Sparks were flying over everybody's heads. Everybody, that is, except me. It was like an unexpected show of random fireworks, one even happened right after we stepped out of the porch of the Big House. A flaming hammer. Hephaestus. It caused quite the reaction out of the girl whose head she thought was burning. Quirky, those kids of Hephaestus are. However, I really pitied the boy with the blond hair. Having a rainbow arched above you, no matter how pretty, is not the most masculine thing to happen, especially to a guy at thirteen trying to establish his manliness.
After leaving the Big House, the thee of us left out of the original eleven were led to the larger than usual cabin 11 – Hermes, god of messengers, travelers, and thieves, while the others were led to their respective cabins . Being the guardian of travelers, the cabin makes way for all the unclaimed; it is actually on one of the reasons it was bigger than the other cabins. But ever since the deal between the hero and the gods were worked out, it has diminished in numbers and increased in space immensely. Tina led us to the low grey building; facing the silver plated '11' that hung slightly crooked on its smooth wooden door, she pounded on it and yelled: "Open up, the newbies are here!"
Silence. Other than the occasional screams and yells of other campers nearby, nothing sounded. It was as if the whole of cabin 11 was unoccupied. Tina rolled her eyes in annoyance and raised her meaty hands up to knock on the expensive wood – probably stolen –again. But before her hands touched the door, a bucket of mud fell from the roof and onto our temporary leader. A chorus of hysterical laugh rang from the cabin as faces with elfish features popped from their hiding spot around the cabin.
"Stolls!" our mud covered leader yelled out in aggravation, her eyes a burning red. "Which one of you is onto this!" she screamed out.
"Hey, hey! Calm down little Clarisse, I didn't know you did newbie duties!" A man in his twenties walked out from behind his younger siblings and stood forward to further taunt Tina, causing her fist to shake in anger.
"You'll get it, Stoll, just you wait," Tina said menacingly before storming off, probably to the toilets to wash of the mud that was drying and cracking under the hot sun.
Vigorous clapping sounded as Tina's form becomes smaller and smaller from our viewpoint. The man who had clearly orchestrated this whole prank, Stoll, gathered the three of us and led us into the low building.
"How did you like our welcome party for you?" Stoll's devilish smile broke through his intimidating appearance.
The other two newcomers seemed to be in awe of the man's daring act against the obviously dangerous camper. I, on the other hand, felt like I should go and comfort that girl but would not be able to resist help laughing while she was turned away. "Aren't you a bit old to be pranking people around here?" I commented, noting his slight stubble.
He laughed heartily and said, "Oh, you're never too old when you're a child of Hermes."
We were soon assigned to a 'buddy' for the day and my 'buddy' was none other than Stoll, whose first name I learnt was called Connor. I followed Connor to the end of the cabin where my assigned space was situated. "Here we are, there's your spot," the brunette with pointed features indicated to the lower bunk of the double bunk bed. I inspected the small space, so unlike the environment that I've been wrapped around in up on Olympus, and suspicious of any funny things that might hide in its creases – after that brilliant show of mischievousness, I'm not taking any chances.
As I was wondering how on Earth am I going to fit all the stuff that I've brought into this tiny space, Connor spoke again. "You can start unpacking and go get changed. Our cabin has archery next, so you'll have to go in about ten minutes time," Connor showed me the Camp Half-Blood T-shirt he kindly stole for me and suggested for me to lock my belongings before leaving it unattended, giving a mischievous smirk that obviously spelled out he will not be responsible for his siblings' stealing tendencies.
"Will you be going to archery as well?" I asked, curious about it when he said 'you'll'.
"Nope," he answered chirpily, "I have grown up business to do, so if you have any questions, just ask Sheryl here, and Dan, a son of Apollo, will be waiting for you outside of the cabin to continue your tour," he pointed to a girl about eighteen, with all the trade mark features of the children of Hermes and another blond haired guy who was currently standing outside of the Hermes cabin, talking to a girl with long, flowing brown hair. "And before I leave," he turned his head, "what's your name?" Connor asked, his eyes examining my face for any familiar features, probably trying to guess who my godly relation is. I have a sneaking suspicion that they have a huge betting game going on.
"It's Ambrosia Rose, but you can just call me Rose," I lied smoothly, so used to it that it can't come out even smoother than how it did just now.
Connor stared hard at my face, a hint of recognition flashed before his eyes, before fading back into the clear blue of his irises. He didn't seem to have come to any conclusions.
"Rose," he said experimentally, then nodded and left with a casual wave over his head, leaving me to my own corner in the simple grey Hermes cabin.
Archery was difficult. It took me too long to even pull back the string than to notch the arrow and release it towards the target, which was not the trunk of a nearby tree. I think that dryad whose tree I splintered will forever remember my face.
I found out that Chiron, the bearded disabled man, turned out to be a centaur. The centaur, apparently – Hera would be appalled by my disappointing application of Ancient Greek knowledge. It happened when he sprung out from his disguise to get ready for the class, and I had been able to keep part of my dignity by not gasping or staring in shock like some of the other newbies.
I had to avoid canoeing and Greek classes by coming up with wanting to look around as an excuse. Dan was more than accommodating to show me around, maybe a bit too much. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, huh. On the bright side, we got to fly with some pegasi in the evening before being dismissed for shower. I had the greatest fun during that activity, spending my time with the pegasi in the stables up in Olympus whenever I was free paid off and I was able to communicate with my Pegasus smoothly.
