Ch5

The rest of the time was a bit of a blur for Magnus. Right before he passed out he saw Luke and Annabeth get claimed and the next thing he knew he was in the hospital. When he awoke he had some ambrosia and after a quick rest was told that the camp director wanted to see him.

"Magnus! You are all better," Annabeth said running to him in her orange t-shirt. She gave him a big hug and smiled at him brightly.

"Yeah I am, how are things at your cabin?" He was also wearing one of the orange camp t-shirts that fit him well. Annabeth gave him a big hug and he felt a bit more at peace, though strangely he felt as if he were missing something though he couldn't put his finger on it.

Annabeth smiled and nodded at him. "Everything is great, my other siblings are so cool. I'll introduce you to them sometime."

As they made their way to the big house they were greeted by the sight of a centaur of all things. "Ah Magnus Chase come on in there is something I want to talk to you about," Chiron said with a neutral expression on his face.

"Don't worry Magnus he talked to me and Luke too. You know since Thalia well you know," she said with a sad look.

"Thanks I'll be alright." He smiled at his cousin who smiled back at him, but he could still see the pain in her eyes. He felt bad about Thalia, even though they fought like every day and were at each other's throats constantly he felt pain when thinking about her. Thanks for everything Thalia he thought as he said goodbye to his sister and followed Chiron into his office.

"Well young Magnus why don't we sit and talk," Chiron said eyeing him carefully. Magnus sat down across from him while another man drinking a soft drink was eying him dangerously. "Now do you know who your godly parent is by any chance?" Chiron asked politely.

Magnus shook his head. "No, my mother never told me who he was. I lived with my cousin Annabeth and her uncle. He told me about the Gods and that I am a half-blood."

"Which ones," the man in the corner mumbled. Chiron shot him a look before turning back to him.

"Well I am sorry for your losses. I am sure your mother and Thalia were both important to you. Do you mind telling us what you know about your mother and your journey if you can please," Chiron asked kindly.

He could tell that he could trust him but also that he was on edge. So he told the story from the beginning, of how he lost his mother and was adopted by his uncle. To how he and Annabeth met her mom to how their travels with Luke and the various monster fights. When he was done he showed them the shield Athena had given him. When the purple shield with the dual axes and the double headed eagle appeared Chiron looked dumbstruck and the other man stood up and for a second looked he feared that he was going to get attacked

"Please Mr. D calm down," Chiron pleaded.

Magnus flinched as he looked into Mr. D's eyes they were not filled with any kindness at all. He was prepared to fight a fight but he knew that it was a bad idea, then suddenly Mr. D sat back down.

"Barbarians," he muttered as he sat back down.

"So Lady Athena gave you that shield?" Chiron asked

Magnus nodded, "Yeah she said it will protect me and Annabeth. Is something wrong?"

Chiron sighed, "No, nothing is wrong. You really don't know who your father is right?"

"No and I don't really care to be honest," Magnus said shaking his head. "I am just glad to be here. It is safe for me and especially Annabeth."

Chiron looked and Mr. D and the two appeared to have an invisible conversation until Chiron turned back to him. "Fine very well. Since you are unclaimed you will stay in the Hermes Cabin until your godly parent recognizes you."

"Th-Thanks." The tension in the air was still thick but so long as he could be with Annabeth he was ok. With that he was dismissed and he went to find his cousin

"Chiron you sensed it too right? He is a demigod but not one of ours," Dionysus said as he gripped the can of soda he was drinking. "His aura is slightly different but I can still recognize a Son of the North when I see one. Those filthy barbarians."

Chiron sighed, "I know, and please remember he is a child; though it appears he really doesn't know his heritage. Nevertheless, I was called to teach heroes and I have taught many heroes of different pantheons, even the Norse."

"How do you think Zeus will take this?" Dionysus asked as he drank some of his soda.

Chiron raised an eyebrow. "Well seeing as his daughter just turned into a tree do you think he would care?"

Dionysus laughed, "Don't get me wrong if you wish to train him that is on you I won't say anything to old Zeus."

Chiron sighed as he looked at the God. "The conflicts between Asgard and Olympus were an interesting time huh?"

A dark look spread across Dionysus's face, "Yeah I still remembered when their sons spilled our children's blood over my vineyards. Uncultured swine," he snarled slamming his fist on the desk. He then gave Chiron a dark look, "But Demeter and I got back at them and cursed their apple tree." He gave him a smile that sent a shiver down his spine. "Unlike us, they aren't fully immortal."

"Yeah they were tough. I taught a lot of them when they guarded the Emperors of Byzantium. I even taught their hero Sigurd a bit, decent guy," Chiron said as he remembered the Norse hero. "Do you plan on telling young Magnus?"

