As soon as we were out of the park, Percy took a turn towards a taxi station. We filed into the small building and Percy walked up to the desk. "When is the next taxi due to stop by?" he asked the woman behind it.
"In about twenty minutes, unless you wanna call them in sooner." She told him. "Where you planning on going?" She was short and stalky, and her make-up was piled on in big, ugly globs. Her nose was turned up, and she looked like the type that likes to know your business.
"A strawberry farm on long island." He answered. "Our summer camp is there."
"Oh, campers." She said. "Where's your stuff?"
"Stuff?" I muttered. "Oh yeah, how long are we going to be there?"
"Um, if all goes according to plan, the rest of the summer." He informed me.
"Than I will need to talk to my mother and pack some stuff first."
"Well Percy," Seth said, "Do we let her get her stuff, or do we go?"
He sighed. "Do you need your stuff?" he asked me.
"I need another shirt and my toothbrush." I answered. "But I don't need much else."
"Okay, let's go." He said. We all filed out of the little building, and walked back to my place. I went into my room and grabbed a handful of my favorite shirts, three pairs of jeans, underwear to last a month or so, and my toiletries bag. When I had all that, I grabbed my favorite pillow, two blankets, and my only two stuffies from my bed. One, a soft white bunny my friend Jack had given me for my fourth birthday. And the other, a golden Pegasus my Ya-Ya had sent me when I was only one. And I decided to bring the china doll Jade has sent me, and I packed everything in my black suitcase.
I also stuffed them a few of my favorite books and reading equipment. Four boxes of black contacts for help reading went in too. I threw in a box of liquor cherries mom had gotten me, and a small black and green ball. I also brought my new collection of Greek gods. They had come in a big free box that held all of them in small holes the size of toilet paper roll inserts.
I walked out of my room with all I needed. It wasn't a too heavy load.
"Is that it?" asked Seth. I nodded. "Then let me help." He took the box from my hand and weighed it in his hand, and then peeked inside. "I can't see anything." He said. "What's in here?"
"Stuff." I said. I closed it on his finger. He bleated like a startled goat. This took me by surprise and I looked at him with a raised eyebrow as someone behind me chuckled. He realized some mistake and he covered his mouth in horror. I just looked at him funny.
He grinned forcedly and walked away. I dropped my eyebrow, and decided to ignore what had just happened. When we walked out the door, I left a note for mom saying, 'Gone to camp with Mitch and friends. I will be okay. I'll call you. –Alex.'
"Why leave a note?" Grover asked.
"So she doesn't freak when she doesn't find me." I explained.
"Oh." He read it through. "Oh, and you won't be able to call her. It's like sending up a flare to the monsters around you. Like shouting 'Here I am! Come eat me!'" he said.
"So I'll text her. I don't know. I'll find some way to contact her." I said. "Let's go." As we left, I had a strong feeling that I would not get to see my home for a long time. A very long time. I turned and bid the apartment goodbye.
"Hello?" I called to Percy. "What do you think you're doing? We are so not going to all fit in there. You've got to be crazy."
"Maybe I am." He retorted. "But at least I am trying to get us all there together. And safe. Don't forget safe."
"You're impossible!" I shouted, throwing my arms into the air and turning to walk away.
"They fight like siblings." Mitch muttered to Ulysses. "And they barely know each other. How funny is that?"
"Do you think they are?" Ulysses muttered back.
"Entirely possible,"
I was suddenly in their face. "Say what?" I asked sweetly. Mitch's eyes got wide. His pupils went slit, like a terrified goat. My gaze did not falter. He shrank back a little. He knew better than to say anything when I was like this. Even slightly stressed, I get terrifying.
I walked away from them. I was looking at the ground, thinking about how to get six people into one taxi. I was having no luck when I bumped into Seth, coming back from the vending machines. He had a big backpack filled with junk food and stuff to drink.
"Hi." He said. "What's up?"
"Nothing now." I said. "Percy and I just aren't getting along so very well right now."
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"We're just not agreeing on transportation."
"Oh," he said. "You see, he can be very stubborn."
"Oh, right, like I didn't notice." I snapped. I know it was a little over-dramatic of me, but the entire situation was just beginning to get incredibly nerve grating!
He looked hurt, and I instantly felt bad for what I had just said. "Look, I'm sorry. I have a tendency to overreact when I'm upset."
"It's alright. Sorry for pissing you off even more." He looked away and walked back to the group. I followed, dragging my feet. Why am I so bad at interaction with people when I'm stressed? All I do is freak people out or make them mad at me!
"I got it!" Mitch yelled. "We take two taxis!" we all looked at him as if he was crazy. "If we take two taxis, three in one, four in the other, then we will make it there safely. And there will be enough of us in each car, that if there is a problem, or we are split up, we will be okay."
I thought this over. It sounded like a good idea.
"That's a great idea, Mitch." Kitty said.
We divided into two groups. Kitty, Tabatha and Mitch in one car, and Seth, Ulysses, Percy and I in the other. We waited for another taxi to show up, which was not long, and each group got into one of them.
While we were driving, all three boys talked to me about the camp. From what I heard, it sounded like great fun. Percy talked about rock climbing walls, and how they would clash together or squirt lava if you were not fast enough.
Seth talked about the capture the flag games on Fridays, and how, ever since Percy came, they had only lost a game twice out of all the many times they had played.
Ulysses got excited talking about the fun one could have in the woods on the property, and the mystical creatures that lived there. I was still skeptical of many of the things they talked about, but I didn't argue.
I was excited to be going there. But something was off. I never found out what. The whole way there, I held in my hands, the figurine of Poseidon. Don't know why, it was just a comfort.
As we got out of the taxi, I didn't see much beside a giant hill with a tree on it. The tree was a huge pine, with bright green branches and something glittered in the branches. What lay underneath the tree looked at first to be a huge dog/lizard. That theory was not a very good one, but it was the best one I had.
"Where's the camp?" the huge ugly taxi driver asked in a husky, low voice. I had not paid him much attention as we were driving. Now that we were stopped, I looked him over.
He was big and ugly, his face looked mashed and his nose was bulbous. His beady brown eyes made me shiver. He was covered in tattoos and piercings. He had around his neck, a steel chain with a small locket. It had the name Clara written in plain print. It still took a few seconds to read.
I realized he had a big red heart on his shoulder. It had Mom on it like so many big scary-looking people in movies and stuff. He caught me looking and winked. I tried hiding my gagging by turning around. I think it worked. I cannot be sure.
"Just on the other side of that hill." Seth informed the driver and me. "Thanks." He took a step.
"Hey, wait just a minute; you owe me ten dollars and forty two cents! Come back and pay." Called the driver.
"Oh, oops." Seth turned back around and pulled a twenty out of his pocket. The driver pulled out a calculator and did some equation. He gave us back our change.
I picked a ten and a one out of my wallet and ran to the other taxi, which pulled in at just that moment. I dumped the money on the shotgun seat. The driver looked startled, but she dutifully picked it up and counted it out. She thanked me and pushed a few buttons on the control machine she had. And then she drove away. The other driver pulled out behind her and followed.
As we walked up the hill, I put Poseidon back in the box and looked closer at the guard dog. I gasped, as we got closer. It was not a dog, it was a dragon. A living, breathing dragon. The dragon shifted as we walked by, and raised its head. It snorted, and smoke billowed lazily from his nostrils.
I tugged Percy's shirtsleeve and pointed at it. "Oh, him?" he asked. "He doesn't bite unless you try to grab the fleece. That's the only reason he's here. Come on, I got to show you the big house."
We walked down the hill and I looked around the valley. The place was definitely not a normal summer camp. For one thing, the buildings were all Greek style, with columns and paintings of all sorts.
The "big house," was a large whitewashed mansion with a big blue roof. On the top was a big bronze wind thingy. I never can remember what their called. Nestled between the woods that seemed to go on for miles, and the large lake that glittered with a clear reflection of the sky, was the craziest assortment of cabins EVER.
One was large and looked like a factory. It had smokestacks like one too. Another had pink walls and red and white hearts painted everywhere. Still another had deep gray walls and an angry frown painted above the door. The two that caught my attention though, were the two that scared me most. The first, really scared me, but the other, filled me with a sense of power I couldn't place. I thought it was a little too weird.
The first was a black marble mausoleum, with bronze inlay and built powerfully, like a palace. It filled me with a sense of dread.
The second was built low and long. It looked like it was made of mother of pearl and some basalt. The walls seemed to glow with power, and It smelled like an ocean breeze. And it felt like home. Not the apartment home, but like I belonged there.
