I
IT WAS ASH'S SEVENTH DAY OF MIDDLE SCHOOL and he was already sick of it. It was the first time he's been to school without either moving or being expelled, but sooner or later one was going to happen.
He was on the bus, staring out the window. His friend—pretty much his only friend—Hunter sat next to him. Paper planes flew above their heads. Kids stood up, talking about stuff like crushes and perverted rumors about teachers. The girls fixed their make-up, the boys screamed out the window. Ash was probably the most mature person on the vehicle.
"Hey, Ash. Ash. ASH!" Hunter said, elbowing him.
"Jeez, you have to at least give me time to turn around." Ash complained.
"Stop your whining and check out the new girl, in the front!" Hunter dragged him up by his shirt collar.
"We aren't even supposed to be stand—"Ash dropped his jaw. She was the most beautiful girl ever—curly black hair, blood red lips, and big glassy brown eyes. She looked at them, smiled, and turned around again. Something in her eyes was hidden... like there were a million secrets to be told.
Ash curled up near the window, blushing.
"You so like her." Hunter grinned.
"Who told you that? I don't even know her name! What if she's a jerk, or—"
"Yeah, yeah, lover boy." Hunter sighed. "I'm asking her on a date!"
"Aren't we a little young for that?" Ash said as Hunter trotted away. He stared out the window. He acted like he had a crush on her, but he didn't. He couldn't. And something about her said "Back off", even though she seemed nice on the outside.
Hunter ran up the isle, tripping over hanging seatbelts and crumpled up paper balls. Ash peeked his head out from the side of the seat.
"How you doin'?" hunter winked, leaning against her seat. She sat in silence, with a disapproving expression. From across the bus she looked at Ash. Is this guy your friend? She mouthed.
Ash shrugged, nodding his head. Never seen him before.
The girl ducked under Hunter's arm and walked over to Ash. She plopped herself down next to him. "The name's Tara," She held out her hand. "You?"
"Ash," he shook her hand. "Ash Hudson. Are you new here?"
Tara's eyes turned red for a moment. Was Ash seeing things? No, she couldn't have done that.
"Mm-hm. Just moved from New York. Long drive to Vermont. 'Bout six hours."
"I can't even be on this bus for ten minutes." Ash sighed. Tara giggled. "Well that ten minutes is over." She stood up. "Which teachers do you have? Burke? Hansen?"
"Henner and O'Connor."
"Same!" Tara grinned. Maybe middle school wouldn't be so bad with Tara.
It was ninth period, the last of the day. Tara and Ash had History with Mr. Henner. He was short, heavy, and had to be at least seventy years old. His hair was dark gray; it looked like someone smeared powdered sugar on his hair. You couldn't see the top of his head because it was covered with a brown and plaid flat cap. His cheeks were rosy red and his eyes were small and beady under his bushy eyebrows. A matching vest and dress shirt covered his chest and big belly. He was constantly eating during class and carried an ancient-looking wooden cane. When he laughed, it sounded like a choking farm animal. Funny he was a teacher, because he couldn't hit the floor if he fell on it. After all, they were the only class who hasn't took the Greek mythology test—or have even moved on from the first page in their textbook.
"So, kids, that's how Zeus became lord of the sky. We should be having a quiz, er, test on this next week. So let's see what's on the schedule for today... did we review how Zeus became king of the gods?"
"Yes." The class said, miserably. "Three times!" one kid shouted.
"Ah, I see. Turn to page four of your textbooks. Today we will be learning about how Zeus became the king of gods." Everyone groaned.
Mr. Henner was about to start reading, when he slowly drifted into a sleep. Hunter, who sat at the front of the room (for a reason), poked Mr. Henner with his pencil. "Clear!" he yelled. Everyone started talking a goofing off, as if on cue. Mr. Henner yawned after a couple of minutes.
"Ash. Up to my desk, please." Mr. Henner announced.
"Ooh! Looks like someone's in trouble!" Hunter leaned forward. "That would be you, if anyone. We all know that." Ash told him, jokingly.
"You got one-hundred. Congratulations." Mr. Henner spun in his chair.
"On what? We didn't have any tests yet." Ash said, softly.
"Oh, yeah. Well just be careful, Ash. I've been smelling-a something, kid. Something neither of us will like." Mr. Henner whispered. Yeah. He was crazy. I hope this guy doesn't have tenure. Ash thought.
"I think you should take a day or two off, Mr. Henner. We can probably get a sub, right? Why not start now! Just go on your way home. We'll be okay." Ash tried to persuade him. Mr. Henner's laughter filled the room.
"I don't think so, Mr. Hudson." Ding, ding, ding...the bell dismissed class.
"I'm just as crazy as you, Mr. Hudson. Just as crazy." He echoed himself. Ash swished back his dark brown hair. He trotted over to the door. Tara grabbed his wrist from behind him. Her hand was as cold as a frozen pole in the middle of winter that blockheads would try to lick. "Wait." Tara squeezed "I need to talk to you."
"I can't miss the bus today. Sorry. You see I can't get a ride because..."
"It's important." Tara's face looked like it was sculpted, like one of the Greek statues in their textbooks.
"Fine." They headed to the cafeteria, where no one was. "Wouldn't they lock the doors?" Ash tilted his head.
"Guess not." Tara said apathetically.
They walked into the lunchroom. Its walls were painted pastel blue with a giant painting of a black-and-white horse's head, being strangled by the words "MORRISTOWN MUSTANGS". Wherever you would walk, the stallion would stare at you, steam coming out of its nostrils.
Their feet made echoes as they sneakily tiptoed through the room. They sounded like when you clicked a mechanical pencil, hoping to find more lead. Ash and Tara sat at one of the lunch tables across from each other.
"Why don't you sit closer?" Tara asked. Ever since the end of class, she'd been talking like a robot.
"Because I'm not creepy." Ash giggled. No response. Tara just kept a blank expression on her face.
"Anyway, what did you want to talk about?' Ash yawned. When he opened his eyes again, Tara was staring into his eyes, right beside him. She somehow had red lipstick and some weird girly eye stuff—mascara?
"Um...a little too close for comfort. How's you even do—"
"Just relax, Ash. Fall asleep. It's all okay." Her voice sounded like an adult's. Ash felt his eyelids getting heavy, his fingers, hands, and arms loosen. Just before passing out, he saw Tara start to change. Her black hair began turning shades of red and yellow, flying into the air like a phoenix. As she sneered, her teeth morphed into sharp fangs that hurt to even look at. Her honey-brown irises changed to crimson as she placed her hand on Ash's chest. He felt it getting heavier, then colder. After just seconds her hand turned into a bronze paw. Tara's pale skin changed into periwinkle scales. She sprouted a tail and a donkey's rear legs.
"Mirum amici fuistis," she whispered, "sed diam meliorem faciam." Ash was completely discombobulated, and being not even half-awake wasn't helping. A nap sounds nice. I actually haven't slept for, let's see, 1...2... Suddenly, the doors burst open. It was Mr. Henner! But something was different about legs were dark gray, as hairy as a mammoth. His cane turned into a spear with pine needles sticking out of it like quills on a frightened hedgehog. The spear looked like a tree, besides its bronze tip.
"No one messes with my student!" he shouted in his worn-out, raspy voice. He ran towards Ash. He actually appeared to be galloping. He stood on the table and struck his spear through Tara. Ash never would've imagined that his history teacher would be trying to kill his new friend. He actually would probably have laughed at the moment if he weren't about to die a minute ago.
"That's a F minus for you!" Mr. Henner mumbled. Tara tried to shake Mr. Henner off her back. She pounced across the cafeteria like a cat. She bit the teacher's leg and threw him towards the snack machine. Ash felt pathetic sitting there like he was watching a movie. Out of instinct he ran on the tables to Mr. Henner. In midair, he extended his hand in the direction of the window. Please work... Please work... Ash repeated in his head. A giant sugar maple tree raced through the glass, just in time to catch Mr. Henner. The plant wrapped around his waist and gently placed Mr. Henner down. He was unconscious on the floor, belly up.
"Now it's time for you, Tara." Ash took a deep breath.
Tara made a noise that sounded like a cross between a growl, screech, and laugh. She charged and Ash and leaped. Ash tried to protect himself and Mr. Henner (who was still knocked out) by making a giant yellow birch shoot out of the floor. Tara got hit by a branch or two, but wasn't seriously injured. Ash didn't know planting trees with his mind would be so tiring. He heard Mr. Henner cough from behind him. Ash ran over to him.
"What did I miss?" Mr. Henner said, dazed.
"Not much. I made a couple of trees go threw the building. No big deal."
"So you knew?"
"Knew what?" Ash tried to not freak out. "I was being sarcastic..." he said under his breath. "What the heck is going on? Why is Tara a monster? How did I make all these trees appear?" he looked down. "Why are you a goat?" Tara started approaching them.
"Satyr, thank you. Anyway, we don't have enough time." Mr. Henner got up, plucking twigs out of his fur. "Sorry kid, but we can't win this one. Hop on my back."
"Why?"
"Just do what your teacher says!" Ash mounted onto Mr. Henner. He held onto the satyr's horns. Mr. Henner jumped out of the window. Thank god we're on the first floor... Ash thought. Mr. Henner was literally jumping off the walls of the school. They probably traveled two miles in five minutes. They settled in "Twin Lakes Preserve", a conserved forest that wrapped around two lakes. Most men Mr. Henner's age would have a heart attack after a workout like that, but he just complimented his own skills.
"I haven't ran like that in ages!" he huffed.
"I haven't ran like that ever. Anyway, it's story time! Tell me the one about...hmm...what the heck is going on?" Ash changed his tone from childish to totally berserk.
"Alright, alright, kid. Just settle down. Okay... I'm just going to rip the bandage off. Nice n' easy. Just like a roller coaster. So, have you ever met your mother?"
"No. She died when I was born." Ash explained, dreadfully. There was a silence. Mr. Henner looked like he's just seen a ghost—maybe not a ghost, since he was a monster-killing goat man. He looked more like he saw someone come back to life. That had to be new for him.
"Well, kid, you see...that was a lie. Whoever said that to you, whatever kind of sick person told you that, was telling a lie. Your mother was a goddess."
Ash's face turned the color of a fire truck. His deep green eyes teared a little.
"Unless you're the wrong kid." Mr. Henner continued. He whipped out a small, pink post-it note. After a click or to he said "Nope. The description matches you perfectly." He put it back into his pocket. "I know it's your mother because I've seen your father, which means he's mortal. I'm guessing your mother is involved with plants, because you caused that tree incident." Mr. Henner didn't even notice Ash was having a minor breakdown. He propped against a mossy log with his face in his hands and his legs curled up like a roly-poly. Mr. Henner was about to walk over to him, when Ash sprinted as far away as he could. The only thing left there was lonesome Mr. Henner and Ash's tear disappearing into the ground, like his trust vanishing with his father.
Ash felt more depression than he ever had. Why did his father lie? Why was Mr. Henner stalking him? Who was his mother, really? Crying made him feel like the clueless child who had no control over his emotions. It made him feel like a broken pot. No purpose, not anywhere to go. Deserved to be thrown away, just sitting there acting like an infant. He wiped his tears with his sweatshirt. A new seed was planted inside of him. A seed of sorrow, but also a seed of hope. Hope that his mother was still alive, watching him from whatever kind of godly kingdom she dwelled in.
There was a crunch of leaves behind him. Two kids were walking, holding hands. There was a tall and muscular boy with curly, dusty, pastel brown hair and mint-green eyes. He had sharp features, like a wolf. He had a two-sided dagger strapped to his belt. Next to him was a girl that had black hair and two different color eyes—one light blue, one dark brown. She was an average height and reasonably thin. When she walked, you could hear glass bottles clinking together and liquid inside them splashing in her purple bag. They were both teenagers, about 14 years old. The girl's head was rested on the guy's shoulder.
"See? I told you I sensed another demigod!" the girl squealed with delight. She held her palm out with confidence.
"Fine, fine. But he might not be! Let me check." Said the boy. Before you could even see him, the teenage boy was kneeling next to Ash.
"You alright?"
"I'm fine. Who are you?" Ash's eyes were bloodshot.
"I'm Drake. Over there's my girlfriend, Melanie." Melanie waved from the background.
"Okay. Just relax for one minute. Melanie, come over here. Hand me the blue one."
"Which blue one?"
"The clear one in the square bottle."
"That's sancti revelare, silly!" she chuckled, handing him the potion. Melanie removed a water bottle from her bag and handed it to Drake, right after. Drake poured the smallest drop he could of the potion into the water. He gave it to Ash.
"Bottoms up." Drake said.
I just met them, and they expect me to drink this stuff? What if it's drugs or something? Thoughts raced through Ash's head. "No thanks." He pushed it away. Melanie frowned, as if that was offending.
