The world turned upside down, and l almost blacked out.
When I could see straight again, I was back at camp, in the dining pavilion, in the middle of dinner. We were standing on the Aphrodite cabin's table, and Piper had one foot in Drew's pizza. I had my now grazed elbow in Lottie's Low Calorie Steak. Sixty campers rose at once, gawking at us in astonishment.
Whatever Hera had done to shoot us across the country, it wasn't good for my stomach. I could barely control my nausea. Piper was looking green in the face, and Jason ready to pass out. Leo wasn't so lucky. He jumped off the table, ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it—which was probably not a great burnt offering for the gods.
"Jason?" Chiron trotted forward. No doubt the old centaur had seen thousands of years' worth of weird stuff, but even he looked totally flabbergasted. "What—How—?"
The Aphrodite campers stared up at us with their mouths open. I figured we must look awful.
"Hi," I said, as casually as I could. "We're back."
I didn't remember much about the rest of the night. We told our story and answered a million questions from the other campers, but finally Chiron saw how tired we were and ordered us to bed.
It felt so good to sleep on a real mattress, and I was so exhausted, I crashed immediately, not caring that I was on Will's bunk.
The next morning I woke up, feeling reinvigorated. The sun came through the windows along with a pleasant breeze. It might've been spring instead of winter. Birds sang. Monsters howled in the woods. Breakfast smells wafted from the dining pavilion—bacon, pancakes, and all sorts of wonderful things.
Will walked up to me, grinning.
"Good morning, Alex. Hope you slept well."
I looked around, and realised I was on Will's bunk. "Sorry," I grinned sheepishly. "But on the upside, you got to sleep on my bed!"
"Yeah," Will admitted, his British accent coming through. "It was pretty comfy. But seriously, you saved out asses. Again."
"You know what." I reasoned. "I don't care. I'm just glad to be back. Now breakfast." I looked around. "I see no-one's waited for us. Well, let's go anyways."
Breakfast was great. I mean, Leo's tacos were awesome too, but home food-it really hit the spot. It felt so strange to be back with family, at the tables around the mess hall. There was the Ares table, going around, picking fights with anyone they could. Clarisse was with Annabeth. Oh gods. Annabeth. I ran over to her, despite Will's protests.
"Annabeth-"
"Don't worry, Alex, Thalia already I-M'd me. So we know where Percy is. Now we need to get him here."
"Yeah," I nodded gratefully. "Thanks Annabeth. Oh wait, Leo's calling. I have to go."
True to my word, there he was, waving, and jumping up and down.
"What is it, Leo?" I asked, as I scoffed down the rest of my burrito.
"You know Bunker Nine?"
I swallowed and replied, "Yeah. You decided to burn it down, or blow it up, now?"
Leo shook his head."The opposite. I want to reveal it to the rest of my Cabin, plus Piper and Jason."
I bit my lip. "I dunno, Leo, is that a good idea?"
He nodded. "I think so. Bunker nine is theirs, by heritage. I shouldn't keep it from them."
"So," I said, smirking. "You want me to pretend I know nothing about this?" Everything was strange without the constant danger around.
"No," Leo said. "I want you to do the opposite. Can you help me?"
Leo hadn't looked so jumpy since he'd offered tofu burgers to the werewolves. When we got to the limestone cliff in the forest, he turned to the group and smiled nervously. "Here we go."
His hand caught fire, and he set it against the door.
His cabin mates gasped.
"Leo!" Nyssa cried. "You're a fire user!"
"Yeah, thanks," he said. "I know."
Jake Mason, who was out of his body cast but still on crutches, said, "Holy Hephaestus. That means—it's so rare that—"
The massive stone door swung open, and everyone's mouth dropped. Leo's flaming hand seemed insignificant now. Even Piper and Jason looked stunned, and they'd seen enough amazing things lately.
Only Chiron didn't look surprised. The centaur knit his bushy eyebrows and stroked his beard, as if the group was about to walk through a minefield.
That made me even more nervous, but we couldn't change our mind now. My instincts told Leo he was meant to share this place—at least with the Hephaestus cabin—and he couldn't hide it from Chiron or our two other best friends.
"Welcome to Bunker Nine," he said, as confidently as he could. "C'mon in."
The group was silent as they toured the facility. Everything was just as we had left it—giant machines, worktables, old maps and schematics. Only one thing had changed. Festus's head was sitting on the central table, still battered and scorched from his final crash in Omaha.
We went over to it, a bitter taste in my mouth, and Leo stroked the dragon's forehead. "I'm sorry, Festus. But I won't forget you."
Jason put a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Hephaestus brought it here for you?"
Leo nodded.
"But you can't repair him," Jason guessed.
"No way," Leo said. "But the head is going to be reused. Festus will be going with us."
Piper came over and frowned. "What do you mean?"
Before Leo could answer, Nyssa cried out, "Guys, look at this!"
She was standing at one of the worktables, flipping through a sketchbook—diagrams for hundreds of different machines and weapons.
"I've never seen anything like these," Nyssa said. "There are more amazing ideas here than in Daedalus's workshop. It would take a century just to prototype them all."
"Who built this place?" Jake Mason said. "And why?"
Chiron stayed silent, but I focused on the wall map we'd seen during our first visit. It showed Camp Half-Blood with a line of triremes in the Sound, catapults mounted in the hills around the valley, and spots marked for traps, trenches, and ambush sites.
"It's a wartime command center," I said. "The camp was attacked once, wasn't it?"
"In the Titan War?" Piper asked.
Nyssa shook her head. "No. Besides, that map looks really old. The date … does that say 1864?"
We all turned to Chiron.
The centaur's tail swished fretfully. "This camp has been attacked many times," he admitted. "That map is from the last Civil War."
Apparently, I wasn't the only one confused. The other Hephaestus campers looked at each other and frowned.
"Civil War …" Piper said. "You mean the American Civil War, like a hundred and fifty years ago?"
"Yes and no," Chiron said. "The two conflicts—mortal and demigod—mirrored each other, as they usually do in Western history. Look at any civil war or revolution from the fall of Rome onward, and it marks a time when demigods also fought one another. But that Civil War was particularly horrible. For American mortals, it is still their bloodiest conflict of all time—worse than their casualties in the two World Wars. For demigods, it was equally devastating. Even back then, this valley was Camp Half-Blood. There was a horrible battle in these woods lasting for days, with terrible losses on both sides."
"Both sides," Leo said. "You mean the camp split apart?"
"No," Jason spoke up. "He means two different groups. Camp Half-Blood was one side in the war."
I wasn't sure I wanted an answer, but I asked, "Who was the other?"
And the Lost Hero is Practically done! I have posted 2 chapters today. I don't know what to say. I'm so proud.(Starts crying).
Thanks for sticking with me all the way.
Yours,
MilkandCheez
