All his life, only one question had burned inside his mind, consuming practically every waking day, hour, moment. All his life, he'd only wanted to have one answer. He'd only ever wanted to know one thing.
Who am I?
His name was Will. Just Will. Will No-Name. He didn't have a last name; didn't have a mother or a father. Will just...was. He had no family, no friends, no future. He had faint memories of a worn note, but that was it.
His mother died in childbirth, it had read, his father died a hero. His name is Will.
And so it was. He was Will. No last name, no middle name. No parents. No home. He wandered the streets, using his natural swiftness to steal whatever needed to keep him alive. Over the years, Will had developed a certain knack for hiding; he'd learned to time his movements to the flickering shadows at sunset, to pass through crowds unnoticed, to run over asphalt unheard. This skill had allowed him to keep himself alive in the slums of New York City, along with causing plenty of mischief whenever Will felt like it.
Existential thoughts aside, it was just after midday. Will had just nabbed a pretzel from a street vendor whose back was turned, slipping down the street and mingling in with passerbys in case the man should notice. As Will munched, he pondered for what seemed the thousandth time about what his real last name might be. Smith seemed too normal; Albertaine was a bit far-fetched. Over the lonely years, Will had made up a game with himself to find the most ridiculous last name possible each week. With two days left before the week turned into the next, Will had decided on the winner: he'd heard a man introduce himself as Al Kohalic.
Will continued walking down the street, entering the slums where he lived. The houses were dingy, but carried with them an air of familiarity that made Will's shoulders drop a little in relief. Although he'd never own a house there, he had managed to find a fairly sheltered spot in the back of someone's house that granted Will safety from rain and snow. The owner of the house knew about Will but didn't seem to care, even giving him a bit of food on holidays.
Two huge, yet ill-fed, teenagers stepped out in front of Will before he could get to the house. Ah, yes. Tim and Charles: two residents of the neighborhood that had hated Will since he'd moved his residence to there a year and a half ago.
"I thought we told you never to come back," Tim said with an ugly sneer.
Will just shrugged, not intimidated. He'd faced worse than two sixteen-year-olds. "I guess you thought wrong."
"You know what we told you," Tim continued, cracking his knuckles in a showy sort of way. "If we ever saw your face again, we'd beat you until you don't even have a face anymore!"
"I'm not sure that's possible," Will muttered. "You'd have to go to quite a bit of effort to take the entirety of my face off, and I'm not sure you're capable of that."
"You calling us lazy!?" Charles snarled. "We'll get you for that!"
Charles lumbered forward, but Will had had years of practice dealing with this sort of thing. He nimbly dodged the heavy, clumsy blows from both Charles and Tim, maneuvered behind them, and sprinted away. A year ago he might've fought back, but Will wasn't that sort of person anymore. He'd learned the hard way that you never knew how many enemies there were, or when he'd get ambushed while injured. Although it was tempting to get them back for the way they'd treated Will, he knew that it could backfire on him badly if he made a careless mistake and got hurt.
"Yeah, run away! Just run away, you coward! Run, Will No-Name!"
Will's mouth tightened but he gave no response. Out of all the insults that had been flung his way, the last was the most painful. Everyone he'd ever met had had a last name. Tim's was Halcin. Charles's was Mig. Every single person he'd ever met had a last name. So why not Will?
But he'd thought enough about that. He'd wondered about it his entire life, and although he hated not knowing, he knew that thinking about it would only drag him down. So he shoved the thoughts, the questions, away and kept running. He ran straight up to the house in front of his living area, ran straight around, and dove gratefully into the small, enclosed recess behind the house that was his living space.
The entire house was fenced by overgrown bushes, and it was into this that Will dove. At their tallest, the bushes were practically chest-high (at least for someone as short as Will). An overhanging roof created a dark patch that the shrubs couldn't grow in, resulting in a small, sheltered semicircle hidden from view and nigh-impenetrable. Will sat in his small ring of safety, eating the last remains of his pretzel. He couldn't honestly remember the last time he'd had a decent meal; even when he'd been in the orphanage, the little food they gave Will could never truly be called a 'meal.' Will's stomach was constantly cramped from hunger pains as were most of his muscles; another reason he hadn't wanted to fight Tim and Charles.
Even though it was only midday, Will was exhausted. He generally was; poor feeding his entire life had the wonderful side effect of making him tired 24/7. So, after double, then triple, checking that he was completely alone, Will slowly drifted off to sleep.
The distinct feeling of being watched was what woke Will up. He jerked automatically to standing, fading into the darkness of the overhanging and scanning the shrubbery and trees around him for danger. When a swift search revealed nothing, he searched again. And again.
