It took Katie, Sonya, and Seth a while to explain everything.
Not only did Greek Gods exist, they lived on the 600th floor of the Empire State building. They were a lot like in myths, only they were more modern. A lot of famous people throughout history were demigods, the children of these Greek Gods. At around a certain age, when they attract monster attention, their godly parent claims them.
Then Seth got into the story of Percy Jackson. Turns out the Gods weren't always the best parents. In fact, they were basically the worst. He changed some things after saving everyone's asses in what's now known as the Titan War. Every demigod is supposed to be claimed at thirteen.
"But I'm seventeen" Jill said, slightly complaining.
"Well I mean" Katie said. "They're old and are always busy. Sometimes they forget. They generally don't forget for long."
"Well then why haven't we been claimed?" Jade asked.
"Whoever your godly parent is, they're probably unaware of you right now" Katie said. "If we get you to camp, they'll notice you. Either that or you'll be claimed later on, in the most dramatic way possible." Katie rolled her eyes.
"So" Jill said. "Where is this camp anyways?"
"Where do you think?" Seth said. "The Empire State building is Mount Olympus. Camp Half-Blood is in Manhattan."
"Whoa" Jill said. "We're in southern Detroit"
"Yeah, well I kind of hoped you could drive" Seth said. Jill threw up her arms.
"You owe me gas money" She said.
"So this is it then?" Kevin asked, speaking up. "We're just…leaving for Manhattan?"
"Well summer break isn't far," Seth said. "So I mean, we're really just going on vacation"
"Yeah, vacation to monster training camp" Katie said. "Not to cause alarm."
"Oh nooooo" Alex said, sarcasm almost physically dripping from her words. "No alarm at all"
"We should go" Jade said finally.
All eyes were on her now.
"I mean" Jade said. "Clearly there are things out in the world that wants to kill us. And if not just us then at least Jill, Katie, Sonya, and Seth"
"Whoa, why me?" Jill asked.
"Because you literally just got claimed into a myth" Jade said. "Honestly you're slow. Anyways, we should go. Just to stay safe."
Jill sighed. "Well I'm for it anyways. We'll stop by my place; grab some of the clothes Jade and Alex left there. Sonya, Katlin, who'd be home at your house?"
"No one I should think" Sonya said. "Mom doesn't know anything about…all this and Dad's probably at work"
"Alright we can stop there too" Jill looked at Katie.
"I have clothes at camp" Katie said. "Trust me; it's a good idea to keep some there"
Alex just sighed. "Gods aren't real" She stated. "But I'd prefer my imagination not to kick my sorry ass"
Jade took at as a good thing.
So. Jill's driving me, Alex, Sonya, Katlin, Seth, and Katie places? This is going to be entertaining.
"What are you doing?"
Jill looked up to Alex. She had all three outfits from her drawer in Jill's room all shoved into a bag on her shoulder, and she stood there looking slightly awkward.
"Writing Dad a note" Jill said. "If Athena's my mom, well he probably knew."
"What about you're…Well what about Tess?"
"She told me" Jill said with a sigh. "She told me about a year ago that I wasn't hers. That I only have a half-sister"
"That bites"
"Hey" Jill said. "All of your siblings are half siblings."
"Yeah but I don't like my family" Alex said. "That doesn't count"
Jill chuckled slightly, even though she knew Alex wasn't joking. She finished up and signed the note. She felt kind of bad about explaining all of this in a note, but she figured—well hoped really—that her dad knew all about this.
"Got some of your stuff too" Alex said. She kicked the bag she must have placed on the floor before getting Jill's attention. Jill's favorite jeans, GAP combat pants, and a couple of T-Shirts were in there.
"Sorry we can't stop by your house" Jill said, picking up the back with a nod of thanks.
"Eh, most of these are my good summer clothes" Alex said. "I spend most of my summer here anyways."
"Alright I got everything" Jade said, coming in. They had all packed their crap in some of the random bags Jill had laying around, so all of Jade's clothes was in her old shoulder strap backpack. All of Alex's were in Jill's old karate bag, and all of Jill's were in her favorite army green backpack.
