Weird flashes of orange. That was the main thing that I saw whenever I drifted into consciousness. Sometimes, I'd hear voices. I assumed they belonged to the people wearing all the orange. The words were blurry and the snippets I understood erased from my aching brain within seconds There was this one time I swore I saw a man's torso attached the neck of horse, but I was obviously hallucinating then. But most of the time, there was just darkness.
Gradually, I gained full consciousness. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around the room. It was painted white with very little furniture. A small cabinet, a few chairs and 4 beds with plain white sheets. Suddenly, I realised that the pain in my legs had subsided as had the pain everywhere in my body. The door towards the front of the room opened and two boys walked in. They, just like my rescuers, seemed 15 or 16 years old, my age. Long blonde hair flowed to the first boys' shoulders. He had forest green eyes, greener than the trees I'd ran through to escape the beast and a face that seemed to hold the key to eternal youth. The second boy had stunningly bright blue eyes, bluer than the deepest seas. Well, they would've been blue if it wasn't for the small flecks of brown within them. He had a sprinkle of freckles scattered across his nose like someone had captured the stars and recreated the constellations on his face. A scar trailed from the furthest corner of his left eyebrow down to the corner of his nose. This, tied in with his close cut and purposefully messy black hair, gave him a vibe of superiority but his blue eyes twinkled with a hidden humour.
"How's she doing, Doc?" The boy with black hair asked.
"Healing well. Thanks to the ambrosia, the muscles in her legs are almost fully healed." The first boy replied.
They were facing away from me, clearly not realising that I was both awake and listening to them talk about me.
"She looked so small when she burst through the border. Probably wouldn't have survived one more second if she hadn't reached camp." Blue eyes said. He cast a glance towards me and noticed I was awake. A small smile played on his lips and he quickly winked, as if sharing some private joke, before turning back to his friend. "Would've been a pity if she'd died. She's too pretty for death."
"Maybe you should complement her when she's conscious? Or just not at all. She could be your half sibling for all we know. " Blondey replied.
"Maybe I should ask her." He laughed and turned his friend around to face me.
"Oh gods. You're awake." His eyes widened.
The look on his face would have been comical had I not of just woken up in a strange room after being chased through a forest by a beast.
"Where am I?" I asked in a husky voice. I obviously hadn't used my vocal chords in a while, "And how long have I been out?"
"Ah, the voice of an angel." Grinned the blue-eyed boy, obviously making fun of the way my voice cracked when I said 'out.'
The other boy rolled his eyes at his companion's antics. "You're at Camp Half-Blood. As for how long you've been out…." He trailed off, picking up a board from the table beside him, "3 and a half day."
I sat up to get out of the bed.
"Three days!? And Camp Half-blood? I've never heard of such a place! Honestly, first IM chased through the woods by a... a…a Thing! And then I wake up in a strange room at a strange camp with two hot guys who claim I've been passed out for 3 days!" I took a step off the side of the bed. Apparently, they were telling the truth because the second I put my weight on my legs, I collapsed.
The black-haired boy raced over to me, catching me before I fell. That's it. I was putting this in the book of cringey things I've done.
"So, you think I'm hot?" He whispered in my ear. I turned to face him. A stupid smirk was plastered on his face. Oh, so he thought this was a joke. Nice to know. Usually, I would flirt back and this time…well I was in the weirdest situation ever, but I guess it wouldn't kill me.
"Sure do, Hot Stuff." I winked
"Welp, I wasn't expecting a reply so good job." He let out a small laugh
"And that's my queue to leave." I saw the other boy put down his clipboard and open the door, "If you need me, I'll be with Elijah at the camp shop."
Black hair waved a hand at him before turning back to me.
"I should give you a run down on everything. My names Cassian Reid, the other boy was Mark. You can call him hot all you want but he is really gay so don't expect anything in return. Now to the big stuff. The Gods a-"
He was cut off as another door towards the side of the room was opened and a girl with purple hair walked in.
"Cassian! Stop flirting with the newbie and get back to work." She directed towards the boy whose body was still extremely close to mine.
Cassian rolled his eyes and helped me into the bed before moving over to a shelf of what seemed to be first aid kits.
The purple haired girl knelt beside my bed. "Have you been filled in on what's happening yet?"
I shook my head. "I only just woke up.
