Josh: Chapter 25-27

After the cyclops incident, we decided to be more careful on our journey back to camp. Apollo and Artemis wished us good luck as they left us, leaving only the three of us.

It's already late at night, it's probably already 9:30, where the full moon might came up.

As we walked, I told my friends about how schools in the high school went. I suddenly remembered where we have to sell some foods and tally them in a sheet of paper. I used my mac of course, because it's more faster and you can print it later. That's the only moment I thought I actually had friends. I tend to do better in greek mythology class and always got an A on it. Annabeth hadn't told me much about her school, so I decided to ask her that.

"So Annabeth, how's school?" I asked

"Well, not bad." Annabeth said. "I mean, monsters kept attacking me whenever I was on the way home, but thankfully, I got Chiron to manipulate the mist so I wouldn't be in big trouble."

"Manipulate the mist?" I asked. "What is mist?"

"A mist is a magical veil that distorts the reality from mortals vision. For example, when a monster attacks a demigod, the veil interprets something that mortals could understand like a teenager attacking a child or an old lady."

"Oh," I said, surprised. "Do demigods get affected too?"

Annabeth shrugged. "Yes, a lot of times, if the mist isn't too strong. For example, in San Francisco, bay area, lies Mount Tamalpalis, the home base of your kind."

I blinked, confused. "Um... My kind?"

"Yes, you're a demititan right? You're a son of hyperion, the Titan lord of light."

"Yeah." I said sadly.

Percy approached me. "Josh, is anything the matter?"

"Yes, actually I needed to tell you something."

"What is it Josh?"

So I told him, how my dad got turned into a tree in the last titan war. It saddened me greatly, because first, I didn't know who my dad is. Second, when I found out about my dad, I was told that my dad, Hyperion was turned into a tree by the dryads and the nymphs that possesses woodland magic.

"It's okay Josh, Let's..." Annabeth looked at me and faltered. "Josh, how... how did you do that?"

"Do what?" I asked, then Annabeth brought a mirror for me to look.

"Do this." Annabeth held the mirror in front of my face.

I couldn't believe what I saw, my hair and eyes turned silver, I didn't know how I did that though, but I thought that's pretty amazing. But I felt some slight personality change. I was more calm and tamed, and I felt my strength washing away, but only a little. My body structure remains the same except my hair and eyes. I become some sort of a less aggressive person. I also noticed that my eyes got slightly wider and I was holding a silver armor along with the rest of my gift from Apollo.

It follows your personality. Apollo had said in my head. Hyperion told me that.

It appears that the moon is on my side too. But I rather stay in the golden form, because I had more prowess in combat that the silver form. I willed myself to change form to golden again, and as I watched, my hair and eyes turned back to gold.

"Now, that's enough talk. Let's get back to camp." I said to my friends.

"Not so fast!" A voice said.

All of us turned around. There's an empousa behind us, she looked just the one that attacked my in Oxford University. I don't know how she got there, but I'm pretty sure that the girl from the chariot shot an arrow at her and killed her.

"Hello again, Josh!" The empousa snarled. "You look like a fresh meal today!"

I balled my fists. "You! I thought she killed you!"

"Oh, she did kill her all right, but I am her friend. And now, you will pay!"

The empousa lunged at me.

I sidestepped easily to the right as the empousa's fangs missed my by a millimeter. I grabbed my bow, and shoot an arrow to the monster. The empousa held up a mirror and used it as a shield. I know what to do. I bend light around me, making me invisible. For a second, the empousa looked confused, and started wondering where am I. I appeared just 50 metres apart, and shouted. "Hey Ugly! Over here!"

But the empousa wasn't dumb, they grabbed my friends and faced towards me. "Okay Josh, you have a choice. Put down your weapons and be my meal or say good bye to your friends."

"Josh! Don't do this! Save us, please!" They pleaded.