Dionysus snorted, "I could care less and not just because we are not allowed to tell our children about other pantheons. I will treat that barbarian like the rest."

Chiron smiled and laughed, "You never change Dionysus, thank you." Truthfully he did not want to send the child out to the streets. He knew many Norse heroes and they were his close friends back in the day. I don't even recall if they have a camp for their living children.

There was precedent for non-Greek demigods to come into their camp. Usually, they were usually from the other camp of which he could not speak of but in the past, many heroes from diverse pantheons and places wished to learn the way of the Greeks and he was always willing to share his information with them. They would often stay at the camp and sometimes even got adopted into their world.

"Though if I say so myself if he wanted to go to a camp so bad he should've died instead of Thalia," Dionysus said as he summoned another can of cola.

"True but Valhalla is a tough place. Besides, how will the Norse react if they found out that one of their own was killed outside our camp?" Chiron said.

Dionysus shrugged. "They don't have a camp I doubt they will care that much."

Chiron nodded as he remembered the many fights and wars between the two major pantheons of the West. "Many Sons of the North did assimilate into our culture though," he said reminiscing about the many Viking warriors to came and settled in the old Byzantine Empire. "They learned Greek quickly and became ferocious fighters."

"Yeah and the many fights Hades had with their underworld over who got their souls caused even more conflicts," Dionysus said with a dark expression on his face. "Listen Chiron things are good between Olympus and Asgard now and that child does not seem to radiate the energy of one of their major deities. Don't forget you can't talk to him about them, we swore on the Styx about revealing the existence of other pantheons just like with our other halves."

Chiron nodded, "Thanks Dionysus. I will see it that young Magnus gets proper training. Most of their children don't get much support in life."

The god snorted as he drank some cola, "Yeah they just send them out to the streets and hope they die," he said shaking his head. "Like at least we give our kids some training."

"Yeah the Norse were more into tough love than Olympus," Chiron said looking at the ceiling. They were tougher on their children back in the day. Sent to pillage as boys and told to fight men. They definitely earned Olympus's respect grudgingly though.

"Yeah but even we had class, those barbarians," Dionysus said shaking his head as if remembering something unpleasant. "Even Aries and Hades were disturbed by some of their actions."

Chiron sighed, "True I had to train our children extra hard those days. Byzantium was facing threats from all sides." That was how the Norse started becoming an ally of Olympus various pantheons of Asia and the Middle East really had it out of Olympus.

"True Byzantium was the second Rome," Dionysus said with a sigh. "Good luck on teaching that barbarian, he will need it. Hopefully, the other Olympians don't find out about him and good thing that the other camp didn't find him. The sons of the North and our other children fought a lot more than with our children here and there was a lot of bad blood between Rome and Asgard," he said getting up.

Chiron smiled at Mr. D, "I don't think it will be an issue. After all, his aura his already starting to look Greek." Norse and Greek demigods usually gave off an aura, the Norse ones were a little colder but if one assimilated into the other well enough they could pass off as a demigod from the other pantheon. Also, Norse demigods had their own equivalent of ADHD and Dyslexia as a result of their constant pillaging and moving from one place to another; they were more than capable of learning Ancient Greek and capable of fighting.

Dionysus only laughed as he exited the room with a can of coke in his hand. Magnus Chase what do the fates have in store for you Chiron thought as he looked up at the ceiling.

Magnus had to admit it, despite being crammed in the Hermes Cabin he was starting to like the camp. No one really asked him about his parentage and when he said he didn't know people didn't really care. People also learned quickly to not try and steal from him and those that didn't learn from his fists or Annabeth's. In a way, he was fitting in well with the children of Hermes and many of them swore that he was one of them even though he didn't look like a child of Hermes at all.

He spent most of his time with Annabeth or just alone reading since he would rather do anything but be around Luke. The guy had a habit of bossing people around and while some people liked it he thought that Luke was just bossy. Grover also hung out with him and patiently taught him things that he didn't know along with things that did not come easily to him. Ancient Greek was a little harder to him than anyone else but slowly he was starting to get it and be able to read and write it and was managing to learn it well.

He was also becoming better at fighting, though he still wasn't that good in his opinion. Slowly he was learning the basics and even though he sucked at archer he was getting better at using a sword and axes. He mostly kept to himself but made a small group of friends and acquaintances. Mostly those from Athena cabin since he hung out with Annabeth a lot but also some other campers such as Beckendorf and the Stoll twins (though they had a rocky start since they pranked Annabeth with a large spider and him with a plush wolf doll, they ended up getting beaten up badly).

