In Our Blood

Author's Note: We're so sorry for the delay! We both had either AP exams, studying for AP exams, or other school work. Summer is on its way, and we promise not to be this late again, that wasn't nice on our part. Also, we promise not to have spoilers for the fifth book, so don't have them either! With that, let the chapter commence!

"My name is Chiron." The man in the doorway said. During a quick glance, the first thing that any one person would have noticed was that he was confined to a wheelchair; that he was an older man. However, Cielo and Ray tended to take in different types of details first. They didn't notice the exterior; they noticed what was inside of a person. It was what most people would call having a good sense of character, and that was what Cielo and Ray thought of it as, and nothing more. They sensed that this man had a great wisdom about him; that if you asked him something he would know the answer and tell you the god's honest truth. The wisdom resided in every crevice of his face and in his eyes, as well. Cielo was almost sure that they could trust this man; after what they'd been through in the past few days, she wasn't sure who they could trust at all. Living with their mother, they'd learned to care for themselves early in life, they'd grown tough.

Cielo remembered the day that Percy had spoke about. While most of the school had thought that the boy they'd attacked had spoken ill of one of the twins, he'd actually made a slur about their mother. In his defense, he hadn't exactly known that the twins had taken two years of karate.

"Like the Greek horse… person." Ray finished lamely.

"Centaur." Cielo corrected. "I like your name."

Chiron smiled kindly. "There's a lot to explain, but the main thing that you need to know is that this is the safest place for you."

Ray's eyes were on Cielo, he'd only just woken up and had even less of a notion of where they were and what was going on than she did. "Why is there a safest place for us now? Are we in some kind of trouble?" His question was asked of his sister. "Was that guy the police, CiCi?"

Cielo shook her head. "It's not the police, it wasn't the police rather. It chased us here." The rest of the room was silent while she filled her twin in on what she knew. "This is some sort of camp for some sort of kids – Camp Half Blood?"

"Yes, you've got it right, Cielo." Chiron said. Annabeth had perched herself on the window sill, and Percy was sitting on the nightstand. It went without saying that they were both remembering when they'd arrived at Camp Half Blood, and of how they'd found out about their less than normal parenthood. "The fact is, that you arrived here just in time, merely by chance that you were chased to this location, and a lucky one at that."

"You keep saying were lucky for arriving here. I don't get why. Anywhere else where someone would have helped us… that guy wasn't normal was he?" Ray said, remembering suddenly more of the chase. Cielo shook her head.

"Far from normal. You were chased by a mega-tron, a human soul inside of a metallic shell, virtually indestructible. It was another chance that the Huntress stopped him before you were taken down."

Cielo and Ray stared as if he'd spoken latin.

That was where Annabeth stuck in her two cents. "Do you guys believe in the Greek gods?"

"I've heard of them." Cielo answered for the both of them, a habit they'd gotten into when they'd realized that the both of them speaking at the same time was very confusing. "But what do you mean by believe?"

Their lives were about to be turned upside down, in ways that they couldn't imagine. Things would never be the same – between them, for them, or for anyone around them. And, for better or for worse, it had started now, and nobody was capable of stopping the domino effect.

"The Greek Gods that you know of-" Chiron started, "Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Artemis, Apollo, Hera – any one of them that you can conjure up in your mind, are real. They exist today, moving with the western civilization-"

"We don't believe you." Ray spoke out, speaking for the both of them. "How are we supposed to believe-"

"something like that?" Cielo finished.

"Let us finish." Annabeth said. "I am Annabeth, daughter of Athena."

"Percy, son of Poseidon. We're half-bloods, half the child of a mortal and half the child of a god.

And Chiron – well, he doesn't just share the name."

"But how are we supposed to believe that?"

"And what does it have to do with Ray and I?"

"Focus on the water beside Cielo's bed." Percy said, and the twins focused on it quickly, both hesitant and eager to see what was going to happen.

With a small pop, the water exploded upwards.

"No-"

"Way."

"Yeah, well, I did say I was the son of Poseidon."

"I bet you surf well." Ray said suddenly, at which Percy burst out laughing. "I can't surf at all. Like, you don't even know. It's like the waves want to eat me."

Cielo nodded. "It's true. I didn't even bother trying. But what does this half to do with us?"

"Cielo, Ray –" Chiron said. "You're halfbloods."