Okay, guys. From now on (and because of a request to keep this story going) the chapters won't have dates or begin with the word 'the'. Those were merely acting as stepping stone kind of things for when Jaden got to Camp Half-Blood. Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 5:

Meeting The Campers

It had been a week since Gary had found Jaden at the site of the car accident that the younger boy was sure he was the cause of. Not once had the seven year old said anything. Both Gary and the man in the wheelchair, Mr Chiron, visited him regularly, either trying to get him to talk or else just building block structures or doing puzzles with him. He liked the puzzles they had, especially the ones with the dragons and dogs. Occasionally, Gary would introduce one of the younger kids to him and they would silently play together. But, in the end, no one could get a word out of him and they all ended up leaving.

Mr Chiron was with Jaden again, but this time he was trying to explain that he was now in a camp for people who were half god. Jaden just stared at him blankly for a few seconds before going back to the tower he was building. That was when Mr Chiron got an idea and used Jaden's tower to explain that the Greek gods (or rather people who had super powers and can live forever) lived in a golden city (here he picked up a yellow block and held it above the tower) called Olympus high in the clouds above the Empire State Building.

At this explanation, Jaden slowly began to understand. Or at least he understood that there really were people on the planet who had super powers like Superman and Buzz Lightyear. However, being selectively mute, he couldn't find the words to ask if his favourite super heroes really were real. Somehow, though, he got the feeling that his heroes weren't like Mr Chiron's heroes. Instead, he knocked down the tower and started to make creatures out of them; more specifically a family of dogs. Mr Chiron then proceeded to tell him about monsters and how the bad monsters found the heroes and some of the good monsters as well. He understood this Heroes and Monsters approach.

Once that was done, Mr Chiron played a game with him where Jaden was to make something out of the blocks and he had to guess what the shape was. There turned out to be a lot of birds and dogs that Mr Chiron had guessed right. Though there was the odd horse or monkey that showed up every now and then. Unfortunately, the game ended when a knock was sounded at the door and someone poked their head into the room.

" Chiron. They're ready." The visitor said, sneaking a glance at Jaden and quickly disappearing back behind the door.

" Okay, Jaden. I'm going to take you to meet the other campers today. Hopefully you've been able to make some new friends when Gary introduced you to some of our other campers." Mr Chiron said, wheeling his chair over to where Jaden's suitcase had been placed. He pulled out a clean, light blue shirt and a pair of black shorts and placed them at the end of Jaden's bed. " Now quickly get dressed so we can leave."

Quietly, Jaden did as he was told as soon as Mr Chiron had left the room. But the thought of meeting people who, as Mr Chiron said, had superpowers made him nervous. He was that nervous that, as soon as he was dressed, he climbed back into bed and began building another tower. The look that Mr Chiron gave him when he returned a few minutes later clearly said that the old man did not approve of what he was seeing. Slowly, very slowly so that he didn't have to leave the room too soon, Jaden tore down his tower and piled up the different coloured blocks as Mr Chiron wheeled his chair to the side of the bed.

" Come now, Jaden. I'm sure that it won't be that bad." He said as soothingly as he could.

With a soft sigh, Jaden eased himself off the bed once more and allowed the old man to lead him through the Big House and out to the porch where he could see someone waiting. At first glance, Jaden wasn't sure who this person was. But as they turned, he noticed the familiar pointed nose and slightly crooked smile that could only give off a gentle look on the face of Gary Rodgers. Before he knew what he was doing, Jaden found himself rushing over to the older boy and holding onto his arm as if that would stop them from taking him to the meeting.

" Hey there, Jaden. What're you doing out here?" Gary greeted him lightly.

As usual, Jaden remained silent. But for the first time in a week, he was suddenly engulfed in the need to say something. Unfortunately, his words would not form on his tongue no matter how hard his mind kept on drilling the words into him. So, instead, he looked to Mr Chiron and hid further behind Gary in an attempt to show to the two of them that he did not want to go. What he saw, however, was something that he did not want to ever see again.

Mr Chiron was no longer in his wheelchair. He was a horse man. He was the horse man that had ordered his arrival to the infirmary that fateful day. And if there was one thing his 'flashbacks' taught him about animal men, it was that they were to be feared. Instantly, Jaden pulled away from the horse man and, after letting go of Gary's arm, ran into the farthest, darkest, most hidden corner that he thought would protect him from the horse man that was Mr Chiron.

