Chapter 2 I make beef jerky & new friends

Percy POV

I woke up in the back of a cab with my head resting against the window. Euh, why am I so tired? I thought, rubbing my eyes before looking out the window seeing the fields pass by. I was on the way to a summer camp that my mom wanted me to go to, I'm not really sure why as I'd much rather have stayed in New York. I thought about my mom, she was the kindest lady you'd ever meet. She had shoulder length brown hair and brown -no- blue eyes. Who forgets the color of their mom's eyes? Thinking about it I couldn't exactly picture her face clearly, every time I'd try to think about her I wasn't sure if what I was thinking was right. Does she have bangs or not? I shook my head and chalked by fuzzy memory up to being exhausted.

"Shit!" shouted the cabbie slamming the brakes and swerving to the left and plowing into a sign that said Delphi Strawberry Service. If it wasn't for my seat belt I'd have been launched into the passenger seat. "What the hell is a bull doing on the road?!"

I looked out the rear window and sure enough there was a bull in the middle of the street, or at least I thought it was a bull until it stood up on its hind legs which I was pretty sure bulls were not able to do. Now fully stood up I could see that while whatever it was had the head of a bull from the neck down it had the body of a man -well less man think more roided out football player- it had fur covering it's incredibly muscular body down to its belly button. The thing wore nothing apart from a muddy (well I hoped it was mud) pair of white underwear.

"I don't think that's a bull," I said to the cabbie.

"Huh?" he said groggily, rubbing his head from where it had hit the toll meter in the crash.

I looked back at the thing behind us only to see it barreling towards us on all fours. Despite having the body of a man it was charging with ease like it was the most natural way of running -which for it, it might be. As quickly as I could I undid my seatbelt and threw myself out of the door, seeing this the bull creature tried to turn but ended up slamming sideways into the trunk of the cab at full speed causing it to crumple under the impact. I scrambled to my feet and sprinted up the hill past the ruined sign for strawberries.

I ran as fast as I could up the hill but a quick glance over my shoulder showed that I wasn't going fast enough as the bull-man was rapidly catching up to me. What the hell is a bull man chasing me for? Wait, minotaur! That's what this thing is! But that's just a story! Before I could figure out why a Greek myth was trying to kill me, said Greek myth let out something between a moo and a roar and I felt like my legs were hit by a car as I flew into the air doing a somersault before crashing into the dirt. I picked my face out of the grass to see the minotaur had continued on after ramming me and was now turning around to take another pass to finish me off. I scrambled to my feet ignoring the pain in my lower body and stumbled away as fast as I could with a completely dead right leg.

I'd only managed to take a few shaky steps before I heard the thunderous sound of the beast charging me again. No way am I going to die to a cow. I told myself as I threw myself out of the way just in time to see the minotaur smash its horns into a pine tree. I limped my way as far as I could, not taking my eyes off the monster that was currently trying to extract its horns from the tree. I can't keep trying to avoid it, eventually it'll hit me again. I thought to myself, I need a weapon. I quickly checked my pockets but there was nothing in them apart from lint, a used tissue and a pair of Raybans. Great… I'm being attacked by a legendary monster and I have nothing but an old Kleenex and some shades. The minotaur let out a roar as a loud crack sounded as it finally freed itself from the tree, well not quite all of it was free as one of the horns was left stuck.

I guess that's my best option as a weapon. I thought as the minotaur started yet another charge which gave me an idea. Seems it only has one attack. This time as the minotaur charged I started to limp my way towards it, I need that horn. When we were about ten feet away from each other I dived to the side again. Pain flared up in my legs as I hit the ground for the umpteenth time, as I thought the minotaur wasn't able to change direction and barreled past me. Using the time I gained from it having to stop and turn I grabbed the horn that was still stuck in the tree and pulled however it remained lodged. I glanced behind me and saw that the minotaur was lined up and pawing the ground readying to charge me again. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I pulled on the horn as hard as I could, this time the horn came free and the momentum flung me to the ground; however now I held a jagged piece of bone the size of a kitchen knife.

I stayed on one knee as I turned and waited for the minotaur to approach, I felt slightly more confident now I held some form of weapon. I was vaguely aware of the sound of voices nearing me but my attention never left the beast that was rapidly approaching, my heart was in my throat and beating wildly. 3… the minotaur was fifteen feet away, 2… ten feet, 1… five feet, at the last second I ducked to the side and rammed the jagged horn into the beast's rib cage as hard as I could, causing it to roar in agony. I panted as I looked at the monster in front of me - my heart was still beating out of control - I waited to see if I'd managed to kill it and to my surprise the beast crumbled into a fine golden dust.

"Hey!" I heard a girl shout, I turned just to catch a glimpse of a blonde head of hair before my world went black.

