Zagreus

The cool breeze welcomed me as I stepped out of the Hecate Cabin. The way out was trailed with hexes that I barely made it out without a clump of needle or rat near the leg of my pants. I decided to wear the camp shirt lying on my bunk, together with a pair of blue jeans. My get-up felt comfortable, except I had to wear my boots again. You can't have all the luxuries in life, I guess.

I looked across at the clustered circle of cabins. Each one has its own defining attribute – one to distinguish each god. I wondered if every god had a cabin…

"Seems you're not yet used to the whole set-up, huh?" the voice of Lou Ellen startled me from behind. She too was wearing a camp shirt with Hecate's wheel on her neck. She wore a curious expression that took me a while to decipher.

"Ah yes… I wasn't able to explore this place after I woke up. It failed to occur to me to actually look around. This is one vast land I must say," I feigned amazement as I turned my head around to capture the view.

"Beats me. Even with all the magic happening in our cabin, it doesn't beat the magic this place has," Lou Ellen smiled

"So, each of the gods gets their own cabins huh?" I started to raise the question. I was keen to know more about this place and what makes it special that Hecate decided to lead me here.

"Well, not all of them. I think there are still minor gods who haven't had their cabins built yet or their demigod children are yet to be known. It has only been months since other cabins were added for minor gods like Iris and Hebe. Most of the attention was dedicated to the twelve Olympians," she said the last statement with a bit of distaste.

I pointed at the loose semi-circle of cabins in front of us, "Those bigger cabins are for the major gods then?"

Lou Ellen gave me a look as if this was already an obvious fact, but she continued to explain, "Yes, those cabins right there are for the major gods.

"We have Dionysus's cabin," she pointed at the rightmost cabin, decorated in grapevines.

"Behind that is the Aphrodite Cabin, then Artemis's (for her hunters), Athena's (you know, brain children), then Demeter's" she motioned dismissively at the plant-cladded cabin.

She shifted her attention to the left side of the semi-circle, "Adjacent to the Dionysus cabin is the most nerve-wrecking cabin of them all," she nodded to the direction of a group of campers placing smoke bombs in front of their neighboring cabin.

"I don't know if its their sick joke to place smoke bombs near the god of fire's cabin. But take a mental note, don't ever go near the Hermes Cabin. They're councilor goes full on bonkers for newbies"

"Got that," that was already apparent from the way Sabrina grew irritated.

"As I've mentioned, the one beside that is the Hephaestus Cabin. If you need equipment or weapon repair, that's the place to go. You must be familiar with the next cabin, since that's where you stayed to recuperate. The one after that is the exact opposite. You can probably judge from the barb wires and the excessive red paint that that's the Ares Cabin. The last one in the row is the Poseidon Cabin, only Percy Jackson stays there at the moment."

"Those two at the very center, they're for – "

"The queen and king of the gods," Lou Ellen finished the sentence for me. Frankly, I only had vague ideas about to whom those cabins could be. The identities of these gods are only coming back to me in bits and pieces. I may have known them in the past, but my interactions with them continue to be ambiguous.

"No one stays at both of those cabins. Well, there used to be someone in Zeus' Cabin, but she joined the hunters of Artemis after the war. And of course, Hera is such as loyal wife that there's no one in history to ever stay in her cabin"

Hearing their names somehow sent shivers down my spine. Maybe the sensation came from a memory related to them. I could not help myself but prod for more.

"Does Hades have a cabin?" I suddenly asked. If Hera had a cabin, then my father must have one.

"Ah yes, the unlucky number 13 cabin. It's right there," she pointed at the leftmost cabin from where we were standing. I craned my neck to stare at an obsidian, windowless cabin. From afar, it was already emitting death. I wonder if anyone ever resided in it.

"It's a fairly new cabin like the rest of these cabins for the minor gods. That's actually built by Nico di Angelo, with the help of some undead workers, of course."

"Uh… who?"

"Oh, sorry. Nico di Angelo, a demigod son of Hades. He's currently the only resident of that cabin, though he barely comes by the camp nowadays," Lou Ellen appeared to be lost in thought as she told me about these events.

I have a brother? A thought that never ever occurred to me. As far as my memory permitted, I was the only son of Hades. Yet, this demigod was also the son of my father. If it was true, then I needed to learn more about him soon.

"Why doesn't he come here that often, like the rest of you?"

"We don't exactly know. I heard from the others that he's off somewhere in the underworld. He had a sister, you know, a girl named Bianca. He loved her dearly but joined the Hunters of Artemis once she found out they were demigods. Sadly, she passed during battle. That's probably why Nico rarely visits this place anymore. You know how grief works."

Yes, all too well. I thought but did not speak out. Then there are two of them, a girl and a boy. There were two of them. With the girl gone, I can't help but wonder how the boy was holding up and if Hades played any part in this. Having such thoughts made my spine tingle. It became apparent that I failed to leave in even terms with my father after I slept for that long.

Lou Ellen broke my stupor with a sigh. "It's best not to dwell on such things, Zag. The war was a testament to that. Need to rebuild this ship before it goes sailing again," she fumbled nervously with her pendant "Which may come sooner than we think…" she said absently. As if she too was in a daze, she shook her head, "I think they have something good for us in the dining pavilion. Might turn a pile of broccoli into a steak again if they don't. You coming?"

I hesitated for a moment, "You go ahead. I need to go back and get something. I'll follow"

"Sure! I'll save a seat," Lou Ellen walked off towards

The instance I turned towards the Hecate Cabin, I spotted Percy Jackson from the periphery of my vision. I paused, weighing the options. The voice in my dreams warned me about him. My gut told me it was best to avoid him, yet my legs did the complete opposite.

Hi! I finally managed to get back to this story .. I'm still trying to remember the flow of the plot but please do leave a review for this one. Things are starting to stir up and more characters will appear soon ;).