Drake stared at the concoction, twisting and turning it with his fingers. "Okay. If you're going to be that way, than I suppose I'll just..." he uncapped it and shoved it into Ash's mouth. It tasted like expired onions and Gatorade. Drake pressed his thumb onto Ash's forehead. A white mark glowed underneath Drake's finger.
"Oh no." Drake looked shocked.
"What? Is something wrong?" Ash sat up.
"You owe me three drachmas!" Melanie giggled. Drake tossed three golden coins to Melanie. He sighed. "Now I only have four left..." Drake mumbled. Ash took a sigh of relief. For a minute he thought that he was cursed, or maybe the potion was poison, or something unfortunate.
"What just happened, anyway?" Ash tilted his head. He still felt a tingling sensation were Drake's thumb was. "What was that potion?"
"Well you see," Drake explained, "while we were walking Melanie thought she sensed a demigod in the preserve. I thought that it would be weird for a demigod to be alone in the forest, so we made a bet. We found you; Melanie stole my money, et cetera. That potion you drank was one of Melanie's little creations." He used his fingers as quote signs. "We use it to see if someone is a demigod or not. And, as you probably know, you are a demigod. Who's your godly parent?"
Ash was silent for a second. "I'm not sure. My teacher, who's actually a goat-man, told me my mother was a goddess. I didn't believe him and kind of ran off—let's say it was touching on a personal subject." Ash said. Drake and Melanie exchanged looks. Melanie mouthed, a satyr? Drake nodded. "Who is this teacher of yours?"
"Mr. Henner." Melanie and Drake looked at each other again, in shock. Drake grabbed Ash's shoulders. "Where did he go? Do you know?" Drake grasped him a little tighter. Ash pointed in behind them, to notice Mr. Henner trying to find a way out of the preserve. "Stay here, demigod." Drake said. Drake grabbed Melanie's wrist and ran faster than the speed of lightning towards Mr. Henner. Drake made Mr. Henner seem like a snail compared to his running skills. If you blinked, you would have no idea which direction he went. Melanie ran onto Drake's back and leapt into midair. She removed a water gun out of her backpack and squirted Mr. Henner with orange liquid—another one of her special blends. Mr. Henner was trying to gallop away, but Vega's magic pinned down his arms and hooves.
Drake's sword was pointed at the old timer's neck. "Why are you here?" Drake said. He looked like a hero, even with just a sword in hand. Melanie was behind him, filling her water guns with a thick, black potion. She pointed the two tiny Nerf guns at Mr. Henner, with enough self-assurance to make them seem like cannons.
"Hm...I guess I'm not getting out of this one. Hey, kid. What took so long? Can't catch up with an old man like me?" Ash was panting; taking his last stride towards everyone. "Actually catching up with these guys." Drake looked at both of them, turning his head back and forth.
"Alright. What's going on? What are you putting this demigod through?" Drake stuck his sword closer to Mr. Henner, raising his chin.
"Just trying to find an innocent kid a good home!" Mr. Henner said, darkly. "Y'know, like that sweetie Cymone. Good kid. Terrible fate." Mr. Henner grinned.
"She doesn't need to be dragged into this." The thought of Cymone, whoever she was, obviously bothered Drake. "Now leave. And if I hear that you're messing with any demigod again, than I'll make sure Hades has a good place for you in the Underworld." Mr. Henner laughed, and then galloped away into the forest. "I'm sorry that he bought that up." placed her hand on his shoulder. "It's fine. I'm fine." Drake sighed. Ash would've asked who Cymone was, and what happened to her, but it seemed like it bought too much depression to Drake to talk about it.
"We should get going." Melanie said. "What's your name again?"
"Ash."
"Okey-dokey. We should be at the camp by about 4:45. There you'll probably be claimed and Chiron will pick someone to show you around. You'll have fun there! Well, fun if you like fighting and capture the flag and flying horses and..." she went on and on about things that Ash has only heard in myths.
"Where is this camp anyway?"
"Camp Half-Blood? It's on Long Island." Drake said, still dazed by his conversation with Mr. Henner.
"But you said we'd be there by 4:45. That's in 20 minutes." Ash looked at Melanie, confused. "We're in Vermont."
