A/N: This is the first FanFiction I've ever let anyone else read, so I hope you like it! The story definitely starts off slow. For now, we mostly follow Kate through her life as she moves in at Camp Half-Blood. The time period is current. I tend to be a bit wordy, but hopefully it's worth reading.
Disclaimer: Obviously, this is almost all Rick Riordan's. The plot and some of the characters are mine. And, don't be mad, but I haven't finished The Trials of Apollo, so some information may be old or wrong.
Kate walked behind Dylan, her eyes searching widely in the darkening New York City Streets. She and Dylan had been chased by chicken-ladies all day, then by large snakes, which Dylan had nicknamed basilisks for their resemblance to the greek mythological creatures. No matter what they were called, they were dangerous. Kate couldn't figure out why the things were following her so closely, but ever since she'd visited the Empire State Building on a field trip, she'd been seeing more and more weird things. Dylan was the only one who believed her when she told her friends about the group of short, chubby, odd-looking hag-ladies that had followed her from the subway to her house for the past week. Today, they finally struck. On her walk home, one had appeared in front of her, out of nowhere. Two more came behind her, and some more from a neighboring alleyway. The only person with her had been Dylan, and they'd only escaped when he'd whacked the one in front of him with one of his crutches, causing her to scream and shy away. Kate had been impressed that it had worked so well—they hadn't been confronted since—but Dylan was getting more and more worried as they kept seeing the ladies again and again after that on their way home. Finally, they had to backtrack and find a new route when they saw three of them by a newspaper stand only a block away from the apartment. Soon, though, they realized that no matter how they tried to get home, the path was blocked. When Kate began to get genuinely scared that she might never make it home, the first "basilisk" had appeared. Two more were slithering on the curb next to them in no time. They had only just shaken those things off their tail, and now it was six o'clock.
Dylan was muttering to himself, but Kate could only hear little snippets: "At least they waited this long…can't believe we got out of that one…have to call Argus…how do I tell her…" Kate followed Dylan blindly, though he sounded as shaken up as she felt. Kate had only moved to the city two months ago with her step dad, but Dylan had lived here all his life. She didn't know why Dylan took such a liking to her, but they became fast friends. In fact, he stuck to her like glue most days. Kate felt bad for him now, running around the city on crutches, but he was moving just as fast as she was.
Suddenly he spoke up. "Kate, did I ever tell you about the Greek myths? Or the Roman ones?"
Kate rolled her eyes. "Only every day! I know you love them, but can't we focus on getting out of this first?" She asked, exasperated.
Dylan stopped suddenly and turned around. "Look, what I'm about to say is going to make you think I'm crazy. So, before I say it, think about those chicken ladies. Think about the snake things. Did they look normal to you? Really think about them, focus on their faces."
Kate rolled her eyes but listened to him. Something about what he was asking her to do seemed to appeal to her, as if it would answer the question of why a group of crazy people were following them. She closed her eyes and thought first about the lady that Dylan had smacked with his crutch. She'd been wearing a hood, but she was short and on the chubby side. Her movements had been kind of jerky and quick, like a bird's. Kate thought harder, but she just couldn't remember a face. She opened her eyes and shrugged.
"What about the basilisks?" He asked, and Kate repeated the process. The snakes she did remember. They were relatively short, but thick. Light green with a white collar around their heads. They had intelligent eyes, which scared her. Their faces were more like lizard heads than snake's, but Kate hadn't paid attention to that until now. "They-they weren't like any snake I've ever seen before."
Dylan nodded. "Right, and there's a reason for that. For now, though, I'm going to tell you the crazy thing." Before he continued, he started crutching down the sidewalk again for a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. "I think I'm just going to say this directly. The myths are real. Those were real Harpies and real Basilisks. Real monsters. The gods are real, too, and their stories are real."
Kate stopped in her tracks, eying her friend warily. "Look, Dylan, I know that's what you want to believe, but its late, and we've had a rough night and—"
But Dylan cut her off. "No Kate. I'm not crazy, just tired. The myths are real, and you are being chased by proof. And they will chase you forever because they know what you are." He added quietly, as if trying to ease the shock. It didn't work.
"What do you mean, 'what I am'? I know what I am! Human! Normal! And I am not in danger! Well, maybe I am right now, but that's beside the point! Those chicken ladies are probably just druggies looking for a fix, and some idiot probably let loose those snakes. We have nothing to worry about!" She said, the words ringing through the air. There was a slight quake in her voice, almost as if she didn't quite believe what she was saying but didn't want to admit it out loud.
