Percy POV
We walked around the porch, which went all the way around the farmhouse. Even doing this was taking way more energy than it should've. I wobbled with every step but when we rounded the opposite side of the house I stopped, looking out at the landscape beyond. We must've been on the north shore of Long Island because I could see the ocean about a mile off in the distance glittering a brilliant green that came all the way up the valley.
The landscape was dotted with what buildings that looked to be modeled like ancient Greek structures- an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena too where he could see some bright orange blobs moving in the distance. There was a sandpit nearby where more kids in the orange shirts were playing volleyball. Canoes were drifting lazily in a small lake and beyond that there were kids chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled on the edge of the woods. There was faint voice in the distance, it almost sounded like someone was yelling 'stole' with laughter following it up. There was an archery range and some other campers were riding horses down a wooded trail. The horses, if is eyes weren't deceiving him, were pegasi. Percy had always wanted to find out what it was like to fly on something else. He'd tried piggybacking Melody but that was a bust. (A rather hilarious bust, but still a bust)
I managed to drag his attention away from the scenery to see two men at the end of the porch sitting across from each other at a table. The blond haired girl from earlier was leaning against a porch rail next to them. The guy facing me looked like those pudgy baby things you see on Valentines Day except he grew up in a dumpy trailer park with a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it almost looked purple in the light. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt and would've fit right in at one of the sleazy poker games my old step dad once threw.
"Thats Mr.D," Grover told Melody and I, as we were both observing the two, "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl over there is Annabeth. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anyone I can think of. And you already know Chiron..." He said, pointing at the man with his back to us. The name sounded vaguely familiar. I was never very good with names. We approached the table and Chiron turned around to face us.
"Mr. Brunner?!" Melody and I said in tandem. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be enjoying your summer break at home?" I continued. He chuckled.
"I am home. You must be very confused, allow me to explain, or, perhaps it would be easier to simply show you." He then proceeded to get out of his wheelchair. This was nothing too shocking it became shocking when, instead of human legs, an entire horse came out of the chair. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Chiron, Trainer of Heros."
When I had been adopted and began training with my new family, I thought I'd be prepared at least a little for pretty much anything the world threw at me. Evidently, I was wrong. As I stood there in stunned silence the girl Annabeth came over and addressed Chiron.
"I can show them around if you want. Doesn't your archery class start soon?" She asked politely.
"Ah yes, you are correct. If it is no bother to you it would be wonderful if you could show them the ropes. Thank you my dear." He told her trotting off.
"Welp, you guys are with me now. Come on, I'll show you your cabins last, for now lets take a little tour around camp." She said as she started walking off. Melody and I shared a look of confirmation before following and taking in our surroundings as we went. Annabeth showed us the volley ball court, the arts and crafts pavilion, Thalia's pine (When we asked why it was called Thalia's pine she told us simply that it was growing where a girl named Thalia had died nearly 10 years earlier and looked really uncomfortable so we dropped it) as well as the canoe lake, climbing wall, amphitheater, mess hall, edge of the forest ("Don't go in there unless you want to be horrifically mangled within minutes." I decided I'd take her advice and leave it alone.), pegasus stables, strawberry fields, armory, forge and arena. By this time Melody and I were physically exhausted from walking around as Annabeth led us toward the horseshoe shaped arrangements of cabins but before we could get there I noticed a group of about 6 large bury looking teens all wearing the bright orange camp shirt coming straight towards us with less than friendly expressions. Melody and Annabeth had noticed them too and started to pick up the pace but it was already too late.
"Hey Annie! Whatcha got there? Two newbies you showing around?" The girl in front said. She was a good head taller than me with brown eyes and lighter brown hair with a spear crackling with electricity strapped to her back. She was smiling pleasantly but the pleasantry didn't quite make it to her intimidating eyes. Annabeth sighed, looking a bit nervous.
"Hello Clarrise. Percy, Melody, this is Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares. Clarisse, this is Percy and Melody Cadence. They just arrived, could you please leave us alone so we can finish up the tour?" She retorted frostily.
"Have you shown them the showers yet?" "Well no, but-" "Then allow me and my siblings here to help you out. Wouldn't want the newbies to be left out of tradition would you?" Before any of us could reply, her buddies had surrounded us and were herding us towards a long building across the cabin space. I knew exactly where this was going. Swirly town, a place I'd often helped Grover escape going at Yancy. There wasn't much I could do here though. While I was strong, it was more of a dancer's strength than a wrestler's like these guys appeared to have. There was no way I could fight my way out of here, even with Melody. Annabeth was slouched a bit in defeat and when I glanced her way she gave me an apologetic look.
We had arrived at the bathrooms. Clarisse was holding the door to one of the stalls open. "Ready for initiation punks?"
Imma level with you guys. When I published this I was REALLY new to writing and had no idea what I was doing but just wanted to write this crazy idea I had where Percy was a different species. I had no real plan with only a basic roadmap as to where I was taking it. I also had no idea it would draw this much of a crowd. Truth is, I've lost a lot of the motivation I had to write this and Percy Jackson is no longer my most focused on fandom but I will finish it out because I refuse to back down from a commitment even if it was a foolishly made one because I am the most unreliable person ever if I'm left to my own devices and don't have a deadline thats enforced like I do in school. I will try my best not to rush and make the story better and accurate while summarizing because at the rate I'm going I'll finish this after I finish college and I'm a freshman in highschool. This time round though I have vastly improved my writing and editing skills and am even working on some art and sketches if ya want to check those out of Deviantart under the same username. I'm abolishing the update schedule so it'll update when it updates but it will be at least once a month. I also may or may not have misplaced my Percy Jackson book so I'm going from memory and hoping I don't miss something important. If I do, tell me. Anyways, thats all. I hope you all have a wonderful day and thank you for sticking around! I love you all!
