1 - MY FATHER'S THE GOD OF ORANGES.

At least, that's what I've surmised so far. A whisper here or there tells me something I can't really make out, but I always picked up on that one word. Kitropsis. A quick internet search here and there yielded some species of orange I'd never heard of, but it never did get the name quite right. I didn't know how I knew, but I was certain it was always spelled with a strong k.

Finding out was a huge bummer at first. Who wants to be associated with a fruit? That was the harvest's territory, and I'd seen enough of that particular goddesses' territory in the storybooks. Demeter was not someone to be trifled with, and this kind of infringement might just incur some kind of displeased response. In reality I doubt she'd even notice, that was just the kind of god my father seems to be. A footnote.

I wouldn't say it in front of his face of course (Turning into fruit juice isn't on my bucket list), but I'd take any other godly parent than the citrus pixie missing a wiki page. Even Nemesis, and she looks like she's bound to make any of her progeny miserable just by the virtue of being the bringer of vengeance! I can't imagine never being able to get rid of a grudge, except maybe this one. It'll be sticking around a bit longer.

"Having a chip on your shoulder isn't going to help you get to safety, Johan. Though if you can put an actual one right there I'd be most thankful." The glittering viper slurred behind me. Shuffling within the foil packaging I'd had my left hand shoved in, I pulled out a small corn chip, heeding the directions. It bit down on the snack with vigor. "Most thankful. Now get off your chair and clean up the mess you made." As if to emphasize his point, the rest of his coiled body tightened around my torso and arm. I sneered back and got the message.

The snake made of literal gold might've been a surprise to you. If it was, how do you think I felt? Ophidiophobia was apparently not an option for the children of this divine farmhand. How do golden snakes even fit into that equation?! They don't, but I'm not turning down the opportunity to both summon and talk to golden snakes. That and the ability to use weird voodoo magic. Did I explain that yet? Bah. I'll do it later.

"If I recall correctly, those were your brethren emerging from the floor tiles and constricting those squires."

"You commanded them to do that! I'm only talking merely because you let me."

"That can stop at any time you wish. Just be a little more of a nuisance and you're back to the silent treatment." I leaned down to take a helmet from one of the armored goons that snuck up behind me. It was 5 sizes too big. Perfect.

"Fine with me, going back to restraining you every time you make a terrible decision was a lot more fun." The steel bucket helm hung loosely from my head, visor more than large enough to keep the horizon in view. Holding up my dearly named pendant-on-a-stick, I waved it around the rest of the metallic detritus. They dissolved quietly into golden sand, swirling and settling until they lost their luster.

"There's no disappearing the cracked marble. Let's get out of here." Pressing the off button on the library computer, I swiped the empty bag of Ruffles from the table and crumpled it into a ball. "Eat this. It's good for you." Throwing it into my serpentine companion's mouth, I took my leave from the deserted New York Public Library.

After a few weeks of hitchhiking, it was sort of a relief to have actually gotten to New York at this point. Long Island was just about a stone's throw away and I could almost feel it. The excitement of belonging. Stories of this camp were prevalent among my kind, at least that's what their things told me. It wasn't hard to tell that they were their final thoughts. The longing for survival is a dead giveaway.

The first few times I tried to take their stuff with me, but it seems those thoughts repeat like a broken record. Ever hear a song so much it makes you hurl? Yeah, that. Don't ask me how I can hear the thoughts of dead people, I have no answer either. Maybe I had a little more relation to Hades than I first thought? If so, then I should definitely be dressed to impress. Right now I look like a homeless druid.

But I'm sidetracking. Camp Half-Blood was always the only thing on their minds when they bit it. Sometimes it was of this demigod that could control the sea, and how he and his friends stopped some big bads years ago. Annoyingly there were no details to come with it, so I didn't know who to seek out specifically. I'm feeling good about it starting with a P, though. P for Poseidon and all. Maybe a T.

