The Stolen Weapons

Ch. 4

Introducing Your Death

A/N: Wow, how time flies by. Happy New Year to you all! Thank you so much to those of you who put up with me and my terrible updating habits. I totally appreciate every single of you who takes time to read, review, favorite and/or follow my stories. Your support means the world to me and I really want to take time to just sit down and focus on this story, but life has a tendency of getting in the way. So thank you again for having so much patience with me. I own plenty of copies of Mr. Riordan's books but I still don't have the rights to them, so enjoy this fictional, nonprofit story written by yours truly.

Previously:

"Mom?" He called stopping in his tracks.

"Go, I can't go there with you, but you'll be safe." She called back and Grover quickly grabbed Percy's wrist and started dragging his friend along before he could argue.

They were already half way up the hill when Piper screamed.

Now:

It was just supposed to be a small peek. A quick, harmless glance over the shoulder. Piper had only meant to only turn around for split second—just to check their progress. She thought just a short glance would be okay, but it wasn't.

Piper had turned and hoped, illogically, that there were miles of grass between herself and her friends from the behemoth that followed. She had hoped that a magical wall had been placed between them and the monster. She had hoped beyond all reason that she would blink, open her eyes, and wake in her bed and this—her father disintegrating and Ms. Sally's disappearance—would all be a horrible nightmare.

It was not to be.

Behind her, dangerously approaching them in a menacing walk, was the hulking figure of the Minotaur. It was tall, seeming around 10 feet tall, and packed with muscles, much more than those guys her father worked with when he modeled, much more than those football stars, and much more than even those ridiculously buffed up men and women who weight lifted hardcore for sport. The monster had red eyes and, like the myths said, the head of a bull and the body of a man. No, based on everything that's happening, based on the fact the actual, freaking Minotaur was chasing them, those myths were fact, as in actual history.

Oh how she needed to lay down…

The bloodcurdling roar of the beast behind them chilled Piper to the bone. She stayed rooted in place, trapped in her own fear, and all Piper could do was let out a shrill scream of terror. She would have fallen to her knees as well if not for Percy's quick movement. He had ripped his hand out of Grover's and made it to her side in record time. Without a second thought, he grabbed her by the hand and dragged her up the hill with him, Grover still leading the way.

Had this been any other non-life threatening situation Piper would have been overjoyed at the contact. Ideally, the setting would have been different with the sun shining, the weather a nice temperature, his grip would be soft but firm, and they would be walking up the hill for a nice little picnic with maybe a few birds chirping here and there…

Obviously this wasn't the current case.

They were instead under the light of the moon with harsh rain paired with loud thunder and bright flashes of lightning, Percy's grip was hard and harsh, and they were heading uphill towards a huge pine tree while running away from a creature that was supposed to be of myth. Definitely not ideal.

"Hurry! We're almost there!" Grover yelled to the pair in hopes of getting them to move faster.

This was not going according to plan, not at all.

In a perfect world, Grover would have explained to Tristan and to his two demigod friends that the Greek Gods were real and Piper and Percy were half-bloods with the help of Ms. Jackson of course (after the party), prove it further by dispelling the Mist for them momentarily, and then they would make a beeline for the camp and everything would be great.

Obviously nothing went according to plan.

Instead the party hadn't even had a chance to go into full swing before he already smelt the monster, and the sudden presence left no room for dramatic, world-shattering revelations, then the car was struck by lightning, and that was far too close for comfort.

Percy and Piper made their way to Grover. Piper was soaking wet, but Percy appeared to be dry. That fact alone brought a whole bunch of questions that he couldn't afford to deal with at that moment– not with the Minotaur at their heels. Grover urged them on to go faster, and soon the two were in front of him. Much to the satyr's dismay, they stopped in front of him, and Percy handed off a distraught Piper to him, "Hurry, get to wherever is safe."

Grover shook his head, "P-Percy, w-what? We ca-can't do that! Bla-haa-haa" He let out some sort of nervous goat noise that Percy wasn't sure he'd ever get used to.

Percy continued to encourage them on without him, but Grover was having none of it.

Piper was leaning on Grover for support as her whole body shivered from the unrelenting rain and harsh winds when she saw the silhouette of the beast when the lightning flashed, she screamed. Before Percy had a chance to reply to either of his friends, Piper found it in herself to yell, "Move!" and without a second thought, the two boys did exactly that. They all charged ahead, desperately trying to head towards safety.

It was at this moment—with the ridiculously humongous pine tree in sight—that Percy had to deviate slightly from the group on account of this huge rock suddenly popping out of the ground from underneath him, propelling him up and away from his friends. He landed roughly on the ground, nothing was broken from what he could tell, but it was still a painful drop. Only years later does Percy discover the rock was a huge pile of schist.