After coming up empty for the fourth time, Will bit his lip, eyes flicking up to the rapidly gathering dusk. He knew he was being watched. He'd been attacked too many times to have forgotten that feeling. So what was it that could see him, yet couldn't be seen itself?
What if it's...that?
Will shook his head, and with it, shook the thought away. No, that's impossible. I haven't encountered one of those things for months. But even as he tried to convince himself, he knew it very well could be that- one of the variety of strange, inhuman creatures that had plagued Will since birth. Although he'd never encountered a creature that was invisible, after being attacked by donkey-women and bull-men, Will knew it probably wasn't out of the realm of possibility.
Will cautiously glanced around once more. Still nothing. Not for the first time Will wished he had an actual weapon- something a little more lethal than just his fists. Since he couldn't see his opponent, he was completely defenseless and open for an attack.
Then all of a sudden Will heard something like claws scratching against earth. He turned towards the sound, bracing his arms for an impact...but nothing happened.
Will scooted a little further into his shelter. The shadows were heightening with every minute, and within a half-hour Will knew it'd be almost pitch-black since the house they were behind had no electricity. Another scratching sound. Before Will could even react, a huge form bounded from the shadows and came straight for Will, red eyes gleaming evilly.
For a moment, Will froze. The monster coming straight towards him was huge- a black dog as big as a grizzly bear. It had rough, shaggy fur and sharp teeth that glinted palely in the fading light. Out of the many terrifying creatures Will had seen, this one was one of the scariest. It projected an aura of despair and gloom, like nothing really mattered anymore- like it'd be better to just lay down and die.
A claw tore into Will's shoulder, shocking him out of his momentary paralysis. He managed to dodge the next attack, but the huge dog kept coming. Will kept dodging, but only barely; every time, the huge monster's claws or teeth would tear into Will, barely missing his neck or his heart. And every time Will dodged, it would fade back into the shadows again, making it extremely hard to track.
The dog charged again. Will was backed into a corner, already bleeding profusely from his shoulder. He knew there was no way he could outrun this thing like he had with the donkey-woman. He knew he was too badly injured to use the thing's momentum against it like he had with the bull-man. The thought of dying wasn't one that particularly scared Will. He'd really had nothing to live for his entire life; why should the thought of dying really matter?
But nevertheless, his body refused to give up. As the beast neared him, something white-hot and searing sprang to life inside Will's chest. Screaming in agony, he put out his hands in front of him, instinctively trying to channel it out.
And out it came, in the form of a searing, white-hot blast that momentarily threw the surrounding landscape into sharp contrast and charred the huge dog's fur. With a howl, the dog backed up, pacing back and forth as it regarded Will. It seemed to be contemplating what the best course of action would be. Will sincerely hoped it would decide to turn tail and flee, but as it growled and came towards him again, he had a sinking feeling that that was not to be.
Will put out his hands again, but this time the burning energy wouldn't come. It wasn't surprising, seeing how nothing like that had ever happened to him before, but Will couldn't prevent the sinking in his chest as he realized that the one weapon he'd had was gone.
The beast reared on its hind legs, closing in for the final blow.
Then a dark figure moved in the corner of Will's eye and the dog howled in agony, dropping down to all fours and turning to face the threat. But that was never to happen. More movement flickered and the sound of something being stabbed met Will's ears. Will watched with unbelieving eyes as a dark, robed figure with a sword as dark as the night singlehandedly slew the beast that had almost killed Will.
The monster let loose a final, mournful bark, before slumping to the ground. Even as it slumped, its body began to disintegrate into dust; a common phenomenon Will had observed with the few monsters he'd actually managed to kill. The dark figure sheathed its sword and turned to Will. It pulled back its hood, revealing what looked like a dark-haired, tan-skinned teenage boy around Will's age, maybe a little older.
"You look a little beat up," the boy said with a bit of an Irish accent. "You are a demigod, right?"
"A what?" Will asked. Then, as if his one question had opened the floodgates, he continued, "Who are you? What was that thing? Why was it attacking me? How did you kill it so easily? Are you some sort of vigilante?"
The boy raised one eyebrow. "You don't know what demigods are?"
Will gave him a blank look.
"Oh, dear." The boy hesitated, then snapped his fingers. "Hide me." Something like swirling fog came around the boy, but Will just tilted his head. What was that supposed to do?
"I can still see you," Will said uncertainly.
"You can? Good," he continued without waiting for Will's reply. "I saw what you did just now, you know. If you're not a demigod, what are you? A Titan-child? Son of Hyperion, maybe?"
"Uh...what do you mean 'titan-child'?"