"There is something to worry about." Dylan said, as if the words caused him effort.
Kate walked forward, holding out her hands in a peaceful gesture. "Let's just go home. Everything's fine." She said, more to herself than to him.
He stopped her with a hand, pulling her arm to get her attention. "I can prove it," Dylan said, eyes darting around.
Kate, who was fed up with Dylan by now, crossed her arms and tilted her head. "Do it." She countered. This had become more about pride than logic now, because she knew she was right and hated that Dylan wouldn't acknowledge it. Rather than hesitate, as Kate thought he would, Dylan bent down and began to untie his shoes. Kate tapped her foot impatiently but didn't interrupt.
"Okay." He said. "Turn around." Kate lifted an eyebrow but followed instructions. She really was curious now. An odd ruffling sound came from behind her, and she had to resist the temptation to turn around. Moments later, Dylan called out "Ok. Ready."
Kate turned and almost screamed. Instead of wearing pants now, Dylan was wearing…fur. His shoes had been replaced by hooves, and he was holding his crutches in one hand. She looked at him, then back at his legs. "What is going on?" She whispered.
Dylan put his hands out in the same gesture she had used on him moments ago. "I am not a human. But I'm safe! I'm a satyr, just a greek nature spirit. I was sent here to take you to Camp Half-Blood."
Kate resisted the urge to scream. "Why are you taking me anywhere? Why did they send you for me?" She questioned, beginning to back away from him.
"I was placed at that school to watch out for potential demigods. A demigod is someone who is half human, half god. Demigods have a tendency to be raised thinking they are humans, and also to become monster food. There is a camp to train you to fight and defend yourself, as well as learn about your history and make other greek friends. As soon as I saw you, I knew what you were. I'm surprised you lasted into seventh grade, Kate. Demi-gods have a certain smell to their blood that attracts monsters, since it is half ichor. Depending on the god, it's not that strong. For you though, I'm surprised every monster in the entire city didn't come running. It makes me think…No. Never mind."
Kate was shaking her head, wordlessly refuting all of his claims. It was the only movement she was able to make at the moment.
"Kate, have things ever happened around you, things you can't really explain?" Dylan asked, his eyes wide and imploring. "Like you were able to read something in Greek that no one else could, or you were always oddly good at music or school or weapons? Or something else, like plants growing around you all the time? Anything?"
Kate stopped moving all together. "Yeah." Dylan waited for her to continue, so she told the story. "When I was little, my mom had a gun in the house, just a decorative, super old one, and I touched it once. I suddenly knew every single battle it had ever been in, every time it had been fired, every time it had been repaired. I knew exactly how…powerful it was, exactly how much it would take to break it. It was too much for me. I never touched a gun again. Another time, we went to a museum, and they let us touch this sword. The same thing happened. I was able to move my hand away fast enough that it wasn't overwhelming, but it still scared me. That's why I don't like to touch weapons anymore. It's like I always know their whole story. And another thing," She added, on a bit of a roll now, "It's little and probably not important, but it's still weird. Whenever I play a game, I always end up with the most..power, I guess. I'm always on the best team, always have the most money, always know the best shortcuts. It's not like I win every time, but it's..weird, I don't know." Kate's cheeks flushed red and she looked at the ground. Then she changed her mind and looked at Dylan in the face. "I'm not crazy. You're not crazy." She took a deep breath. "I believe you, Dylan." She laughed, "Or should I say, goat-boy."
Dylan groaned, then led her forward, continuing down the dark street. "Are you okay with going to camp tonight? The fact that the monsters started chasing you only a month after you came into town means a lot."
Kate frowned. "Only a month? Seems like a long time to me."
Dylan shook his head. "You've been hanging around me. My smell normally should block any demigod scent that you happen to produce. Plus, we got lucky. There was only one harpy working at the school, and she was super old and a janitor. I guess she was the one who ratted, though. Harpies normally don't have the attention span to remember threats for very long, so it's odd you got noticed at all."
But Kate was still confused. "What about the bas…bak…ugh, whatever. The snakes? Why would they chase me?" She asked. Now that she was accepting Dylan's story, she wanted to know everything.
