Chapter 3:

I Make Hero Camp

"Camp Half-Blood…," I mumbled under my breath, looking down into the valley Pete motioned over. All I could think was…Woah!

The camp was huge! Directly down the hill there were volleyball courts and a huge farmhouse painted blue.

As Pete and I tromped down the hill, I kept trying to soak everything else in. There were stables off across a large creek, a couple of more buildings that looked like they belonged in a museum somewhere, and also a big group of cabins shaped like a giant rectangle.

I whistled under my breath. Despite how weird this was, I had to admit, Camp Half-Blood had a nice get up.

"So you haven't quite explained what this place is all about," I mentioned to Pete, still soaking in all I could.

"Oh…right," mumbled Pete. "Well… Look man, you know all those stories… You know, like the ones your mom teaches at college."

My eyes darted back to his.

"Crap…," I facepalmed. "My mom is going to kill me when she finds out about this…"

"Don't worry were going to go explain it to her later," Pete assured me. "Its really important you don't leave camp right now."

I raised an eyebrow at him, but decided not to argue right now.

I was way too tired to argue.

"Anyway… Those myths…," Pete began again. He looked really uncomfortable trying to put this all out there for me.

"So you're talking about Greek myths. Zeus, Poseidon, Hercules… That stuff?" I asked, looking at him incredulously.

"Yep," Pete, said nodding slowly. "Well the only thing is… Well, they aren't myths. They're real. All the gods, all the heroes you've heard about, the Underworld… Well…it's all real."

Pete bit his lip and looked at me. I could tell he was nervous to see how I would react.

In truth the first reaction I had was…I found it funny. Seriously, I came close to just busting out laughing.

"Right," I snorted. "Good one. Now were are the cameras? Someone's in the bushes right? I'm on MTV or VH1?"

Pete just sighed and shook his head. "I'm not joking Alex, they're real! How else would you explain everything that's gone on today?"

I didn't have an answer for him. I mean…sure things could be faked but…this was a pretty intense punk.

"Exactly!" Pete said, pointing a finger at me. "There's no other way to explain it! That Empousa you killed was a real monster from all those Greek myths!"

"But…but…"

I was tongue tied. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense… Or as much sense as this could all make. There were really no other explanations. Unless I had completely lost my marbles…

"So…what does that make me then?" I asked. "Some random person thrown into this for no reason?"

"No," said Pete. "It means you're special! You're the son of a god! A half-blood! Or a demigod, whichever you want to use."

I frowned, my head slowly beginning to pound. This was a lot to take in a twenty four hour period.

"That dyslexia? It's all because your mind is wired to read Ancient Greek. ADHD? Your battle field reflexes, they'll keep you alive over the next few years. It's all because one of your parents is a god!" Pete finished, breathing heavily.

"Ok, ok, lets say, I believe you up to this point," I said, my brow furrowed. "My next questions is… Which god?"

Pete raised an eyebrow to me. "Well I thought that would've been obvious! He sent you a gift! He's looking out for you."

I slowly pulled out the flashlight. It sparkled even more in the full brightness of the sun. I clicked it once and held the bow in my hand.

Bow…

"Your telling me I'm the son of Apollo?" I demanded. Strangely my voice sounded hoarse.

"Yep," nodded Pete.

"The bow and arrow guy?"

"Yep."

"The sun god in all the Greek myths?"

"Yep."

I blinked once, still looking at the bow shinning in my hand.

"Awesome."

Thunder boomed overhead. I glanced up, surprised since there really wasn't a cloud in the sky.

"Don't be impertinent, they don't like that," said Pete, glancing at the sky nervously.

"What? Are they going to blast me with lightning?"

Another boom of thunder overhead.

"Maybe," squeaked Pete. "Let's keep moving. You have a busy day still to look forward too."

"What? Today hasn't been busy enough?" I grumbled, returning my bow to flashlight form and pocketing it.

"You've gotta go through orientation and get settled in your cabin. Camp activities are going to start first thing tomorrow," Pete continued, taking me to the front door of the giant barn house.

"Wait here," he said, motioning to enter the barn but someone beat him too it.