"Wait, let me just grab some things" Jill said. She rushed upstairs. She grabbed her pack, a satchel she had packed with some random items. A journal, her wallet, her keys, a comb, sunglasses she couldn't wear with her glasses anyways, and her German tapes she never remembered to go over again. She threw in her MP3, the only bit of "advanced" technology she owned, the copy of Odyssey she had never finished, her ear buds, the charger to the MP3 player, and a photo of her entire family. When her mom, well when her stepmom, had taken them out to family photos Alex had been spending the night, so Alex was in them as well. Jill had to grab a separate picture of her dad, one from when he was an officer in the Navy and had big old-fashioned glasses. She took one last look at her room before sighing and leaving.
She wondered when she'd be back.
"Got it?" Jade asked.
Jill held up her satchel. "Yup, just needed this. For my driver's license and all."
Once they passed by Katlin and Sonya's house and got all the things they needed, Jill typed in "New York" into the GPS they "borrowed" off of Sonya's mom.
"9 hours, 11 minutes" Jill commented. "Better get comfortable now guys."
They planned it out decently, in Alex's mind. Alex, Katie, Kevin, and Seth all sat in the bed of the truck, which was only accessible via the small window that leads into the cab. Sonya rode shotgun with Katlin and Jade between Jill and Sonya. Since there was no backseat to the truck, they all felt a little cramped. And only Jill and Sonya were actually buckled.
"This" Jill declared. "Is a tea moment"
"Whoa!" Alex said.
Jill pulled out a surprisingly thick wad of cash.
"Hey, where'd you get that?" Jade asked.
"Dad keeps this jar in case of emergencies" Jill explained. "I'd call this an emergency."
They all gave Jill their order as she drove through a Tim Horton's. Several cups of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate and a box of donuts later they were ready to set off towards Manhattan.
And gods that don't exist Alex added mentally. Why am I going along with this again?
It didn't much matter now that she was sandwiched in the back. They laid themselves out so that two sat with their backs to the wall of the divider between the bed and the cab while the other two pressed their back to the opposite wall. The two by the cab were separate while the other two sat next to each other, so everyone's legs could stretch out. However that didn't stop anyone's feet or legs from falling asleep, and that didn't stop boredom.
For the first hour or so Alex napped on with her head on her bag, pinning it to her lap. It was a rather large pothole that woke her up, though with all the chatting and general noise she wondered how she fell asleep in the first place.
Guess I'm use to cramped, noisy places.
She yawned and stretched, hitting her hand on the cover. The cover was tall enough to give them each room for their head, but it made Alex feel like she was in a box.
I need some air.
She popped opened the back window and stuck her head out. Much better. She ignored all the weird looks from the drivers around them and just let her hair blow around in the wind a while.
"Alex?! What are you doing?" Jill called out. The window between the cab and bed must've been opened.
"Getting some air" Alex said. But she pulled her head back in and closed the window anyways.
"You know it's illegal to have people sitting back there right? I don't need a ticket from Ohio." Jill said.
"Don't worry so much" Seth said. He pulled out a pan flute—Alex couldn't help wonder why it was absolutely necessary for him to look gayer than he already did with his goat legs—and he played a couple of notes. The notes didn't really seem to go together either.
"What's that for?" Alex asked.
"Manipulating the Mist" Seth said.
"The Mist?"
"Basically humans don't see monsters like demigods and other creatures do" Seth explained. "That's because of the Mist. They perceive it differently. I can manipulate it in some cases. The drivers around us basically never saw you. The Mist will probably make them think the window sprung open and then shut with the wind."
Seth smiled, like he'd done something amazing. Alex hadn't really minded the other drivers thinking there was a crazy girl sitting in the bed of a truck.
They left the window to the cab open so that everyone could talk with one another. Alex grabbed another donut from the box, one of the last ones, and sipped the remainder of her tea.
Only about eight more hours to go.
Jill pulled off the road and into a Rest Stop, parking lazily. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes with a breath.
Seven hours of driving and we're not even there yet.
She rubbed her eyes tiredly.
"Want me to take over?"
She looked in the back to see Kevin still up. Most of them had all fallen asleep, some of them several times. So many times Jill had wished to do the same, but she couldn't exactly hand over the wheel.
"I can't let you do that" Jill said. "You just have a permit."
"It's not like we aren't breaking any other laws." Kevin said.
Jill shook her head. "Look, Sonya, Seth, and Katie have been at this craziness for quite a while. I mean, Katie said she's been going to this camp for two years now. And Sonya didn't go off hunting with the other Huntresses because she stayed behind and kept all of us safe. She saved my life earlier from that…snake thing. I kind of feel…obliged to drive everyone to safety. Like a repayment or something"
Jill yawned. "I'm going to go inside and use the bathroom and get a coffee."