"Well, as soon as a demigod knows what they are, their scent becomes that much stronger. My guess is that you become more dangerous when you realize what you can do, and the monsters arrive to take out the threat before it becomes too much." He must have noticed Kate's look of horror, and amended, "But that's been happening a lot less lately! More and more satyrs are trying to intercept demigods before they find out on their own without any way to defend themselves. Lately, we've been mostly getting little kids. You're a special case, though. If you were from a minor god or goddess, I wouldn't be surprised. Even some from the main 12 Olympians can go for a long time if they live somewhere were there isn't a lot of awareness about the gods. The fact that your scent amped up like that after visiting the Empire State Building is weird. Did anything happen to you there?"
Kate shrugged. "We went up in groups to the top floor, but when we got in the elevator there was a button for a huge number, like six hundred or something. I asked my teacher about it, but she looked at me like I was crazy. Then, I saw a plaque in greek on the wall, and some kid asked what it meant. Before the actual teacher or tour guide could answer, I did. I don't know how I could read it, but it just made sense." Kate had honestly forgotten about that. Now it seemed much less normal.
Dylan nodded. "Yeah, that's how it is for some demigods. The language is just so much a part of your godly side that the ability to read it is ingrained. Anything like that probably made you feel like something was up, right? Even that is enough to trigger it." Kate nodded slowly, taking her time in digesting all of this new information.
A few blocks later, Dylan stopped Kate by putting a crutch out in front of her. He held a finger up to his mouth, wordlessly warning her to stay silent. Suddenly an odd squawking noise came from and alley to their right. Dylan hefted both crutches and popped the rubber tip off of one, revealing a bronze spearhead. Kate widened her eyes but didn't ask questions. A second later, a harpy, this time with wings, came swooping out of the alley, claws out and aimed at Kate.
"Dinner for harpies! Hungry hungry harpies!" It screeched, the sound grating on Kate's ears.
Kate screamed and ducked, but Dylan just chucked his crutch-spear at the harpy, which promptly exploded into dust and feathers. Kate gave Dylan a horrified look. He shrugged. "Another thing you should know: Monsters always turn to dust when they die, then go to Tartarus, then reincarnate a while later. It's a viscous cycle." Kate just nodded, her eyes wide, though she was still staring at the pile of dust.
Dylan grabbed her arm and dragged her forward. "I texted Argus, the driver for camp, and he should be at the next cross street to pick us up. Your dad will be okay with that, right?"
Kate snorted. "My step-dad, you mean? He'll be happy to get rid of me. How long am I going to be there?"
Dylan winced at the question. "Kate, um, since you were attacked so soon and stuff," he cleared his throat, stalling.
"Just tell me, Dylan." She huffed, impatient.
"Well, you'll probably have to stay year round. For some it's enough to just go in the summer, but for the ones who are more powerful or attract more monsters, or the orphaned and abused, that's just not an option."
Kate took a deep breath. "Ok. That's fine. I didn't have that many friends anyway. Two more questions: How much is it, and what do I tell my step-dad?"
Dylan tried to hide a relieved smile, but Kate caught it. He covered it up by saying, "That's easy. We have a variety of pamphlets. We advertise camp half-blood as a summer camp, art camp, equestrian camp. The year rounders can pick from a number of very nice boarding schools. We'll also give you a scholarship."
Kate raised an eyebrow. "It's free?" Dylan laughed. "When the gods sponsor it, money isn't really a problem. Also, don't worry about your step-dad thinking its fishy. There's this thing called the Mist…" Dylan spent the rest of their walk to the cross-street explaining to her how the gods had gone undetected for so long, as well as their connection with the empire state building. By the time she got to the car, she was excited to find out more, though she was a little nervous about getting in the car with a stranger.
"Don't worry," said Dylan, "If you don't like it, Chiron will find an alternative for you." Kate nodded, but she missed his smug smile. No one ever hated Camp Half-Blood.
As soon as she stepped into the Suburban, she gave a little yelp. In the driver's seat was a man with short blond hair, but he wasn't quite a man. Every bit of exposed skin was covered with big, sky-blue eyes. They were all blinking and twitching, and one in the back of his head blinked at her in a way that made her think it was a wink.
"Oh my god!" She yelped, looking back and forth between Dylan and the driver.
Dylan wasn't phased. "Kate, meet Argus, Argus meet Kate. Argus is the driver for camp."
Kate stared at Argus, and more of the eyes stared back. As her breathing slowed and the car pulled off of the curb, the eyes started looking out the window, though a few stayed on Kate and Dylan.
"So..Argus. You must be Greek, but where should I know you from?" Dylan had explained to her that most of the greeks she would meet would be immortal, unless they were nature spirits or demigods. Since they were immortal, they all had their own myths that people knew them from.
