The Two Suns

Chapter 5 - Pick Your Own Strawberries, Please (Edited)

(K, so I'm gonna be switching from 3rd person to 1st person in dif. chapters, so I'm sorry if that's confusing for you - yeah, I honestly can't decide what POV to use. :/ Which one do you guys think is better?

Also, I did the math to find the EXACT age differences between Will and Percy, so don't insult my math in the next chapters bc I worked HARD alr?! (Eh, not rly.) And I'm sure I did it right, sooo...-)

I stared at the white picketed fences which had signs that said, "Pick Your Own Strawberries, Please" and glanced behind me at a parked white van that said, "Delphi Strawberry Service". I had tried not to think much about this whole ordeal of "being a demigod", - if I thought about it too much, it would just drive me crazy with all the Greek Mythology stuff being real. I stuff my gloved hands in my jacket pocket, squeezing the fingers in my palm into a fist.

I have to rethink a lot of stuff after this, I think, glancing at my twin brother who was fiddling with the braided bracelet on his wrist. I wasn't sure whether he was nervous or just fidgety, - it was hard to tell sometimes with the ADHD and all. Will seemed to be studying the strawberry fields in the not-so-far distance between us and the "camp" (what was it called again?), as if studying its authenticity. To me it looked pretty legit, - but why were we at some random strawberry farm?

Maron trotted up the hill he had told us was called Half-Blood Hill, "Your mother will be leaving soon, - mortals are not allowed beyond the camp's borders." She had told us yesterday to stay until the next school year started and see how it worked out, since she wanted us to at least have some experience rather than none with monsters. She also said we could continue our education at camp (after winter break finished).

I bite my tongue and ignore the usage of "mortals", while Will asks, "This is the camp? Isn't this a strawberry farm?"

"It's just a cover name for the actual camp, so mortals simply see it as a strawberry farm, - of course the Mist helps with that, but just in case. Now come along, young demigods."

I couldn't help but impulsively copy him, saying, "Come along, young padawan." It just sounded so much like something Obi-Wan would say to Anakin, okay?! Am I obsessed with Star Wars? Yes, and everybody will just have to deal with that, I think to myself, inhaling deeply.

Maron either didn't hear what I said or ignored it. I didn't much care either way.

Will glanced at me, his light blue eyes wide with his eyebrows slightly raised, and his faint freckles glistening more noticeably in the sun. I just shrug my shoulders and trudge after the satyr, tightening my grip on the straps of my backpack in which I had packed all my essentials and a few pairs of clothes.

"The camp director and camp activities director is just around here at the Big House, about half a mile away from Half-Blood Hill." Maron explains when we were done saying our goodbyes. If I knew more about this place, both Will and I would've called, "Race ya!" and race up the hill just for fun. But I didn't.

"Yes, sir," I say, waiting a little bit so I would have to catch up with Will and Maron, - giving me an excuse to run up the hill.

After I reached the hill breathlessly, I noticed a pine tree at the top not too far from where I was. It seemed a little odd, considering the fact that there weren't really any other places relatively nearby with trees and that a pine tree seemed kinda out of place here.

"Odd place to put a tree," I say aloud while walking faster to be beside Will toward said pine tree. Maron glanced at me for a second, "She was a daughter of Zeus, - Thalia. Thalia and her friends were being chased by monsters, - all the three... Furies," he hesitated, as if he were scared they would come behind him. "And numerous hellhounds," he continued.