I sat in an old bus station. The walls were dingy and the fake leather on the seats was cracked. The tile was scuffed up and dirty, beyond all help of soap and a good scrubbing. The old lady at the counter was reading a rather raunchy magazine that made me shudder as the lady kept glancing up to me with a smirk. Besides me was my twin sister.

My sister and I had dirty blonde, which was a lot dirtier since we hadn't showered in a while. My hair was short, but shaggy from her hair stylist skills...that is to say, none. Her hair was long, however. I don't remember the last time she got her hair cut it. It was pulled back into a messy bun that kept it out of her face. Our skin was tanned. Whenever we were clean people would say that we were 'sun-kissed'. I never knew what that meant, but Olivia insisted that it was a good thing.

We were both tall, and the same height exactly. We also share the same eye color, a pale blue like the sky. Our hands were the same size, and we both are well toned, though I obviously have bigger muscles than she does. But the similarities still vexed me. Don't get me wrong, I know the difference between fraternal and identical, and we were obviously not identical. You have to be the same gender for that. We just have way too many similarities for just fraternal in my opinion. Olivia thought I just thought too much about it.

"Mitchell," she'd sigh, "stop talking about our skin. It's creepy."

We both dressed in anything we could find. She wore black tattered jeans with holes in the knees and the hems were frayed and ripping. Over her feet were black boots, scuffed and old but still useable. On top she wore layers, a pale yellow tank top with a burnt orange long sleeve wool shirt and a black aviator jacket over everything. I wore pretty much the same thing: dark blue jeans, ripped and holey, with dark brown hiking boots on, a dark crimson t-shirt and a heavy black duster coat that was indeed covered in dust.

I wish I could say that we didn't look like we belonged, but that would be a complete lie. In fact, we were probably dirtier than the floor, which made me long for a public bathroom so that we could use to scrub some dirt off. However, the bathroom was locked here and I really didn't want to ask the creepy lady for the key.

Between us was an old knapsack that we had found. It held all of our possessions. Our toothbrushes, the comb we shared, any extra clothes we could find, our maps, my sister's journal, and a bag full of coins, both American and Canadian...oh, some weird gold ones that our friend Seth gave us.

I pulled out my pocket knife from my, well, pocket, and started to clean from under my fingernails. We had been waiting for hours for Seth. Seth was older than us by about five years. He had sandy hair and blue eyes, and was just as lean as we were. The three of us had grown up on the streets, though Seth for longer than us. We had a mother, once, but she had left for work one day and never came back. After being shuffled from one foster home to another, me and my sister finally bolted and landed in the middle of Chicago. In the winter. In a blizzard. Seth had found us, curled up in between two dumpsters trying not to freeze to death. He led us to his shitty, abandoned house in the industrial part of town and took care of us ever since.

He taught us loads of important things, like how to fight and how to run away. Yes, I said run away. I'm no coward, but if a gang of seven guys cornered me, I'm not stupid enough to stay around and fight. Parkour it was called. We weren't professionals or experts at it, but we managed to scale walls just fine. He also taught us archery for some reason. We asked him why in God's name would we need this and he just shrugged.

"Might as well pass down all of my knowledge," he told us as he straightened Olivia's arm and told her to shoot.

That had been years ago. Now we both were super good at it. Olivia a little better than me, but I would never admit to it. In short, Seth was like our big brother, a man that we could rely on, unlike our father. But then he fell off the face of the planet. Olivia was convinced that he had been jumped and killed for money. I had secretly wished that was true, because then it meant he didn't just up and abandoned us like our mother or our father (whom we never met, nor even knew the name of).

We had been living with Seth for a few years at that point. Strange things started to happen. People were wings and teeth would attack us. It was at that point that Seth gave us weird bronze knives...or I guess the better term would be daggers, and then he just vanished. The bronze weapons were super efficient against these...these people. They would crumble into dust.

We had no clue what they were or why they hunted us, but ever since the first one showed up we've been on the move, hopping from city to city as often as possible. Olivia realized that we got attacked more frequently on the west coast, so we stayed as east as possible, just scaling up and down the eastern seaboard. Right now we were in Virgina, outside Richmond, in the middle of no where, sitting and waiting for Seth.

