Hi, so I kept my promise of updating this from time to time. Also, funnily, now I have a lot more time than during my student years. So new chapter for my dearest readers.
Chapter 21: Dinner time
Frank's Pov
Once everyone had finished their dinner, lady Ceres stood up and said " We should read some more before going to sleep" Everyone nodded. The Gods and older demigods wore their glasses and Lady Ceres started to read.
Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever I went, campers pointed at me and murmured something about toilet water.
We laughed as Percy turned red. "Now I know why you were so famous at camp half-blood," Jason said. " Yeah! That was much cooler than your trick with the aqueducts in camp Jupiter" Hazel replied.
Or maybe they were just staring at Andrew, who was still pretty much dripping wet.
Now Andrew was also blushing while Percy smirked.
He showed me a few more places: the metal shop (where kids were forging their own swords),
" It is mostly used by my siblings," Leo said proudly.
the arts-and-crafts room (where satyrs were sandblasting a giant marble statue of a goat-man),
Lord Faunus beamed at Grover. Living with Coach Hedge, we have a pretty good idea about the differences between Satyrs and Fauns yet sometimes Grover does something in the book that takes us aback.
And the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.
Sally tightened her hold on Penny a bit looking scared but Percy gave her a reassuring smile.
Finally we returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. "I've got training to do," Andrew said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."
"You don't have to be so rude. She did not control the bathroom water on purpose." Lady Salacia (Amphitrite for Greeks) admonished lightly. "Yes, it was!" Lady Minerva replied scathingly.
"Andrew, I'm sorry about the toilets."
"Whatever."
"It wasn't my fault."
He looked at me skeptically, and I realized it was my fault.
" Realising your mistakes is the first step towards making wise choices, isn't it Athena" Lady Vesta said knowingly.
I'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. I didn't understand how. But the toilets had responded to me. I had become one with the plumbing.
"You need to talk to the Oracle," Andrew said.
" Yeah! My Oracle is mentioned. Let's see which beautiful girl has been chosen this time!" Maybe we will hear about Rachel.
"Who?"
"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron."
"WHAT!" We all shouted confused.
I stared into the lake, wishing somebody would give me a straight answer for once. I wasn't expecting anybody to be looking back at me from the bottom, so my heart skipped a beat when I noticed two teenage girls sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. They smiled and waved as if I were a long-lost friend.
"Technically they are your subjects", Lord Triton told us.
I didn't know what else to do. I waved back. "Don't encourage them," Andrew warned. "Naiads are terrible gossips."
"Naiads," I repeated, feeling completely overwhelmed. "That's it. I want to go home now."
" You fought Minotaur and furies and saw the entire camp but lost it Naiads ?" I asked her astonished. " No everything was a buildup, they were the last thing that tipped the scale," Percy replied.
Andrew frowned. "Don't you get it, Percy? You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us." "You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"
"Hey !" All the demigods said.
"I mean not human. Not totally human, anyway. Half-human." "Half-human and half-what?"
"I think you know."I didn't want to admit it, but I was afraid I did. I felt a tingling in my limbs, a sensation I sometimes felt when my mom talked about my dad.
"God," I said. "Half-god."
"Accepting it doesn't make it any better," Percy said lost in thought.
Andrew nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians." "That's . . . crazy."
"Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?"
Now it was time for the gods to feel indignant and glare at Andrew.
"But those are just—" I almost said myths again. Then I remembered Chiron's warning that in two thousand years, I might be considered a myth.
" Still that was not a nice thing to say" Andromeda replied gently.
"But if all the kids here are half-gods—"
"Demigods," Andrew said. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."
"Then who's your dad?"
"Eeeeh! That was not a good question ?" Thalia winced. We frowned. Did Andrew have problems with his father? I mean most demigods have parental issues from one or both parents but Andrew seemed so stable I never realized he could also have such problems.
His hands tightened around the pier railing. I got the feeling I'd just trespassed on a sensitive subject. "My dad is a professor at West Point," He said. "I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches American history."
"Why ?" Lady Minerva looked angry. " Don't worry, we patched things up with time" Andrew replied to her.
"Oh!" I replied awkwardly, not realizing goddesses would also have demigods. "Who's your mom, then?"
