The First Call
The weekend at camp marked something important. The daughter of Zeus had finally taken her place in her cabin, and plenty of campers tried to get close just to look at her, like she was some kind of exhibit. It annoyed Thalia more than a little. She could not even eat in peace with people staring at her the entire time.
More than once, she just made an irritated face and left, with Annabeth always ending up following after her, probably trying to help her settle in. Ever since her last talk with Percy, the two of them had been avoiding each other a bit, almost awkwardly, so Annabeth kept sticking close to Thalia instead, maybe showing her how impressive camp could actually be.
"Hey… why does it feel like she's getting a much better welcome than I ever did?" Percy said, watching from one of the tables as Annabeth hurried off after an annoyed Thalia.
Grover, sitting beside him and chewing on an aluminum can, lifted his head and glanced around. "Well, if you think about it… you showed up first, then Tyson… though I'm not sure he really counts as one of the Big Three. So maybe that had something to do with it," Grover said calmly, thinking it through. "They're probably curious to see if she's as strong as you… since she's supposed to be your opponent in the Trial," he added, his expression tightening slightly at that last word.
"So everyone already knows about the Trial…?" Percy repeated, lowering his voice as he glanced around, noticing a few people looking his way every now and then. He even spotted a pair of very familiar brothers walking from table to table with a betting box, collecting drachmas while flashing amused smiles.
"It's camp. Word spreads fast. And technically, this concerns everyone," Grover added.
"Yeah… and why's that?" Percy asked, confused.
"Because of the Trials, obviously. They're basically like quests… just with more honor attached to them. You might not know this, but lately there are actually some fans of your mentor around camp. Mr. D was losing it when he found out people had even started putting up altars. And since you're allowed to pick companions during the Trials, everyone wants to prove themselves. Either for Zeus… or for your mentor," Grover said, taking another bite of his can.
"Ah… yeah, that makes sense. My mentor does have a way of picking up followers wherever he goes. You'd be surprised how many of them hang around near my place wearing masks and robes. They even built him a church," Percy said, sounding a little amused as he remembered it. "Now that I think about it… as his Dragon Priest, does that make me something like their Pope? Or their 'Holy Father'?" he added, actually pausing to consider what he would even do with that kind of political and social power.
Grover looked at him for a moment, already used to Percy's train of thought, which rarely led anywhere.
"Still… I can kind of see why they'd start worshipping him," Grover said, his gaze drifting toward a spot near the edge of the forest. There, three strange stone structures stood like jagged spires, carved with unfamiliar patterns in some foreign language. At their center, a hollow space held a faint, floating light.
Percy snapped out of his thoughts and looked toward the three standing stones for a moment. He knew them well. He had used them many times before during his training. And their creator was none other than Miraak himself.
Each one granted a specific temporary boost, focused on improving learning in different branches of combat. Well… two and a half, technically. There was the Warrior Stone, which helped combat-related skills grow faster; the Mage Stone, just as the name suggested, for magical abilities; and the last one was the Thief Stone, which, like the others, did not really need much explanation.
That last one, by the way, was always surrounded by the children of Hermes. The moment they woke up, the first thing they did was run over and place a hand on it to receive its blessing.
The boost to their stealth and stealing skills caused a few… problems around camp. But that was someone else's problem to deal with.
"I still think my mentor only left those three stones here to mess with Mr. D. Every time he looks at them, he gets seriously annoyed. Makes you wonder why he doesn't just destroy them if they bother him that much," Percy added, amused.
As if on cue, that was exactly what was happening. Mr. D stood not too far away, staring at the stones with real irritation, like he wanted to destroy them just by looking at them… though he clearly could not. Or maybe he could. Who knew.
"Well… I heard someone stopped him because they help the campers improve a lot faster. No idea who, though. I'm pretty sure Zeus himself would want them gone even more," Grover said.
Percy let out a faint smile at that, but suddenly he felt something strange in his hand. He lifted it and looked at it directly.
The symbol there was glowing. His grip tightened slightly without him noticing.
Grover turned as well, and the moment he saw it, his eyes widened as he looked back at Percy.
"That means…" Grover started, concern clear in his voice.
"Yeah. The first Trial has been set… and the champions are being called," Percy said. His tone turned more serious, but there was something else rising in his chest too. A spark of excitement. He did not know if it was for the challenge… or just the urge to prove something. To his mentor… or to Olympus itself.
So it was finally starting.
Percy slowly closed his hand as the mark continued to glow.
Finally.
Thalia stopped as she walked toward Cabin One. She raised her hand as well, watching the symbol of Olympus glow for a brief moment. She did not need anyone to explain it.
She already knew exactly what it meant.
And she was ready to face what was coming.