Dinner started all right, with the delicious food – barbecue – and the special drink the gods made for me up on Olympus – I couldn't have nectar as food, of course, and you could get whatever you want in that goblet. That is probably the coolest thing Dionysus gave the camp privileged of. Said god made an introduction to our presence, with an added pause on my name, giving me that cursory glance of his, before proceeding to mention other notes as sleazy as possible. Dionysus may seem to be uncaring as the director here to the campers, but I know that he has a lot more going under the surface. I nodded my appreciation at his silent acknowledgement and continued with my dinner, burning the best pieces of meat for Hestia and, of course, Hera.
Halfway through the peaceful but albeit a little nosier than usual dinner at the mess hall, a disheveled camper decked out in full armor came running up to the long table up front where all the senior campers and important people sat. She whispered to Chiron, and he in turned stood and left the mess hall where the dining pavilion sits and, you guessed it, where dinners were held.
See, back in Mount Olympus, I like to tail random deities and listen into their conversation. I'm sure they knew that they were being eavesdropped on, but that's the thing, they like to spread rumors and start conspiracies, they don't care if their conversation is being heard by an outsider, they probably even know that it was me. Now, though, I'm debating on whether to indulge myself and go learn something new, or abide to common morals and sit quietly here, wasting my precious undercover time.
The answer was obvious. Follow them with my non-existent ninja skills and don't get caught. It seemed easy enough at the time.
Chiron had trotted up to the edge of the forest, near the beach of Long Island Sound by the time I managed to sneak out from the mess hall and away from my overbearing 'buddy' Dan. Three figures stood by the beach in the darkened night and they seemed to be arguing; loud yells and screams were heard from my hiding spot behind a conveniently placed bush.
"Why are you here? What else do you want?" A streak of curly blonde hair reflected in the moonlight. The sound of delicate fabric moving against the coarse sand of the beach was heard.
"I came here to inform you that I have completed my part of the deal, she has been sent here and I assumed that she is in good condition," a familiar voice said. My body tensed at that melodious sound. Hera.
"This is our daughter you're talking about, not a thing," hissed a masculine voice before Chiron interrupted the fight.
"Calm down Percy," he said in a commanding voice, before bowing to Hera. "What might we be blessed with your presence today, Hera," he asked politely, while I scoffed at his overly decorated speech.
"I was here as we agreed before, to inform them of the last exchange of their daughter, and now that that has been accomplished, I will take my leave," Hera said as she glowed into her godly form. With the rest of us shielding ourselves from being burnt to crisps, she folded into air and was whisked away back to heaven.
I sighed. It was typical of Hera to meddle in everything; she is the family woman after all. But her inclusion in this apparent 'exchange' had been echoed too many times to be inconspicuous, at least to me. Although I've been in quite the denial for a long time, I'm not dumb. With Hera being the only person to know of my past, her creation – made into existence in the first place to guard – taking me from Olympus to camp, the conversation in Chiron's office and the godly row, pun intended, which just happened? What were the odds?
A growl broke my fixated train of thought, reminding me of my precarious position and the likely dangers that I'd face. Unfortunately, it's too late to regret about it now.
I turned around with speed that I didn't know I possessed. I was faced with a blood caked mane and a salivating jaw, along with a pair of black beady eyes, all hungry for some much needed night time snack and I swallowed heavily. I've only ever heard of the chimaera, and never had the pleasure of combating one, being closed in Olympus and all. Now, though, I wished I was back behind those golden gates that drowns you in boredom but also prevents you from getting eaten.
It prowled forward cockily, sensing that its victim was weak and unable to defend, knowing that it had secured its meal for the night. The serpent tail twitched in excitement as the hind legs of a goat tensed and prepared to spring forward, the lion's meaty jaw widening, showing its rows of sharp teeth, when suddenly, it froze. Those hooves of the chimaera were still poised in midair, ready to push down its victim, when a sickening sound of a blade sliced the wind and stabbed through the body of the monster, reducing it into harmless dust.
I looked up at my savior, so shocked by the whole event that I would later swore spanned a whole hour, when it only took a few seconds. A pair of sea green eyes met mine. I shifted towards the left and was met with startling grey ones. I scrunched up my brow in confusion, and then looked down towards the bloodied sword in the man's hand. The only realization that I could remember of this encounter before darkness took over and swept me away from consciousness, was that I had seen my own eyes reflected back at me in those swirling grey of hers.
The wailing of a baby echoed and rang through the wide hall of the twelve. Hera's footsteps quickened to place the child into her crib in Volumna's quarters.
Volumna took the newborn tenderly into her arms and settled into a rocking movement to calm down the crying babe and put her to sleep. Hera paced back out into the hall and was confronted by two angry and unlikeliest of grandparents.
"What have you done now, Hera? This is not acceptable. You return her straight back to the hospital," Poseidon said in an angry undertone.
"Don't you feel put out that they didn't tell you about her, your own granddaughter? They entrusted me to care for their daughter here in Olympus, not you. And they had expected no one would know of it!" Hera sneered in retort.
"Don't you dare insult my daughter's intelligence! She knows you can keep a secret when you want to. You've proven to us how manipulative you could be multiple times," Athena attacked with her vicious words.
Hera laughed lightly, the melodious tinkling tinged with slight irony. "You know, Athena, sometimes I do know what I'm doing. I'm not just a crazed woman trying to create havoc. You seem to always forget that at the verge of breaking, I'm the one who had put this family back together, hun. You won't understand why I'm doing this even if I tell you, so I suggest you go along with the plan and try not to tear my had work to pieces in the process will you?" Hera replied haughtily and left in a swirling of silk the colors of the feather of a peacock, leaving the god of sea and goddess of wisdom conflicted beyond belief.