"Cabin six." "Meaning?"
Andrew straightened. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle."
Lady Minerva looked proud.
Okay, I thought. Why not?
And her expression changed to anger. " What's that supposed to mean !" " That even after being a virgin goddess you can have children ?" Percy replied nonchalantly making us snort at the obviousness.
"And my dad?"
"Undetermined," Andrew said, "like I told you before. Nobody knows." "Except my mother. She knew."
" Of course I do !" Sally replied.
"Maybe not, Percy. Gods don't always reveal their identities." "My dad would have. He loved her."
" I knew he was a god because of my clear-sightedness!" Sally told us. " Wait so you knew about his godly nature before being with her ?" Lady Salacia asked curiously. " Well! I don't know how much to tell you but as you can see in the books none of the big three gods have any children when you listen to so many stories about them. Because of the same reason, Lord Posiedon was not hoping for Percy, especially Percy." Sally told everyone slowly trying not to offend anyone.
All the gods and demigods of old looked surprised at her when Lord Asclepius asked " But why? Everyone knows Lord Poseidon's love for his children, or any children biggest examples being my father and his siblings. Then why would he not accept his first demigod daughter ?"
There was pin-drop silence in the garden as all the older demigods and gods tried to process what was happening. " All we can say is, you should read the next chapter to find out about this!" Grover replied
Andrew gave me a cautious look. He didn't want to burst my bubble. "Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his daughter. Sometimes it happens." "You mean sometimes it doesn't?"
The gods and goddesses winced.
Andrew ran his palm along the rail. "The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always . . . Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us."
"If this is the plight of our future then I am scared to think what will happen next !" Lady Vesta sighed slightly.
I thought about some of the kids I'd seen in the Hemes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, as if they were waiting for a call that would never come. I'd known kids like that at Yancy Academy, shuffled off to boarding school by rich parents who didn't have the time to deal with them. But gods should behave better.
It made me remember my own time of waiting to be claimed. Again the gods looked guilty. Only Percy can make them feel like this, I thought with a smile.
"So I'm stuck here," I said. "That's it? For the rest of my life?"
"It depends," Andrew said. "Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force.
"Hey! Who are you calling weak." Katie admonished while Piper nodded and glared at him. "I said probably, It means usually they are not as powerful as other demigods. It does not mean always. Also, I was just trying to reassure her and help her adjust to her surroundings." He replied defensively.
Piper then smiled mischievously and said, " And why did you think she could be a daughter of Aphrodite?" Yikes! Even I could sense the entire sea family waiting with bated breath to hear Andrew's reply. Percy and Thalia were trying not to smirk while Andrew fumbled " I-I- I did not imply that she is a daughter of Aphrodite, I just explained to her that children of some gods and goddesses are not as powerful as some others." Lady Ceres took pity on bumbling Andrew and said " Yes he is right. I should continue to read."
The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble—about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."
"So monsters can't get in here?" Andrew shook his head. "Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside." "Why would anybody want to summon a monster?" "Practice fights. Practical jokes."
"How can life-threatening Monsters be considered practical jokes? " Lord Neptune cried. " They can be funny sometimes." Lord Mercury defended.
"Practical jokes?"
"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm." "So . . . you're a year-rounder?" Andrew nodded. From under the collar of his T-shirt He pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. It was just like Luke's, except Andrew's also had a big gold ring strung on it, like a college ring.
"That is a lot painless way to mark your survival", Hazel commented while all the gods and older demigods were looking at Andrew questioningly. He simply nodded to the book.
"I've been here since I was seven," He said. "Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college."
"Why did you come to the camp at such a young age?" Lady Vesta asked kindly. "Was it because of monsters?" "Partially yes. You will learn about me and many other demigods' stories in the book." He replied
"Why did you come so young?" He twisted the ring on his necklace. "None of your business." "Oh." I stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence. "So . . . I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?"
"NOOO", everyone shouted at her. I can't blame her. When I arrived at Camp Jupiter at first, I had also felt misplaced. Had It not been Hazel, I might have also left Camp Jupiter when I first came.
"It would be suicide, but you could, with Mr. D's or Chiron's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless . . ." "Unless?"
" A quest !" The Older demigods replied excitedly. Do they think a quest will be fun to listen to? I thought incredulously.
