New Beginnings
Chapter 10
Written by rachel76
Edited by Don Kaufman

The list of characters mentioned in this story belong to the various authors that created them. This is a fan-fiction story.

~~~000~~~

Location: Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York

We follow the group onto the property. We take the car as far as we can on the well-worn dirt road. It ends where the lodges are kept. I see several more vehicles there as well. However, they are all SUVs.

“The next time we come here, it will be in an SUV, Brianna.”

“Yes, that road is a bit bumpy for this car.”

We get out of the car. We join Tantalus and Chiron. They are checking out their ten best warriors at their medical facility. Seven of them are lying on the beds. The other three are sitting up on the edge of the bed.

“What I want to know Chiron, why is my stomach is upset?”

“Richard, do you have an answer?”

“I do, Chiron. When I raked your stomach, I sent a vibration as well. It is a Shaolin technique. What I can do for everyone here, let my family go around to heal your bodies. One of the techniques we learned with the water bending element is the ability to heal. You use water to heal.”

Then Percy looks at Chiron quickly, “I remember hearing my father talking about that in my mind. When I did my first Capture the Flag contest. Poseidon told me in my mind that water is used for healing. I thought I can only heal myself. Richard, how can I use it to heal others?”

“Like this, Percy.” I walk up to a bowl of water. I stick my hand into the water. I draw it out. They see the hand is covered in water and not falling off. I walk up to one of the warriors I did the animal slash onto his stomach. I place my hand on his bare skin. I concentrate on the hand. The hand begins to glow white.

“What? The pain is gone. It is like, it never happened. Thank you very much, Richard.”

“You’re welcome.”

Then Brianna and my fairies join in as well. We heal everyone in the medical ward. When we tried to show the doctors and nurses there, they were dismayed they couldn’t do it.

“Well, it just shows we need to wait patiently for the magic to be returned to us.”

“Do you know when it will happen, Richard?”

“It should happen about four years from now. The Ethereal Space rocks is the source of all magic throughout the multi-verses.”

I see Clarisse is still sitting on the bed. She is still deep in thought on what to do next. “Sigh. . . “

”What’s on your mind, Clarisse?”

“Sigh . . . It’s my father, Ares. I was hoping to hear from him soon in my mind. I have a question for him about this test.”

“If you must know, Clarisse. Ares, challenged me as well.”

“Then tell me what happened, Richard.”

“Ares underestimated me from the beginning.” I then tell Clarisse the encounter I had with her father.

“What?! You mean tell me, you put Ares on his backside with the same Tiger slash on the chin as you did to me?”

“Yes, I did, Clarisse. He didn’t expect my fighting skill as an animal fighter. The Shaolin student doesn’t fight the normal way with swords and weapons.”

“What did my father say after he faced you?”

“He admitted he got his ass whooped by a mortal. The other Gods were snickering and giggling that Ares underestimated me. They told Ares, that my beating upon him, would hopefully knock some sense into him. Then Ares said he will have to learn some different fighting styles from several different martial arts masters.”

Then Clarisse smiles widely, “Then I’ll do the same thing too, Richard. I know my father can be stubborn and prideful. I’ll earn the Shaolin Dragon Master title like you are doing.”

“The first attitude to have, Clarisse, is not to do it with anger. It will hamper your ability to control it properly. If you let anger rule your life, people will find a way to defeat you. You must learn the yin yang principal the right way. Do you know what the symbol is for the yin yang principal?”

“Isn’t that the black and white symbol, Richard?”

“It is, Clarisse.”

“Hmm . . . . all right it’s starting to make sense right now.”

Then we all get up and leave the medical facility. The doctors and nurses are by the doorways with smiles on their faces. “Now remember demigods, we are here to help you recover from your training session injuries.”

“Yeah, however some of those medicines you give us are a bit awful in taste.”

“Now, now, demigods, we can’t give you sugar to help swallow it down, but honey is better than sugar.”

“Then you better have gallons of honey ready for us, doc.”

Everyone giggles and laughs as they exit the medical facility. Then the medical staff realize they have an opportunity to get sheets and covers clean and ready for the next round of injuries. They proceed to strip the beds of the sheets and covers and get them clean in their laundry room next to the medical facility.

We walk past many buildings along the trail. Once we get past a small lake, we see an amphitheater on the right hand side. We see everyone streaming to it and filling up the seats. Chiron directs our family to be up front. Then he has me standing by his side. Once he sees everyone has settled down, Chiron begins his speech.

“Richard, will now help us to achieve the next level. Richard, what is the process to learn the Shaolin moves?”

“First of all, Chiron, I found three Shaolin temples here on Long Island. Brianna, my fairies and I will show you beginning moves for the early sashes.”

“When do you learn the animal moves?”

“It starts with the brown sash. That won’t happen until about five years from now when you begin with the white sash. There are three degrees in the brown sash. Each degree is for a different animal and a different weapon. When you start with the Black sashes, the number of animal moves increase dramatically. Also, you are learning the weapons along the way. By the time you earn the tenth black sash you will have learned about thirty different animal moves. I am also told you will learn how to use at least six hundred weapons. This includes the farm tools.”

The demigods become restless when they hear those numbers.

Chiron sees their restlessness, “Remember, demigods, the Chinese people have been doing this for six hundred years or so. I’ll be sending you to the local Shaolin temples here on Long Island on a periodic basis. In time you will become a stronger and a smarter warrior. When Richard comes here from time to time, he will help us fine tune our fighting skills as a group.”

I take a step toward Percy Jackson. “Percy, there is going to be an opportunity next year at this time. I’ll be visiting Japan and China on a business trip for Secure-Sys. I will also have my Sensei and teacher along with me.”

“Why do you want me to come with you?”

“Have you seen the weather events in Japan lately?”

“I have, Richard. Some of the weather is too incredible for it to happen.”

“That’s right, Percy. Because, the weather is being influenced by the Demon Gaap. He is a water demon. Poseidon is going to be there to face Gaap. While he is facing Gaap, you and I will be facing his minions.”

“How am I going to defeat a bunch of water demons, Richard?”

“You will learn from me how to do it, Percy. I have done it before. By the time I get done with you in a year, you will become very confident in controlling the water element.”

Percy smiles, “Then I look forward to having that water fight with you.”

“Yes, we’ll have a water fight, Percy. Percy, do you know how to control the tallest standing tidal wave?”

“I have tried it a few times, Richard. I can only keep it up for a minute.”

“Well, Poseidon put his hands upon my head, so I can do the same thing. You might consider I’m one of his adopted sons.”

Everyone begins to snicker and giggle as they try to imagine that scene.

