I meet a Demi-Demigod: (and no, that's not a typo)
I looked around the ping-pong table in the pool house. Sitting around it was probably the strangest group of people I've ever seen, even weirder than the council of the gods at the summer and winter solstices.
Right after the attack, Chiron had called a war council, so the entire story only had to be explained once. So here we were: Me, Annabeth, Nico, Grover, Rachel, all the other senior councilors, Chiron, Mr. D, and the newcomers. And gods, were they a weird group.
Tony, the dude in the red suit, had taken of the suit of armor, revealing a regular suit underneath, as if he'd come straight from a meeting on wall street. He was leaning back in his chair, looking right at home. The giant green guy that Annabeth and I had decided not to attack had morphed into a regular guy at some point, and was now looking around the room in interest. He was a small guy, quiet looking. A far cry from the monster he'd been only 15 minutes earlier. The man who had introduced himself as Loki and flying hammer guy were sitting next to each other, discussing who-knows-what intently, as they peered at each of us campers suspiciously. It didn't even sound like they were speaking English. Not that I was listening, of course. The two of them kept glaring at Mr. D though, so I figured they couldn't be too bad. As long as they weren't here to kill us, of course. The man in red white and blue had kept on his spangled outfit and still had his massive shield resting at his side, but he had removed his cowl, revealing a kind and trusting face. That made me wary of him immediately. After a while in the half-blood world, you learn that the most trustworthy looking people are the most dangerous. Trust me, I know.
The only two people that seemed slightly normal were a man and a woman, both dressed in all black. The man had a bow slung across his shoulder, and the woman's belt held numerous gun holsters, and when she took off her jacket, she revealed a bunch more. They were trying to look comfortable, but I could see they seemed wary. Who wouldn't be? They were sitting in between a half man/half white stallion, and Mr. D, who was changing the color of his coke zero out of boredom.
"Hem hem." I heard Chiron clear his throat. "Thank you all for coming so quickly. I know that you all want to find out what is going on."
"Yeah!" interjected Clarisse, "Who are these guys, and what gives them to elbow in on OUR fight?" Being the daughter of Ares, Clarisse could sometimes get a bit personal about who helps her in a fight. Ok, sometimes more that a little.
"That will all be explained, dear child." Chiron said. "Tony, why don't you start by introducing yourself."
We all turned to the man who only a few minutes before been flying around overhead in a red suit. He stood up, and introduced himself as if we were at the first day of school.
"Hi, my name is Tony Stark, I live in New York, my favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate, and for fun I like to save the world."
Chiron cleared his throat again. "While that was very enlightening Tony, I think that everyone here who doesn't know who you are would like to find out how you got into camp."
"He's a demigod." I heard Rachel say from the other side of the table. I turned to face our local oracle. She had a quizzical look on her face. "It's confusing, though. Neither of your parents are gods, yet you have the blood of the gods within you. A lot of it, actually."
Tony wore a shocked look, though he was obviously trying to conceal it. "And she knew that how?"
Chiron sighed. "She's the oracle, Tony."
Tony laughed. "You finally got rid of that old hippy? Thank the gods!"
I turned to stare at him. It was strange to see a person I would normally think was a mortal to say gods instead of God.
Tony spoke up again. "Let me clarify then. I am the first, and I think currently the only, child of two demigods." He turned to Chiron. "Still the only one?" he asked. Chiron nodded, and he grinned. "Yes! I love being unique! But anyways, yeah, my father was a son of Zeus, and my mom was a daughter of Aphrodite. But, I've also got a blessing from Hephaestus under my belt. So, while all you regular demigods have only 1 god looking out for you, I've got three."
I turned to Chiron. There was no way this was true. But Chiron just nodded. "He is telling the truth. How did he put it when he went to camp here? Ah, yes. He said 'I'm too awesome for one cabin.'"
The man with the shield rolled his eyes. "Now that sounds like the Stark we know. I'm Steve Rogers, and human. Err, mostly human." Chiron clip clopped over to him. "The man lost in time. It is an honor to meet you." They shook hands firmly.
