Second Camp Half-Blood
Charles Beckendorf and Clarisse La Rue had just finished reading Silena's latest journal from the territories of Third Earth, Cloral, and the sub-territory of Third Camp Half-Blood; joining them were Gunny Van Dyke and Kasha, the Travelers from First Earth and Eelong respectively.
"Beckendorf…I don't even know what to say," said Clarisse in awe from the revelation of Beckendorf's future.
"Well, I guess we all have to die eventually…but still, apparently the future can be changed, and it's best not to dwell on what could be, but rather focus on what is. And what we need to be doing right now is helping Silena and the other Travelers in whatever ways we can," said Beckendorf.
"But don't you want to know how many days you've got left, or if you even need to worry about that?" asked Kasha.
"Brought to you by the cat who came back from the dead!" snapped Clarisse.
"I'm a Klee! Say it with me, kl-ee! And if I weren't a Traveler…"
"Traveler my ass! If it weren't for Silena you'd still be dead and Gunny and Spader would still be on Eelong!"
"Girls, let's not be fightin now," said Gunny in his soothing voice. "Now I think Kasha and I could use another tour around the camp, help get us familiar with the layout."
Ever since Silena and the Travelers had reversed the fate of territory of Veelox, Gunny and Kasha had been living at the camp since the flume still wouldn't allow Kasha to return to her home territory of Eelong, and Gunny had wanted to keep an eye on Kasha.
"So that row of columns over there is the dinning pavilion, you'll hear Chiron blow a conch shell whenever it's meal time. The wall with the lava on it is the climbing wall, next to is the sword fighting arena, and then over there's the archery range," explained Clarisse.
"Now, you see those buildings arranged in a U-shape? Those are the cabins the campers stay in; we have one for each of the Olympian gods and goddesses, and all the undetermined campers stay in the Hermes cabins until they're claimed by their parents since he's the god of travelers," said Beckendorf.
"The gods of Travelers you say?" asked Kasha with great interest.
"Not the kind of Travelers you're thinking of."
"I'm a bit curious; I thought Hera and Artemis didn't have any demigod children because Hera's the goddess of marriage and Artemis swore eternal maidenhood?" asked Gunny.
"Technically they don't, but we keep cabins out of honor for them, plus the Hunters of Artemis stay in her cabin whenever they visit the camp," explained Clarisse.
"So if nobody uses Hera's cabin, what's inside?" asked Kasha.
"Dunno, nobody ever goes in because she wasn't so hot about Hercules…"
"Heracles," corrected Beckendorf.
"Whatever, the point is she didn't like him so we figure she probably isn't a big fan of half-bloods," said Clarisse.
"And what about mortals?"
"Well in ancient times she was considered a benevolent protector of women and families, and just as every eight years the ancients held the Olympics in honor of her husband Zeus they held a similar even for women known as the Hera Games, since the Olympics was an all-male even back then. Wait, why…" but before Beckendorf could finish Kasha was already bounding down the hill towards Hera's cabin.
"Kasha no! We aren't supposed to go in Hera cabin!" called Beckendorf as he raced after her.
"You said she was the protector of women and girls, and in case you haven't noticed I am a girl!"
"Yeah, but the rules clearly state that…"
"Trust me Beckendorf, she's not much of a rule person-er, klee," said Clarisse as they raced after Kasha.
Kasha paused briefly to admire the peacock feather designs etched into the door of Hera cabin before rushing inside; the inside reminded Kasha of an image she'd seen of one of the ancient temples to Hera in one of the books in the Camp Half-Blood library, in the center of the room was an enormous statue of the goddess that flanked by two braziers.
"Uh, hi. I guess you haven't really spoken to a Klee before, but I've never really been very religious so I guess we're in the same boat...so to speak. Look I know we just met, and I know I'm not really on grounds to deserve this, but if you can get me back to Eelong I promise I'll do whatever you ask me to. Seriously, just name it and it's as good as done," said Kasha as she stared up at the imposing statue.
After waiting for a moment there was nothing but silence, but then Beckendorf, Clarisse, and Gunny entered the cabin.
"Oh gods, oh gods, do you realize how much trouble we'll be in if we get caught in here?" whispered Beckendorf.
"Grow a backbone! So we get caught, what's gonna happen? Mr. D's gone turn us into shrubs or something?" asked Clarisse at full volume.
"My husband's illegitimate children would not dare enter my domain!"
Everyone looked around for the source of the booming voice, but there was no obvious source except…
"Hera? Is that you?" asked Kasha.
Everyone nearly jumped back four feet when the statue bent down in order to look Kasha in the eye.