The Minotaur seemed to show its true prowess now as it crossed the distance at an amazing pace. The beast charged ahead with the two preteens and satyr in its direct path.

To the horror of all present, the Minotaur turned its back on the satyr and girl, favoring the twelve-year-old boy. The monster huffed through its nose and pawed at the ground with a hoof. Percy gulped.

It was at the point that Piper looked back and remembered a movie that her dad was in, it was set in Spain and he was a spy that was somehow forced to be a Matador for some reason. Now, say what you will about movies being terrible and having scientifically inaccurate sequences, but they do follow some semblance of logic– logic Piper found herself telling Percy about.

"Percy! Dodge to the side! Dodge to the side!"

"Wait until last second to get out of the way, Percy!" Grover added while searching his pockets desperately.

Percy numbly absorbed the combined advice as he steeled himself to do as told. Knees shaking and palms sweaty, Percy steeled himself. It was do or die. The Minotaur charged, the dirt behind it flew into the air and the earth cracked; a true testament to the power the beast possessed. It was seconds away from ramming into him, but Percy awkwardly tumbled out of the way at the last second. The wind slapped his face and he could see the imprints of the Minotaur's hooves where he was standing at only a few seconds ago.

Percy idly wondered if it had horse shoes too, like Grover could possibly wear. Having landed on his butt—a rock making its presence painfully aware to him—he scrambled to stand up as the angry Minotaur realized that it hadn't crushed the twelve-year-old.

Breathing hard, Percy searched around wildly for anything that could be of use to him. He didn't have time to make a weapon, but he could find one, it'd be pretty helpful. That rock looked very appealing right about now…

He didn't have time for any make-shift weapon before he ended up sprawled across the grass again to avoid another charge. He was vaguely aware of Piper yelling his name and the sound of… music?

Yep, sure enough, when Percy took a split second to look back, Grover was playing music from some kind of flute-thing. He was about to yell out that now was certainly no time for music but when Percy looked back at the monster, it was being wrapped in vines and Percy was quick to put the pieces together as the plants seemed to obey the music. Percy felt relief set in.

The nice moment didn't last for long though, because in the next second the angry beast broke free from the plants and turned its attention towards Grover.

Grover concentrated and keep playing the music, but it was all for naught as the Minotaur kept advancing, ripping off vines that dared to challenge it.

"Percy! Piper! Keep running! Don't st-AAAAAAAHHHHHH" Grover was cut off as the Minotaur flung him a few feet back and into a tree, effectively ending the magical music.

Percy felt as the fear rushed out of his mind and was instantly replaced with anger. The rain came down harder.

Percy was angry, he was mad the party for Piper (the one he spent weeks planning) that was destroyed, he was furious that Piper's dad, who did so much for his mother and himself, was gone, he was enraged at the fact that he had no clue what condition his mother was in, and he was certainly infuriated at the way Grover was wheezing in his unconscious state as Piper cried at the satyr's side.

There were few things Percy genuinely hated in his life. Smelly Gabe, a disgusting man Percy's mom was seeing for a short while before they met Mr. McLean, was one, bullying was definitely another, but his friends and family being hurt? That was something he could never forgive.

Piper was crying. Piper, his best friend, was in pain. No. He would have none of that. Piper was never supposed to cry; she was a person who looked better with a smile on her face. So why was she on her knees, looking at him with eyes full of fear and tears?

As if he needed the extra encouragement, Piper croaked out, "Percy! Do something!" between sobs.

And with that, something in Percy snapped and the next thing he knew, he was actually calling for the attention of the monster that was walking a menacingly slow pace, looking ready to finish the job with Grover, "Hey! Over here, ugly! Yeah, that's right! McDonald's reject! Ground Beef!"

Percy felt as some instinct he didn't know he had took over his body and put him into a crouch as the bull man began to turn its body towards him. The monster began to paw at the ground with a hoofed foot, and finally, as predicted, the monster charged.

Time seemed to slow down. The monster was charging, but Percy didn't feel fear. The monster was getting closer, and Percy felt this strange sensation like he was in control. The Minotaur shot its hands to its side, apparently learning its lesson from before and not allowing Percy a chance to escape.

'Up we go then,' Percy thought as he sprang upwards this time instead of sideways. He used the bull's own head as a springboard to get on top of the its back. Percy held on as tightly as he could as the monster bucked. If Percy was honest, he would tell you he had no clue how he managed to get on top of the Minotaur, but in that moment, he didn't have time to consider the possibilities.

