The Legacy of Aphrodite
The Daughter of Aphrodite.
When I came back to consciousness, the first thing I registered was light. Bright, blinding light that was streaming through the windows. The same light that most people would groan at and draw their covers up against. But after that encounter with that monster, I don't think I could ever hate the light ever again. Oh God. The monster. The memories of what happened crawled their way back up to the surface of my brain sluggishly. The horrible face leering down at me. Running to the arch at the top of the hill. The arms that caught me. Bill being flung to the side like a piece of rubbish. Bill.
"BILL!" I exclaimed loudly, bolting upwards on the bed. Wait, what? Bed? That was the second thing I realised. I looked around blearily, making out what seemed like a wooden cabin, filled with about a dozen of clean, white, empty beds. It seemed I was the only one here. But where the hell was "here"? There was CLEARLY nothing but an empty arch at the top of the hill. WHERE did all this COME from? My brain couldn't process properly. The confusion coupled with the recent events was giving me a headache. I flopped back onto the sheets. Maybe I should fall asleep again.
"Clop, clop, clop, clop". Oh wait, never mind. Here comes a…a…..horse? URGGGHHH. My brain feels like it might explode. I slowly sat back up again….and almost fell off the bed. Because the man in front of me was another half human. At least the bit about the horse was right though. Or half right, anyway. I shouldn't even be that surprised. My only friend turned out to be a reed pipe playing half goat. The…whats it called again? oh, right. Centaur, must've seen the not-so-slight alarm on my face, because, out of nowhere, a battered wheelchair rolled along and his bottom half folded into it like origami. There MUST be some kind of magic involved, cos something that big couldn't possibly fit in it normally. He wheeled himself over to my bedside.
"Are you feeling alright, now, Miss Lang? he asked in a kindly tone.
"I….I guess…but, uh, my brain just feels a little….slow." I said, real intelligently. And how did he know my name again?
He nodded in understanding. "Eat this. I should clear you up". He offered me a small square of what looked like a small brownie. I took it suspiciously, looked at it, and took a small bite. It tasted like the ice cream cake one of the girls in my class brought to school on her birthday. Pure Heaven. I finished the rest. It swept the fogginess out of my mind instantly, cutting a clear path through the misty confusion.
"Thanks." I said.
"It's alright. We get many of your kind here. From what we heard from your friend Bill, your mind must've received quite the battering."
"Bill! Is he ok?" I asked frantically, worried that he was hurt.
"Mr Greengrass is fine. He's trained for these situations. I imagine he's used to it by now." I nodded. That was good, I guess.
"So, uh, you're an, um, uh" I asked awkwardly, gesturing to his "legs"
"A centaur, Miss Lang. I am a centaur. My name is Chiron." he said. "There are many things you don't know about the world, dear. I suppose you had best come with me. Are you alright to stand?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine now, thank you." I swung my legs over the bed to the floor. To my surprise, my old faded jeans had been replaced with new ones, and my dirty shirt traded for a crisp, orange shirt with "Camp Half-Blood" emblazoned upon it. My hair, and shoes, however, were the same as before I came to this place. Wet and matted with grass. Oh well.
I followed Chiron downstairs. I looked around. It was pretty empty, save for a ping pong table and a and a couple of chairs. I followed him out onto a deck, and gasped. People in orange shirts were everywhere. Talking, running around…..and were those swords? Yup. Light glinted off long, sharp bronze as they met again and again with a series of clangs. The wielders jabbed and parried, moving fluidly, hair slick with sweat. A gang of pretty girls with way too much jewellery on gossiped in the corner. A couple of guys were darting in and out of the crowd, picking at pockets. One of them waved to me with a bright smile, before whizzing away again. And all those goat people….so many….They were scattered all across the place. One was playing a wooden flute to the side merrily. Another was chewing….a coke can? None of the people milling around seemed to mind. Most of them were kids, or teens. The oldest looked about 19, or 20.
Chiron seemed amused at my amazement. "Yes, it is rather impressive, isn't it?"
He gestured to a man beside him. In my fascination, I hadn't realised he was there. Which was pretty ironic, since, considering his clothing, he would be very hard to miss. He was wearing a wine-red, loose shirt, buttons open at the top, constricting a bulging stomach. On his legs, he sported a pair of leopard tights. He held a can of Diet Coke in a large, hairy hand. He gave me a condescending look.
"This here, is Mr D. He's our Camp Director. Mr D, this is Miss Jessica Lang."
"Nice to meet you", I said.
He belched. "She's one of us?" he asked, as if I weren't even in the room. Chiron sighed.
"Well, of course she is, how do you think she got past the border?" he replied, exasperated.