The boy sighed. "You know the Greek gods?"
"Yeah." A pause. "Hang on, you said 'demigod.' You think there are people out here descended from..."
"The Greek gods, yes."
Will looked at the boy. "You're crazy," he said, as kindly as he could.
"Well, how else can you explain getting attacked by a black mastiff as big as a bear and protecting yourself by shooting light out of your palms?"
Will hesitated. He honestly couldn't think of a good excuse. If this were some kind of action movie and that had been CGI and special effects, Will could've explained that away. But there wasn't a set and there wasn't any CGI. As crazy as what the boy was saying seemed, well, Will had nearly gotten killed by monsters no sane human would believe hearing about. Maybe there was some truth to it.
"Alright, so say I am a demigod," Will said guardedly. "Are you one too, then? And what's your name? You never introduced yourself."
The boy grinned, holding out a hand. "I'm Ferris. I'm a demigod."
Will shook the hand slowly. "I'm Will."
"So, Will," Ferris said after a short pause, "I hate to break it you, but this place isn't safe anymore." Will bit back a sarcastic retort. Ferris continued, "Actually, there's only one safe place for you now. See, we demigods give off a scent which attracts monsters, like the one that just attacked you. Once you find out who you really are- that is, that you're a demigod- it becomes even stronger. You're probably luring in monsters even as we speak."
"Why did you tell me then!?" Will demanded. "You knew you were putting me in danger!"
"To be honest, I thought you already knew. But now that you actually do, we need to move. I need to get you to Camp Half-Blood before we both get torn to shreds out here."
"What's Camp Half-Blood?" Will questioned, completely lost. "And you never told me what that thing was, or how you killed it so easily!"
"It's a place for demigods," Ferris said hurriedly, motioning for Will to move. "That was a hellhound. Oh, Hades. Your shoulder looks bad." He fished into his pocket and brought out a plastic bag filled with something that looked like squares of caramel. He tossed over the bag. "Before you ask, it's called ambrosia. It can heal demigods, but too much will make us feverish."
"What does it do to regular humans?" Will couldn't help but wonder, opening the bag and picking out an ambrosia square.
"Burns them to ashes," Ferris said cheerfully, starting into a jog. Will eyed the ambrosia distrustfully and hesitantly popped it into his mouth. When moments passed and he didn't burn up, he cautiously chewed. It was completely tasteless. Hastily swallowing, he sprinted after Ferris who was now a fair bit down the road.
"Where's Camp Half-Blood?" Will asked, panting a little.
"Long Island," was the terse response. "I have a car; we just need to get to it. It's not long off." Will nodded. Neither of them spoke for the next fifteen minutes, each by unspoken agreement knowing the other needed to conserve their strength.
Finally, they rounded a street corner and Ferris gave a sigh of relief, motioning to a beat-up, black sedan. "Here's our ride." He pulled out a key. The two dashed towards it, throwing the doors open and clambering inside. Once the doors were shut and locked, both heaved exhausted breaths. Ferris started up the car and pulled into the street with record speed and Will clutched the armrest in terror, having never actually been inside a car before.
"How far away from Camp Half-Blood are we?" Will questioned. Suddenly realizing he was injured, he glanced down at his shoulder only to come to an even more sudden realization that the wound had scabbed over and was no longer bleeding. He stared at it for a moment, astonished, until Ferris responded.
"About an hour. Now please stop asking questions. We could get ambushed at any time and neither of us can afford to be distracted."
Will nodded silently, suitably chastened. Then another question came to him and he opened his mouth, before forcibly shutting it with a barely audible click.
The next hour was mostly silent, broken only by Ferris's request for the ambrosia and a few tersely asked and answered questions about how Will was feeling and how far they were from camp now. After about a half-hour, Ferris suddenly seemed to remember there was a radio and turned it on. Will, who'd been hoping for something other than silence, felt excitement come up for a second- he scarcely ever got to listen to the radio- but it was quickly doused when he realized Ferris liked listening to country music.
Other than that, the ride passed smoothly. Despite never relaxing for one moment, the two boys's worst fears never paid off, much to their relief. No monster swooped in from above; no raging bull-man charged them from behind. For a day that had been so eventful, the lull both unnerved and relaxed Will, who was completely exhausted both by the run in with Tim and Charles and the one with the hellhound. Because of this, Will found himself beginning to drift off to sleep.
He was woken up some indeterminable amount of time later, this time by Ferris, accompanied by the words, "We're here." Will eagerly looked out and saw, much to his joy, that they were indeed there.