"What about a J? Like Jersey." The slithering caught my train of thought in a standstill. When did a snake learn how to read minds? "When you're narrating everything out loud. I think the security guard's onto us. The echoing of your bucket head isn't doing any favors." Snake psychics, of course. Dodging the blinding inquiries of a no doubt spooked to death employee, I continued onwards, finding my conveniently made exit in the form of a shattered window that faced Bryant Park.

"Speaking of, what is the bucket head for? You look ridiculous." The shoulder reptile expressed, predominantly in hisses.

"Protection. You never know when they'll take a cheap shot."

"Don't surprises never work for you?" I shrugged. Knight helmets were the new fashion these days.

Greeting some sitting statue I went past (Could've sworn it waved back), I plowed through the mostly barren field unhindered. No one commented on the snake nor the helmet, but I guess you lent some leeway when you were up walking around in the dead of night. I stopped at the intersection of 6th and 42nd to catch my breath, watching the bustling of cars and night owls whizz by under the canopy of a nearby tree.

Physical conditioning wasn't my strong suit. Impossible when most of your fat went to keeping you running rather than bulking you up. Silent prayers went unsaid to whomever felt it wise to lend me their gilded pets, with which I'd been able to not die by the hands of my chivalrous pursuers. Aside from the snake schtick, my magic doesn't work as intended most of the time I use it, and I wasn't going to rely on chance.

"Heh. I think I know one guy with those motifs. Maybe I should be thanking Hermes-"

"Cease!" A voice echoed madly.

Argh! The brain went blank, replaced by ringing agony. My guardian cobra went limp as it emanated this shriek of utter pain. It went on for so long I almost went delirious, but it'd stopped just at the very edge of my consciousness. People were looking at me now, I was sure of it. Some kid holding his head and banging it into the ground didn't give impressions of sanity.

I could hear barely eligible apologies from my companion, but I didn't blame him. I should've known better, it happened constantly whenever I brought up that guy in particular. There was no trying to interpret it, other than stay the heck away from this god in particular. If I learned anything from my cursed gifts, it was that I follow what they tell me or die. And this one's telling me to stop when I'm ahead. No arguing with that.

I picked up my staff and decided to ignore bystanders trying to figure out if I was 13 or 30 (It's the former by the way). While I couldn't see it, I knew that little warning was some surge of power. Godly power. And if you knew enough about them, you knew that I'd just made myself a signal flare practically asking for any monster in the vicinity to have me for dinner. Right on cue, the ground started to shake.

"Again, quite sorry about that ear piercing scream, but we're falling behind. I'm tired, child. My kin are tired. We only have enough in us to protect you once or twice before you're on your own. I can feel them coming again." While I'd sensed the same, case in point. My eyes fled to the bus stop sign just left of me. My first thought was Empire State, but unless I'm going to find out I can fly in the next few minutes, that height's only going to put me in a dead end. Ideas drifted to a more effective arrangement. The talking snake seemed to agree with me.

Flickering back to the previously empty park, legions of suited giants erupted from the cut grass, six or seven times their earlier number. Such odds were once in a blue moon and the first time they'd happened I'd gotten lucky with a well timed ferry. This was not open sea, they wouldn't retreat now until I wiped them out or they wiped me from this earth. The large vehicle stopped at the sign, doors chiming their accessibility.

I ran faster than I ever could onto that bus, the stomping of iron boots behind me more cacophonous than rain. Basically shouting at the poor overworked man on the wheel, I gave him my only destination in mind. Taking out my makeshift wooden totem pole, I pointed the yellow glowing end at the back window, cracking and splintering the glass until it too dissolved into dust. It didn't take long to spot the endless horde marching towards me. Centaurs.

There were tens, hundreds of them galloping as fast as the wind itself. Clouds of putrid smoke followed their every move, casting them in a dark, foggy outline that left little question to their intentions. Peeking under those helmets would show only more of that black mist, so it was useless trying to ascertain if they were even aware of what they were doing. The second we swerved into 42nd street, whole chunks of them impacted the asphalt, unable to skirt at the speed they were going, pummeled by the weight of their own forces.