"You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens.
Most of us were shocked to hear that. They never went on quests? "No wonder you were so eager to leave camp. You were bored there not getting the chance to prove your worth. " Odysseus replied. Everyone else nodded.
The last time . . ." His voice trailed off. I could tell from His tone that the last time hadn't gone well.
Grover and the Greek demigods, except Nico, Thalia, Piper and Leo, looked pained as everyone looked questioningly at them then suddenly Thalia asked " It wasn't his quest, was it ?" " Yeah it was, and to save y-someone he dearly cared for-" " DEARLY CARED FOR, MY ASS!" Thalia cuts off Grover angrily scaring Jason who was sitting next to her "He was being an irresponsible, irrational fool - " Percy cuts her off mid-rant by saying "You are creating sparks, Sparky!" She gives her a death glare when she realizes Percy is pointing at everyone around her trying to tell her not to reveal so soon. What are they trying to hide? She huffed back but sat down.
" Who is an irrational and irresponsible fool? Who did the quest and for whom? What are you all trying to keep from us ?" Lady Diana asked Thalia who looked like a deer in headlights. "Luke did the quest" Percy replied taking a deep breath. Now Grover, Andrew and Thalia looked at her in astonishment while Travis, Conner and Chris looked uncomfortable. " What he told me about it literally on the next page." She defended making Lady Ceres turn the page to check. " Yes it's true, but why did he take the quest and you said it was to protect someone? Who was the person ?" She continued looking at Thalia, " And what happened at the quest? How did it fail?" " I can't answer you these questions because it was kinda the base of the first two books. So it will be ruining them." Percy replied making some sighs in relief while others groaned at being kept in suspense.
"Back in the sick room," I said, "when you were feeding me that stuff—" "Ambrosia." "Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice." Andrew's shoulders tensed. "So you do know something?" "Well . . . no. Back at my old school, I overheard Grover and Chiron talking about it.
"Of course, you did !" Chiron said shaking his head.
Grover mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?" He clenched his fists. "I wish I knew.
"This book is very confusing. Percy could pass her Greek course in school while Andrew does not know something. How is that possible?" Travis said trying to diffuse the tension. Many smiled. Percy replied, " Yeah If you find this confusing, the next book is certain to give you a headache." Percy replied teasingly, while Andrew blushed hard. I cannot wait to read the next book.
Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won't tell me.
"And who do you think you are to know all the important matters about Mount Olympus." Lord Jupiter said hotly.
Something is wrong in Olympus, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal."
"YOU HAVE BEEN TO OLYMPUS !" Asked Lady Juno and glared at her husband. Lady Hera during the Greek period is even more unhinged than during our time.
"You've been to Olympus?" "Some of us year-rounders—Luke and Clarisse and I and a few others—we took a field trip during winter solstice. That's when the gods have their big annual council."
"But . . . how did you get there?" "The Long Island Railroad, of course. You get off at Penn Station. Empire State Building, special elevator to the six hundredth floor."
" Wait, if Mount Olympus is in New York, how do the Roman demigods visit there from San Francisco?" Perseus asked. " We don't. Instead, we have temples built for them." Reyna replied. " That seems unfair." Lady Minerva said begrudgingly. " Yeah, but they also have rules like getting demigods claimed at 14 and even have a city called New Rome where the demigods and their legacy can live a normal without being troubled by monsters. So it is like they got some and we got some situation." Nico replied having lived in both camps. Everyone nodded.
He looked at me like he was sure I must know this already. "You are a New Yorker, right?" "Oh, sure." As far as I knew, there were only a hundred and two floors in the Empire State Building, but I decided not to point that out.
"I said Special elevator, Seaweed brain," Andrew said smirking making her roll her eyes at him. Lord Neptune made a face, not like this banter at all.
"Right after we visited," Andrew continued, "the weather got weird as if the gods had started fighting. A couple of times since I've overheard satyrs talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble.
" Yes! Show us some action! These emotion thingy are very boring." Father said yawning. " Are you going to moan about the book not having violence all the time or are you actually going to listen and learn from them?" Lady Minerva scolded him. I don't think the Roman version is that bad. At least I hope so.
