New York City, to put in simple terms, blew my mind. It was so inexplicably unexplainable that my usual eloquence abandoned me and I settled for mindless gaping. Despite the fact that I had spent my entire life as a glorified nomad, I had never actually lived in a big city before. My mother preferred smaller towns and had avoided the state of New York altogether; looking back on it now, I wondered if it was on purpose. I craned my neck skyward as we drove past the base of the Empire State building.
"Olympus is really up there?" I asked. Kayla looked up from inspecting her chipped fingernails.
"Yeah, on the 600th floor, but you won't be able to see it. The city is shrouded by the Mist." She said.
"Have you guys ever been?" They both shook their heads. We watched as tourists crowded into through the doors to ride up to the "top" of the building.
"The year-round campers are allowed to visit Olympus on the winter solstice. But I go home after the summer is over, so I've never been." Kayla said. Louis just shuddered.
"I have no desire to go up there. The gods scare the bejeezus me." He said, and left it at that. I continued to look at the building. It was still hard to comprehend what I had become a part of. It was still so unreal, impossibilities stacked on impossibilities. The stoplight changed, Louis turned, and the Empire State building slid out of view.
We fought our way through busy traffic. Louis drove impatiently and by the time we had left the city and reached Long Island, both Kayla and I were clutching the seats for dear life.
"What the Hades are you doing, Louis? You're gonna get us killed—Oh Shit!" Kayla had yelled once, throwing her hands protectively in front of her face as we narrowly avoided being flattened by a tour bus.
"I'm going to die." I muttered to myself. "I survived nearly getting my head beat in only to die at the hands of Louis' abysmal driving." Louis scoffed.
"Relax, guys, I've been driving through New York traffic for years." He said, though this information was hardly reassuring. "Besides, I wouldn't do anything to put my baby in danger." Louis patted the dashboard of the old beater fondly. That crazy satyr loved his truck. He had once called it old faithful, to which I had responded with "Like the geyser?" Louis had given me an odd look before assuring me that his precious vehicle was nothing like "some old national park attraction". "Yeah! That truck is more like an old geezer." Kayla had burst in. "Get it? Geyser…Geezer…His truck is old…no? Man, you guys are hopeless." With that she turned away, muttering about our senses of humor and ignoring the strange looks we were giving her.
We were mostly silent as we continued to drive towards the tip of Long Island, each consumed in our own thoughts. My ADHD was acting up as a bundle of nerves grew in the pit of my stomach. What would the camp be like? Would I fit in? Would I make friends? Would I even get claimed? Louis had told me that it doesn't always happen. I was knocked out of my worrying by Louis' voice.
"You know, there is a rumor going around among the satyrs that we might be getting a powerful new half-blood this summer." He said one hand on the wheel, the other rooting around the console for a tin can.
"Oh?" Kayla raised an eyebrow and I leaned forward, interested. "How powerful?"
"Powerful enough for Chiron to go undercover to scope out the situation." He said, letting out a victory cry when he found what he was searching for. Kayla's other eyebrow joined the first one at the top of her forehead. Louis nodded sagely. "Grover sniffed him out at some boarding school in upstate New York. I think Chiron went in as a teacher or something."
"Wait, Grover found this one? Grover Underwood." Kayla said incredulously.
"Yup. He got the go-ahead to go back out at the end of last summer." Louis mumbled through a mouth full of tin can.
"Well, I hope it just goes better than it did his first time." Kayla said, and leaned back, crossing her arms as if that was all she had to say in the matter.
"What happened his first time?" I asked. Both Kayla and Louis looked uncomfortable.
"It was before my time, five years ago I think-I've only been going for two. Do you remember what I told you about the pact of the Big Three?" The older girl asked and I nodded. "Well, Zeus slipped up and had a daughter, Thalia, and when Hades found out he was furious. He sent a lot of monsters after her, to punish Zeus. Thalia was traveling with two other half-bloods when Grover found her. He was tasked with escorting her, and the two others, safely back to camp." The atmosphere in the truck was somber. Neither of my companions looked as if they wanted to continue the story.
"They didn't make it did they?" I asked.
"Grover and the half-bloods were almost to the camp border when the monsters caught up with them. But yeah, they weren't going to make it so Thalia let the others go ahead to safety. She stayed behind and held off the monsters for her friends. Right before she died, Zeus turned her into a Pine tree. You'll see it when we reach camp; it's still there, protecting the camp and strengthening the borders." Louis continued, "The governing body of satyrs-the Council of Cloven Elders- said that made a few wrong turns on the way to camp. If he hadn't Thalia would still be alive today." Silence settled back over the truck. The story made me feel hollow inside. Could I ever be that brave?