Still, that left much too many for me to deal with, not even getting into the fact they had bows and arrows aimed straight at me. Luckily, accuracy was not their forte, arrowheads entering both the back of the bus and the back of other centaurs' heads. I responded in kind by wishing a few of them into solid gold, my lifelike sculptures choking their progress and forming a line of impassable obstacles that split the massive group into more manageable pieces.

"It seems that worked briefly, but that didn't slow them down enough. You'll need more stalling before we get to the site of your 'plan'."

"Can't you just let me have this? I'm holding them back."

"Not all of them."

I didn't need to know what he was talking about until I saw it. While Park Ave passed by in a blur, there was no missing another tsunami of these unrelenting creatures nearly swarming the bus with their sheer number. I grit my teeth and readied another one of my attacks to quell the growing wave. "Why didn't you tell me another contingent was coming from the side?!" I professed while knocking the heads off quite a few cavalry with a pulsating yellow blast. "There's no chance I'm getting to the coast with them practically swinging at the tires."

Parrying a sword swipe and moving out the way of another one by the skin of my teeth, I hobbled myself to the top of the bus' roof. The view was much prettier, and it gave me a better vantage point to take the equine invaders out. Unfortunately, that went both ways, with arrows bouncing off of my helmet as I helplessly casted "Go away!" at every Centaur that got too close for comfort. I wish I could say I just did that until they were gone, but my magic waned with each cantrip.

"There's no sustaining this. Got any ideas before I pass out and die, Goldie?"

"You're going to have to use me whether you want to or not, Johan."

Catching another arrow to the bucket, I dismissed it entirely. "No way. You just said I only had two uses tops."

"That is correct. Then again, your death is also an affirmative if we're going to be stuck here arguing. Do it. Now."

I shut my eyes closed, contemplating what the best way to pawn this sentient ornament off was, but it was right. I started to chant. If you're confused about the chanting, go back a couple paragraphs and remember that you should be confused about everything right now. If that was sufficient, move on.

"Release your temperament my servants, devourers of men and spawn of the all-ophidian. I, Johan van Der Berg, demand fealty." Speaking in a tongue I can't wrap my own head around, I requested their assistance. The countless descendants of a great deity whose name is lost to time. My eyes burned like stars. The road behind us began to deform. It crackled and shuddered.

It burst.

Miniature chasms gave way to thousands of golden pythons not much larger than my own. They crunched through their protection like tinfoil and pulverized nearly half the near thousand strong battalion coming for my head. Horsemen toppled one by one by virtue of their bodies being swallowed up by the vicious shining jungle. There'd never been a thing like it, and there wouldn't be again, safe to say. The damage was too high to be worth it. Crevasses opened up like sinkholes in the 3rd Ave crossroad, stopping traffic dead in its tracks, injuring and maiming some unlucky few. Civilian casualty had to be kept to a minimum at all times, but cases like this can't help it.

A dark feeling tickled up my spine. Unsure if it was guilt or something else, I resolved it had to be both.

"Still think it was unnecessary. Do you have enough juice for the last one?"

"I have… enough. Needn't worry. Make the preparations."

Grasping my mythical twig with both hands, I impressed upon it the thoughts of solid gold. Metal superseded wood inside my palms, turning the tree branch into a somewhat more expensive one. Lopsidedly sprinting to the front of the public transit, I realized just how heavy the element truly was. Piercing the front end of the bus and giving the driver more things to worry about, I steadied my mystical wand of power. Around 4 feet in length and 2 inches in width, it was almost as tall as I was, and tremendously more powerful.

The jagged crystal nestled inside the top of the shaft glowed virulently and cast an aura of faint dandelion. What little of my demigod power I pushed into the scepter, hoping that my last ditch effort would actually work out this time. The clicking and clopping became louder and louder in the short distance I'd made from the swarm. Knowing they'd inevitably overtake, I stared right upfront to the growing apparency of an enormous mass of water. While it wasn't my inherent expertise, I prayed to the spirit of the East River, even if the effect was negligible.