"Yup. I still have a teeny bit of this potion..." Melanie dug through her bag like a stray cat sniffing around in a trashcan. "Here we go! Hold this, please." She tossed it to Ash. This one was in an ovular bottle. Inside of it was a thick liquid, swirling with shades of blue, green, and white. Melanie grabbed a stick and drew a picture of Long Island with a little X in the middle. She held her hand out. "Potion, please." Ash handed the container to Vega. "Hope this is enough!" she said, enthusiastically.
"What if it's not?" Ash asked.
"Then not all of us get transported." Drake said. "And one of us gets stuck here." Drake was a serious guy and all, but he really seemed dejected. Who could Cymone have been?
Melanie drew a big circle around the illustration. She poured the mixture throughout the drawing. "If one of us might not come, then why are we doing this?" Ash questioned. Vega pulled him in the circle, along with Drake. No answer. A black wall started rising around them where the ring was. Within seconds the three of them were in a clear, black dome. It continued rising until they were all in a giant bubble. Melanie raised both of her arms like a hawk preparing for flight. The bubble jerked up. She pushed her arms up, as hard as she could. The bubble flew up 50 feet into the air. Melanie was closing her eyes, trying to focus. "Drake, which way is north again?" she was nearly perspiring.
"To your left. So we should be going to your right."
"Thanks, hon." She circled her hands to the right. Drake sat down.
"You can sit. It's not like you'll fall out." He said. Ash kneeled. "So...Is it possible that I can get a real explanation of this whole demigod thing?" He asked. Drake managed a laugh. He looked at Ash with his light emerald eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. I can understand how you feel. When I found out I was a demigod, I was almost a little scared. I was with Melanie, but I was only ten back then. We were actually running away together. We've noticed that whenever we were together a monster would attack us. We still wanted to remain friends, but it was hard to stay together. We figured out that only we could see these demons after some time. My little brother could, too. We all were going to play hooky one day, but our teacher stopped us. His name was Jeff Henner. He actually turned out to be a satyr. Back then he wasn't as crazy as he is now, but that's basically when it all started. He took Melanie and I to Camp Half-Blood, a camp for kids whose mother or father is a god. My brother and I are children of Hermes, the god of merchants, thieves, and messaging. He's like the herald of the gods. Fast guy. Melanie's mother is Hecate, the goddess of magic. Since she is a 'minor' god, which is why Melanie wasn't accepted into the camp at first. Two years later they passed a 'law' type of thing that allows all demigods to go to camp. When they did that, Jeff and my sister disappeared." Drake stopped for a moment. "Well, the point is that you are like us. Your parent is a Greek god. You should be claimed once we get to camp."
Melanie stumbled. Drake ran over, once again faster than the blink of an eye. She groaned. "Ugh... I-I'm starting to lose connection... j-just... prepare for the worst." Drake handed her a bottle of yellowish liquid from her bag. This girl really likes potions. Quite a hobby. Ash thought.
"This is ambrosia and nectar. It helps demigods heal from injuries and pain, kind of like Tylenol. Don't drink too much, though. You'll probably explode." Drake said. It was hard to tell if he was joking or not, but he was dead serious about exploding. Ash imagined little Melanie drinking ambrosia, an "Uh-oh", then her turning into dust and confetti. Ash got the chills. Melanie got back up, continuing to do her bubble-karate.
"So..." Ash said. "What was your sibling's name again?"
Drake paused. "Nathan Vega."
The bubble stopped, without notice. Everyone slid to the back. "This hasn't ever happened." Melanie said shocked. Her expression changed. "Oh, wait... it did happen once on our way to Phoenix. Remember, Drake?" Drake's foot was sinking through the bubble. He stabbed his sword through the wall and tried to pull himself up. Ash tried to pull his foot out, but it only sank faster.
"I'll be fine, guys! Just get to Camp Half-Blood without me. It'll be fine!"
"Don't tell me you falling down five stories is okay! What are we going to do?" Melanie yelled. The bubble was up to Drake's waist now.
"Is there a potion you made that can help us?" Ash asked. "No! I should've prepared for something like this. There's nothing we can do now!" She started tearing up. Ash thought of something. He looked below them. There was a giant amusement park, surrounded by a parking lot. No trees there. Ash looked around more—nothing. The only part of Drake's body left in the bubble was his shoulders up. His forearm was still inside, Melanie grasping onto it. Drake tried to soothe her by saying "I'll be okay." And things like "It won't end like this." Then Ash saw one—a dinky, perhaps the smallest plant he's ever seen. It was a delicate blue grape hyacinth, just beginning to blossom.
