Castor led Achilles, Taylor and Connor to the Big House. Outside was a man in a wheelchair, who reminded him of a Generic Professor. Castor nodded to the man, who looked at him.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. You are special. Have you ever wondered why strange...?"
"Gods are real, they have kids, we're some of them. Done."
"Since you children already know about the gods, Castor will show you the Orientation Film. Before you leave, what are your names? I am Chiron, the camp activities director."
"My name's Connor. My dad's Apollo.
"I'm Taylor, Daughter of Hermes."
"Achilles. Achilles, son of Mars."
"Ares." Chiron corrected. "It's good that you know your parents. Easier on Hermes' Cabin. Did you say you were named Achilles?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm Achilles."
"I taught an Achilles, once. A great, smart boy. Slept a lot, after his bath in the Underworld. But a good student. If you are anything like the original, it will be a pleasure to teach up you. Castor, will you take them to the film?"
Castor nodded, and walked off.
The Orientation Film was boring. It showed smiling children picking strawberries, Satyr's dancing with Tree Nymphs, Demigods fighting in the forest, then a view of a flying Pegasus with a Camper on it's back. Then Castor had given them a tour of the grounds and showed them to their cabins.
"You'll stay here. Each Camper has their own cabin, decided by their godly parent." He showed them to a big, gold building that was painfully bright. Apollo's Cabin. Connor looked at Achilles and Taylor, and gave them each a hug. Then, a tanned kid with sunglasses and slicked back blond hair appeared in the doorway. He welcomed Connor, and they disappeared from view. Next, he led them to a normal building, a classic summer camp building. Castor led them into the building, where kids were packed in every centimeter.
"New Kid!" Castor yelled. "Permanent!"
Two kids appeared, grinning. They looked identical, with elfish features and a smell of paint coming off them.
"Hello, Sis!" One said happily. "Welcome to the Cabin!"
"I'll leave you with the Stoll brothers." Castor said, before leading Achilles to a brutal building that emanated hatred and War.
"Ares' cabin. Your new home."
Achilles didn't like it. It was a building of war, yes, but it was more of a Barbarian Berserker war. Not order. Not the might of the organized Military that Mars represented. Then again, this wasn't Mars. This was Ares. They seemed like different people. The building was red and looked like it was covered in blood splatters. Barbed Wire covered the roof, and a stuffed Boar's head hung above the door. Castor led him inside, where a girl with brown, mousy hair and muscles that practically ripped brought her orange shirt appeared, but her eyes were puffy and she looked like she had been crying.
"He an Ares camper?" She asked. "I've seen bugs bigger."
She pointed to a bunk bed, and snarled.
"Sleep there. I'm Clarisse, and I'm the boss here, OK? I say jump, you say how high? Got it?"
"Not my problem who wants to be leader. Nice spear." Achilles said. He threw his bag and most of his armour on the bunk bed, before surveying the room. There was a locked cabinet that was labeled "ARMOURY" and a big map with little figurines on it, with archers, Calvary and foot soldiers in different positions. Several partly destroyed training dummies were nailed to the wall, and demigods were slashing and hacking at them with swords. Then a big, heavy kid with short black hair appeared, and knocked into him.
"Watch where you're going, freak."
The Kid pushed him onto the bed, before grabbing his breastplate.
"Awesome gear. I'm going to borrow it, OK?"
"Put it down." Achilles said quietly.
"Let me think about that. No." He said, before laughing.
Achilles put on his knuckleduster and punched the kid repeatedly in the stomach, before grabbed him in a head lock and pressing his thumb into the kid's throat.
"Do not mess with me." Achilles said, before dropping him on the floor.
Clarisse walked over, and looked at them.
"You've been here a few minutes, and you've already fought and beat Kieran? At least we know you haven't been placed in the wrong cabin. Kieran, you're on dish duty for the week. Don't pick a fight you can't win. Ares' Cabin! Move! We have Mythology now."
They shared Mythology Class with Athena cabin for the day. As Achilles was new, a Faun, no he called himself a Satyr, named Tony took him and young kid from Athena cabin and went through the basics. He listed out the twelve gods and their sacred animals, what they represented and other useless information. Then he gave a quick description of Heracles, which was the original name of Hercules, the greatest Demigod ever. He sounded pretty cool, but Achilles couldn't get past the fact he killed his entire family.
After that he went out on the canoe lake, where he sank his canoe. The last class was Monster Fighting Techniques, where he learned the names of the most common monsters. The big black dogs were Hellhounds. The Snake ladies were Dracaena. The giant cannibals were Laistrygonian Giants.
Then a conch horn sounded, and Ares Cabin formed a line, with Clarisse at the front and him at the back. They marched to an open pavilion with wooden tables and golden goblets placed on them. On the wooden tables, Achilles counted twelve or them, were barbecue, cheeses and fresh fruit. He sat down, and an Ares kid nudged him.
