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Chapter 4- The Gods Are Real, And They Have Kids
(And Those Kids Have Issues)

Mr. Chiron (or was it just Chiron, I couldn't tell), asked all the 6th graders to stay when he dismissed everyone else for dinner. Luke therefore shuffled out, but at least Annabeth stayed with me.

We were all scattered about the amphitheater, which looked pretty stupid once there were only eight of us in the place. Chiron must have thought so as well, because he beckoned us forward. As Annabeth and I moved to join the others in the front row, I heard her mutter, "This is all wrong. There should be twice as many kids as this."

I didn't get a chance to ask what she meant. Chiron's gaze fell upon me, and I suddenly felt very small. There was an intensity to his gaze which seemed to span a thousand years, as if he could see my entire life spread out before him. And from the sadness in his gaze, he didn't like what he saw.

I gulped.

Chiron smiled, stretching his arms out in front of us. "Welcome. I would like to apologize for Apollo House's creativity. I have long believed that it is beneficial for us to see our history replayed at the beginning of the year, but as for your first introduction to school, perhaps not the wisest of decisions. Still, the point has been made. You are the children of the gods, the heirs to the heroes of old. I hope you shall all find the opportunity to develop your gifts within the safety of this school, but you must never forget that monsters are not antithesis to the real world. They are a part of it. We do not come here to hide, but to learn, so that we may be prepared one day to leave and live full lives."

Besides me, Annabeth muttered, "Says the man who banned quests."

Chiron heard her, I have no doubt, but said nothing in response. Instead he continued on, in true teacher fashion, "I believe there may be a few others who shall join your year soon. Hermes has taken a brief vacation and as such many of his deliveries delayed. Each of your parents wrote to me directly, already aware of our school, for which I am glad, or we may have had no new students at all. Nevertheless, I hear Hermes shall be back to work soon, hopefully delivering letters to your classmates, and I expect you all to be welcoming when they arrive. They are far less likely to have the understanding of the gods you all do. Many times the gods do not tell their mortal lover their true identity. But that is not a concern for you. I trust you will all make your parents, both mortal and Olympian, proud. Now, before I send you to dinner, have you any questions?"

My mind buzzed with a million questions, but only one seemed important-If my dad was a god, then which one? I felt stupid asking it though. Actually, I just felt stupid. Here Chiron was complementing us for having known about the gods before today, but I hadn't. I'd been having weird experiences my whole life, but I'd never pieced them together. It was so obvious now that I knew. How hadn't I guessed?

(Looking back, I know I was stupid for having felt stupid. I don't care how many weird experiences you have, you never guess your dad is a god. I have mortal friends whose lives are weirder than mine by far, but no one would ever think their parents were secretly superheroes or something. Only a crazy person looks at the strange events in their life and says 'I'm a demigod; I know it'. I'm crazy, but not that kind of crazy.)

On that day though, I felt stupid, so I didn't ask Chiron if he knew who my dad was. Good thing too because he wouldn't have had an answer and then I'd really look like a fool. So I just I kept my head down and waited for someone else to say something.

The girl who'd been glowing pink before had no hesitation about speaking out. Instead she called, "Are you really a horse?"

I could see Chiron cringe at the suggestion, but he nodded. "I am a centaur, my dear. I simply use this chair so as not to shock you all on your first day. But as you asked…"

Suddenly he stood up, and his chair turned into big white underpants, and then, from there, it became the body of a horse. My eyes bulged out of my head. Yeah, the Apollo kids had been making fun of him with the stick horse, but man were they right to. The guy was giant in his true form… and a horse!

"Any other questions?"

I didn't know how anyone could come up with questions when our new headmaster was a horse, I mean a centaur, and no one did. Seemingly satisfied, Chiron nodded his head and said, "Very well then, I shall let you all meet your siblings and prepare for dinner. Your head-of-house should be waiting outside to guide you. Lou Ellen, since your mother does not have her own house you will be with the children of Hermes. And Connor, do remind Luke that Percy shall need to remain there until his own father can be determined. Such is the spirit of Hermes House- a home for all."

