A/N: Hey! Thank you to everyone who followed/favorited/reviewed! It made my day. We'll be meeting lots of old characters in this one, as well as some OC's.
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any of its characters. All rights go to Rick Riordan. I own only the plot and the characters that you do not recognize.
Will learned lots on his journey to Camp Half-Blood. He learned that demigods were constantly fighting to survive, which seriously put a damper on the whole your-parent-is-an-all-powerful-god thing. Not only that, but apparently the gods sometimes didn't care enough to claim their children as their own. Ouch. It made Will wonder if he would be important enough to his dad for his father to acknowledge him as his son.
Henry, Luke, and Will had been driving toward New York for a couple days. They had had to take a long route to try and avoid major monster areas, but they still had to stop frequently to fend off whatever came after them. And, of course, there was also basic human needs to consider. They needed food, and rest. They slept in the car. No hotels. Too risky. So, yeah, getting to Camp Half-Blood took a while. But they made it.
A cyclops was running after them. Their car had been destroyed, and now they were running for their lives, something that Will had gotten quite good at. With a final swing of his sword, Luke hit the cyclops so that they had just enough time to run across the border while the monster recovered. Will didn't feel any different when he crossed the border, but Henry and Luke stopped running and started panting heavily, smiling with relief.
Will, however, kept tugging at them. "C'mon, it's still there! We have to run!" Luke just laughed and ruffled Will's hair. Then the cyclops came up just behind them, raised its club, and brought it down upon them. Will flinched and clenched his eyes shut, but the pain never came. When he opened his eyes, he realized that some kind of invisible force had stopped the club. The cyclops kept hitting his club against the barrier, but he made no progress.
Henry looked at his confused face and laughed. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Will. That is the border. Only demigods, satyrs, nymphs, and Chiron can come in. Everything else needs permission from someone inside camp."
People started to come up the crest of the hill. One boy, who looked to be around ten, with brown eyes and black hair, came up and congratulated them.
"Chiron is gonna be here in a minute. He was helping someone in the infirmary. Connor went to get him." Turning to Will, the boy said, "I'm Michael Yew, son of Apollo. Who are you?"
"Will Solace," Will said, still feeling a bit in awe of the magical border.
Another boy walked toward them. He seemed about thirteen. His forest green eyes were full of life, and the sun illuminated his dark blonde hair wherever he walked. Looking at Will, he said, "I'm Lee Fletcher, head counselor of the Apollo Cabin. It's nice to meet you, Will."
As Will shook the hand that was offered to him, he said, "It's nice to meet you, too."
A girl from the crowd spoke up. "Aw! His southern accent is so cute!" The girl had black hair and blue eyes, and Will could see lots of guys staring at her.
Then, Will saw a man with a neatly trimmed beard in a wheelchair move forward. "Ah," He said, "Welcome back, Henry, Luke." Turning to address Will, he said, "This, my boy, is Camp Half-Blood, a safe place for all demigods. I trust that Luke and Henry explained what that is to you?" After Will nodded, he continued. "I am Chiron. And you, I believe I heard, are Will Solace. Is that correct?" Another nod from Will. "Well, Will, all we have to do now is wait for you to be claimed. Silena, will you please show Will around until dinner?"
The pretty girl from earlier stepped forward. "Of course, Chiron. C'mon, Will,"
When Will hesitated, Luke put a hand on his shoulder and encouraged him forward. "It's alright, Will. You can trust everyone here."
Will looked at Luke, and he realized that he did trust him. Smiling a little at Luke, he turned and followed Silena.
Will sat with Luke and the rest of the Hermes Cabin at the campfire that night. His whole day had been full of amazing sights. While it seemed dangerous (to Will, at least), the climbing wall had been pretty cool. He had spent a while staring and waving at the nymphs in the lake before Silena had huffed and told him to stop encouraging them. When Will had asked what she meant, she had smirked at him and said she'd tell him when he was a little older. She had proceeded to show him the archery range, the sword fighting arena, Zeus' Fist, the pegasus stables, and the firework beach. Luke had kept him by his side ever since the tour was over, explaining that he would be in the Hermes' Cabin until he was claimed by his father. Luke had guided him through dinner, and now he was steering Will through his first campfire.
