Bloody Lover | Piper McLean

CHAPTER 5 : Mist, Search for the Divine Parent and Oracle

PIPER

Piper quickly realized that Annabeth didn't have the heart to show her around.

She told her about all the wonderful things you could learn at the colony - magic archery, pegasus riding, lava wall climbing, monster fighting training - but she didn't show any enthusiasm, as if her mind was elsewhere. She pointed to the open-air pavilion that overlooked the Long Island sound in New York State. That's right, Long Island, New York: they had come all this way in the flying chariot. Annabeth explained to her that the Camp Half-Blood was mostly a summer camp, but that some of the residents were there year-round, and that there were so many newcomers that the camp was always crowded now, even in the winter.

Piper wondered who ran this place and how they knew she and her friends had to come here. She wondered if she would have to stay there full time, and how she would manage with the various activities. Could we suck at fighting monsters ? A thousand questions raced through her head, but given Annabeth's mood, Piper decided to keep them to herself.

As they climbed a hill on the edge of the settlement, the girl turned around and saw a beautiful view of the valley. A vast wood to the northwest, a beautiful beach, the river, the canoeing lake, and the cabin complex - a motley group of buildings arranged like a Greek Omega, 𝛀 : an open circle, around a central lawn, with two wings at the bottom of the curve, one on each side. Piper counted twenty cabins altogether. One was gold, another silver. One had a grass roof, one was bright red and surrounded by a barbed-wire trench. Another one was all black, with a facade decorated with a torch with green flames. All of them seemed to belong to a different world than the snowy hills and fields.

"The valley is protected from the eyes of mortals," Annabeth explained. "As you can see, we also control our climate. Each cabin is associated with a Greek god ; it's a place where the children of that god can live."

She glanced at Piper as if to see how Piper was taking in the information.

"You mean my mother is a goddess," Piper said.

Annabeth nodded and observed:

"You're taking this with surprising calm."

Piper wouldn't have known how to explain it to her. How could she tell her that it only confirmed that strange feeling she'd had for years, that it explained all those fights she'd had with her father when she'd asked him why there was never a picture of her mother at home, and why he'd never tell her how or why she'd left them? And then, above all, the terrible dream had told her what was happening now. "They'll be coming for you soon, half-blood," the voice had growled. "When they come, do as we say. Be cooperative, and perhaps we will spare your father."

Piper inhaled shakily.

"After everything that happened this morning," she said. "it's probably a little easier to believe. So who is my mom ?"

"We should find out soon," Annabeth replied. "You're what, 15 years old ? The gods are supposed to claim you at age thirteen. That was the agreement."

"What agreement ?"

"They took an oath last summer.... It's a long story, but they promised to stop ignoring their demigod children and to recognize them by the age of thirteen. It takes a little longer sometimes, but you saw how quickly Leo was recognized once he arrived at the colony. It should happen to you soon. I'll bet you that tonight at the campfire, we'll get a sign."

Piper wondered if she would get a giant hammer over her head or, with her usual luck, something even more embarrassing. A fire wombat, for example. Piper didn't know who her mother was, but she didn't see how her mother could be proud to claim a kleptomaniac daughter with problems.