" Jaden?" Gary called in confusion.

" Perhaps it would be best if I talked with the other campers first. I leave Jaden to you, Gary." Mr Chiron sighed, before walking off to wherever the meeting was being held.

With a small nod to the retreating figure that was his mentor, Gary turned to where Jaden was cowering in the corner. Unfortunately, Chiron was going to have to wait a little longer than what he wanted because Jaden looked like he had no wish of leaving that corner. So, as quietly as he could, Gary went over to Jaden and eased himself next to the younger boy.

" So… how's it going?" the son of Apollo asked after a few minutes, trying to lighten Jaden's mood a little.

Jaden merely looked up at Gary trying to figure out if there was something wrong with him or not. But he could not stop the tears from streaming down his face at the thought of everything that had happened in the past week… including what was about to happen. The fear was now too much for him to handle.

" Hey, now. There's nothing to be upset about." Gary said, wiping away the tears. " Come on. I'll introduce you and then we can come right back here and maybe watch a movie, okay?"

An answer came in the form of a quick shake of the head.

" Listen. No one's going to hurt you. And if they even try to, I'll stop them." With these words, Gary lifted the left sleeve of his shirt to reveal an upside-down bronze dagger clipped safely in place by a leather sheath that was tied around the boy's still forming muscles. At the sight of the weapon – so much like the sword that Jaden had called on in his mother's car – Jaden reeled back. But Gary merely sighed and covered his hidden weapon once more. " Do you trust me?"

It took a while for Jaden to comprehend the word. He also tended to stare into Gary's eyes when he did so. His gaze was that intense that Gary had to stop himself from recoiling despite the hurt and scared look that surrounded the golden irises. But after a few minutes of finally believing that Gary would never hurt him, he rubbed his eyes dry and nodded his head. With a soft smile (more out of relief that he was finally starting to gain the boy's trust) Gary got to his feet and helped the boy up on his own before leading him down to the dining pavilion.

They only got as far as the cabins before Jaden noticed the nine year old girl sitting next to the very large fire pit and froze. The reason, aside from the memory of the man in the flying car, the girl by the fire pit was looking at him with a sad expression on her face. Gary turned to look at him, obviously trying to figure out why he had stopped, but it was clear that Jaden wasn't going to move. When he turned to the fire pit and noticed the girl, he seemed to realise what the problem was. And he knew that if he left Jaden alone, even for a moment, he would run.

" Jaden, It's okay." Gary reassured the smaller boy. " This is Lady Hestia. She gives us hope and makes sure that everyone is safe at night when we're asleep in our cabins."

Unfortunately, Jaden didn't seem to register what Gary was saying. The only thing that he was sure about was that his night time protector, his mother, was no longer able to protect him and no one was going to take that place. This also meant that no one was going to be able to change his mind. It was another five minutes before Gary was able to convince Jaden that Hestia was one of the super heroes that Mr Chiron had been talking about. But Mr Chiron's name alone brought forth the memory of him turning into a horse man and made Jaden refuse to move once more.

" Come on, Jaden. We're late." Gary sighed for what felt like the tenth time in less than ten minutes.

Jaden still refused to move.

" Trust me. No one is going to hurt you. I'll make sure that no one hurts you."

Finally Jaden moved… but it was only to look up at Gary, tears once more streaming his eyes. With a sigh, Gary knelt in front of Jaden and turned his soft blue eyes to the frightened golden ones before him.

" Listen to me, Jaden. No one is going to hurt you. They just want to say hi. And once we've said hi to everyone, then we can go back to the Big House and watch a movie, okay?"

Slowly, Jaden nodded his head. But he froze once more when he saw someone walking up behind Gary. It was obvious that the person was a young woman. And it was clear that she was slightly angry with Gary for being late. At least, her eyes betrayed that slight annoyance. The look on her face, especially when she saw Jaden, clearly showed that she was either shocked or slightly frightened. But she merely swallowed whatever emotion was inside her as she stopped right behind Gary and cleared her throat, making the older boy hurry to his feet in shock.

" Andi! Hi!" Gary exclaimed in a high pitched voice.

" Hello, Gary. I've come to get you." The girl said. " Chiron seems to think that you two got lost on your way to the meeting."