Mr D belched again, and nodded. He peered at me through squinted eyes. "Claimed?" he asked again.
"No."
"Well, put 'er in Hermes until she is."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." I said, interrupting their conversation. "Exactly WHAT does 'one of us' mean? And what borders? Whats Hermes?"
Chiron looked uncomfortable. Mr D looked at me again. "She doesn't KNOW?"
Chiron sighed. "I haven't the chance to explain. Perhaps I should do that now before we go any further." He turned to me. "Have you ever heard of the Greek Gods?
A hazy memory surface surfaced to my mind about a teacher droning about Greek mythology. "Yeah, I guess" I said slowly. "Like, Zeus and Poseidon, right?"
He nodded. "Tell me, who were you raised by?"
"My father…..My mother ran off when I was born." I replied.
"Well, the thing is, your mother most likely did not run off. Do you know about demigods?"
"As in half god, half human? Like Perseus?"
He smiled. "Exactly like that. In fact, we have a camper here called Perseus."
"So…you're saying that my mother was…."
"One of the Olympian goddesses, yes."
I could feel another headache coming on. "And I am….?"
"A demigod. Everyone here is."
I blinked. I was stunned. I didn't know what to say.
Chiron smiled reassuringly. "I know it's a lot to take in, and its hard to believe, but you must. You will get used to life after here in a while. It's unsafe in the outside world, especially now that you know what you are. It makes your scent stronger. And you saw for yourself what will happen if you venture outside camp borders again, untrained." I shuddered internally, remembering the monsters foul breath. I took a deep breath.
"I believe you", I said. What choice did I have, really?
His face broke out in a grin. "Good. I'll fetch Bill to lead you to the Hermes cabin. You can stay there until you get claimed by your godly parent, which should be soon enough. You ARE over 13, after all." He jumped out of the wheelchair, his bottom half springing out, tail and all, and cantered away.
This whole time, Mr D was silent. As I stood back to face him, an awkward atmosphere settled over us. Finally, he spoke up. "Miss Ling, do you know who I am?"
"Lang", I corrected him. "And you're the camp director, aren't you?"
He looked slightly offended. "I am much, much more than a mere camp director, Jennifer" he drew himself up to full height. I didn't really see anything impressive about it, until he frowned, and a purplish aura surrounded him. The air came alive with the smell of sweet grapes, and fine wine.
Oh, I thought. Wine. Grapes. Mr D. "You're Dionysus, aren't you? The God of Wine?"
He looked miffed. "Well, of course I am. Who else could I be?" I didn't answer that question.
"Then…what are you doing here? And why are you drinking Diet Coke?"
Mr D looked annoyed. "Well….."
"JESS!" A familiar voice called out. A satyr with a bright green cap bounded towards me.
"BILL!" My face broke into a wide grin. "Are you ok?"
"Ehh, I'm Fine. Did Chiron explain everythin'?"
"Mmhm."
He looked relieved. Then his face lit up with excitement again. "C'mon, I have HEAPS to show ya!" Then he saw Mr D. "That is, if y'all are done here", he added nervously. Mr D waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, go show Bess the camp, I don't care".
"Jess" I said, exasperated. Then I let Bill drag me away.
"Don't mind him. He gets everyones names wrong on purpose. Don't let it get to ya."
He led me out of the building.
"That one that ya left just then is the Big House. Chiron's office is in there, and the attic used ta hold our oracle, until this gal called Rachel came along and the spirit switched into her body. We have most of our meetings there too." It hardly made sense, but I just nodded, eager to know more. He led me out of the crowd. To my right, there lay a forest of pines. Up ahead, I could see a hill with an archway and a massive pine that towered next to it. I must've came in through there. To my Left, a stone structure stood, supported with Greek-style columns and filled with tables and chairs.
"That there," Bill said, following my line of sight, "is the mess hall. We eat there. The thing over there-he pointed to a stadium-like structure-is the amphitheatre. We meet here sometimes too. Up ahead, behind that, is a lava wall. Basically a rock climbing wall with a hot twist. Ya'll can check it out later. Further on your left is the forge. Thats where all the Hephaestus kids make all our weapons and stuff. Then there's the armoury. Someone'll take you there later to pick out a weapon. Every demigod needs one. A bit farther left than that are the pegasus stables. You'll get some lessons in riding them after you've settled down and all." My mind whirled. I couldn't wait to do everything.
