So it turns out the walk from West Virginia to New York is longer than I thought.
We were walking for like six hours and, from what Silena told me, we were only in Pennsylvania. Just about two states to go. Only two states.
We were walking through the woods (because apparently, the only woods giant corporations want to tear down is the Amazon rainforest) with no end in sight. I was already tired, wishing just to go home as I remembered that I had no home. The only substitute would be this apparent camp all the way in New York, but even then I don't know if I would like it. All my life I have lived in a small town where I could do whatever I wished, walk anywhere, talk to anyone, etc. But by what Silena tells me, Camp Half-Blood was nothing like that.
First of all, we were going to train how to survive using weapons. Bows and arrows I didn't mind because I was the state champion, but swords and spears are another story. Second, we couldn't go out of camp if we wanted, just in a quest (where we could die) or if you escaped (where you could also die). Third and worst of all, apparently gods had rivalries. So, if my godly parent was let's say Poseidon, then the other two eldest gods plus Athena would want to kill me. And not only that, their children would hate me which would limit the capacity of friends I could make.
To put it in simple words, gone are the days where I could walk freely through the woods and then run to the top of a hill. Gone are the days where I could talk to whoever I wanted. Gone are the days where I could just practice archery without thinking 'I need to do this perfectly in case a monster comes and want to eat me'.
Another hour passed and I couldn't deal with breathing anymore. Thankfully, Silena also seemed super tired so we decided to make a mini campsite and sleep there for the remainder of the night. The temperature was chill, about 65 degrees, but nothing our clothes couldn't manage. While Silena scouted the place for possible attacks, I went to find firewood so we could be at least a little warm. I quickly found it and made my way to the campsite, where I found Silena patiently waiting for me.
"Took you long enough," Silena said rolling her eyes "I was already thinking of going after you"
"I didn't take that long," I said chuckling, making my way to her side.
I put the firewood on the 'center' of the campsite and Silena turned the fire on with a lighter/knife/spoon/rope? It was like a swiss-army knife but with many other things. She told me a friend of hers named Charles Beckendorf made it for her. Apparently, he was a son of Hephaestus and had a keen attraction to making stuff.
"So, who's your godly parent?" I asked breaking the ever so growing uncomfortable silence that was cast upon us
"Aphrodite, the Goddess of love and other things I don't really want to say because she's my mom"
I quickly remembered from the lesson that Aphrodite was also the goddess of Pleasure, passion, and procreation. So it basically meant that Silena's mom was a sex goddess.
"It must be awkward to talk to her," I said trying to make a little joke, but then I found out that it quickly backfired. Her little trace of a smile disappeared completely and her eyes seemed filled with much sadness.
"We demigods don't talk to our parents. Unless he or she comes to your dreams or you have the luck of Columbus then you will most likely never meet your parent. Some gods are good and visit their kids individually through their dreams. Other gods actually care but are just really busy and don't have the time for their children. Then there is the third kind of gods. The ones who actually don't give two rats ass about us, are just out there making more demigods without thinking the horrible life we have ahead of us."
I had no need to ask which category Aphrodite fit in. The scowl Silena made as she described the third kind of God told me all about it. I couldn't help but wonder which category my godly parent fit in. Did it care about me? Did it remember it had me?
"Who do you think is my godly parent?" I asked Silena in a low tone of voice. She turned her head to look at me in the eyes, possibly recalling all the incidents we have had over the course of the day. After about two minutes of silence, I cleared my throat to remind her that I needed a reply. She shook her head out a little and replied.
"I honestly have no idea. And if I knew 100% then I couldn't tell you. But what I've seen, I can tell you are very powerful, so you're not a child of a minor god. Definitely not a child of Dionysius, Artemis or Demeter. You can fight well which could make you a child of Ares, but you're also smart so you can be a child of Athena. You could be a child of Apollo because, based on what you told me, you're pretty good at archery right?" I nodded "You could be a child of Aphrodite as you are quite good looking and could block my charmspeak, even if I haven't known of anyone who could do that. I don't think you would be a Hermes child because we both know how long it took you to get firewood, so you're definitely not fast. The Big three are not an option because they made an oath to not have any more demigods after WWII" I took that information in and it was a pretty good analysis.
We sat there in a comfortable silence for about fifteen minutes when I yawned as loudly as humanly possible. I felt really tired and kind of warm, which was weird considering the temperature. We both fell asleep close to the fire, laying on the ground with nothing but our bodies and few supplies to give us company.
I woke up as the moon was setting, earlier than I had hoped to. Waking up that early has really no great advantage, as I know I would likely be irritable for the rest of the day. I poked Silena until she woke up and groaned in annoyance.
"Time to wake up bae," I said in a sickly sweet voice
"I'm not your bae," Silena said rubbing her blue eyes awake
"Yet," I said winking at her, which she replied by rolling her eyes and groaning once again.