The buildings were all different, and some of them seemed like they wanted to scoot away from each other. I don't know how else to describe it. They just had the such potent polarities.
In the center of the first rectangle of cabins, was a blazing fire, with a girl around fifteen tending the flames. She was showing a girl who looked around ten how to do it right. I stopped to say "Hello." She smiled at me and the smaller girl followed her example.
"Hello, Alex." The older girl said. "Welcome to camp half-blood." I bowed slightly but I didn't know why. I also didn't think about how she knew my name until later.
The dining pavilion was a large room, without walls or a ceiling, or any backup cover. Like a giant tarp or something. When I asked Seth about it, he looked at me with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "It doesn't rain here unless we want it to. So we don't need any roof." This was confusing, but I let it pass.
When we were done with the quick-tour, Seth and Tabatha had to go do something, and Kitty left in the direction of the lake. Percy, Mitch and Ulysses were the only ones with me as I walked into the big house.
I don't know what I was expecting, but I certainly did not expect to see the men I saw at the table. I was surprised at least.
The first man was short and pudgy, with blotches on his face. He looked like a man who had gotten drunk too many times for it to be good for him. But it hadn't affected him enough to teach him the lesson he so needed.
He wore a leopard-skin Hawaiian shirt, and long purple jogging sweats with a white streak down one side. The other man was in a wheelchair. He wore a long tweed jacket and a cotton shirt underneath. He definitely reminded me of Giles, Buffy the vampire slayer's watcher. Only he looked to have seen more in his life than Giles ever had in his whole career. He had a thick afghan over his legs.
"Why hello Percy! I see you have brought the half-blood you were sent to get. Good work." He turned to me with a warm smile and a calculating look. "Hello." He greeted me. "And what would your name be?"
"Alex." I told him. "Short for Alexandria."
He looked me over for a few seconds and then turned to Percy. "Any hints?" he asked.
"Very strong ones." Percy replied. "She is, almost without a doubt, Poseidon's." I looked up at him, confused.
"Hmm," He rubbed his chin. Then he started to get up. "My name is Chiron, child. Trainer of heroes and camp activities director here at camp half-blood." As he got up, his legs stayed on the chair. The afghan fell off, revealing white fur. Chiron stood up and stretched out his four beautiful white legs. His entire body from the waist down was that of a white stallion. I gawked in astonishment.
"You're a centaur." I observed. "A white one. Wow. OMG, if I told my Ya-Ya bout you, she would so want to meet you! That is so cool!" I was amazed at the man who stood seven or so feet tall, with a tail and four graceful legs. It was certainly more real than anything else I'd been shown.
Chiron sniffed. "She seems well enough informed already. Let's skip the introduction video this time." He smiled at me and waved at the valley. "Well, what do you think of camp half-blood?"
It all hit me hard just then. I couldn't play dumb for myself any longer. "Half-blood? Chiron? . . . The trainer of heroes? Like, Heracles and Perseus? Or, or Odysseus? Seriously?"
He seemed taken aback. "Why yes. I suppose I am." He seemed intrigued at something I had said.
"So – very – awesome!" I said, gazing up at him. "Are you playing pinochle? I'm pretty good at it. We play every Friday in my Latin class."
"Finally!" exclaimed the chubby-ish man in a leopard skin shirt. "A sensible girl that knows pinochle. Come, join us. Let's see if you are any good." He waved his hand, and a chair pulled out on its own.
"Who are you?" I asked him as I sat down; curious at how he had made the chair scoot out.
He smiled and I disliked him immediately. The smile was forced. I got the feeling that smiles were few, and far between on his face. At least genuine ones. "My name is Mr. D.," he stated, as though it was obvious. "That is all you need to know for now." He pulled all the cards together and shuffled. He dealt and motioned for Chiron to go first.
"Shouldn't we let the new player go first? She is of course, the one to your immediate left." He pointed out.
Mr. D looked at me. "I don't see why not. You start us off then Allie. Then Chiron."
"Alex." I corrected. "Not Allie. I hate it when people call me Allie."
"Yes, yes." Mr. D waved his hand. "Just bet and be done with it." I played, and turned to Chiron.
