Chapter 18 - The Feast

As Percy had walked all day and he suddenly smelled barbecue and Annabeth heard his stomach growl. "Both of you can go on without me. I will wait here." Both of them left her at the pier while she looked deep in thought looking at the card to Grigori.

Kurayami could go to cabin eleven and he did to see how it was. When he got in everybody was talking and horsing around while waiting for dinner. Percy noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to him as he walked over to his spot on the floor and plopped.

However they looked at Kurayami like he was gold on leg, but some of them were taken to the Karabit on his left thigh, the black cross on his neck, Some could even make out shiny hilts of blades in his trench coat even the coat looked nice. God of thieves and all, but they felt it was not possible to steal from this guy.

The counselor, Luke, came over and Kurayami looked at him with distrust. As he could use Senjutus and he could see the guy had dese darkness over him and anger and hate.. He said nothing as it seemed this would be a test for Percy. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too, but it was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. Only Kurayami knew it was full of lies.

He looked at Percy and smiled. "Found you a sleeping bag and I stole you some toiletries from the camp store." He looked at Kurayami and offered his hand for a handshake. Kurayami shook his hand and they both started to squeeze down with force. Demigod or not but Kurayami was just stronger and Luke grimaced. "You're strong. Who is you parent?"

Kurayami shook his head. "Not a demigod. Been told not to talk much, but you can ask Chiron." Luke sat next to Percy and leaned against the wall. "Tough first day? A lot of us are like that. Ignored by our parents and all." The bitterness in his voice surprised Percy because Luke seemed like a pretty easy-going guy.

"So your dad is Hermes?" Kurayami asked. Luke pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket to scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes." Kuraymi looked at the knife and smiled. "I got much better than that." If there is one thing he was proud of was his knives. Luke grinned. "How many?" Kuraymi opened his stretch coat showing his hundreds of handles.

He reached in and held 4 on each hand and they became 1 foot long blades. The campers all looked at those knives and knew they were good work. Luke whittled in admiration. "They for the show, or can you use them?" The knives shrunk and he put them back. "Trust me. When I start using them everything dies." Percy was slacked-jawed. 'That's why he wears a trench coat.'

Luke coughed and spoke about his father. "That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he helps" Percy wanted to know a little more. "You ever meet your dad?" He was a little hopefully. Luke nodded. "Once."

Percy wanted to hear more, but Luke didn't want to say more. Percy wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar. Kurayami was interested in what gave him the scar and felt his battle intent rise. Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. Most campers here, are mostly good people. We're extended family, right? We take care of each other."

Percy felt happy as Luke seemed to understand, but Kurayami saw Luke for who he was. A conniving viper waiting to strike. 'This will push Percy into a good teammate.' Even here he thought for the best for Grigori. He was a Fallen after all. Percy decided to ask him one last big question, the one that had been bothering him all afternoon. "Annabeth said I might be 'the one.' She said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?"

Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies." Kurayami said something similar earlier and he wanted to know why. "What do you mean?" Luke's face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests. Annabeth's been dying to get out into the world. She pestered Chiron so much he finally told her he already knew her fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell her the whole thing, but he said Annabeth wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. She had to wait until... somebody special came to the camp."

Percy looked at Kurayami as he seemed far more special than him. "Somebody special?" Luke shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Percy. Annabeth wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the one she's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinner time."

The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, he knew it was a conch shell, even though he never heard one before. Luke stood up and yelled, "Eleven, fall in!"

The whole cabin, about twenty of them filed into the commons yard while Kurayami left to meet up with his team He walked by campers who came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.

Kurayami's team had all grouped up and many campers looked at the girls as they were all girls of high beauty, but all of them gave feelings of danger. Esdeath spoke up while looking around. "What is going on Kurayami?" He looked at her and explained. "Dinner. Don't know if we are allowed though."

Akeno looked unhappy. "Why wouldn't we? It is just food right brother." Raynare has a thoughtful look on her face. "Maybe some god rule or something about other patheons and all not being allowed to eat at the tables." Kurayami shrugged. "Esdeath just make us some ice tables. Not like it will bother any one of us." It was true as just the ice wouldn't bother them unless she wanted it to.