"Ask the goblet for the drink, get your food and burn some of it in the fire." She said.
"Seriously? Cranberry Juice and Cola." He said to the goblet that filled with a deep red-brown colored drink.
Achilles smiled, and grabbed some barbecued chicken and roast potatoes. He got up and followed the cabin to a big bronze brazier where he shoved some food into the fire. Then he sat down and began to eat. He noticed Connor at Apollo's table, eating a huge plate of ham and sausages, and knocking back liters of cola. It always amazed him that Connor was the size he is despite what he ate. He saw Taylor with a Hermes boy, who were laughing. Achilles didn't like that. Sure, Taylor was only his friend, but... He really didn't like that. After dinner, he watched Clarisse and a few of his stronger cabin mates played in the volleyball league, and a Nymph taught him the basics of volleyball. Then they joined the other campers for a campfire sing-along. The fire glowed gold but was small enough. One of the campers told him it reflected their moods, but he didn't know why people were slightly happy. Most of the campers sang happily, but he didn't. He hated singing, and met up with Connor and Taylor. Connor had Horton pretty popular showing everyone Charlie the Phoenix, and Taylor had stolen herself a new pair of Snake earrings, little green and silver ones. Achilles thought they made her look cute, but he couldn't exactly say that.
"That concludes our campfire sing-along!" Chiron said at the end of the night.
"I'll see you tomorrow." Taylor said with a smile.
"We all have beginner's Pegasus training." Connor said. "We'll see each other then."
Achilles got up and nodded to them, before walking off to join his cabin.
When Achilles woke up, he put on an orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt and jeans that he borrowed from the camp store, as well as black leather combat boots. He followed the rest of his cabin to the Stables, where they met up with Dionysius, Apollo and Hermes cabin, and then split up. The more advanced riders rode off towards the lake to practice, while the younger kids were taught the basics by an Aphrodite girl.
Pegasus Riding was taught by Silena Beauregard. As an Aphrodite girl she was surprisingly nice compared to the others. She led out two horses, one brown and gold that nuzzled her effectively, and the other was white with a grey mane. She showed him how to mount Pegasi, and from there he nearly broke his neck several times. He went through pretty much every Pegasus in the stable. They were all to peaceful or undisciplined. None of them suited him. Connor worked best with the chariots, and Taylor found a beautiful white horse with a gleaming mane that suited her perfectly. Achilles let out a silent prayer to Mars to help him find a good horse, and they entered the big house for a short break.
"I'll get you some lemonade." She said, before bringing out a tray of drinks and cookies.
They had a glass of lemonade and a small cookie each, before walking outside Silena let out a scream, as a new Pegasus swooped down. It was black and deep red, with a blood red tail and mane that were on fire. It had a black leather saddle with bronze studs on it's back. It's wings were black and red and alight, making it burn like an angel of death. It rode up to Achilles and flapped his wings, engulfing him in flames. Achilles yelled, but when the flames disappeared, he appeared completely unscathed. It dropped a letter in Achilles' hand. He opened an Eagle seal on the front and read it.
"Heard your prayer. Got you one of my horses, Aithon. Horse of War. Enjoy it. M."
Achilles pulled himself on the horse, and Aithon's fire licked his wrists. He winced, but he couldn't feel the fire, only a slight and pleasant warmth.
"Is that a Pegasus?" Silena asked.
"Looks like one. His name is Aithon."
"Where... Where did you get it?"
"Mars. It's the Pegasus that symbolizes War, one of my Dad's steeds. I think he's related to me. Creepy, huh?"
"This is so cool!" Connor yelled. "It's a flaming Pegasus!"
Achilles lightly kicked the Pegasus' side, and it galloped forward and jumped. He flew into the air and yelled. Aithon snorted, blowing wisps of flames out his nostrils. Aithon flew high into the air, before diving and pulling up at the last second. Achilles thought Aithon was awesome. He was tame and disciplined, but still wild and daring enough to fly high and fast enough to pull off whatever Achilles wanted. He flew through the air and banked right, but his boot slipped out of the stirrup and he hung off, before groaning and pulling himself back on. Then he dove towards the ground and landed. He rubbed Aithon's nose, before grabbing a sugar cube and holding it out in front of him.
"This is really, really awesome." Achilles said, and Aithon nuzzled into him.
Then a panicked Satyr arrived.
"We're all gonna die! Everyone is dead!" He screamed. "That's a flaming pony! What is happening?!"
Silena stepped forward and slapped the satyr hard.
"Dominic! Why are you freaking out!?"
"Chiron's calling a War Council. Camp is going to be attacked by he Titan Army. They're using the Labyrinth!"