They had just finished singing "This Land is Minos' Land" when everyone suddenly gasped and turned to stare at Will. A little anxious, Will asked Luke, "What's going on?"
Luke was staring at a point directly above Will's head. Grinning, and not moving his eyes, he replied, "Will, look up,"
Will did, and what he saw took his breath away. There, floating above his head, casting a radiant glow over Will, was a golden lyre. Will stared at it, awestruck, wondering what it meant.
Luke said, "You are Will Solace, son of Apollo, god of music, poetry, medicine, archery, and a ton of other things."
From across the fire, Lee Fletcher stood up. "Will! Come and join your family!" After an encouraging nudge from Luke, Will did. He was received with warm smiles and enthusiastic clapping from his brothers and sisters. He felt so...appreciated. He had literally only just found out that he had half-brothers and sisters, but he already felt like this was where he was meant to be, and that these people were the people he was meant to be around. Okay, maybe he wasn't completely sure about his new siblings yet. But he wanted to find out all that he could about them. And he had a gut feeling that he would like them.
Lee guided Will to an empty seat between him and Michael. A girl a little older than him turned around from in front of Will so that she could talk to him. She had auburn hair and honey eyes. "I'm Ally," she said, smiling at him warmly. "Where are you from, Will?"
He smiled right back at her and said, "I'm from Tennessee,"
A couple more girls turned around. "Aw, I love your southern twang!" one gushed.
"Hey, Will, your mother wouldn't happen to be Naomi Solace, would she?" the other asked.
He nodded. The three girls squealed. "She's one of my favorite country artists!" Ally said. "She has a real gift- it's no wonder Will here exists. If I was Apollo, I'd want to-"
"Woah!" Lee said. Will felt Lee's hands cover his ears. Though muffled, Will could make out Lee's voice saying, "He's seven, Ally, watch what you say. Brooke, Fae, quit interrogating him. Let him enjoy his first campfire in peace." Lee's hands left his ears.
Rolling their eyes at Lee, the three girls all turned around.
Will had a great time at the campfire. As head counselor, Lee led a lot of the songs, and it was cool to see him singing into a microphone and playing the acoustic guitar. Will's mom might have earned a living through music, but Will thought it was impressive no matter how often he saw it. He couldn't even dream of being able to play a guitar and sing at the same time. Remembering the words and tune to a song while playing an instrument flawlessly? To Will, it was as difficult as climbing the rock wall while tying your shoe.
Afterwards, Lee led them back to the Apollo Cabin. Michael kept pace with Will and pointed out different people to him on the way back. "See that girl over there with the Ares campers? She's tough, and trouble. Never pick a fight with her. Over there, those two guys are the Stoll brothers. They prank everyone. If it happens to you, don't take it personally unless you did something to get on their bad side. Lee does a good job threatening them, so you shouldn't have to worry about them right now, especially since they're not supposed to prank the new campers." Michael pointed to a group of kids, the majority of which had grey eyes. "See that girl with the blonde, curly hair? That's Annabeth. She's only nine, but she's one of the smartest campers. She's also beginning to show promise with a dagger."
"Does everyone here fight?" Will asked, eyes going a bit wide. His stomach clenched at the thought. Will didn't think he'd ever be able to hurt anyone- demigod, mortal, or monster. It just didn't sit right with him. Hurting people...he thought it would hurt him more than he would be able to hurt them.
To Will's dismay, Michael nodded. "Well, yeah. We have to defend ourselves from monsters, y'know? If we don't fight...we die. I know it sounds harsh, but the sooner you know that, the more likely it is you'll survive."