"I had heard your plea for help Kasha of Eelong, and it has not fallen on deaf ears. I shall transport you and your friends to Eelong, but in exchange you must do something for me. I confess that this is not the first time I have spoken to a Klee, indeed, we Olympians have known of the ten territories and sub-territories of Halla for quite some time and as such many demigods have been…sired, shall we call it."
"But I thought you hated half-bloods," said Clarisse.
"Only the ones Zeus sires…and that Annabeth girl, but other than that I feel a certain motherly affection towards half-bloods, and it's time Eelong had an equivalent of Camp Half-Blood. Seek out the half-bloods of Eelong, start a camp, and the flume shall be repaired. Good luck," said Hera, and with that the statue returned to normal.
At first everyone just stared in awe at the statue, but then the room began to swirl fast and fast until everyone blacked out. Beckendorf was the first to regain consciousness, and the first thing that struck him was the sky, at first he thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him but soon there was no denying it: instead of the round sun there was a large band of light that stretched across the horizon.
"Whoa! What happened to the sun?" asked Clarisse in bewilderment.
"Something tells me we're not in Kansas anymore," replied Beckendorf was he examined the dense jungle foliage that surrounded them.
"Well looks like Hera made good on her promise, because we're on Eelong," said Gunny, as usual completely relaxed.
"Praise Hera! We're back on Eelong! I can't wait to…don't make any sudden movements!" said Kasha, suddenly all serious.
"You can't wait to…"
"I said no sudden movements! Stay perfectly still and I'll take care of it."
Clarisse thought she could just make out a pair of red eyes watching her in the brush, and then she was sure of it, because a large scaly dinosaur-like creature lunged out of the foliage with its razor sharp jaws aimed right at her foot. Fortunately she had her electric spear (a gift from her father Ares, the god of war) strapped to her back and she quickly jabbed the electrically charged tip into the beast's snout. The creature let out a roar of pain and quickly retreated into the jungle.
"Nice, you considered being a forager?" asked Kasha as she eyed the spear.
"Sounds like fun, but I've got to say I'm disappointed, thought Eelong was supposed to be tougher than that!" said Clarisse with a satisfied smirk on her face.
"You should keep that spear close while we make it thru the jungle to keep the Tangs at bay, but as soon as we reach Leeandra you need to keep it hidden," said Gunny.
"What if I turn the electricity off?"
"Doesn't matter, it's still risking mixing the territories and Eelong had a close call last time that happen with the poison from Cloral and all," said Kasha.
Clarisse begrudgingly complied, but she was not happy about it. After a short climb up a hill the group found that Hera had placed them not too far from Leeandra and it gave Beckendorf and Clarisse a chance to marvel at Eelong natural beauty. They both found Eelong to be nothing short of paradise with its miles of unspoiled jungle, picturesque waterfalls, and exotic wildlife.
"Blue monkeys, yellow pelican-like birds, and those blue turkey-like birds; natural selection never certainly favored Eelong," said Beckendorf as the group walked up to the towering gates of Leeandra.
Once inside the city it was only a short elevator ride before the group reached the treetops and the true heart of Leeandra. Kasha explained that Klees built their cities in the trees in order to prevent Tang attacks and that most of the electricity was generated from solar collecting devices located in the leaves of the trees. As the group walked across one of the many suspension bridges that connected Leeandra, Beckendorf was struck by how high they were; like all children of Hephaestus he was acrophobic, but he managed to pull it together enough to make it across (though not before hopping that the group's quest for demigods would at least be closer to the ground). Presently the group made it to Kasha home, which they found had the door unlocked, and made their way inside.
"Nice digs, kind of has that exotic/jungle vibe to it," said Clarisse as she admired Kasha's wooden sculpture of various Klees.
Kasha shrugged, "It's nothing too fancy, just as much as I need and…that glass has ice in it!"
"Klees have invented freezing technology?" asked Beckendorf in astonishment.
"If there's ice in the glass then whoever owns it must have been here recently, but who…" everyone soon found out who as a brown Klee jumped out from behind one of the couches and pinned Kasha to the floor.
At first the Klee snarled angrily, but then a look of recognition filled its eyes, "Kasha? I-is it really you?"
"You're in my house, eating my food, and you didn't ask!" snapped Kasha.
"Well it was gonna go bad after a while! But more importantly, how did you get here? I thought the flume was destroyed when you and Pendragon left for Zadaa."
"It's a long story Boon, have you been reading my journals?" asked Kasha as Boon helped her up.
"And what kind of acolyte would I be if I hadn't?"
"Then in that case meet Clarisse La Rue and Charles Beckendorf. Clarisse and Beckendorf this is my acolyte Boon."
