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chapter i

(the lightning theif)

ariana meets a new kid

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 "Aria! Hurry up!"

"I'm coming!"

Ariana tied the laces of her boots, curling the white rope around her fingers. Katie, ever the mom friend, was getting everyone ready for bed and away from the campfire, and Ariana, like always, was running late. Once she was finished tying her shoes, she pulled her jacket over her orange camp half-blood t-shirt and put her ring on her finger. She ran up the steps of the amphitheatre to the others who were standing at them.

There were six of them now, two more of her siblings had arrived during the school year; a ten-year-old girl, Claire, and a fourteen year old boy, Matthew. And of course, Primrose, who had just turned fifteen, Zach, who was 17, and Katie, who was six months older than Ariana, (no, she did not know how).

Zach raised an eyebrow. "So Ariana, finally ready?"

Ariana gave them the finger, but Katie quickly wacked it down before Claire could see it. Katie shot her a glare. Ariana huffed.

"Can we go now?" Claire piped up. "We're never this late heading back."

Zach and Primrose started laughing, while Katie bit her lip trying not to laugh. Ariana rolled her eyes hooking her arm with her older brother's. "Matt, you're my new favourite sibling."

"Oh hell no, you're not dragging me down to your level of lateness." Matthew replied.

Primrose and Zach just laughed harder and Katie joined in. Ariana started the walk down the cabin, muttering about stupid siblings and jokes that weren't funny. Until she realised she had left her blanket down by the fire.

"Hey Katie..."

"Oh my gods Ariana, what did you forget this time?" Katie sighed.

"My blanket... just go up without me, I'll be there in 10."

Katie gave her a look that said you better be. She and the others headed back to the cabin.

Ariana headed back to the amphitheatre but stopped when she felt a tug at her gut coming from Thalia's tree. A tug that only appeared when a new demigod was fighting on the soil close to the camp. She heard a roar of a bull and started sprinting towards the hill, ignoring the wind and rain that started battering her the moment she crossed the boundary line.

When she reached the top, sword in hand, she saw the boy standing with a horn in one hand, facing a very anger minotaur.

The monster charged.

The mysterious boy rolled to one side and came up kneeling. As the monster barreled past, he drove the broken horn straight into his side, right up under his furry rib cage.

The bull-man roared in agony. He flailed, clawing at his chest, then began to disintegrate—like crumbling sand, blown away in chunks by the wind.

The monster was gone. Ariana had to say she was pretty impressed.

The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled, but only in the distance. Ariana ran over to the boy. She couldn't really see him, as it was so dark, but he smelled like livestock and his knees were shaking. His head was bleeding and he looked scared and way out of his death.

Ariana went to help him pick up a satyr who was...Grover! That was where the idiot was! Ariana wondering why she hadn't seen him since she got back.

"Who are you?" the boy asked, his voice trembling. "And w-w-where's my mother?"

"Hey, its ok, alright? You're safe," Ariana soothed. "My name is Ariana. We should get you and Grover down to the infirmary. Can you do that?"

He shook his head. "N-n-not without my mother. W-where is she?"

Ariana winced, There had been no mother when she got there. "We'll look for her later, alright? But for now we need to get you and Grover to safety."

She put Grover's arm around her shoulders and half-dragged- half-carried his unconscious body to the Big House, where Chiron and Annabeth were. Just when she made it to the porch, the boy tilted. Ariana all but dropped Grover and caught the other dude. She heard Annabeth and Chiron rush out behind her.

They both looked down at him, and Annabeth said, "He's the one. He must be."

"Annabeth, shut up," Ariana said. "He's still awake and he's scared. Bring him inside."

° 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 ₒ 𐐪𐑂 ♡ 𐐪𐑂 °

Ariana kept watch on the boy for the next few days. He kept muttering stuff about his mother being taken, so Ariana figured he needed someone with him. She only really left his side to eat. She would sleep curled up in chair beside him, making sure he was ok. She wasn't even sure why. She just felt a connection with him.

After two days passed, the boy finally woke up. He was sitting in a deck chair on a huge porch, gazing across a meadow at green hills in the distance. The breeze smelled like strawberries.

Ariana was scheduling the Demeter cabin activities for that week in the seat beside him. She looked up when she head him reach for the glass of nectar beside him.