"Yeah yeah, Casanova. Changing the topic, let's leave now that we're both awake, that way we can hopefully reach camp without any monster attacks"
"Fine," I said getting up from my sitting position.
Several hours passed, maybe about ten when Silena finally said we were arriving. We had only eaten about three squirrels each thanks to my awesome archery skills (in my defense, I had to make a bow and arrow so six squirrels is an achievement). Walking through a strawberry field, I could sense a change of aura in Silena's mood. She was more at peace, but at the same time anxious. The reason? Only God knows. Wait, does God exist? Apparently, all Greek mythology existed, but what about other religions and mythologies? Did they also exist or only the Greeks? I need to find someone to talk to about that. That was way out of topic, stupid ADHD.
We walked up a hill, past a strawberry field when I saw the biggest pine tree I've ever seen in my life, and I'm from West Virginia. We walked past it and it was like we walked through a border. I felt Silena by my side more at ease, and with a happier demeanor. I, being me, started singing to pass my stress.
"Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River" I started singing Country Roads, my favorite song when Silena suddenly stopped abruptly and turned to me
"Stop it," she said sternly, her blue eyes penetrating mine "You sang it all the way here and if you sing one more verse I'm going to kill you and then kill myself"
Now, you would think that I, a pretty mature twelve-year-old would've taken her seriously. But guess what I did.
"Life is old there, older than the trees
Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze
Country Roads, take me home" I started singing, but I couldn't get past the start of the chorus because I felt a punch make contact with my face. I looked at my assaulter and it was Silena, but with her face all red and basically steams coming out of her eyes
"To the place, I belong" I continued, daring her to continue her assault. She had no mercy and continued to throw punches at me, which I easily evaded. We kept 'fighting' until we were at a clearing and a bunch of other teenagers were looking at us with surprise on their faces
"Come on bae, take me home to the place I belong" I tempeted her. Then, out of nowhere, she got a bronze knife and lunged towards me. My eyes went wide, which made me lose a fraction of a second and she was able to make a scratch on my arm.
"Ouch, that hurt a little," I said obviously surprised "Bae, stop this. You know I can't hit a pretty girl like you"
This just made her angrier, which was just what I wanted. She came towards me, but I just moved a little to the side, grab her by the neck with my arm and disarmed her. She seemed to calm down, which let my guard down. In the next five seconds, she bit my fingers really hard (making blood come out of them), kicked me down, kicked my balls, went on top of me and just started punching me as if I was someone who just kidnapped her daughter and sold her into the black market.
"Silena that's enough!" someone yelled from about forty feet away. I heard a horse galloping towards us and some kids also coming closer to the scene. Silena got off of me and looked towards the direction of the galloping horse, her body showing a scared pose. I slowly got up, with my bloody face blurring my vision and my yet recovering balls stopping me from being fully erect (as in standing up, but the other way too tho). I saw the horse with a man on top of it, but looking at it closely it was a
"A centaur? Oh wait, you're-Jesus Christ this hurts like hell-Chiron right?" I asked in a hushed tone. The centaur looked at me and gave me a small smile
"Indeed my child. I am Chiron, the trainer of heroes. Now, Silena" he turned his head towards the scared girl "for what reason did you start a fight with this innocent child. Surely..."
"Jagger, Jagger Buckley," I said as I took the hint that he wanted to know my name. His eyes widened a little when I said it, but it was only noticeable for someone who was paying complete attention to his face
"Surely young Jagger couldn't have done something so wrong as to make you act this way" I honestly wanted to mess with Silena for beating me up. Well, she could've beat me up, but it's unconstitutional and inmoral to hit a guy in his balls without a strong reason for it.
"I wasn't! I was just signing and then she started attacking me like a bear does to a hunter! She didn't take into consideration that the song meaning is of going back home, when I just recently lost my home. My home was the only place I belonged, mountain mama. (great, bullshitting my way into Silena getting a harder punishment) She knew I will no longer get back home, yet SHE "I pointed my finger at her" decided that the best course of action for making me stop was beating me up"
"You are such a liar! I ought to b-" Silena started to threaten me
"Enough!" Chiron yelled "Now, Silena my child. Is it or is it not true that Mr. Buckley here was signing" she nodded "Is it true that he recently lost his home?" she nodded again "Is it true he's from West Virginia?" she nodded yet again
"Wait I never said I was from there" I interrupted
"I know much about you Jagger Buckley, I will tell you all in due time. Now, Silena. Go to the big house while I think of a proper punishment" Silena turned away, but not before glancing at me while I stuck out my tongue at her. She looked angrily at me and walked towards a big blue house.
"Now Jagger, I believe you are due a proper introduction. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood"