Chapter 2
Tessa POV
I woke to what sounded like a clip-clopping sound next to my bed. Wait, bed? Yeah, I was in a bed, I could feel the pillow beneath my head and the cool sheets covering me. I had yet to open my eyes, and when I finally did pry them open, the flash of bright white lights had me squeezing them shut immediately with a pained groan. I heard a chuckle somewhere off to my left. I knew that chuckle.
"Quin?" I groaned again.
"Hey, Tess," came his voice, closer now.
Cautiously, I slit my eyes, slowly widening them against the harsh light flooding the room. I became aware of the throbbing in the base of my skull. Carefully, I tilted my head so that Quin was in my line of sight. He looked the same as always, curly hair, spring grass green eyes, one of his ridiculous vegetarian shirts that this time read: If vegetarians eat vegetables, what do humanitarians eat? He was grinning that lopsided grin at me that usually preceded him stealing my candy.
"Do I want to know what happened?" I asked him, slowly sitting up and clutching my head.
"No, not really," he replied.
"Tell me anyways," I demanded weakly.
"Okay, I've been memorizing this speech for the last three hours so don't interrupt." I nodded slowly, cautious of inducing more pain in my head.
"So," he started, "do you remember last month when I made you help me do that Greek mythology project for my Exploring World Cultures class?" I nodded. "Well, that wasn't technically a project for school; I was trying to get you comfortable with the concepts of Greek mythology. I'm assuming you recognized the empousai?" I nodded yet again, unsure of where this was going.
"Well, it's all real. The Greek gods are real and alive today. The monsters are, too, and, maybe more importantly in this case, so are the heroes." My mouth dropped open. I realize most people would find this hard to believe, but Quin would never lie to me. I had only known him a handful of months, but I knew that with deep-seated certainty.
"Wait," I started, trying to fathom my stars of thoughts into constellations, "so, wait…so, heroes like Hercules and Jason and Perseus are real? They lived?" Quin shot me a wry smile.
"Depends on which Perseus and Jason you mean. But, yes, they lived." I frowned in confusion at that first sentence, but brushed it off.
"So, things like Poseidon and the Minotaur…" suddenly, a thought struck me, "the empousai, why did they come after us?" Quin shrugged.
"I'm guessing it's because you were near, they could smell you, and decided that they wanted to eat you." I snorted.
"Come on, Quin, be serious."
"I am serious," he replied completely dead-pan.
"Awesome, so I was almost lunch for myths?" I didn't want to accept it, even if I kind of already had.
"Anything else I should know?" I asked with a sigh.
"Yeah, right now, we're in a camp."
"Camp Half-Blood, right? You mentioned it before."
"Right, can you guess why it's called that?" He asked me slowly, like I was five. I huffed and answered, not really understanding how this had anything to do with me.
"Well, I guess because the heroes-the demigods-were called half bloods sometimes, and they go here so they are safe, I'm assuming. But, what does this have to do wit—" I cut myself off as a thought surfaced.
"You're not serious." He continued to stare at me. My eyes went wide, my hand covered my mouth.
"You're serious." He looked at me with sad eyes.
"Completely, Tess."
"Wait, my mom's letter said that my father prepared for this. Who's my father?" Quin's brow furrowed.
"That's the tricky part,"
"That's the tricky part?" I interrupted incredulously. At his look of annoyance, I mumbled an apology and a 'go on'.
"Yes, anyways, there are many different major and minor gods that could be your father, but, the thing is, you have many possible attributes from several different gods, goddesses, too. Usually, looks are a dead giveaway, but you are a mix with that as well. I have no idea which one is yours." He shrugged at me.
"Right, of course." I was getting dizzy from the onslaught of information. Quin noticed this and gave me Concerned Look #8. I was used to getting many different looks from him, he had so many, and apparently, I gave him numerous occasions to use them. He approached me from his position leaning against the wall.
