It was about a week later, I reading -since school was over- in my room when there was a knock on my half open door. I turned my head to see Bailey, the youngest girl in the home standing there, barely containing a smile. "Claire wants you downstairs, right know", she said giddily. "Why?" I asked. It was nowhere near supper and I hadn't done anything wrong. "You'll see", she replied, before dashing back down the stairs. I closed my computer before following her.
As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I heard voices from the office. The door was ajar, and I took that as a sign that I should just walk in. As I stepped into the room, their voices quieted, and I noticed the man sitting across from Claire, the other voice that I didn't recognize. He had curly brown hair pulled into a ponytail, and a scruffy beard. But what stood out the most was the fact that he was in a wheelchair. "There she is! Angelica, I'd like you to meet Mr. Brunner, he's going to be adopting you," Claire explained, after seeing my confused expression, which only got worse as I processed her words. Someone was willing to adopt me... Me. A teenage girl who's father was in jail. I didn't get it. "Angelica, this may come as a surprise to you, but Confidence said that she told you someone would come for you," Mr. Brunner explained, and it dawned on me. The two people in the park... Confidence and Uriel... they had said that someone would come. "Let me just go and pack my things..." I said, as though in a daze, before walking back up the stairs to my room.
Once I'd packed, and I was saying my goodbyes, I realized that I would genuinely miss this place. After all, it had been my home for two years... I was going to miss my small bedroom on the third floor and the way that everyone spoke on top of each other at the dinner table, but most of all, I would miss the other girls. Bailey and her older sister, Linsea, were like sisters to me, as were the five other girls here. I hugged Claire goodbye -she seemed on the brink of tears- and thanked her for everything that she'd done for me since I'd gotten here.
I walked down the street to the spot where Mr. Brunner had parked the truck, when I noticed the man in the front seat. He was covered from head to toe in eyeballs, varying in size and color. I got in the back, since Mr. Brunner and his wheelchair were in the passenger seat, and I sat down, with my two suitcases beside me and on my lap. The drive was quiet. Mr. Brunner seemed to understand that I needed time to process the weird events since last Friday. I couldn't seem to grasp what had happened. I'd been in a daze for the past week, and was finally snapping out of it and convincing myself that I'd imagined everything when Mr. Brunner showed up. Why was I so okay with this? I probably had a concussion or something. Maybe I was insane. I mean, I was in a car being driven by a man covered in eyeballs for Christ's sake. I was just thinking that this was probably all some crazy dream when we arrived at our destination.
I looked out the windows in awe at the beautiful strawberry fields and forest. The dozens of other kids my age and older or younger who where doing various things, ranging from playing basketball to swordfighting. We pulled up to a blue farmhouse with a wraparound porch. I got out of the van, and followed Mr. Brunner into the house. As we entered the living room, I noticed Confidence and Uriel sitting on the couch. "Make yourself comfortable, Angelica, we have a lot to discuss," Mr. Brunner said as he rolled his wheelchair into the living room. I sat in a recliner across from Uriel and Confidence. "You've got that right. Someone needs to explain everything to me. Now." I said, as I took a cookie from the platter on the coffee table. "Well, you see, my dear, I'm sure Confidence and Uriel did a shabby job at explaining everything, so I'll start from the top. As they said, the Greek gods and Myths, are quite real, and you are a part of them. Uriel here is a satyr, half man, half goat. He's a protector, a searcher. His job is to find and protect demigods outside of camp. Our dear Confidence is a demigod like you. One of her parents is a god, whilst the other is mortal." Mr. Brunner paused, letting it all sink in. "Well, who's you parent?" I asked Confidence. "Apollo. god of music, truth and prophecy, healing, the sun and light, plague, poetry, and more." she explained, smiling proudly.
"While all that is wonderful, you must let me get back to my story," said Mr. Brunner, smiling fondly at the golden haired girl. "Now let me explain just how the gods are here in America. Just like Western Civilization, the gods move. At the moment, Olympus is on top of the Empire State Building, though you would never be able to see it unless you knew it was there, because of the mist. The mist is a magical thing created by the goddess of magic, Hecate. It hides things from our world and masks them to look like normal human things. Camp Half-Blood, the place we are currently, is a camp created to keep children like you safe from the monster of legends that would otherwise kill you if you were outside the camp's magical borders-" "-All that is wonderful and all, but if everything is as real as you say it is, wouldn't the gods be immortal? And if the monsters from the legends existed, weren't most of them killed back in the day?" I interrupt and ask. Mr. Brunner doesn't seem surprised and nods before continuing his explanation: "You can kill the gods and monsters, but never get rid of them completely, they'll always come back, sooner or later, even if it takes centuries to rebuild their essence. Speaking of gods, your thirteenth birthday is in a couple days, and you should be claimed shortly after that.""Claimed?" I ask. "When a god announces that you are their child. Once that happens, you'll be moved into your parent's cabin with your brothers and sisters. For now, you'll be in the Hermes cabin, since he is the god of travelers. Uriel, my boy, could you please gather some toiletries and necessities for our dear Angelica." Uriel nods and gets up, leaving the room. "Confidence and Uriel will show you around camp and help you get settled in." Mr. Brunner says, before wheeling out of the room. Before he's completely gone, I stop him, "Mr. Brunner? Thank you." I say. He smiles, "you're welcome, child. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. Oh, and call me Chiron." he says, before leaving.
Confidence and Uriel give me the grand tour of Camp and introduce me to a few of the campers. I'm settling into the Hermes cabin when I hear the conch horn blow. The sign for dinner. I make my way down to the pavilion and sit at the Hermes table, squished between a skinny guy with long blond hair and a tiny girl that keeps stealing the silverware. I wish I could sit with Uriel and Confidence. I know them at least. there must be at last two dozen people at my table, probably more. The food is delicious, and I'm in the middle of a huge bite of steak when Chiron pounds his hoof on the ground to get our attention. Confidence told me that he was a centaur, but it's still astonishing to see, and it makes this all seem that much realer. "I'd like to welcome our newest camper! Angelica Philips!" He smiles and claps, and most of the others do the same. "Seeing as it's Friday, we will have our weekly capture the flag game as usual. Now, enjoy the desert that the nymphs have prepared for us!" he declares, as he settles back down. Nymphs and dryads melt out of the trees, this time each carrying fresh, still warm fruit pies. Once I've finished my plate, I head to the fireplace with a slice of pie, and I dump it into the fire, just like Confidence said. Something about an offering to the gods. I make a silent wish to find out who my godly parent is, if I even have one. I have two parents. Well, had.
Once everyone is done, weapons and armor are brought into the pavilion. I'm handed a sword, which seems way too heavy in my hand, and Confidence helps me into my armor. "Today the teams are Athena, Hecate, Nemesis, Hades, Dionysus and some minor gods against Apollo, Poseidon, Aphrodite, Ares and some more minor gods. Athena is undefeated, since a bunch of them stayed here over the winter. This is the first game of the summer, and we've got to win. Understand? But we've got to win fairly, the rules are just like normal capture the flag, except with weapons. No maiming or serious injuries, got it? Now lets join the rest of the group. Will is going to organize our side." she explains. We head over to the rest of our side, which is gathering around a tall Blonde haired boy with a bow just like Confidence's strapped to his back, who I assume is Will Solace, the head counselor from Apollo cabin. He stands on a rock, addressing our team. "Here's plan everyone! We usually attack them first, and that's what they've gotten used to over the winter. This time, we hide the flag in plain sight, but it an easily ambush-able spot. Half of our warriors and fighters stay stationed around the flag, while most of the rest scatter through the woods. Percy, take two archers and one other warrior and try to sneak towards the flag." he says to a black haired boy. Confidence told me about him. He saved the world a bunch of times, apparently. "Connie, you're on whistle duty." Will says, smiling. Confidence makes a face and a few of her siblings snicker after hearing her addressed as Connie. So far only Uriel and Will have gotten away unscathed after calling her Connie. "Lets go!" Will yells as her dashes into the woods, the rest of our army splitting up or following him. I turn to Confidence. "What do we do?" I wonder. "We scatter. Come on!" she says, running into the woods, smiling. I follow, but the heavy sword slows me down, and I fall behind until I find myself in a small clearing, alone.
I lean against a tree to catch my breath. I'm about to sit down on a boulder when I hear a twig snap behind me. I whip around towards the noise, brandishing my sword weakly. I hear nothing for a few moments before I notice movement out of the corner of my eye. I whip around to see twolarge snakes, each about six meters long, and each with four tiny, seemingly useless horns. They hiss and I raise my sword as they each come towards me on their side. The one on the left launches itself towards me and I swing the sword. I barely cuts the snake, but is enough to get it to draw back for a moment, as it's companion attacks. The second snake opens it's mouth wide, as though it's about to bite me. I throw my sword down it's throat, only slowing it down. "Well, that's wonderful." I mutter to myself. While I was busy losing my weapon, the first snake recovered and is about to attack again. Just as it's head strikes forwards, I jump over the second snake's body, hoping to death that the strategy so commonly used in movies actually works. It better, because as I land on my side, I hear a loud crack and pain shoot up my side. I look up to see the second snake writhing in pain after it's companion bit it's neck, leaving a huge wound, pulsing out sand. I watch in horror as it disintegrates. The first snake is advancing on me, hissing, when a golden arrow pierces emerges from its mouth. It joins it's friend as a pile of sand on the ground. I look up in shock to see Confidence jumping out of a tree when the pain takes over and world goes black.