"Ah, Mr. Meadows, we we're wondering if you would make it on time," said the figure in the door way.

When the man stepped into the light, I first thought that he was simply tall. Then I noticed he was really tall. Finally, I noticed he had a horses ass.

No, literally, this guy was a horse from the waist down. Freaky, I know.

"And you must be Alex," said the man, stooping down slightly to shake my hand.

I tore my eyes away from the white mustang part of his body and looked up into his kind face.

"I'm Chiron, activities director for Camp Half-Blood."

"You're a centaur," was all I could say. Stupid of me right? Way to point out the obvious.

But Chiron simply chuckled. "Well spotted, lad. Don't worry. You'll get used to such things as the days go by. What's important now is that you're here in one piece."

"So…this is all real then," I said, looking from Pete to Chiron. "The gods, and the monsters, and the…everything?"

"Yes," said Chiron kindly. "But have no fear Alex, you will fit in just fine here. There are some more new campers over there," he motioned to a group of kids about my age who were looking around camp with the same wonder I had felt. "You will all be given an orientation film and then moved to your respective cabin."

Pete led me over to where the group of newbies were and clapped me on the back again.

"Well bud, this is where I take off. You'll be fine with these guys just listen and…don't pick any fights yet."

"Will I see you again?" I asked, a little crestfallen. Pete was the only guy I knew around here, and I wasn't thrilled he was moving along.

"Oh definitely," said Pete. "I live here after all. We'll see each other around. I just need to report in that we made it back alright. I'll be seeing you!"

With a final wave he scampered off toward the forest.

I looked over the other campers there apprehensively. They all seemed to be in the same boat as me. Two of them, clearly twins, had similar scorch marks on their cloths so some were probably worse off than me.

There were only eight total, so when I joined the cluster I could feel every pair of eyes boring into me. They probably were waiting to see if I was going to turn into a half animal too.

"Hey…," one of the kids addressed me hoarsely, "Do you know… Is this all a trick? When can we go home?"

"I want momma," the little twin girl choked out. Her brother put an arm around her, a look of sadness passing over his face too.

"I don't think this is a trick," I said slowly, glancing at everyone. Strangely enough despite the fact some had me in the height department (which wasn't that hard really…) I seemed to be the oldest one there…

All the kid's faces fell, and I felt bad to be giving them the bad news. They didn't want this…

"Alright kids, your gonna want to come this way," another half-goat boy said to the collective.

Great, I thought, more barnyard animals.

We, as a group, were led past the barn house and volleyball courts. As we were led, I had a better look of what was across the creek.

I saw some people, decked out in shiny battle armor, making their way into one building. I got a better look at the cluster of cabins and saw that some seemed to be built out of strange materials. That one looked like sea shells…

We were finally led into a giant, wide-open amphitheater. There was a white screen set up, and a guy messing with the projector. As I passed him, I saw he had big blue eyes all over his body. I think one on his arm winked at me as I passed…

I took a seat, followed by everyone else, and the film began playing on the white screen.

"Hello brats," the video began focusing on a little man with super curly black hair, dressed in a tiger -stripped Hawaiian shirt. I thought he looked like he had just downed a bottle of Jack before he got on camera.

"I suppose I should welcome you to Camp Half-Blood. So welcome, and blah, blah, blah. I'm sure you know all this initiation nonsense," the little man looked down at some playing cards he was holding in his hand.

I exchanged glances with the kid sitting next to me. What was with this guy?

"So have a awesome initiation, don't bother me, and uh…yes, I suppose don't die either," he finished his speech. Some little subtitles came up after this identifying him as Dionysus, Camp Director, god of wine.

Awesome, I thought, slightly annoyed, The god of being a drunk ass is watching out for us…

"So all you brats need to know and except is that the Greek gods of Olympus, are very real." The picture had changed to a glowing place with beautiful white buildings labeled Olympus. Sadly Dionysus was still talking.

"So you are a here because you are a child of some god. Yippy for you all," continued Dionysus. The slideshow changed quickly to a man in a pinstripe suit and full beard, a man in a Bermuda shirt holding a trident, finally a woman with piercing gray eyes that seem to see you through the picture.

