When I open my eyes, I will be at home. In Texas. Nothing happened yesterday. My life is still the same.
But when Heather did open her eyes, she saw the vine-encircled walls and ceiling of cabin twelve. Sighing, she sat up, letting her feet dangle off the hammock she'd slept in the night before. Pollux, her counsellor-no way was he her brother-was already awake and dressed, and waiting for her.
"Good morning," he said as she stood up and stretched. "Did you sleep well?"
"Fine," Heather mumbled, looking out the window at the camp.
Children of Dionysus they might be, but she bore no resemblance to Pollux: he had blonde curly hair, dark purple eyes and an athletic look to him. Heather's hair was a mess of loose black curls, her eyes were a mixture of blue and gray, her face held a fierce case of acne, and she had a broad, sturdy figure. The only commonality was their round facial shape, a feature that Heather had always hated about herself.
"Well, get dressed and I'll take you to the armory," Pollux replied, with a non-committal shrug. "We have training and Capture the Flag this week, so you might as well choose your own personal weapon."
Pollux left to give her privacy and she reluctantly pulled on a fresh pair of jeans, but stubbornly refused to take off her University of Texas longhorn T-shirt. Running her fingers through her black waves of hair, she let them hang down her back rather than wrestle with a hairbrush. Walking out of the cabin, she followed her counsellor to the armory.
Camp Half-blood was even more beautiful in the daytime, but Heather refused to enjoy it-not while she could see her so-called 'father' Dionysus sitting outside the Big House.
The armory was little more than a shed by the side of Cabin 6, but the sheer amount of celestial bronze weaponry was amazing: every shelf was covered in swords, daggers, spears, and even a rifle. Heather picked up the last item and felt it, but found it too awkward to hold. Pollux looked at the shelves and picked up several options for her to try. None of them felt right, except for a set of throwing blades and a short spear. No sword would balance properly in her grip, but it was regulation to train with one, so the pair of them walked to the Hephaestus Cabin for weapons advice.
In cabin 9, Heather watched in awe as a rough-looking, twelve-year-old boy take one look at her, and forge two matched scimitars that fit her perfectly. Happy, Heather returned the spear to the armory and carried her new weapons cheerfully to their Cabin's table at breakfast. Her mood soured when she saw Mr. D at the head table, but she ignored him, eating with the ferocity of a starving coyote.
After breakfast, Heather and Pollux went to their archery class. A helpful Apollo girl graciously showed Heather how to place her arrow and how hard to pull the string. The first few attempts were far off target, but by the end of the lesson, she could at least hit the target consistently. The Apollo camper gave her a high-five as she left the shooting range, telling Heather to find her at campfire.
The day was over almost as soon as it began. Dinner was just as delicious as it had been the night before, and Pollux was fully willing to have a chat with his newest cabin mate.
"There's never been a lot of Dionysus campers," Pollux explained. "I was here with my brother, Castor, and we were the only ones who ever came."
"What happened to him?" Heather asked, plucking an olive off her greek pizza. Pollux glanced at Mr. D before reluctantly answering.
"He died. Few years back, we had a monster invasion that we call the Battle of the Labyrinth. Castor died trying to defend the camp."
Heather swallowed, feeling a lump enter her throat. She looked at Mr. D herself and noticed that he was very pointedly reading a magazine and drinking diet coke. Turning back to her counsellor, she asked quietly, "How did Dionysus handle that?"
"Not well. If he were still allowed to drink wine, he'd have been drunk beyond belief. As it was, he just dissolved the council of cloven elders-the nature spirit's main leading body. A year later, the council was restored, but by then dad recovered."
"Great," Heather said, without spirit. Pollux looked at his unwilling half-sister closely.
"What do you have against him?" he asked. "Did he break your mom's heart or something?"
Heather brushed her dark hair out of her eyes, sighing.
"He's a Greek deity," she said. "And not only that, but he's the creator of wine. Alcohol ruined my mom when she was in college. To find out that my birth father is him..."
Slowly, Heather laid her head on the table, her hands clenched into fists. Pollux reached over and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
Unseen by everyone else, Mr. D walked into the summer evening, an unusally concerned expression heavy on his face.