"Whoa, careful," she said.

The boy turned to her. "You...you're the girl from the hill. Ariana, right?"

Ariana smiled back. "Yep. What's your name?"

"Percy. Percy Jackson."

Ariana smirked. "Lovely to meet you Percy."

"Ditto." He paused. "What the hell happened?"

Ariana winced slightly. "Grover should be here any minute...Ah, here he is!"

Grover cam running towards the porch, looking like her hadn't slept all week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, converse and the standard orange camp t-shirt.

"Sorry, I wanted to be here, but I had to get this. You saved my life," Grover said. "I... well, the least I could do ... I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this."

Reverently, he placed the shoe box in Percy's lap.

Inside was a black-and-white bull's horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood.

"The Minotaur," Percy said.

"Urn, Percy, it isn't a good idea—"

"That's what they call him in the Greek myths, isn't it?" he demanded. "The Minotaur. Half man, half bull."

Grover shifted uncomfortably. "You've been out for two days. How much do you remember?"

"My mom. Is she really ..."

He looked down.

Percy stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of them.

"I'm sorry," Grover sniffled. "I'm a failure. I'm—I'm the worst satyr in the world."

He moaned, stomping his foot so hard it came off. Well, his fake foot came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof-shaped hole.

"Oh, Styx!" he mumbled.

Thunder rolled across the clear sky.

Ariana said, "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you."

"Did my mother ask you to protect me?"

"No. But that's my job. I'm a keeper. At least... I was."

"But why ..." Percy stopped, cluching his head and looking dizzy.

"Grover, shut up. Percy, don't strain yourself. I did not just spend two days by your beside for you to knock yourself out again," Ariana said.

"Here." She helped him hold his glass and put the straw to his lips.

He recoiled at the taste, clearly expecting something else, before his face softened.He drained the glass.

"Was it good?" Grover asked.

He nodded.

"What did it taste like?" Grover sounded so wistful.

"Sorry," Percy said. "I should've let you taste."

His eyes got wide. "No! That's not what I meant. I just... wondered."

Chocolate-chip cookies," Percy said. "My mom's. Home-made."

He sighed. "And how do you feel?"

"Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards."

"I'm going to assume that's good," Ariana said. "I don't think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff."

"What do you mean?"

Ariana took the empty glass from him gently and set it back on the table. "Come on.
Chiron and Mr. D are waiting."

They lead him around the porch the the front of the big house.

Grover offered to carry the Minotaur horn, but Percy held on to it. Ariana understood why. He'd paid for that souvenir the hard way. He wasn't going to let it go.

As they came around the opposite end of the house, Percy caught his breath.

The valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena—except that
they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods.
Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, while others rode pegasus.

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. Annabeth was leaning on the porch rail next to them.

Mr. D, (the camp director), was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt.

"That's Mr. D," Annabeth murmured to Percy. "He's the camp director. Be polite and hopefully he won't kill you. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase, we arrived together. And you already know Chiron..."

"Mr. Brunner!" Percy cried. Ariana gave him a weird look.

Chiron turned and smiled at them. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got when he had something planned.

"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."

He offered him a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at Percy with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."

"Uh, thanks." Percy scooted a little farther away from him. Smart move.

"Ariana?" Mr. Brunner called to her.

She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced them. "You've already met Ariana. This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. And Annabeth helped. Ariana, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin eleven for now."

Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron."

Annabeth was two months older than Ariana, maybe a couple of inches taller, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair, she was almost exactly what Ariana thought a stereotypical California girl would look like, except her eyes ruined the image. They were startling gray, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take Ariana down in a fight.

She glanced at the minotaur horn in Percy's hands, then back at him. Ariana thought she was going so say something like, wow, you killed the minotaur, lucky! Or you're the one!

Instead she said, "You drool when you sleep."

Then she sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her. Ariana mouthed a good luck to Percy before following her.

𝐆𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒

okay people, im not dead (hoepfully)

Sorry this is really short,
but we have some Ariana/percy
stuff. I ship a ridiculous amount
considering they've spoken a
whooping total of twice.

Btw, this story will not be
following the classic Percabeth
story line!

Well... maybe there will be
a percabeth story line...

Basically, Periana/ Arercy will
have their own arc