AN: Sorry for the delay, my classes are kind of kicking my butt right now. This is the longest chapter of the story so far, I really hope you guys enjoy it. Thank you to the people who have favorited, followed, or reviewed the story so far. It really means a lot to see that people are enjoying it.
I do not own any PJ characters, all rights go to Rick Riordan.
The ride to camp was awkward to say the least. Chuck and I were in the back row of his dad's car, a yellow Ford Pinto. I personally don't have anything against driving old cars, but I didn't think bringing two 13 year olds to a camp while driving a car model that has a history of exploding is a good idea. Chuck's dad on the other hand, didn't really care.
Chuck's dad is a real character. He has a first name, but I don't know it because everyone just calls him "Coach." He was even the P.E. teacher at one of my old schools. He ran us ragged in class, and always seemed to push me to my limits. I'm not complaining though, just having someone pushing me in school was really nice.
"So LJ you excited for camp?" Coach asked as we took the exit that I assumed took us to camp.
"I guess, but I'm not quite sure what to expect." I didn't want to let slip everything that Lou and Kayla had told me, just in case Chuck didn't know about his godly heritage.
"There's nothing to worry about, and if any of those cupcakes give you grief, I'll sort them out for ya."
"Dad, please don't threaten to harm campers. You know what the Council said about that." Chuck told his dad.
I didn't know what council Chuck was talking about. As far as I knew, the school Coach Hedge worked at didn't care what he did during the summer.
As if on cue, smoke started billowing out from underneath the hood of the Hedge's Pinto.
"Why now? Why couldn't it have broken down once we reached camp?" Coach Hedge practically screamed while pulling off onto the side of the road.
"Chuck and LJ, grab your bags from the trunk. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to fix this. Chuck, you remember the way to camp from here right?"
"Of course I do dad, we'll be fine."
Chuck and I grabbed our bags from the trunk and started walking to camp while Chuck's dad was busy yelling at the engine.
"So Chuck, how long have you been coming to camp?" I asked him to try and remove the silence between us.
"Practically my whole life. My dad used to work here back in the day, and he wanted to come back here for me."
"What did your dad do for the camp?" Neither of my adopted parents work at the camp, so I was wondering what made Chuck's dad special.
"He escorted half-bloods… Oh no. I wasn't supposed to tell you about that yet. Oh gods, Mr. D is going to be angry."
"Chuck, Lou and Kayla already told me about camp. Not saying I believe it all, but I know what a half-blood is."
"Well LJ, it's all true." At that point, a howl ripped through the air and I saw all the color drain out of Chuck's face.
"LJ, we're almost to camp hurry."
We both started hustling towards a lone pine tree on a hill. I had flashbacks to the dream I had last night and grabbed my head in pain.
"LJ come on, we need to go." I could feel Chuck grabbing me by the arm, but I felt as though I was reliving my dream.
I turned back and saw a pure black dog with red eyes running after us. Chuck's foot got caught on a root and he face planted into the dirt.
"Help!" I was hoping we were close enough to camp for someone to hear me.
The demon dog stopped ten feet from us, and started walking towards us slowly. It wasn't much bigger than a normal German Shepherd, but I seriously doubted that it was as playful as one.
As soon as I thought it would pounce, I heard a loud "WOOF" and saw an even bigger demon dog jump out of a shadow and land on the smaller one. The shepherd sized one exploded into a shower of Golden dust, while the big one stared at me, almost as if it expected something. After a short stare down, it barked, wagged its tail and jumped into another shadow.
"Chuck, are you ok?" I heard from up the hill, and when I turned around I thought I was going to faint. It was a centaur, like the ones from the myths. He had relatively short brown hair, and a beard that I would've seen on some of the people Lou worked with. He was accompanied by a few people that I thought were my age, carrying swords and bows and arrows.
Having the way with words that I do, I obviously said,
"That brings a whole new meaning to having a real horse's ass."
The centaur raised his eyebrows at me, and Chuck told me, "Dude, that's the activities director of the camp, be respectful."
It took a second to click in my head, but I figured it out eventually. "So you're Chiron then?"
He looked at me and replied, "Yes I am. Very few campers put it together that quickly. What's your name?"
"My name is LJ, and is there somewhere I can use the restroom. I've needed to take a leak for the past four exits."
Chiron lifted his head to the sky and laughed. "Of course there is, we're not animals. Come, I'll take you to the Big House where we can talk more."
He and his posse began to walk away, and I grabbed my bag and hurried to make sure I wasn't walking directly behind him. I had been to farms and knew that standing right behind a horse was not something that you wanted to do. We walked past a large amphitheater with what looked to be a giant fire pit at the center, and a volleyball court. The people playing volleyball stopped to look at our ragtag group as we passed, I guess Chiron didn't escort people to the Big House that often.
We came up to a four story, blue building, that looked like a big house. I guess they're not great in the naming department here.
Chiron stopped near the steps leading up the porch and turned to face the rest of us.
"Liam, take the rest of your patrol back to the forge and return the armor to the Hephaestus campers, they'll know if anything is missing."
A taller blonde kid, who I guess is named Liam, gave Chiron a smirk and told him, "We'll return it, but not necessarily today." The second half of the sentence was said at barely a whisper, but I'm pretty sure that Chiron heard it.
"LJ and Chuck, please follow me inside," and with that we went up the stairs into the Big House.
"So LJ, how did you know who I was when you arrived? Me being in my true hybrid form tends to shock some of the new campers." Chiron asked once I sat down after using the restroom.
"My mothers gave me a really quick crash course in the whole mythical world stuff before I left for camp."
"Mothers? If you don't mind me asking, who are your mothers?"
" Lou and Kayla Blackstone-Knowles." I said, already knowing where this train of thought was going to end up.
"Ahh, so you're a legacy of Hecate and Apollo then."
"Not quite. Lou and Kayla adopted me about eight years ago, I have no idea who my biological parents are."
"I see, I'm sorry for bringing it up."
"It happens. I've gotten used to it at this point."
"Whatever the case, your godly parent should claim you soon. I would imagine that it will happen at dinner or the campfire tonight. In the meantime, you can leave your bags here and Chuck can lead you on a tour of camp."
"Thanks Chiron."
The tour was boring to say the least. There was nothing to write home about, and we avoided the groups of people that seemed to be watching my every move.
"Ignore them, they're just waiting for your sign to pop up," Chuck told me as we made our way to the dining pavilion.
"What exactly does that mean, my sign?"
"The gods made a promise to claim their children by the time they turn 13, but most don't actually do the claiming until they arrive at camp following they turn 13. We wouldn't want people without training to just be thrust into the mythical world before they get to blow out their birthday candles."
"Makes sense, but what exactly is a sign?"
"It can come in a bunch of different forms. Most gods just have a hologram appear over the camper's head in the shape of their sacred animal or symbol of power. For instance, Hephaestus camper has a flaming hammer appear over their head, while a Hermes camper has a caduceus appear. Some gods are a bit more involved though, Aphrodite's children receive her blessing and have their clothes switched with the most expensive name brands you can imagine."
"Mugged by your own mother, definitely not the worst thing I've heard of."
We made it to the dining pavilion just as Chiron trotted over to us.
"Any sign yet?" He asked once he stopped.
"None yet sir," Chuck replied.
"Not a problem, most gods tend to go a bit overboard and put on a show at the campfire. You two will be eating dinner at the staff table tonight," Chiron said as what I assume is the meal horn sounded.
We made our way to our table as close to two hundred kids came in and sat down at the other tables. More than a couple of them gave me questioning glances as they sat down, but I really didn't care.
"Campers, welcome to the start of the summer term. We are so glad that you all could join us. As most of you have already heard by this now, Mr. D is currently trying to appeal his punishment on Olympus. The outcome of his appeal will not be decided for at least three weeks, after which we may or may not see him. In other news, we have our first new camper, LJ Blackstone-Knowles. He has not been claimed yet, but here he is."
At that point I gave a halfhearted wave to the crowd and let Chiron finish.
"Now to the part I know you all care about, it is time for dinner."
~~~Time Skip to end of campfire~~~~~~~
"Liam please stay behind, the rest of your cabin should go back and prepare for bed." Chiron said as the first embers of the fire started to flicker out.
The tall blonde kid from earlier came up to Chiron and I, and asked "What's up?"
"For the first time in nearly 17 years, an unclaimed demigod will need to stay in Cabin 11. Treat him like family, and do not steal anything from him."
"Right. Since my dad is the god of travelers, Cabin 11 was the home of all the unclaimed demigods back in the day. Do you mind if I let the rest of the cabin know and then come back for LJ?"
"Go right ahead, I wanted to talk to LJ before you both left anyway."
And with that Liam jogged out of the amphitheater, leaving Chiron and I alone.
"LJ, for the time being you will be staying in Cabin 11. Since Hermes is the god of travelers, any unclaimed demigods stay there during their time at camp."
"I thought you said that I was going to be claimed by my parent tonight?"
"I truly believed that you would be. They swore an oath to claim their children, and they will, but apparently tonight is not the time."
"Great. Being ignored by my family is nothing new for me, now it's just some immortal jerk doing it instead of a foster family."
I didn't wait for a response. I walked out of the amphitheater, grabbed my bags from the Big House, and made my way to Cabin 11. The campers staying there welcomed me with open arms and pointed me to a bed in the corner. With that, I fell asleep.
AN: I hope this was worth the wait. I don't want to say anything about my upload plan, but the next chapter will hopefully not take as long as this one. As always, reviews and comments are greatly appreciated. If you want to submit an OC to be mentioned in the story, let me know. I only need a name, appearance and godly parent. I hope to see you guys continue reading this story.