"A house for all is a house for none," Connor remarked. He was an impish looking kid, and if I was going to be living with him, I wondered if they had lock-boxes for our stuff. I didn't even know Hermes was the god of thieves yet and I knew I didn't trust the kid with my things.

He looked friendly enough though, and patted the girl next to him on the back. "Come on, Lou-Lou. Let's go."

"Call me that again and I'll remove your lips," I heard the girl hiss, but she got up and went with him. The others filed out as well, but when I went to go, Annabeth grabbed my arm.

"Chiron, Percy is the kid I met in Central Park."

Chiron seemed surprised by that, and I doubted he was a man who was often surprised. Still, he did not say anything to it. Instead he remarked, "Well, then, I suppose you should thank him for saving your life."

Annabeth did not seem satisfied with that answer. Her hands went to her hips, and I wondered how Chiron could possibly not be frightened by the intensity of her eyes. "He didn't get wet Chiron. He soaked me. He soaked the whole shore, but there wasn't a drop of water on him. That's not normal."

I blushed a little. Here I was in a school for demigods, and people were still calling me a freak. I almost defended myself, but between Chiron and Annabeth, I was too intimidated.

"Percy, when I wrote your mother she did not tell me who your father was, only what he was. Did she by chance name him to you?"

His voice was very friendly. Warm, patient, a strange sort of paternal I had never known before. It made me want to please him, like that one teacher that believes in you no matter how many schools you've been kicked out of. But here's the thing- I always disappointed those teachers in the end. I knew I would disappoint Chiron as well.

"She said… she said I was safest if I didn't know who he was. She said that his family wouldn't be happy. But if all the gods are family and they all have kids, why would they be mad?"

Annabeth looked at Chiron and I swore her expression said 'You don't think that…'

'I do, but I do not know how. For now we shall not speak of it,' answered Chiron's eyes.

Now I know that sounds like a big-fat lie. You can't read that much into an expression, but maybe that was the downside of their ultra-expressive gazes. They were good for getting people to obey, but bad for secrecy. Whatever the case, I knew that was what they were saying, but I didn't understand why.

My frustration boiled over, burning out any reservations, "You know! I can see it in your eyes that you know! Why won't people just ever tell me the truth?"

(Can I tell you a secret? I later found out that at that exact moment there was minor seismic activity in Oklahoma. Oops.)

Chiron reached out, placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked up for him, and in his eyes all I saw was sadness. It was like he was looking at a coffin. It made my stomach churn, and I felt like I was going to vomit all over him.

"Percy, I have my suspicions, yes, but they make little sense, even to me. Therefore until I am certain, I shall respect the wishes of both your parents and keep silent about the matter. When your father is ready to claim you, he will send you a sign. Until then, try to enjoy yourself, but study hard. Whoever your father is, you can serve him best if you are prepared."

I wasn't the least bit satisfied with his answer. I stuffed my hand into my pocket, and felt the pearls between my fingers. A strange feeling settled over me, the sense of resolve mixed with anger. Maybe my dad had already given me a sign and I was just too dumb to read it.

"There's a god of the ocean, isn't there? I don't get wet, I can breathe underwater, this weird lady gave me a bunch of pearls… it sounds like my dad is the sea god."

Chiron's body stiffened, which looked weird, because it wasn't just his shoulders tightening, but his horse-haunches as well. Annabeth besides me sucked in her breath. But when Chiron spoke, his voice was unequivocating, "Yes Percy, there is a sea god, Poseidon, but he, along with Zeus and Hades, swore sixty years ago that they would have no more children with mortals. If you do have the gifts you described it may be you are the son of Triton, Poseidon's heir, or any number of minor sea gods. Paris of Troy was known to have hair which never got wet for his grandfather was the river-god Sangarius. It is impossible to know, Percy, but we shall give your father the chance to claim you."

"But what if he doesn't?"

Did that happen? Somehow I knew without asking that it did. Annabeth had said it was odd that all the other kids in our grade had been claimed so quickly, and that meant usually it didn't happen. How many kids went seven years at this school with no sign from their godly parent? Was I to be another one?"

My heart sunk. I knew my luck. I knew I would be.