"The daughter of Ares and the son of Hephaestus from Second Camp Half-Blood! This is awesomeness with extra cool sauce!" giggled Boon with almost nerdish excitement.
"Hey Boon, who's your friends?" asked a younger Klee with yellow fur and black spots, like a cheetah.
"Oh yeah, almost forgot! Everyone this is Sau, he's my neighbor's kid that I babysit while she's out foraging," said Boon as he introduced Sau to everyone.
"Hey Gunny are you from the same place as Beckendorf? Because he has dark skin, and you have dark skin, and you're the only Gars I've even seen with such dark skin!" asked Sau with enough enthusiasm to make a caffeine addict look groggy.
"Well sort of, but not quite," smiled Gunny as he ruffled the young Klee's fur.
"Then do you want to see this gig I made from twigs and tree sap?" asked Sau as he twist the rotor on what looked like a model helicopter made from twigs and sap, and it flew perfectly!
"You're good with your hands aren't you?" asked Beckendorf with great interest.
"I've got a lot more in my room, I bet it makes my dad proud…but I've never met him before!" said Sau, adding the last bit hastily at the end.
"Right, Clarisse I need to have a word with you outside, we'll be back soon everyone."
"So you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Clarisse once they were out on the pouch that overlooked the fantastic city.
"You mean that Sau might be a demigod? I was thinking he might be a son of Hephaestus, you know because of the bit about him being good at building and not knowing his dad?" said Beckendorf.
"Well actually I was thinking about how Chihuahuas have freakishly large ears, but that sounds like a good idea too."
"We have a hunch, but that's not enough. If only we had a satyr, but even if the monsters are being reincarnated on the other territories and sub-territories of Halla, and even if there are demigods on the other territories and sub-territories, does that mean that the satyrs got reincarnated too?"
"Well it would have to be someone close to Sau, so maybe we ought to just ask him," suggested Clarisse.
When Clarisse and Beckendorf got back inside the found Gunny teaching Sau how to play rock-paper-scissors, and Kasha and Boon sitting on the couch chatting with one another.
"Hey kid, you got any crippled friends who are…oh what's the word you Klee use? Oh yeah! You got any crippled Gar friends?" asked Clarisse point-blank.
"Clarisse! You can't be so blunt!" scolded Beckendorf. "Now Sau, it's very important that you tell me if you have any friends like that, because I think you're a very special boy and I don't want you to be hurt by a very bad man who might be in Leeandra right now and might want to hurt you. Do you think you can tell me?"
"Well before the Gars became free and equal I had pet Gar named Mosu, he could talk and it was before everyone knew that Gars can talk so he told me it had to be our secret, just me, him, and my mom. I told me about my dad and how I was special and he played games with me, but then The Advent happened and Mosu had to go to Black Water with all the other Gars, but before he left he told me he'd always be looking out for me and one day I'd see him again and everything would make sense."
"I see, and what else did he tell you?"
"Well he said I had to be very careful and not tell anyone about the things we had talked about because monster might try to eat me, but he also said a very bad Gar would come looking for me too. He said this Gar could change himself to look like anyone, even a Klee and… oh no! I said too much!" said Sau as he clasped his paws over his mouth.
"No it's okay, we're here to help you," said Gunny in his soothing voice.
"No! Stay away from me! You're going to take me to the bad Gar! I won't let you!" screamed Sau as he bolted out the door.
"Sau! Get back here!" called Boon as he raced after the young Klee.
"Okay, an evil Gar who can turn himself into anything. Anyone thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Kasha.
"Saint Dane!" said everyone in unison.
The four of them soon found Boon attempting to pry the door of one of the other houses open, and they reasoned it must be the house where Sau and his mother lived.
"Come on Sau, you can't hid in there forever," said Boon.
"I just need to hold out until me mom comes home, and she'll be very angry to find out that you're working for the bad gar Boon!" shouted Sau.
"Hey kid, you know how much I'd get hurt if I broke down this door?" snarled Clarisse as she backed up.
"How much?"
"Not! At! All!" shouted Clarisse as she rammed the door at top speed.
The door didn't stand a chance against the daughter of Ares; with a great splintering sound the door was yanked from its hinges and Clarisse tumbled inside. No sooner had she gotten in than Clarisse was pelted by small rocks fired from miniature catapults. She dogged the rocks just in time to avoid being drenched by a pot of boiling water, and she was just about to catch up with Sau when the ring on her finger began to twitch and expand.
"Oh come on! Does it really have to be know?" groaned Clarisse as she scanned to room for someplace where the ring would work its magic (or whatever powered it).
