4. The dead rise again

Luke's POV

I was falling, out of the sky, 100 feet in the air. Below my screaming body, I could make out Thalia's pine tree, and 12 house-like things placed in a very familiar U-shape. Camp, I thought. I was falling into camp.

As I neared the ground, I realised I was falling towards the pine, outside the boundaries of the camp. At least there wouldn't be any chance of falling and flattening a camper. But too late, I noticed another moving shape beside the tree. I remembered the dragon Chiron had hired to guard the Golden Fleece – Peleus.

Oh great, I thought. This is it. The end of my punishment. Goodbye, surface world! I'm going straight back to Hades!

Briefly I wondered if I'd get another Judgement. But before I could complete the thought, I landed on the ground.

Thump!

My face felt like it had been smashed inside out. My four limbs became a million broken pieces. My whole body was hurting and it didn't help that I'd landed on my butt. All I needed was some salt to add to my wounds. And I got it: Peleus the dragon was now sniffing me out.

I tried to back away slowly. I didn't look into his eyes, because it might anger him. Or maybe I didn't look into his eyes because I was too frightened. Either way, I should have tried something else, because Peleus suddenly straightened up and roared at me.

I remained still and silent. Or as silent as you can be when your heart is pumping 300 beats a minute (Did I still have a heart? I was dead). I could only gape as the dragon crouched down, eyes fixed on me. He shuffled his hind legs/paws/claws side to side, never looking away. I recognised this stance. Big cats always do this before they pounce. Peleus didn't look like a cat, but I didn't want to take any chances.

As it turned out, I had no chance at all. Peleus leapt before I could move. I couldn't bear to watch my own demise, so I shut my eyes, and turned away for good measure.

I waited for the sound of limbs tearing, the feel of the dragon's fangs in my neck. But it never came.

Tentatively, I reopened my eyes. Peleus was standing in me. No kidding. In me, not on me. His left paw/hand was sunk into my stomach, as if I was just a laser projection. My breath got stuck in my own throat, I was so shocked.

Then I remembered Hades' words: "You'll be part-ghost, not human. You won't be able to touch humans, but you can touch and lift inanimate objects."

Well, at least that meant I couldn't be killed be the dragon, then. I had a chance of actually entering the camp grounds yet.

When I entered camp, I realised I was wearing my old Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and jeans. At least Hades got me out of my bloodied armour. I'd thought of running up to the pavilion and giving everyone a shock. Hey, I am a son a Hermes. But I guessed that Mr D wouldn't be pleased with half of his campers fainting and the rest going crazy and shrieking their heads off during lunch. So I decided to look in the Big House first.

Chiron was inside, reading a paperback. I wanted to play a joke on him, as I hadn't had much fun in ages. The old centaur wouldn't mind. Peeping through the window, I made sure his attention was solely on the book. Then I knocked thrice on the door, put on a ghostly voice (which was not hard, considering I am a ghost), and said, "Chii-ronnnn…"

He looked up, puzzled. "Come in," he said to the door.

I snickered slightly, then crept to one of the side windows. I thumped it, and said again in the scary voice, "I've come for you. How long did you think you could hide from us?"

I had no idea why I was saying those things, or who I was supposed to be. And I could tell Chiron was getting bored. He probably thought it was just another camper. Time for something more drastic. I ran round to the back of the House, and started climbing up the ledges. I looked up at my target – the chimney. I figured, since I couldn't die again, climbing up would be a piece of cake. I chose the chimney that led to the fireplace in Chiron's room, and reached in no time.

I tried to look down, but I couldn't see anything except for soot and small bits of charcoal. If I jumped, I might get dirty. Or I might not. Hades had said I wouldn't need to bathe. So…

"Geronimo!" I yelled, and launched myself into the chimney. I could feel all the soot getting dislodged, but none seemed to stick to me. I braced myself for the landing, but it didn't hurt much anyway. This dead body was quite useful!

I clambered out of the fireplace to find Chiron sitting in his wheel chair, looking shocked. Then his shock turned to horror. "Holy Zeus, it's you! Oh gods, you're back! Oh–oh–oh… "

I grinned at his wordlessness. "Relax, Chiron. It's just me."

"Exactly! It's you! You're supposed to be dead!"

"I am dead. See?" – I put my hand through his – "It's part of my punishment. Hades sent me back to help with the rebuilding. Said it's what I worked for, so I should get to help." I got him to calm down a little bit, then I told him the whole story.

When I'd finished, he was back to his old self. "I see. So I suppose you'll want to meet the campers?" He eyed me knowingly, and I knew he was thinking of Annabeth.

I nodded eagerly.

"Well, they're all at lunch now, my boy. We can go to the pavilion." Chiron stood up, and the wheelchair-box fell back to reveal his horse half. I noticed that one of his hooves was bandaged, and he limped as he walked.

We left the Big House, and as Chiron closed the door, he said, "One last thing, Luke. Whatever happened just now, in regard to the chimney, is between you and me. You and me only."

I grinned again. How often does anybody get to scare Chiron?

Luke's finally back at camp. I'm having trouble with the half-dead body. It doesn't really make sense. If he manages to sweat, then won't he need to shower? And what he can and can't do...

Wait, I shouldn't plague my readers with my problems. Sorry! Chapter 5 will come up soon, I hope. It's the holidays but I have lots of homework (not that I'm trying very hard to finish them) and projects to do. I hate school.

Again, please review! You know what I want to hear. Help me improve my story! You know, I have 40 visitors to this story so far, but only one review! (And plus that review is from my friend Chiutene, who doesn't even know the whole awesome story.) Will somebody please review?

Thanks to everyone. For what? I'm not sure.

Lol.