mean... I think so. I don't remember."

The other campers were on silent, looking at Annabeth and Nell, waiting for them to deliver the verdict.

"He needs to go straight to Chiron," Annabeth said. Nell agreeing with her decision.

"Annabeth, you take Piper on her tour. I'll take Jason to Chiron and see what he says." Nell said, and Annebeth nodded with her decision.

"Come on Blondie," Nell said, taking hold of Jason's forearm. "I'll introduce you to our director. He's an...interesting guy." She straightened up before showing Jason towards to big house.