Passing one final intersection whilst approaching the curve meeting with the road adjacent to the river's pier, I summoned one more breath of that cobwebbed ancient language, allowing the Centaurs to hem and haw as they stabbed the bus into Swiss cheese. "It always comes down to this. Gods I hope it works." I bit my tongue.

"Awaken ye who dareth mimic the looming apocalypse Apophis! Awaken and answer my bidding, great eater of the land, sea and sky. Rise the daughter of lies, Ayi'ig!"

There was no forewarning to expect. No ominous whirlpool or iridescent slit eyes.

A leviathan simply made itself known.

With some roughly estimated math, I could take a gander at about 120 feet (The size of your average Lion's Mane) being the exposed height of this aquatic behemoth. Well, aquatic might not be the best terminology. She hated water. Usually she slept within a canyon somewhere in Texas, so the depths aren't really her thing. You'd think it the opposite, what with her prehensile tentacles and such, but she's a dedicated land dweller.

I'll have to apologize later with some plastic landfills.

"Gobble me up, girl!" I said, spreading my arms open wide. "Only me, though. Don't chomp on the civilians."

In response, the octopi-esque basilisk tilted it's gigantic head, as if to question my methods. Her hesitation was short-lived however, observing the Centaurs quickly pining for some of my halfling blood. Her jaws unhinged, opening to the approximate length of an 18 wheeler, diamond fangs ready for a quick meal. I'd called on her a few times since I arrived in America, but this was the very first time I asked her to swallow me. Understandably, I flinched. Just a tiny bit.

The nibble she took was equivalent to an entire portion of that bus disappearing, me included, which didn't sate her at all. Even if golden serpents lacked the ability, I could feel her pout. It would've been adorable if I wasn't holding on for dear life on one of those gemstone teeth I mentioned earlier. Not easy, but experience was on my side. Using Aegu as a taxi service was one of the best ways to get around, really. I'd offer a ride, but she's not into non-orange god children.

"One stop to Belmont Island, dear." My shoulder snake spoke in Zs. Wait, I spoke parseltongue? "No. You don't."

With a brief huff, Aegu twisted her titanic scaly body, collapsing back to the water's surface and encircling the tiny island. After assessing that Centaur threats were indeed not present on that deserted plane, her mouth unsheathed, pushing us out with her literal silver tongue. There was nothing much to the island, a radio tower there and some junk over yonder. The only reason I picked it was its location, far away from any monster swearing to kill me in my sleep.

"That's a good girl right there!" Aegu made a noise I could only interpret as pleased.

"Now, if I'm aware the closest landfill was covered up but I think you'll be able to find some great waste near Apex, Nevada. Avoid consuming all of it though, you don't want to grow anymore than you already are, alright?" Aegu grunted and snarled. No interpretation needed.

Wading back into the ocean, Aegu vanished just as quickly as she arrived. Likely because she was going to have a buffet to herself, but that's besides the point. I looked back at the horizon where I'd just been, finding the Centaurs gathering on the esplanades. One by one, they turned back, giving in to their defeat for now. Drawing the curtains on today's festivities, I supposed. I might as well settle down on this dump for the night as well.

A backpack wasn't on my list for things to bring on an international excursion, so I had no bedding to speak of. Thankfully, my yellow hoodie (I'm beginning to think he was the god of lemons now) was a decent substitute for a pillow and blanket. Carefully, I rolled the sweater into an apt thickness, carefully shelving my staff and snake on the rocks surrounding me. The latter had already dozed off once Aegu left, so I was left only with myself to drift into unconsciousness.

