3. A Family Reunion All Round

The first thing we did was be taken to large house, the biggest building within the Camp, where a pudgy man with red cheeks and nose was playing a game of chess against a Centaur.
"And my Queen takes your Bishop." The pudgy man said gleefully, a smug smile on his face as if he had won the game altogether. The Centaur only chuckled. "Make your move Chiron."
The Centaur, Chiron, eyed the board before bending down slightly and taking hold of his only Knight piece. He moved it slowly, drinking in the sudden look of dread in the other man's eyes. "Checkmate."
"How is that possible?"
"I've been playing this game since it was invented Dionysus, you've started playing it ten years ago." Chiron clopped a hoof against the wooden porch, his eyes lifting up to see the three of us standing there. "Jason!"
Chiron and Jason acknowledged each other whilst Jason's attempt to be polite to Dionysus was swatted away as the older man simply replied back "It's Mr. D to you."
"Chiron, these are the two Half-Bloods Annabeth was watching over." Jason pointed to us and Chiron's face lit up in a welcoming smile.
"Aah, welcome girls, I'm sure you have been informed on why you are here?" he asked and we nodded in response, my eyes drifting down to his white horse body. "Good, here at Camp Half-Blood we shall protect you and train you against Monsters who mean to do you harm. There wasn't much trouble on the way here I hope."
The three of us filled him and a listening Mr. D in on the incident with the Lamia and the Telekhines. "Lamia hasn't been seen for centuries, at least she has been stopped from devouring anymore people."
"Lucky." Mr. D sarcastically said, pretending to read a newspaper he magically conjured up.
"Plus one of the girls has already been claimed." Jason beamed. He placed a comforting hand on Shannon's shoulder at for the first time I was able to compare them both together. Both had the vibrant sky blue eyes, they sort of have the same nose but what was obvious was the serious expression that seemed to be permanently etched into their faces. "This is Shannon, she is a Daughter of Zeus."
"Great, another Sister." Mr. D whined whilst Chiron looked upon the two siblings, his brow furrowed as he thought.
"Well, I'm glad no harm has come to you my dear." He said. "But you possess very powerful talents, I'm sure you have found that out to be claimed by Zeus."
"Huh?" Shannon blurted.
"Zeus will never admit he has a child unless they are worthy to carry his name." Chiron explained. "Jason had to prove to us who he was before being claimed and his sister, Thalia, slew a Monster before it could kill another half-blood."
"Like at the gas station," Jason butted in. "When you destroyed the Telekhines with your lightning, that thunder in the sky that sounded un-natural, that was our Dad claiming you."
"Zeus was never one for theatrics." Chiron added. He turned his head towards me and a faint glimmer of intrigue sparkled in his eyes. "As for you, what is your name?"
"Natalie."
"Well Natalie, I hope that you too are claimed as it is quite known for some Gods not to claim their children." The Centaur bowed his head slightly like it was a painful thing to say. "But we're trying to fix that."
"Why wouldn't anyone claim their child?" I asked.
"Shame, pride or protection. Mainly the third one as a Half-Blood's scent becomes stronger when they become claimed. Many Gods wish to protect their children, keeping them far away from this world as possible. With a little help from the Mist."
"The Mist?" Shannon said, the tone of confusement thick in her voice.
Chiron then spent a good two hours explaining to me and Shannon everything to do with the Mist, the Camp, why Dionysus is the Camp Director, past problems, some dude named Kronos and he often name dropped Annabeth and another camper named Percy Jackson.
He sounded like an idiot mostly the way Chiron described his antics.

The rest of the day went by smoothly. I had managed to talk to my Mom through an Iris-message, mainly a video-chat in a water spray. She had been scared at first, dropping the pile of books she was carrying around the room. I explained to her what happened at the bowling alley and she kind of fell silent, ashamed even by the way she looked to the ground.
"I'm sorry Natalie." she said quietly.
"What for?" I asked back, laughing slightly. "It's not your fault you fell in love with a God."
She chuckled under her breath, shying away as if not to let me see it. "Your Father tried to warn me the dangers of having a half god child but I was young and I felt I was ready to start a family. I never wanted you to be put in harms way."
"The fact is I wasn't attacked sooner is a good thing, you must have done something right." I attempted to lift up her spirits but failed as she just continued to apologise. When I realised I had been talking for a while I told her that I had to go and that I was staying at Camp.
She didn't object.
This seemed to put a downer on the rest of the day as I found myself alone, since Shannon had been whisked away by Jason, not knowing what any of the buildings were, accidentally walking into the forges and having my eyebrows almost burnt off and ultimately praying that something good would happen.
"Natalie?" Annabeth's voice jolted my attention as I sat on the stairs of a random Cabin. My blonde teacher's assistant stood in the doorway, her hair slightly messed up and her cheeks flushed. Obviously someone had just taken part in a heavy make-out session. "What are you doing here?"