Linebreak

The next however many hours were a blur of things that didn't make sense and unconsciousness. The first time I remember waking up I was being spoon fed pudding by a girl with curly blonde hair, well it looked like pudding but tasted like buttered popcorn. I remembered the girl smirking as she used the spoon to scrape a drip off my chin before I passed out again. I had a weird dream about a bull-man before waking up again, well I thought I'd woken up but standing in the doorway was a man with the bottom half of a horse. The horse dude had brown hair both on his head and his horse half, he wore a tweed jacket and was having a conversation with someone I couldn't see.

"What's with all the farm animals?" I muttered quietly causing the man(?) to turn around. Before I could get a look at his face I passed out again. My next dream didn't make any more sense, with the current pattern I was expecting to see Old McDonald however instead of an old farmer dude chewing on a piece of wheat I saw a woman. There was nothing around her, no walls, no floor, no sky, nothing, just darkness. The woman was gorgeous with nearly perfect facial features, she was pale, tall and had long straight black hair. She looked familiar but I didn't know why.

"Oh Percy," she said, sounding concerned. "You need to be more careful." How does she know my name? … Right she's in my head, of course she knows my name. "Although I wasn't expecting you to encounter a monster before you even got to camp, let alone the minotaur." She looked me in the eyes and I saw that her's were completely black apart from a ring of silver. "You did well but this is only the start. It's time for you to wake up, good luck," she smiled at me before fading away and sure enough I woke up.

This time I woke up I felt a lot better than the last time. I looked around trying to make sense of my surroundings. I was being propped up by a pillow while lying in on a deck chair, the chair was sat on a giant porch overlooking bright green meadows and fields. It was warm with a slight breeze, the sun was shining brightly giving me a headache and causing me to squint. On a small table to my side was a tall glass of what looked like apple juice with a clear straw and my sunglasses. I reached for the glass and took a deep drink -my mouth was as dry as the Sahara desert- surprisingly instead of apple juice it tasted like fresh cookies, Huh, that's weird but I'm not complaining, I thought as I took another drink. Immediately after drinking the cookie juice I felt better but I still had a headache. Putting the drink back on the table I grabbed my sunglasses and put them on, instantly the pounding in my head went like someone had flicked a switch.

"You're awake!" someone said, sounding surprised. I saw a guy about my age sitting in a chair on the other side of the porch. The boy stood up and began walking over to me, on the floor next to his chair was what looked strangely like a half eaten tin can. He had short curly brown hair and was maybe just above average height, he was wearing blue jeans and a bright orange t-shirt that said Camp Half-Blood. Huh, I guess I made it to the summer camp after all. On his way over to me he grabbed a shoebox and placed it in my lap. "This belongs to you."

I opened the shoebox and inside was a large piece of jagged horn. So that wasn't a dream I guess. Somehow my crazy dream of the minotaur was real, I struggled to understand how but I couldn't deny the evidence sat in my lap.

"I'm Grover," the boy said, extending a hand and helping me stand up.

"Hey man, I'm Percy," I said, stumbling slightly as I stood, my legs still felt sore and stiff, I must have one hell of a bruise.

"How are you feeling? You've been out for about a day," Grover told me.

"Not too bad considering everything I guess."

"Good to hear. Come on Chiron and Mr D are waiting for you," Grover said walking down the steps of the porch. I grabbed the shoebox and followed behind him.

As we walked around the farmhouse where I had woken up I looked at the area surrounding us. There were gentle hills dotted with ancient mediterranean style buildings, they looked maybe Greek or Roman. I could see an open air pavilion, an amphitheater and a semi-circle of buildings all in the same style architecture. I could see dozens of kids in the same bright orange shirt as Grover doing various activities, some played volleyball, some were shooting arrows at targets that were set up stupidly far away and I could see the same orange shirts gliding across a lake in canoes.

We arrived at another porch, How many porches does one house need? Sitting on the porch there were two guys playing cards, the blonde who fed me popcorn pudding was leant against the railing. The guy playing cards facing me was an… errr unique looking guy. He was short and round with beady eyes. I'm not a doctor but his blood pressure must be through the roof judging by his bright red round nose and short neck which was the same color. He had curly black hair which almost looked purple and slightly greasy. And then there was the shirt, he wore the most god-awful leopard print short sleeve button up shirt stretched over his beer-belly, the top buttons were undone showing more chest hair than it should be legal to show a 12 year old.

"That's Mr D, the camp director," Grover said pointing at the man. "Be polite around him and that's Annabeth Chase," he said pointing at the girl who looked up when she heard us. "And that's Chiron," Grover said pointing at the second guy who was sat in a wheelchair. He wore a tweed jacket and had short brown hair, I realized that this was the guy who my semi-conscious brain turned into a half horse.

"Ah, the young hero's awake," said the guy in the wheelchair, gesturing to a chair between him and the Mr D guy. "As I heard Grover say I'm Chiron, the activities director here at camp."

"Hi, I'm Percy Jackson," I introduced myself sitting down in the chair. Chiron looked to Mr D as if waiting for him to do something.