Into the embrace… of… sleep…

D̴͖̔̎́͜h̷̝̹̫͇̳̰̑e̸͍̫̙̰͖̮͐̂̽̄̒͝r̶̢̤̪͙͛o̷̗͙͉̲͙̹̾̉̂̚f̷̙͖̩̲̜͔͚̉̊b̴̹̬͚̳̄͒̀e̷̖̒̓y̶̛̬̗̘͛̕͝ ̶̺͇̤̝̯̑̎̓͑g̵̨̝͍̬̣̟͠p̷̡͇͍̦̕ͅo̷͓͙̩̫̎̈̏͛̽͐͠ụ̴̹͕͚̪͙͎̈́̉ ̷̻̙̓̍̽̈HADES ̵̙͕̫̈̽̊́̔͘͜r̵̨͍̲͎͕̆̀̋ǹ̵̛̰̓͂̅ḫ̷̍̿̀c̵̺̯͎̲͑̂̓̒̋̿ ̷̛͉͎͆̐̍̄̋͝e̶̢̲͖͚̻̍͑̎̌̃l̴̦̐͂̀͝͠m̵̟͠͝ḑ̸͉̙̅̽̓͒̑͘͝ͅͅ ̷̨͖͍͓̈̉͛̿̓̔͜ś̶̢̱̭͂́l̸̥̯̙̺͖̿ó̵͖̹͕͉̭̖̟̚a̵̗͓̪̺̘͛̃̓̀b̷̢̀̓̾͐͐̓̽ ̷̟̮̥̊ͅY̸̘̼̱͗͌̓͊̆͑̍ự̵͇͔̟̍̈̈͘͜r̶͍̥̗͙̜̆̆͗̂̀d̵̺͔̱͖̞̯̏͝ͅi̶̧̗̩͇̺̦̎̓͗ǫ̶̳̱̋p̸̨̢̛̼̫͚̘̔͘m̸̞̙̩͑̓̍̅͝ ̷͎̚͝HERE ̵̠͔͇̹̟̩̏̅̈́͗X̴̭̃̎̍̋̈́̕ş̸̰̏e̶̟̠̝̼͖̋̐̋͝q̴͙̭̠͎̙̓͜ͅw̴̢̎̏̆̓̈̉̓

The whispers actually said something different for once.

My eyes shot up, taking in my staff and jumping at the nearest shadow I saw in the darkness. While it turned out to be just more rocks, I caught a glimpse of a discrepancy in the twilight. As if the blackness somehow glinted. Like a blade...

"I know you're there. Reveal yourself now, I saw your sword." My voice trembled as I'd called out to it. Why was I scared?

I felt that familiar tingle again. It was stronger this time, like someone tried to play xylophones on my vertebrae. Shuddering at the uncomfortable experience, I turned my head to the entity my whispers possibly warned me about. It was probably better to haven't looked at all. The umbra somehow morphed and undulated like a living being, showing signs of transforming into some kind of humanoid shape. It was like gazing into the void.

Its whitened eyes opened, and gazed back.

"S-Stay back! I don't know or care if you're Hades or Thanatos, one more step and I will turn you into an Oscar!" The staff swerved into that null silhouette's direction, powering up like a lightbulb with what little energy I still had left in storage.

The glinting returned, elongating into something long with a sharp point. Knew it was some weapon. The sword stretched forward, reflecting more of the city's lights through it's refined edge. The wielder's blackened fingers formed out of the rift, letting the sword slip out of its own grasp. With a resounding clang, it dropped to the ground. Was this some kind of peace offering? A trick to lure me out of my caution?

"It's neither of those." A distorted voice replied.

"Oh come on, you can read minds too? Where was I when everyone became psychics!" The eyes narrowed. Someone couldn't take a joke.

The figure took its first step, emerging from the emptiness and letting the dark bleed out of its appearance. From the head down, the portrait of a human being was painted right in front of me. The first thing I saw was some long, black hair, as if someone had brushed it to look that way. Next was the palest skin I could imagine, and I'm already snow pale. It was as if someone coated him with ground up bone dust. Unsettling.