Instead, Percy grabbed onto one of its horns in hopes of getting a better grip. All the while the Minotaur continued to buck and rage wildly, but Percy continued to hold on to the horn with all the might he had. It wasn't long before he heard an indefinite crack!

Sure enough, as the Minotaur cried out and straightened up with the pain, his horn broke off with loud snap! and Percy was quickly falling to the ground with the large, bony appendage.

The twelve-year-old hit the ground with a loud "Oof!" but didn't have any time to think of pain as the now enraged bull turned to him again and began to charge. Percy hastily rose to his feet; he was thinking of how he was going to get out of this tight spot. Percy prepared himself to side step one more time, but the Minotaur once again had thrown its arms to the side, making that strategy moot. Percy thought of jumping up once more, but he wasn't sure he could pull off a stunt like that again. He briefly considered the odds of him out-running it, but soon realized that would be suicidal.

In an instant, the monster was right in front of him, it's presence was almost overwhelming, but Percy acted on the same instinct that took over when he jumped as his hand stabbed the Minotaur in its abdomen using the beast's own horn as some kind of dagger.

Percy fell on his side from the momentum as the Minotaur let out a pained roar. The boy panted loudly as he watched the monster dissipate into golden dust right before his eyes. The horn fell onto the floor as the wind swept away the fine sand that was once the Minotaur.

With whatever was left of his strength, Percy got off the floor and limped over to where the horn rested on the ground. After picking it up, he made his way to his two friends; one unconscious and the other an emotional wreck. He didn't blame Piper though, instead Percy fell to his knees next to her and held her as she sobbed for a few minutes, holding back tears of his own.

After a few minutes Percy was the first to break the embrace and said softly, "We should finish getting up that hill, it's our best bet."

With a shaky nod, Piper agreed and helped Percy hold Grover up. It was probably the most difficult few meters Percy ever had to walk as he and Piper supported Grover's weight between the two of them while Percy himself limped all the way up the incline. After what felt like hours, they were up and past the hill, approaching a large farm house.

"Hm, you don't see this every day." Percy hardly had time to register the sentence that came from a very uninterested voice before he felt his legs give out from under him. The last thing he heard was Piper calling his name, then his world went blank.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting his nectar ready."

"I can do that."

"I've already started."

"Don't you ever have to go to training?"

"Of course, but I'm on duty. Shouldn't you be there now?"

"I'm staying by his side. Besides, I don't have any lessons right now."

It took Percy Jackson's groggy brain a moment to register that he knew one of those two voices. It belonged to his best friend, Piper McLean, but the other girl's voice was completely new to him. From the sound of it, the two weren't exactly fond of each other, more like they tolerated each other.

At least he hoped.

Not wanting them to fight any longer, Percy tried to sit up only to find that everything was sore. His top half had bandages and gauze, but there was surprisingly a small amount on him. Based on the sudden flashes of pain, he expected more.

"Hnnnnng" Percy unintentionally let out a groan as he tried to sit up, gaining himself the attention of both girls.

Piper was at his side in seconds, helping him sit while the other girl, who Percy noted was a blonde, stood off to the side with her arms crossed and a full glass cup in one hand.

"How do you feel Percy?" Piper asked once he comfortable. Her voice was full of concern, and he let himself relish in the sound for a second.

"Like I got hit by a train. Or two." He joked lightly but answered honestly, rubbing the back of his head a little. The two friend's focus snapped up to the other girl at the foot of the bed when she let out an amused hum.

Unfazed by the attention, she spoke, "I'm Annabeth Chase, I've been taking care of you." She ignored the glare coming from Piper, "If you can joke like that then you must be tougher than you look. Anyways, you've been out for about three days now." The girl handed him the drink that was in her hands, and Percy's hand shook a little but he was able to hold the glass without spilling any.

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises" He shot the blonde—sorry, Annabeth, a strained grin and she returned it with a challenging smirk. "But hold up, what? Where am I? Why have I bee-" And then the memories smacked Percy in the head all at once and he shuddered as he remembered the thing he fought, Mr. McLean being killed by it, Grover being knocked unconscious, his mom getting left behind…

"You're gonna catch flies with your mouth open that wide, you know." Annabeth's amused voice cut through his thoughts. "Anyways, don't drink too much of that all at once."

His teeth made a smack sound when he snapped his mouth shut, and he felt his cheeks burn but sipped the drink all the same. He was startled by how amazing it tasted. From appearance, Percy was expecting apple juice but what he actually tasted was cookies, but not just any cookies– no, the cookies his mom would make. The ones that she'd give to him on bad days when he got into a fight at school or when Piper would have to leave for a vacation with her dad. He felt his eyes prickling with tears at the thought of his and his best friend's parent, but he held them back, still very much aware of the two girls in the room. Before he knew it, the glass was empty in his hand and he took a small moment to mourn the loss of the amazing drink.

