Chapter 2: Tour Time

Here comes chapter two! I just wanted to say that I am trying to blend this as much as I can with the actual Heroes of Olympus Series. That's all, happy reading! This chapter will also be a lot longer.

Alex's POV:

"Camp What?" I asked, before the aroma of cheesy sauce covered bread goodness floated back to my mouth. "Wait, before that, pizza?"

"You must smell the ambrosia," Piper told me with a smile. She turned around to grab a square of a strange looking food. It smelled like pizza, but it definitely wasn't pizza. She handed the ambrosia to me.

"So… no pizza?" I asked again, getting impatient.

"No pizza," Piper answered, fighting back a laugh. I frowned and looked at the ambrosia, then shrugged and took a bite. It tasted just like pizza! My mind was officially blown. While I was chewing, I remembered last night and a billion questions burst into my mind. Before I could ask Piper, a boy with messy blonde hair, striking blue eyes, a scar on his upper lip, and a bandage wrapped up his right arm. "Jason!" Piper exclaimed, then she stood up and started getting mad at him. Something about "not in the right condition to walk around" and how he "should be laying down". It didn't take me long to realize that these two were dating. While Piper unleased her fury of words upon Jason, I sat up and turned to Leo, preparing my questions.

"What is 'Camp Half-Blood'? What were chasing us last night? Where's my stuff? Where's Jackie? Who are you? Who threw that flash grenade? What is the deal with 'ambrosia'? Why does it smell and taste like pizza? And brownies? And all my favorite foods! What day is it? How long have I been asleep? Why are you staring at me like I'm crazy? What the hell is going on?" I asked, with Leo's eyes getting wider and wider and I went on with my questions. He held up his hands for the international signal for Stop!

"Woah, okay, umm…" Leo said, scratching the back of his head. He leaned back and started to drum his fingers on his legs while looking around. He wore the same orange t-shirt as everyone else, with the exception of a few people in purple. His shirt said "Camp Half-Blood" in all capital letters, written in a Greek-like style. "Well, Camp Half-Blood is a safe haven for demigods to train and hide from monsters. The things chasing you last night were gryphons, I think. Don't know who Jackie is, but if she's the girl you arrived with, then she's right behind me," Leo started to explain, and I quickly looked at the bed behind him to see Jackie being treating by more campers. She looked relatively fine. Leo continued. "Ambrosia is the food of the gods, and it helps you heal. Don't eat too much though. Also, it tastes like your favorite food so it gives you comfort. It's July 2nd, you all through yesterday and the night before. I was staring at you like you were crazy because you were bombarding me with questions. As for what's going on, well, I really just explained that." I sat silent for a moment while preparing a new round of questions. I took a deep breath, and Leo must've noticed. "Hey, one at a time," he told me.

"What are demigods?" I asked.

"They're the sons and daughters of the Greek and Roman gods. I hope you're a Greek," Leo told me, and I decided not to ask why.

"What happens if you eat too much ambrosia?"

"You burst into flames." Leo didn't look like he was kidding, though it was hard to tell.

"What gods are there?" I questioned.

"Well, I really only know the Greek ones. How many do you know?"

"I know that there's Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Hades, Aphrodite, Ares, and… yeah that's it," I answered. I wasn't prepared for a quiz. Piper apparently was done yelling at Jason, because she sat down and started talking to me.

"You're right on all of those," she said. "The twelve main gods are Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Athena, Demeter, and Hermes. There are also some minor gods, such as Nike, Nemesis, and Hecate." My ears started ringing when she said "Hecate". "They're the gods of lightning, the sea, the Underworld, marriage, beauty, war, blacksmiths and fire, music, the hunt, wine, strategy, the harvest, and thievery."

"And the Romans have their own equivalents, like Jupiter, Juno, Neptune, Pluto, Diana, and Bacchus. Some gods stay the same though, like Nemesis and Hecate," Leo said. I started to get dizzy.

"Where's my stuff?" I asked, and Leo knelt down and reached under the bed. He pulled out two black backpacks. "Yep, those are ours," I stated. I tried to stand up, but Piper pushed me back again.

