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Waking up in a strange place, usually isn't a good sign. So when I woke up in a room with cheesy posters of goat men and white coats, I was pretty freaked out. I knew that I should probably get out of there. But, for some reason, I felt drained. The last thing I could remember was Jacobi and her people attacking Nico and I in central park. As much as I wanted to believe I did something heroic, I remember passing out. Why I passed out, i wasn't sure, but I decided to put that aside and worry about getting out of this place.
I looked around the room more closely. The goat posters looked even more cheesy when my eyes were focused. I stifled a laugh and continued to look around. It wasn't until I looked near the door when I saw anything interesting. It took all my control not to scream.
Standing by the door was a man. I know what you're thinking. You think I was just freaked out for no reason. But this guy wasn't normal. His entire body was covered in blinking, blue eyes. His face, hands, arms, feet...well, you get the idea. He was looking at me. (Well, i guess he was looking everywhere, as Nico so annoyingly pointed out.) I shrunk back down on the cot.
Just then, the door opened. Nico walked in with a man in a wheelchair. The man had a scruffy beard and intense brown eyes. My heart stopped as I realized he was the man sitting next to the blonde girl I saw when I was knocked out. Nico led him over to me.
"Hey Natalie. How are you feeling."
I shrugged. "Ok, I guess. I've been worse."
Nico turned to the man. "Chiron, this is Natalie. Natalie, this is Chiron. He's the activities director here."
When he said the man's name was Chiron, something in my brain clicked. I vaguely remembered reading about someone named Chiron. "Wait...Chiron? Wasn't he a...centaur or something. You know, in Greek mythology."
Chiron looked pleased I knew that. "Yes...I am glad you know that. That makes this much easier."
Before I could ask what he meant, he stood up. But he didn't have human legs. Instead, he had the legs and the body of a horse. I don't know how I reacted, (Nico insists I looked like I was hit in the face with a frying pan), but I was pretty surprised. Nico looked like he was trying not to laugh. I told myself to remember to punch him later.
After to few seconds I cleared my throat. "Ok...that actually makes more sense." Chiron smiled.
"Now, Natalie...I was hoping you could tell me where you're from. Nico was very...vague on the information."
I bit my lip and quickly glanced at Nico. He shook his head a fraction of an inch to each side. Obviously, I had to lie.
"I'm from Sacramento." Well, technically, that wasn't a lie. I lived there until I got my calling card. But I had a feeling that Chiron wanted to know my most...recent address.
Chiron raised his eyebrow. "Where are your parents?"
"Well..." I started. Suddenly, a ringing noise filled the room. My cell phone went off.
Technology and magic don't really mix. I mean, blood of the Pharaohs can have cell phones and laptops and stuff, but I have to be careful. If I even look at it the wrong way, it will pretty much be destroyed.
My face went red. "Umm..can I..." Chiron nodded and I pulled out my phone. The screen said: Sadie calling. I pressed accept. "Hello?"
"Natalie! Where have you been?"
I had to hold the phone away from my ear, because Sadie was basically yelling. I put my hand over the phone and looked at Chiron. "Is there a place I can go to talk with her?" He pointed to the door. "You may just stand out there." I nodded and I left the room.
I brought my phone back to my ear "Hi Sadie. Nice to hear from you too."
"Sorry," Sadie said. "But you've been gone for a long time...Seriously where are you."
Tons of excuses entered my mind. Most of them were totally ridiculous.
"I'm...with a friend" Again, another half truth. "I'm sorry..I should have called you." I could practically hear Sadie rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, you should have. It's alright, though. When will you be back?"
Seriously. Why did Sadie always have to ask the tough questions. Even when they aren't really that tough, in my situation, they were the last ones I wanted to answer.
"I'll be back...tonight...around..." I looked at my watch. It was 1:00. "I'll be back at seven, ok?"
"Alright. Just be sure to remember. Oh, and if you ever go and go somewhere without telling us, I will kill you." I laughed. "Message received. Bye, Sadie."
"Bye, Nat." Before I could tell her, again, not to call me Nat, she hung up. I shook my head and laughed. Then I pocketed my phone and walked back into the room.
If there one thing I hate, It's when I walk into a room and hear people whispering. I hate it because usually they whisper about me. I knew, of course, that Chiron and Nico would discuss me while I was talking to Sadie, but I still can't stand it.
Anyway, I walked into the room and walked over to Chiron and Nico. Oh, another pet peeve of mine, is when the people talking about you pretend they weren't. Nico was especially bad at this. (Oh,admit it, Nico.)
""Sorry," I said as I sat down. "It was my friend. I promised to meet her today, but, you know things got complicated." Chiron nodded again.
"So, your parents?" Oh great, another person with all the hard questions. I thought about this for a second. Not too long, or he would know I was lying.
"I live with my mom. I never knew my dad."
"I see..." Just then, the door opened and a girl stepped in.
"Chiron...sorry to interrupt. Annabeth and Butch are back. They didn't find Percy, but they found three new demigods. Oh...and their in the lake."
Chiron followed the girl out, leaving me alone with Nico.
"So," He said. "I'm glad you're feeling better."
"Yeah, me too. Hey, what exactly happened... The last thing I remember is Kwai grabbing me...and then the lightning...then...nothing."
"Well," Nico started. "After you got knocked unconscious I kicked all of their butts" I laughed.
"Oh, so you're saying that you took on multiple magicians from the House of Life on your own?" I mean, obviously Nico was pretty powerful. But I didn't think he was powerful enough to take on Jacobi and her people all by himself.
"Oh yeah," Nico said. "They were sorry they messed with me." I rolled my eyes, still laughing.
"Oh give it up, Nico. I know you didn't"
Nico looked annoyed. "And you know this how?"
"They are in league with Apophis...King of all chaos. Believe me, no one can defeat them alone."
Nico held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright, spare me the lecture. Hey, if you're feeling better I can show you around." Naturally, I was feeling better and couldn't wait. But I kept my cool. (You're such a liar Nico)
So Nico started showing me around. I had to admit, this place was pretty awesome. It was even better than Nico described it. There were tons of kids playing basketball, practicing with weapons, and talking to friends. Nico told me all about the camp and pointed out things that looked super cool. I noticed a lot of the kids were looking at him. Some looked scared, others interested.
"So," I said to him. "Do you have any siblings?" I noticed that there were lots of kids that had similar features. They probably had the same god (or goddess) for a parent. When I asked Nico this, he looked...upset. I hesitated, then said, "It's ok...you don't have to answer that." Nico shrugged. "That's ok...I had a sister once, but she died."
Nice job Natalie. Making the tour all uncomfortable. "I'm...sorry." I almost asked him what her name was but then I realized that would be a stupid idea.
Nico just shrugged again. "It's OK...she died saving her friends." Yeah...like that made it any better.
Anyway, before I asked really bad questions, Nico had just led me towards the cabins. The cabins were amazing! Each looked different from the rest. They were positioned so it made the Greek letter omega. Since I knew Greek mythology, I could guess which cabin was for which god.
There was one that looked like a mini casino. I guessed that the children of Tyche, goddess of fortune, lived there. (In case you didn't know, that is how Rick Riordan described it.) Another was black with columns and green fires. I nudged Nico. "Is that your cabin?" He nodded. "Yeah, but I don't stay there that often."
We continued looking at the cabins. I almost threw up when I smelled the stench coming from one of the goddess' cabin."Oh gods," I complained. " I can't breathe." Nico laughed.
"Aphrodite cabin." I rolled my eyes. "I figured." Just then, one of the campers stepped out of the cabin. I was surprised because I recognized her.
"Lacy?" The girl turned her head towards me, and her eyes widened. "Natalie! Oh my gods, what are you doing here?" Her eyes widened even more. "Are you a half-blood too?"
Good ol' Lacy. "Umm...yeah, I guess so." What was I supposed to tell her? The truth? Yeah, cause that always works out well.
"That's so awesome." She grinned, showing her mouth filled with braces. I smiled. "Yeah...it's pretty awesome." I noticed that Nico was standing there kind of awkwardly. (What? It's not your fault. You're not a people person)
"Hey," Lacy said. "Guess what?" But before I could talk, she blurted it out. "Drew's here too." I groaned.
Drew is the jerkiest (yes, that's a word) girl at school. She's always throwing snarky comments at Sadie, and flirting with Walt. She's part of the group "The Plastic Bags".
"Let me guess...daughter of Aphrodite." Lacy nodded, but looked a little hurt. "Why...is that a bad thing?" I forgot she was a daughter of Aphrodite too.
"No! No it's not bad...not at all." Lacy perked up a little. "Oh..ok. Look. Here she comes...I think she's showing around the new guy." Me and Nico turned around.
Drew was arm in arm with a tall guy in a purple shirt and jeans. He had very neat and tidy blonde hair, like something someone in the military would wear. When they started walking towards us, I could see his face. Something about him looked familiar, but I didn't know why. His eyes were blue, the color of the sky. I loved that color, because that was the color of my eyes too.
When Nico noticed them, he went pale. His eyes widened and he stared at the guy, his mouth moving, but no words coming out. "Nico?" I said. "Are you OK?"
Nico just turned and walked away. I watched him leave, wondering what about the guy got him so spooked.
FINALLY GOT IT DONE. I'm so sorry about the wait. I was sick, then I went to camp, then I was sick again. It wasn't fun. But It's done. OK, i want to start another story, but I don't know what book, movie, or TV series to do it about. If there's a thing you want me to write a story about, just post it in the comments. OK :)