They walked to the tables and a little bit away Esdeth made her ice tables and the campers looked in awe. Making ice as she did make them think she was a daughter of Poseidon and were going to offer her to sit at the Poseidon table, however, they were too afraid to approach them.

Kurayami looked all around and looked at the hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads. At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded, so Percy had to squeeze onto the edge of a bench with half his ass hanging off.

Mr. D looked at the ice table and heard the murmurs of a daughter of the big three and felt a huge headache coming his way. Grover sat with them along with a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D. Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur.

Kurayami stood up and walked to the centaur as he was interested in a certain legend from Greece. "Chiron. Do you mind me asking you something." The centaur looked at him and nodded. "I don't see why not. Ask away." Kurayami asked what interested him. "Achilles. Was he really invulnerable. Is it possible to acquire it as well?" Chiron thought if he should share it, but he had saved Percy.

He whispered it to him and Kurayami found a possible spell for the future. "You must bathe in the River Styx with the consent of your parents. Think of a place on your body that wants vulnerable while thinking of what ties you to life. That will be your Achilles heel or weak spot. If it is damaged at all you die. In exchange, you will gain highly increased strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance, and fighting skills, also linking to your abilities, making it less tiresome to use immense powers."

Kurayami felt it be perfect with his sacred gear and fighting style. 'I just need to make my eye vulnerable as it already is vulnerable. I can put many spells on it and it can work.' Chiron saw the gears turning on his head, but finished the rest.

"However there are drawbacks to it. In addition to gaining invulnerability, bearers of the curse also gain extreme physical prowess. Like heightened strength and reflexes, and your body that almost automatically fights for you. However, this places an enormous amount of stress on the body which means that you expend energy at a much faster rate."

Kurayami knew he was a Fallen Angel and had huge stamina reserves and he sure he would someday he would have 6 pairs of wings as his father said he had more potential than him. Touki increases power and stamina at no risk, but his sacred gear has a high drain. Will it become a double-edged sword and make him a short-fused car.

"Thank you, Chiron." He went back to his team who looked at his look of deep thought. Akeno asked him. "Brother, what's wrong?" He explained what he heard. "You heard of the legend of Achilles?" They all nodded and he explained. "It is a real curse, or spell. By bathing in the River Styx we can gain invulrabitly and increased abilities. However, there is intense stamina drain and I don't know if it is worth it."

Esdeath was a human, but she was like Vasco Strate had a perfect body, unlike a normal human. Azazel had said she had the potential to fight for the title as strongest human In the future along with her touki and her Longinous she was a monster. She too was interested in the Curse but felt they had to test it out on someone else. Raynare was thinking about it, but Akeno was a little interested.

They spoke about if they should get it and Chiron was not sure if he made the right choice, but too late to take it back. Lucky for him they were not fools to give out this knowledge to everyone. Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!" Everybody else raised their glasses except Kurayami and his group. "To the gods!"

Many campers saw that as disrespectful, but Mr. D and Chiron knew why. They were not Greek or demigods and as such not obligated to do so. Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! The glasses were empty but Luke explained to Percy. "Speak to it. Whatever you want nonalcoholic, of course."

Kurayami and his group had great sense and looked into the cup and asked for what they wanted. Kurayami asked for Horchata and the rest of his group did too. While he liked spicy food this was also good. The servers gave food to everyone while they got up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion.

"Come on," Luke told Percy who followed, but Kurayami and his group already started to eat. As it was said before they don't have to do the same as the campers. It irked some people who felt they were disrespectful to the gods. Percy saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll.

Luke murmured Percy's ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell." Percy felt it was wasted. "You're kidding."Luke's look warned him not to take this lightly, but he couldn't help wonder why an immortal, all-powerful being would like the smell of burning food.

Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes." Percy was next and he scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames he whispered really quietly to Poseidon.