“We’ll practice it until we can hold the tidal wave up for an hour or more, Percy.”

“Then I look forward in doing that long, Richard.”

“Okay, demigods, I will start with the white sash moves. Each sash you earn, the moves are built upon the previous moves you learned earlier. You must have patience in learning the moves. Right now, the moves are for one on one attacks. As you earn the higher sashes, you’ll learn how to defend yourself against multiple attackers. It is a step by step process.”

Chiron looks around, “That’s right, demigods. It is a step by step process. Richard, have you learned how to disarm someone with a weapon?”

“I have, Chiron.”

“Then I want Annabeth to come up here. I want her to come up here and do one of her best moves. Richard will disarm you in the process.”

“Gulp . . .. Yes, Chiron.” Annabeth gets up and walks up to face me. She swings her sword a few times. Then she faces me with both hands on the grip. She has now a look of determination of her doing one of her best moves. She brings up her sword. She swings her sword in a downward arc as she takes a step toward me. “SWWWIIIISSSSHH!!”

I take a step back and let the sword pass me.

She takes the sword and brings it back. She comes in straight at me toward my stomach. She lunges forward. “Swissshhhh!!”

I turn sideways quickly to avoid the slash as it misses my stomach.

The crowd groans when they see it happen. “GASP!! That was lightning quick!!”

I immediately put my left arm around her forearm. I quickly put my right hand on the guard hilt of the sword. I immediately yank the sword from her hand.

The demigods murmur on seeing the results of the move.

“Now, as she earns the higher sashes, she will learn how to increase her handgrip on the sword so that won’t happen.” I hand the sword back to Annabeth.

Annabeth takes the sword and puts it into the scabbard. She smiles at me, “Then I look forward to that day when it happens.”

Everyone cheers and claps their hands.

Then Brianna and I show the moves for the white sash. They even see our hovering fairies are doing the same moves as we are. Everyone is looking intently at us. When we get done with the moves, we end it by slowing our breaths down calmly.

Then everyone cheers and claps their hands. “Yeah!!! That was great!! I want to learn that, Chiron!!”

It goes on for five minutes before Chiron raises his hands to quiet everyone down.

“It is now approaching the time for the noon meal. Richard, where are you staying?”

“We are in the Marriott at Melville.”

“That’s good. You can be here by nine o’clock each morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

We follow them to the dining hall. The demigods stack their weapons on several tables near the front door to the dining hall. We are invited to sit with Chiron at the front table.

“Richard, did you bring food for your fairies?”

“I did, Chiron. I even brought food for Robert as well. We came prepared this morning. I just need three plates for the fairies.”

“That’s good.”

I set the fairies’ satchel at the end of the table. Someone comes from the kitchen with three plates in her hand. I take them and place them on the table. The fairies quickly open their satchel and their food bags. They take out what they want to eat for the noon meal. They make their own honey-water cups as well.

Soon, the demigods, two from each table, walk up to the window. They are handed their meals. Someone comes by and delivers our meals to our table. We see Tantalus is sitting with us as well. Once everyone has settled down. Everyone rises up and gets quiet. They look at Chiron and Tantalus. They are holding their own mugs of water in front of them. We do the same thing as well.

Chiron speaks up next, “To the Greek Gods who gave us life.”

Everyone responds with the same words that Chiron spoke. “To the Greek Gods who gave us life.”

“To the Creator that provides our food to eat from the Earth.”

Everyone repeats what Chiron spoke, “To the Creator that provides our food to eat from the Earth.”

Then everyone sits down and begins to eat the noon meal. We see a filet of broiled fish on the plate with two different vegetables. It is seasoned lightly.

Soon, there is a dull roar of conversations from the demigods while they eat the noon meal. It takes a full hour to eat the meal. Then the demigods stack up the empty plates, silverware and cups neatly. Then they take items back to the window. There the kitchen crew begins to clean the kitchen up and get ready for the evening meal.

The demigods then leave the dining hall. They pick up their weapons and walk back to the training fields.

I interact with demigods during the training session. Brianna, my fairies and I make sure they are learning the moves for the white sash. It takes the rest of the afternoon until 3 PM.

Then Chiron speaks up, “All right demigods. We are not going to do another round of Capture the Flag today. We’ll save that for another day. For the next hour, we’ll focus on these new moves we just learned. It will be one on one. Once you have taken your opponent down, you are back at it again. I want you to be able take each other down five times. Then we’ll mix up the pairings so you can face a different opponent. We need to learn how to face an opponent with different strengths and skill sets. Do not use your god given talent!! All right, let’s pair up.”

Everyone pairs up with each other. Everyone tries to restrain themselves from using their inherited god given talents. Soon, they take each other down five times. Then they switch partners. This continues until it reaches 4 PM. Then Chiron ends the training session. He sees they are more focused than ever before. My family walks back to our car. We get back in and I drive us back to the Marriott in Melville.

We get ourselves cleaned up for the evening dinner. I call the VP of our division. “Mr. Clausen, we are going to need an SUV. It is a lot better on the roads there.”

“That’s fine, Richard. How did it go, Richard?”

“It went fine, sir. We’ll tell you about it during breakfast tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM here in the Marriott.”

“Then I’ll be there for breakfast, Richard. I’ll get an SUV there tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you, Mr. Clausen.” “Click!”

We get ourselves cleaned up. We put on some very nice clothes for the evening dinner. Brianna pushes Robert in his baby carriage. The three of us walk to the restaurant at the Marriott. The fairies stay behind in the room to have their own evening meal and watch the latest news on the TV.

We feed Robert while we have our meal. After an hour of eating the evening meal, we take another stroll back to our rooms. We put on the multi-pocket coats. The fairies quickly flutter into the pockets. We step outside to watch the evening sunset. We see the clouds change color as the sun sets. Then we enter the garden area around the pool again. The fairies have their sip of nectar from the flowers in their butterfly mode. Then the fairies flutter back into our coat pockets.

We walk back to the room and get ready for the night. When we watch the news, we see Japan is getting hit with another category three typhoon. That makes the fifth typhoon to hit Japan this year. The people are complaining that nothing is being done to help rebuild their country. Then we see reports from the streets. They are desperate to do things for themselves. Soon, the criminal gangs are ramping up their efforts to rob the relief trucks before the delivery is made to the people. Goods are coming in from other countries to help Japan out.

We go to bed by 10 PM. I set the alarm for 6:30 AM. Soon, we are fast asleep. We try to ignore the news we are hearing from Japan while we sleep.