"Since when do you drink coffee?"
"Since right now" Jill said. "Most Rest Stops don't sell good sodas"
Jill was dead on her feet, Seth was being a terrible navigator, and Sonya was asleep and since she hadn't woken up yet Jade doubted she would soon.
Jade knew they were in New York the moment they hit all the traffic. Most New Yorkers, she knew, took the subway or a cab. Not many choose to drive, and it was deadly obvious why. Jill pounded on the steer wheel.
"Bastard!" She called out before breathing deeply. She was sleep deprived and stuck in traffic were everyone was always in a piss poor mood. Jade did not envy her.
"Calm down, it's fine" Jade said, patting Jill's arm.
Jill seemed to breathe deeply as she drove, probably a meditation type of breathing. "Yeah I know. I'm just…cranky"
Jade smiled slightly. "Well we're almost there and look, we're showing up intact"
"Yeah" Seth said. "This is actually pretty surprising. The seven of you all sitting together in one school?"
"It was a lot worse during lunch" Sonya said.
Jade looked over, surprised. Well guess Sonya woke up.
"With all six of them together it'd attract monsters from miles around" She said. "Not that there's that many outside of Detroit, but we're close enough that lunch became my least favorite hour of the day."
"Why only when we were together though?" Jill asked. "Seth you said monsters track us down by scent?"
"Yeah…"
"Well our school isn't exactly big in any sense of the word" Jill said. "So why did our scents only give us away when we were all together?"
"Well there are actually not that many monsters in your areas to begin with." Seth said. "But yeah you are sort of right. It is pretty surprising. I mean, Katie here only goes to camp for the summer because her scent isn't quite as strong as the others, but all of you guys have pretty strong scents."
"We do?" Jade asked. She resisted the impulse to smell her shirt.
"Yeah" Seth said. "The more powerful your godly parent is, the more powerful you are."
"Powers?" Jill asked.
"You don't really have any" Seth confessed. "Though I'm told children of Athena are all really clever and occasionally you guys pull off amazing battle skills"
"Well geeze" Jill said. "Look out everyone, I'm Miss. Clever"
Jade chuckled. "So Seth, do you know who my god parent is?"
"I can't tell" He admitted. "Scent can only go so far. Whoever they are though, they're pretty powerful."
"Awesome" Jade said. She stuck her tongue out at Jill.
"Yes, yes" Jill said. "We're all being very mature."
Jill pulled up to the red light and stopped. They waited a while before the light would turn green, and then they managed to pull up a few yards before stopping for traffic.
"Well it is late" Sonya said. "This must be rush hour."
"It's like, 3am!" Jill complained. "How is that rush hour?"
"City that never sleeps" Seth said.
"You know what? Fuck this" Jill said. She pulled off the main road and onto a side street before pulling onto the shoulder and picking up the GPS.
"Where are we going?" Seth asked.
"Motel" Jill said. "I'm falling asleep and I'd prefer not to kill myself because of it"
Sounds logical and clever to me Jade thought.
They paid for rooms with the money left over from the emergency funds Jill had. For the girl's room and the guy's room for one night, it basically made them broke.
"We have enough for breakfast tomorrow" Jill said. "If we eat at McDonald's"
Katlin just shrugged. She didn't mind McDonalds and she doubted anyone else did either.
"So" Katlin said. "We're all…demigods"
Jill smiled. "Yup, guess so"
I bet it's easier for her to believe all of this since she's already been…what's the word, claimed? Katlin was having trouble imagining that she was a half-blood like the rest of them.
So, which one then? Which one of them isn't my real parent?
Either way, she was pretty sure life could and would go on as normal. Had she stayed in Taylor maybe she could've just lead a normal life.
Pff, yeah right. Apparently Sonya almost died because she smelled like me. That was enough to tug on heart strings.
Katlin followed Jill, Jade, Sonya, Alex, and Katie to the room. They could only afford a room with two queen sized beds, so Jill and Jade shared a bed and Sonya and Katlin shared a bed. Alex and Katie both said they'd take the floor, and one of the staff got them a couple extra blankets and pillows. Jill was asleep the moment she hit the bed and Jade wasn't long after. Alex fell asleep quickly and Katie wasn't far behind. Only Sonya and Katlin remained awake.
