What a relief — finally a bath! I changed clothes: a pair of shorts, an orange Pegasus t-shirt, and flip-flops. Better than nothing. I dried my hair and left it loose. Walking out of the bathroom, I heard Lucas's voice:
"Seriously, Clarisse? There's nothing better to do?"
"I just want to welcome them. Get out of the way and go take care of the plants."
Coming out with a towel over my shoulder, Lucas was standing in front of a brown-haired girl with a braid down her back. Two tall guys were behind her.
"Look look, the celebrity," the girl said in a mocking tone.
"I know you," I asked, looking into her eyes.
She gave me a weird look.
"No."
"Then why are you waiting for me? Lucas, who is she? Is she crazy to stand right in front of the bathroom like that?" I looked at him, and he started laughing.
"No, Caleb — this is Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares, the god of war."
I looked at her — she seemed angry.
"That's cool. Well, I'm Caleb Thorne, son of Demeter, goddess of the harvest." I held out my hand to her.
She let out a scornful laugh.
"Look at you, thinking you're special… Well, we'll give you a proper welcome, newbie!" She started moving closer, and a spear in her hands began crackling with electricity.
"Stop, Clarisse!" Lucas said, stepping in front of me.
These kids… This is serious! As if monsters weren't enough, we have to deal with bullying too.
The two big guys started moving toward Lucas. I just raised my hand — roots began sprouting from the ground, wrapping around them. But Clarisse dodged to the side and cut through the roots with her spear.
"You can start off in the fields, little sprout!" she said with a mocking smile.
"What's your problem, girl? I don't get you, seriously! Bullying? Grow up already!"
She just lunged forward with the spear. I dodged to the side, she spun around, I jumped back — but my back hit the wall. She smiled and aimed at my stomach, thrusting forward — but I forced my wrist, and my axe stopped her blow. A sharp metallic clang echoed through the air. My arm trembled — that strike would've run me through.
"That would've impaled me! You could kill someone with that, girl! Are you insane?" I looked at her seriously, but she didn't seem to care — like she was deaf to reason. It made me angry.
She came back, spinning her spear, and got into a defensive stance before attacking again. I dodged to the side — her tip punched a hole in the wall.
She pushed the spear hard toward me. I braced my arms to hold the axe steady, but a jolt shot through my head. It wasn't from her spear — it was from my dream. I… I was moving just like I'd seen there. What is this? Sparks flew between the metals.
She stepped to her left, trying to dodge and hit my side — I spun around and blocked with the axe, deflecting the strike upward.
I moved forward fast, axe aimed at her head — she ducked down to avoid it, spinning her spear to strike at my right leg. I jumped back, barely getting out of the way.
She ran toward me, spear extended in a thrust — I dodged to the right and hit the spear's shaft with my axe, making her stagger.
She recovered quickly, spun the spear and slammed the tip into the ground — an electric spark shot toward me. I dropped to my knees and dodged, while roots rose from the floor trying to trap her feet.
She jumped over the roots, spear pointed at my stomach — I lifted the axe and blocked, shoving her back.
She fell to her knees for a moment, but got up fast and spun through the air, spear whirling around her body. I covered myself with my arm, feeling the wind of the blow pass close to my face.
Our weapons clashed again, face to face. We both pushed with all our strength, arms trembling — but I saw her fingers were almost white from the effort, and she was smiling. A shock started coursing through my arm; I stepped back and she took advantage. She spun the spear to build momentum and struck, aiming for my chest. I saw it coming, but my body didn't move in time. This crazy girl really wants to kill me!
My body moved — no, it was my axe! I spun around, and the spear pierced my stomach. Her smile faded, but I didn't care. Only one word came to mind, as if it was meant for me — that feeling… My body stopped, but my arm didn't. My axe glowed emerald green.
"RAGNARÖK" — the word flashed in my mind. My axe vibrated, and I felt my divine power being drawn into the blade. The sound was a thunderous crash — and in the cloud of dust that rose, I couldn't see a thing. My breathing was ragged; my stamina and HP were dropping way too fast.
