Well, at least it only has three heads, he thought as he sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him. One green, slimy, reptilian head lunged forward, snapping at him, but from his right came a kid who leaped into the air and smashed it to the ground with his hooves. It roared in anguish, thrashing its head about. The boy who attacked it reached out a hand and shoved Alex forward, toward a hill in the distance that seemed to be nothing but just that. A hill.
Somewhere behind him shrieked a girl that was getting her face beaten left and right by the monster's tail. He tried to convince himself this was not real, maybe it was a bad dream!, but dream or not, he was not about to be eaten by this dragon thing, and even if he could hardly breathe, he had to just keep running. The goat boy who he had affectionately started calling 'Bambi' shouted at him, shoved him, tried to get him to the hill. Bambi gritted his teeth and looked as if he was about to hoist Alex over his shoulder, but he was cut short by teeth digging into his leg and throwing him into the air.
Alex let out a shrill noise that was somewhere between a shriek and a whistle. The other girl had her bandanna torn off. Her ponytail was on fire and her amber eyes looked wild. As much as he wanted to turn and help her, he knew he couldn't. The hill was safe, Bambi had said. Get up the hill and everyone would be safe. Alex had been told not to worry about the goat boy, something along the lines of 'I don't matter as long as half bloods get there safely!', and he would get there safely. In fact, he was at the base of the hill now and spent a moment trying to pat down the acid gnawing through his button up shirt. It was so bad, he opted to take it off and throw it at the monster, which only managed to make matters worse.
Bambi was impossible to hear, but from what Alex could make out, he was telling him to get up the hill right now. Jenna was already running up so he followed suit. His foot nearly collided with a glob of acid that had been spit his way, and in trying to dodge it he fell to his knees. The girl shouted at him to hurry. Two hands were thrust under his arms and he was yanked to his feet, practically dragged up the hill by Bambi, who had gotten out of the monster's grasp, though not without a gaping wound on his leg.
"Gods you're heavy," the boy grumbled. He looked over his shoulder, gritted his teeth, and finally hauled Alex to the top of the hill.
He was momentarily stunned. Even the girl stood there, her eyes wide, as they stared down into the valley. The water on the horizon was so clear, the strawberries ripe, the grass bright green, the cabins so...so strange. Cabins? He opened his mouth to ask something, but the monster crawling up the hill roared and without another moment he passed a pine tree with a glittering blanket hanging from its branches. A dragon was curled around it and its scaled puffed up, smoke billowing out its nose.
Alex turned to see if Bambi had made it through, a small wave of relief washing over him. The monster was still coming, however it slammed into nothing.
His brow furrowed. "What-?" His breath caught in his throat. There was no way that could have happened, and yet it did. It thrust itself around in a fit. It whipped its tail into the barrier. From behind him came war cries of kids with spears and shields, while other kids within the group tried soothing them. Bambi took a few deep breaths, pointing down the hill to a house.
Of course the first thing Alex did in front of these people was trip going down the hill. He rolled all the way down, face planting in front of a stocky boy who lowered his sword in confusion. Bambi bounced down the hill, reaching down to pick him up, but was stopped. Alex tried to push himself up and managed to get to his knees.
"Well, what a nice entrance. Come here, Alexander." Whoever it was lifted Alex to his feet and tried to take a step back with him in its arms, but he stumbled away and was caught once again. Alex looked over his shoulder at a man taller than any he had ever seen before. Ten feet tall? More hooves? He shook his head, even more sure this was a dream.
Bambi snorted and covered his mouth. "I don't think he's gotten the hang of monsters yet. Sorry."
"Did you not give him the run down?"
"We were being chased by a hydra! And before that, a harpy! We were in /Michigan/ and before that we can from /Ohio/."
Alex groaned, covering his head with his hands. The horse man, who he named Chuck, hesitantly let go of his arms and he stumbled a few feet away. Whoever these kids were cheered loudly and stormed up the hill. Older kids in desperation chased after them, begging them not to attack the hydra, for when Alex looked back, the dragon around the tree had chased it off. It now curled back up around the base of the pine tree, below the glittering and golden blanket, fast asleep.
He took a few deep breaths. Jenna was handling this much better, already sitting with a few other kids and gushing over the little robot mice she had made on the way there. How she had time for that Alex had no idea. They had been running for days, having just managed to catch a bus to the nearest stop. During the time between getting off the bus and finding the way to this hill, they had been chased down by a large dog, attacked by a three headed lizard, and dodged a horse that came down from the sky. The kid from school who sat in the back of the room had turned out to be a goat boy.
Oh yeah, Jenna was definitely handling this better. She seemed happy, ecstatic even, while Alex dropped to his knees, holding his head, wishing with all his might to be back on the ranch at home with all his favorite cows.
"We better get him something for shock," Chuck muttered. Two people stood on either side of Alex and hoisted him up. "Follow me. I'll explain to him what's going on when he's more alert. Barrett, show Jenna the orientation video if you will. Thank you!"
He was pretty sure he passed out at some point, though perhaps not for long. Maybe he had just fallen asleep. Or woken up from this terrible dream. Whatever they had given him was sweet and delicious. It calmed his nerves and when he awoke he found himself spread across a couch. In a blind panic he stood up, falling right back to the cushion when a head rush overtook him.
It was too hot in here. He stumbled outside, down the stairs, and into the grass. It had been mid morning when he arrived, now it was late afternoon, and other kids were running around shooting arrows, practicing with swords, riding horses, picking strawberries, swimming around the lake, or reading. There were many cabins that he had noticed before, a building with smoke rising from a chimney, and a large pavilion of stone columns atop another, albeit shorter, hill.