~~~000~~~

In the NC prison, Tyrone walks up to Michael during the outside afternoon break.

“How many times did you read that book, Michael?”

“I read it five times, Tyrone.”

“So, what is your decision? Do you still want to be like Hef of old?”

“Nyah . . . I am no longer interested in being a playboy king. I didn’t realize how much work goes into keeping a marriage together.”

“That’s a fact, Michael. Well then, let me shake your hand, Michael.”

“Sure, why not, Tyrone.”

As soon as Michael shakes his hand, he face changes as he hears a new voice in his head. “Who is speaking to me in my mind, Tyrone?”

“What’s he telling you?”

“He is telling me, he is the Creator of the Universe. He has been waiting for me to acknowledge him.” A tear goes down Michael’s face. He wipes it away quickly. “The last time I was in church was during the first grade in elementary school.”

“The Creator has always want a relationship with his Creation, Michael. Now that you hear him, come with us to service on Sunday mornings. I’ll even invite you to join our martial arts training period.”

“You mean to tell me, I will learn how Richard defeated us?”

“That’s right, Michael. However, don’t tell Brent and Darryl about it. We want Brent to be the last one to hear the Creator’s voice.”

“Heh, heh, heh, . . . .yes, it will sour his mind like crazy that we are leaving his little clique group.”

Then Tyrone introduces Michael to several other believers who can hear the Creator’s voice. Once he meets Brian Dixon, they are laughing together about what could happen to Brent.