We kept on walking, until we came to a huge empty space holding a dozen or so finished cabins, while a couple of structures stood to the side, in the middle of construction. There was a charred pile of wood piled in the middle, probably for a campfire or something. . Fountains stood everywhere, statues of cupids and godly figures spurting water out of their arrows and fingertips. "Woah", I breathed. Each cabin was different in their own way. There was one with a thatched roof and green vines and flowers snaking up the sides. One looked like it was made out of sea stone, encrusted with seashells. The one next to that was dark and sinister-looking. There was one completely made out of white marble. Some shone with silver or golden light. A completely red structure hosted terrifying weapons along its walls. Simply. Amazing.
"Are these the cabins where we're staying?" I asked Bill excitedly.
"Mmhm", he replied, smiling at my eagerness. "Everyone stays in the one dedicated to their godly parent. Since ya'll haven't been claimed yet, ya'll stay in the Hermes cabin, until you have. God of travellers and all that. Your stuffs already all there. Just check that everything's there, though. Hermes is also the God of thieves. It's the shabbiest cabin with with the most people around it. Just ask for the Stolls. Ya should be fine. I'll see you at dinner!" And with a flick of his goatly tail, he trotted off.
I blinked after him, and just stood there, feeling a little lost, everything Bill said still tumbling over one on another through my head. I might've just stayed there for a long time, looking confused, because a tall girl with with a long straight, swishing, ponytail and light brown eyes started to head up to me, followed closely by another girl, shorter than her, with short, wavy hair, and glasses.
"Hi" she said. I turned to look at her. "Are you new? You look lost. Do you need help?" she asked kindly. "Err…." I started awkwardly.
"It's ok, you know. It's easy to feel lost on your first day. I remember I got lost on my first day, and almost stumbled out of the borders." She smiled at the memory. Her eyes looked green now. Her shirt was faded, as if she'd been here a long time. "You're headed to Hermes, I suppose? I nodded.
The other girl piped up. "So you haven't been claimed yet?" She asked quietly.
"Nope." I answered.
"Follow me, then!" the first girl declared.
As we walked, the girls introduced themselves. "My names Lily", the first girl said. "I'm a daughter of Apollo." Then after a slight pause, she added, more softly, "I'm also actually the grand daughter of Poseidon. My mum was a demigod. But not a lot of people know that, except for a couple of my friends and Chiron. I don't want to attract too much attention, you know? Descendants of the Big Three usually don't mean good news. There's a really powerful camper here-his names Percy. He went missing a couple of months ago. We're all trying to find him. Then theres another person that came here a couple weeks ago. He's a son of Zeus-the most powerful of all gods. A lot of people are scared of him. They all have really good powers. I can't control the water though-my talents lie mostly in the Apollo department. I DO have a couple of tricks up my sleeve though. This, for example." She pulled out a smooth cylinder. "This, here, is Θάλασσα Τραγούδι (pronounced Thálassa Tragoúdi), or Thalassa, for short." To my surprise, I understood it. Sea Song. Poseidon and Apollo. She flicked her wrist. Out of the left end sprung a tightly coiled whip-like thing. It thrummed softly. It seemed to be made up of some kind of liquid, because the surface shifted and rippled, like a lake in a small breeze. "This was made by Poseidon himself, forged out of the very water Aphrodite rose out of. It will burn through everything it touches, including monster hide." She flicked her wrist again, and it snapped back into the cylinder. Then she brought it down in a large arc. A blade the same texture and colour as the whip sprung out. "This does basically the same thing, except it's in the shape of a sword." She swung it back up again and it retracted. I stared in amazement. If only I could have something half as cool as that.
The second girl introduced herself as Amy. "I'm nothing special like Lily is, just a normal daughter of Athena" she said. Her voice was soft. At this, Lily piped up again. I was beginning to realise that when she had something to talk about, she had quite a lot to say. "She's being modest. She's actually really smart. All children of Athena are." Amy ducked her head, hiding her blue-grey eyes from view. "I'm ok", she squeaked. Lily rolled her eyes. "She's always like this," she said. "For the 5 years I've known her, she has never boasted about her smartness to anybody." Then, in a kinder voice, she said "Show Jess your weapon!" Amy carefully took a long, slender dagger out of a sheath strapped to her side. "This is Swift Owl," she said proudly. "I call her tacheia - it's Greek for swift. The day I was claimed, The owl above me, instead of fading away, shot down to Earth and formed this knife stuck in the ground. Her name glowed beside her, before fading away." She turned the silver blade over in her hands. "Nobody knows what its made of-most of the weapons here are made out of celestial Bronze. But I've used it in every single battle so far and its never failed me. It's never left my side, either. Every time I lose it, it just reappears in its sheath a few seconds later." I felt awed. It seemed like both their weapons truly belonged to each of their wielders, and them only.