When you came, I was hoping . . . I mean— Athena can get along with just about anybody, except for Ares. And of course, she's got the rivalry with Poseidon. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something."
" You think of yourself as some bigshot, don't you?" Lady Proserpina said angrily. " Yes! he is. You have any problem !" Lady Minerva defended her son. Wow! Lady Minerva likes the idea of children. No idea how Andrew will react to it. I looked at Andrew trying to gauge his reaction but he remained impassive.
I shook my head. I wished I could help him, but I felt too hungry and tired and mentally overloaded to ask any more questions. "I've got to get a quest," Andrew muttered to himself. "I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem . . ."
" Being eager to learn is a good thing but you should remember Patience is the key," Chiron told Andrew sagely.
I could smell barbecue smoke coming from somewhere nearby. Andrew must've heard my stomach growl. He told me to go on, he'd catch me later. I left him on the pier, tracing his finger across the rail as if drawing a battle plan. Back at cabin eleven, everybody was talking and horsing around, waiting for dinner. For the first time, I noticed that a lot of the campers had similar features: sharp noses, upturned eyebrows, mischievous smiles. They were the kind of kids that teachers would peg as troublemakers.
Lord Mercury beamed proudly at his children's description.
Thankfully, nobody paid much attention to me as I walked over to my spot on the floor and plopped down with my minotaur horn. The counselor, Luke, came over. He had the Hermes family resemblance, too. It was marred by that scar on his right cheek, but his smile was intact. "Found you a sleeping bag," he said. "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store." I couldn't tell if he was kidding about the stealing part.
"It's certainly not kidding if it is coming from his son." Lady Diana said pointing at Lord Mercury.
I said, "Thanks." "No prob." Luke sat next to me, and pushed his back against the wall. "Tough first day?" "I don't belong here," I said. "I don't even believe in gods." "Yeah," he said. "That's how we all started. Once you start believing in them? It doesn't get any easier."The bitterness in his voice surprised me, because Luke seemed like a pretty easy-going guy.
"Why do I feel there is something we are missing here." Piper whisper-asked us. " Just between us, but Luke went to the other side during the war against our grandfather," Clarisse whispered back. "WHAT !" we shouted and everyone looked at us startled. Clarisse slapped her forehead. "What ?" Lady Venus asked us. " Nothing !" We replied sheepishly. Clarisse mouthed me Later and I nodded.
He looked like he could handle just about anything. "So your dad is Hermes?" I asked. He pulled a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought he was going to gut me,
"He better not!" Leo, Jason and I said growling. After the Giants war we all sort of has developed a protective feeling.towards Percy. She did so much for us, it is only natural for us to do the same for her.
but he just scraped the mud off the sole of his sandal. "Yeah. Hermes." "The wing-footed messenger guy."
"That's him. Messengers. Medicine. Travelers, merchants, thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why you're here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors." I figured Luke didn't mean to call me a nobody. He just had a lot on his mind. "You ever meet your dad?" I asked. "Once."
Lord Mercury looked excited to hear about his meeting with his son.
I waited, thinking that if he wanted to tell me, he'd tell me. Apparently, he didn't. I wondered if the story had anything to do with how he got his scar.
"I hope not, " Lord Mercury looked worried.
Luke looked up and managed a smile. "Don't worry about it, Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other." He seemed to understand how lost I felt, and I was grateful for that, because an older guy like him— even if he was a counselor—should've steered clear of an uncool middle-schooler like me. But Luke had welcomed me into the cabin. He'd even stolen me some toiletries, which was the nicest thing anybody had done for me all day.
"I showed you the entire camp !" Andrew said indignantly. "Yes, but he was polite and less rude," Percy replied. "I was trying to do it like ripping off of band-aid." " I didn't need a band-aid. I need support which your wise brain could not comprehend." Before Andrew could retort lady Ceres started reading again.
I decided to ask him my last big question, the one that had been bothering me all afternoon. "Clarisse, from Ares, was joking about me being 'Big Three' material. Then Andrew . . . twice, he said I might be 'the one.' He said I should talk to the Oracle. What was that all about?" Luke folded his knife. "I hate prophecies."
" Who doesn't ?" Most demigods replied. Lord Apollo huffed at them.
