The Son of Gaea

Of course you've heard of brave Percy Jackson, the son of the all-powerful Poseidon, god of the seas. You've heard of wise Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena. You know about witty Leo Valdez, the fire using son of Hephaestus. You know about beautiful Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite and the movie star Tristan McLean. And, of course, you know of Jason Grace, the son of Zeus, the King of the Gods.

But no one knows about me.

My name is Patrick Terranos. I had to introduce myself because no one knows who I am. This is the story about a lost demigod. I was brought to Camp Half-Blood when I was seven years old, the same time Percy Jackson came to camp. My father was dead, killed by the Hydra. I alone had escaped. A satyr had found me, perhaps by luck, and brought me to Camp Half-Blood.

I was put in the Hermes cabin. For years, I waited for my mother to claim me, but she never did.

I trained at camp, but I was never spectacular. Sure, I was a pretty good fighter, but Percy overshadowed me. He got all the glory. Never was I mentioned among the senior campers. And Percy was cool and all, but it would've been nice to win just once.

I was there when Percy brought the lightning bolt back to Zeus. I was there when he sent the Golden Fleece to camp and brought Thalia back to life. I was there when he came back to camp, praised because he had saved Artemis. I was there when he escaped from the Labyrinth alive. I was there when he saved Olympus and made the gods swear never to ignore their children. And I was there when he disappeared.

I felt mad at the Olympians. Even though they swore on the River Styx to claim their kids, they never did. I was beginning to think I wasn't a demigod, but I had to be, because when I was injured, I had drunk nectar to heal my wounds.

In short, life sucked for me.

That is, until I discovered who my divine mother was.

It was a bright sunny day in the Arena. I had my celestial bronze sword unsheathed and was fighting the head of the Nemesis cabin, Jake Marvell. He alone saw me as his friend. We were the only ones in the Arena.

We fought for a few minutes, then sat on the benches, drinking nectar and complimenting each other on the awesome moves we had performed.

I asked, "Have they found Percy yet?" I was stuck asking Jake these kinds of questions because only the senior counselors knew.

Jake shook his head. "Nope. Annabeth led yet another search party, but still no luck."

I felt glummer than ever before. "And...and have we heard from Jason's quest yet?" Somehow, I knew what his reply was going to be.

"No," Jake answered. "Not yet. They're bound to contact us soon." But it sounded like he was reassuring himself more than me.

I stood up angrily and kicked a rock. "I hate being a demigod. I don't know who my mom is, I don't know anything! If the gods swore never to ignore their children, then why is my mother ignoring me? It's unfair!"

"I know it is," Jake soothed. "Your mother's probably going to claim you soon."

"No, she's not!" I yelled. "She's never going to claim me because she doesn't care about me! She hates me because I'm nothing special! I hate the gods." I didn't know where these words were coming from. It didn't sound like me. It was like someone was speaking through me, telling me what to say, propelling my rage. "My mother is stupid! All of the gods are evil! IT'S SO UNFAIR! WHY DOESN'T SHE JUST CLAIM ME NOW?" I was at a peak in my anger.

Suddenly, there was a rumbling sound from under the earth. The ground began to shake. Jake even fell over. And I was feeling stronger than ever before.

Cracks appeared in the ground. Pillars of rock surfaced. And there was a magnificent CRACK, and the Arena split in half. Then it began to sink into the ground.

"Run!" gulped Jake. He sped off towards the exit of the sinking Arena. Without hesitation, I followed him.

We ran straight to the Big House, where Chiron the centaur was playing Blackjack with Dionysus, the god of wine. It seems kind of random, but you get used to it once you stay at Camp Half-Blood for a good six years.

"What is it now?" drawled the god. He barely looked up from his cards when I replied.

"The Arena! Cracks appeared in the earth and giant spikes of stone and...and it's sinking!" I shouted.

Chiron threw his cards on the table and galloped to us. I was breathing heavily, grasping a stitch in my chest. Jake was leaning against the railing of the porch, hyperventilating as well. Chiron looked over to where the Arena was. But there was no Arena. Instead, a giant gaping hole had formed where the Arena used to be.

"It's gone," rasped Chiron. Then he turned to me and Jake. "How...which one of you did this?"

"Me," I admitted. "I got all mad about...about my mother not claiming me, and it happened."

Suddenly, a symbol appeared over my head. I had not felt more excited in my life. When I glanced up, I saw a bright green hologram of a majestic oak tree. It rotated twice, slowly, then disappeared. When it left, I felt kind of disappointed. An oak tree was not any symbol I had seen before, and trust me, I had seen tons of symbols over the past six years. But Chiron seemed to know what it was, because his eyes bulged and he nearly fainted. When he was about to collapse, grape vines sprouted from the ground and wrapped themselves around Chiron's waist.

Dionysus was standing right next to me, his eyes fixed on the spot where my symbol had been, but his finger pointed at Chiron. Even the indifferent god of wine seemed interested. This was a first.

Chiron bowed after the grape vines retreated into the earth. Jake copied him, and even Dionysus fell to his knees. Campers gathered around to see who everyone was kneeling to, and when they saw me, they burst into laughter. After all, wouldn't you laugh if you saw the nobody at camp being given the royal treatment (literally)? But when they heard Chiron speak, they hastened to bow.

"Hail, Patrick Terranos, son of Gaea, the Being of Earth," Chiron announced, his voice tinged with shock.

TO BE CONTINUED...