Chapter 2
"Well, here we are! Home sweet home! Well for me at least, it'll probably take some getting used to for you." announced Lexie as we flew over a forested area. I could see a small strawberry field in a small clearing and as we got closer I started to notice that there was a ring of cabins in a corner of the clearing and more were being constructed.
"This is Camp Half-Blood? It looks more like a farm." I said skeptically. She ignored me so I said "So... there are more people like you?"
"And like you, we're both Half-Bloods don't you get it yet?" She said as if I had said something stupid. She landed the chariot on a small landing strip next to some stables. After we landed she let Pegasus out of its harness and made me help her put away the flying chariot. "Follow me, Chiron will need to show you the orientation film." she ordered.
She led me to a two story house that looked like it belonged in some movie about the Great Dust Bowl. There were a couple of kids sitting in chairs on its deck. They looked at me like a new specimen; I felt like the new kid at school, which in a sense I was. When we entered there was an old man sitting in a wheelchair and a rather plump man wearing a leopard print shirt and looked like he hated every moment in the building. They sat around a ping pong table playing some sort of card game. "Hey Chiron, this is Sean, the boy I was sent to retrieve from California" Lexie said respectfully as she stepped out of the way.
The old man had thinning brown hair and a stubby beard. "Welcome Sean, how was the flight?" he asked as if it was completely normal to be attacked by monsters, told my mother is a god, and be flown across the whole country in just a few seconds. I didn't answer I Just stood there unable to speak. He grinned. "My names Chiron, there is much you must learn. Now come there is a orientation video that you should watch before we take you to the Hermes cabin."
"So I can go now right?" Lexie said from the door.
"No, I want you to stay to show him around, he'll probably want somebody he knows to show him around." I didn't know Lexie very well, we had only talked a couple of times and I had found her to be obnoxious, she was always showing off in class and tended to compete with people.
"Can I come back when it's over? I need to check some plans for Capture the Flag with Malcolm and Annabeth."
"You mean go make out with Austin?" Said a blond guy sitting on the couch that I hadn't noticed.
"No one asked you Will! And Austin's not even here! You of all people should know that seeing as he's your brother." He smiled and returned to looking out the window.
"So how was the video?" Lexie asked as she lead me out the door.
The video was... Interesting, I'm not sure if I believed it at the time. It seemed so far fetched, the Greek gods living in Olympus above the Empire State Building and monsters attacking their children. "I think I've gone crazy..."
"They've changed it since I saw it. What's in it? Does it like explain how demigods come into the world and all of that because that'd be really awkward."
I shook my head. "That would be disgusting, what goes through that mind of yours?"
"A lot of things really, it can get really annoying at times, like this one time in my spanish class when we were practicing new verbs and I zoned out and started saying the Greek equivalents in my head, then the teacher called on me and I answered the question in greek by mistake, and this was when I didn't even know I knew Greek so I was equally as shocked as my classmates."
"You know Greek?"
She nodded, "Yeah you do too; all demigods know it, just some know more than others at first. You just naturally know it, it's one of the things you get regardless of your parentage."
"What do you mean?"
Well all demigods receive gifts or skills from their godly parent, it's something that their exceptionally good at. For example the Demeter kids." She said pointing to the cabin next to us that had a grassy roof and plants everywhere. "Their mom's the goddess of the harvest, so they all have green thumbs and can control plants at will."
"I'm not good with plants, I kill any plant I touch" I said sarcastically, she laughed.
"I didn't think you were. I'm not the best with them either. So anyways... Welcome to Camp Half-Blood making heroes since Ancient Greece." I gave her a confused look, "I know you've already been given a welcome, but I'm obligated to say that."
"Okay then..."
"So as you can see, we currently have a good bit of construction going on. Originally there were only twelve cabins, the ones that you see here;" she said gesturing to them, "each one is for Olympian god, but as of eight months ago in August we started adding cabins for Hades, Iris, Hypnos, Nemesis, Nike, Hebe. Tyche, and Hecate. Once you are claimed you will be staying in the cabin of your parent."