"You're in no condition to walk, even with a day's rest," she said, her eyes full of concern. I scowled at her and she handed me a mirror. My face was covered with scratches, my hair was full of leaves, and there was dried blood everywhere. I guess no one bothered to wipe off my face. I handed back the mirror and noticed my bandaged arms. The bandages were also dried with blood, and so were the ones on my legs. I felt my stomach and felt more bandages, wrapping around my midsection to get the wounds on my back. Strange thing was, I didn't feel pain unless I moved. I was handed more ambrosia, and I slowly nibbled on it while Jackie started to stir.

"Hey, Al…" she muttered, a black eye being the main feature of her face. She also had various bandages, but not as many and hers were fresh. "How do you like Camp Half-Blood?"

"Oh, so you've already gotten the drill?" I asked, and leaned over to lightly push her shoulder. I winced, but we both laughed. A blonde with deep gray eyes walked up to her.

"Jackie, you want the tour?" she asked, and Jackie nodded. I asked to come to. The girl sized me up and gave me a prompt "no." I sighed and laid back down. Piper went off to care for more people, leaving me with Leo.

"So, Flashy, who's your godly parent?" I asked, simply trying to make small talk.

"Hephaestus. Flashy?" Leo said.

"You threw the flash grenade, didn't you?"

"Oh yeah." Leo decided to fill me in on what happened. Apparently, the campers on watch saw the commotion and ran out to help. At first they only saw Jackie, but when Leo threw the flash grenade and I screamed, they realized I was there in the shadows. Leo had to carefully burn away the root with his fire powers. Literally, this dude could summon fire. He had to make sure not to burn my ankle, and then Chiron, the centaur of the camp, and other campers, brought me to the infirmary. "I'm surprised you weren't crying from the attack. Heck, I'm surprised you're alive!" Leo told me. I casually told him that I never cry. He looked pretty surprised. Soon someone brought a bucket of water and a rag, which I began to clean up with.

I wet the rag in the clean, cool water and started to wipe down my face, wincing when it passed over a wound. Leo just sat there awkwardly, drumming on the arm chairs. At one point he grabbed a bunch of metal pieces from his pocket and started making random things.

"Were you assigned to watch me?" I asked suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, because I guess I wasn't technically supposed to use that flash grenade," he told me, and I laughed.

"But without it, I wouldn't be here," I said, and we both laughed. I was beginning to feel better, and I combed out my hair with my fingers and winced when someone came to change my bandages. Soon, I felt good enough to walk around.

"I guess I need to give you the tour then," Leo said when he saw me walking in the infirmary. He had just went to go grab a couple granola bars from the mess hall. I smiled and he led me out into the camp.

Leo's POV:

I was honestly kinda glad to be assigned to watching over this girl. After we walked out, I quickly realized something. "Hey, um… what's your name again?" I asked.

"Oh! I guess I never told you. It's Alex," she said, brushing hair out of her face. She opened her granola bar and took a bite, looking around. She has long, dark brown hair. It was let loose around her shoulders, covering the top of her worn red hoodie. Some people had repaired the rips while she was sleeping. Her light-colored jean shorts were also worn and dirty, but I guess that she must've been on the run for a while. Her shoes were dirty sneakers, but one was red and one was black. Alex didn't wear much makeup, or any for that matter. I wondered why I was noticing these things, I never did before. I shook my head and looked around. We went on the rest of the tour in silence, with me occasionally explaining the places and people.

"So, Alex," I said, and she looked at me. Her green eyes didn't seem right, like they were out of place. Was that what Piper noticed in the infirmary? Oh well. "You feeling good enough for capture the flag tomorrow? The Four of July Fest starts then."

"Um… Tomorrows July 3rd," she said. "But yeah, I'm feeling fine."

"Well, the Fourth of July fest starts July 3rd, and goes to July 5th. The firework are on the night of July 4th. We really just party and do activities the other two days," I said. I saw another Hephaestus boy waving his arms and yelling for me. "Gotta go, that's a cabin-mate getting me for sword-fighting classes. See you later!" I ran off leaving Alex standing in the road. I cursed, remembering I had to give her the tour. Luckily I ran into Annabeth and the other newbie. "Hey, can you finish the tour for the other new girl? I have classes," I told her. Annabeth nodded and went over to introduce her self.

Alex's POV:

As Leo walked off, I saw him send the blonde that gave Jackie a tour my way. Jackie ran behind her, seeming to be moving fine despite her injuries.

"How much of the tour have you had so far?" the blonde asked me.