Clarisse decided that since she was pretty much alone it didn't matter, so she placed the ring on the ground and allowed herself to become distracted by the dazzling light show and sweet jumble of music as the miniature flume deposited Silena latest journal. When the lights and music stopped and the ring return to its normal size the first thing Clarisse noticed was that the paper was yellow and tied with a purple bow, and the second thing she noticed was that Sau was watching dumb found from atop a countertop.
"That was so cool! What was that?" asked Sau in amazement.
"I thought you didn't want to talk to use because you think we work for the bad Gar," said Clarisse.
"Well…I might have over reached a little," replied Sau sheepishly.
"A little! Try a lot!"
"Sau, I'm home!"
Clarisse turned around to see a Klee with yellow fur and roseate marking, like a jaguar, walk into the house along with Beckendorf, Kasha, Boon, and Gunny.
"Mom! You'll never believe…" but then Sau broke down and started crying. "I'm sorry mommy! I'm so sorry! I broke the promise I made to Mosu and I told about all the things he told me not to! I'm sorry, sorry, sorry!"
"There, there, it's okay. I'm sure they're trustworthy."
"They're more than trustworthy Janta, these Grs right here are half-bloods," said Gunny.
Janta's eyes grew wide at this revelation, "Mosu always said we'd find others, and I always assumed it was possible, I just didn't expect…"
"That we'd be Gars? Don't worry Janta, I was a little freaked out by the concept that Klees could be demigods, but I guess the world's a more mysterious place than either of us could have guesses," said Beckendorf.
For the next few hours the group explained as much as they knew to Janta and she told them what she knew. Gunny, Boon, and Kasha had known Janta before and that help to smoothen the awkwardness between the groups.
"So tell me more about this Camp Half-Blood, where did you say it was again?" asked Janta.
"It's uh…on the island of Long, located near the islands of Manhattan and Staten," said Clarisse; Beckendorf gave her the thumbs up.
"Hmm…never heard of those islands, but geography was never my strongest subject. So are there many Gars at this Camp Half-Blood?"
"It's basically all Gars, plus the satyrs, harpies, dryads, naiads, and Chiron's a centaur. Like I said we were surprised that there were such things as Klee demigods; have you encountered any others?"
"Sau's the only one I know of, but Mosu said there were plenty more; he even said there were Gar demigods and here we are now," said Janta.
"So this Mosu guy was he a satyr by chance?" asked Kasha.
Janta nodded slowly, "Yes, but once The Advent happened he moved to Black Water because it would look suspicious if he didn't. He claimed he'd be back soon, but I haven't heard from him since."
"Well if there's all these other half-bloods then maybe he's helping them," suggested Gunny.
"Listen, we've sort of been charged by the goddess Hera to set up a Camp Half-Blood here on Eelong…"
"But Eelong already has a Camp Half-Blood! Isn't that where you're from?" asked Janta with an eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"It mean on this part of Eelong of course!" said Beckendorf hastily; the group had agreed that while Janta and Sau were trusted friends they still could not learn the truth about Halla under any circumstances.
"What I think he's trying to say is, we're looking to set up another branch of Camp Half-Blood closer to Leeandra and Black Water, and we were wondering if Sau would like to join us?" said Gunny.
"Can I please Mom? It sounds like lots of fun," pleaded Sau.
"Well you would be protected and safe so…okay! But it might be awhile before the camp is set up."
"We're hoping it won't be long…so is it Hephaestus?" asked Beckendorf.
"What? Oh! Yes, Sau's father is Hephaestus…guess that makes him your little brother," said Janta.
"Just one more thing: we're going to be heading off to Black Water soon to look for Mosu to see if he can help us find other half-bloods, and we were wondering if Sau could come along with us, because he might be able to find Mosu more easily than we could," said Boon.
The expression on Janta's face turn dead serious as he looked Boon directly in the eyes, "I have but one condition: bring him back safe and alive or you will suffer the consequences! Understood?"
"Loud and clear mam!" said Boon as he quickly snapped to attention.
Janta expression softened, "Well, then you have a train to catch. Have a good trip!"
After that the group made a mad dash for the train station and made it just in time to get six tickets on the train to Black Water. For a while the group just admired the wild, exotic country side of Eelong, but gradually Sau fell asleep and Clarisse unrolled Silena next journal and Beckendorf began to read aloud.
Okay a couple of things. I wasn't sure if Klee and Gar are supposed to be capitalized, so don't flame. Also I wasn't sure about names for original characters so go easy and tell me how I did. Finally, I know the bit about Hera seemed a little out of the left field, but I need a way to get them to Eelong and the flume was broken so…tell me what you thought! Oh and leave a review, those are important too! c(: