The Daughter of the Sky // Wattys 2016

Chapter 7

        It was one thing looking at Half-Blood Hill and thinking, 'yeah I can totally climb that, easy.' But it was a totally different thing to do that, carry a backpack and suitcase with you, while keeping an eye on your crippled friend and making sure he didn't topple over at the same time.

       That being said, I think Danny was doing a far better job than I was. He had a tiny little hop in his step, almost like climbing came naturally to him.

      The lush grass was still wet with morning dew, making my sneakers slip and slide from the absence of traction. In the distance I could hear the faint gurgle of a running creek; other than that, the forest was deafeningly quiet. 

      We spent the first ten minutes of the treacherous climb in an odd silence. Both of us were probably too emotionally and physically exhausted to make conversation. I found my gaze gravitating towards Danny; I knew close to nothing about my supposed protector, other than he was originally from New York. Maybe I didn't know as much about Danny as I thought I did, which was disturbing, considering he probably knew almost every aspect about me. Including my newfound demigod identity.

     It was so strange how well Danny knew me. He could tell when I was angry, sad, frustrated or just at ease; the guy practically knew how to read my mind. A part of me wondered if it was his job to be my friend. Or was that part real? I couldn't help but feel cheated and lied to. It was like everything in my perfect Barbie Dream House was made of plastic and some sweaty bully was looming over us and melting the hot pink plastic walls with his giant magnifying glass.

   "So," I nervously cleared my throat to begin my interrogation, "I'm just curious...do I have any siblings?"

    "Possibly," he said without even hesitating, as if he was expecting the question. I wondered how many other kids he'd had this conversation with. "We won't know for sure until your father officially claims you, but more likely than not you probably do have some siblings."

     It was weird to think I could possibly have other siblings around my age going through the same things I was. This felt like a parallel universe.

    "So does that mean all Greek demigod kids are related?" I cocked my head to the side, trying to wrap my head around my new family tree.

   "It's complicated. Gods don't really have DNA, so by default you have "siblings"," he put air quotations around siblings. "But if you were a child of Hades and you wanted to date someone from the Apollo cabin, you definitely could. Just not someone in your own cabin."

   "Makes sense. But will I be living at camp forever?"

   "No, you can go back to California, if you want, for holidays and the regular school year. Most campers tend to only stay for the summer but there are a few that don't have anywhere to go, so they stay year round."

   There was a long pause as I tried to decide what kind of camper I would be. Was it safer for me to stay at a camp with magical boarders full of other people like me? Or could I go back home and count on John's scent to keep me covered? My heart sunk, knowing I wasn't selfish enough to risk my parents safety just to be home.

    "Is bull-man really...did I, like, kill him?" I decided to change the subject.

   "Monsters don't die. They can be killed off for some time, a long time - maybe. But they really never die."

    "Oh. Do they just-"

   "Orion," Danny turned to look at me. I could tell he was getting exasperated by all my questions. "Look, I get this is all new and weird but I'm not playing twenty questions with you. You'll find out everything you need to know from Chiron."