"Argus is a servant of Hera, but the story you know him from was when he killed Echidna, mother of all monsters." Dylan explained.
Kate stared at Argus again. "You killed a goddess?"
Argus shrugged, but Dylan answered for him. "She's more half-snake half-woman, but she's almost as powerful as a goddess, so yeah. Argus is pretty cool, I guess." At that, Argus rolled his many eyes, producing an effect almost like an illusion, and Kate couldn't look away. When she finally tore her eyes off that man, she looked out the window at the buildings vanishing behind them. What had she gotten herself into?
Thirty minutes later, Kate asked how far away they were. Argus had taken them down a winding forest road that was starting to make Kate carsick. "We're about five or ten minutes away. By the way, it's a pretty obscure camp, so its a bit of a hike to get there." Dylan warned.
Kate nodded again. Anything sounded better than staying on this hill-ridden road.
Soon, Argus pulled off of the road at a seemingly random place, but Kate was out of the car before Dylan had even opened his door, breathing in the cool night air.
Suddenly, Dylan froze and looked around, and Kate was on alert immediately. "What," She whispered, scanning the woods around them. Argus was getting something out of the trunk, but a few eyes turned their way.
"I smelled something. It was super faint, but still, we should watch out. The woods around camp are stocked with monsters, and every once in awhile one escapes."
Kate widened her eyes in shock. "They keep monsters in the woods?" She asked, suddenly rethinking her recent life choices.
"Well, yeah, but they stay in the woods by a barrier. If one hasn't come out in a while, sometimes they're able to get out. It's totally fine, though."
Kate scoffed. "So what if one happens to sneak into a—what do you have here, cabins?—sneak into a cabin, what do you do then?" She asked, more confused and angry than scared now.
Dylan shook his head, an amused smile on his face. "I don't think you quite understand how camp works just yet. Besides, the barriers keeping the monsters out of the main camp are a lot stronger than the ones keeping them from the surrounding forest." Kate just stared at Dylan, then blinked and shook her head, turning her attention back to the woods.
Just then Argus came from the trunk with Dylan's remaining crutch, which he'd tossed in the back during the ride, and two swords. He handed Kate the smaller one, and tried to push it into her hands when she wouldn't accept it. Kate looked frantically at Dylan. He just gave her a sympathetic look. "Hey, Kate, I'm really sorry, but I can't guarantee your safety from here unless you have something to defend yourself with. You're going to have to learn to use one either way." Kate started to argue, but Dylan cut her off. "You can't use a gun. Normal bullets don't work on monsters. Only celestial bronze and imperial gold weapons work. Of course, both will work on you, since you're half of both worlds. Also, making bullets out of the bronze and gold that we need would be inefficient at killing, and way too hard to keep up with demand," He explained, anticipating Kate's every argument. In response, she nodded, gulped and took the sword. She would rather have the weird flashback happen than be unable to defend herself from some crazy harpy again.
As soon as she touched it, the flashback happened. She knew each battle and fight the blade had been used in, every time the hilt had been rewrapped (twice), even down to an ancient but relatively weak spell that kept the sword sharper than most. The flashback lasted longer than normal, and Kate realized that this was a more powerful and ancient weapon than either that she'd been exposed to before. She gripped it tightly in her right hand, copying the way Argus held it, and followed Dylan up the hill as soon as her vision cleared. Luckily, no one seemed to notice her hesitation.
After a minute or two of walking, she could see a huge pine tree at the crest of the hill, as well as something shiny hanging from its branches. "Oh, that's a long story," Dylan explained when she pointed it out, "but the tree basically represents the border. Once we get passed it, you're in, and the monsters can't get you." Kate let out a sarcastic laugh at that, but she immediately tightened her grip on the sword, eyes searching for any potential threat at the reminder of danger.