He had found us in Richmond and told us to come here. He gave us twenty dollars for the cab fare (which was barely enough), and then rushed off. Wary, but tired and weak from our most recent battle with those mutant freaks, we decided it would just be best to listen to Seth. We could ask him questions whenever he arrived, demand answers. Like, why did he just up and leave four years ago?

So here we sat, waiting and waiting. We had waited all afternoon and through half the night. Olivia was dozing, leaning on my shoulder as I watched the cars pass the bus station, waiting for one to pull in and Seth to hop out. I was nodding off myself when I was suddenly tapped on my shoulder.

I stood swiftly, turning to face whoever touched me, my pocket knife already extended. Olivia jolted awake, her hand going for her dagger. Damn, I should've thought of that. Thankfully, there was no need for it. It was only Seth, though he looked way younger, and a little sicker and weaker, than what he did only hours ago. Furrowing my brows, I retracted my blade and put it back into my pocket.

"Seth, what took you so long?" Olivia said in that exasperated, yet rough tone she used. She had screamed nonstop when she was a baby, and it totally fucked up her vocal cords. That being said, so did I. She stood, hugging Seth. When she stepped back, I shook his hand and he laughed. It was lighter and more...full than usual. Like it was full of life and hope and happiness, which frankly did not exist in our life.

"Nice handshake there, kid. Grew up fast, didn't you?" He grinned, patting my shoulder before squeezing it. I smiled a bit. I always considered myself a man. I had to. A boy couldn't survive on the streets with monsters chasing him and his sister. So I grew up fast, as fast as possible, with Seth's help.

"I'm only fifteen," I reminded him and he smirked a bit.

"Fifteen is when a boy comes to age in Sparta. You're warrior enough, I think, to be considered a bit of a Spartan," he replied in a lazy drawl, putting his hands into his pockets. I rolled my eyes while Olivia sighed heavily. He was always spouting off Ancient Greek and Roman facts and myths. At first it was annoying, but we got used it. Even memorized a bit of it. He'd always ask about a hero or a god at random times. "Perseus cut off who's head?" He'd ask eagerly. "Medusa," we'd sigh.

"It's good to see you man," I smiled, completely forgetting what I wanted to ask him. Olivia huffed and shoved me out of the way so she could look at Seth in the eyes.

"Where have you been, Seth? You left us." She snapped. Seth's eyes suddenly got very sad, and he sighed heavily as if he had a horrible secret that he didn't want to tell us.

"I had to leave-" But before he could say anymore the lady at the counter suddenly stood up.

"Are you three planning trouble?" she said coyly with a voice that seemed far too young for her body. I suppressed another shudder.

"Nah, lady, go back to your naked men," I snapped but she only grinned wider at me. Olivia gave me a glance before slowly drawing her dagger. That's when I realized that we might be in trouble. I mirrored her movement, drawing my own. I knew those grins. It always meant that they thought they were stronger than us, that they knew more than us. A part of me realized that this was probably true.

The moment I drew my weapon the lady lunged. Except she was no longer a lady but a woman on two slithering snake bodies. Olivia yelped as the woman came down on top of her, a short sword in her hands. I gave a bellow and went to tackle the monster, but she slammed me back into the chairs with one flick of one of her...tails? I tumbled back over the chairs, groaning in pain but standing swiftly. I glanced around, but Seth was gone.

Coward! I thought as I went to lunge for the snake woman again but she just brushed me aside again. Olivia was quickly losing her battle against the monster. The ugly creature was getting closer and closer to Olivia's chest with her sword. I needed to help my sister, yet every time I tried to get close, I would be brushed aside as if I were an annoying bug. I went to attack again but I stopped when I noticed something golden under one of the chairs I had been knocked into.