Camp Half-Blood was at first glance a normal summer camp. There were lush green meadows where some sort of bushes grew, a beach, and a forest. At the top of the hill, a huge dragon lay coiled around a small, golden bush. Upon closer inspection, Will realized it wasn't the bush that was golden; rather, the bush was covered by some sort of golden fabric.
"The Golden Fleece," Ferris told him, seeing the unspoken question on Will's face. "Camp Half-Blood has boundary magic that keeps the monsters out. It failed a few years ago, and the only thing that'd bring it back was the Golden Fleece."
Will nodded, swallowed down his questions about who the dragon was, and continued his perusal of the camp. The sky was completely dark, but torches of all sorts lit the camp up enough for Will to make out a rough outline of everything. A huge mansion lingered at the back of the entire camp, but in front of it were a bunch of cabins, set up in a strange symbol Will didn't recognize. Nearby, a huge pavilion of sorts stood. Scattered around the rest of the huge valley were what looked to be an archery range, an arena, an amphitheater, what looked to be a stable, and a forge. If it hadn't been for the clearly more modern mansion, Will would've thought he'd gotten taken back to Ancient Greece.
"Chiron was already alerted to your arrival," Ferris tells him. "We should go and introduce you to him and Mr. D."
"Mr. D?" Will echoed. "Chiron? Who are they? Why's he just called Mr. D?"
Ferris sighed. "Mr. D is short for Dionysus. Chiron's...well, you'll see."
"Dio...as in, the god of wine?"
A slow, sardonic clap sounded in Will's ears. "Bravo, bravo. I see you aren't a complete idiot. You have some culture."
Will spun around and beheld a chubby, black-haired man with bloodshot eyes. Unsure as to who he was and what to do, Will simply stood there and stared.
"Well?" the man inquired impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Get down on your knees, worship me, kill your parents and offer them as sacrifices."
Confused, Will knelt. "Who are you?"
"They just get stupider every decade!" the man exclaimed. "Di immortales, I'm Dionysus!"
As someone who had only that day been exposed to the fact that Greek gods actually existed, Will decided he had the right to simply gape at Dionysus for a good ten seconds. When he finally manged to recover enough brainpower to respond, he looked over at Ferris, who looked extremely amused and was, very pointedly, not kneeling.
Flushing, Will scrambled to his feet, hoping Dionysus had been joking when he'd told Will to kneel- and also to offer his nonexistent parents as sacrifices. Will sincerely hoped the gods didn't require that kind of thing.
"Um, m-my lord Dionysus," Will stammered out, not really sure how to address a god, "it's nice to meet you?"
"Hmph," Dionysus muttered, glaring disapprovingly at Will. "I like the 'my lord' business. Haven't heard that one in a while. Usually, it's all 'Mr. D' this and 'Mr. D' that."
Will glanced over at Ferris again for help, and once again came up empty. "Ferris said I was supposed to meet you and Chiron, sir?"
Dionysus huffed again. "So he did. Well, you're definitely a demigod, so that automatically makes you eligible for camp. I'll let Chiron sort out the details." Without so much as a goodbye, Dionysus turned his back and walked away.
"You'll get used to it," Ferris told him. "All the gods are like that. Some people, too, if they spend too much time around the gods. Like the Rangers."
"The Rangers?" Will asked, curiosity instantly piqued. "Who are they?"
"Have you heard of the Hunters of Artemis?" Ferris queried, beginning to walk down the hill. At Will's hesitant nod, Ferris continued, "They're like that, but Apollo leads them instead. They're a secretive bunch, only men. No one really trusts them, not even the Hunters or the gods themselves."
"Why not?"
Ferris shrugged. "Many reasons. We don't really trust Artemis's Hunters either. Both of them are secretive and the only thing keeping them in check is their respective god. And, well, once you're around here for a little bit, you'll realize that the gods aren't known for being around a lot."
"Why not?" Will couldn't help questioning again. "Shouldn't they want to be around their kids?" By then, they were nearing the cabins. Will looked around in awe at the different structure and decorations around each. The first one that Will's gaze fell on was a huge marble one with bronze doors that flickered like lightning. Next to it, another one with slimmer columns and what looked to be peacocks on the walls stood.
"Zeus and Hera's cabins," Ferris told him. "There's a cabin to each of the gods, but of course Hera and Artemis's are only honorary."
"Why?"
Ferris heaved a sigh that told Will he was getting to the limit of questions he could ask. "Hera's the goddess of marriage. It wouldn't do for her to go running around having affairs with mortals, would it? Artemis is a virgin goddess, and she doesn't have that strange way of giving birth that Athena does. So no kids for her. She contents herself with her Hunters."