"Interesting move, I never thought of that strategy." We played a heated game, most of it in silence. Sometimes Mr. D would sniffle, or Chiron would shift his haunches, making the floor creak. Or we would hear campers in the valley yell or scream in fun, but other than that, it was deadly quiet. The other boys stood nearby, feeling very awkward, I'm sure.
After about forty-five minutes of playing, Mr. D laid down his cards. "Ha! I beat you, you horse!" He shouted in triumph. "After so many losses, there were only two ways to beat me! And the odds are a thousand-to-one!"
"Actually, I win." Chiron yawned. His hand beat Mr. D's hand by a lot. "Yet again, you are wrong."
Mr. D stared at Chiron in hatred. He cursed quietly and grumbled.
Silently, I set my hand down on the table.
My hand beat the snot out of both of theirs. By a long shot. Mr. D stared in amazement at the cards I had just put down; his eye seemed to bulge out of its sockets. "By the rest of the Olympian council, she's won!" he boomed. The room seemed to shake with the force of his laughing. "I like you!" he told me, he patted me on the shoulder. "That, was some of the best pinochle play I have seen in hundreds of years."
Chiron looked in amazement at the cards that had made me the new favorite camper. He muttered something about a ruined reputation. Percy, Ulysses and Mitch seemed to be very surprised, a priceless look was spread across each of their faces.
As we walked down the hill, Mr. D insisted on keeping his arm around my shoulders. He had a huge, proud grin on his face; as if he had been the one that taught me the game, and instructed me on how to win against a master. Like I was his star pupil. I got the feeling that if that had been the case, I would have had the lowest score on the table.
He never let go my shoulders as we all walked to the volleyball court. When we passed, kids dropped what they were doing and gawked. Some even rubbed their eyes. Their expressions clearly stated that they had never, ever seen Mr. D in a good mood. I was a rarity. As we passed, I shrugged and tried not to be too slow.
He showed me the dining pavilion again, the giant white columned structure with a small kitchen attached to the side. There were the same amount of tables as cabins; they dotted the hills surrounding us as well as the interior of the pavilion.
He explained in a light tone, how the wood nymphs and dryads came out of the forest to serve food to the campers and directors.
He showed me the cabins again, and he snapped his fingers. My backpack and wooden box appeared on the grass. "Make yourself at home." He said, gesturing to cabin eleven. The cabin was the only one that looked like a regular old camp cabin. Emphasis on old. "Hermes takes all newcomers until you're decided of course." I went into the cabin.
There were six bunks, all of them occupied. There were also three sleeping bags on the floor. Nine or so kids looked at me with eager eyes. They all had the long nose and turned up eyes that teachers often are right to peg as troublemakers. They appraised me with such attention that I shuffled uncomfortably. Each and every single one of them reminded me of the man we'd met at the change pavilion earlier.
One guy, maybe in his twenties, walked up to me. He was tall, muscular and had that fire in his eyes I rarely saw in any one. His hair was dark brown, and cropped short. He wore khakis and a bright orange 'CAMP HALF-BLOOD' shirt. He introduced himself as Travis Stoll, son of Hermes. And the senior counselor for the cabin. I introduced myself to him and sat down on the floor. I had only a smallish suitcase and a box. So I stuffed them in the corner.
"Here," Travis said. "I got you a sleeping bag. It's blue, but I didn't think you'd mind." He handed it to me.
"Thanks, that was sweet." His cheeks turned a little redder, but I only smiled and laid out the sleeping bag in the floor. I smoothed it out and stretched out on it. It was a little rough, and it wasn't nylon. It was cloth. Like, bunches into little sticky fuzz balls cloth. But it wasn't dirty. It smelled like pine.
Mr. D left soon after I was introduced, walking away with a swelled chest and mumbling to himself about 'finally someone beat that silly horse,' I was introduced to the cabin. One by one, they announced their name. 'Daughter/Son of Hermes' followed each statement.
At around four, a conch horn sounded. I knew it was a conch for two reasons. One, I had heard them before in Greece, visiting my grandparents. And two, I just knew. Who knows how? I don't know.
"Hermes, fall in!" called Travis.