I picked the chair up and tossed it aside. There, laying on the dirty floor, was a brilliant golden bow with three bronze arrows. Without thinking I grabbed them and notched an arrow, aimed for the creature's head, and fired. The arrow sailed through the air just as I saw my sister's arms give way. The arrow pierced the temple of the snake-woman and sailed through her head without slowing down and embedded its self in the wall on the other side.

She fell apart in dust over my sister. I rushed over, breathing fast. I pulled the bow over my shoulders, letting the bow settle across my back. I crouched next to her. Two seconds ago I couldn't get enough air, and now it seemed I could never breathe again. She lay still, the sword of the creature embedded into her chest. She was barely breathing. Her crystal blue eyes flickered to me as I gripped her hand.

"Hang on, Oli, it'll be okay, okay? You're gonna be fine," I whispered. I couldn't stop the tears that formed and spilled over. She lifted her hand gently, finding the strength to wipe away one before her hand fell to the floor. I stared for a moment before gripping her hand, shaking her shoulders. "No! Wake up you brat! Wake up! You can't leave me! Olivia! Wake up! WAKE UP!"

I sat there for hours afterwards, unwilling to leave her behind. My jeans were soaked in her blood, my hands covered in it. I had wrenched the sword out of her body and tossed it aside, hating it. I had brushed all of the monster's dust off of her and straighten her clothes. I only left her side to get water and clean her face and hands. And I cried. I couldn't stop crying, it seemed. When there was nothing else to do I just cried, curling up with my knees to my chest. I looked weak and I felt weak. I couldn't save her.

If only I had found the bow and arrows earlier, she'd still be alive. She would be complaining about all the monsters and she'd make a snarky comment about Seth abandoning us, the coward. And I would've laughed and we would've gathered our things, stole a car and would've left the miserable little bus station behind forever. But none of that happened. None of that would ever happen because I hadn't been quick enough.

The sun was rising, and more traffic started to appear outside. I would have to leave soon. Without my sister. The thought crippled me and I choked out another sob, though there were no more tears. I had no more tears to shed, I had cried them all out. Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder and without thinking I picked up my dagger and turned, stabbing the hand that touched me.

It was Seth.

He recoiled quickly, pain flashing in his eyes before anger followed. He glared at me, then looked over my head at Olivia's body. The anger melted away into pure grief. I stood swiftly, glaring back at him. "You've no right to look-" I started, ready to tell him off for looking at her, for running away, for abandoning us not once but twice. But I couldn't get the words out when I noticed his blood coming from the wound I just gave him.

Except it wasn't blood. It wasn't blood at all, but it was liquid gold. I stepped back and stood over Olivia protectively, gritting my teeth. Seth wasn't human. I hesitated in attacking him though. I had cut him with the knife. He should've been dust if he wasn't human...I eyed the golden blood again then paled. One of Seth's lessons came back to me. We had been eating Chinese take-out when he randomly mentioned that the Greek gods could bleed.

"Ichor is the blood of gods. It's golden and powerful, but it usually stays in their veins."

I swallowed thickly. Monsters and golden blood. It was all real, unless I was insane. I spared a glance at my sister and my heart nearly exploded with pain. No, I wasn't insane. I looked back at Seth. The cut on his hand was already healed. He looked sad, utterly and completely grief stricken. He looked how I felt: Lost and lonely and broken.

"Who are you?" I asked quietly, not putting my dagger away.

"It doesn't matt-"

"SHE DIED. YOU RAN AND SHE DIED." I screamed at him. He didn't flinch but his eyes flickered down to her body again. I took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. If all of this was true, then yelling at a god that had awesome power was the stupid thing to do. I breathed in slowly, counting down from ten before looking at him again. "You owe me answers," I said softly.

"I do," he admitted just as softly before sighing heavily. "I'll answer three questions. In return you will go to a safe place. A place where there are no monsters-"

"There's a safe place?"

"Is that one of your questions?"

I stared at him, then swallowed thickly, shaking my head. My head did the math easily. He had found us and told us to come here so he could take us to this safe haven. But he came too late, and I was too weak, and she was lost. I took a deep breath.