"I was on my own and no one was available to take me on a tour, well Mr. D was but I didn't want him too." I explained, sighing at the end and looking off towards the vast amount of Campers running around the place.
"Do you want me to take you on one?" she offered and I looked up at her, blinking twice in confusement.
"I don't want to take up your time with your Boyfriend."
"One, don't ever listen to anyone else when it comes to my love life, especially Jason." She said, lifting a finger in a teacher-like style. "And two, my boyfriend can join us since he has just moaned for the last twenty minutes how boring it is to stay in his bed all day."
A grumbling moan came from inside the Cabin which shortly turned too snickering. I tried to look past Annabeth to see who was inside but all she did was lean on the doorway and roll her eyes every time the guy inside did something stupid.
"Are you done yet Seaweed Brain?"
"Shut up Wise Girl!" Seaweed Brain replied. It wasn't exactly awkward to stand there, in fact it was entertaining.
"How old are you anyway?" Looking up, I realised Annabeth was looking down at me. She waited for an answer as I soon realised I was meant to giver her one.
"Seventeen, you?"
"I turn Twenty in two weeks." Annabeth seemed to grimace at that. A moment or two passed and quickly, on her heels, Annabeth turned back into the Cabin. "Are you ready yet?"
As if on cue, a boy slightly taller than Annabeth with black hair and green eyes stepped out. He too was wearing an orange t-shirt and a necklace of multi-coloured beads, similar to the one Annabeth was wearing, except her's had more beads. This guy was preposterously handsome with a surfer's tan and an overall attractive face. If I had to compare Jason and this guy on looks, I couldn't give you a winner as they both had different features that gave them bonus points. It also didn't help that this guy had an athletic build, smaller than Jason's but still fit.
"Hi, I'm Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon." he offered his hand and I shook it, hiding the fact I was gawking. Don't get me round he was God-Level attractive but I just wasn't into him, if you know what I mean.
"Natalie Hunt, I've just met your cousin."
"Which one?" he asked, seeming amused that I said something not on the lines of 'Daughter of Athena' or something like that. "What I mean is who?"
"My friend Shannon O'Riley, she's a Daughter of Zeus." Percy's face morphed into one of fear yet happy at the same time. "Are you OK?"
"Yeah, just, the numbers are growing bigger." He then muttered something in Annabeth's ear about being down 'three to one'. "So, shall we take you on this tour?"
"Yes!" I said eagerly, regretting it soon after.
"Great, let the Savior of the Olympus show you around the Cabins first." Annabeth pinched the bridge of her nose whilst I realised who Percy Jackson was, he was the idiot Chiron described.

[Shannon]

I think the expression running through my mind when Jason showed me the Cabin I would be sleeping in was 'It looks like an overcompensation'.
"So, what do you think?" My new Brother asked, standing in front of the bronze doors.
"It's big." I said, wincing slightly as I looked at the dorm roof. "It's very big."
"Yeah, Father wants to make sure his Leadership is well known." Jason explained, looking rather fondly at the other Cabins nearby.
He opened the door with ease and signaled for me to follow him inside. It was what I expected for the Children of Zeus, golden eagles in the decor, a large statue of Zeus placed in the centre of the room and an overall chilly temperature, as if a constant breeze was passing through it. I could easily tell which Bed was Jason's as it was un-made and surrounded by large shirts and an array of items which seemed to fit his personality.
I opted for a bed on the other side of the room.
"It's weird at first but you'll get used to it." Jason explained.
Me and Jason spent the best part of the day just talking, mainly about our Dad and Camp Half-Blood. It was entertaining and very much something I wasn't expecting when it came to talking to a half-brother. It was really amazing when he began telling the story about the last adventure he went on. Where he and several other demi-gods spent almost three months fighting an Earth Goddess and her Giant children, all whilst a war between the Greek half-bloods and the Roman half-bloods was on the verge of breaking out.
Jason was rather creative in the way he described certain events like his quest to rescue Hera, who apparently is not a nice person, how they closed the Doors of Death and how they ultimately defeated Gaia. He even gripped his sword and swatted it around childishly.
"Look at the time, we're supposed to be at the dining pavilion in five minutes." Jason jumped off his bed, rushing round and throwing his shirts off and replacing it with an identical one. He then grabbed another one and used his sword to cut some of the material off the bottom. "This ones for you."
I took it and swapped my tatted vest, which was ripped thanks to Lamia's claws, and put on the orange shirt. It barely fitted over my stomach as Jason had cut it to short but I managed to fix it by tucking it into my jeans. Jason chuckled at the sight of me but I pushed him aside, making for the door.
The sky was practically dark and the Camp was lit up by torches darted around the place. Jason followed me, closing the door as he did. "C'mon, you're going to love the others."
The Dining pavilion was bustling with campers of all ages, some even looked younger than eight. The amount of tables surrounding the actual fire was uncountable and I noticed quickly that some tables only had a couple of campers on it. Jason must have noticed me staring as he began to explain the rules about dinner.
"Each Cabin has a table, in respects to our Parents. Some Cabins have to split into multiple groups due to the numbers, mainly Cabin Eleven, children of Hermes." Jason pointed over to the three groups of blonde children with sharp features accompanied by other children. Natalie was amongst them, looking lost and partly scared. "When a Half-Blood isn't claimed, they are forced to bunk up with Cabin Eleven, due to Hermes personality and meaning. The only two rules there is for dinner is that you must always sit with your Cabin, no sitting with other people unless it is important. The second being you must always make an offering to the Gods before you leave, leave some juicy scraps to the side of your plate and chuck it in the fire."
I exhaled a long breath, I wasn't one for the rules. I was ready to walk in when I received another electric shock when I barely touched my bronze bracelet, Jason smirked at this. "You still having shocks?"
"Yeah, I didn't get them until this morning."
"Maybe it was your heritage, trying to warn you about Lamia." he shrugged, his muscles stretching against his shirt. I was glad that I have fit family members, what was the point of having a God for a Dad if I wasn't graced with bad-lookers with an even worst personality. Bit vein, sue me. "C'mon let's go in."
Sitting across from Jason was almost like a huge spotlight on me. Everyone had heard about the new Daughter of Zeus amongst the Campers and they were all judging me before I even sat down. I managed to wave at Natalie who barely smiled back when a Hermes Camper made his food blow up. The fire in the pit was glowing heavenly and big, portraying everyone's ease and comfort although it did flicker when I caught someone staring at me.
The food was alright, nothing special, and I had somehow swore a vengeance against my cup which kept giving me electric shocks. Jason was basically weeing on his seat he was laughing that much. Sometimes I would yelp, gaining more focus on me than I wanted. I thanked many forms of gods when Chiron and Mr. D interrupted the meal so that they could talk.
It was like a weekly updates, Chiron explaining the events of the past week, also adding how maiming of any kind was against the Camp rules. Everyone one unknowingly turned to face the table filled with rough looking teens, all had thick body frames and out of them all none of them were what could be called good-looking. The last things Chiron spoke about consisted off the forest sill being out of bounds, due to the Cabins of Apollo and Ares conflict, activities would carry on as normal and that the Cabins were going to be inspected during the week.
"Here we go." Jason pinched my arm, grabbing my attention as I was still focused on Chiron. I looked at him confused but I soon realised what he meant when he picked up his plate. "Wait until we're told to walk up."
"And now we shall end with the honour to the Gods, starting with Cabin One." Chiron waved over to us whilst Mr. D rolled his eyes.
I followed Jason's lead as we walked to the fire-pit. He stopped at the edge, said something under his breath that sounded like a prayer before tipping the scraps on his plate in the flames. A small breeze passed through the Pavilion. My Brother stepped aside, leaving me by myself as I held my plate with mostly untouched food on it.
I looked in the fire before an instinct told me to look at the sky. "Hi Dad, I've only just found out who you are. What's going on up there in Olympus?"
No reply.
"Anyway, I'm glad I at least know who you are, even if you didn't visit me or my Mum. But I just want to ask that if you could help find my friend Natalie's Dad and have him claim her then I would ... well I don't know what I'd do but I would be very grateful." I whispered, shutting my eyes tight and ... I had no idea what I was doing. Letting my hands tilt, the food from my plate fell into the fire, sizzling as they burnt.
There was no breeze or thunderous sound, instead there was silence. I turned my back on the pit, clinging onto the plate. I was maybe ten steps towards my table where Jason sat, looking sympathetic, when I noticed something different. A breeze stirred within the wind, twirling through the tables as it grew in strength until it was rushing around, the force similar to a gale storm. My hair flopped in the change in weather as everyone held onto something steady. The fire twirled as ashes flew into the air, the smell of burning food and air fresheners. Then the wind died down.
A chorus of gasps filled the Dining Pavilion. I saw the slight shock in Jason's eyes and turned my body, following his gaze. I was soon as speechless as everyone else.
Floating above the table of the Hermes Cabin was a glowing green trident, the obvious sign of Poseidon. But the shocking factor was who it was above. Natalie sat there, not even noticing what was happening. When she finally did, some guy had already move to stand by her side. They smiled at each other as if they already knew one another.
"Oh my Gods ..." I trailed off, still slightly shocked at finding out that my best-friend was my cousin the whole time.
Chiron stood up once again. "Percy, would you please help Natalie move into Cabin Three?"
"Yes Chiron." The lad standing beside Natalie smiled. "It's not everyday I find I have a Sister."
Natalie turned to face me and we simultaneously started laughing.
"Welcome to the Family!" We both yelled at each other.