Eyes the shade of coal stared back coldly, soon the face of someone who just had zero interest in you. Ouch. Thinking about it more though, he just looked like a gaunt, vaguely European dude in his 20s. No facial hair to speak of, but I don't think he could grow any. Unveiling the rest of his body lent more credence to those assumptions, sporting an olive colored bomber jacket, silver skull ring and featureless black tee. Going lower only left dark gray trousers and some brown sneakers I didn't recognize.

"Real renaissance man you are, mister. Actually, wait a minute. Are you Italian? You look Italian now that I'm seeing you more."

Indifference became dripping with apathy.

"On the dot? You can tell me later."

Now that I was positive this was the god of the dead (Skull ring was the cherry on top), I powered up the staff and let out a beam that would normally turn anyone it touched into an exorbitant chrysalis. A skeleton rose up to meet it head first. And I mean literally head first, cranium turning into bling in the blink of an eye while I was too busy trying to absorb the fact a skeleton just got up from the earth. The guy-I-was-sure-was-Hades took this chance to steal the staff with said skeleton.

"Wha- Hey! Give that back!" I exclaimed, trying to push the bonehead out of the way. The keyword was trying, because my noodle arms weren't going to fare well against a whole skeleton's worth of gold. Definitely-Hades-now took the opportunity to take it from his subordinate, holding my baby hostage while I struggled to get out of a situation of my making. It seemed my folly had been hubris all along.

"I'll warn you once. Explain to me how you have these abilities or I get my servant here to drag you with him down back to the underworld." I'd call his bluff, but that poker face was solid.

"I was born with them. Duh." I said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Look, Chrysaor. This is a formality. Too much to give to someone like you. Give me any proof that you aren't who I think you are or you die. Simple?" While I didn't have any idea who that was, It was easy to come to the conclusion he was not a good person. I scrambled to find evidence.

"I don't know who that is. Honest. Why do you think I'm him again?" He looked at me, almost dumbfounded.

"The golden snakes, the gold in general. Turning people into gold. That giant snake was a transparent display of your abilities that no normal demigod should possess. There's little convincing me that you aren't the pirate who tried to murder Percy in some weird pre-teen illusion." There was another one of me? That was a little disheartening. And who was Percy?

"Okay okay I'll tell you what you want. Promise." I surrendered, ready to give in to this Lord of the Dead. Would you say no?

"So? Spit it out."

"Umm, Er… My, uh, dad's the god of… oranges?"

"Alright. That's it. You had your chance." Uh oh. He had that angry face.

Kicking his sword up into the air, absolutely-Hades caught it perfectly while in arc, thrusting it forth just inches away from my neck. Would've clapped, if that wasn't going to be the thing signing my death warrant. I swallowed my fear and looked for a better answer.

"I'm not lying, I swear! I'm actually the son of the god of oranges! At least, that's the main theory."

"Will you swear it on the river Styx?"

"Yeah! Yes! I swear it on the river Styx!" His guard lowered, seemingly more content with that declaration. I continued.

"It's this guy. Kitropsis. I never met him. All I know is that I was on a boat going to America and that I had to find this place called Camp Half-Blood."

"Kitropsis? I've never heard of such a god. But Chiron might've…" He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts for a second. I stayed silent until he looked back, sheathing his sword and letting the skeleton rest into the dirt. In a bewildering show of trust, he handed my staff back to me.

"You said you were on a ship to America. Do you know where you're from?"

"Germany. I don't speak the language if that's what you're asking."

"Germany… Do you remember anything else before you got on that ship?"

"Personal details, sure. But I don't have any actual memories of being anywhere other than the boat."

"Just to be sure. Do you have ADHD or dyslexia?" I kinda spun around after that. What questions were those to probe me with?

"Um… No? I'm certain I don't have either." He looked even more inquisitive. It was kind of annoying. I can probe people too, pal!

"You play Mythomagic too? I remember having a deck with me but I didn't know I could find others playing. We should duel sometime!"

His mouth was agape. I didn't know he could even have other expressions. "How do you know that?! I've never told anyone I got back into the game!"