"What do you mean?" His face twitched around the scar. "Let's just say I messed things up for everybody else. The last two years, ever since my trip to the Garden of the Hesperides went sour, Chiron hasn't allowed any more quests.
We all nodded, already knowing that much.
Andrew's been dying to get out into the world. He pestered Chiron so much he finally told him he already knew his fate. He'd had a prophecy from the Oracle. He wouldn't tell him the whole thing, but he said Andrew wasn't destined to go on a quest yet. He had to wait until . . . somebody special came to the camp."
"Somebody special?" "Don't worry about it, kid," Luke said. "Andrew wants to think every new camper who comes through here is the omen he's been waiting for. Now, come on, it's dinner time. "The moment he said it, a horn blew in the distance. Somehow, I knew it was a conch shell, even though I'd never heard one before.
" That is another sign showing She is the daughter of the Sea god." Lady Salacia smiled.
Luke yelled, "Eleven, fall in!" The whole cabin, about twenty of us, filed into the commons yard. We lined up in order of seniority, so of course I was dead last. Campers came from the other cabins, too, except for the three empty cabins at the end, and cabin eight, which had looked normal in the daytime, but was now starting to glow silver as the sun went down.
"That must be for me and the huntresses." Lady Diana said excitedly.
We marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. Satyrs joined us from the meadow. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake. A few other girls came out of the woods— and when I say out of the woods, I mean straight out of the woods.
"Nymphs !" Lady Prosepina said disgusted. Lord Pluto hid his face in his hand and exclaimed, "Minthe was just a one-time thing !" Nico and Hazel winced. I felt bad for Hazel having such a stepmother. Lady Prosepina can be as bad as Lady Juno sometimes.
I saw one girl, about nine or ten years old, melt from the side of a maple tree and come skipping up the hill. In all, there were maybe a hundred campers, a few dozen satyrs, and a dozen assorted wood nymphs and naiads. At the pavilion, torches blazed around the marble columns. A central fire burned in a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each cabin had its own table, covered in white cloth trimmed in purple. Four of the tables were empty, but cabin eleven's was way overcrowded. I had to squeeze on to the edge of a bench with half my butt hanging off.
I saw Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, a few satyrs, and a couple of plump blond boys who looked just like Mr. D.
" I also have children ?" Lord Bacchus asked confused. " Yes, both in Greek form and in Roman form," I informed him.
Chiron stood to one side, the picnic table being way too small for a centaur. Andrew sat at table six with a bunch of serious-looking athletic kids, all with his gray eyes and honey-blond hair.
Lady Minerva smiled listening about her children.
Clarisse sat behind me at Ares's table. She'd apparently gotten over being hosed down, because she was laughing and belching right alongside her friends.
Clarisse looked annoyed at her description.
Finally, Chiron pounded his hoof against the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody fell silent. He raised a glass. "To the gods!" Everybody else raised their glasses. "To the gods!"
The gods looked very happy.
Wood nymphs came forward with platters of food: grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and yes, barbecue! My glass was empty, but Luke said, "Speak to it. Whatever you want—nonalcoholic, of course."
"Of course, Nonalchoholic !" Lord Bacchus muttered.
I said, "Cherry Coke." The glass filled with sparkling caramel liquid. Then I had an idea. "Blue Cherry Coke." The soda turned a violent shade of cobalt. I took a cautious sip. Perfect. I drank a toast to my mother.
" You are your mother's daughter." Lady Vestia commented.
She's not gone, I told myself. Not permanently, anyway. She's in the Underworld. And if that's a real place, then someday . . .
" I am warning you, daughter of Sea. Do not even dream of entering my realm." Lord Pluto said strictly. " Aww, Uncle Hades. Are you worried for me ?" Percy teased him. He scowled and said, "No! I just don't want your father to moan and complain all the time if something happens to you there." Percy scoffs, " As if ! Gods can't interfere in each other's domain without their permission. Demigods on the other hand can. Also, the underworld is like a second home to me now." Lord Neptune was sweating profusely while lord Pluto looked like he didn't know what to say.