My mind was racing a million miles an hour. I thought every possible way to free my friends, but they were all dumb ideas. I could see my friends were about to be devoured by an empousa, and I cannot allow the empousa to do that.

Suddenly, there's a loud noise coming from the other side of the tree.

The empousa turned to look behind her, and my friends kicked her and she went stumbling a few steps.

The empousa lunged at my friends, but I was in a safe distance to fire my arrow, so I shot an arrow at the empousa. The arrow seemed to get hot as I willed it to. I channeled the power of the bow, and as soon as I let it go, the arrow seemed to be getting hotter and hotter for each meter it passed. And as soon as it reached the empousa, the empousa tried to dodged it but it's too late. The arrow hit the empousa by its chest and the creature incinerated.

Annabeth and Percy ran towards me. "I think I like it better when you're in your moon form." Annabeth commented.

"You reckon?" I asked.

Annabeth and Percy nodded.

So I changed back into silver form. I felt my hair and eyes were changing colors. And that confirmed true when I looked at the mirror again.

"Ah, now that's better." I said.

So the 3 of us returned to camp half blood, and found Chiron greeted us from the big house. Fortunately I had changed my form so I didn't have to explain my odd powers of changing my form.

Once we went back to camp, we were greeted with spontaneous cheers that made me feel once again home. The athena cabin herded Annabeth over their heads, Percy was herded by the Aphrodite and the Dionysus cabin, and I was herded over their heads by the Apollo and Demeter cabin. I noticed that the hunters had visited because later at afternoon, we're going to play capture the flag.

I knew better than to stay on the hunters cabin, they generally don't like males, but with the exception of Thalia, whom Annabeth had told me earlier that they were childhood friends.

"Hey Annabeth! It looks like you had one more people joining our team!" Thalia said.

Thalia offered her hand. "Hello, I'm Thalia."

I shook her hand, and I felt a jolt through my body. "Ouch!"

"Sorry," She said. "By the way, I'm Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and you are?"

"I'm Josh." I said casually.

"I see," Thalia studied me with concern. "So, who's your olympian parent?"

"Um.. This might be a little shocking for you." I said.

"He's a son of Hyperion." Annabeth interjected. "He maybe is one of his kind but he's proven himself that he's not evil like the other titans so please, don't treat him like an outcast."

"Oh, okay." Thalia said as she went with her hunters for capture the flag.

In a few hours, we're going to play my favorite game in the world, capture the flag.

I went to check on my room. Fortunately, my cabin had been made when I was away so I had my own personal space. I looked at the big house. It's empty, because everything had been moved to my cabin, and that confirmed true when I went to my cabin. The computers were there, with a brand new MacBook Leopard. The sound speaker had been changed to a more soft speaker. The room is gold in color, and I saw a switch just behind the door, and when I pushed the button, the room turned to silvery, the side of the moon, and when i pushed the button again, the room turned to golden again, the side of the sun. And I prefer it to keep that way.

By the way, it's time for capture the flag with the hunters. I hope that we'll win because I am told by Chiron that the campers had lost 60 games in a row. I had never imagined such a loss before.

So I prepared myself to go capture the flag. There were 35 hunters so we were allowed 35 people from this camp to verse the hunters of Artemis.

"Okay!" Annabeth called. "Same deal as last time! The Athena cabin will lead the flanking parties! Clarisse, take your cabinmates into offensive!"

"On it!" Clarisse agreed.

"Josh, Percy, Nico and I will go offensive."

"That's affirmative." I said immediately.

"Will Solace, take Apollo cabin to the trees!"

"Roger that!" Will solace shouted.

"Jake Mason! Take the Hephaestus cabin and lead them into defensive

The conch horn blew, and the game capture the flag had started. Everybody was running very fast, but like I mentioned in the last capture the flag, I was faster. The hunters are very fast indeed. They dodge the arrows that the Apollo cabin fired very easily. As I watched, a guy from Ares cabin got knocked out because the girl slammed him with her hunting knives.

