We walked through the camp, Benjamin didn't talk much, he seemed to be taking in the scenery of camp. I don't blame him, Camp Half-Blood was an incredible place, and the weather was always nice. But I just couldn't wait for tomorrow, when we start activities, the thought of capture the flag and sword fighting lessons made me happy, which is something I barely ever felt until I came to the camp. But I was looking for one person in particular, Johnny Harkens.
Throughout my last summer Johnny was practically my best friend, we did everything together, for better or worse. And I almost forgot, Bethany was around here somewhere, she was another one of my good friends. Last year, all three of us went on a quest together, that's why we're all close, I couldn't wait to see them. But knowing Johnny he's probably gotten himself into some kind of trouble.
But as me and Benjamin were walking up to the lunch pavilion I looked around, and I saw some people sitting at a table. I recognized who it was and smiled. Sitting at the end of the table was Johnny. His dreadlocks had grown longer, but other then that he was the same. Same grin and cocky look he always had like he just did a backflip after someone said he couldn't, I missed it. "Johnny!" I called out to him. "Johnny?" Benjamin asked me. I forgot Benjamin was new. "He's a friend." I told him. Benjamin shrugged his shoulders and looked in another direction. Johnny looked over and saw me. "Nick!" He said with a grin. He said something to the people he was sitting with and stood up straight. He started walking over to me with a smile.
We walked in front of each other, he reached out his hand and I grabbed it and pulled him in for a man hug. It was nice to see him, but I noticed he also got a little taller, but not to much, he was maybe 5'8, shorter then me but he was taller, and just as skinny. He let go of me and looked at me.
"Gods it's good to see you, I missed you dude." He said. I laughed a bit. "Yeah me too, it was boring without you." I said. He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, so boring dating the hottest girl in camp huh?" He asked with a smirk. I felt my cheeks blush. "We're not dating." I said as pushed him a bit nervously, but I knew he was joking...hopefully.
I heard benjamin cough next to me. "Oh yeah, this is Benjamin." I told him. Benjamin stepped forward. "Son of Athena." He said like a kid introducing himself to a teacher. Johnny looked at him weird. "Johnny, son of Hermes." He said awkwardly. Benjamin smiled and nodded.
Not gonna lie, I was trying not to laugh, this was really funny. Benjamin seemed like this introvert nerd, and Johnny was like the opposite, expt for the nerd part, Johnny is a bit of a nerd, he was wearing a pac-man shirt afterall. But he also had on a nice looking watch, it looked golden and had different engravings on it, really nice and sleek.
"New watch Johnny?" I asked him. He held his hand over it when i said that nd looked nervous, even scared. "Um, yeah." He said silently. I backed up a bit, this isn't like Johnny. "Um, okay." I said.
I looked over at Benjamin and he looked just as confused as me, but Johnny shook his head a bit and smiled. "Well, follow me Nick, I met some new people." He said changing the subject. I figured it was the people he was talking to before he came to see me, but the watch bothered me, I'll keep an eye on it. "Sure, always want to see people willing to be your friend." I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes and started walking back to the table. Me and Benjamin followed.
We walked up to the table, and the people sitting looked interesting. There were three people. One guy looked really big, I guessed he was tall but I couldn't tell because he was sitting down, but I'd say maybe 6'2. He looked cherokee, and had long curly messy hair that covered up the sides of his face and left his brown eyes in the open. His face on the other hand looked nice, no acne or anything, he reminded me a lot of Moana. And to top all that off, he was huge, but I couldn't tell if it was muscle or fat, but he definitely looked strong. His outfit was simple, he just had on a heavy winter jacket and jeans.
The girl next to him looked like the preppy girl at school. Her hair was scarlet red and was let down, and pair of sunglasses was resting on the top of her forehead. She was wearing a white tank top with a rainbow on it, and she had jean shorts. She was really skinny and I could tell she was kinda short. He eyes looked like the color wheel in art class, not one color but a bunch of them. They were beautiful actually. It was hard to take my off of them.
And the last guy was standing next to the table, but he stuck out to me for some reason. He was a pale tall lean asian guy, his hair was pitch black and thick, and looked greasy and messy, like Bruce Lee, well if bruce Lee slept the night under a trailer. He had on black jeans and a white shirt, but over it was a black leather jacket with pockets and straps, really nice. But his eyes, they were black, like the inside of a black hole, a shiver went down my back when I looked into his eyes. And he looked up dead at me, studying me. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and he looked somewhere else.