"Cleberos and Cleris — what do you think you're doing?"
A voice I recognized — it was Mr. D. My head started to ache, my eyes began to bleed. I heard a thunderclap so loud the air seemed to shake.
There he stood, calm as ever, his eyes glowing purple. He was holding my axe, which was just centimeters from Clarisse's neck. She was in the same state as me, but worse — she was trembling. He pushed my axe away, and I quickly put it away — it turned back into my bracelet. I dropped to my knees, vomiting blood. What was that? I looked at my bracelet — this was new and strange.
But I had no time to think — my body started shrinking and I was lifted into the air. In front of me, Clarisse's eyes were wide with shock. She was about to say something, but didn't have time: her body shrank too, and she turned into a hedgehog. We were both floating in the air when a cage appeared and we were put inside it. I looked at my paws — is this even possible?
SYSTEM ALERT: HOST HAS BEEN CURSED BY A GOD. CAUTION IS ADVISED.
I looked over at Clarisse — she was staring at me.
"Hey, Mr. D, wha…"
"Shut up, Lynx! Take them to the big house and leave them in the cage. Only give them feed and water — let them be an example. This is not your home, useless brats! If anything like this happens again, you'll stay dolphins forever!"
He finished and simply vanished. Lucas was trembling as he started leading us away. All the campers were staring in silence, then started laughing.
"Look at them — couple of the year!"
"No way, pets of the year!"
"Did you see them shaking? Yeah, hahaha! Their faces… Look at Clarisse's hair sticking up!"
"Sorry, man," Lucas said quietly, looking at me.
"It's okay — my fault too. Sorry, Clarisse, but you're crazy," I said in a high-pitched, silly voice.
"Shut up, idiot! I don't want to hear your voice!" Her voice made me laugh.
"How embarrassing… Me of all people! My dad won't like this, what now?" she said quietly, lying down with her head hanging.
I stayed quiet too, but neither of us could hold it in — we started pacing around the cage. I stopped still: my powers seemed almost blocked. This is way too dangerous. I need a plan if this happens again. But out of nowhere she tripped over me, making me bump into the cage bars.
"What was that? Gone crazy again?" I said, looking at her — her eyes were red and there were tears in them.
"Your fault, your fault! My dad will hate me, he'll be ashamed! I'LL BE THE BUTT OF EVERY JOKE — DIE!" Her high-pitched voice was fierce. She charged at me and bit — but I dodged and hit her face with my paw. Smack! She froze, then I kept going: smack, smack, smack. But nothing happened. She looked at me and bit my finger. I yelled and tried to pull it out of her mouth.
"Apologize, or I'll bite your finger off!" But she opened her mouth to speak, so I pulled it free and smiled, flipping her off.
"Never, you crazy girl!" We stared at each other.
"THEN IT'S WAR!" we both shouted — but our voices came out so high-pitched and silly it was embarrassing.
"Idiots," a cold voice said. Clarisse and I looked over to see a blonde girl with gray eyes.
"Shut up, know-it-all," Clarisse shot back.
She stared at me.
"That name you shouted — can you explain why you said it?" she asked, looking straight into my eyes. Then Clarisse turned to stare at me too.
"No," I said calmly.
"Because it's a secret," she said, narrowing her eyes.
"No — because I just don't want to. Excuse me, I'm going to sleep." I turned around and lay down. Weird — at least it's not cold in here.
Clarisse started laughing with her high-pitched voice.
"Well well. Seems you're not so charming after all, know-it-all," she said.
"Idiots," the girl shot back before walking off.
Clarisse lay down too, but soon after she bit my leg.
"Stop it, you lunatic!" I yelled, trying to get away.
"Never, you idiot!" She started biting me, and what I'd call a game of tag began. I just wanted to take a bath — now I'm a hedgehog. What a joke.
In the main room, Chiron was standing in front of Dionysus, who was rubbing his forehead. He stood up.
"Damned kids… more trouble," Dionysus said.
Before Chiron could even ask, he vanished — reappearing seated on a throne.