It was right after he finished the drink that he made eye contact with Annabeth. He took the time to study the girl. She seemed about the same age as Piper and himself, if a bit taller (not that he'd say that out loud), she had her curly blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, a slight tan that showed she spent a lot of time outside in the sun and an orange shirt that read "Camp Half-Blood". Really, she looked like the stereotypical California Girl. In exception of her eyes. They were a strong gray color, like storm clouds rolling in. They were clear and calculating in way that gave Percy the impression she was thinking of twelve different ways of how to take him down in a fight. Or just demoralize him. Either one seemed game.

"So where are we?" He asked at last, putting the glass cup down onto the small dresser beside the bed he was in. He noticed how his hand no longer shook and realized that the ache he felt all over only moments ago was gone.

"Camp Half-Blood." Piper answered this time, bringing his attention to herself.

'Guess that explains the shirt they're both wearing' Percy thought to himself.

"Okay," He elongated the word, "But where? Why?" He stressed the words this time, hoping she'd understand.

"Long Island," Piper answered again. "Because-"

"Because you're different. But we're going to let Chiron tell you how, like he told us to. Like we all agreed." Annabeth interrupted with a pointed glare towards Piper who glared right back.

Okay, the whole glaring thing was getting out of hand, so Percy decided to distract them with his questions.

"Who's Chiron?" The name sounded vaguely familiar, but didn't bother to ponder it for too long.

"You're going to meet him right now. There's a camp shirt on the dresser next to you. I recommend you use it since your old shirt was tossed not to take too long." And with that, Annabeth Chase walked out of the room, leaving the door open so Piper would do the same.

Piper, however, chose to stall and stayed at Percy's side, "It's actually a really cool place." Piper assured, "There are some people who aren't so… so like her." She smiled and Percy returned the gesture.

His smile didn't stay for long however as he asked "Where's Grover? How is he?"

"He's doing good, woke up the day after we got here, he's kind of in trouble but I'll tell you more later." Piper did her best at explaining. She handed Percy the shirt that was resting the dresser Annabeth told him about before heading to the door, "We'll be out on the porch." She said once she got to the frame.

Percy stood up shakily as he heard the door click shut. He looked around the small, out of date room as he put on the shirt identical to the one Piper and Annabeth were wearing. He looked at the clock on the wall above the bed he had been on and took a few moments to finally decipher the time as '3:12'. The horn on the dresser caught his eye and he instantly remembered the moment he tore it off the monster's head and how he had used it as some kind of dagger. He grimaced a little at the memory and headed to the door, remembering that there were people waiting for him.

Percy opened the door and took a hesitant step out of the room. The halls didn't seem too long but the problem was that Percy didn't know which way led to the porch. He took one glance each way before taking a chance and walking straight out the door and to the left. Much to his relief, he guessed correctly and was met with sunlight that poured out of a screen door while voices had idle chatter.

"It's about time." It took Percy a while to recognized Annabeth's voice. Piper was next to her, not too pleased by the looks of it. He noticed two more people with them this time. One of the men was certainly a sight to behold; he was chubby and had a red nose watery eyes that made Percy wonder if he had really bad allergies along with dark black hair that almost seemed purple and an extravagant shirt with leopard print on it.

Percy was reminded of those tiny and chubby flying me, Cherri? Cheryl? No, Cherubs. Yeah, except this one turned middle aged and lived in a trailer park. Also, based on all the cans surrounding the Cher—err, man, Percy would say he was a drinker. Oh wait, they're Diet Coke cans? Maybe he was a middle aged Cherub who was struggling with alcoholism and used Diet Coke as a replacement for booze?

The man's focus seemed to be completely on the playing cards he held in his hands. The other man—wait. Hold up. Backpedal. What…

"Mr. Brunner?"

Mr. Brunner was Percy's old Latin teacher. He was this cool middle aged guy who had thinning hair, always smelled like coffee, and had this cool motorized wheelchair that Percy always wanted to ride. Mr. Brunner looked at him with kind, brown eyes as he spoke, "People typically refer to me as Chiron here, actually." His eyes always had this shine to them, like he was sharing a joke that was just for the two of them.

"What? What's going on? Who are you really?" He asked his teacher, worry setting in once more as he glanced at Piper for a quick second.

The man in the wheelchair opened his mouth to speak again but was not given the opportunity by Piper, "Relax Percy, everything's alright. Just let Chiron explain."

