Arachne furrowed her brow.
She was confused, which was rare. And she was having trouble making a decision, also somewhat rare. She was the type of person to either be whimsical in her choices or to be firm and quick.
Yet, now, she didn't know what to do.
There were too many options for her to choose from.
She stood in front of a bulletin board near the center area of camp before it opened up to where all the godly cabins were.
Dionysus basically plopped her down right there, told her to do something that wouldn't start a big fight under his watch, then just disappeared. That was yesterday, and she hadn't seen the god since. She mostly just meandered around for awhile, no one really wanted to interact with her, then she just slept until this morning.
Now, she was standing here again, trying to decide on what to do.
On the bulletin board was conveniently a map of camp that showed where you were. And in addition to that, it held a list of activities available that seemed to get updated daily.
Arachne was surprised because the camp offered more than expected.
Sure, there were things like archery lessons, pankration lessons, forging lessons, sword lessons, spear lessons, shield lessons, etc. And of course, she had the desire to possibly partake in all of those despite perhaps being a bit too overqualified.
But what caught her attention were other things.
Flower lessons—learning about the language of flowers.
She almost ripped off a little piece of the paper that basically ensured her a spot in the class. Just based on the missing pieces, there were only a handful of people attending.
She liked flowers, and it seemed like a good way to socialize.
She shook her head and looked at others.
Fishing lessons too! She nearly snatched that up, not because she needed lessons, but because it would be fun to go fishing with others her age.
There was another class on herb gathering, which sounded a lot like the beginnings of alchemy that she learned in Skyrim too.
Another option.
And there were sewing lessons; she liked doing a little bit of sewing with her mum.
Of course there were a plethora of other mundane activities; many of them had to do with the culture of the gods. It wasn't odd to Arachne, as many of the demigods were raised in a modern American household; they wouldn have any real sympathy or loyalty towards the idea of Greek culture. So, it made sense that they would teach the demigods to appreciate the culture and guide them into it from the time they came to camp.
But her eyes landed on the last one, and with only two other apparent participants. Something stirred inside of her, coming from her devil heritage. One of the many things she inherited from her father. She had her own bit of greed inside of her, even if it had been tempered over the years.
"Moo~" Mr. Blueberry commented as she stared at the piece of paper.
Arachne blinked, her head snapping to him. "You went to college?" As if understanding him.
"Moo." Mr. Blueberry responded and started singing the Notre Dame school anthem, with just moo's, of course.
Arachne didn't even bat an eye. She was used to far weirder things in her life. If her Da's Rabbit could be a god and the King of France—among his other titles and responsibilities—why couldn't her fish have gone to college?
"Ya think it's a good idea?" She asked him.
"Moooo." Mr. Blueberry nodded his head at her.
"Okay, I'll listen to your advice, Mr. Blueberry." She trusted her best friend without reservations and ripped off one of the dangling pieces of paper connected to it to secure her own spot before setting off.
There were other buildings besides just the cabins. It would be strange if a big camp that was supposed to house and teach demigods, an exalted status under the Greek Gods, was nothing more than a rundown camp that offered nothing but a literal roof over their heads.
There were buildings that had many general purposes, a few that had classroom-like settings. Some were very specific in their design, like one meant to teach large groups cooking. Others that had more specialized equipment, like an entire modern gym. Suffice to say, there was plenty to do at this camp aside from merely 'fighting,' all the way down to a simple game room where plenty of the kids spend their evenings.
She found the place rather easily, a small little building, sitting around some bigger buildings with a few windows open, and a sign on the door. It was easy to miss if she weren't specifically looking for it.
She walked inside and noticed two others inside.
"Is this class on Money and Economics?" Arachne asked.
"...you're at the right place." Between the two? the girl asked.
Arachne gave them a once-over, one boy and one girl, looking like they're almost adults.
They both stared at her strangely as she took a seat somewhat in the middle of them, but there was enough room on either side that none of them were particularly close together.
"Hi, a am Arachne." She introduced herself.
"I don't think there's anyone in camp who doesn't know who you are at this point." The girl snorted. "I'm Cynthia, daughter of Aphrodite."
The other boy was quiet for a moment but also joined in. "Jared, son of Hermes."
She nodded to both of them and noticed someone else was approaching.
The door was quite literally kicked open, and an older man stepped in—no, that wasn't correct. It was no man but a god. He had slicked-back hair, olive-colored skin, and he was wearing a rather expensive-looking suit with a long coat over his shoulders.
He took one look at the kids and did a double take on Arachne and looked like he wanted to say something but stopped himself with a head shake.