"Here you go, Percy," Luke said, handing me a platter of smoked brisket. I loaded my plate and was about to take a big bite when I noticed everybody getting up, carrying their plates toward the fire in the center of the pavilion. I wondered if they were going for dessert or something. "Come on," Luke told me. As I got closer, I saw that everyone was taking a portion of their meal and dropping it into the fire, the ripest strawberry, the juiciest slice of beef, the warmest, most buttery roll. Luke murmured in my ear, "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell.
" That's partially true. A better reason is they give us powers." Lady Minerva said. "That and the food offered goes straight to the gods," Andrew added without thinking. " How do you know that." Lord Jupiter asked suspiciously. " He must have read it in one of his books. You know! Son of Athena, lover of books and whatnot." Percy rambled on when she saw Andrew looked lost in his thoughts.
She silently sprayed the water on his face using her powers while everyone was listening to her. He blinked to look at the demigods of our time looking worriedly at him. He gave us a small smile and shook his head. " Stop rambling Perce! You will give them a headache with your nonsense." She looked relieved and worried at the same time but Andrew did not meet her eyes.
"You're kidding." His look warned me not to take this lightly, but I couldn't help wondering why an immortal, all powerful being would like the smell of burning food.
"When you say it like that, it does sound stupid." Lord Faunus replied laughing.
Luke approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed in a cluster of fat red grapes. "Hermes." I was next. I wished I knew what god's name to say. Finally, I made a silent plea. Whoever you are, tell me. Please.
" I don't understand why I am not claiming you yet ?" lord Neptune asked his daughter. " You will! Just wait for the next chapter, Dad !"
I scraped a big slice of brisket into the flames. When I caught a whiff of the smoke, I didn't gag. It smelled nothing like burning food. It smelled of hot chocolate and fresh-baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill and wildflowers, and a hundred other good things that shouldn't have gone well together, but did. I could almost believe the gods could live off that smoke. When everybody had returned to their seats and finished eating their meals, Chiron pounded his hoof again for our attention. Mr. D got up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels." A bunch of ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.
Clarisse and lord Mars cheered at that.
"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Patricia Johnson."
" Can you be a bit considerate towards the child ?" Lady Ceres scolded lord Bacchus. He said petulantly, " No !"
Chiron murmured something."Er, Percy Jackson," Mr. D corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on." Everybody cheered. We all headed down toward the amphitheater, where Apollo's cabin led a sing-along.
Now it was the turn of lord Apollo and his sons to cheer.
We sang camp songs about the gods and ate s'mores and joked around, and the funny thing was, I didn't feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.
"Of course, it is your home." Lady Vesta said smiling at Percy while the Sea family were very happy for her.
Later in the evening, when the sparks from the campfire were curling into a starry sky, the conch horn blew again, and we all filed back to our cabins. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I collapsed on my borrowed sleeping bag. My fingers curled around the Minotaur's horn. I thought about my mom, but I had good thoughts: her smile, the bedtime stories she would read me when I was a kid, the way she would braid my hair and tell me not to let the bedbugs bite. When I closed my eyes, I fell asleep instantly. That was my first day at Camp Half-Blood. I wish I'd known how briefly I would get to enjoy my new home.
" Why do you have to make it so ominous," Nico asked. " What! It is called a creator's license. They can do anything." Percy replied. "And the Chapter ends. Now who will read the next one." Lady Ceres asked. " I will…"
Hi time for some footnotes
1 ) Someone asked me in the comments why I didn't use Penny instead of Percy. And there is a reason. Although her name is Penelope Persis Jackson, Penelope in Greek mythology does not actually have a happy life as Perseus. So she prefers her Persis name more than Penny which is only used by Andrew and Sally.
2)I love all your enthusiasm but i don't want any art related to this fanfic mostly because i am basically broke right now doing my phd.
3) Frank is a roman and is not yet accoustomed to greek names so he calls all the gods and goddesses by their roman names.
4) Lastly list of roman names Zeus- Jupiter, Hera-Juno, Poseidon - Neptune, Hades- Pluto, Amphitrite - Salacia, Persephone - Prosepina, Demeter - Ceres , Hestia- Vesta, Athena- Minerva, Artemis - Diana, Aphrodite - Venus, Hermes - Mercury , Apollo - Apollo, Ares- Mars, Dionysus- Bacchus, Pan- Faunus.
Thank you, see you next time.