Percy felt himself relax at the sound of Piper's voice. He didn't question anything and just looked at Chiron questioningly and expectantly.

Chiron took a silent note of the little display as he spoke to the baby faced man next to him, "Mr. D, are you forgetting anything by any chance?"

Said man hardly looked up from his cards as he spoke, "Yes, yes. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There, I said it, now don't expect me to be glad to see you." Percy inched away from the man, Mr. D, and stepped closer to Piper and Annabeth.

"Camp Half-Blood? What kind of camp is this?" Percy asked as he stared at the campgrounds, seeing a blond kid falling off of a tall climbing wall that was... spewing lava? That could not be safe.

"Is he alright?" Percy exclaimed.

"Who? Mr. Solace at the climbing wall?" Chiron asked without turning around, "Yes, he will be alright. He's been trying to beat his best time for quite awhile now."

"What kind of camp lets kids do stuff like that?" Percy said with worry.

"The kind camp for children such as yourself: half-bloods." Chiron answered simply. He turned to the Annabeth girl, "Could you please go check on Percy and Piper's new bunks? They will be staying in Cabin 11 until further notice."

She nodded a 'yes' and took one last glance between Percy and Piper before focusing her gaze on me, "You drool in your sleep." And just like that, she was off. Her princess curls flowing behind her while Piper scoffed at the remark, barely keeping her own mouth shut.

"Um, right, so, Chiron?" Percy tried again.

The man nodded warmly "Why don't you have a seat." He offered, waiting for Percy to sit down before continuing on, "Mr. Brunner was simply an alias of mine. My true name, as you may call me, is Chiron."

"Chiron," Percy looked over to Piper who nodded encouragingly. The name sounded familiar for some reason. Maybe it was something he learnt this year… "like the Centaur who taught Greek heroes?"

Chiron, smiled with a proud glint in his eyes, "Yes, that would be the one."

"Are we going to play Pinochle or not?" Baby Face, (Mr. D?) asked, practically oozing boredom.

"Ah, yes," Chiron looked at Percy, "Have you ever played before?"

Despite Percy shaking his head no, Mr. D continued to shuffle the cards.

Speaking of Mr. D… "So, uhm, does the 'D' stand for something, or…?"

The uninterested man looked up at Percy as though he was deluded and even paused his card shuffling, "Names are very powerful things. You don't just throw them around so willy nilly."

"Oh, ah, right. Sorry." Percy couldn't help the awkward response that tumbled from his mouth.

"I must say, I'm happy to see the three of you back here safely." Chiron spoke through the thick atmosphere to Percy and Piper, "It's been quite sometime since I last made a house call."

"House call?" Piper asked before Percy had the chance to.

"Yes," Chiron nodded, "My time as your teacher. Usually we just let the satyrs keep a lookout at schools, but once Grover met you both, he said he knew you were special. It really wasn't too difficult to convince your original Latin teacher to take a vacation." He mused at the end.

Percy and Piper paused for a moment as the memory of a different Latin teacher beginning their year seemed to hit them both at the same time. It was a fuzzy recognition of a different man having taught them for the first week before he took a sudden leave.

"Wait, why would you leave here just to go teach us?" Percy asked with complete confusion, "Why is this place so important?"

"I asked the same question." Mr. D snorted as he dealt cards to the people at the table.

Ignoring the camp director's snark, Chiron answered, "Did your mother not tell you two anything, Percy? I contacted her specifically to tell her to do so."

Percy tried to rack his brain for a few moments to remember if she had ever mentioned this place. A few seconds later, Percy said, "Well, she said something about how my dad wanted me go here, but that she was too afraid to send us. She wanted to keep us close."

Mr. D's scoff went unnoticed as Chiron went on to talk, "I suppose our orientation film won't suffice for you in that case…"

"I watched it." Piper piped up.

"Yes, and that will indeed help you, but I think for Percy here, we will begin with the basics."

"The basics?" Said boy asked.

"Ah, yes, the basics such as your imminent death." Mr. D broke in, looking directly at Percy in a way that caused a shiver to run down his spine, "So are you going to bid?"

A/N: Feels weird not having one down here too, so just an extra thanks to everyone out there who's read this. Uhm, I was gonna cut it off a bit sooner than where it is now, so thank my *great* friend EveryVil who convinced me to write seven hundred more words. Y'all deserve it though. And, again, don't forget about my amazing beta, EpicReads, who is really awesome and makes my writing a billion times better.

Oh! And of course, a Happy New Year to you all! New Year, new chapter as my friends say. Thank you all for reading, see you next chapter! Bye Bye~