Six of us, Lindsey, Jillian, Walker, Freddy, Chiron, and I, all walked toward a large light blue house near the bottom of what Freddy called 'Half-Blood Hill.' He explained that Chiron, for comfort's sake, Chiron hides in his magic wheelchair that hides his horse legs. I was a little disappointed, but I was sure I'd get to see him in all of his centaur-y majesty soon enough.
We walked up to the porch and Chiron turned to look at us. "Jillian, Walker, Freddy, I'd like to see you. Peter. Lindsey. Please, stay here. I'd like to officially welcome you, but first…" He opened the door and wheeled through being closely followed by Freddy, Jillian, and Walker. The door closed and then it was quiet. I looked over at Lindsey who had sat down on the railing, picking some gravel off her legs and shorts. I sighed and moved to sit on the railing on the other side of the entryway onto the porch.
"I'm sorry for…making your day incredibly difficult." I said finally, staring at my hands. I wondered what the trick was to getting the lava to come back. Hopefully without the punching and then smoking skin and the mini volcanoes.
"It's okay." She said quietly. I looked over and she looked back at me a little hesitantly. "I mean, Freddy and I would be Hellhound food if it weren't for you."
"Well…you would have snuck in under the radar if it hadn't been for my little cellular mobile device." I said with small chuckle. She stood and moved over to me, leaning on the railing next to me. "And I'm sure it wasn't a good start to your street cred to show up with the guy who has a bit of a dark side." She giggled softly and put a hand on my arm.
"Are you kidding? I'm probably a celebrity now." She said with a giggle. I smiled and looked down at my feet, swinging them back and forth. "And I'd rather have been on your side then on that Walker guys'."
"What do you mean?" I asked, a half-smile on my face. She grinned and sat down next to me. Close. Not romantically close, but blushingly close.
"Well, you know that big green guy?" She said after a moment. I paused.
"Frankenstein."
"No. The…big green guy. Edward Norton."
"Oh! The Hulk. Yeah. I know of him." I said with a laugh. She elbowed me, rolling her eyes.
"Well, that guy had a bit of a dark side, too. And I'm just glad I'm on the right side of it, is what I'm saying." She nodded and smiled at me. "I am Liv Tyler."
"Lead singer of Aerosmith." I said, pretending to not know who she was talking about. She sighed.
"No. That's Stephen Tyler. I'm talking about his daughter."
"Oh, my bad. The Elf chick from Lord of the Rings."
"Right." She said with a nod then elbowed me again, a sly grin on her face.
"So…God of the sun and music and the arts and healing." I said with a nod. "That's exciting." I said with a nod. Lindsey giggled.
"You're funny, Peter." She said with a smile. "I am excited." She took a deep breath. "It just feels good to belong somewhere, you know?"
"Belong somewhere? Please. You?" I asked in disbelief. "You're involved in like…everything. I'm surprised you even remembered my name."
"Oh? Do you think it's been that long since we played four square together?" She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why does everyone have this idea that I'm so—"
"Because you're exactly the kind of person who would be. You're in choir. You're a cheerleader. You're beautiful. You're smart. You are involved. Any other kind of person exactly like you has either shoved me into a locker or is dating someone who shoved me into a locker. You included." I said, my voice trailing off.
"Well, you seem to be judging a book by its cover, don't you think?" She replied quietly. I looked over and she seemed kind of hurt.
"That might be true, but we were…best friends for a long time and now I don't even know you, you know?"
"Well, you moved. You moved and I was sad. My parents decided to direct that sadness into something else. That something else was volleyball. Volleyball turned into gymnastics. That turned into cheer. Cheer turned into voice lessons. And that made me the busiest kid at Crefeld. When you came back, I barely recognized you and I could have guessed that you didn't recognize me."
"And the way the social circles worked out, you were in the center and I wasn't even on your radar." I finished, looking into her eyes. The door to the big house opened and Jillian walked out, being followed closely by Walker who looked like a kicked puppy.
"Peter. Lindsey. You can come in." Chiron called out to us. We exchanged glances then walked inside to the center room where a ping pong table sat, folding chairs placed around it. "Please, have a seat." I found a seat at the end of the table. Lindsey found a seat a couple down from me. "I'm sure Mr. D will be back shortly. He's at his son's wedding, I believe." Chiron said with a nod, wheeling his chair up to the table.
"Mr. D?" Lindsey asked quietly, turning to me for a moment.
"Dionysus. He's the Camp Director here. It's a bit of a long story." Chiron said, turning toward the Diet Coke cans on the chair for a moment then turning back to me. "Lindsey," He finally said, turning to her and smiling. "I heard you were claimed as you came in. Not only that, but you have an affinity for healing as you healed Peter here on the way."