Or maybe it was Mr. Blueberry sitting in the back of the room that everyone else seemed to be ignoring; it was hard to tell.
"If you don't know, I'm Chrysus, the god of gold." He waved his with a faux flamboyance.
Arache raised her hand. "A thought Hades was the god of gold?"
"Good question." He was writing his name on the chalkboard at the front of the room as she said that, and then he threw it at her. Arachne was bewildered by the sudden action, and it smacked her on the forehead. "Hades is the god of wealth. I am the god of gold. Or as people these days refer to it, money."
"All money?" The daughter of Aphrodite? asked.
"Another good question." He threw a piece of chalk at her too, making her let out a yelp as it smacked her on the forehead. "That's right, just as the gods latched themselves onto the western civilization like the parasites we are, I absorbed a bit more into my domain. Money is a more specific interpretation of my domain; all those little numbers you see on a screen for your bank account, the pieces of paper that carry a decided-upon value, that's all me." He flicked his collar.
"Is it because our money is backed by gold?" The son of Hermes asked, moving his head out of the way in anticipation.
"Another good question!" The god laughed, flicking another piece of chalk; it curved around the room and still smacked him on the forehead even as he tried to avoid it. "Yes and no, it's a simple extension of what I once was and what I am now. These days, most countries don't have the kind of gold reserves to actually match the paper or electronic values you see. But that's besides the point." He slapped the chalkboard. "You're here for very specific reasons. You, daughter of Love, why are you here?"
"I…want to start my own lipstick company….?" She hesitantly replied. "I wanted to know how to manage my finances since I'm turning eighteen this year and I had some money saved up."
"Starting a business, not a bad choice." He nodded. "And you, the thief son."
The son of Hermes frowned. "I have a large inheritance coming when I turn eighteen too…I don't know what to do with it."
"Ah, nepotism, a favorite." He smiled brightly. "Lastly, the girl that looks like she wants to stab me with her spear."
Arachne thought about the question for a moment and answered honestly. "A like money and want more."
Truthfully, she was a greedy little devil at heart, and she liked to have a lot of money and valuable things. Maybe she would grow out of it when she grew older, but at her age, her eyes would still shine brightly if she saw gold or jewels.
And there was a reason she was…not allowed into the family 'vault.'.
The god at the front of the room froze, and slowly a widening grin appeared. "That's one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard." He sniffled, wiping away a fake tear. "Well, you've all come to the right place. We're going to talk about how to manage your money, how to invest, and how to grow your funds!" He said with a clap.
"Mooo~" Mr. Blueberry called out from the back of the room.
"Great questions; there are a lot of those today." He pointed at Mr. Blueberry. "And yes, stocks are a type of money when you get down to it. It has no real value other than being pieces of paper or words on a screen that are backed by an agreed-upon value that is ascertained by the common currency of each country."
Arachne looked back at Mr. Blueberry and nodded, proud of her best friend.
Arachne, with genuine eagerness, took out a notebook and a pen and began to write notes as he started to lecture.
One of the first times since arriving that she felt like she made a good choice when coming here.
[Line Break]
"Where is she?"
"I don't know; no one else has seen her for hours!"
The other campers were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Luke, son of Hermes, looked at each other in exasperation.
"Any luck?" Luke asked.
Annabeth shook her head. "We can't find her anywhere. We checked the forges, the weapons hall, the arena, and the rock wall. We even sent people to see if any of the 'monsters' around the camp had been killed." Of course, she meant the monsters that were allowed to be there and contribute to the upkeep of the camp.
Harpies and such, dryads, some lake monsters, etc.
They were all looking for Arachne.
Specifically because Chiron had announced a round of Capture the Flag against the Hunters. He also not so subtly encouraged them to find all the strongest members of camp to participate. And there may have been a hint or two that the Hunters were going to be trying their best.
It didn't take a genius to realize what he meant by that.
And even without the 'warnings,' they always treated the competition as serious. Their pride wasn't any less in some regards to the hunters, and even though they always lost when the hunters came around, they were determined to win.
They wanted to form the strongest team they could out of all the campers. And after the performance they saw from Arachne, it would be stupid not to include her. Especially since Clarisse was still out of commission.
Annabeth looked around, and her eyes widened with glee. "Percy!"
Percy, who was just walking down the side of the cabins, turned around in confusion as she came barreling towards him. "What's up?"
"Have you seen Arachne?" Annabeth blurted her name out without even thinking, internally wincing and thankful that she didn't feel her mother's godly slap from wherever she was.
Though, the fact that everyone else was calling her that, she assumed it was now…allowed?