We lined up in order of seniority, so I was the last in line, but I didn't mind. In front of me, was a young girl about fourteen. Her name, I remembered, was Helen. She had long black hair in a braid down her back. It reached her thighs when she stood. She wore a plain white t-shirt, and blue jeans. Her face had a light dusting of pink blush and blue eye shadow, but her lashes were thick enough that she had skipped mascara. See, the thing I have about make-up, is that it only makes you look vain wearing it. Despite the fact that I wear eyeliner every day, I just think it looks like you are trying too hard to look better than you are. I also thought beauty was a mental thing. If you were mean, you were ugly; and if you were kind, you were beautiful. No matter what color your eyes were compared to your hair; or how long your hair was. And especially not how much make-up you can glop onto your face. I wear eyeliner to bring out my eyes. They are one of my better qualities mom says I inherited from my father. Not to look better or worse, just to make them noticeable.
Helen was a good full foot shorter that I was, but her presence was almost as big. If she looked you in the eye, you felt her looking into your soul. It was a creepy/cool feeling. I thought it was just awesome how she made people shiver, just by looking at her. As we walked, she suddenly turned and walked backwards. "Hey, Alex," she looked up at me, "What did you have in that box?"
It was creepy, having her look at me like that. But I felt compelled to answer. Like she was reaching into my consciousness and pulling it out of my memory like a marble, instead of an untouchable thought in my mind. There was no way she was a child of Hermes. "Figurines, of the Olympians. Plus Hades and Hestia." I told her. I figured we were going to get along swimmingly.
She was paying close attention to me when we got to the dining pavilion. We sat together, and waited for Mr. D to begin the feast.
"Good afternoon campers, I have some announcements." He was still in a good mood from earlier. I wondered how long it would last. "First, we have a new camper." He gestured toward me. Helen made me stand up. "Alex Richardson! A fine young girl indeed." Everyone looked to me expectantly.
"What?" I asked.
"Well, how did he mess up your name?" asked a kid from the other side of the table.
"What do you mean?" I asked in a whisper.
"How did he mess up your name? He always messes with our names." He explained.
"He didn't miss anything. Not even the shortening I like." I protested. "He got it right." Somehow, the entire camp heard. There were whispers everywhere.
"As I was saying," Mr. D started again, "I still have announcements to make!" the hill was silent. "There, that's better. Now I have some important news I think some of you might find interesting." He glared around the place. "You all know how Chiron is a master at many and most games? Including pinochle. Now, today, we had another player at the table. Now this player, was a master of the game as much or better than our dear Chiron." I was sitting down again, but I still blushed and shuffled my feet. "And they were so good; they beat me, and Chiron. In the same sitting. Now this player is the first person known to have beat Chiron at anything. Especially pinochle. Aside from me of course." He stared at me. "You have already met her tonight, but I think she deserves a round of applause and an extra long banquet tonight, don't you all think?"
I stood again, as Mr. D waved his hand at me. The pavilion and all the tables outside it burst into applause and screaming. I'm sure that most of the cheering came from the fact that I was responsible for an extra special party tonight.
The nymphs brought out big heaping plates of food. All sorts of Greek stuff. There was Italian flatbread with olives and cheese. There were many other things on the tables, but the one that sticks to my memory most, was the barbeque. It was delicious. Despite the fact, that almost all the fat was cut off. It was still good.
Before I had a chance to take a bite though, came one of the weirdest rituals I have ever come across. Everyone at the cabin got up, and walked to a big bronze brazier the size of a bathtub, and burning inside, the flames licked the edges and danced on each other, blazing like the first eternal fire on Olympus. I wondered if that was true as well as everything else going on around me. Each person, as they got close to the fire, whispered something, and scraped something into the flames.
Each time someone dropped something into the fire; it sparked and seemed to glow for them especially. The smoke curled into the air, dancing up, into the sky to join the stars in an eternal dance of light and dark. As I got up, I isolated a small bunch of grapes on my plate. When I got to the edge of the brazier, I had no one to pray to. I had no idea who my father was. And then it hit me.
"Poseidon." I murmured into the flames. "You who has guided my family for thousands of years. And you who we thank for your patronage over my family. I pray to you, to send me a sign, and tell me of my heritage." I know it sounds way too formal, but it just came to me.
And right then, he must have been listening, because as I tossed my grapes, the floor around me turned blue-green.
"Look!" someone shouted. There were gasps around me, and the entire hall broke into talk and confusion. I looked up above my head.
Shining above my head, spinning and swirling, yet already dissipating by the time I looked up, was a large, green holographic image of a trident, bathing me in green light. The symbol of Poseidon.