2 I Get Abducted to the Public Restrooms
Of course my arrival at camp went very smoothly and without trouble. Not. I got off in the middle of nowhere, or at least that's what the humans think. I walked a bit into the dense woods until I found the familiar hill, better known as half-blood hill. I crossed the boundary, which protected all of us demigods from monsters, and officially entered camp territory. The story behind the boundary is as fascinating as it is terrifying. In short, a daughter of Zeus, Thalia, was a very brave young and doomed girl. The big three, Zeus, Hades and Poseidon had made a pact that none of them were to have any relationships with humans anymore, because their demigod children were just too powerful. Obviously Thalia's existence broke that pact. Chased by an army of monsters sent by a very angry Hades, Thalia sacrificed herself to save the lives of three other kids. Alone, she faced the army of monsters while the others ran to camp and safety. During her impossible battle, Zeus took pity on her and turned her into a tree. Her tree has formed a shield that has protected camp half-blood from monsters up until this very day. Fascinating? Yes. Terrifying, hell yes. Because my very existence meant that yet another brother had broken the pact, which pissed of Hades even more, which is of course not a good thing.
As I had crossed the boundary of Thalia's tree, I walked into the familiar woods and the scene of daily camp life. All the Greek style cabins were still there. Satyrs were walking the strawberry fields, making them grow while glancing sideways, to where the sons and daughters of Aphrodite were hanging around admiring themselves and taking selfies. Some kids of Apollo, Ares and Hermes were playing a deadly game of volleyball, while some other kids were just hanging about. I smiled as I walked on. I saw people climbing the lava wall and I saw others canoeing on the lake, while the nymphs in the water tried to flip them over. Even the sight of the smelly public restrooms made me grin. No matter how screwed up the place sometimes was, it felt like home.
I walked over to my cabin, the one I had all to myself because I was the only son of Poseidon. I opened the door and a gush of wind caught my hair. It smelled salty, like the sea, like the ocean. Like home. I put down my bags and looked around. Everything looked exactly the same as I had left it. Cleaner and tidier, but the same. There was a big aquarium in one corner, filled with exotic fish. It stood on a hard wooden floor against one of the dark blue walls of my cabin. In my room I had a desk and a few cupboards filled with books about navy and sea stuff. Walking across the room, turning the corner my bed stood, complete with aqua colored sheets and everything. All in all, the whole cabin made you feel like you were on a ship, but the main thing that caught your attention when you entered was the centerpiece of the room and one of my nicest possessions: a big, life-size bronze trident. I picked it up and walked over to the window, where I had a view over the lake. I hadn't realized it that much during the year, but I had really missed this place. Yeah, sometimes it was lonely, being the only son of the big three. It meant I had no cabin mates and that I sat alone during dinner, because all kids sat with their siblings, and mine were, well, pretty non-existent. Some people also still thought I was weird because I had these big powers and all, but most of them had accepted me now because last year I had kind of saved Olympus and the world by returning Zeus's lightning bolt, the most powerful weapon in the world which had been stolen. It's not like I'm worshipped for saving the world or something, I mean, being a hero among demigods is nothing special. But it meant that most people liked me, or at least respected me. I fit in, which was something that felt nice for a change.
I was still reminiscing about my adventure last summer when I heard the camp horn. Dinner was ready. I looked around the room once more, thought about how happy I was to be back and stepped out or my cabin. I started walking towards the farmhouse, which was the residence of Chiron, my centaur mentor and Dionysus, also called Mr. D. He was god of wine and was punished by his father Zeus to lead and protect the camp which was something he absolutely hated to do. He mostly spend his time playing pinochle and scaring the shit out of people, while wearing the most ridiculous Hawaiian shirts you have ever seen. He was also put on probation by Zeus, which meant that every time he conjured himself some wine, it turned into water. I guess I understood why he was so grumpy. Being the god of wine and not being able to drink it did suck very much.
Thinking about the fact that I had maybe even missed grumpy old Dionysus a little, I heard a movement behind me. I wanted to turn around but before I got the chance an electric shock hit my back and jolted through my body. I collapsed forward, being unable to move. 'Well well, look who's back at camp'. I recognized her voice immediately. 'I gotta say, we all dearly missed you, seaweed brain. Without you gone, there are just no sissy's left for us to mess with, you know'. She bent down and caressed my cheek, only to end her touch by slapping me across the face. 'But now that you're back, we finally have someone to play with again'. Suddenly I felt something hard hit my stomach and my body turned sideways. I was facing Clarisse and her entourage of ugly, misshapen siblings. All daughters of Ares, the god of war, and all ugly as hell. I didn't care much for Ares or his kids. He had sort of framed me last summer, and me, being the stupid and impulsive teenager that I am, had challenged him to a fight. Me. A 12-year-old teenage boy, fighting the god of war. Saying that that was not one of my best decisions in life was an understatement. Anyways, not short of a miracle I came out of the battle unharmed, but you can understand why the daughters of Ares would hate my guts. Being beaten by a snotty half-blood kid was a big humiliation for a god, especially for the god of war. Not that Clarisse was a friend of mine before I had started the little family feud with her dad. Clarisse had been mean to me from day one. She and her stupid band of morons that followed her around all day had made it their life goal to make my life at camp as miserable as possible. Which, at the moment, was working out pretty well.
I was on my side, facing her and her friends, still unable to move. Clarisse had an electric spear in her hand, a gift from her o-so-nice-and-honest daddy, which she had just obviously used to knock me down. Somehow I was still able to speak. 'Hey Clarisse, very classy fighting someone who can't move' I yelled. My bold comment was immediately answered with another kick in the guts. Clarisse grinned. 'You know I could take you on anytime with my hands tied behind my back. I just thought this would be more fun'. She showed me her most evil smile. 'Come on girls, let's show Mr. special here how much we have missed him'. On cue the girls started to punch and kick me and after a while they started to haul me over the ground. My face was turned towards the ground and I felt totally numb so I didn't notice where we were going until we got there. They had taken a detour, through the forest, avoiding the big house, all the way around camp. 'We're here, seaweed brain', Clarisse sneered. I was thrown into a corner and realized where we were. 'Shit' I cursed under my breath and Clarisse started laughing hysterically. 'Shit indeed seaweed brain, shit indeed' she said, which was ironic, looking at the fact that I was dropped just a meter away from the public restrooms.