"Guys this is Nick, the son of Boreas I was telling you about, and that is Benjamin." Johnny said snapping me out of my thoughts. "Oh hi, I'm Holly." The girl said loudly, her voice reminded me a lot of the loud drama kids at me and Lacy's school who wouldn't be quiet, the ones that bug me the most. "Yeah, she's the daughter of Iris, the goddess of rainbows." Johnny said gesturing to her. Holly stood up, and I saw she was really short, like maybe 4'10. "So you already know your mom?" I asked her looking down at her. She nodded. "I helped mom run the shop in Alaska, but recently my big brother Butch came around and invited me to camp, so here I am." She said, but she sang that last part in a high pitch, made my ear hurt. "Oh that's cool." I said the fact that my ear was ringing.
"Yeah, she met with us three at my school." Johny said. "Cool." I said. I looked over and noticed Benjamin was gone, smart move to be honest, no pun intended. I looked back and my eyes drifted to the asian guy again, and he noticed. "Oh I'm Blake by the way." He said walking up to me. He reached out his hand, I took it and shook his hand. His hands were cold and pale, he creeped me out, and I could feel the rough callus marks on his hand. We let go and I backed up just a bit. "So who's your godly parent?" I asked Blake. "Um, Hades, but don't go telling people." He said quietly. Hades, I remember him, I still have the favor he owes me, the card was kept in my bag. "Well nice to meet you, and what about this guy." I said looking at the big guy. He looked up at me and smiled. "Oh, I'm Finn." He said.
His voice was actually a normal pitch, I'd expect him to have a deep low voice like a giant, but it sounded normal, like Chris Evans. But before I could say anything back, I heard someone behind me. "Oh Jonathan!" I heard someone yell. Johnny's face changed, and I knew why.
David was walking up to us with a grin. "You made some friends, good for you," he looked at all of them one by one. "are they blind or just too kind?" He asked with a grin. He walked up and slapped Johnny on the shoulders. I saw Holly back up a bit, and Blake was just standing and watching, the only person who seemed affected was Finn and Johnny. Johnny took a breath and looked back at david. "No, they're just friends of mine." Johnny said, but his voice cracked a bit. "Yeah, well we got Bruce Lee, a little middle schooler, and warchief of the cherokees." David said with a smile. At that comment Finn looked up at him. "What did you call me?" Finn asked looking back. He had an angry look, I actually wanted to see how strong he was, so I stepped back.
"You heard me fat boy, you got a problem?" David asked him. I saw Finn grit his teeth. "Yeah, don't call me that." Finn said, I could tell he was holding back anger, but it didn't make him any less scarier. "Well I don't care, so take this!" David said, he then reached his hand back and slapped the back of Finn's back with a loud smack. Finn arched his back in pain. Then he sat straight up. I saw people look in his direction, waiting to see what he would do, a few walked up to see the showdown, of David beating a newbie. There were maybe ten campers around us.
But Finn unzipped his jacket and took it off, to where he was just wearing a white shirt. "Oh no, he took off his jacket!" David said mocking him. I heard some people whisper around us. Finn slammed his fists on the table and turned in his seat to where he was facing David. And he stood up, and oh my lord, I had no words
I thought he was 6'2 maybe, but know that he was standing up, he looked 6'10, and I wasn't sure if it was fat at first, it wasn't, just huge bulging muscles. He stood up looking down on David, and David's smirk was gone. "Wow." I said silently. Johnny smiled a bit and crossed his arms next to Finn and faced David. David looked like he was trying to come up with an excuse, but couldn't make up the words to say it.
"Now here's the thing, that was a test, I'm David son of Ares, and you must be a child of Ares too, right?" David asked him whimpering a bit. "I don't know and I don't care, so get out of my face." Finn said looking down at him. "Yeah, well you're definitely a son of Ares, so get back to me later-" He stopped and looked around. "-I got to go somewhere, bye." David said. He turned and ran off like a scared dog with his tail between his legs.
A few of the kids walked off laughing bit and I stood there staring at Finn in awe, most of which were campers who were bullied by David themselves. "Jeez Finn, we showed him, didn't we?" Johnny said with a smile. "He thinks he's so big, but he's weak." Finn said with a smile. Then he turned around and smiled. "Sorry, I'm normally nice, but he just got me mad." He said with a million dollar smile, his teeth were straight pearly white, pretty nice actually. But Holly didn't seem to care, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "We've been over this Finn, don't apologize for everything." Holly told him. "I know, I'm sorry I just can't help it." He said apologizing for saying sorry to much. "Finn!" Holly yelled at him. He was about to say something but Johnny interrupted. "Honestly, you just nearly killed David, don't apologize." Johnny said laughing. Then Holly stepped in and started to argue with Johnny, but I lost track of their conversation, I was looking at Blake.
He wasn't saying anything, but looking off in the distance, but it looked like the grass around his feet was turning black. I was staring at it, but I felt something hit the top of my shoulder and it scared the crap out of me. "AGH!" I said jumping forward. I turned and saw Percy laughing. He was smiling and looked like a dad who scared his kid. "Sorry dude, couldn't help it." He said laughing. "Yeah, good to see you Percy." I said with a smile It was good to see him, I felt close to him because we both escaped my dad's palace last year. He was wearing the usual, camp shirt and khaki shorts. His green eyes looked welcoming and happy, just how he acted.
"Oh hey Percy, what's up?" I heard Johnny ask. Finn stood up and waked next to me, I assumed Percy had already met Finn, because he didn't seem surprised when he saw him. "Well, Chiron asked me to get Nick and Blake." He told us. I felt a pain in my stomach, my first day back and Chiron already needs to see me. "Did I do something wrong?" Blake asked him. But I looked down and I noticed when he moved the grass was turning back to its green color, weird. Percy didn't seem to notice though, he just kept talking. "No, maybe he wants you guys to get two deserts or something." Percy said with a smile. Blake still looked worried though, I didn't blame him. But if we're both in trouble, might as well go with a smile. "Hey we're good man, let's just go." I told him, He nodded but still looked scared, I feel like he knew something I didn't, and I hated that feeling
"Alright, well, we'll see you guys later, we're checking out the archery range." Johnny said with a grin. "Yeah man, we'll catch up with you later." I told him. He waved and walked off, leaving just me, Blake, and Percy. But Percy walked up and put each hand on one of our shoulders. "Follow me dudes." Percy said as he turned us to the direction of the big house.
But while were walking I noticed Blake was very quiet and looked nervous, anxious, like he knew something was about to happen. I didn't want to stare, but it was hard when he looked like he saw a ghost. Percy wasn't any better, he was dead quiet, just great, I love awkward times.
We walked up to the big house, it looked the same, a big white house with a large porch in the front and rocking chairs on it. "Chiron's inside, but I gotta run, see you guys later." Percy said. "See ya Percy." I said as I waved. He smiled and walked off. I figured Blake hasn't met Chiron, so I probably had to explain to him that he was a centaur. "So don't be alarmed, but Chiron is a-" I was saying, but he cut me off. "A centaur, I've met him." He told me. Oh, well now I look stupid. "Oh, well let's go in." I said, guess I was wrong. He nodded and we both walked in.
Chiron was in the living room waiting, when he saw me and he smiled. But there was another guy next to him. They guy had messy curly hair and a rough beard. He had on a yellow leopard print shirt and khaki pants, along with brown sandals with socks. But I knew who he was, Dionysus the god of wine who I saved last year. He looked bored, even when I stepped in. "Agh, the famous Dick Jones." He said. I hesitated, I figured he would at least know my name. "Nick Snow you mean." I corrected him. "Whatever, I'm Mr. D, counselor next to Chiron." He told me as he took a sip, of what looked like some kind of cola.
Chiron sighed out loud, and he put his hand up to quiet Dionysus, or Mr. D I should say. "Anyways, you're probably wondering why we brought you in here." Chiron told me changing the subject. "Yeah, what's wrong?" I asked him. "Nothing's wrong, with you at least-" His eyes drifted to Blake. "-it's with Blake." Chiron told me. I looked back at Blake, but he still looked scared, looking at the ground. "Well what's wrong with him?" I asked them. He hesitated, but Mr. D didn't at all. "His father." Mr. D told me in a boring tone. I looked at him confused. "Hades?" I asked them. Chiron and Mr. D looked at eachother. "No, it's not Hades, I'll let Blake tell you." Chiron said gesturing to Blake. I nodded and looked back at Blake. He took a breath and looked up at me with a straight look.
"My father is Erebus, the primordial god of darkness." He told me.