He was glad that both of them were safe, they both managed to write to his uncle to let them know that they were safe as soon as they had the chance too even though he had to convince Annabeth to do it. He still felt bad for all the tension that was caused because of him, but whenever he brought it up with Annabeth she would shut him down and say it wasn't his fault, but it still did not make him feel better

Even though he couldn't sit with Annabeth during meals he still watched her have fun with her cabinmates. She smiled more often and was happier than he had ever seen her when she was with them. He thought their cabin mates were cool and they treated him decently and he even had a great discussion about literature with them. Annabeth seemed so much more alive here than he had ever known her to be and for that he was happy.

As their time in camp went on days turned to weeks which turned to months and then years. He never got called on any quests but was content that he and Annabeth were safe. Annabeth and him both found their niches at camp, while Annabeth had her cabin Magnus had Grover and some other campers here and there to hang out with. He didn't really have a best friend or anything but overall he enjoyed his time at the camp even if he wished he could find out who his father was.

"Hey Magnus we have mail," Annabeth said one day showing him a package. "It's from my dad," she said in a tense tone.

"Well lets open it," he said as he looked up from his copy of the Iliad.

Annabeth and him have been communicating with her father which was the only source of outside information that came to them. He wrote more than her mainly out of guilt but also he wanted to hear stories about his mom once in a while.

In the box were two letters addressed to both of them along with a college ring for Annabeth and a small box for him with a ring inside.

Dear Magnus,

Thank you for keeping Annabeth safe. Since I gave her my college ring I decided to hand over my sister's ring to you. She never married your father but apparently, it was a gift from him. I hope you are well and know that you always have a home here. Let me know if you guys need anything else.

Love,

Uncle Frederick.

Magnus opened the box and saw a small ring, he carefully picked it up as he felt his emotions run wild. The ring was small and had a small blue gemstone with a strange symbol on it is this some kind of rune? He had seen the symbol before, the bookmark that belonged to his mom had that symbol on it too.

As he held the ring in his hand he felt a variety of emotions but strangely enough one word echoed in his head traitor. He shook his head as he closed the box.

"Thanks Annabeth," he said with a small smile.

Annabeth looked at her ring not knowing what to think, "No problem what did my dad give you?"

"My mom's wedding ring," he said showing it to her. Annabeth didn't pick it up but looked at it carefully.

"Its beautiful," she said smiling at him.

"Thanks, hey do you mind keeping it safe for me?" He asked

Annabeth appeared shocked, "But its your mom's wedding ring?"

Magnus looked at her and nodded, "Yeah and I don't want it on the camp's black market."

Annabeth laughed and nodded, "Ok I'll keep it safe for you." Magnus smiled and thanked his cousin as he gave the ring to her. "I'll but it someplace safe to you want to do archery together?"

"Sure I don't have any other plans," he said as he got up and followed her back to her cabin.

The rest of the day was normal, he ate with the Hermes cabin and did various activities with Annabeth and some other campers. He still couldn't believe that he and Annabeth had been here for a few years now. They both had a few beads to prove it and they both changed a lot. Annabeth was happier and seemed more confident and was seen as one of the more popular people at camp. Magnus also felt himself grow too, he was a much better fighter and a little more confident in himself.

He wasn't popular nor was he claimed but he didn't care in the least. His cousin still watched out for him and stood up for him which he appreciated since some campers were dicks or just girls that meant trouble (not that he minded but she did). Even though at times he felt jealous that she had such a close relationship with her cabin, but in general he did not care. Overall, most people treated him nicely and he treated them nicely in return and they were both happy at camp.

Though he had to admit the only downsides were that he hated being int he cramped Hermes cabin and would do anything to get out of it and the fact that he kind of wished he had a best friend, while he did have many good friends he felt that outside of Annabeth and Grover he wasn't particularly close to anyone else.

Then there was Luke, the only one of them to have gone on a quest. He didn't know what had happened but he came back with a scar and never was the same again. Even Annabeth didn't know what had happened but Luke changed on his quest. Luke failed his quest and his scar was his only reward.

The fact that Luke was one of the strongest half-bloods and that he had failed made him glad as hell that neither he nor Annabeth were called on one. For no matter how good of a fighter he was or how others claimed he was still no match for Luke.

"Hey Magnus how are you doing man?" Grover asked

Magnus smiled at the satyr, "Good dude did you want to go camping again?" Grover had taught him and Annabeth wilderness survival and he honestly enjoyed hiking and camping around with Grover whenever they got the chance too.

"Sorry I am busy, I have some stuff to do for Chiron," Grover sighed.

"Well better hope my cousin doesn't hound him or her again," Magnus said. His cousin was hell-bent on finding this child of the prophecy. He didn't know the details about this prophecy but it was apparently important to her as he had often heard her mumble about it. Hopefully, she isn't involved.

He smiled at the sky, deep down he was at peace. If Annabeth was happy and safe then so was he.