They walked along like that, Dylan in the lead, Kate behind him, and Argus behind her, for what felt like an hour but must have only been five minutes. Kate was quickly becoming more and more comfortable with the sword in her hand, but she hated walking in the woods in the dark. There was some comfort knowing that Argus was behind her and would literally be able to see anyone coming, but she was still on edge. It didn't help her anxiety when Dylan suddenly stopped them, smelling the air deeply. He turned to them and put a finger to his lips, then pressed the button on his crutch that would normally adjust the height. Instead of changing the height, though, there was a loud sound of metal against metal, and the silver covering of the crutch disappeared, replaced with a shining bronze spear. It was long and tapered to a fine point at the tip. It was simple, but the weapon looked all the more deadly because of it. Kate had to hold in a gasp, though the loud sound the weapon made when it changed was already enough to blow their cover. Argus nodded his head in approval, and without thinking, Kate reach out to touch the end of it. She didn't get anything about the battles it had seen, only things like weight and sharpness. She did know, though, that it was a very powerful weapon. The precision and thought that had gone into its making ensured that the spear would endure for a very long time. It wasn't nearly as old as the sword, but the power emanating from it matched the blade's. She raised an eyebrow at Dylan, who mouthed, "Brand new toy." Despite the joke, though, he still seemed very tense, so Kate kept quiet. He kept still for another minute, then continued to walk. Kate wanted to ask him why he'd stopped, but decided against it. If he didn't think it was bad enough to warn them, she wouldn't bother him about it.
They walked for a while longer, but Kate's mind wandered, and she stopped concentrating on the tree at the top of the hill. Instead, she focused on the ground, keeping her steps away from the slippery knobs of roots and sticks, and tried not to slip on the pine needles that littered the ground. Eventually, though, Argus stopped Kate by putting a hand on her shoulder. Dylan also stopped, tilting his head to smell the air again. Argus's eyes were darting around in all different directions, though most were focused directly to their right. Kate blinked to focus again (the eyes were all very distracting) and stared deeply into the woods. She hefted her sword, into an approximation of what she thought was right. Dylan and Argus did the same, both of them stepping slightly in front of Kate to protect her. Her heart was beating a thousand miles a minute, but she felt otherwise calm. Every muscle was tensed in preparation to fight, not run. It felt natural and exhilarating, being on the edge of battle, and Kate had to keep herself from smiling. Her earlier apprehension was gone, the fear replaced by anticipation.
Suddenly, the leaves in the tree ahead to the left shook, as if someone was jumping in the branches. They all glanced up, Kate bending her knees in anticipation to pounce. Nothing was there, and Dylan and Argus relaxed ever so slightly. Kate didn't, though. She was wound up, every sense on high alert. She didn't move from her position, not even when Dylan turned to give her an odd look. That was when the monsters attacked.
Three of the basilisks from the city tore out of the woods at all sides, slithering at a pace that was quite surprising. They were spitting what looked to be acid, and the frilly collars around their necks were standing on end, making them appear bigger than they really were. The one closest to Kate was behind her, though she only knew because she could hear it. Argus and Dylan both leapt at the serpents, but Kate took her time. When the stream of acid was only a foot away from her, she jumped to the left, dodging the green fluid. She let loose a laugh, then swung at the monster with her sword. It wasn't an elegant maneuver, but she managed to chop off a piece of tail. It let loose a piercing squeal and whipped towards Kate, but she had already moved away. It was wary of her now, moving towards her cautiously. Slowly, it lifted its head off the ground and began to sway as it slithered. Kate didn't know what that meant, but she didn't wait to find out. Instead, she charged at it, holding her sword straight out in front of her, and whacked the thing on the top of its head with the flat of her blade. She hadn't quite meant to hit it with that part of the sword, but the move worked. The snake flashed into a heap of gold powder, which flew away as if on it's own accord.
Kate stood there, panting, and looked around for Argus and Dylan. The only remaining basilisk had backed up into the roots of a huge tree, creating a barrier around the itself with a spray of acid. Argus and Dylan were standing as near to it as they could. Dylan's spear was glistening, though the fur on one of his legs was singed. She wondered why Dylan didn't just throw his spear, but she couldn't ask at the moment.
Suddenly, something in the trees caught Dylan's attention and he glanced around, seemingly getting his bearings. Then he laughed, which thoroughly confused Kate, then shouted, "Peleus!" Kate had no idea how that was supposed to help or what it meant until a huge red dragon crept from behind the tree, blinking as if it was tired. As soon as it saw the basilisk, though, it roared, shaking its giant head to wake itself up. Dylan and Argus scrambled out of the way while the dragon gathered itself to pounce. For a split second, the serpent looked almost pleased at scaring off the two men, but then it saw the dragon. Before it could do anything but squeak, the dragon was on top of it. He snapped up the basilisk and let out a small burp, smoke pouring out of his mouth.
Kate's adrenaline coursed through her in a second wave, and she wondered how on earth they were supposed to defeat the dragon. They'd had enough trouble with the basilisks and harpies. But Dylan turned and spread his arms, completely at ease. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Kate."