"Fine," Mr D sighed. "Welcome to Camp Half-blood," he said as if it physically hurt him.

"So Percy," Chiron said moving on from Mr D's loving welcome. "What do you know about the Greek gods?" Strange way of starting a conversation… but then again I was attacked by a Greek myth the other day.

"Like Artemis, Zeus, Apollo and Aphrodite? Those are just legends," I said, surprised with how naturally the names flowed off my tongue. I noticed Mr D's eye twitch as I spoke.

"Watch who you're calling a legend boy," Mr D said with a dangerous edge to his voice, glaring at me with his beady eyes.

"Percy I'm sure that a few days ago you'd have also considered the minotaur among those legends," Chiron said in a much more calm and comforting manner than the man sat across from him, I nodded. "Yet the proof of its existence lies in that box." He nodded towards the shoebox I'd sat on the table. "So if the minotaur is real, is it really that much of a stretch to believe that other 'legends' as you put it are also true?" He spoke with patience like he'd regularly had this conversation.

"I guess not," I shrugged, while part of me couldn't understand how what he could be saying was true, another part didn't feel surprised, in fact it almost felt like I already knew that. How could I have known that? I asked myself, Like he said it's not a big leap from minotaur to other legends, that must be it… right? "So you're telling me that God is real?" I asked just to confirm I was actually understanding him.

"No, not God with a capital G," Chiron explained, ignoring an uninterested Mr D. "However the Greek gods, goddesses and all sorts of creatures are very much real and alive."

"Oh,cool," was my incredibly intelligent reply. Why don't I feel as shocked as I feel I should be?

"You seem to be taking this well," Chiron observed.

"For once we get one with none of the denial, that's a nice change." Mr D murmured into his goblet of coke before setting it down empty. He waved his hand casually around the goblet and all of a sudden it was full of what looked like red wine causing my eyes to bulge yet Chiron barely seemed to care.

"Mr D," he warned, "your restrictions."

"Oh dear me!" Mr D said although he didn't seem surprised. "Old habits!" He shouted into the sky before waving his hand again and the wine changed to another glass of coke.

"Mr D offended his father a while back, took a fancy to a wood nymph that was declared off limits," Chiron explained to me, well it would have been an explanation if I had understood it.

"And his father is…?"

"Zeus," Mr D answered as if it were obvious.

"Does that mean you're a god?" I asked putting his father and the magic drinks together.

"While that's not always the case, yes he is," Chiron said with a slight smirk.

"You're a god? You?" For some reason I seemed fine with the concept of there being gods but what really shocked me was that the pudgy little man with awful fashion sense in front of me was apparently one of these gods. He looked like you're more likely to find him on a gas station slot machine than on a throne.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Mr D asked dangerously.

"Kinda yeah," I replied before I could stop myself. The pudgy 'god' looked me dead on and I saw a purplish fire in his eyes. Suddenly visions raced through my mind like a film on fast forward x1000, I saw grape vines choking non-believers to death, warriors drunk on battle-lust and sailors screaming as they morphed into dolphins. Oookay, greasy dude is a god. "Dionysus," I said automatically as I somehow put the visions together and came up with a name.

"So do you believe me now, Perry?"

"Yes sir, and it's Percy," I replied. He waved me off obviously he didn't care.

"Well I'm off for a nap before tonight's sing along," Mr D announced as he pushed his chair back before he stood up and walked inside.

Well today's been eventful, I've found out gods are real, one of them has a really bad dress sense and that he could turn me into a dolphin and I've only been awake about an hour. While I felt like I should probably have a million questions there was only one that kept popping up.

"Chiron,"

"Yes Percy?" He could tell I had a question. I mean who wouldn't?

"Why did the minotaur try to kill me?" Sure all this stuff about gods was interesting but I was yet to understand why I was almost skewered by the damn minotaur.

"Ah, I was going to get to that," Chiron said. "Monsters roam the world and they have a particular favorite snack."

"People," I guessed (it wasn't a far leap).

"Not any old person," Chiron said to my surprise. "Demigods."

"Demigods?"

"It's the term for the child of a human and a god," the girl -Annabeth- explained from behind me causing me to jump, I'd completely forgotten she was there. "This camp is a haven for demigods."

"What's that got to do with me?" I asked admittedly being slow on the uptake.

"Because you are one," Chiron said stunning me.

"Me? The child of a god?"

"Let me guess, you never knew one of your parents," Annabeth correctly presumed.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I didn't have a dad, I was raised by a single mother."

"All demigods are raised only by their mortal parent," Chiron continued. "There are rules in place that mean the gods are forbidden to interact with their children."

"So how do I know who my dad is?" I asked, causing Chiron to sigh.

"Some demigods never find out," he said sadly. "The only way to know is to be claimed by them."

"What does that mean?" I asked confused, looking at the man who was about to speak before breaking out in a slight smile.

"That," was all he said nodding above my head. Floating above me was a picture of a scythe. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood Percy Jackson, son of Thanatos."