It still confused and frustrated her.
"No…?" Percy blinked. "Haven't seen her since yesterday, why?"
"We're about to play a game of capture the flag against the hunters; we need her." Annabeth said quickly. "Do you want to participate too?" Her thinking was that he was a son of the big three; he should be pretty strong, right?
"Swords and stuff?" he asked.
"Of course, it's a mock battle."
Percy pursed his lips and shook his head. "Yeah, no thanks. I have like no idea how to actually fight, and I caught sight of those girls yesterday when I was with my mom, and I'm kind of scared to go anywhere near them."
Annabeth wanted to rebut, but he made an oddly logical point, so it was difficult. With a frustrated sigh, she ran off somewhere else, leaving a confused Percy still standing there.
With a shake of his head, he went off somewhere else, a bit into the forest, until he found who he was looking for.
"Percy!?" Grover, his best friend, called out to him.
"G-man!" Percy smiled; he hadn't seen his friend in over a day, actually since coming to camp. "I've been looking all over for you!"
Grover was with a few other satyrs, and they gave him a look, a silent nod, as they trotted off to do other things, leaving him to Percy.
"Sorry, I've been busy." He scratched his head. "I've been away from everyone for a while, and I needed to check up on some things. I heard about what's been happening, though; your mom is okay; that's great!"
"Yeah!" Percy perked up because he was well and truly grateful that his mom wasn't dead. The feeling of depression and anxiety swiftly turning to relief had been a whirlwind for him that he was still trying to manage. "It's great; she's doing good. She just left to go back home."
Grover scratched his cheek. "So, uh... I never did apologize for hiding everything…"
Percy stopped him. "Don't worry about it; I got the rundown. You did it to protect me, right? I'm kind of angry still, but it's not like I don't understand. You're my best friend, G-man. I know you wouldn't do it if you didn't have to." He playfully punched his shoulder. "I'm still going to have to get used to you having goat legs."
Grover let out a laugh that somewhat sounded like a goat before he corrected himself. "No more crutches at least. You know how annoying those things were?"
"Yeah, but now you can't 'accidentally' trip people with them."
Grover snorted, happy to have his friend back too. "I heard you got claimed too, along with…everything else that happened."
"Yeah, Dad's Poseidon; that's still kind of hard to think about. It's cool though; I can control water, so I've been playing with that." Percy nodded. "Oh, and I met the girl who saved Mom; she's nice. She's been teaching me a bunch of things too; you should come meet her!"
Grover stopped, stiffening a little. "You should probably stay away from her…Percy." He whispered.
"What? Why?"
"She's dangerous; you haven't heard what everyone's been saying, but a lot of people are scared of her, and there are rumors that she's being very disrespectful to the gods. I wouldn't be surprised if something happens to her soon."
"That's stupid." He grunted, remembering some of the things she said. Percy did ask her about that too, how she was just so uncaring about her 'attitude' towards them, and she did hint that she has some protections from her parents, so she's not scared. "Come on, let's just go meet her."
Though, Percy paused when he realized that he didn't have any actual idea of where she was.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know some magic that could find her, do you?" He asked Grover.
"Magic? I only know a bit of nature magic, and I need my flute to do it." Grover shook his head.
Percy hummed, thinking about what to do, then he had an idea. "Hey, is there a body of water around here?"
"Uh, there's a stream just behind those trees; I think it leads to the lake?"
Percy smiled; that was perfect. He ran over to it with Grover behind, and he started playing with the water. "Look." Percy called out as he began to manipulate the water out of the stream and into various shapes.
"You're getting the hang of your powers." Grover was impressed; he'd seen demigods come into camp that took months to get to that level of usage of their heritage.
Percy took a break, and he started playing with the water. Grove joined in, showing off some of the things he could do as a Satyr.
The sounds of a flute filled the forest while Percy molded the water into makeshift drums, using the force of the splashes to make a thumping to go along with it. It was hard for him to keep the form of the water, but he quickly got the hang of it as they just messed around.
It came to a stop when a small stream of water went up the flute, and Grover started coughing, making Percy fall over laughing at the little prank.
Having a chance to settle down, Percy still had his idea from before. "Dad."He whispered into the water while also bringing up a small ball of it over his hand and shaping it into an arrow. "I don't know if I'm allowed to ask for something after you helped get Mom back to the city; if not, just ignore me. But can you make this arrow point towards Mr. Blueberry?"
Poseidon, who was sitting on Olympus at the moment while everyone was arguing about various things, noticed his youngest son's prayer.