"Who are you?" Might as well get the basic question out of the way. I needed to know what god I was dealing with. Though I had a pretty good idea. The Archery tipped me off really well now, and the super fast healing. How he appeared with the sun and how weak he looked in the middle of the night.

He spread his hands slowly. Heat started to radiate off of him and I nearly stepped back to get away from the intense heat, but I wasn't about to put Olivia's body between me and him. I wasn't going to hide behind her, and I wasn't going to leave her to him. Just when the heat was about to get unbearable it started to fade. "Apollo."

I was right. Now why would the god of the sun care about two runaways and take care of them for so long? Why did we matter? Why did he bother to teach us archery, why did he bother to even pay attention to us?

"Why?" Was all I could manage to get out. He smiled weakly, humorlessly, before letting it fade. He seemed just as sad as I was, but I felt defensive of my grief. He didn't get to mourn her, not after he ran from the fight.

"Vague question. I can't answer that."

"Why did you run!?" I snapped. I didn't like his voice anymore. It seemed like he was trying to remain happy and optimistic even though my sister was dead right behind me, right in front of him.

"Gods aren't allowed to directly interfere with things..." He said slowly. I narrowed his eyes and I realized he knew what my next question was going to be. I knew that there had to be another question, a better question, but I needed to know for the sake of my own sanity.

"Then why take in two stray kids?" I asked softly.

"I broke the rules for you, true," he admitted slowly, stepping forward. I lifted the dagger quickly, pointing it at his chest. Then I shuddered and let my arm drop. He stepped forward cautiously, patting my shoulder gently. "But the satyrs couldn't find you while you ran about the streets. So I helped a little."

"Satyrs?" I said weakly, and he nodded slowly, motioning over my shoulder. I swung around to see two beings in the doorway of the bus station. One stood on wobbly, furry legs that ended not with feet but with hooves. He wore a black Metallica shirt, and had a wispy, weak beard. The other was a man in a wheelchair with brown hair and a trimmed beard.

I looked back at Apollo. He didn't notice though, and was crouched next to Olivia. I kneeled next to him, frowning. When he reached out to touch her, I grabbed his wrist. His eyes flashed anger for a moment before I let go. "You left us to die. You don't deserve to touch her." I said coldly, pointing my dagger at him. He eyed the weapon before looking at her. He waved his hand gently over her, and her body began to fade.

Enraged, I nearly attacked him. But something told to be still and watch. He stood slowly as her body became a silvery mist. He cupped the mist and walked towards the door and out of the parking lot. He passed a red sports car and released the mist. He blew softly at it and sent it into the sky. I followed quickly and watched as the mist faded into the sky and a new, brilliant star appeared. It was in the west, along the horizon. It was brighter than even the north star. I swallowed thickly.

Before I could thank him he was gone, along with the sports car. I stared at the vacant parking spot before turning to face the strangers. The satyr approached slowly, offering a weak smile that quickly faded.

"And what's your name?" I asked gruffly, sitting down on the curb outside the bus station. I felt drained and weak, ready to fall asleep and never awake. I wanted my sister back, but knowing she would never return made my heart constrict painfully. I wanted to cry but I held back. I wasn't going to look weak in front of these two.

The satyr carefully sat next to me as the older man wheeled up. "Gage," the satyr said softly. "Gage Pine. I'm sorry...for your loss." His voice was so soft and gentle, it took me by surprise. I expected a weird baa-ing voice, I suppose. I shrugged weakly. Him being sorry didn't bring Olivia back.

"And I am Chiron," the man greeted. He sounded tired and sad. I nodded a bit, crossing my arms. I realized suddenly that Chiron was looking at the bow that I had found in the station. I pulled it off and eyed it for a moment before looking at him. "It was a gift from Apollo, son. You should keep it." He said, as if he knew I was going to offer it to him. I stared at it for a second before going to pull it back over my head to let it rest on my back again.