"He'll be alright. I got this." Ash stood up. Melanie looked at him, wiping tears with one hand, holding Drake's with the other. His fingers were sticking out from the floor like bamboo shoots. He moved his hands towards the plant. This better work with flowers, too... Ash thought. Nothing. He concentrated a little harder. You could just ever so slightly see a branch inching across the ground. A flower blossomed, but nothing else happened. Just when Ash was about to give up, more branches shot out of the ground. They wrapped around each other, flying up like a skyscraper. They made the shape of a hand, its palm under Drake's feet. Its fingers spread out, and then froze. Drake plopped onto the plant, shocked. The bubble was thinning. It popped, as black drops burst outward like rain. Melanie went over and hugged Drake. "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you!" She yelled.
"Oh, uh... no... prob..." Ash fell unconscious.
He woke up in a giant garden. There was a long, winding stone path that lay on the greenest, longest grass Ash has ever seen. There were millions of plants as far as the eye can see—shades of green, yellow, red, purple, even blue paved the rolling hills. The sunset that painted the sky beautiful colors was right above him, larger than usual. Arches the size of elephants lined up in a giant ring around them. They were completely covered in vines. Every plant you could (and sometimes couldn't) imagine surrounded Ash. Bees, butterflies, and dragonflies buzzed from flower to flower like they were in bug heaven. Roaming around were rabbits, deer, horses, goats, and basically every herbivore you can think of. Occasionally trees and shrubbery would turn into laughing girls, running to and fro. Their skin was the color of the bark on the tree in which they would transform. They wore tunics made of different leaves, ranging from palms to pine needles. More women appeared from the spring in the center. They had skin so pale it was almost blue. They were clothed in lily pads and seaweed. Grain separated each plant from each other. There were flowering, vegetable, and every other kind of plant to be seen there. Watering the flowers was a woman in overalls and a floppy sunhat. A nymph walked up to her and whispered something in Latin.
"Nos parcere comitatu, domina." She pointed to Ash, lying on the ground, still looking around at the vegetation and wildlife.
The woman in overalls gasped, then looked pleased. You could barely see her face under the giant hat. "Gratias, Brooke." The woman walked over.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here!" Her voice was soft and sweet. If a flower could talk, it would sound like her. Ash thought. "I wasn't expecting to be here." Ash stood up.
"I should've dressed nicer, shouldn't I?" She snapped her fingers. A swarm of leaves whirled around her. She was now in a long, green, draping gown. Long, curly, blond hair fell onto her shoulders. A small bouquet was tucked near her ear, pulling her hair back so you could see her face. She had pale skin and light brown eyes. Her face structure was the same as Ash's—thin, youthful, and soft.
"Is this my little Ash? I haven't seen you in almost twelve years! When did you find out about...well, me?" She exclaimed, excitingly.
"About three minutes ago. I'm guessing you're Demeter, goddess of agriculture and the harvest."
"Yes, Ash. I'm also you're mother. Not to bring it on so quickly, but you were bound to find out sooner or later, yes?" She smiled.
"Yeah...the tree powers kind of gave it away. Where are we, anyway?"
"My island, in the Aegean Sea. It used to be just a 10 square mile pile of sand. I waited about a century to see if anyone would civilize here, to make sure I wouldn't be messing with the future. Nothing happened, so I made an utopia of wildlife!"
"You're the only mortal who's been here. Maybe not, since this is only a vision."
"So I'm just imagining this? I'm not actually meeting my mom? There's no plant island?"
"Well there is, but...oh, just ask one of your siblings later."
"So there's other people like me? I have brothers and sisters?"
"Of course! Since I have the opportunity, I'm going to have children if I want, unlike your poor uncles."
"Wow, I'm confused... wait, if I'm you're son, is Persephone my sister?"
"Half sister, yes. And Ash, do not worry. Just be brave when you begin camp."
The image flickered.
"We don't have much more time. I hope to see you again, my son. You will soon understand everything."
"That's it? Alright, then, mom."
Demeter chuckled, waving. The next thing Ash saw was a girl in a hospital bed. But they weren't in a hospital. They were in a cabin. Ash looked around to notice a wooden sign that read:
CAMP HALF-BLOOD INFIRMARY:
A SATYR WILL BE HERE TO ASSIST YOU IN A MOMENT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE!