Disclaimer: All characters, settings, or other story components taken from the Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and Trials of Apollo series belongs to JK Rowling and Rick Riordan, respectively. I do not own any of the aforementioned. I do not intend to use this story commercially.

A/N: Greetings! This is the third chapter to The Worlds Before Us. For the sake of the rest of the plot, I have disregarded the general plot of the Trials of Apollo. Thus, the story will not be fully canon and you may recognize some components that do not hold with the new books. I apologize: I wrote this mainly before reading The Hidden Oracle. On that note, this story will contain general spoilers through The Blood of Olympus and will contain story components taken from The Deathly Hallows. I will try to get the next chapter published by next weekend, 13 and 14 May, but again, I might not be able to. Please read and review! (Thank you to errydaymPurple, bad girl zainab, and Articwolf4123 for being so kind to leave reviews!)

I'm lying on my back somewhere. Everything is muddled … insubstantial. I can hear thumping footsteps. Voices ring out in a cacophony, floating back to me in fragmented pieces. I'm vaguely aware of sun on my eyes, and a horrible warmth near my abdomen. When someone scoops me up, my nerves prickle with fire, pain pooling in my stomach. All my thoughts swirl; running in circles - around, around, in circles, around, circles in a round, through and through and by and by until everything blends together into nothing.

I awake with a gasp, pain throbbing in my temples. My vision is blurred and warped, and it takes me a moment to blink it back into focus.

I'm lying on a cot, staring up at a whitewashed ceiling. The room smells sanitized and sterilized, like a Muggle doctor's office. When I turn my head, I see beds stretched out in a long room lined with windows on one side. I'm the only visitor - patient? - in the room, but there's space for plenty of people.

A door opens behind me. I turn my head to see a tall, blond boy turning to close a closet door, holding some sort of bottle.

"Hello?" I try to say, but my voice cracks and I end up coughing.

The boy turns on his heel at the sound of my voice and starts smoothly toward me.

"You're awake," he says in greeting, reaching for the chair by my bedside. "How are you feeling?"

"Thirsty," I tell him, my voice rasping. "And my side hurts."

He doesn't look surprised. "Here." He unscrews the lid of his flask, pouring some of it into a glass from my bedside table. "Can you drink this?"

I manage to take the cup. As soon as I take a sip, however, I spit the liquid back out into the glass. "Holy cricket!"

He raises an eyebrow, looking amused. "Does it taste odd to you?"

I stare at the cup and then back at him. "Sticky buns. How - no, why?!"

He laughs. "Drink it. It'll make you feel better. I promise."

I warily take a sip of the drink, swallowing it this time. I manage to finish half of it before I hand it back to him, the taste of sticky buns sweet in my mouth.

He takes the cup, setting it back down. "Feel better?"

"Actually, yes." The drink has sent fizzles of warmth through me, dulling the pain in my side. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." The boy stands up, reaching for the flask. "I'm Will," he says, offering his hand. I reach to shake it as he continues. "I'm the head of the infirmary here." He turns to put the flask back into the supply closet.

"I'm Sophy," I answer as he takes a familiar bag from the closet. Suddenly, I gasp and prop myself up on my elbows. "Liliya!"

"Sorry?" He puts my bag down by the nightstand.

"Liliya. My dog. Have you seen-"

"Frank's taking care of her," he reassures me. "She's perfectly fine, although she almost bit Percy."

"I apologize," I say, relieved. "She's a East-European Shepherd, a guard dog. She does that when she's angry. May I please see her?"

He shakes his head apologetically. "Sorry. No dogs in the infirmary."

"Oh." I lean back on the pillow. "So. Why exactly am I in here?" I assume I got Splinched, I just want to know the specifics.

"Your side," he says, pointing to a lump of bandages under my blouse. "It's like someone carefully sliced off an area of skin. The wound is perfectly round and smooth. I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I," I say truthfully. "Did anyone else get hurt?"

"Not as badly as you did," he says, sitting back down. "Thalia bruised her shin, but it's healed now. Leo lost a toenail, of all things. I can't imagine how. Everyone else is fine."

I sigh in relief. Thank goodness. I didn't accidentally kill anyone.

"What time is it?" I ask suddenly, noticing the sun outside. I was right; we are right by the ocean.

He checks his watch. "Just about noon. You've been in here for a little over a day."

A day! Amelie is going to kill me, I realize. I've got to find a way to Owl her.

"Will!" An unfamiliar girl bursts through the infirmary door. "We need you for a moment on the archery range."

Will bounces to his feet. "Sure. Sophy, I'll be back in a minute. Will you be okay?"

I nod. "Of course. Go ahead."

He disappears after the girl, leaving me alone in the infirmary.

I breathe in the calm stillness, propping myself up on my elbows. The pain in my side has dulled remarkably, and it barely throbs when I sit up. Thirsty, I reach for the cup of liquified sticky buns. To my shock, it now tastes like pumpkin juice. Is this some sort of flavor-changing health drink? I wonder, curious.

Careful not to disturb the injury, I slide my wand out of my pocket and flick it to magically remove the bandages. The wound looks surprisingly healed for only being a day old, but it still makes me cringe.

"Okay," I say to myself. I'm not stupid enough to take off while injured, but I don't want to be cooped up in this infirmary for days on end. So … "Accio Dittany."

The brown vial from my bag almost hits me in the face, but I manage to catch and uncork it. I squeeze a few drops onto my side, waving the cloud of green smoke away from my face. The injury looks several days older, I notice, and hurts far less.

Waving my wand, I replace the bandages. I reach for the cup on my bedside table, wondering what flavor the drink will be this time. It tastes like Yorkshire pudding, another food that shouldn't really be liquified.

Will reenters just as I'm setting down the empty glass. He's looking a bit annoyed, but his face relaxes a bit when he notices my empty glass.

"Good. You finished that." He reaches over to take the glass. "How are you feeling?"

With the combined effect of the health drink and the dittany, I'm feeling great. "Fantabulous," I tell him. "May I please get up now?"

He frowns. "You're injured. I don't think that's a good idea."

"At least check to see when I can," I plead. "Pretty please?"

He gets up to move to my other side, muttering something under his breath. I wait patiently as he undoes my bandages by hand, although I'm practically itching to get up and moving again.

Suddenly he stops and I turn to look at him. He's staring at my side, incredulous.

"So?" I prompt, trying not to grin.

He looks up at me and then back at my wound. "How the Hades did you heal so quickly?"

I feign innocence. "Did I?"

"Quite."

"Oh." I realize I'm twirling my hair around one finger and drop my hand to my lap. "Who knows? Maybe your weird health drink just worked really well."

He purses his lips. "Could be. At any rate, I'm still keeping you in here overnight, just to be safe. Are you hungry? You just missed lunch."

"A bit. Did you miss lunch, too?"

He shakes his head, reapplying the bandages. "No. I ate earlier. Do you want something to eat?"

"That would be great."

"'Kay. I'll be right back." He disappears through the door. I can distantly hear him calling to someone.

I reach for my wand, drawing it out of my pocket as quickly as possible. I really don't want to spend a whole other night in this hospital wing; I'm willing to risk a little more magic.

"Erm. Episkey." I tap my side. I can't feel anything happening. "Vulnus … oh, what was it? Vulnus san … erm … sanat! Vulnus sanat."

An odd prickling flows over my side. A mental image springs to mind of a layer of skin knitting itself into place. I repeat the spell for good luck before slipping my wand back into my pocket.

Will reenters the room just as I finish putting my wand away. His hair is all askew, as if it's windy outside. Swinging the closet door open again, he reaches for a flask.

"Nico's bringing you a bite to eat. He'll be here in a moment or two. You still doing okay?"

"I'm fine," I answer.

There's a minute of awkward silence, broken by the door opening. A short, dark-haired boy is standing in the doorway, holding a plate loaded with food. Will stands up to take the plate just as the boy - Nico? - opens his mouth.

"Sophy, I'm so, so sorry you're injured, I never should've said that I could take everyone back because obviously I couldn't because you're hurt and I misjudged and it's my fault for trying to come all this way and I'm an idiot for it because now you got injured and everyone else is all shaken up and I am a dunce head for trying to make this whole journey and -

I try to interrupt, "Nico, it wasn't strictly your fault-"

"-and I know my limits and I have no idea what made me think I could travel from the freaking Scottish Highlands all the way here-"

"-Nico, just calm down-"

"-I mean, what if we'd never made it out? I'd never forgive myself if you lot died and it was my fault and Hades, we could've died and it would've been my fault and-"

"Nico, shut up and let me talk, Merlin, won't you-"

"-and you deserve a huge apology because you were completely blameless and you still got injured-"

"Nico, please shut up! Nico!"

"-and I'm sorry, really sorry, so sorry-"

"NICO! WILL YOU SHUT IT?"

He freezes in mid sentence. Will, now holding the plate of food, is looking at us with vague amusement.

I lean back slightly with a sigh. "Thank you. Your apology is accepted. Although I would argue it's not strictly your fault, seeing as how I asked to come," he opens his mouth to argue, "but I'll leave it be. For now. Thanks for the food, by the way."

He blinks at me. "Um, you're welcome?"

Will grins at Nico. "Speaking of food, have you eaten yet today?"

Nico rolls his eyes, exasperated. "Uh-huh."

"Really eaten? A full, healthy meal?"

"Yes."

"With actual healthy stuff like fruits and veggies?"

"Yes."

"And you finished it all?"

"Yes, mother dearest. I ate all my fruits and veggies. Oh, and I've got to go now. I'll see you when your shift ends."

Will jumps up to follow Nico out the door calling, "Breakfast and lunch? Nico? Nico? Did you eat both breakfast and lunch?"

I'm almost certain Nico blew Will a raspberry on his way out the door.

A few hours pass, along with one meal, two cups of flavor-changing drink, a few discreet spells, and a lot of persuasion. Finally, Will agrees to let me out of the infirmary.

"You have to drop in after dinner," he tells me firmly as I tie my shoelaces. "And no running or rock-climbing or anything else strenuous. Understand?"

"Of course," I say, tugging the laces secure.

"Excellent. Oh, and just to be safe, if Leo asks you to hold something, it's probably not a good idea."

I digest this morsel of information, a bit bemused. "Okay?"

"Let's see. I think that covers everything necessary."

I sling my bag over my shoulder, contemplating the classification of the Leo warning as necessary. "Marvellous."

Will turns to the window, squinting in the glare of the sun. "I'm going to introduce you to Chiron, our activities director. He'll get you oriented. I'll see you at dinner at the latest."

"See you, too." I stand and follow Will out the door and into a wallpapered hallway. He leads me around a corner, through a foyer, and onto a wrap-around porch.

"Hello, Will," a voice says, making me jump. To our left sits a man in a wheelchair, turned to face the water. "And you must be Sophy."

"Yes," I say, reaching to shake his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you," the man - Chiron - says amicably. "Thank you, Will, for taking care of Sophy."

"You're perfectly welcome," Will says, backing up toward the door. "See you, Chiron."

Chiron gives Will a nod as he disappears back inside. "Sophy. Would you like to pull up a chair?"

"Sure," I say, taking a chair from a nearby table and placing it next to Chiron.

"So. Sophy." Chiron turns to me. "How much have Will and the others told you so far?"

"Not much, I say honestly. "I know your name is Chiron. I know that Nico can do a travelling-thingamabobber. I know that you have a strange flavor-changing health drink, and I know that your campers use Crusades-era weapons to kill giant dog-monsters. And that pretty much sums it all up."

"I see." Chiron looks out over the camp, apparently lost in thought. Suddenly, he turns back to me. "Sophy, have you ever heard of the Greek gods?"

I blink in surprise. Greek gods? "Er, yes. I have. Why?"

Chiron takes a slow breath in. "Sophy, I am afraid there is no complex way to say this. Gods, whom you call Greek gods, are still very much extant and alive in our modern world today."

I almost laugh. "Alive. The Greek gods were myths, stories to explain natural phenomenons. Stories are not alive."

Chiron gives a small sigh, as if he's used to this response. "But the gods are not merely stories, Sophy. They are living entities - strong, powerful, and very influential." He waves an arm at the sprawling view of camp. "This camp exists solely for that the gods are in existence. If not for the gods, none of this would be here."

I frown and he continues. "This is a camp for demigods, Sophy. Half-gods, half-bloods. Children of the Greek gods and mortals. Every camper you've met so far is a demigod, Sophy. One of their parents is a mortal human. The other is a Greek god."

I sit in silence, contemplating this statement. One half of my mind is screaming, NO! This is not possible. This cannot be true. This is utter madness! However, something in me knows that what Chiron is telling me is true. Why else would the blond girl have asked me about my parents? How else would I be able to fly? What other explanation is there for the giant-dog monster in the woods? I don't know which is more unnerving, that Chiron is telling me this or that it all is clicking together like clockwork.

I stand up and lean on the railing, watching the surf crash on the distant beach.

"Let's say you're right," I propose softly, eyes on the water. "Every camper here is a half-god. Are they all like Heracles, from the legends? Extremely strong and slightly lacking in brains?"

Chiron laughs, rolling his wheelchair up to the railing. "Thankfully, no. A campful of Heracleses - Heraclesi? - would be a handful. However, you were on the right track. Every camper here inherits some traits and abilities from their godly parent. For instance, Will Solace, whose father is Apollo, is an excellent medic."

I suck on my bottom lip, thinking. "Alright. So, if the Greek gods are real, are all of the other Greek myths true as well?"

Chiron nods. "Exactly. With the Greek gods come the Greek monsters."

"Like the giant dog monster," I recall. "It would have been…"

"A hellhound," Chiron says, "which is quite foreboding, considering hellhounds can only be summoned from the Fields of Punishment."

"Yeesh," I mutter. "Joy of joys."

Chiron gives a slight chuckle. "Quite. Now. As I was saying, this is a camp for demigods. We call it Camp Half-Blood. The camp is - for lack of better word - invisible to the mortal eye - not that mortals cannot get past the barriers on occasion. The camp is surrounded by a magical boundary, the core of which lies at Thalia's pine tree at the top of Half-Blood Hill, the main entrance to camp." He points to a lone pine tree at the top of a hill to our right. "The camp is not only home to demigods, as I mentioned, but also satyrs."

"Oh, they're real, too?" I blurt out, remembering the half-goat creatures from one of Matt's picture books. "Sorry. Please continue."

"The camp is also home to satyrs, partly due to the fact that Mr. D is the camp director."

"Mr. D?"

Chiron takes in a breath. "You would know him as Dionysus."

"The god of wine. What is he doing at a summer camp?"

Chiron makes a slight face. "He took a fancy to a wood nymph his father had declared off-limits. As a way of punishment, who was sent here."

"But … but isn't Dionysus married?"

Chiron simply raises an eyebrow.

"I thought Zeus was the one with all the affair thingies," I say, trying to piece together what I know.

Above us, the sky rumbles with thunder. I look up, but there isn't a cloud in sight.

"That is a bit of a touchy subject," Chiron says lightly. "I wouldn't go around throwing, ah, accusations."

I look up at the sky and shout, "Stop grumbling so much when you know it's true! It's not my fault you go chasing after every other pretty girl out there!"

More thunder. Chiron raises an eyebrow at me.

"Sorry. It is true."

"Yes, I know," Chiron says with a sigh. "Now. I believe you are ready for a tour of camp?"

I hop down off of the railing. "Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chiron."

He waves a hand. "Just Chiron, and you are quite welcome."

A few minutes later, I'm following the blond girl, Annabeth, away from the porch where Chiron still sits. She's reintroduced herself and brought me an orange camp shirt, and now I'm ready to go.

"So there's the Big House," she says, turning around to point at the building we just left. I turn around, taking in the general blueness of the farm house. "That's where Chiron and Mr. D stay. That's also where the infirmary is. We hold meetings there, too."

She turns and I follow her toward Half-Blood Hill. "Here's the volleyball court," she says unnecessarily, pointing to our right. "Up in front of us is Half-Blood Hill and Thalia's pine, the main entrance and exit from camp. Beyond that is mortal Long Island."

"Okay," I say, staring at the towering pine tree.

"If we come this way," she continues, turning around, "we're going to go by Arts and Crafts. Feel free to come by in your free time, there's a lot of really neat projects there."

I nod, taking in the sight of the marble building.

"And we're going to come this way," Annabeth says, leading me back toward the Big House. "I think I'll have time to show you the strawberry fields before it's time for dinner."

I follow her as she points out the canoe lake in the distance. "I'll show you the cabins on our way to dinner," Annabeth reassures me as I catch sight of an odd array of buildings. "Now, up here is the forge. That's where Cabin 9, the children of Hephaestus, work. They make the majority of the camp's weapons."

I nod, watching the steam rising from the building. "Can we go in?"

She checks her wristwatch. "Maybe. We're cutting it close; dinner will start in about twenty minutes. Oh, and the armory is back behind the forge. I'll take you there tomorrow to get your own weapons."

"My own weapons?"

"Of course," she says, turning to look at me. "All demigods need to learn to protect themselves. That's why this place exists; so Chiron can train us."

"Chiron." Suddenly, something clicks. "Chiron isn't the Chiron? From the stories? The centaur who trained Jason and Heracles and Perseus?"

"The one and only," Annabeth says matter-of-factly. "The wheelchair is just for first encounters and going out into the mortal world."

"Wow. Okay. Oh, what's that?"

Annabeth turns to look. "Just a pegasus."

"The Pegasus?"

"No, one of his offspring. We call all winged horses pegasi. And just beyond there is the pegasus stables."

I nod, trying to keep track of all the new information. Annabeth looks a bit sympathetic. "It's okay. This is a ton to take in in one afternoon. Oh, watch out for the strawberries!"

She pulls me away. I look down to see rows of low plants covering the hillsides.

"Why do you have strawberries?"

"To pay the bills. We sell them to restaurants in the city."

"Oh." I watch a boy in an orange shirt filling a basket with red berries. When he stands up, I start; from waist down, he looks to be some sort of animal.

"A satyr," Annabeth says in my ear, leading me by the arm.

I nod, tearing my shocked gaze away.

"And we'd better head this way; dinner's going to start soon," Annabeth says, pointing in the direction of the sea.

We walk toward the forge and the cabins beyond. Just as Annabeth opens her mouth to point out something or other, we hear calls behind us.

A group of campers is running our way from the stables. I recognize the blond boy from the Forbidden Forest. One of the boys, who sports dark hair, catches up first.

"Percy!" Annabeth explains, wrapping an arm around him. "Percy, meet Sophy. I'm giving her a tour. Sophy, this is Percy Jackson, my boyfriend."

"Hi," I say. "Nice to meet you."

"You, too," he says. He's about to say something else, but we're interrupted by a blur of fur.

"Liliya!" I exclaim, wrapping my arms around her. She's licking my face, tail wagging madly. "I missed you!"

She barks, letting me stand back up.

"She missed you, too," another boy says, jogging to join us. "I'm Frank, by the way. She kept trying to get into the Big House. It was a real job to keep her out."

"Thank you for taking care of her," I say sincerely.

"Anytime. I like dogs."

"I did once," Percy groused. "I don't like them so much when they're trying to bite me."

"I am sorry about that," I apologize.

"Hey, Annabeth!" a voice calls, and the rest of the group is catching up to us. Annabeth runs through a blur of names: JasonPiperHazelLeoThaliaCalypsoandRachel. I smile and wave, a bit overwhelmed, as we turn to continue on our way.

As we walk, Annabeth points out the practice arena, a Coliseum-like building, and the woods, which I am Never To Go Into Alone And Unarmed. The other teens chime in their own additions and stories, laughing and at ease.

"What's going on with these cabins?" I ask, pointing at the cluster of cabins we're just passing. Up close, the buildings are even stranger; each appears to be custom-designed. One is almost glowing. Another looks like it's been pulled from the ocean; a third appears to be a smaller version of the forge.

Since Annabeth is talking with Percy, a girl with braids answers. "They're each for the children of a different god or goddess, so each is designed according to that. Like that one there," and she points to the ocean-ish cabin, "is for the children of Poseidon. That's where Percy stays. And Cabin 5," she points to a red cabin outfitted with barbed wire, "is Ares. God of war."

"Which cabin is yours?" I ask, entranced with a cabin made entirely out of flowers.

"Cabin 10. Aphrodite." She directs my gaze to a cute cabin with a blue roof. "She's my mom. My dad … have you heard of Tristan McLean?"

"Never heard of him," I say honestly, and she looks a bit relieved.

"That's perfectly fine. This cabin here is for Athena," she says, pointing to a neat grey building. "Cabin 6. That one there is Cabin 4, Demeter." I nod as she indicates the plant-covered cabin I noticed before. "And way back there are Cabins 1 and 2, Zeus and Hera."

I turn to look back at the first two cabins, a pair of huge marble buildings. The one on the left looks a bit more masculine than the second, which has delicate columns and designs.

"Do all of the gods have demigod children?"

She shakes her head. "Not all. Hera doesn't, being the goddess of marriage. Artemis doesn't either." She points to a graceful, almost silvery cabin. "Their cabins are just honorary, although the Hunters of Artemis occasionally come to stay in Cabin 8."

"Oh." I walk along beside the girl, who continues to point out the remainder of the cabins: the ramshackle Cabin 11, a foreboding cabin she attributes to Nemesis, the simple Cabin 13 for Hades. As we pass the last row of cabins, a horn blows, echoing around the hills.

"That's the call for dinner," Annabeth says from behind me. "Let's go."

We're joined by a mass of campers who flood from the cabins, the stables, the forge, and even a few from the woods. I jump when a young girl, maybe only nine years old, melts straight out of a tree and joins the crush of teens.

"Dryad," a blond boy - is he called Jason? - tells me. "Don't worry."

"Oh. Okay," I say, feeling a bit confused.

"Are you liking camp so far?" another voice chimes in, and a girl steps up to my right. I recognize her from her red hair: Rachel.

"I think so. Everything is a bit overwhelming," I respond. And I need to figure out how to Owl Amelie and what exactly I'm going to do about this whole new world.

"I get that. I was so confused when I first came here," Rachel laughs. "I kept turning around and around: What's that? How about this? I think I drove Percy nuts."

I laugh, too. "You're a camper, too, right? What cabin are you in?"

She shakes her head. "I'm not a demigod, no. I'm the camp oracle. I technically go to boarding school in Connecticut, but I come to camp during the summer.

"The camp what, exactly?"

"Oracle," she says. "The Oracle of Delphi. Its spirit passes from maiden to maiden. I've been the oracle for, oh, about two years."

"Oh. Okay," I repeat.

"Here we are!" Annabeth says, coming up to my left. "Here's the mess hall."

Ahead of us is an open-air, Greek-style pavilion overlooking the water. Campers are filing in and sitting down at different tables. As we approach, Frank breaks off to go find a table, as does other members of our little group. From what I can tell by appearances, campers are sitting according to their cabins, although there are a few exceptions.

"Um," I ask, "where should I…"

"Come this way," Rachel says, tugging me over to a table at the end of the rows. Percy and Nico are already sitting there, as is a blond boy and the spiky-haired girl. "The Big Three table," she says as a way of explanation. "Zeus, Poseidon and Hades."

"Hi, Rachel," Nico says, looking up from his conversation with Percy. "And hi, Sophy."

"Hello, Nico," she says cheerily, sliding down onto the bench. "If Chiron asks why we're sitting here, I desperately needed to educate Sophy on the fundamentals of camp and the most recent events in demigod history and I desperately needed your help to do so."

"Yeesh," I say without thinking, and they laugh.

"Sophy, you've met Jason and Thalia?" Nico says, gesturing to the boy and girl farther down the table.

"No. I haven't. It's nice to meet you," I reach across the table to shake their hands.

"I'm Jason," the blond boy greets me. "And this is Thalia. Thalia, like the tree."

She gives him a little whap. "It's nice to meet you, Sophy. I'm Thalia. Jason and I are both Cabin 1. Are you still undetermined?"

I pause, unsure how to respond.

"Do you know your godly parent?" Nico rephrases.

"Do I have one?" I return, apprehensive.

"You couldn't have consumed ambrosia and nectar if you don't have one," Nico points out.

"Oh. Then yes, I'm undetermined."

"That's cool," Jason assures me. "Anyway, welcome to camp, Sophy." He raises an empty cup.

Rachel laughs and echoes, "Welcome!"