-CASSIAN'S POV-
Sam, always ruining my fun. Honestly, I'm surprised she wasn't glad I was acting like my old self. I walked over the cabinets and started doing my assigned job of restocking the first aid kits. Why I was doing the job of an Apollo child? Well, I found it unfair that they had to do so much in the medical department and I'd gladly help Mark any time I could. He was my best friend and he deserved every bit of help I could give him. And doing this kept me busy, even if it had been 3 years, if I was given enough free time, the memories would resurface and, to say the least, it wasn't a pleasant memory to revisit.
I was vaguely aware of Sam giving the new girl (Her name was Adelaide, as I'd heard her inform Sam) the basic 'Gods are real, you're a demigod, our parents only remember us when we are useful' run-down. I'd heard it and given it one to many times. It was sort of depressing to think about the amount of kids who could go this far in life without knowing who they were. I'd been sent to camp when I was 9, so I guess I had it easy compared to the to the other kids. But the other kids wouldn't have had such painful memories…not yet.
I turned around and faced the door as Sam and Adelaide left. Adelaide…. She was 16 years old…How had she survived that long on her own? Demigods were usually dead by the age of 14 or they'd made it to camp. Surviving to 16 without help, well that was basically unheard of. She must have been the child of a minor god if her aura didn't attract enough monsters to have her dead.
I had finished restocking the first aid kits, so I decided it was time to go and break up Marks make-out session with Elijah. I left through the front door, making sure to be as quick as possible as I wanted to talk to Mark before curfew. I was quite cold outside, and I was able to see the condensation of my breath in the air. I quickly stuffed my hands in my pockets and started the walk. A lock of blue hair was hindering my view. I brushed it out of my eyes. Blue hair…The last thing I'd done with Trevor before…NO! I shook my head. No flashbacks no. I wouldn't allow it. I looked up to see Mark leaving the Shop and kissing Elijah goodbye. I ran up to him.
"Mark! We need to talk." I gripped his arm. Elijah raised an eyebrow at me before waving and leaving to go to his own cabin before curfew.
"Are you ok?" Mark asked, "Flashbacks again? Or are you hurt? Sam's in the shop and she is never without ambrosia and nectar, so I could get-"
I cut off his motherly rambles with a finger over his lips. "I'm not hurt. Calm down."
"Well excuse me for caring. You sounded really urgent and your grip on my arm still hasn't loosened, so of course I'm going to assume something is wrong."
I half rolled by eyes at him. "You're literally the best friend ever."
He shrugged and grinned. "What's a gay to do?"
"Guy?" I corrected him.
"Did I fuck stutter?"
I laughed slightly.
"So, what did you need me for?" He asked
"It's about the newbie, Adelaide." I started walking
"Ah, so she has a name. What about your flirting buddy?"
"Are you going to hold me to that forever?"
"Actually, I'm just glad that you're acting like your old, free going self. You're finally being you."
I nod. I probably should've said 'Thanks Mark, Glad to be back.' or some other thankful phrase but I don't know how to take praise, or a compliment and Mark knows it, so he wouldn't be expecting thanks.
"So, about Adelaide…?" He prompted me into telling him
"Oh yeah. She's 16."
"And?" Mark screwed up his face at me, "You got excited to tell me you're a stalker?"
"No. I am asking you how she could've survived so long without help. Demigods don't last past 14 on their own."
Mark stopped. "…I…. I honestly have no idea, bro. That's actually both really strange and rare."
"Exacto!" I say as I take a glance of my surrounding. We were a few paces away from the Weaponry. Inside said building was Sam and Adelaide.
"Hey look." I said, gaining Marks attention back, "Sam's taken her to choose a weapon…."
"Ooh. You can always tell a lot about a person by the weapon they pick. This should be interesting."
We positioned ourselves so that we were able to see inside the 'Weapon House,' as I called it, without them seeing us.
Sam seemed to be telling the other girl something. Her mouth stopped moving as she faced Adelaide. The girl must have picked up a weapon, but her body obscured our view.
Suddenly, Adelaide turned, and I could see the weapon in her hand perfectly.
"Trevor's dagger." I mouthed but noise accidentally came out. I hadn't seen it since, well, the accident. No- It wasn't an accident- it was an act of treachery. Either way, I hadn't seen the weapon since I was offered it. I refuse, obviously, and it must have been placed here.
"Oh shit. Bro, you okay?" Came marks protective voice from beside me.
"Yeah man. I'm fine. It's ok. I knew what I was doing when I gave it up."
I was vaguely aware of Mark nodding, but my attention had been turned elsewhere.
The sound of a Conch Horn carried through the camp. Curfew.
"Well, we better get back before we die." This caused a laugh from Mark.
We said our good-byes before I walked towards the Hecate cabin.
Time for the nightmares! I grimly thought.