"Oh, yes, sir. It seems so." She said with a nervous chuckle. "I wasn't sure how I actually did it, but his face looks good, now."
"You think so?" I said with a grin. She blushed and looked back at Chiron who cleared his throat.
"Well, it's good to have you here. We'll get you to your cabin short—" There was a knock on the door and it opened. Freddy walked in being followed by a thin boy with curly light brown hair. He was pale and was wearing an orange shirt that read 'Camp Half-Blood.' "Freddy. Dimitri. Please, come in. Lindsey, I'd like you to meet Dimitri Volkoff. He's the head—Well, interim head—counselor of Apollo Cabin."
"Lindsey. It is nice to meet another one of my sisters." Dimitri said with a thick Russian accent, extending his hand. Lindsey stood a little hesitantly and shook his hand, smiling at him.
"Nice to meet you, too." Lindsey said with a nod, grabbing her bag. "Why interim?"
"The previous counselor, Ralph, he's gone missing." Dimitri said with a shrug. I was a little confused as to why it was a shrug, considering that this was his brother he was talking about.
"Along with two other campers." Chiron added.
"What happened? Where did they go?"
"We lost a satyr and three incoming demigods from the west coast on their way here. We sent out a quest to go find them and Ralph led the quest. That was 2 months ago and we haven't seen them since." Freddy said quietly as if he was worried that people outside the house were listening.
"We've lost a good amount of people recently…." Chiron said quietly before turning to Dimitri. "Mr. Volkoff, would you please show Ms. Blackman to the Apollo Cabin and find her a bunk?"
"Of course, sir." Dimitri said with a bow.
"Maybe find her a weapon while you're at it, too." Chiron added with a smile. Dimitri bowed again and took Lindsey's bag from her. "Welcome to Camp, Lindsey!" Chiron said as the two of them walked out the door. The door closed and I then found myself under a questioning gaze of the old centaur. Freddy took a seat next to Chiron and looked at me.
"I told Chiron everything about…everything." Freddy said quietly.
"How much everything?" I asked hesitantly.
"The fight at Lindsey's house. The giants. The explosion in the gym. The desk. The hellh—"
"Alright. Everything. Got it." I said, feeling a little scared. I mean, Chiron knew everything there was about demigods and the look on his face said that he hadn't ever heard this before.
"You said that his mother's story exhibited a description of Ares?" Chiron asked Freddy. Freddy nodded.
"But he would have been claimed. He's already 14." Freddy replied. "I mean, how I missed him last year is…beyond me. It's like his scent just appeared a month ago."
"Lindsey is also 14?"
"Yes, but she skipped a grade and just turned 14 not long ago." Freddy said. I watched in mild discomfort as all of this went on. I really hated being talked about like I wasn't there.
"And there's nothing odd about here, that you've witnessed?" Chiron asked. "Other than the healing?"
"Nothing. She seems like the average child of Apollo." Freddy said with a shrug.
"And Peter."
"Unclaimed. Unidentifiable."
"Undeniably present, too." I said with an 'ahem.' "I'm pretty sure I can answer any questions needed."
"Who is your father?" Chiron asked, raising an eyebrow. I paused then narrowed my eyes.
"Beats me, but it doesn't look like you know either." I said with a sigh. "Now, I'm unclaimed, right? So, I belong in Hermes, right? I mean, we're all fairly clueless in the matter and I'm pretty much starving here, so once Dionysus comes back, he may be able to shine some Olympian light on the subject, right? For now, talking about this isn't going to solve much, you know?" Chiron stared at me for a moment and then nodded.
"You're right. As much as it pains me, you are right." He said with a sigh. "I wish that we could figure this out, but there's no point in having you wait around here. It's obvious you belong here. We just…aren't sure where here." Chiron sighed. "I'll need to speak to the gods. In the meantime, Freddy," Chiron wheeled away from the table and Freddy stood, "Would you show Peter around? Show him the Hermes Cabin and then take him to the mess hall for some food."
"Yes, sir." Freddy said, starting toward the door. I stood and grabbed my bag, opening the door for Freddy who walked out.
"Peter?" I turned and saw Chiron who was headed for one of the backrooms of the house. "When you're controlling a bunch of wind or when you're about to explode, what does it feel like?" Chiron asked quietly.
"It feels…powerful." I said after a moment. "Like nothing can stop me and I won't stop for anything."
"In a good way?" He asked. I closed my eyes and remembered the feeling of twisting the wind around me in the Hummer earlier. The temptation to destroy everything in my path. I shook it away and opened my eyes.
"I don't know, sir." I answered. "I honestly don't know." Chiron nodded, thinking for a moment. He finally sighed then disappeared into one of the backrooms. I took a deep breath and looked back at Freddy who put an arm around my shoulders.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Peter."