"If you could teach someone like Stark, then you have my deepest respect."
"Yeah, yeah, this is great." Nico interrupted. "But who are those guys?" she pointed to Mr. Glorious Purpose and flying hammer guy. "And what is that guy?" she asked as she pointed to the man who had transformed into a giant green thing.
"Asguardians." Answered Mr. D. "The two men, not the creature."
"I am a person, you know!" the man in question tried to argue. But no one was paying much attention. A bunch of the campers began murmuring amongst themselves, and Chiron seemed a bit nervous.
"I am Thor!" flying hammer guy roared.
"Yes," Mr. D sighed, "I know. Nice to see you. Now please stop shouting. Loki, please control your brother."
I stared at Mr. D. "You know these guys?"
"Unfortunately, yes." He drawled. "This genius," he pointed to Thor, "once decided to challenge Zeus to a thunder duel." He smirked. "I don't think that ended well for you, did it, Asguardian?" I could see Thor struggling against his brother, trying to grab Mr. D. I knew the feeling.
Loki spoke up. "You would do well not to anger my brother. Unless you would like a rematch, with you taking the place of your chief god." Thunder rumbled in a distance and purple fire blazed in Mr. D's eyes as he rose.
"You dare challenge me? In my own home? This is our planet! Stop bringing your creatures here. We've had enough of your Chitauri and Jotuns threatening our home!"
By now, Mr. D had lost most of the table, and for a minute, everyone was silent.
Then one of the Stole brothers broke the silence. "Can anyone hear please explain who these people are and what they are doing here, in plain English?"
Strangely, it was Loki who answered. "My brother and I are gods from the planet Asgard. Thor's father, and my adopted father, is Odin, the chief Norse god. As for why we are here, we just saved your sorry souls from some ice giants from Jotunheim. No need to thank us."
I raised my hand slowly, hoping that these gods weren't as quick to anger as the Greek gods. "Umm, weren't those things Hyperboreans?"
Thor grunted. "They have many names, but the creatures are the same. The Hyperboreans are a tribe of lesser intelligence who settled on Midguard centuries ago."
"Ok," I said, "let me see if I got all this. You," I pointed at Mr. Stark, "are the grandkid of Aphrodite and Zeus, with a blessing from Hephaestus. You two," I moved my finger to the two gods, "are Norse gods from a different planet, and you," I pointed at Mr. Rodgers, "are some guy dressed as Captain America. But I still don't know who you, you, and you are." I finished, pointing at the green monster guy, and the two normal adults.
Mr. Stark went around the table introducing everyone. "The quiet guy who you all very nicely insulted is Dr. Bruce Banner. The thing you saw before was the Hulk. I'm sure Brucey is sorry you had to meet him." Dr. Banner nodded, but didn't say anything.
"That old-timer," Mr. Stark jerked a thumb to Mr. Rogers, who was sitting next to him, "actually is Captain America, and yes, he's the same guy from the time of World War II, and no, please don't ask how he survived all these years, he can tell you himself later."
"Those two," he jerked his head to the pair dressed in black, "are both assassins, and the only human people on the team. Try not the make them angry, they bite." The woman rolled her eyes.
"Team?" Annabeth asked.
"Oh, yeah, that's the one detail I forgot to mention." Mr. Stark stood up. "We're the Avengers. Nice to meet you. Oh, and can I use the forges? My suit got ice in some of the cracks, and I've been meaning to add some celestial bronze to the gloves for ages. Thanks, and no need to show me the way; I know how to get there." And with that, he strode out of the room.
Mr. Rogers turned to Chiron. "Do you mind if we stay a bit? We need to rest, and I don't think Stark has any intention of leaving any time soon."
Chiron smiled. "I don't mind. Stay as long as you need. We are honored by your presence." He said, bowing to the intruding gods. "I hope you don't mind if the campers will be asking you a few questions, though. I am sure they are all eager to talk to you." Mr. D's eyes still glowed, but he said nothing. So it was settled. Our camp had been invaded by a bunch of freaky, and very un-Greek, adults. Well, there's a first time for everything, I thought.
