The Apprentice of Thanatos

Chapter 15: Run Away

      However, the thought of food overpowered his curiosity, and he ran to catch up with Chiron at the pavilion.

      Mr. D was already seated at the head table; Danny made sure to sit as far away as he could from the god. Once the food was passed out and everyone had scraped a portion into the brazier, Danny remembered his meeting with the young-looking goddess by the fire.

      He turned to Chiron. "Hey, I met someone strange by the campfire."

      "Oh? Who was it?" Chiron inquired.

      "She said her name was Hestia." Danny replied.

      Chiron pressed his lips together, a faintly worried expression on his face. "Ah, I see. What did you two talk about?"

      "She knew that I'm an..." Danny lowered his voice. "apprentice, and she asked to see my mark." Chiron paled slightly, but Danny didn't notice as he continued. "She seemed kinda weirded out after that, and when you came up she left." At that point, Danny noticed Chiron's distress. "Is everything okay?"

       Chiron sighed. "Hopefully. I will look into it later."

      Danny worried that he had messed up by showing Hestia his mark; should he not have? Was something bad going to happen to him? As his stress began to grow, he tried to reassure himself that it would be fine. What's done is done, I can't do anything about it now. He took a bite of his breakfast.

       The twins that sat at the head table with Mr. D struck up a conversation with Danny, introducing themselves as Castor and Pollux. Over the course of breakfast, Danny and the twins talked. Danny learned that they were the children of the camp director, Dionysus.

      Danny nearly choked on his drink. The wine guy is the director of camp?! Danny would have said this aloud, but thought better of it as the subject of his thought was literally at the other side of the table, and Danny was already on his bad side. He instead chose to talk with the twins and finish his breakfast, only sparing a glance at the wine god that was glaring at him.

      After the nymphs had cleared away the breakfast dishes, campers began to wander off in groups, heading to their morning activities. Annabeth met Danny and Chiron at the head table, and the three of them left for the combat arena.

      When they arrived, Danny saw that the inside of the combat arena was enormous. The ground was a mix of coarse red dirt and rough stone. Weapon racks lined the walls, along with practice dummies and armor stands. There was no one else in the arena.

      Chiron stood in front of the two campers. "Alright, Danny. Today, we're going to test how well you can hold your own in combat. Annabeth will be sparring you, as you'll probably find it more comfortable to fight someone closer to your size."

      Danny scoffed internally at that. Please, I fight ghosts way bigger than me, like, all the time.

      Chiron gestured to the weapon racks. "Grab some armor and find a weapon you are comfortable with."

       Danny frowned. "Uhh, is it alright if I just go hand-to-hand? That's what I'm used to."

      Chiron looked rather confused. "Well, that's not... particularly useful against most monsters, but everyone has to start somewhere, I suppose. If Annabeth is alright with that..." He turned to her, brow raised in question.

       Annabeth shrugged.

      "Very well, then." Chiron acquiesced. "I suppose you don't need armor after all."