"Have faith, Percy. They are gods, after all. Prayer and offerings may buy you answers."

Great, just great. I wasn't religious by any means, but I knew enough about Christianity at least to know you didn't have to buy God's favor. You weren't supposed to have to buy your parents' love either. I had really gotten the short end of the stick here.

But I wasn't about to complain. I was used to life being unfair. So I gritted my teeth, and nodded my head, "Alright."

"Good," Chiron smiled fondly at me. "Annabeth, would you show him to Hermes House?"

Hermes House turned out to be the biggest of the smaller temples. (Say that three times fast.) Unlike most of the others, it didn't look like much, though I realized that hanging above the door was what I had so cleverly referred to as 'the snake-thingy from hospitals' when it appeared over Connor's head. Annabeth saw me looking at it, and said, "It's call the caduceus. It's not really a medical symbol you know. Asclepius, not Hermes, is the healer, but mortals don't know anything. They can't tell one snake from two."

"Who's your dad anyways?"

Annabeth gritted her teeth. "Mom, weren't you paying attention to the play? My mom's Athena."

Oh yeah. Amid everything else I'd forgotten about the little musical interlude of the play. Though that made me wonder, "Wait, is that true? How could they know that about you when you're only in sixth grade as well?"

Annabeth scowled, but explained, "You need to learn to listen. The song told you everything you need to know. I may be twelve, but I've been here for five years already. I ran away from home when I was seven and I only survived because of Luke… well, Luke and Thalia."

"Who's Thalia?"

Annabeth's scowl deeper. I wondered how she'd take it if I told her scowling gave you frown lines. I figured not well.

Then she pointed to the big pine tree which stood on the property line and promptly announced, "That's Thalia."

That of course made no sense what-so-ever, but I wasn't going to ask anymore questions. Not if Annabeth was going to respond like that. Instead, I focused on the building in front of me. Inside it looked quite a bit more like a house than a temple, though I could see it was crowded. How many kids did Hermes have? Or maybe it was just all the other people who weren't Hermes's kids that made it so crowded. All the kids like me.

"Look, don't worry too much. Luke's head-of-house for Hermes, so you won't be alone. This place really isn't all that bad, not once you get used to it."

Annabeth did not seem like the type of person who was frequently 'reassuring'. I knew this was her going out of her way to be nice. So I tried to appreciate it, even if something about her tone gritted on my temper. Or maybe this whole night had just gritted on my temper.

She left me alone, gathering my thoughts outside Hermes House. Finally I decided I had nothing to lose and entered.

It was bigger than it seemed from the outside, much like the classrooms in the school. Once I stepped inside, I discovered I was in a big corridor, smaller rooms off shooting on either side, and a staircase to an upper level you couldn't see from outside.

"Luke! There's a random kid in the doorway," a girl, perhaps fifteen, shouted as she walked to the window and dumped a six-foot cactus outside.

Luke came bounding down the stairs, plates and cups in his arms, and more tumbling down after him. I went over to help him pick them up, but before I could, one of the plates sprouted wings and flew away. Luke just sighed, "We now have four children of Hecate here. This is going to get real old, real fast."

"How many people live here?" There was sheer chaos all around me, and every time I looked I saw a whole crowd of new people. All colors, all shapes, all sizes. I couldn't keep track of it. And I could hear more people upstairs

"About forty," Luke sighed, and I just stared. There were probably only a hundred kids in the whole school, and almost half of them lived in the same place? That was insane.

"Yeah, it's a lot, but god of travelers and all. Mostly they're unclaimed or the children of minor gods. My dad only has seven, or I guess eight now, with Connor. Frankly, I kind of like it. You just sort of give up trying to be in control after a while and let the chaos happen."

He could say that again. Still, I couldn't imagine being Luke and responsible for all these people. It just seemed insane, "Why don't the minor gods have their own houses?"

Luke cocked his head like that was a stupid question, but nearby I heard a guy a little older than me laugh. "I've been saying that for years, kid. But that's the definition of minor. No temples. No sacrifices. No house."

That seemed a bit harsh to me. I suppose I understood the minor gods not each getting their own place, but surely it made sense to have one house for all of them. It might free up a little room in Hermes House at least.