"You can wear it as a bracelet. I think it would be easier." The man ask kindly. I looked at him, wondering if he was pulling a prank on me. However I slowly put my right hand through the bow. Within a second the bow shrank and formed a simple gold bracelet. On the edge, there was something written in loopy, beautiful cursive. It took me a moment to figure out what it said. Finally I got it: Bruhmastra. I had never heard of it in Greek mythology, but I really didn't care. "That's a very powerful weapon. It will never miss your target."

"Oh," I said lamely. I was just so tired, and with everything that's happened in my life so far...well, a magical bow wasn't that spectacular. "Thanks, Apollo. I guess." I sighed. I looked at the satyr and the man before realizing they had no idea what my name was. "Mitchell Hower," I said softly, offering my hand to the man. We shook hands, though he looked a little disappointed.

"What's wrong?" Gage suddenly asked. For a moment I thought he was talking to me and I wanted to strangle him. But then Chiron shook his head, looking at me. I frowned, narrowing my eyes at the two.

"What?" I snapped, something I regretted doing as soon as I did it. Gage shrank away, looking a bit scared and Chiron's expression darkened only slightly. I took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm just..." I paused. I'm just what? How on earth could I describe what I felt right now? "Sorry." I repeated, looking at the asphalt.

Chiron shifted a little in his wheelchair. "It's fine. I just thought you'd be a child of one of the Big Three since you survived so long outside camp, with full realization that monsters existed."

"The Big Three?" I asked, looking back up at them. "Who?"

"The Big Three! You know..." Gage said, looking around quickly before lowering his voice. "Zeus, Poseidon, Hades." I just stared back at him. He looked a bit disappointed, like I was supposed to gasp in horror or awe or something.

"Oh. That makes sense. Since Apollo's real, and so are all the monsters, I guess everyone is real. Hera, Athena, Ares-"

"Careful," Chiron said, cutting me off. "Names are very powerful things. We try not to use them very often." I just stared at him before sighing heavily, again before yawning widely.

"Whatever you say," I mumbled, standing. I passed the man as Gage jumped up to follow me. Entering the bus station again, I looked around and surveyed the damage. Most of it was just chairs scattered everywhere. I stepped over the puddle of blood and dust, and kicked a chair out of the way. I grabbed the knapsack me and Olivia shared and shouldered it.

"Where are you going?" Gage asked and I looked down at him. I was taller than him by a few inches. When I looked down at him, I suddenly realized he had little horns poking out of his hair. For some reason I found that insanely funny, and once I started laughing I couldn't stop. Gage looked confused, and Chiron wheeled into the bus station, frowning as well.

"Mitchell?" Gage asked weakly, touching my shoulder as I hunched over. Finally I got my laughter under control, and I breathed in slowly, standing up straight. "S-sorry," I stuttered, my breath still gone. Taking another gulp in, "I just saw your horns...sorry..." I smiled weakly but it faded quickly. "It was just so bizarre..." I murmured before looking at Gage. "I was going to go to the safe place that Apollo was talking about."

Gage had looked hurt when I commented on his horns, then he perked up a little when I mentioned the safe place. "He was talking about the camp! Camp Half-Blood."

I nodded, following him as he left the bus station, Chiron following with ease. Outside, on the other side of the parking lot was a white van that I hadn't noticed before. Inside, sitting at the wheel, was a kid, maybe a little older than myself, with blonde hair and blue eyes. I sighed heavily. I was getting sick of seeing blonde hair and blue eyes. On the side of the van it said "Camp Half-Blood" in black font.

I watched as the boy and Gage helped Chiron into the back by lowering a ramp for him to roll up onto, then Gage opened the door and slid into the middle row. Without thinking I just sat next to him as the other kid got back into the van and started it up. We left the bus station behind without looking back, something I was immensely happy about. Without another word I let my head fall back and I fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was about ten o'clock in the morning. We were on the highway heading north. I yawned a bit and stretched. The boy was listening to some pop station, music that I liked but didn't know the words to. Besides me Gage was chewing at a paper McDonald's bag. The sight was so bizarre I nearly had another laughing fit. Instead I crossed my arms and stared out the window.

"Gage, right?" I asked, not looking at him. I heard him swallow quickly.

"Yes."