Lily stopped. I looked up to see what you might see at a bad accommodation for a recreational camp. The cabin was the oldest-looking of all of them. It looked like it might fall down soon, and it seriously needed a renovation. Venturing inside, I could see why. Guys and Girls of every age lay, sat and stood in every empty space. Bunk Beds were crammed everywhere. I could barely move.
"Everyone whose parents cabin haven't been finished and the unclaimed all stay here, as well as the true descendants of Hermes" Lily said, trying to squeeze through the crowd. "STOLLS!" She hollered over the racket. A boy with short black hair and sparkling brown eyes filled with mischief materialised behind her. He put a finger to his lips, and then tugged on Lily's long, black hair. "MI…CHAEL!" She growled, whirling around to face the laughing boy. She fumed. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" The boy, Michael, feigned innocence. "This is my cabin, isn't it? I should be the one asking what you're doing!" he smirked. Lily's cheeks grew red, but she tried not to explode. Meanwhile, me and Amy were desperately trying to hold in giggles and failing. Badly. "We're looking for the Stolls", Lily said through gritted teeth. "Know where they are?" "Actually, yes," he replied. "They're off pranking the Demeter cabin. Why?" Lily took a deep breath. "My friend here, Jess, needs to stay here for a bit. Do you know where they put her stuff?" He turned to look at me. "New girl, hm?" I nodded. "Come with me." He led me to a bed crammed in the corner of the room. My battered bag sat on top of it. To my relief, it didn't look like it had been rummaged through. Lily and Amy reappeared. "We'll leave you to settle down. Dinner's in 15 minutes, so we'll see you soon. You normally have to sit with your cabin, but since your unclaimed, you can sit with on of us instead." "Ok", I said, flopping onto the bed. They disappeared. A few seconds later, I heard Lily shriek and yell curses in Greek at Michael. I giggled.
The first thing I got out of my bag was my hairbrush. I brushed it through the tangles in my hair, sighing as the knots came out and the now dry grass fell out. It took a long time, but soon, my hair was normal again-Brown, straight, tidy. A horn sounded in the distance. Everyone started to file out of the cabin. Assuming it was dinnertime, I got swept up with everyone else and followed suit.
Once we arrived at the mess hall, I searched for Lily and Amy's heads in the sea of orange shirts. I spotted them near a fireplace, waving at me madly. I hurried over. Lily smiled, lifting a lock of my hair. "Your hair looks much better like this", she said. Amy nodded. "Come sit with me. The Apollo table is has a little less people than Athena, and they're practically next to each other, anyway. I followed her to said table, waving to Amy, who walked to her own cabins table, most of which consisted of people wearing glasses and with their nose buried in a book.
I sat down among the Apollo cabin next to Lily, and listened to her introduce them all to me. They all seemed really friendly and fun to be around, just like her. I saw Chiron at the front of the Hall. He stamped his hoof twice. The noise ceased immediately. "Welcome, demigods, new and old." He said. "Let us honour the Gods who have let us live another day to enjoy another meal in this hall. To The Gods!"he declared. "To The Gods!" The campers echoed. I turned back to my plate. To my surprise, a bowl of cheesy spaghetti bolognese had appeared. The glass had filled with fizzing lemonade, complete with ice cubes.
I dug in. I hadn't realised how hungry I was until I tasted the pasta. It was delicious. When I has almost finished, I noticed people taking their plates to the hearth and scraping some food into the flames.
"What are they doing?" I asked Lily.
"It's a offering to the Gods. You have to sacrifice some of your meal everyday. They like the smell."
I stood up, and walked over to the fire. Scraping the remains into it, I thought, Dear Mum. Please Claim me soon. I watched as the fire turned the pasta into ash. Suddenly, the fire blazed upwards. The whole hall turned silent. The fire turned from orange to gold, then to a soft pink. It spat sparks out into the air, which flew over my head and formed a shape. A dove. It shone for a few moments, then died back down, the sparks falling down around me. I felt slightly warm and fuzzy, and I realised my skin was glowing slightly pink. Then it too, faded. I turned around to look at the campers. And realised that my shirt and jeans had been replaced by a long, white dress. I reached up to touch my hair. It had been braided, and fell silkily over my left shoulder. There was a brief moment of silence. Then suddenly, Chiron stamped his hoof. "Camp Half Blood, I call you to hail JESSICA LANG, DAUGHTER OF APHRODITE!"
The hall erupted in cheers.
-PurplePegasus
AN: To all those lovely readers who have bothered to read this far: please, please, PLEASE review and tell me what you think! It means a lot to me! Thank you!
Also, to my lovely friend SeaHuntress1267: THANK YOU FOR READING! Without you, Lily and Thalassa would have never come to life :D