Piper dragged Calypso down the hill to what she called the "Big House." After checking in with a very nervous boy, they dropped off their luggage and Piper wrote down the cabin they were apparently staying at.
"Don't worry." Hazel said to Calypso, "Argus will take our stuff to the cabin. It'll be waiting there for us tonight."
Calypso gestured to the trembling boy, skeptical that he could hold himself let alone luggage. Hazel just laughed and explained, "That's not Argus. Argus is Camp Security! Mr. D, our Camp Director, is kind of..um..lazy. He mostly has the scared newbies do stupid stuff for him like get his drinks and sort the files and stuff."
Calypso wrinkled her nose in distaste, "That guy sounds like a bully. Why do you guys like this place if--"
"Don't worry, you hardly ever see Mr. D. Which is good, because Percy would kill him if they had to spend too much time together. No, the REAL Director is Chiron but technically he's just the boy's camp advisor." Piper pointed to a middle-aged man in a wheelchair. He had gray streaks through his dark hair and a warm smile, but Calypso noticed the age in his eyes. They had the weight of a man who had seen too much. Piper smiled in a sad way, "He lost his legs in the war. He won't talk about it, but you can tell he's not over everything yet. Wait 'til you see him with Annabeth though."
Calypso quirked an eyebrow as her friends started laughing. She dismissed it though, already having information overload for the day. Bianca excused herself as soon as they stepped into the actual camp. Calypso watched as she ran up to a group of girls who greeted her cheerily. She hugged a woman with long silky black hair and obsidian eyes.
"That's Zoe Nightshade." Hazel whispered, following my eyes to the woman, "Now that Bianca is a part of the Hunters, Zoe comes over a lot. She seems uncomfortable around Nico, but that's how most people feel around him."
Calypso noticed a certain Latino sneaking behind the group of girls. He appeared to have a water balloon in his hand.
Calypso shook her head and tore her eyes away from the oncoming disaster to look around. Across the river, she saw decent sized buildings surrounded by a wide open space with two sections of benches.
"Dining Pavilion." Piper explained.
"Why are they separated?" Calypso asked.
"One side is for the Greeks and the other is for Romans."
"Greeks and Romans?" It would be her luck to stumble into the middle of a gang war during summer camp.
"Not gangs," Hazel clarified, knowing what Calypso was thinking, "the entire camp is separated by Greek and Roman affiliation. Romans are girls and Greeks are guys." She pointed to a row of columned marble building, "The right side of cabins are Roman," She gestured to a row of house-like buildings, "and the left are Greek."
"When the camp was first established, it was modeled after Ancient Grecian architecture and only guys were allowed, but, later on, as women started joining they decided it would be cool to mesh Roman history into it. Romans came after Greeks, you know? So they thought it would be symbolic and historically accurate." Piper motioned to a series of buildings, "The middle is neutral territory. That's where all of the activities take place. Most of the time, the activities are neutral, but sometimes we have Roman vs. Greek competitions. We take it very seriously. Blood has been spilt."
Hazel nudged Calypso playfully, "Pretty cool, right?"
"It's amazing." Calypso whispered breathlessly, staring at the buildings.
"Just wait until you see the Amphitheater."
"Oh, we should probably get going, actually." Piper said, walking towards a coliseum-like building, "Annabeth texted and said they're waiting for us."
Calypso and Hazel followed her into the Amphitheater and were met by cheers and hugs as their friends crowded around them.
"Calypso! You came!" Percy came and enveloped her into a bear hug.
Calypso blushed wildly and laughed as he let her go. She tried to focus on the other faces to calm her heart rate. She could see Percy (of course), Annabeth (Duh), Grover and Juniper, Silena wrapped around Beckendorf, Chris and Clarisse, Katie yelling at the Stolls, Jake sporting a cast on his leg, Malcolm smiling kindly, Piper and Jason talking rapid fire with Hazel and Frank, Octavian looking like he wanted to run away as he stood next to Rachel who was grinning like a maniac, Nyssa with her arm slung around Leo who had a red mark on his cheek and a grin that could rival Rachel's.
"Hey, guys!" Calypso laughed, as she was pushed into hug after hug. Maybe, she thought, this was a good idea.
"Di Angelo!"
Nico turned as a streak of purple collided with his chest. He tumbled to the ground where his attacker rolled off of him in a fit of giggles.
"May I help you?" he asked gruffly.
"You should've seen your face." Giggled one Lou Ellen. Nico turned to look at her. She'd dyed her mousy brown hair purple which contrasted nicely with her green eyes. Purple pixie cut, pale, freckled skin, and punk attire suited her wild, verging on reckless, personality very well. She'd dragged him into many 'adventures' throughout the duration of their friendship. None of them ended well for Nico.
"Nice hair." He said, rolling his eyes as Lou hopped to her feet and dramatically posed like a model. A hand was offered to him and he looked up into the brown eyes of Miranda Gardner, Lou's girlfriend.
"Hey, Nico! I'm not jumping into your arms." She smiled as she pulled him to his feet. "We can't all be Lou."
He smiled back and hugged her, the familiar smell of lilacs soothing him as it always did. Nico pulled back and looked at Miranda, her dark brown hair pulled into a side braid and her smile soft. Mira was like a mom to him. Not annoying and overbearing like Bianca could be, but doting like she genuinely cared about his well-being.
"Hey hey hey, get your grabby hands off my girlfriend, Di Angelo!" Lou jokingly pushed past him and draped a possessive arm around Miranda who laughed.
"Says the girl who just jumped me."
She snickered and hooked her arm through his, "I couldn't help it. You looked like a lost little puppy." She mock pouted until he put his hand on her face and gently pushed her away. She laughed, grabbing his and Miranda's hands and started leading them to the Amphitheater, "Come on, Di Angelo! Let's go watch our friends kill each other! I'll bring popcorn."
Nico shook his head to hide his smirk as Lou led the way.