"Now if you're asking which one… Well thanks to a pack made with the all powerful and heroic Peter Johnson," the slideshow changed to a boy with untidy black hair and sea green eyes, smiling for the camera. I don't know if Dionysus couldn't read or what because the subtitles said his name was Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon. "The gods must claim all their children by the age of thirteen."

My face scrunched up in confusion. I was fourteen years old…

"So more than likely the gods will take the time to claim you and we can get you on your way to your cabin," continued Dionysus in his bored voice. "Hurrah for you."

"Now here at camp you will go about all the activities you heroes need…," he continued. The slideshow flashed from people sword fighting in a large arena, horses (with wings I might add…) trotting down a trail, a kids shooting arrows at targets far away.

"Now since were are almost done with this stupid thing, I have one final warning for all you brats. Do not leave camp. Unless you wish to make my life easier so I don't have to look out for you, but…whatever. If you leave you will more than likely die in some painful and nasty way."

The slideshow showed a kid walking around and suddenly get tackled by a giant black dog the size of a car. The camera man dropped his camera, and we got a picture of his goat butt hauling out of there.

I think everyone in the theater turned a shade of green.

"Otherwise we should be just sunshine and rainbows," Dionysus said, the show going back to him. "Now get going, I have important things to do."

With that, the slideshow ended and everyone simply sat there in a stunned silence.

"Well that was…enlightening?" I muttered. The kid next to me couldn't get any words out.

"So now that you've had your orientation…," said the centaur, Chiron, as he rejoined us, "I believe it's time for the claiming."

He glanced down at a clipboard. "Henry Marshal?"

A giant of a thirteen year old stood up in the center of the stage. There was a few seconds pause, then a bright red light. A giant hammer shimmered into existence for a few sec, and then slowly faded away.

"Son of Hephaestus," muttered Chiron, jotting it down. "Very good. Next is, Michael and Adriana Wallace."

The two twins I had seen earlier walked timidly up to center stage. There was the same pause and then another shimmer. This time it was a long stalk of wheat.

Strange symbol… I thought to myself.

"Demeter…," mumbled Chiron, making more notes. "Well done children. Next…"

And so it went on. After the twins of Demeter there was a daughter of Aphrodite (I only drooled a little bit…), a son and daughter of Athena, a son of Ares, and even a son of Dionysus.

Finally I was called.

"Your up, Mr. Bowmen," smiled Chiron.

I took center stage. Nothing happened for a few seconds. I felt my face get redder and redder with every second that went by. What if nothing happened…

Then I heard a voice in my head…

Yeah it freaked me out, too. But it wasn't an insane voice. It was actually kind of pleasant…like I knew it from somewhere.

"Take out the flashlight…"

Without thinking I did; that earned me a quizzical look from Chiron.

"Click it!"

I did, and once again I was holding my shiny gold bow. There were whispers from the other new campers, and even a few from some of the goat boys surrounding the amphitheater.

Chiron gave me a strange look, like he was studying me to see if I could start doing flips next.

"Son of Apollo," he said quietly, making a check on his clipboard. "Very good. Everyone has been claimed. Now if you will just follow your satyr, they will lead you to your cabin."

I moved to the side and breathed a sigh of relief when a familiar face motioned over for me to follow him.

"Looks like you gave everyone quite a stir there," Pete said, looking around at the campers and other satyrs curious glances. "No one else has a gift like that."

"Yay, I'm special," I muttered, following Pete to the collection of cabins.

"You really are Alex. You just don't realize how special yet," Pete said, stopping in front of a cabin. "But you will eventually."

The cabin we stopped in had a large number seven over the front door. The cabin seemed to be made of three stories of pure gold. I had to squint to look at it.

"So this is Apollo's cabin," said Pete, shielding his own eyes from the buildings light. "I'll let you get inside. Your camp director will be there to help you out with anything you need help with."

"Awesome," I said. "First day at hero camp…"

"Mmm…," said Pete, tapping his chin. "I've never heard it put that way. But yeah, I guess this is hero camp."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright thanks buddy. I'll see you around."

I turned and faced the doors to cabin number seven. Apollo's cabin… My home for now…

I took a deep breath and pushed open the door.