Christian dreamt about Olympus. He saw the empty giant thrones. He'd never seen Olympus, and didn't know if his dream was too accurate. He heard a deep, female, low voice.
"Turn around now, young hero," it said. The voice pierced through his soul. It seemed soothing, but with an evil catch. Its voice actually hurt him physically. He tried to move. He tried to look around, but he couldn't. He was stuck in place.
"Don't try to resist. As long as you co-operate, everything will be okay."
Who are you? Christian tried to say. What do you want? But to no avail. "It's time to give up, little hero..." The voice said. And before Christian could try to do anything else, he jolted up.
He was in a small wooden hut. In front of him was a girl. She was Caucasian with light caramel-colored long, curly hair. She had hazel eyes and a rope headband around her forehead. Christian winced. He was badly bruised, and he couldn't move his leg. It was...broken?
The girl was startled, then calmed down. "Relax. Lay down, you'll make the pain worse." Her voice was so soothing and beautiful.
"Who...are you?" Christian croaked out weakly.
"Shh...get some rest. I am Calypso, the caretaker of this island."
🔱
After what felt like the longest nap in the world, he was given some context.
After Ares knocked him into the sky, he crash-landed into Calypso's Island, making a crater. She found him with his leg broken and bruised.
Calypso gave Christian a tour of the island, from the garden, to the beach. Christian figured he must've flung far, it was just the ocean as far as the eye could see.
"Do you...happen to know how far New York is from here?" Christian asked
"Right now?" Calypso said, "Not very far. The gods move my island to whatever rusty old half-blood is about to, in your case, get flung out into the ocean. The Mist hides my island from everyone except for the gods."
"So...you live here?" Christian asked, getting more intrigued in Calypso's backstory.
"I'm...trapped here, that is," she said. Christian went silent and looked down, realizing he'd intruded on a sensitive subject. "The Gods trapped me here just because the titan, Atlas, is my father."
"That's...stupid," Christian said without realizing.
Calypso looked up. "You...really think?" Her hazel eyes glimmered. "Well, yeah," Christian said, growing confidence. "No one has to be their parents. Whether they're gods, or mortals, or...evil titans."
"Hmm," Calypso looked down, then back up. "Thanks you, uhm..."
"Christian. Christian Anderson."
"Ah, yes. Thank you, Christian." After an awkward silence between the two, Calypso focused on the setting sun. "Uhm, you should probably get some rest."
"Right," Christian agreed and walked back to the cabin. Calypso hesitated before following him. Christian wondered what all the others could possibly be up to right now. He wondered if they'd even gotten past Ares and his baseball bat of doom.
Would Adrian be missing him? Yes, of course he is. I'm his best friend, He thought. Annabeth knows what she's doing. She'll protect them.
But that didn't keep Christian from worrying. He'd been the one telling people not to, but this was serious.
In his little cot, he put his hand up, and watched as electricity radiated between his fingers. He sighed heavily and tried to sleep.
Hey, Christian? A young voice said. Christian realized he was in a playground, He looked at the boy, and realized it was Kindergarten Adrian. Christian looked down at himself, and saw - he was a kindergartener too.
Yeah? Christian managed to say.
Why do you think thunder storms happen? Young Adrian said while stabbing a stick through the thick mulch on the playground floor. Christian didn't respond.
Like, I think there's this big guy in the clouds who shoots it down to the floor. That sounds cool, Young Adrian said.
Zeus? Christian asked.
Who's "Deus?"
ZZZ-eus, Christian corrected. The god of Lightning.
I thought there was only one god...? Young Adrian said, curiously. Thunder crackled in the distance. Young Adrian yelped and fell backwards, sitting down. He looked at his knee in horror. There was a gash pulsing out.
Why would you do that? Young Adrian exclaimed. Christian was at a loss for words.
YOU'LL KILL US ALL, SON OF ZEUS!
Thunder crackled again, and everything went black.
🔱
Christian woke up with a start. As a matter of fact, he screamed out. "Thank the gods," He murmured. "Just a...nightmare."
Christian thought to himself, I have to get back to Adrian, Suba, and Annabeth. They might need me. I'll have to break the news to Calypso.
Calypso was watering the flowers in her garden when Christian walked over. But somehow, Calypso already knew-like she'd been through that before.
She looked up from the plants. "I believe you must go now...?" She said. Christian almost felt guilty. "Uhm...yes. I'm sorry, but, my friends-"
"Say no more," Calypso said. With a light wave of her hand, a small boat appeared on the shore. "I hope we meet again," Christian said hopefully.
"Unfortunately," Calypso began, "It might be unlikely." Before he turned to go to the boat, Calypso leaned in and kissed Christian's cheek lightly and briefly. "Goodbye, Demigod."
Christian could feel himself blushing a little, but he knew he had to go. "Goodbye," he said back, and walked to the boat. Magically, a paddle appeared in his hands, and he paddled into the water.
🔱
After a while, Christian could see land in the distance. He was overjoyed.
He was finally going to reunite with his friends.
YOU ARE READING
The Heroes of Camp Half-Blood • Book 1: The Missing Demigod
Adventure"3 new half-bloods will be claimed To eternal glory or to be maimed With the lightning bolt and the skull They will either die, or save them all But when one half-blood disappears When he is found will determine fate for years" The last thing Adrian...