"So" Katlin said in a whisper, sitting on their bed. Sonya was combing out her hair in the bathroom. "You're a Huntress"
"Yeah" Sonya said. Hair combed Sonya stepped out of the bathroom, already in her pajamas.
Katlin sighed. "Look…"
"Don't even start"
Katlin looked at her. "What…?"
"Don't even start with the guilt trip feeling or some other bullshit" Sonya said. "I don't regret my decision. And just because I was attacked because I smelt like you, if someone told me there was an option to become a Huntress I would've done it anyways."
Katlin smiled slightly. "So, what does it really mean to be a Huntress?"
"Well, technically I'm immortal" Sonya explained, sitting on the bed. "I can only die in battle."
"Wow, ok then" Katlin said.
"Well there's more" Sonya said. "You know how Artemis is the maiden goddess?"
"Sure?"
"Well, basically I can't fall in love." Sonya said. "Well I can but it's…well basically" Sonya said. "The way to sort of…quit being a Huntress is for me to fall in love. From there I have the option to become mortal again and live my life with whoever it is. I'm actually one of the oldest Huntresses I know."
"Really?"
"Yeah." Sonya said. "I mean, my friend Thalia is sixteen. Well, almost and will never be sixteen. But close enough."
"OK then" Katlin said. "Well, do you…do you have any idea…who my parent is?"
"I asked Mom once" Sonya said. "I asked her if you were hers and dads. She um…well she said that she had you with another man but she didn't know who it was."
Katlin closed her eyes and breathed. To say they weren't a fan of their mom was a bit of an understatement; she would've preferred to know that Mom wasn't the real parent. "Well...that limits it a bit"
"Not unless you count all the minor gods." Sonya said. "But you're right; I think they'd be one of the twelve Olympians. I have a couple of ideas"
"Oh?"
"Yep"
Katlin waited a minute. "Well um…who?"
"Nope"
"No…?"
"Nope" Sonya said again. "I'm not sharing. You'll only go narrow minded. Once you get to camp you'll figure it out. Until then, try not to pick and choose which god you'd prefer. I hear it only makes it harder to accept your god family as family."
Jade handed Jill her hot chocolate. "Alright, know where you're going"
"More or less" Jill said, taking the cup with a thank-you nod. They were loading everyone up again, this time with Jade, Katlin, Sonya, and Alex in the back. Seth, Katie, and Kevin all crammed together in the front, Kevin in shotgun with Seth next to Jill. Seth was looking over a map, hoping to find the best route.
"It's easier to find this place in the day" Seth explained. At this point, Jade just hopped they got there.
Seth gave Jill directions as she navigated through downtown traffic. She cursed under her breath with each mean driver, randomly placed pedestrians, and poorly timed lights but the traffic wasn't quite so bad now. And Seth figured out where they were going, so it wasn't long before they made it.
"We'll have to park in the cover-story parking and make our way through camp from there" Seth said. "Honestly I think you guys are the first to drive to Camp Half-Blood."
"Well, good to be original at something then" Alex said.
They pulled around the block, Seth pointing out a large hill he called Half-Blood Hill.
"We can walk around the block to there" He explained. "That's the official camp entrance, if an unofficial camp can have an official entrance."
They pulled into the parking lot of a (LOL I really can't remember crap. Insert the camp-whatever-cover-story-name-here). Once they'd all gotten out and stretched the grabbed their bags and headed around to the hill.
"Well" Jade said, looking up at it. "Here we go I guess"
Jill didn't say anything in response, but she seemed to pale a little. Alex looked up at it like she was trying to dissect a math problem. Seth and Katie instantly started up the hill, with Sonya not far behind. Kevin and Katlin also looked a bit spectacle, but they all began climbing not long after Sonya.
This is where we're all going to have to admit that all this shit is real.
Jade tugged on the handle to the Kroger cloth shopping bag full of the belongings she had had at Jill's place. Not a whole lot and most of them were cheap stuff she had forgotten about anyways, but she hadn't exactly had the chance to go home. Even if her grandma had known anything about all this demigod shit she wouldn't have let her go to a camp in Manhattan.
You're thoughts are wandering.
Hard to keep them focused when "keeping them focused" means thinking about a demigod camp.
And of course, that was when they heard the dragon's roar.
Seth, Katie, and Sonya were already at the top with Katie petting the head of a dragon Jade had only just noticed. Now half-way up the hill their party stopped and stared.
"Yeeeeeah" Alex said. She pivoted on her feet and turned around sharply. She started back down the hill. "I'm out"