Camp Half-Blood and Earth's Daughter

Chapter 10

"Brooke, what happened?" It was Piper. She ran up to me. I was crouching in the middle of the woods, next to a creek. I felt calmer next to the water. I watched as it tumbled over jagged rocks at the bottom. I felt satisfied, as if the water were wearing away my power instead of the rocks.

"I-I was with Annabeth. She was teaching me to fight, and I..." I stopped, sobs taking over me. Piper sat down next to me. Her chocolate brown hair was braided and rested on her shoulder. A blue harpy feather was tied at the end. I looked up at her. Her eyes were blue, like the sky. They were also green like the oak leaves, and brown like one of the pegasi I saw the other day in the stables. Piper's eyes were so mesmerizing, that I almost forgot why I was upset.

"Brooke, what happened to Annabeth?" she asked quietly. I inhaled sharply, worried.

"Is she alright?" I asked.  Piper nodded calmly.

"She's in the infirmary right now. I saw her. I think she's okay, she's just in shock," Piper explained. She looked at me expectantly. I got the message. She wanted me to tell her exactly what happened.

"We were sparring. She got me on the floor, and I closed my eyes. Suddenly, dirt and stone was rising from the mats and surrounding her. It became like a cage, or a cast. It encaged her or something, and Percy came. The dirt and stone disappeared and she passed out," I said, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Did you bring the dirt and stone?" Piper asked. I eyed her wearily, but she didn't seem scared or freaked out.

"I did. That's the scary thing. I started to feel like I wanted to trap her. I felt powerful, and I was glowing! I felt....evil," I finished. Piper and I were silent for a long time.

"What do I do, Piper?" I asked hopelessly. Piper looked at me sadly.

"We need to talk to Chiron," Piper said and stood up, offering me her hand. I stared at it. Piper looked down at me, her expression once again, expectant.

"Brooke, come," Piper commanded. I felt warmth, and the sudden desire to follow Piper, though that feeling was already there.

"Hey, is Oak still in the infirmary?" I asked. Piper bit her lip.

"Um, yes," she replied carefully. I stopped. We were at the edge of the woods, and the setting sun could be seen in the distance.

"What's wrong with him?" I demanded. Piper's lip trembled.

"He was stabbed with a poisonous spear.  Will Solace claims that he could heal him, but it's going to be really hard since the poison spread through his body so quickly," Piper sobbed.

"Oak," I groaned and ran off to the infirmary. People jumped out of my way. I registered that they were whispering and pointing at me, but my mind was on Oak.

"Where is he?" I cried as I burst into the infirmary. Children of Apollo stopped and stared at me. One small girl with white, curly hair and very pale skin almost fainted when I glanced at her. One boy, a little older than fifteen, walked up to me. He had tan skin and curly, blonde hair.

"Hi, I'm Will Solace," he told me and shook my hand. I guessed that he was Nico's boyfriend.

"Where's Oak?" I cried desperately. Will lead me to the back of the infirmary. I turned away from the sleeping Annabeth lying on a cot. Percy was next to her holding her hand. I could feel his glare on me as I shuffled past him.

"Here he is. He's alive, but he won't wake up," Will told me sadly. I grabbed Oak's hand. Even though I didn't have a long time to get to know him, he was the only person who cared about me when I was homeless.  I stroked his curly hair sadly as tears gushed down my cheeks.

"I can help him." I spun around. Percy Jackson, the person who probably hates me the most in here, was standing behind me, a soft expression on his face.

"How?" I asked quickly. Percy scowled.

"In Tartarus, I was able to control poison. I can probably draw the poison out of Oak," Percy suggested. Will stepped in front of me.

"Why didn't you tell me this like, a day ago?" he asked, his arms folded. Percy smirked slightly.

"I didn't know he was poisoned until today." Will shrugged and stepped aside.

"Please heal him!" I begged. Percy looked at me thoughtfully.

"I won't be doing it for you. You almost killed my girlfriend. I don't trust you. I'm only doing this because Oak is my friend," Percy stated. I understood. I doubted anyone would ever trust me again.

Percy put a hand over Oak. I watched as a yellow-green substance started to leak out of the cut in Oak's gut. I started to cry with relief as Oak breathed deeply again. Percy stepped away, claiming he was finished, and went back to Annabeth.

"He needs rest," Will informed me and started to pour a golden liquid onto Oak's cut. I nodded and ran out of the infirmary.

Suddenly, my happiness that Oak was alive disappeared. I glanced at the cabins (which I found out are actually placed in the shape of Omega) and saw the one thing that would not help my situation at all: my cabin was finished.