Technically, to receive divine guidance or assistance, an offering or promise of one needed to be made. But it was such a minuscule 'favor' that Poseidon simply twitched his finger while no one was looking.
The God of the Seas was smiling because he noticed how well his son was taking to his heritage, commanding water like it was second nature.
The water arrow in his hand began to turn until it settled on a direction like a compass.
Mr. Blueberry was a water creature, so it was rather easy to handle for the God of the Seas.
"Thanks, Dad!" Percy smiled, looking up. "Come on, Grover." He patted his friend on the back as he quickly ran back into the camp.
[Line break]
"DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY!" Chrysus shouted, slapping the blackboard. "Never put all of your eggs in one basket!" He threw a piece of chalk at Arachne, the girl still bewildered and annoyed that she couldn't avoid it. "It doesn't matter how 'sure' you are of your investment; never bet everything!"
"But what if a know for a fact?" She scowled, rubbing her forehead that was turning red.
"Wrong!" He threw another piece, and the other two demigods ducked, as was becoming normal for them. "It's never a fact! Never! If you tempt Fate, they're going to kick you right between the legs!"
"Always keep enough that you can either start from the beginning or retire comfortably!" The god of gold smacked the chalkboard again. "Only fools bet everything! And DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO!"
"I heard Penny Stocks—"
A piece of chalk flew through the air, smacking the son of Hermes in the head, knocking him out of his seat.
"Don't even mention that crap!" The god's fingers were extended as smoke literally wafted off his fingers. "Penny stocks are a scam for the uneducated!"
"What if we hear about something on the news? Should we try investing?" Cynthia asked.
"Wrong!" He threw a piece of chalk at her. "Buy the rumor, sell the news. If you hear about it on Grandma's afternoon news, it's already too late, and all the sharks already took their bites, or they're waiting for the stupid to fatten up the piece of meat before they feast."
"From my inheritance, I have several long-term investments. Do I keep them or cash them out?" The son of Hermes? asked.
"A long-term investor is another name for someone who doesn't realize they're in a hole." The god continued to throw pieces of chalk whenever someone spoke. "Unless you're a proper investment firm and can track the data needed to analyze trends and rumors, you're not a long-term investor!"
He clapped his hands again. "And what's the golden rule? Anyone?"
"...buy low, sell high?"
Another piece of chalk went flying through the air. "That's an obvious statement that people say to try and make themselves look smart. If you don't know how to buy low and sell high, you have no business driving a car, let alone investing. The golden rule is if an investment seems obvious to you, it's obvious to everyone else, so why in Hades' name do you think you're going to strike it rich?"
"Mooo~"
He snapped his finger, pointing at Mr. Blueberry. "Foreign currencies are only acceptable if you have large amounts of money to play around with. And they're risky!!!" He slammed his hands on his desk. "Why have none of you said the most obvious investment? What's the safest and most ideal investment for any newcomer!?"
The daughter of Aphrodite, hiding under her desk, shakily raised her hand. "R-Realestate!?"
"You're goddamn right!" He pointed at her with a growl, flipping his own desk over. "Land is one of the safest and potentially most lucrative investments you can make with a moderate investment on your part! People need places to live, businesses need offices, and land is always valuable!"
Arachne had been taking a lot of notes. She never actually received any financial advice at this point in her life. Truthfully, from the perspective of everyone else, there was never really any point or thought towards it.
From her parents' side, she was filthy, stinking rich.
But Arachne wanted her own money.
The god cleared his throat, fixing his tie and snapping his fingers, fixing the many desks that had been flipped over during his lecture.
"That's all for today. I'll hold another class next week to go into various economically sensible investment opportunities for the average person." He casually walked out the door like nothing had happened before disappearing.
All three of them were confused at what happened, yet at the same time, they were somehow coming out of this class knowing a lot more about how to handle investments than they did before.
Arachne carefully put her notes away before noticing that Percy was outside, coming to see her.
She grabbed Mr. Blueberry to go meet them. "Percy." She found herself smiling.
"Hey, Arachne, this is Grover." Percy was quick to introduce the satyr at his side.
Arachne gave him a scrutinizing gaze, and the satyr hid behind Percy rather frightfully. "Why are ya hidin like that?"
'I-I, um, heard you don't like Satyrs?" Grover said in a panic.
Arachne blinked. "Who said somethin like that? I aint never hated Satyrs." She harrumphed. "I've only met one before, and he was a creep." She quickly fixed her scowl. "A am Arachne Uathath Schweinorg."
"Grover." He introduced himself as well.
"See? Nothing bad." Percy poked Grover's side before turning back to Arachne. "Why aren't you playing the game with the others? I heard they're looking for you."