Luke grabbed my suitcase and started dragging it up the stairs. As he went up, a frog came hopping down, and a girl chased after it shouting, "Help! It's Jessica!"

I really hoped she didn't mean the frog was a girl. Somehow I suspected she did. Luke didn't bat an eye- let the chaos flow indeed. He just continued up the stairs as if this happened every day, and I supposed it must. When we reached the top, I found even more bedrooms, though it seemed a bit quieter. A bunch of kids were gathered into what looked like a living room playing poker, and I spotted a few older kids kissing in a closet. Luke just kept walking, moving away from the noise and commotion, "We're beyond capacity at this point. The place only has eight rooms, you see. The house magically makes one for each child of Hermes, but it can't seem to register everyone else who lives here. And trust me, the children of Hecate have tried. As head-of-house, though, I have my own little office I've turned into my room. You can stay there with me."

I was touched. In a house completely overflowing with unwanted kids, Luke had chosen me to move into his private space. "Thank… thank you."

Luke just shrugged, "We're literally out of space everywhere else, so it's not charity. You'll have to deal with the couch but at least it's something."

It was something, and when we finally got to the room, I decided it was something kind of nice. It was small, don't get me wrong, but there was enough space for a bed, dresser, and couch. A bright red rug lay across the middle, giving it a warm, homey feel. As a kid who'd always lived in Manhattan, I didn't think twice about the size. I loved it. Especially when I looked out the tall window and realized I could see Long Island Sound. For a moment, I stared at the the waves crashing along the shoreline. Chiron seemed convinced my father was some sort of sea god. Was he right? Was my father out there somewhere, looking back at me?

I turned away from the window. "Luke, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"That song, in the play. It was about you, right? So… so that means you've met your dad, right, once?"

Luke seemed to deflate at the thought of it, but with a deep sigh, he nodded. "Yeah, I did. He… My mom had issues, Percy. I ran away as soon as I was old enough to realize that. I made some friends. I survived. But it was tough. He was late giving me my acceptance here. He delivered letters to everyone else, but couldn't find his son until I found him. Percy, be glad you don't know who your dad is. The moment you do you'll just see all the ways he's failed you."

Luke's words were utterly depressing, but they stayed with me even as the conversation moved to lighter topics- schoolwork, sword fighting, etc.. I had to say, I wasn't overly thrilled with my dad so far. If he was a god, he had the power to do anything. Why hadn't he helped my mom? Why had he let me grow up poor, unwanted? A few pearls were nothing compared to what he probably owed in child support.

When we got to the dining hall, I noticed everyone scrapping part of their plate into the fire. I was about to ask Luke why, but then I remembered Chiron throwing a steak into the fire at our all-school assembly. Apparently the gods just liked things like that.

So what I ended up asking Luke was, "How come you sacrifice to the gods if you hate them so much?"

A mischievous grin spread across Luke's face, and he winked. Then he stepped up to the fireplace, scrapped off the juiciest piece of meat and muttered, "To whatever god wants to see my father fall."

A chill rippled down my spine, even as I approached the warm hearth. Luke's words frightened me. In just a few hours, it was easy to understand why Luke was angry with his father. I was angry with my father too. I didn't care if they were gods; they still had a responsibility to their children. Instead they left us to face the dangers of the world. It wasn't even the monsters which were the problem, at least we had the power to fight those. It was the pitfalls of our mortal families we couldn't stab with a knife. I thought of Luke's mom's 'issues', of Annabeth running away at age seven, of Gabe. I had no doubt that every kid in this camp had a similar story. Some might seem worse than others, but we all had problems. What else could you expect from parents who'd been eaten by their own father!

But that was it, wasn't it. Maybe we had problems, but clearly our parents did as well. Maybe we needed them, but I could only hope that maybe, just maybe, they needed us to. Maybe if I did well my dad would realize I was worth making his family angry. He would realize I was good for something. I had to be good for something.

So when I stepped up to the fire, as tempted as I was to curse my dad, I didn't. Instead, I offered up a whispered prayer, "Please, whoever you are, just give me a chance."