"But let's not talk about any of that depressing stuff." Kayla said abruptly. "We're almost there."
I looked out of the window. We were driving down a narrow side road. A leafy forest whipped past us and the sky was filled with pearly clouds topped with puffy steeples. The truck slowed as we passed a wooden sign mounted on a white picket fence declaring "Pick Your Own Strawberries". We slowed and turned onto a deeply shaded, dirt road I hadn't noticed. This path- it hardly qualified as a road- continued on for a few minutes before widening into what appeared to be a dusty lot. Several cars and a few uniformed vans were parked sporadically throughout the lot. The vans were white, and had Delphi Strawberry Service painted on the sides. Louis parked and we clambered out.
"Some of the older campers drive, so this is where we all park. Over there are the camp vans. We walk from here." Kayla said as she hefted her bag out of the bed of the truck. We walked across the sun-dappled lot to a dirt trail on the other end of the lot. Kayla chuckled as we passed a truck with graffiti on it.
"Oh man, Barker is gonna be so pissed." She said. Louis stifled a very unmanly giggle. The truck was a rusty red color, sported elevated wheels, and looked like it had just driven through the apocalypse. I would have been terrified to cross the owner of that truck except for one thing.
It was covered in glitter. Drawings of butterflies and rainbows adorned the doors in pink paint; the words: love, peace, ponies and the name, Barbie Barker, were scrawled across the windows in shaky English.
"Whose truck is that?" I asked, laughing. We began walking down the path, leaving the lot, and the tampered-with truck, behind.
"An Ares kid." Louis said. "That job has the Stolls written all over it."
"The Stolls?"
"Oh yeah, we should warn you about them." Kayla said. "They're the sons of Hermes. But, unlike a lot of kids here, they're full brothers. They have the same mother and everything. They're a year apart but I can never remember which one is older." She scrunched up her nose, trying to remember. "I think Conner is the older one. Travis is taller though."
"No, Travis is the older one."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Ok, Travis is older and taller." Kayla amended. "But you need to watch out for both of them. Really, you should look out for all the Hermes kids. A sneaky bunch, they are. Don't trust them-not with your secrets, not with your money, not with your stuff, nothing. Got it?" I nodded.
"You stay in the Hermes cabin until you're claimed, so you could be in there for several weeks, several days, or no time at all." Louis said. "No matter how long you're in the cabin though, stay on guard. That's just a piece of advice there."
"Well thanks, I guess." We emerged from the path at the base of a large hill. Tall grass waved softly in the breeze and a great Pine tree stood at the top like a sentinel. We started up the hill.
"That's Thalia's Pine." Kayla said softly. "It marks the border, right now we're on Half-Blood Hill." I held back a gasp as we crested the hill and the valley below us became visible. It was lush and green, and dotted with trees. One side of the valley was bordered by a dark wood, the other held fields of strawberries, baking in the heat. The buildings that littered the valley looked Greek; there was an arena, an amphitheatre, and an open air pavilion, whose white pillars glinted brilliantly in the sun. A cluster of cabins stood off to one side and in the distance, I could see the ocean.
"It's beautiful." I breathed.
"Isn't it though?" Louis said. I could see that both of them instantly relaxed the moment we crossed the boundary into safety. We walked down the grassy slope towards a large farmhouse. It was painted a baby blue color, with white trim, and a long wraparound porch lined the sides. Its appearance, coupled with the idyllic surroundings painted a quaint little picture. Louis turned to Kayla.
"You can head to the cabin. I'll take Mina up to the Big House." He told her. I assumed that the farmhouse was the "Big House" Louis was referring to.
"Nah, it's cool. I need to sign in anyway." She said and readjusted the strap of her bag. We clomped up the porch steps and through the screen door that was propped open with a door jam.
"Chiron?" Louis called, walking deeper into the house. Kayla went into an office looking room and signed a piece of paper. She handed the clipboard to me.
"Here, sign your name and write new camper next to it." I did so.
Louis poked his head through the doorway.
"C'mon Mina, Chiron is out on the porch." He said.
"I'm going to head over to the cabins. Mina, word of advice," I turned to face Kayla, who was already half out of the front door, "don't make Mr. D mad." And with that she disappeared.
The two men on the porch were sitting at a small cards table. One was in a wheelchair. This man turned to face me with a good natured smile on his face. He wore a tweed jacket and had dark hair, paired with a short beard. The other man glanced up only to scowl deeply at me, before turning his glare back to his cards.
"Great," He muttered, "another brat for me to deal with." The man in the wheelchair shot him a disapproving look before settling his gaze on me.
"Chiron, Mr. D, this is Philomena—"
"Mina."
"—Braddock. Kayla and I found her in Illinois. She was being attacked by a hellhound." Louis said. "Mina, this is Chiron," He motioned to the man in the wheel chair "and this is, um, Mr. D." Louis looked nervous in the presence of the plump man. Chiron smiled at me warmly.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, child. And thank you, Louis, for escorting her here safely." He said. Louis nodded absentmindedly, still watching Mr. D warily. A thought suddenly popped into my head.
"I thought you were supposed to be a centaur." I blurted out, and then blushed. Mr. D rolled his eyes and Chiron chuckled.
"I am, the wheelchair holds my bottom half and grants me easier access to the house." He rose from the chair slowly, and I watched in awe as the blanket fell away and a horse body emerged. "Mr. D, is there anything you would like to say?" The man looked up from his cards, startled.
"Oh, yes, well welcome, I suppose. Welcome, Minnie." He said sourly.
"Mina." I corrected.
"Whatever." Mr. D looked from his cards, to the score on a piece of paper, back to his cards. "Tell me, Mary, do you know how to play Pinochle?" I shook my head.
"I know how to play Poker." I offered. Mr. D looked disgusted. Shamelessly, he scooped up Chiron's cards and inspected them.
"Bah, you win again, Chiron." He scowled and stood up. "Louis, I wish to speak to about an assignment." He said and walked off, not bothering to check if Louis followed.
"See you around, Mina." And with that, Louis scurried after Mr. D. Chiron stretched his legs, as if they had fallen asleep.
"So, Miss Braddock, I assume you have been acquainted with our world?" I nodded, looking out over the valley. Campers in orange shirts were everywhere.
"Excellent, we can skip the orientation video." I raised an eyebrow at this but didn't ask. We began walking towards the cabins.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to show you around camp. I just returned yesterday and need to put some things in order. However, I will show you to the Hermes cabin, where you will be staying until you are claimed." Chiron said. His hooves clopped softly through the grass.
Out of all the cabins I saw, the one we stopped in front of was in the worst shape. It looked how I imagined a typical summer camp cabin to look. It was large, built with wooden beams. There was a wooden porch at the front, which was littered with the oddest combination of items. I saw skateboards, empty bottles of spray paint, and a surprising amount of whoopee cushions among other things. A muscular kid who looked to be about my age sat on the porch steps, fiddling with a prism. When he saw Chiron he stood up respectfully.
"Hello, Butch. Is Luke in there?" Chiron asked. Butch glanced at me before answering. I fidgeted uncomfortably.
"No, I'm not sure where he is." The boy said. Chiron looked unsurprised.
"Will you please escort Miss Mina into the cabin and have Travis and Connor give her a tour of the camp then?" Butch frowned but nodded. Chiron smiled before turning to me. "Well, this is where I leave you then. I hope you get settled in comfortably." He thanked Butch before trotting off further into the camp. An uncomfortable silence stretched in between me and Butch.
"Come on then." He said gruffly as he bent and scooped up the prism before walking to the cabin door. "You know her your parent is?" I shook my head and he sighed. I thought I heard him mumble something like figures.
Butch threw the door open loudly and we stepped into the cabin. I took in the room. Twelve bunk beds were pushed against the walls, and the remaining floor was covered in sleeping bags. Kids were everywhere. There was such a ruckus that our entrance was unnoticed. Several young girls were poring over celebrity magazines. A pillow fort was being constructed on the tops of some of the bunk beds. A redheaded boy was somehow sleeping through the din, and as a result, was being drawn on with permanent marker by two boys who appeared to be twins. Butch rolled his eyes and pounded on the door loudly.
"HEY! Everybody shut up!" He yelled, and silence fell over the cabin. I wanted to hide as every eye in the room fell upon me. "This here is Mina. She's new-"
"Claimed or Undetermined?" One of the many faces interrupted.
"Undetermined." A groan went up. We stood there awkwardly as everyone stared at us a minute more, and then they lost interest and when back to their various activities. Butch led me over to the two boys with the marker. They looked up guiltily as we approached.
"Can we help you?" The taller one asked. The sleeping boys face was covered in black lines.
"Chiron says show her around." He gestured at me and left, leaving me stranded with two strangers.
"If you were wondering, he's always like that." The shorter twin said and held out his hand. "I'm Connor." He hooked his thumb at the other boy. "This is Travis."
"It's nice to meet you." I said warily, Kayla's warning echoed in my head. Travis- or was it Connor- capped the marker.
"Looks like we're done here." One of them said, looking down at their work with satisfaction.
"Well, Mina, let's find a spot where you can dump your stuff and then take a tour!" The other said enthusiastically. I tightened my grasp on the strap of my backpack.
"I think I'll keep my bag with me, thanks." I said. The twins grinned.
"Oh, you'll do wonderfully in here."
As usual, please review!