"Come on, let's go on a walk, I'll show you around the camp, you can meet some fellow demigods." I felt sick to my stomach, but nodded anyways and accepted his hand. He pulled me up off the bed and led me out the door of the cabin, the infirmary, he called it, that we were in. We walked around the camp and I saw the nymphs playing volleyball in the sand pit, (sure why not?) satyrs chasing dryads before they turned into various shrubbery, (naturally) campers scaling a climbing wall complete with lava pouring down it, (a little unsafe) and even more beings learning underwater basket weaving (because a normal camp does that). I kept up a sarcastic commentary in my head. I felt like I was watching a movie.
I had seen many demigods cross our path and Quin introduced me to them. The majority were nice.
Piper was a nice daughter of Aphrodite who had been kind enough to offer her experiences at camp. Hopefully, mine wasn't as hectic and confusing, but I had never had decent luck so I wasn't going to hold my breath.
I met Leo, who was a humorous son of Hephaestus who was good with…well, everything that has to do with fire and building. I liked him; he made me laugh.
I met the Stoll brothers, sons of Hermes. I pointed out that it was ironic that two sons of Hermes had the last name Stoll, but they didn't get it. Quin warned me away from accepting gifts from them, though he wouldn't say why. Judging by the scowl on his face, I would hazard a guess that it had something to do with personal experience.
The only person I met that I didn't particularly like was Drew Tanaka, daughter of Aphrodite. I had always thought that Aphrodite and Hades were two gods that got a bad rep. Hades was unfortunate enough to get the Underworld when dividing up the world and Aphrodite was stereotyped as shallow and self obsessed. Piper wasn't like that, I could tell, but, Drew sure was.
I saw two figures at the edge of the lake talking. One was tall, muscular, well they both were, but he had an easygoing vibe with the obligatory orange CHB shirt on and dark, wind-swept hair. The other was slightly shorter and all shadows; dark hair, dark clothes, and, though they were too far for me to see, I was guessing he had dark eyes. Quin stopped me beside me and raised his hands, cupping his mouth.
"Perce! Hey, Percy! Come here for a second." The tall one jogged over. As he came closer, I could see that he had sea-green eyes that seemed familiar and a lopsided smile that I was sure got him labeled troublemaker in school.
"Hey, Quin, what's up?"
"Percy, this is our newest camper," he shifted to a mocking, formal voice as if introducing a countess, "Teresa Eden Gray." I elbowed him, grinning; this was the Quin I knew and loved.
"Just Tessa is fine," I said, addressing Percy, "nice to meet you." Percy finally met my eyes and his gaze turned puzzled.
"Percy Jackson." He introduced himself, we shook hands. "I'm sorry, but, have we met before?" He asked me, sounding hesitant.
"You think I look familiar, too, don't you?" I asked. He nodded.
"Something about you seems like…" he trailed off, at a loss for words.
"…like we know each other." I finished for him, "or should know each other." I amended my earlier statement. He nodded again.
"Well," Quin caught my attention, "I was just going to introduce her to Chiron and Mr. D." Percy and Quin grimaced at the last name. I looked between them, confused. Percy turned around to face the person he had been talking to earlier. He waved him over and the person walked over. As Quin and Percy continued to converse, I kept my eyes fixed on the teenager approaching us. Never once did he look my way. He walked up to Percy and started to say something, but Percy cut him off.
"We'll talk about that later, right now, I want you to meet someone." Percy took him by the shoulders and turned him to face me. I swallowed, not sure if I could say anything.
"I'm Tessa," I said, sticking my hand out for him to shake.
"Nico," he replied, shaking my hand.
"Alright, now everyone knows everyone. Onward we shall march!" announced Percy. Nico and I both shook our heads and sighed at him at the same time. The thought was mutual; Oh, Percy, you dork. I looked sideways at Nico, and offered a small smile. His eyes flicked up to mine and he gave me an even smaller smile. I tried hard not to beam back at him like a total idiot.
Percy and Quin had pulled ahead and were talking side by side leaving me to trail behind them next to Nico. We walked in silence; his eyes fixed ahead, and mine darting to take in as much as I could. I stopped abruptly when my eyes caught a sign post and my jaw dropped. Nico was the only one who noticed and he stopped with me.
"Guys, wait up!" He called ahead to Percy and Quin and they came back, everyone staring at me. Percy's eyebrows scrunched in confusion and Quin came around to stand in front of me. Slowly, I raised my eyes up to meet his.