Alex scratched absentmindedly at his head, trying to see if he could pinpoint anyone he knew. Bambi was off in the fields of strawberries, playing some instrument that looked like a harp, and when he ran over to greet him, vines snapped from his legs.
"Man, glad you don't look so tormented now. The way the grass was growing around you I was sure Demeter was going to come out and kick some butt or something." Bambi's goat ears flicked. "Maybe I shouldn't be talking bad about her, oh well. Chiron's supposed to be giving you the run down. Did he tell you yet?"
He shook his head. From behind him came Chuck himself. Alex tensed at the hand that rested on his shoulder, but from the look on Chuck's face he did not mean harm. "I wasn't expecting you to wake so soon. Come, before dinner is called I'd like to explain." He started to walk off in some other direction and it took Alex a good ten seconds to realize he was supposed to follow. "Did you happen to pay attention in your Greek mythology classes?"
Alex thought for a moment. "Nope. I think those were the classes I fell asleep in. The teacher stopped calling on me when she got frustrated with my dyslexia, I guess. She never really said it that way, but that's what I assume- that and my ADHD, and-"
"Shh, those are normal for you. Do you know about the gods? Zeus, Hermes, Demeter?"
"Uh...Aphrodite?"
"She is a Greek goddess, you're correct. Did you know that they are real?"
He nearly stopped dead in his tracks. His brow furrowed. "Impossible. You're pulling my leg, for sure. That's like saying the minotaur is real, or cyclops, or...wait..." There was a splitting pain that shot through his head again. "No, no, no."
"Everyone who comes here is a child of the gods and a mortal. A demigod. That is why this camp is known as Camp Half Blood." Chuck stopped beside the strawberry fields, crossing his arms. "Those who make it here eventually get claimed by their godly parent and sorted into cabins with their siblings."
Now the shock was starting to rise again. He ran his hands through his short cropped hair and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "I have five other siblings at home, I don't need or want anymore."
Chuck shook his head. "Whether you like it or not, you have family here, and you are a demigod. You will be claimed shortly, /I hope/." He sounded stern, as if he was talking to someone nearby. "For now you will reside in the Hermes cabin. Barrett! Come here please!" The satyr trotted over, raising his ears to be alert. "Take him around and get him familiar with the cabins before dinner if you would. Get him a place in Hermes cabin, and don't let Connor and Travis do anything to him."
Nodding, Bambi gave him a grin and a salute. "No problem, Chiron. I'm on it. Come on, Alex, it'll be awesome. All the Hermes campers love getting new people!"
"But why-?"
"God of travelers, thieves, Internet. Hermes doesn't mind extra demigods in his cabin. Let's hurry, they're sending me on another mission tonight, I don't want to leave you yet!" Bambi went trotting down to the cabins. In the center was a hearth, making the entire set up look like the infinity symbol.
Some of the cabins were extravagant. Bambi pointed out the Aphrodite, Ares, and Demeter cabins as the more flashy ones, while Poseidon, Athena, Dionysus, and Hypnos cabins seemed rather plain. Perhaps the most plain out of them all was the Hermes, which looked quite literally like a regular, summer camp cabin. It was beat up and worn down, still housing at least a dozen, if not more, kids that had yet to be claimed, or had been claimed? Alex was unsure what that meant still.
Jenna was there in the cabin, already having staked out her spot in the corner with a bed roll and a bunch of cogs and screws to make her mechanical rats. Two tall boys who Bambi said were brothers came over, handing him a used bed roll. It was used, but the shirt that came with it was brand new.
"Sorry about it's condition. We have a lot of kids here!"
"Not enough beds, those are saved for the claimed."
Though Bambi had told him there were two cabin leaders, which was which was impossible for him to discern. "Uh- thanks," Alex said, taking the roll. He dropped it in the first empty space he could find and then headed outside with Bambi, preferring not to socialize much yet. His head still hurt.
"Dinner's going to be real soon, not even an hour. I can take you around to meet new people if you want! You had a...funny grass thing going on, maybe you're a Demeter kid. I can introduce you to Katie!" Bambi started to drag Alex away, but he refused to. "What's wrong?"
"Everything here is weird. Take me home."
"You can't go home, at least not right now." Bambi frowned, tapping a hoof against the ground. "There's monsters out there. Even if you're not a kid of the Big Three like Percy or Nico or Thalia, they'll hunt you down to prevent you from doing anything. We just want you to be safe."
Alex rubbed his upper arms. He took a shark intake of breath and let it out slowly through his mouth. Bambi took a step toward him, gently taking his chin between his fingers. He hummed.
"You have purple eyes, like Pollux and Cast- like Pollux! I can take you to meet him if you'd like. Though right now he is depressed, maybe it's not a good idea." For a breif moment Bambi looked as if something had hit him in the gut. His tail whipped back and forth, and his face twisted. "Yeah, let's just. Let's meet some of the Athena kids, you might get along with them... Let's get your shirt changed, first!"
"Bambi- slow down-!"
"...Bambi? Dude, my names Barrett. Last time you called me Boris. Barrett. Say it with me."
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Barret. Let's just go."
Shinzu: Third times the charm? I can never hit the sweet spot with starting a story with Alex, so hopefully this has worked. I am looking for someone friendly to beta the chapters for me! ;o; There won't be a huge plot, just things about the demigods while at camp! I'd appreciate it greatly.