They arrived at the Apollo Cabin. Will thought it looked incredible. It was made of pau amarillo wood, and the whole cabin seemed to glow. The windows reflected the light from the dying sun, and were designed so that Will couldn't see inside of them from outside the cabin. He observed the intricate design on the columns. It looked like laurel leaves had been carved into the wood. There was a statue of a guy that Will could only assume was Apollo holding a lyre on the porch. By the door was a huge quiver stocked full of golden arrows.
It was just as impressive on the inside. As Will entered the cabin after Michael and Lee, he stared at his surroundings. There was a skylight in the ceiling, and it let in just enough light to illuminate the cabin. Bunk beds were lined against two of the walls, two trunks placed at the bottom of each one. There were two bathrooms, both located against the back wall. Everyone made their way toward their respective beds, chatting amongst themselves. Will stood in the doorway awkwardly. Thankfully, Lee came over to him.
"Here, Will," he said. "This will be your bed. It's one of the only empty bunk beds, so you won't have to worry about climbing up and down at night, or anyone climbing above you. My bed is right here," Lee pointed to the bed directly to the left of Will's, the bottom bunk. "If you ever need anything or you just can't sleep, feel free to wake me up- I won't mind. You can put your things in this trunk," Lee led him over to one of the trunks by his bunk. He helped Will to unpack the few things he had with him: a few shirts, a couple of pairs of jeans, underwear, some socks, and an extra pair of shoes. His mom had also packed him a picture of the two of them. It had been taken on Will's seventh birthday. They had gone canoeing that day, and Will was leaning against his mom's chest. They were both smiling, the sun reflecting on the water behind them. Will had on a big orange lifesaver, and Mama had almost dropped her phone while taking the picture, resulting in the picture appearing a little lopsided. But both of them loved it, and Will was glad that she had packed it for him.
"C'mon," Lee said. "Let's introduce you to everybody." Lee sat next to Will on Will's bed and told Will to cover his ears before whistling loudly to get everyone's attention. "Alright, guys! As you all know, we have a new sibling!" There were cheers, and Will felt warm inside. "Guys, this is Will Solace. He's seven, and he only just arrived at camp, so explain things to him as they happen. Now, let's play a game. Everyone say their name, age, and three facts about themselves- two general facts, and one that no one in here has heard before. I'll start." Smiling, Lee continued. "My name is Lee Fletcher, I'm thirteen, and I am head counselor. That didn't count as a fact, by the way. I'm good at archery and I can play the acoustic guitar really well, but I can only play the acoustic guitar. By the way, Will, I'm also head medic, so if you get hurt, make sure you come see me. Anyway, my fact that no one has heard before...hmm...I know! I love wood carving."
There were exclamations of Really? and That's so cool, Lee!
"Oh! I'll go next!" A girl of about nine with curly dark hair and grey eyes went next. "My name is Camille Byers, I'm a pianist, my favorite color is violet, and...my favorite band is Simple Plan." There were squeals of excitement as well as disbelieving snorts. Then one of the girls from the campfire began.
"I'm Abby Mccarthy, I play the violin, I'm kind of OCD, and I...I want to become a journalist."
Encouragement and support was spoken to her before Fae spoke up. "I'm Fae Harlow, I can sing in English, Italian, and Portuguese, I-" she blushed slightly here, her hazel eyes becoming more prominent even though her caramel hair had fallen into her face. "I have an anxiety disorder." She started to rush out her words. "I mean, I know everyone has anxiety, but I get it bad, like I can't even order something at Starbucks because I feel like the barista will judge me, and I over think literally everything, and-"
"Fae," Lee interrupted gently. "It's okay. No one here will judge you. We're a family- we love you the way you are, okay?"
A slightly teary eyed and red-faced Fae nodded, eyes shining with appreciation for Lee's words.
"Now," Lee continued. "Why don't you say your last fact?"
Fae smiled and continued. "I really like it when it snows." Nearly everyone in the cabin looked at her like she was crazy. "I know it's weird because Apollo is the sun god, but there's something really romantic about snow, isn't there?"
Surprisingly, Michael was the one to smile at her. "Yeah, I guess there is, Fae. But you still won't find me outside in winter if I don't have to be. Thank goodness camp's boundaries keep rain and snow out. I guess I'll go next. I'm Michael Yew, I'm an archer, I hate people who lie, and Edgar Allan Poe is my favorite poet."
Lee looked mildly impressed. "I didn't know you liked poetry,"
"Can I go next?" Brooke asked. She had brown, chin-length hair and striking green-grey eyes. Freckles dotted her nose and cheeks. Will figured she was also around nine. Without waiting for a response, Brooke said, "I'm Brooke Kimbert, I love horseback riding, I love doing charcoal drawings, and...I don't like the dark." People started murmuring sentiments, talking about how they didn't like the dark either.
A boy who looked about eight with dark skin, brown eyes, and black hair said, "I'm Alec Daltroy, I write music, I'm from Colorado, and I...guys, I want to try to learn how to fight with a sword."
Lee looked mildly surprised, but nodded thoughtfully. "I'll see if we can get one of the Ares kids or maybe even Luke to teach you."
Alec beamed, and a boy who also seemed about eight years old with violet eyes and messy mocha colored hair spoke up. "My name is Cyrus Etheridge. I write poetry," He grinned, and Will had never seen someone look more proud of themself. "Canoeing is my favorite camp activity, and...oh! Did you guys know that Elizabeth Morgan in the Aphrodite Cabin is my cousin?"
"No. Way." Brooke said, slack-jawed.
"Woah," Fae gasped, eyes wide.
"Alright, my turn!" A guy who looked like he was slightly younger than Lee- twelve, maybe?- interrupted everyone's speculations. "I'm Edmund Bickmore, I'm a strategist, I play percussion instruments, and…" He purposefully trailed off, grinning like the Chesire Cat, his silver eyes glinting through his long chestnut hair. "I just started dating Bethany Lomeli from the Athena Cabin."
"What?! Why didn't you say something?" Ally screeched, throwing a pillow at him.
Laughing, Edmund dodged it. "Relax! We only started dating a couple days ago."
After everyone had settled down, Edmund turned to him and said, "It's your turn, Will."
Suddenly nervous, Will swallowed. He didn't know what to say. But, he thought, if everyone else could tell him something about themselves, then he could tell them all something about himself. But what should he say? "Uh, I'm Will Solace, I'm from Tennessee, my mom is an alt-country singer, and...I want to be a doctor."
"Cool," Michael said, smiling at him.
"I'm sure you'll make a great doctor!" Fae said supportively.
Everyone told him similar things, until Lee shouted to get their attention. "Alright, guys! I know this has been an exciting day, but it's time to wind things down." Groans accompanied his words. "I know, I know. But Will's had an exhausting day, and it's time for him- and everyone else- to rest. Tomorrow we'll show him the ropes." Turning to Will, Lee said, "I'll have you go do something different with each person. That way not everyone will be pushing and shoving to take you to the archery range. You and I can work on a schedule in the morning. How does that sound?"
Will smiled gratefully. "That sounds great," he said, before yawning.
Lee smiled gently at him. "C'mon, let's get you to bed."
As Will lied on his bed, his thoughts drifted to his mother. He wondered what she was doing. Was she thinking of him? Will really missed her. He wished she could be here to sing him a lullaby, the way she did when he was a baby. One of his earliest memories was of her singing to him. He couldn't remember what song, but he remembered that it was comforting and soft.
Then he perked up slightly. Mama had said that she would keep in touch with him! All Will had to do was wait until she called him, or wrote him a letter. And he would be patient. He knew that she was very busy with work. Will would wait as long as it took.
And with that thought bringing a smile to his face, Will fell asleep.
A/N: Thank you for reading!