"Everything but the armory and forge," I said. She nodded and introduced herself as Jackie walked up to my side.

"The name's Annabeth, Daughter of Athena," Annabeth told me.

"The name's Alex, Daughter of I Don't Know," I replied. Annabeth smiled and led me towards the forge. I began to feel the fire as we got close to the forge. I was quickly explained that that was were the Hephaestus kids made all the armor and weapons. Annabeth ran ahead to the armory, leaving me to talk to Jackie.

"How do you like Camp Half-Blood so far?" my friend asked.

"It's pretty nice, wish we got here earlier though. Ready for the Fourth of July fest?" I asked.

"Yep, and I'm ready to start training. This all looks pretty intense. Annabeth looks pretty good in combat, so I'm hoping that she teaches us. She says that her boyfriend is pretty good, too," Jackie said. We both ran to catch up with Annabeth, only to see a building full of armor, shields, swords, knifes, and every other weapon or tool that the Greeks could have used. I saw long bronze swords hanging from the ceiling, matched with shields of different sizes. There was enough for an army, and I couldn't wait to find something for me. Annabeth was standing in front of a rack of bronze and gold armor.

"First things first, you need armor. A weapon doesn't matter if you can easily die with the slightest attack," Annabeth said. "Usually most of our supplies are made of Celestial Bronze, but now we've been using some Imperial Gold. A couple things are even Stygian Iron." Annabeth pulled down two Celestial Bronze pieces or armor and gave us each one. "I think these are your size," she informed us. I pulled over the armor and strapped it on, with limited help from Annabeth. It fit fine, and wasn't too heavy. Jackie finished before me, and she was sent off to find a weapon. Annabeth looked me up and down.

"What?" I asked. Why did she keep on staring me down?

"I'm trying to think who your parent could be," Annabeth said, and then straightened my armor. I brushed a fly-away hair out of my face and shifted uncomfortably. "Who do you want your parent to be?" she asked, and I told her that I didn't know, but it had to be a goddess because I had met my dad before. She stopped her staring and led me to some weapons. I saw Jackie turning a gold-tipped spear around in her hands, the tip humming with energy. Annabeth smiled and took the spear. "Watch this," she said, and then she through the spear at a dummy ten feet away. The spear landed half a foot deep in the dummy's chest, and then a white frost slowly spread across the dummy.

"Woah," Jackie said, and ran up to retrieve the spear. While Annabeth filled Jackie in on how the spear worked, I found myself drawn to a certain rack of weapons. Annabeth was still saying something about "Imperial Gold Frost Spears" as I pushed back various sword and knives to see a pure black dagger buried under a pile of various bronze and gold weapons. I reached for it eagerly, cussing under my breath when I slit my pinkie on a knife. I shifted and the dagger slid out of the pile, so I bent down and examined it without touching it. It had a gray hilt with complex gold etching up and down it. I looked at the blade, which curved slightly at the top. Before I could grab it Annabeth ran up and picked it up, frowning.

"There's a crack running down the blade on both sides," she muttered, and I sighed. That dagger had looked promising. "Too bad," Annabeth continued. "This is Stygian Iron, and in good shape, too. Someone must have hid it so no one could find the crack."

"I'll still take it," I told her, and she looked at me like I was crazy. "I mean, can't it be fixed?" Annabeth sighed.

"No, not a crack this deep. Just go put it back," she said. Just at that moment, the dagger slipped out of her hand and clattered onto the ground. I heard a crunch as the crack expanded more, a few branches slipping off to the sides. I picked it up, and froze in shock as purple light seeped up the cracks when I touched it. Annabeth grabbed the dagger and stared at me as the light faded and the cracks were visible again. "Attack that dummy. With even a slight hit, the blade will shatter," Annabeth ordered. I took back the dagger and watched as more purple light came into the blade. I ran up slashed the dummy's chest a couple times. The dummy fell apart as precise lines appeared in its chest, and my dagger stayed intact. I smiled at Annabeth.

"I want this one," I said, sounding like a little child on Christmas.

"Sure, but you'll still need a long range weapon," Annabeth told me. "But, if your mom is who I think she is, then long range won't be a problem."

Well, that was a long one! I think you already know her mom though… Peace! Words in this chapter: 2,608! Geez. Well, bye!