"What is Camp Half-Blood?" I asked slowly. I had a lot of questions, and I knew I had a lot to learn. Still, Chiron had been interested in me when he found out I had survived outside of this camp with monsters chasing me for years. I suppose I should thank Apollo for that, but I didn't want to think about gods, especially ones that let my sister die when they fled like cowards. A part of me realized I was being fairly bitter about it, but I didn't care. Apollo was an all powerful god. He could've zapped the snake bitch to Hell...or rather Hades, and Olivia would still be alive and we'd be going to this camp together.

"It's a camp for half-bloods." Gage said like it was obvious. I scowled and turned to glare at him.

"No shit, Sherlock," I snapped. "What the hell is a Half-blood?"

"What the Hades," Gage corrected meekly, shrinking away from me. I sighed heavily, rubbing my eyes. I was so fed up with today, I didn't even want to be alive anymore. Zap me away, Apollo! One twin down, one more to go!

"Half-bloods are half-humans and half-gods." Chiron answered, resting his arms on the back of the seat that Gage and I were sitting on. I looked at him, furrowing my brows.

"Then why am I going there...?" I knew it was a stupid question before I even asked. Chiron gave me a knowing look and Gage hiccuped as he quickly started to eat his paper bag. The kid who was driving coughed a bit, but didn't say anything. I glanced between the three of them before sighing heavily. "I'm a half-blood. A demi-god." Chiron nodded slowly, looking for something from me. Probably a huge wave of denial. I simply let my shoulders sag a little and nodded.

"Who's my dad?" I asked.

"Your father is the god?" Gage asked as he swallowed a bite of paper bag. I nodded slowly. It made sense anyways. I knew my mother. She had long strawberry blonde hair and pretty hazel eyes. She loved the sweet pea scent from bath and body works and she wanted to be a teacher but she had been working two jobs when she disappeared. A singing gig and, well, an exotic dancer.

"My mom was human," I said with a sure tone. "She was a singer at a bar or something. She burnt food when she cooked and she took us to the playground every day she had off for at least an hour. She was human, completely human. I never knew my dad."

Gage watched me for a moment before shrugging, biting into the paper bag again. Chiron smiled weakly at me and offered me a gentle pat on my shoulder. A lot like what Seth..no, what Apollo used to do. It comforted me a little. "We don't know who your father is, Mitchell. He has to claim you while you're at camp."

"Maybe you're my brother." It was the first time the other kid spoke. I turned to look at the kid. We shared the same hair color and eye color, but I didn't really see any other resemblance.

"Is it a game to guess before you're claimed?"

"Sometimes," the other teenager spoke, glancing back at me through the rear view mirror before shrugging. "Sometimes you don't get claimed and you're stuck in the Hermes cabin..." then he smiled a little, "and sometimes you are claimed and you're still stuck in the Hermes cabin." I had to admit, I cracked a smile. I was still tired and I was still depressed over my sister's death, but I did smile a little. It faded rather quickly though, and I felt the crushing sense of sadness wash over me.

"My name is Mitchell Hower." I greeted. The other kid smiled.

"Rex Davis."

Without hesitating, I moved up to the passenger seat and settled there. I saw Chiron crack a smile at my moment. Gage looked indifferent, chewing happily at his fast food paper bag. I put my bag between my feet on the floor, and leaned back in the seat, crossing my arms after putting my seat belt on.

"What do you do at camp?" I asked Rex as he turned down the music a little. I continued to stare out of the window, however, unwilling to look at him. His eyes reminded me a little too much of Olivia, though his were a little darker, more dull.

"Loads of things," he replied with a simple shrug. "There's obstacle courses, rock climbing walls, canoeing, capture the flag, arts and crafts, archery, just to name a few things." The last one perked my interest. Archery...I was good at Archery. I looked at the golden bracelet on my wrist. It gleamed in the light and I cracked another small smile before letting it fade.

"So how many kids are there?" I asked, looking at Rex. He furrowed his brows, thinking for a moment.

"Maybe eighty or so?" He said lamely with a slight smile. "Sorry, I only really pay attention to my cabin and the Big Three. We had a Zeus kid at one point, but she joined the Hunters of Artemis...and we have a Poseidon kid. His name is Perseus Jackson. He's a pretty big deal since the Big Three aren't allowed to have kids. They're too powerful or something like that." I blinked a bit, then snorted a little.

"A kid of the Sea God named after a son of the Sky God?" I asked with a slight smile. Rex laughed, nodding. "Cool, cool...But what do you mean cabin?"

"Oh, each of the main twelve gods have a cabin. In order its Zeus, Hera, Demeter, Ares, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, and Dionysus. Whoever your parent is determines what cabin you live in while at camp. Though, if you're undetermined, you just live in Hermes' cabin because he's the god of travelers, so he accepts wanderers like undetermined kids." I nod a bit, thinking about that, before looking out the window again.

"What about Artemis' cabin?" I asked. "She's the Virgin goddess, right? She can't have kids..."

"Yeah, that's right. Hera doesn't have any children either, but we still have their cabins there or else it would offend them." I nodded a bit. Offending gods would be a bad idea. I was kind of glad that Apollo wasn't a smiting type god...I had stabbed him for Christ's...er...gods' sake. That would definitely be a offending action on my part.

"So this is a year-round camp?" I was a bit hopeful that it was. I mean, it made sense that it was. It was October, well passed summer right now. Rex shrugged a little.

"Yes and no. It's officially a summer camp. That's when all of the kids come and stay. But kids who don't have homes outside of the camp can stay year long. Sometimes it's just easier than way." I nodded again. Well that settled that. I'd be staying at the camp all year-long...that is if I was even a demi-god. I didn't have a home anywhere. Maybe this camp would be one.

I turned to look at Chiron. "How do you know I'm a demi-god?" Chiron looked up from a book he was reading in the back. He smiled a little, looking at Gage who sat up a little straighter.

"You smell."

I blinked, then glared at the satyr. I was getting a bit tired of him. He noticed my glare, an started to panic. Apparently I scared him. Good. "What?" I snapped.

"No, no, I mean you smell differently from regular mortals. You have a scent of power. The monsters can smell it, too. That's how they kept finding you and your sis-" He trailed off when he realized I was glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill, that little satyr would be dead.

"Do not talk about my sister." I growled and turned to face the front. I crossed my arms again, then realized that my hands were caked with dried blood. I swallowed thickly and rubbed them against my jeans. I knew my clothes were bloodstained with the blood of Olivia, but my body didn't need to be.

After that there was a long, awkward pause in the conversation. The only noise was the sound of the traffic and the soft hum of the quiet music from the radio, with the occasional turning of a page in the back. An hour passed before I breathed in slowly.

"What's it like at camp?" I asked Rex who smiled weakly.

"Well, to start, it never rains." I laughed a bit at that. That was wonderful in my eyes. I always hated the rain. It always seemed to be cold, unless we were in the south, then it was sticky, like honey. I hated it. It ruined days and nights, and I really hated thunderstorms, the kind that shook the windows and it seemed the world was coming to an end.

"I'd call bullshit, but I kind of want that to be true." Rex grinned, and then continued. He described how the camp looked, where everything was. I was still just mostly interested in the cabins and the people who lived there.

"What are the other kids like?" I finally asked, causing Rex to chuckle.

"Well, it depends on which cabin they live in, really. Everyone is their separate person, definitely, but families tend to act like each other, you know? Like, the Aphrodite kids tend to love, well, love, and their looks. They're pretty fun to talk to, as well. Hermes' kids tend to be tricksters, but usually in good nature. Ares' kids like to fight, so on."

I nodded again. I settled back into my seat. I had learned enough about camp at this point, and I was tired of talking. I looked out the window, crossing my arms. I felt the cold metal of my new bracelet, and it felt like someone had branded me. I wanted my sister back. I wanted it to be yesterday, and I wished I could change the past, and therefore the future. I sighed and closed my eyes, dozing off to the sound of traffic and music, the turning of paper and the eating of one.