"So am I going to be sleeping outside until then?"
"No you'll be staying here at the Hermes cabin." She said as she walked up to the most normal looking cabin of the bunch. "Keep in mind who Hermes is, I advise you watch your pockets..." She gave me one last pointed look at the brothers before running off to a cabin.
I looked around the cabin, the bunks were all full of bags and the floor had a few sleeping bags covering it, but I could tell there were usually more. There was a T.V. in a corner and somebody was playing Skyrim and somebody next to him laughed as he threw somebody of the top of a mountain.
"Hey" said the boy,that wasn't playing, he looked to be about a year older than me and a bit taller. He nudged the gamer and said "Travis, we got company."
The other boy, who I assumed to be Travis paused his game and turned towards me. "Oh gods, looks like we've got ourselves a leprechaun" he joked. "Grab a sleeping bag from the closet, there should be one in there." he ordered.
I went over to the closet and when I opened it I heard a string snap with a sharp twang. Then about a dozen sleeping bags and assorted camping materials -including a rather large frying pan - came clattering out of it and landed on me.
I could hear them laughing. "That one always works, Connor, why don't you go help him put that stuff back in." Then the first boy got up and helped me shove everything except one of the sleeping bags back inside the closet. "Newbies always get pranked some way or another."
"So... umm where will I be sleeping?" I asked as Connor walked back towards whom I assumed was his twin brother because they looked exactly alike.
Travis pointed off in a random direction and said "just find a place on the floor. All the bunks are taken." I looked around for a place that was large enough and set my bag down, but didn't place my suitcase down because of what Lexie had warned me about. I was about to sit down on one of the bunks, but a horn went off.
"Finally!" announced Travis setting down his controller. "I'm starving, let's go eat. Come on new kid I'll take you to the dining pavilion."
I followed Travis and Connor through the camp and into the dining pavilion. There were twelve long wooden tables that each were full of kids except for the last four and there was another table that went along the front of the other tables. I tried to sit down next to Travis and Connor, but all the seats were full so I was forced to sit on an upside down trash can at the end of the table. Now I noticed the food. The table was loaded with food, but nobody was eating. They had filled their plates but refrained from stuffing their faces with the delicious looking foods. So I did the same in attempt to fit in.
"Hello Sean" said a voice behind me. I turned to see what I thought was a man riding a house, but then I took a second look. I noticed that the man had no legs, his torso was where the horses head should go, he was a centaur. Then I noticed it was Chiron, the man that had welcomed me to the camp. "Surprised to see me in this form?" He asked.
I must have looked simply baffled because all I could manage was "umm... uhh, you're a-"
"A Centaur, I know" he interrupted. "May I accompany you to the fire pit for the offering?"
"What offering?"
"Every night we burn offerings of our food to the gods" he explained. "Campers toss half of their plate of food into a large fire as an offering to their parent." All of the campers started getting up every now and then and would walk over to the fire.
I followed Chiron over to the large flaming logs. He nodded towards me. I reached forward with my plate and scraped off some of my mashed potatoes along with one of my biscuits 'I don't know who you are Mom, but please... tell me' I said in my head, half hoping she could hear me.
When I looked up everybody was staring at me. "I did I do it wrong?" I asked awkwardly. They all shook their heads and pointed up above my head. There was an owl sitting using its wings to hover about a meter from my head.. It held a book in its talons. Within a few milliseconds of me noticing it the bird released the rather large book right above me. It landed right on my head. "Oww!" I exclaimed. The book bounced off my head right into my hands after I dropped it, the book was The Fall of Troy.
"Annabeth come over here please!" called Chiron. A blonde girl ran over from a table of about five people, I noticed Lexie was among them.
"Yes, Chiron?" She stood in front of both of us.
"Please take your new brother to your table."
"Brother?"
"Yes meet Sean Kennedy, your new brother." She looked at me and then back a Chiron.
"The ginger?"
"You got something against gingers!?" I challenged her.
"No it's just we haven't seen too many gingers in our cabin..."
"How many?"
"You... come on I'll introduce you to everyone." She said leading me over to the table. She introduced each one of the kids at the table then had me sit down next to her. Lexie was sitting across from me and had a look of questionable-disbelief. "Lexie, Malcolm, this is Sean."
"I know who he is I'm the one who brought him here! He's the one I told you about!"
"You mean the one who wouldn't stop asking questions?" The boy next to Lexie said.
"Yes that exactly! Now what is he doing over here!?"
"He's apparently our brother."
"Hey Lexie," I said trying to ignore her comment. "Unexpected huh?"
"I'll say I had my drachmas on Nemesis."
"What are drachmas?"
"You see! Non-stop questioning! It's the money of the gods to put it in simple terms."
"Lexie, go easy on the boy, this is all new to him." interrupted Annabeth. She looked towards me. "Sorry about that Sean, she's kind of a smart ass."
"We'll so are you!" Lexie countered.
"I never said I wasn't" grinned Annabeth. "Anyway, we lost quite a few of our siblings during last year's battle. Its good to have another sibling join us.
"You could just say we lost four of our siblings instead of being passive aggressive about it."
"You don't call losing four of our brothers and sisters losing too many!" Malcolm slammed his hands down on the wooden table and abruptly stood up. "Kim died keeping you alive and you insult them by saying that!"
"How in Hades name is that insulting them!?" Lexie shouted getting to her feet as well. "And how dare you say I don't honor them!" She yelled shoving her brother. "You try having one of us die for you and see how you feel afterwards! You try living with the guilt!" Lexie and Malcolm were practically at each other throats.
I didn't know what was going on or what I should do. I just sat there watching my new siblings shout at each other. Luckily Annabeth stopped them before things got worse. "Both of you calm down!" mediated Annabeth forcefully. "Lex, you know Malcolm's still sensitive about what happened." Malcolm rolled his eyes at the use of sensitive. "And Malcolm, we all grieve in different ways. You need to calm down and look at this from her point of view." Both of them went to protest, but Annabeth glared at them ,and they both sat back down in their seats. "Good, now Lexie will you take Sean to the cabin. I have some things I need to talk to Malcolm."
Lexie sighed and said "Fine, follow me." She motioned for me to grab my things and to follow her out of the pavilion. Once we were outside she said "I can't believe Malcolm would say that! I went through the same thing he did." I didn't answer, I figured she was trying to vent so I didn't say anything. "Sean, you're lucky. You just got here, you didn't have to deal with the the war or losing your friends and siblings!"
"I'm sorry about that Lexie, I honestly don't know what you want me to say that will help."
"Wasn't expecting you to." She sighed "I guess I'm just letting it out. Come on, lets go. That pack must be heavy."
She led me over to a cabin that had light-blue, stone walls and golden pillars on all four sides. The door had a wooden carving of an owl holding an olive branch in one of its talons and holding itself up with the other. She opened the door to reveal a room with twelve bunks crammed against the far wall. There were desks against all of the other walls, each desk had a stack of poorly piled papers and had a rather generic looking metal lamp on each. The two side walls didn't have windows, Instead there were white boards. Again the white boards were cluttered with plans and diagrams. One of them was a drawing of the camp and there were lines from random positions that led to others, but I didn't take the time to analyze each one specifically.
"So you can have the bunk over there, it used to be Kim's" she paused for a moment to think about her- our deceased sister. "Go put your stuff down next to it, the Apollo kids starting the campfire."
I slid the heavy pack off my back and walked back over to her. "What goes on at this campfire?"
She looked at me oddly, "Have you never been to a summer camp before?"
"I was going to go to one this summer, but … well you see where I landed."
"We pretty much just sing camp songs, the Apollo cabin is in charge of it, and Sean" She waited for me to be looking right at her. "Thanks for listening to me, I needed to let that out."
"What are big brothers for?" I said nicely.
She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just remember you have a sister that's stronger than you" she grinned punching me in the arm. "Come on or we'll miss the smores."
Sean: I want to thank the second best sister a man could have, She's a great editor, and an annoying friend.