Chapter three
Before Cressida could go out to the dining pavilion, Chiron stopped to tell her she is welcome to get cleaned up in the girl's bathroom. He handed her an orange camp-half blood t shirt a size too big for her lanky body, but she thanked him with a swift nod. Sarah, daughter of Hermes, was kind enough to wait for Cressida till she was cleaned up so she could show her around to the pavilion.
Cressida showered, washed away the dirt on her face and threw on the orange shirt and her own ragged black jeans. When she saw a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, her café au lait complexion seemed full of life, opposite of what Cressida really is. Her short black hair ended on her shoulders.
She met Sarah outside of the Hermes cabin and they began walking. The brilliant orange sun was drowned in the horizon, and sheer darkness slowly creeping in. Cressida felt a lot better. She could see the hill on where they were heading, it had a huge pine tree and an archway. Birds were chirping.
A horn blew in the distance, and teens and kids with orange camp T-shirt were milling around waiting for dinner. Cressida felt nervous, and her spine tingled a little. She followed Sarah as they filed into the commons yard while teens lined up in order of seniority. From the other cabins, teens hurried out laughing and fist pumping in the air, Cressida didn't understand the excitement. The food must be delicious, probably, and the campers couldn't wait to dig in.
They marched up the hill, Cressida walking along with Sarah among other campers. Satyrs joined in, and naiads rose out of the lake. Teenaged girls materialized out of the woods, and Cressida read about them in the ancient Greek book that they were dryads. All the teens were laughing and clapping and gossiping among each other.
As they reached the mess hall pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns, and a central fire burned in a bronze barrier. There were tables covered in white and trimmed with purple.
Sarah inched closer to Cressida and spoke in her ear, "Each Cabin has its own table, lucky for you you're sitting with us."
Cressida was hoping to sit alone, but she knew the odds were high. She caught Chiron's eye and he gave her a reassuring smile as he stood in his centaur form beside a table where satyrs were seated. Cressida looked over at the Apollo cabins table and locked eyes with Jack; he gave her thumbs up. She sat at the overcrowded Hermes table.
Sarah was seated beside her and murmured, "Hermes has a lot of children." No doubt he did. Matthew sat across from Cressida, along with his siblings. They talked about stealing the Aphrodite cabins make up and how the Aphrodite girls were spraying perfume in their faces. Cressida felt awkward and uncomfortable, she's hardly ever had friends – and even her foster siblings resented her. They would call her the devil because she always wore black.
Behind the Hermes table was the Ares table. They were laughing and belching wildly with their siblings. Then Chiron pounded his hoof on the marble floor, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass, "To the gods!"
Everybody on the Hermes table, and the other tables raised their glasses. Cressida looked down at her table to find an empty goblet there, but she didn't raise it. They all spoke up, "To the gods!"
Wood nymphs came by with plates of food, strawberries, fresh bread, cheese, grapes and barbeque that smelled divine. The nymphs place food on every table, and smiled at us. Cressida's stomach grumbled and Sarah poked her and said, "Eat up! Oh, and for the drink you just speak to it on whatever drink you like."
Cressida picked up her goblet, "Water." She said. The goblet filled with clear liquid.
Matthew raised his eyebrows, "Water?"
Sarah chuckled, clutching her stomach as if she's dying. "Are you nuts? Out of all drinks – water? C'mon you can do better than that."
"No alcohol, though." Matthew added with a grin. The other campers on the table smirked along with him. .
Cressida shrugged and spoke to the goblet, "Sparkling water." The goblet fizzed.
Sarah shook her head and drank from her goblet which was fizzy brown. Matthew and his siblings chuckled as they dug into their foods. From the other tables, people got up and carried their plates toward the centre of the pavilion – where the fire was blazing.
Sarah stood up and said to Cressida, "Burnt offerings to the gods." Cressida thought that was strange. Why would all-powerful gods want food offerings?
She followed Sarah anyway while other kids scraped off her food into the pit of fire. Other teens said a god's name and whisked off their food, causing a whiff of smoke that smelled so delicious, Cressida's mouth watered.
"Hermes," Sarah said, bowing her head and whisking off a slice of roast. She turned to Cressida who just shrugged. She didn't know what to do; who was she going to offer her food to, when she didn't even know who her godly parent is?
Cressida turned away and began to walk back to the table when a girl stopped her with a big smile. She had blonde pigtails, and braces. Her eyes changing colour from brown to blue, to green to brown. "Hey! I'm Lacy, daughter of Aphrodite." She giggled.
"Hi," Cressida muttered. She felt cramped whenever meeting new people. She didn't know how to communicate with girls her age – or rather anybody. What does she say? Does she compliment them?
Lacy played with her pigtails, "You should definitely hang with me sometime, perhaps I can give you a makeover. I understand you would feel uncomfortable, actually don't worry about that. Anyway sorry for rambling I just wanted to introduce myself. What was your name?" She talked too fast Cressida just captured the last sentence.
"Cressida," She said. Other campers were assembling back to their respective tables. Sarah waved over to Cressida to sit back down. Lacy gave her one last smile and headed over to her table.
When she sat back down, Cressida began to munch on her food. Before this, Cressida had never had anything as appetizing as the food she's currently consuming. She only had a meal day, stale bread if she was lucky. Her foster parents were rather poor and only cared for a dime. She was so hungry; she licked the excess barbeque taste on her fingers. She wasn't the only one though; the Hermes children were licking their plates.
Cressida looked at the sky, and her fingers leaked shadow. She was not aware though, because she was so mesmerized gazing at the starry sky. Thunder boomed which interrupted Cressida with a jolt, but then she caught a hold of herself and gazed again.
"What are you looking at?" Sarah asked. Her mouth was full of food, and her voice muffled. Some kids on the table were stealing each others food.
Cressida looked away from the sky, "I just looking at the stars."
Sarah looked above for a second when lightning flashed then looked at Cressida. Her eyes grew wide and her face paled. She gasped, "Oh my gods."
Cressida scrunched up her eyebrows, "What?"
Sarah's face was so pale; Cressida was surprisingly concerned for the other girl. She shook her head frantically, and leaned so close in Cressida's face that she could smell her breath. "Oh my gods..." She repeated in a murmur then turned to her half-brother Matthew, "Matt, look at her eyes. Am I going crazy? I think im going crazy."
Matthew turned mid-stop from laughing when Sarah said his name. He narrowed his eyes, "Her eyes. Why?" Then he sized up on Cressida, and leaned in. "What the Hades?" he whispered, looking shocked.
"What is it?" Cressida demanded quietly, her heart was racing. What was wrong with her eyes?
Other kids from the Hermes table were intrigued and closed in around her, all staring with wide eyes. "Your eyes…" Sarah murmured. "They're like… stars."
Cressida's eyebrows rose, "Stars?"
"Constellations." Matthew correct in a whispery voice, mesmerized. Constellations did he say? Cressida's heart pounded. What did this mean?
Cressida's eyes were dark and striking, shining like quasars, and if you looked closely you could see a hint of twinkling stars and swirling wisps of constellations. Glimmer of silver sparkled, and a hint of deep blue clouded the irises. It was so sensual, and amazing that the campers on the table couldn't stop staring. But it all ended abruptly when Chiron pounded his hoof again against the marble floor of the pavilion. Fire in the torches dimmed and crackled. All attention was on him, but Sarah stole glances at Cressida, still amazed.
"Children," Chiron spoke loudly. "We all know about Dionysus' departure, he is reunited with his wife in Olympus. He sends his kindest regards." He cleared his throat and gave a smile. "This Friday we will be having very important guests partaking in the games of capture the flag, and before you groan, yes it is the hunters of Artemis." The campers groaned, and Sarah shifted uncomfortably. Others rolled their eyes. "But, Artemis herself will be visiting camp-half blood along her huntresses. It will be a very special game this Friday." Campers murmured excitedly.
"Okay, quiet now. We have a new camper here today," Cressida managed to stay seated stoically but nervous was creeping in. She hated attention. The air around her shimmered in shadow, but she didn't notice. "Cressida here is new, and I'd respect you all to make her feel welcome." Chiron smiled and everyone looked toward Cressida's direction. They greeted her politely.
After that, everyone headed down toward the bonfire, sitting down in the warm, cosy bearings watching the Apollo kids singing. Even Jack was playing some instrument he seemed to be very good at. Chiron walked over to Cressida while she stood in a group of campers, not really talking.
"Cressida," He spoke. "If you are not claimed tonight, do not feel worried. Gods, they are very busy… At any rate, do not feel distraught. I don't want to give you false hope that you will be claimed." His eyes were gentle, but Cressida felt upset and darkness slithered in her. She didn't expect anything, but she still felt let down.
She nodded, and then he continued. "It's better not to feel upset, the gods, well, sometimes they don't care for their children, but don't let that have any effect on you. I know you've felt this way before, other campers have… last time…" He trailed off, and his eyes grew dark. Cressida wondered if a camper did something horribly wrong, as if a god had neglected a camper which driven the child to do something really bad. "Anyway," Chiron said, placing his hand on Cressida's cold shoulder. "Just know that camp half-blood is safe for you. And I hope you'll enjoy it here, a lot of campers will make you feel at home."
With the fire blazing, and the kids laughing and joking, Cressida could imagine herself feeling happy. Here every night, with the Apollo kids singing along, and the music pipes playing by the satyrs, she felt a spark of hope. Hope that one day she could feel joy, and live past all the darkness from her past. To feel loved and cared for with people like her, a demi-god.
For the rest of the night, it was quite a show. Sarah and Cressida got along very well, and Cressida and Jack talked a bit too. Lacy showed Cressida some weapons the Aphrodite cabin made for capture the flag; it was some perfume that made campers fall asleep – a very effective weapon for capture the flag on Friday. Sarah suggested that she should take Cressida to the armoury so Cressida could choose a weapon for her liking. She agreed. Chiron talked to Cressida more, and she knew he was trying to comfort her when she wasn't claimed. His eyes and voice were soothing. But surprisingly, Cressida didn't feel all that sad that her godly parent hadn't claimed her. She felt strong, like she always did in the night. The darkness made her feel superior.