"Quinton Gideon Coleman," I started, using his full name to underline the severity of his crime, "there are horse and pegasus stables here and you didn't tell me?!" I was appalled; he knew I absolutely adored horses and had always loved the idea of Pegasus. He smiled sheepishly at me.
"I wanted them to be a surprise, Tess." I gaped at him.
"Can I see them?" I pleaded in a small voice. He nodded, grinning brightly.
"But, not alone, Tess." I looked at him confused.
"Well, I won't be alone, you're coming, right?" He shook his head.
"Quin and I are going to get some stud one so you can meet our activities director, Chiron." My eyes widened again.
"The centaur?" I asked in a small voice, not believing my luck. Percy nodded. My jaw dropped.
"You still need to take someone with you to the stables," Quin pointed out. I spun around to face Nico, doing my best imitation of Clary's Bambi eyes.
"No." He said once he figured out my plan.
"Please?" I begged him, clasping my hands together.
"No…"
"Please, please, please?" He took one look in my eyes and crumbled.
"Fine," he relented. I squealed and grabbed his hand, dragging him to the stables.
"How…?" I heard Percy question behind us.
"Not his fault, she used Bambi eyes, he was a goner from the start," replied Quin.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Time skip: in the stables
I dragged Nico around for half an hour taking in all of the animals; they were beautiful creatures, until one caught my eye.
It was a pegasus in the corner stall with the most beautiful light brown coat and eyes. She had a white star in the center of her forehead and soft, furling wings a shade darker than her coat. I breathed out' she was absolutely gorgeous.
"She's beautiful," I breathed, half to myself.
"Her name is Chestnut," said Nico beside me, almost whispered it, like I had. I hadn't even noticed that I was still holding his hand, but I let it go now, immediately missing it. I walked towards Chestnut, and rested my palm on her neck, my other hand stroking her mane. She nickered gently and I knew what she was saying.
"Hi." The word whispered across my mind and I could have sworn I hadn't thought it myself but brushed it off telling myself it was my overactive imagination.
I spent another 15 minutes with Chestnut, nicknaming her Ches. I chuckled to myself. Ches and Tess, Quin would love that. After a while, Nico started to get shifty and I turned my attention to him, pulled out of a trance.
"Oh, right, sorry." I apologized. We headed up to the Big House, as Nico introduced it to look for Quin and Percy.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Time skip: in Big House, met Chiron
We sat in the Big House thinking about who my godly parent could be. I had met Chiron already, and I could see how he had definitely been around for a long time. He reminded me of a professor that had been teaching for years, loving all of his students, watching them thrive and watching them fall. Quin was thinking aloud to me, Percy, Nico (who had opted to stay), Chiron, and Travis and Connor Stoll (since they were the head counselors of the Hermes cabin where I would stay until we figured it out).
It felt weird to be spoken about without saying anything, but Quin knew me well.
"She's smart, (I blushed at this) pretty, (blushed harder) kind, (I was tomato red by now) she loves horses, she's got a temper, and she loves music."
"Do you have any music abilities?" Chiron asked me gently.
"No, not rea—" I started, but Quin cut me off.
"She can sing, and she plays piano, too."
"Quin!" I exclaimed, exasperated. I had never told anyone that I sang, he was the only one who knew and I was going to keep it that way. He gave me a half apologetic shrug. I groaned and buried my head in my arms for a second. Everyone was looking at me, assessing my appearance, I could tell.
"The hair is throwing me off," stated Travis.
"Thanks?" I mumbled. I looked to Chiron who began to speak.
"It is possible that she has the blood of multiple gods or blessings from multiple gods. I am almost sure that it is a mix of both. I have never seen this much godly influence on a human." He said. Everyone was openly staring now.
"I shall Iris message the Olympian gods…this is puzzling. I will ask them to claim you at the campfire tonight." Chiron cantered away, leaving me more confused than ever. Percy gave me a reassuring smile and Quin bumped my shoulder with his. Nico looked lost and thought and the Stoll brothers were whispering conspiratorially. I sighed, wanting to get this campfire over with.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO
Time skip: to campfire
Dinner was surprising to me. I thought that offering up the best part of your meal to a fire was a little too symbolic for my taste, but Percy explained to me that the gods could literally smell the smoke and that it was part symbolic, part just plain respect. I sent a silent prayer to whoever my dad may be to help me through this weird spot in my life and that he had better keep his promise about keeping my mom safe.
