When I got back into Camp, I headed towards the Big House, not knowing where else to go. On my way there Annabeth caught back up to me.
"Hey Percy, sorry about what happened, camp just isn't for mortals. You understand right?"
I just nodded at her. What else could I do?
Annabeth took this as a sign to continue even though I wished she would just go away.
"A lot of people would want their families to come to camp and we can't have that. There wouldn't be enough room. In a way Percy, this is for the best."
I shot her a glare. I really wanted her to go away now.
Instead of leaving she pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of her pocket. "Here I thought we could communicate this way, I am sure you still have questions about everything."
I didn't want to. My hand writing was horrible and Annabeth was already getting on my nerves; but I did have questions and I figured I might not get another chance to ask them, so I took the pen and paper.
I scribbled out the first question that came to mind. "Why can't monsters get in here?"
It took a moment for her to read my cruddy hand writing before responding.
"Well they can get in if someone allows them into camp, like for a practical joke or something. But the magical boundaries keep them out most of the time."
A practical joke? I thought disbelieving.
As if sensing my confusion Annabeth continued.
"The point is, the boarders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm. It comes in handy for year-rounders."
I jotted down, "Year-rounder?"
Annabeth nodded. "When someone stays here all year round without going back into the mortal world, I am one. For every year you stay in camp," She pulled out a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors with a college ring strung around it. "You get a bead for surviving. I have five beads because I have been here since I was seven."
I wondered why she had been here since she was so young, but before I could write down that question she started talking again. "Do you think you will be a year-rounder?"
I nodded with no hesitation. Even if I did leave camp I would have nowhere to go, the flock would be on the run and I would only attract monsters to them. Then I had a thought, were they keeping me here? Like the school? Would I be permitted to leave if I wanted to?
I jotted down what I was thinking and Annabeth responded.
"We aren't forcing you to be here, you can leave at the end of the summer if you want. People only leave during the summer if they get a quest," Her voice turned wistful. "And that doesn't happen anymore."
I wondered why they didn't allow quests anymore, wasn't that what the heroes did? Go on quests and kill monsters? But the way she was talking, I could tell the last quest hadn't gone well.
I didn't bother with asking what had happened, I could sense that it was a sensitive subject. Instead, I decided to see if I could be left alone, maybe sit in the Big House and come to terms with everything that had happened in the last 24-hours. But when I went to walk in the direction of the Big House Annabeth grabbed my shoulder.
"I know it is hard Percy, but it isn't like you will never see them again."
I didn't bother in telling her that I probably wouldn't.
Annabeth seemed to hesitate for a moment before asking, "When you were recovering in the Big House, I asked you about the summer solstice. Do you know anything about it?"
I shook my head.
Annabeth's shoulders slumped. "Something is wrong in Olympus and Chiron isn't telling me what it is. When I was there for a field trip everything everything seemed fine. I wish they would give me quest. I could help. I am not to young..." She trailed off like she realized who she was talking too.
"Anyway, let me know if you hear something will you?"
I nodded to her and went to give her the paper back but she shook her head. "Keep it, it will help you talk to the other campers."
Then she left and I was left standing alone in the middle of camp with a pad of paper and a cheap pen.
I started to head back to cabin eleven when I noticed the girl who I had seen earlier was still tending the flames. People were walking all around the area, into cabins, out of cabins and anywhere else they needed to be, but not one even glanced at the girl.
I felt bad, she seemed to be just as lonely as I was at the moment. So I stopped walking toward cabin eleven and started walking towards her.
I sat down next to the girl unable to offer her a hello. She glanced up sharply as I did so, looking like no one had ever bothered to acknowledge to her before.
I smiled at her and she smiled back.
I reached for the pen and paper Annabeth had given to me, suddenly glad that she had done so. The girl watched me curiously, probably wondering what I was doing.
My name is Percy, I can't speak. I wrote out simply and waited to see if she would reply.
She read what I wrote and nodded to me. "Hello Percy. My name is Hestia."
"Hello Hestia." Wrote back wondering if that was some sort of Greek name.
"No one has stopped to talk to me in a long while." She said looking like I had just made her day. It made me happy that she was happy but I was also sad, why would everyone ignore her?
"I am new to the camp, how long have you been here?"
She seemed amused by this question. "I have been here awhile."
I talked to her for a little bit more until she told me that it was almost dinner and that I should go back to my cabin to get ready.
I wrote one last message to her. "It was good to talk to you Hestia, hope to see you again soon."
She smiled at me. "As do I Percy."
Then I left towards the Hermes cabin. When I got to the door I looked back to see if I could spot what cabin Hestia was going towards, but she was already gone.
I opened the door to the cabin and walked in, heading towards the patch of ground that Luke had said was for me.
Luke came up to me as soon as I had sat on the ground.
"There you are Percy! I was wondering where you wandered off to! Here I stole you a sleeping bag and some toiletries from the camp store."
I took them from his hands and nodded my thanks, not for a moment thinking he was lying about stealing them. It didn't bother me though, it wasn't like I hadn't ever stolen anything before.
Luke sat down near me. "If you don't mind me asking Percy, why is it you can't speak?"
I pulled out the paper and pen once again and started to write.
"I have no idea, Chiron thinks it is a curse from a god that doesn't like my godly parent."
Luke read the message and his face twisted into an expression I hadn't expected to see on his face, hate.
"Don't worry about it Percy, the gods like to take out their anger on us but we all look out for each other here. We are all extended family right?"
That struck a cord with me, all my life I had had no family. The flock and I were family, we had stuck by each other through everything and now they were gone. Now there was this guy I barely knew, who was telling me he would look out for me because we were all a family.
I grinned and nodded.
Then I remembered something that I had heard earlier that day. "What do people mean when they say I am 'Big Three' material?"
Luke's face twitched. "I hate prophecies."
I waited for him to continue.
"They mess everything up for everyone else. Since my quest two years ago Chiron hasn't allowed anymore quests. Annabeth, the girl who showed you around, has been dying to get one, to get out into the mortal world again. When she asked Chiron about it he said he already knew her fate and that she would have to wait for someone special to come to camp."
I glanced over at him, I wondered if I was the person they were talking about.
As if sensing my thoughts Luke shook his head. "Don't worry about it Percy, Annabeth thinks every knew camper that comes to camp is the one she has been waiting for."
Luke stood up. "Besides now its dinner time."
A conch shell blew in the distance, but I had no idea how I knew it was a conch shell as I had never even seen one before.
"Eleven, fall in!"
As we walked out of the cabin campers from the other cabins stared to file out too. Satyrs came from the meadow and Naiads appeared from the canoe lake. I even saw a few girls walk out of trees in the woods. There were twelve tables, for what I assumed was for the twelve cabins. Which meant four of them were empty and table eleven was overcrowded.
I saw Grover and Mr. D at one table and Chiron off to the side. Clarisse was with her siblings laughing and belching like I hadn't just hosed her down with toilet water a few hours ago. I even saw Annabeth with a couple other blonde haired kids that all looked like geniuses a few table down from me.
After getting my food and asking for Cherry Coke, Luke nudged me and gestured for me to follow him. It was then that I noticed that people were dropping a portion of their food into the fire.
"Burt offerings for the gods, they like the smell." Luke told me as we went up in the line.
"Hermes." Luke muttered as he dropped grapes into the fire.
It was my turn and I wished I knew what name to say. But I didn't so instead I put a big slice of my food into the fire and prayed. Whoever you are, please tell me. I hesitated. wondering if I should ask them to watch over the flock and decided against it. If I did ask for that then there was a possibility that my godly parent might actually listen, then there was a chance they would discover the flocks secret, and I couldn't have that.
I returned to my seat and finished eating just as Mr. D stood up. Everyone fell silent.
"Chiron, our activities director, has informed me that capture the flag is on Friday and that cabin five is currently in possession of the laurel."
The Ares cabin cheered obnoxiously.
Mr. D rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes. Who cares. Anyway we also have a new camper Peter."
Chiron muttered something. "Percy. Our new camper Percy. Now head to the campfire, the stupid pointless things."
After that everyone got really excited and started cheering and running towards the campfire. I wondered what was so exciting about a fire, the flock and I had been around tons before. They weren't fun, we cooked food on them and it kept us warm.
When I got to the amphitheater though I realized that their camp fires were slightly different then what I had experienced before.
People sat around laughing and joking while a few kids that all looked like siblings started to sing. In a few moment the rest of the camp started to sing along. I was startled for a few moments, wondering what I should do. Soon I found myself swaying to the music and smiling along with everyone else.
Grover came over and sat near me around halfway through and offered me a s'more, something that I had never tried before. Once I was able to communicate this too him he was adamant that I try one.
It tasted delicious, it was almost as good as the cookies I had eaten in New York City. Grover and I laughed and joked around and I was proud to be able to say I had made a few friends that day.
I still missed the flock but the pain had lessened, and I reassured myself that they knew where to find me if they needed me.
That night I discovered exactly how exhausted I was when I collapsed and realized I had no energy to move or get up. I curled up in my sleeping bag, hand wrapped around the Minotaurs horn and wondered where the flock had ended up and when I had started thinking about camp as home.