"I could read it on your face. I also know to use most of your spare time collecting them."

"Outrageous. How could you possibly know? Especially something so minor."

"I know things very few people do, or no one does. It's a cool gimmick. I can also read the last thoughts of people who died lonely."

Maybe keeping my mouth shut was the better choice. The man went from intrigued to looking like he wanted to cut me open and perform an autopsy. "I've never heard of a demigod ever having those powers before. Combined with the snakes and I can't even begin to imagine who your godly parent was. Harpocrates is my best guess but that doesn't explain everything. Are you definite on the fact you're a demigod?"

Right on cue, I felt my right leg burn from the missed cuts those Centaurs had flung earlier. Pulling up my jeans, I showed him the small incision where, surprise surprise, blood flowed. It was more confirmation than anything I could say.

"An unknown quantity. Could this be the start of another prophecy?" The raven haired god bit his thumb, trying to find some way to console all of this information in his head. Poor guy. If I started to try and unravel the mysteries that weaved each time I discovered a new quirk of mine I'd have lost my mind way before New York. Alas, curiosity had me by the thread more than a couple at this point, so I tried to tap the deity's brain to see what else I could find out.

"New player….Irreparable ruin…Lost pantheon….Excursion….Proposal.." What little of the words I could fish out were of little significance. I already knew there'd have to be some sort of other group of gods no one's heard of. The last one though? To be used for later withdrawal. I spoke up to break him out of his contemplation.

"You haven't given me your name yet, y'know. Bit rude for a god."

"Yes- wait. What? I'm not a god, my father is. It's Nico Di Angelo, son of Hades. I'd expect you to reciprocate."

"Johan Van Der Berg. Son of some orchard hippie. Nice to meet you." No wonder the whispers told him about Hades. Nico was the absolute spitting image of him. How did I know that? Ugh. Questions, questions and more questions. What an infuriating trend.

"It's… mutual." The words died immediately as they came out. Who got together with him and why haven't they started running?

"I've already decided I'm taking you to Camp Half-Blood. There are far too many enigmas around you that reek of danger." Despite my protest to give anything up to the grouch, I was more ecstatic than I'd been in a long, long time. It would've taken at least a few more days with the quantity of Centaurs patrolling the city.

"Wait a minute. How are we getting there? Do you have some giant coffin or-" My perception rippled nauseously, enshrouding my sight in some lifeless cloak. Nico was gone as well, swept away by that same current. At that moment, it seemed as if space flurried past me, propelled to a location exactly where I stood at a speed that can only be described as entering the planet's orbit. My high notes really took a level up during it.

Most of my frightened banshee-like singing was reduced to whimpers and pleading for Aegu to have stayed instead, even after we were dropped into the interior of someone who was terrifyingly bankrupt of any sort of fashion sense. While I'd assumed the fetal position, Nico was drawn to the other room, where he engaged with some other man who sounded much older than he was.

After a few minutes which I took to recuperate my mental state, the pair walked out into the main room. I tried to raise my head to greet them.

The older gentleman's other half was a horse.

"No no no! Not again! Come here you-" I blurted maniacally, trying to take my staff back so I could turn the Centaur with glasses into a pile of sand on the living room floor. Thankfully, Nico grabbed me by the stomach before I did something I would regret. The Centaur looked at me for a second and began laughing jovially, as if the fact I'd missed one was something to be celebrating.

"I'm not sure why you hold such prejudices, Johan, but I assure you that I'm not here to kill you. Neither is Nico here." The tranquil and elegant sweet talk wasn't going to work on me, fiend! I thought for a few more moments, before I realized his head had no helmet nor did it produce an infinite amount of black smog. After my will to commit senicide melted away, I fixed my composure and sat back on the jungle print sofa, guard still ready for some sort of ambush."My name is Chiron, activities director here at Camp Half-Blood. I've been informed by Nico that you believe your godly parent to be the god of oranges?" I bobbed my (bucket) head. "I see. What was the name of this god again?"

