Chapter 3

I think I actually made a friend... Wow

"How'd it go?" The boy asked me as I walked back towards him. I shrugged. "Alright, next time you decide to walk off randomly, give me a warning first. As I was saying before you left, My name's Thilo" He said. "I'll take you to the mess hall, dinner's about to start anyway".

Dinner was, well, weird. I was placed at a table for Hermes, with only about 2 other people. This camp was very empty. Hardly anyone was here. I got welcomed, soft of, a tiny round of applause and a wave from Nell. I looked around. The only thing that caught my eye was a crack in the solid marble floor. It was small and hard to notice but there was something about it, a familiarity, a darkness. I caught Thilo staring at me from across the room. He was alone at his table. He looked down quickly and blushed. The food was served and I followed my table to the large fire in the center of the room and dumped some of my food in. I closed my eyes, "Thank you father" I thought, "Thank you gods for helping me find my way. And a special thank you to Hestia" I finished and went back to my table. "You don't talk much" One of the boy's at my table said. I looked at him and smiled. "I wouldn't expect much from her Finn" Nell said plopping down next to me. "Charlie here is a mute by choice" I gave Nell my best, 'Really?' look. He held up his hands in a surrender. "So" Nell said turning his attention to the boy named Finn. "Why didn't you go on the field trip?" Finn scrunched up his face. "Dunno" he said, "Had a funny feeling like I'd be needed here" Nell nodded like this was the most important thing he had ever heard. "So" Finn said to me, "Are you a Hermes natural of an undetermined?" I looked at Nell for help. I was so confused. "Undetermined" Nell said. "I hope you're not in Hermes" Finn said. What was that supposed to mean?! Finn looked instantly devastated. "No, not like that. I mean it would be nice if you were, I just hope you're not. Not that I don't like you it's just-" he was cut off by me slapping him hard across the face. The room fell silent as I stood and stormed from the pavilion. No one followed me. I knew which cabin I belonged in, I'd always known that I had an odd connection to the particular god. I changed my stomping to a jog, then my jog to a run. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, I only know that I ended up deep in the forest. Tears ran silently down my face, everywhere I went people didn't want me around, I knew I was never going to have a home, not without Collie. I was so confused, I couldn't tell what I was feeling, it was frustrating, and the more I tried to figure it out the more confused I became. Rage filled me and I fell to my knee's. All around me the plants began to wilt and die. Shadows gathered near me and I could feel all below me. Gems and metals, bones of the long dead. I was so tired and so conflicted that I curled up and wept myself to sleep, right there in the middle of the forest.

I awoke to the sun rising on my face. The wet ground had soaked my clothes. I was wet and sad, not cold though, I was never cold. Nell was probably looking for me. I'd probably scared the hooves of him. Finn's remark had been uncalled for, he didn't want me in his cabin, fine, I knew I wasn't going to be there anyway. I sat up. Not ready to back yet I wandered around a bit more. I heard the meal horn, breakfast. I wasn't hungry, I hadn't eaten dinner, I could go without breakfast. Hunger didn't bother me. Not since... Never mind. I meandered around a bit more. "You must be Charlie" a voice said behind me. I turned to quickly and fell on my butt. A girl who looked like the Disney princess Merida was standing right in front of me. "I'm Rachel" she said, holding out a hand, I took it. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare". I smiled in hello. "I saw you bolt last night. I wasn't at dinner but you ran by my cave." she said. Without invitation she grabbed my hand and started pulling me along. "Come here" she said. Like I had a choice. We arrived at a cliff. Below us the whole camp was spread out. "Some times I come up here and imagine their all little ants. So helpless to the world above. At any moment the could be stepped on. Swept away by your dad" I looked at Rachel. She smiled at me. "The nymphs told me what happened. I only know two other kids that can do that, and their dad is Hades too. Oh, and I had a dream about it" This chick was nuts. I liked her. "The whole Hades is your dad thing is going to cause a problem" I looked at Rachel. Problem? Why do I always cause problems? "You see, back in World War II The big three realized that their kids were too powerful and the swore an oath to never sire another child. Zeus broke first and had a girl named Thalia, but she's a hunter of Artemis now. Then he came back as Jupiter and had a boy named Jason. Next came Poseidon, he fell in live with a young woman and had a kid named Percy. Percy's the reason I got caught up in this mess. But Hades never broke his oath. Nico, his son was born way back when and got stuck in a casino that slows down time on the inside and speeds it up on the outside. Hazel, his daughter in Pluto form, died back in World War I and returned to life when Nico found her. Unless you're really old or dead, he really did break his oath. So are you really 15?" she asked. I nodded. This whole being a demigod thing was harder that I had expected. Rachel sighed. "I should take you back to the big house. Are you up for a walk?" I nodded. The last thing I wanted to do was go back to where Finn was, but it seemed I had no choice, no where else to go. My leg was bugging me again, it flashed with pain every time I stepped. It was very annoying. After a few more minutes I felt like I might collapse. My limp had become very noticeable. "Are you okay?" Rachel asked. "Do you need any help?". I shook my head. I could do this. We got back to the big house where Rachel just opened the door and walked in, I followed. Chiron was pacing in horse form and Mr. D was lounging, reading a magazine and drinking a diet coke. "There you are!" Chiron said trotting up to me. "We were all so worried, we thought you'd been eaten or died in the cold. Running away like that was very irresponsible. Anything could've happened!" He let out a big breath. Mr. D looked VERY worried as he ignored us and kept drinking his coke. "And Rachel" he said. "I asked you to announce when you returned". Rachel looked around, "I'm here!" she chimed. Chiron put his head in his hands. "Chiron" Rachel said in a serious tone, "We need to have a meeting, now" she told him. Chirons head perked up, "Why" he asked. "We may or may not have a problem" Rachel said looking at me.

Oops...