"Game?" Arachne tilted her head.
"You didn't know?" Percy scratched his own head. "Something about capture the flag? It's supposed to have a lot of fighting and stuff."
Arachne pursed her lips and then shrugged. "A don't care; it sounds boring." There wasn't anyone here that she genuinely wanted to fight. "A would rather do something fun." Though now that Percy mentioned it, Arache couldn't see very many people that normally were walking around in the open.
Percy shrugged too. "Grover told me that they have a bunch of fishing poles over by the boathouse; do you want to go fishing?"
Arachne's eyes lit up. "Yer asking me to go fishing with you?"
"Uh…yeah?" Percy answered, slightly awkwardly because he was confused why she said it that way.
But for Arachne, it was special. She's gone fishing plenty of times. With her family, her aunts, her uncles, and a bunch of other people.
But she's never gone fishing with a friend before.
"A would love to!" She smiled brightly, perhaps the biggest smile she's given since coming to the camp. It was enough that Percy even flushed a little under it.
"Do you think we can get a boat—" Percy looked at Grover.
"Hey, there she is!" Someone interrupted as they all turned towards the source of the voice.
Two of Artemis's hunters pointed at them and marched right over.
"Can a help you?" Arachne asked with a clearly impatient tone on her face.
"Why weren't you playing?" The taller of the two hunters asked her, using a sort of accusatory tone.
Arachne blinked. "What?"
"Capture the flag!" She huffed. "You were supposed to participate." She added with hands on her hips. "Now Lady Artemis is upset because you weren't there."
"Okay." Arachne said blankly before turning around back to Percy. "What were you saying about a boat?"
"Well, I was wondering if we could get a boat too. Maybe—" Percy started again, only to be interrupted again.
"Hey, stop ignoring us!" The huntress said again. "Why aren't you playing!?"
Arachne looked at her blankly again, wondering if she were an idiot. "A didn't want to."
The Huntress's mouth hung open. She wasn't used to being disrespected by one of the campers like this. Usually, when they come to camp, they're treated with respect and fear, regardless of who they talk to.
"You can't just decide not to join in! Lady Artemis is angry, and you have to do something to make it up to her." She said it matter-of-factly.
"...Why?"
"...What do you mean 'why'?" The huntress was confused.
"Why does your goddess matter to me?" Arachne tilted her head; it was a serious question from her. She didn't understand why she should care about the feelings of a random goddess she has no relationship with.
There was an awkward silence that ensued.
".....So I was thinking we could maybe get a boat?" Percy continued to do what was on before. "I don't know what they got, maybe a canoe?"
"A never rode in a canoe before." Arachne pondered. "Is it the same as a kayak?"
"They're sort of the same, you—"
"Shut up! Stop ignoring me!"
"—Gotta pay more attention to the weight distribution."
Arachne nodded, noting Percy's knowledge in things boat-related. Grover just looked between the two of them with a strange look on his face, then at Mr. Blueberry, who was swaying side to side happily at Arachne's side.
Grover was sort of feeling like a third wheel at this point. He only silently followed along as the two of them started talking about random boat facts as they headed towards the boathouse, leaving the Huntresses behind.
The huntress who was causing the commotion from before, however, was fuming.
Her hands clenched tightly, and her anger boiled over. She knew about Arachne; all the hunters did. They knew that Lady Artemis wasn't to recruit her, so the Huntress's anger wasn't directed at her despite her attitude. It wouldn't do good to start a feud with a future sister.
No, her anger landed on the easy target. She shrugged off the hand of her sister that landed on her shoulder and reached for the bow on her back and pulled back the string with an arrow nocked.
Both Percy and Arachne had their heads jerk around, and Percy blinked with a bead of sweat dripping down his brow.
An arrow stopped just a few inches from his eye, held in place by Arachne's hand.
She had caught the arrow in time, if only barely, because she didn't expect the stupid girl to actually fire an arrow at them.
The huntress wasn't the only one who became furious.
Grover's eyes widened, as if he could predict what would happen next. His hand reached out, but the words couldn't even leave his lips before Arachne flipped the arrow around and threw it back at the shooter.
What quickly followed was a loud scream and blood.
The huntress fell to the ground, clutching her eye that now had an arrow sticking out of it.
And rather quickly, many more people came running over.
[ Line break]
A/N
This website is behind on the omakes so I'm just posting it in addition to what I already added, I don't normally make it a separate post, but I want to catch up.
If you want to read 2 chapters ahead of this omake, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone
I also have a boosty if you can't use the above under the same name.