"Kitropsis."

"Ah. It seems the name confounds me as well. Not to worry, once Dionysus returns from his meeting in Olympus we'll have an actual god to sort this matter out."

I tried to act shocked, but I guess my tolerance of not knowing much was palpable, as Chiron attempted to further the conversation. "You're quite used to having the answers outside of your reach, Johan. Many campers here can't live with a question without an answer."

"My entire life up to this point has been foggy, sir. It's par for the course, but I appreciate your assistance."

"I'd appreciate yours for a few of mine as well." My smile drooped. I considered it, but I felt bad picking Chiron's brain, so I let it go. "Are you able to read Ancient Greek and do you possess senses finer than most people? Barring this, do you have any other abilities you've yet to bring up?"

"No and no. If I hadn't been forewarned about Nico's appearance, I would've slept like a baby. That's also one of my other powers, if you could call it that. Whispers feed me sparse information spontaneously, and up until Nico I only ever heard my father's name. Aside from that, I also know a bit of magic, or whatever it's supposed to be called." I demonstrated by opening my hand and letting yellow gas plume from the middle. It congregated and lit up, turning into something of a citrine sun.

"Outstanding. If you hadn't given your father's name I would've easily guessed that you were Hecate's offspring. For now, you'll have to bunk inside the Hermes cabin if that's alright. I'll ask more questions on the 'morrow."

…

"Johan?"

"Quiet, Chiron." My eyes fluttered to the hybrid with an incandescent fury.

"My child will not mingle with the bastards of an animal. An imbecile. Imply so and I will bathe this camp in a catastrophe yet unseen." The mortal coil grew weightless, hovering just above the carpet. "He has found so very little of his potential, but that does not concern me. He will thrive in this environment, one that I cannot dictate. Soon, he'll find the strength to eradicate his own transgressor."

"This will be my final message. I have warned y-"

"Shoo, ghost." Johan's body brightened into a supernova, expelling the yellow energy and the specter inhabiting him. Vines populated with grapes came down on the boy, passed out and exhausted. They laid his body softly back on the couch, rescinding with a flash of violet light.

Nico and Chiron, alerted to the mysterious presence's danger, looked on towards the man standing in the corridor, lowering their suspicions after observing tiger print clothes and a radiant purple glow coming from the bearded man's eyes. Forcing Nico out of his seat with a glare, the god of wine Dionysus relaxed and sighed on his matching furniture. He popped open a can of Diet Coke lifted from nowhere in particular, sipping on it as Johan slept like a brick.

"What kind of monster have you dragged in now, Di Angelo? I'm running out of patience here. The meeting was a soulsucking chore."

"A d-demigod, Mr. D. Son of Kitropsis. We were hoping to ask you if you knew him."

"Son of Kitropsis? It's about time. The treaty ended almost a year ago."

"What treaty? What time?" It was Chiron's turn to be befuddled, posing questions while still recovering from the staredown with a god.

"Right. Not an affair for mortals. Or immortals. Well old friend, to give you the short of it, Kitropsis brokered a deal with the Olympians a millenia ago."

"His son was to be released at the end lest Olympus raze and burn. Zeus agreed, even pledged on the river Styx."

"But he's a mere god of oranges. How could he have that kind of leverage?" Nico asked.

"God of oranges? Ha ha ha! Is that what he told you, Death Boy? No, Kitropsis was no simple god of sour fruit. He is known as the god of the unknown and obscure, as well as hundreds of other things only he knows of. He was born at the start of all creation, second son of the primordial nothingness, Chaos. In other words,"

"Johan is the son of a Protogenoi."

Finally. The first chapter's all wrapped up.

Just to let any readers know, this stands right now as a proof of concept. I may continue this. I may not. All I'm saying is if you decide you want to read more of this story, don't hold your breath. I may revisit this, as right now I already know what to do for the next chapter, but plans don't always go the way you want them to.

Thanks for reading. Until next time.