I saw a girl running towards me. She charged me and drew her knives, thinking that I am an easy target, but she was wrong. As she swung her knife, I swung my shield on her, sending her flying.

Another hunter came towards me, her hunting knives drawn, ready to slice me to pieces. I parried her overhead cut and tried to stab her in her chest, but she blocked it with another knife. The girl's good. She was about 14 inches taller than me but I was surprised that I had the guts to go against her. She tried to stab me in the chest and I blocked it with my sword. She didn't seem to get tired of all this fighting. I tried to make a jab at her lower knee, but somehow, she seemed to anticipate my movement. She blocked that strike and grabbed me and pushed me to the ground.

But I wasn't on the ground yet. Somehow I had the strength and speed to place my hands quickly beneath my chest before I fell face first to the ground. I got up, and charger her with all my might. I swung my sword to the side and she blocked, I brought my sword above my head to parry the overhead cut that's coming at me, and I slammed her hard with my shield, sending me flying.

The girl cursed, muttering how could she lose to a boy that's way smaller than her.

I was on the creek, and I saw Thalia with her shield, Aegis. Everyone backed away from the shield, trying not to stare at it, but when I stared at it, nothing seemed to happen. I wondered why everyone was backing up from her shield.

Then Thalia noticed me looking at her shield, and her face turned to disbelief and shock. "How..."

Another hunter charged me from behind, and I parried her hard with my sword, and she saw Percy and lunged at him, which he blocked the strike and kicked her in her chest, sending her flying.

I looked forward and saw Thalia with her shield aiming at me, everybody was parting before her, and I still couldn't figure out why, What's so special about that shield? I asked to myself. When I looked at her shield, there's an image of medusa molded in it. I remembered the legends, where Medusa could turn people to stone just by making contact with its eyes. But I figure this is just a shield, why should I be scared?

Thalia got out a retractable spear, and she tried to thrust me with it, but I sidestepped easily. I just allow my instinct to take over. She drew her knives and lunged at me again, but she's still too slow compared to me. I parried her forward thrust, I swing my blade on her chest but she is quick. She parried that strike and I tried to slam her with my shield. She jumped and tackled me and we both tumbled to the edge of the creek. Thalia was on top of me, and she had pinned me down and I saw a hunter just about to get our flag.

"NO!" I shouted, Thalia looked distracted, and Percy slammed Thalia with his full body weight.

I got up and run at the hunter who got our flag. I tackled her and we were both tumbling across the grass. The girl spat with a mouthful of grass and I ran towards their base. I went across the boundary line and saw the silver flag just right between the trees.

I was intercepted by another girl, she looked about 9. I wondered why Artemis allowed kids at 8-9 years old to join the hunt?

The girl looked down at me and studied me, then her face turned to smug. "Wow, you're small. It will be so easy compared to other guys I've faced."

I felt offended, I just took a bunch of hunters and she just underestimates me. Oh well, I thought. Time to show her what I've got.

The girl charged me with her knives, and I sidestepped easily, I charged the girl and tackled her with all my body weight. Looks like the girl had some big mouths after all.

I watched the hunters base as Percy grabbed the flag and started running. I decided to escort Percy while fending off anyone that got close to him. He stumbled and got up again. Thalia was in front of him and she held Aegis in front of Percy's face. Percy tried not to look at the shield as I battled Thalia. She got out her retractable spear and tried to make a strike to my lower chest, and I parried it easily. I watched as Percy made it to the creek and I heard a spontaneous cheer from the campers as they herded Percy, Annabeth, Nico and me above their heads. I felt absolutely terrific, not only because I had won the capture the flag with the hunters, the campers had said that I made the campers win the game. Thalia shook my hands and with many other friends.

"Well done, campers! This is your first win in the century!" Chiron announced.

I felt that I had earned the respect that I deserved. Everyone was thanking me for my fabulous efforts.