Will nodded slowly, turning his gaze to the other cabins as they walked past. He saw one covered in flowers, another with rock music blaring from it and a boar's head on the door, and one with an owl painted on the front. A heavy, pitch-black cabin at the end of the row caught Will's eyes next, but then a bright gleam distracted him and he found himself looking at a brilliant gold cabin. Despite it being a bit of an eyesore, Will couldn't help but feel fascinated by the gleaming gold, so like the sun even in the pitch darkness of the night.
"Whose cabin is that?" he asked, pointing towards it.
"Apollo's. Hey, you might be one of his kids, after all; maybe you should go check it out real quick before we go to Chiron."
Confused as to why Ferris thought he was Apollo's son, Will nevertheless stepped forward towards the cabin. There were a few teenagers milling about it, most with blond hair and good looks. Will suddenly felt self-conscious: he hadn't looked at himself in a mirror for the past year, but he doubted he looked- or smelled- good at all.
"Um, let's just go to Chiron before I meet anybody," Will mumbled. "I think I might need to take a shower."
Ferris looked relieved once Will mentioned a shower. "Yes, that's a good idea. Let's go to the Big House. The mansion up there," he corrected quickly when Will looked about to ask a question. The two walked up into the house, Will hesitantly and Ferris confidently. Upon entering, Ferris called out, "Chiron! We have a new camper!"
Hooves sounded against the floor and one of the most bizarre things Will had ever seen approached them. It looked like a cross between a man and a horse...Will racked his brain for what they were called, sure he had heard it on the street at some point.
"You're a centaur," Will finally said long after the moment had grown awkward.
Chiron, surprisingly, looked pleased. "Indeed I am. I am Chiron, activities director at Camp Half-Blood. And you are?"
"Will," said the boy. He hesitated. "Just Will."
"No last name?" Chiron didn't seem to be affected, just nodded. "I don't have one, either."
"You don't?"
"Kronos wasn't very fond of giving his children last names," Chiron told him with a completely straight face. Will had a feeling Kronos was someone important, but again- street education. The only things he knew were what he'd learned from his stay in the orphanage until he was nine and then from the streets until now. He was honestly surprised he even knew this much about Greek mythology. Maybe it was instinctive knowledge?
"How old are you, Will?" Chiron asked next, suddenly looking troubled.
"Um...fourteen, I think." Will didn't know exactly when his birthday was, but knew it was somewhere around August. Meaning he'd be fifteen in a few weeks.
"And no one's ever tried to come get you before?"
Will stared at the centaur, confused. "No...why should they?"
Chiron exchanged a meaningful glance with Ferris, then looked back at Will. "No matter. We'll have you speak with the Oracle if your parent doesn't claim you by tomorrow."
"Claim? What's that?"
Instead of getting annoyed by Will's constant questions, Chiron oddly enough looked happy. "When a demigod comes into camp, they are supposed to be claimed by their godly parent. The god will put their symbol over the demigod's head so everyone knows whose child they are. They are then sorted into cabins."
"Oh." Will took a moment to process this. "What do I have to do to get claimed?"
"It varies depending on the god, but you should get claimed immediately. You said you were fourteen, did you not?"
"Yes...but what does my age have to do with getting claimed?"
Again, no answer. Will was starting to get a little frustrated.
"Well, it's getting late. We'll have you sleep in one of the rooms here until tomorrow. And maybe shower, as well." Chiron nodded thoughtfully as Will's cheeks flamed with embarrassment. "I'll get an extra set of clothes laid out for you."
Thirty minutes later, Will was fully clean for the first time in years. It was an almost euphoric feeling, inasmuch as it was strange. Will glanced into the mirror of the bathroom and frowned. His hair came past his shoulder in unruly waves, and even though he'd done his best to wash it, it still looked rather dirty. The barest hint of facial hair was just starting to show up on his upper lip. Will reminded himself to ask Chiron for a razor. They did have razors, didn't they? After all, the only person Will had seen with facial hair was Chiron. Surely they had to have razors.
Will stepped out of the bathroom and approached his bed. Chiron had done what he'd promised and laid out clothes. On the bed were a pair of shorts, a pair of jeans, and a neon orange shirt with a pegasus that read Camp Half-Blood across the top. Will pulled the shorts on and set the shirt and jeans aside. He couldn't help but compare his new clothes with his old ones that were laid on the floor. They were grimy from years of dirt, bloodied from Will's various run-ins with monsters and gangs, tattered, and torn. Now that he had better options, the old clothes were repulsive.
As Will sank into bed, marveling at the softness of it, he couldn't help but think, maybe something good is finally happening to me. Within the next minute, he was asleep.