I sat down at the Hermes table and Quin sat with me. I was silent; I didn't really feel like conversation. The rush of adrenaline from learning everything I could about camp was wearing off and now, I just missed home. I missed Clary and Marcus and having my biggest problem being about Spanish class. Quin didn't press me, but, he sat closer to me than normal as if reassuring me that he was still here and wasn't going to leave anytime. Thank the gods for Quin Coleman. I finished quickly, not eating all of my chicken, even though it did look delicious.
The campfire cheered me up a bit, singing songs with little Greek twists on them made me laugh and smile. Music never let me down. Thank Apollo for music.
As much as I had to thank the gods for, I couldn't help but feel a little bitter that no one had even mentioned anything about this to me. It took my life being threatened by mythical monsters for someone to say; "Oh, by the way, something you should know, you're a demigod." I'm not gonna lie, most of the people here are great. I felt comfortable with Quin, Chiron, Percy, Piper, and even Nico. Most people would be shocked by that, but, if the guy would let me drag him all around the pegasus stables without complaining, how bad could he be?
The campers got quiet and I looked around to notice most of them were staring at me and whispering to the people around them. I don't think they were malicious, I was used to this. I was the new girl…again.
Chiron stamped his hoof and we all directed our attention to him.
"As you have all, no doubt, noticed, we have a new camper in our midst." He gestured for me to stand up, I did.
"This is Tessa Gray." I gave a wave when Quin encouraged me to do so.
"Usually we would wait for her parent to claim her as you are all familiar with, but, in her case, there is a slight wrinkle." I narrowed my eyes at Chiron; I had been told of no such thing.
"She has a godly parent, yes, but, she also has the blood of other gods and blessing from them to boot. So, it is with great honor and respect that we welcome the Olympian Council." My eyes widened, as did most of the campers'. More than one god? Oh, gods. My stomach fluttered with nerves and I had to grab on to Quin's shoulder to stay upright.
Soon, a series of different colored flashes filled the room and standing in the source were gods.
I didn't recognize them all, but I could guess at their identities. Ares was the most obvious with all his armor and red, and his scowl, actually. I recognized the Big Three, Hera, Aphrodite (gag), Hermes, Hephaestus, Apollo, Artemis, Demeter, Dionysus, and more. There was so much tangible power in the room; I thought I might pass out. It was Lord Poseidon that spoke out first.
"Usually not so many, if any, of us would show up. But, due to certain people," Zeus shot Percy a look who replied with a sarcastic, two fingered salute and a grin, "and certain circumstances, we have agreed to be more hands on with our children."
Lord Hermes continued from here. "Tessa here is a legacy, a demigod, and one of the Blessed. Every god present who has influenced her life and/or blood legacy shall step forward and give the circumstanced of their influence." I stared wide eyed at all the gods surrounding the pavilion.
Hermes stepped forward when nobody else did and I sighed, Hermes as a dad wouldn't be so bad.
"I have Blessed this child." I deflated a little but kept my attention fixed on the gods.
Hecate stepped forward. "I have Blessed this child."
Athena stepped forward. "I have Blessed this child, as well."
Aphrodite stepped forward and I froze. No, I refuse to be a child of the love goddess. Quin chuckled next to me, apparently, I had spoken aloud.
"Oh why not, I Bless this child, too." I groaned, lowly. Quin chuckled, I elbowed him.
Apollo stepped forward and I drew myself up, waiting for him to say he was my father.
"This child is my Legacy." I started in surprise, that kind of made sense.
"My grandpa, he was drummer, in a band, he was your son?" I questioned. Apollo shot me thumbs up.
"I would like to perform a haiku in honor of my awesome genes." He cleared his throat."
"My legacy lives,
Through the blood of Olympus
I really am cool." Apollo stepped back, expecting praise.
"Brother, we have more important matters to attend to," sighed Artemis.
"Right," conceded Apollo.
Zeus stepped forward and my breath caught, there was no way he was my dad.
"This child is my Legacy," I exhaled slowly, slightly relieved. I had the blood of one of the Big three running through my veins. "Your great-great grandma, I believe."
Hades stepped forward and my muscles seized up again, I clutched Quin's arms for balance and he gently took his arm away to wrap it around my waist, effectively keeping me standing.
"This child is my Legacy, your great-great-great-great grandpa, if I remember correctly." I was dangerously close to passing out.
Hermes stepped forward again. "Now, the claiming process will go as usual." The gods vanished in a flash of light that was so bright we all had to avert our eyes. I was puzzled, wouldn't my dad want to stick around so I could talk to him. Everyone was looking at me as if waiting for me to grow a second head. I told Quin as much and he laughed, muttering something about how Janus would be proud of my appearance or something.
Without my noticing when it began, the campfire flared and the courtyard was bathed in a turquoise glow that came from…from me. Everyone was pointing and staring at something above my head. I looked up and caught the sight of a spinning green trident like the one—my thoughts halted. Poseidon? Quin answered for me from beside me, awe clear in his voice.
"Poseidon," he breathed.
I turned to him, eyes wide, and he turned to me. I wanted to look at Percy, seeing as we were apparently half-brother and sister, but, I was afraid he would hate me, or his dad for having another kid when being a child of Poseidon was supposed to be an honor. I was positive I was a letdown for a child of the Big Three. When I finally got up the courage to look at Percy, I was surprised to see him sprinting towards me with a goofy grin on his face.
He barreled into me, sweeping me up into a hug, spinning me around in his arms off the ground. He was laughing and smiling ear to ear; I couldn't help it, I started laughing, too, hugging him back. I buried my face in his shoulder, giddy for the first time that I had a brother.
A brother! A brother who was a great person and had friends and wouldn't cut me out of his life. If you were to ask me how I knew this, the answer would be that he was telling me this through his hugs and exclamations.
"Guys, I have a sister!" He would yell when people looked at us. A blonde girl came up to us and put her hand on his shoulder. He spun to face her, still hugging her.
"Annabeth! I have a little sister!" I was openly laughing now and smiling until my cheeks hurt.
"Yeah, Seaweed Brain, I noticed." Percy set me down long enough to introduce us.
"Tessa, this is Annabeth the best girlfriend in the world. Annabeth, this is Tessa, the best sister in the world." We both laughed.
"Percy, you've only known me for a day." He swung an arm around me.
"I know you're a good person. It's my talent to read people, tell what they're feeling." Everyone rolled their eyes at him; obviously this was not the case. Nico snorted in disbelief. The intent was clear: yeah, right.
Nico put a hand on my shoulder, turning me towards him. Without thinking, I threw my arms around him, caught up in Percy's excitement. He stiffened, but let me hug him. I smiled again and turned my face in.
"I have a brother, a family," I whispered, still not believing it myself. I had always wanted a brother and to know my father. Now, I did. I heard him laugh, well, felt it really. I felt his chest shake with laughter and his arms finally came up and patted my back before wrapping around me. I laughed with him, giving him one squeeze before pulling back. I smiled at him, still floating on a cloud. Suddenly, his brow furrowed.
"I just realized that you have the blood of all of the Big Three in you." I froze; he was right, I did. That scared me, what was I supposed to do. Annabeth heard that and frowned as well.
"I don't think that's ever happened before," she said. Quin's jaw dropped. I mirrored him; I was as good as an experiment. The Big Three had a feud, what would happen when I had to take sides? Quin had apparently had come to the same conclusion.
"Holy fish-sticks," he muttered. I would have rolled my eyes at his saying if I wasn't thinking so much. Holy fish-sticks indeed.
HEY, GUYS! So, what do you think? I just kind of had this idea of the nature of Tessa and her blood at war with itself, so I decided to do that with a feud that we can all count on recurring: the brothers. Let me know if you guys want one-shots or a story. Can't promise I will update soon, because school starts tomorrow, so it's going to be harder to write. But, I'll try for you guys! Review please!
-Phoenix