" Not lost. Scared." Gary then turned to face a still frightened Jaden and sighed. " And thanks to you, we're going to be a little while longer."

" We're getting restless in there, you know."

" I can only do so much with him. He's a seven year old who just lost his mother."

" There are a lot of people here who don't have mothers. You included."

" My mum has nothing to do with this. At least I know she's still alive despite where she is… again."

" Whatever. I'll tell Chiron that you got this far." Andi sighed, turning back the way she came and running off.

" You do that." Gary told the retreating figure. He then turned to Jaden. " That was my older sister. For some reason she doesn't like me. Oh well. Not everyone's like her. Come on. Let's get going."

Jaden looked up at the older boy and, with a slight surprise to Gary, nodded his head and took his hand. He wanted to watch a movie. And if seeing all these people was what it meant to watch a movie, then he was going to do just that. He just had to walk around the fire pit with the sad girl. With a deep breath from Jaden, Gary continued to lead the seven year old to the dining pavilion where the meeting was being held (the rec room was too small to fit the entire camp in it).

When they got there, the first thing that Jaden noticed was that there was pretty much someone sitting at every table. He also noticed that Mr Chiron was standing in front of everyone. But that wasn't what made Jaden hide behind Gary. What was was that there were about twenty or so goat men… one of which was the one who had called to the hurricane boy.

" Please don't turn me into a tree." Jaden pleaded softly from behind Gary's legs.

All talk stopped instantly despite the soft plea. Everyone turned to face the week long silent boy. No one moved even an inch for quite a few minutes. Gary was the first to break free from the trance, kneeling down and wrapping his arms protectively around the smaller boy's shoulders.

" Jaden?" the son of Apollo asked as gently as he could.

" The animal men… they'll… they'll turn me into a tree like they did to the big golden eyed man. They'll turn me into a tree because I have golden eyes too."

" No they won't. They're harmless."

" No they're not. They've got those wood flute things. That's how they turned that golden eyed man into a tree."

But the rumours had already spread. And so too had the fears. More than one person still in camp but old enough to have fought in the Titan War rose from their seats, hands on their weapons. Andi was one of those, gripping her knives tightly despite only just having seen the boy. And, as Gary had told Jaden back at the Big House, the second he saw someone reach for their weapon, he unsheathed his hidden dagger and rose to face the rest of the camp.

" No one touches him!" He growled, his voice deepening into his adult voice.

" He's got Kronos written all over him!" one of the older kids growled back.

" So what? Hazel Levesque's got golden eyes and she's a daughter of Hades' Roman form!"

" But this is different." One of the older mentors, a famous son of Poseidon, said. " Hazel died during the Second World War and was resurrected. This kid… well, he really does look like Kronos."

" Forget that!" The leader of the Hermes cabin screamed out. " He looks like him!"

" Looks like who, Griffin?" Andi's tight voice called over the exclamations that quickly followed this statement.

" My older brother. The one who loved Artemis' Lieutenant… before his betrayal. The one who housed the Titan Lord. Luke Castellan."

Luke Castellan. That name was the trigger to a brilliant flash of gold. And there was only one person within the entire throng of demigods that was affected by the sudden flash of gold. Mere seconds after Griffin had spoken Luke's name, Jaden's mind pulled forth a memory of blue eyes and a deep scar down the side of someone's face. And the memories of his mother explaining who his father was weren't far in following. Instantly, Jaden was able to piece together that this Luke Castellan that the campers were talking about was, in fact, his father. But somehow he managed to pull from time into the dining pavilion the memory of a young girl begging her lover to stay and help her name the child in her arms. The only one that gave Jaden his name.

But just as quickly as it had happened, it was over. For a few seconds no one did anything. They were still trying to figure out what had just happened. And Gary, thought trying to sort out his confusion as well, was focussing more on those with weapons. He was still trying to make sure that no one attacked his young friend. So it was that no one noticed when Jaden began swaying on the spot until he was already falling.

" Gary!" One of the daughters of Nemesis called out, alerting him to Jaden's collapse.

" Jaden!" Gary exclaimed as he dropped his dagger and was just able to catch the boy before his head hit the ground.

There wasn't much that Jaden could make sense of as he fell; only that for the first time, even if it was only a memory of the day he was born, he had gotten to see and hear his father. but there was only one small word that managed to escapes his lips as he felt strong arms wrap around his tired body, " Daddy."