sonder

chapter one - nat

As soon as I walked through the archway that read "Camp Half-Blood" on it, I knew I wasn't dreaming.

     My name is Natalie Augustine. I'm 16 years old. And according to my goat friend, Aspen, I'm a demigod. Of course not a major one, but... one. I was told that if I was a child of the Olympian Gods I would have a ton of monsters coming after me, especially since I'm from San Francisco. Whatever that means. So, Aspen told me I'm probably the child of a minor god. While she was spouting out facts about Greek mythology, I still couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that she had goat legs.

     "Oh! And I forgot about the Big Three!" Aspen's shrilly voice rang in my ears. "You're not going to see a child of those gods around here. They've made a vow not to have children."

     "Who's the Big Three?" I asked, walking down the valley toward a large blue house.

     "You've known your stuff up until this point! The Big Three is Zeus, Poseidon, and..." she shivered. "Hades, of course." Aspen looked around like she was making sure nothing was going to jump out and attack her.

     "Oh, yeah, okay." I sighed. I'm not a mean person, I swear. I've just never liked satyrs. I'm a big nerd when it comes to the stars and constellations. You see, I want to be an astronomer. So, when I was learning constellations and their meanings I obviously picked up on some Greek mythology. Satyrs are annoying. Sorry.

     "Wait," I stopped in my tracks, cutting off whatever random stuff Aspen was telling me.

     "Huh?" Her big brown eyes stared back at me in wonder. She had the lightest blonde hair ever and kind of reminded me of a fawn because her skin was so fair and she had freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks. You know, because fawns have dots on them and stuff. The goat legs kind of ruined the image though.

     "Aren't you supposed to be a nymph?" I asked her. I had just now remembered that there were no such thing as female satyrs. Their female equivalent were nymphs.

     "Um... Well..." Aspen raised her eyebrow in contemplation. "I'm the first of my kind!" She smiled brightly.

      I narrowed my eyes at her. "The first of your kind, huh?" She nodded happily. "I don't buy it." I said.

     "No, really! I can't explain it either! Oh, Pan must have chosen me!" Aspen swooned and daydreamed of Pan.

     This girl isn't helping my case of satyr-hatred. I blinked a few times and glared at her, waiting for her to guide me to wherever the heck I was going. "Hey, Aspen." I waved my hand in front of her face. "ASPEN!" When I clapped right next to her ear, she finally snapped out of it.

     "What? Oh, okay. Big House!" She pointed to the large farmhouse that the path we were walking on led to. "I have to take you to the Big House!"

     So, I crossed my arms over my chest and walked with the slightly insane satyr to the Big House.

---

     I almost fell down when a big horseman came walking out of that house. Aspen had to hold me up.

     "Ah, Aspen. Great job with your first demigod! I know we were starting you out slow with a minor demigod, but still a work well done!" The centaur spoke to Aspen.

     Should I be offended by that? I mean, who would want to be called minor?

     "Thank you, Chiron!" Aspen stamped excitedly on her hooves.

     "You're Chiron?" I asked as I swatted her tiny hands away from me and stood up straight.

     "Indeed. Let me show you to the cabin you'll be staying in." Chiron waved me off the porch. I didn't realize how much stuff was actually at this "camp." Near me were volleyball courts and I could see in the distance there was a climbing wall with lava pouring out of it.

There was a huge forest, fields full of strawberries, and a big lake. I could see inside a big wooden building full of people painting. I would definitely have to make it a priority to go in there. I love art. I'm not very good at it, but I love it. It's relaxing.

     Finally, we turned into a big U of cabins, all of them bustling with demigods except the two up front and one beside them. I guessed those belonged to the Big Three. All of the cabins were beautiful, but I was most attracted to the one that was overgrown with plants. I was hoping we'd stop in front of it, but Chiron kept on trotting down the line of them. All the way to the back where a run-down plain wood cabin sat.

     "This is the cabin you'll be staying in for your time here." Chiron said as he put a hand on my shoulder.

     "My entire time here or just until I go home?" I asked hopefully. I could see into it from the windows and it looked crowded. I did not want to be in there.

     Chiron just sighed and opened the door for me. "Cabin Eleven, meet your newest member." He announced as all the campers stood up and bowed.

     I was surprised at how respectful they were, but then they began giving me the judgmental stare. You know, that stare.

      I locked eyes with a kid who looked only a few years older than me. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and a scar on his face. He looked pretty badass to me. "Welcome to Cabin Eleven." He told me. "What's your name?"

     "Nat. Nat Augustine." I said, fixing my posture so I looked a little more confident in front of my new cabinmates.

     He smiled at me. "Well, Nat, make yourself at home. We don't have that much space, but I think that spot by my bunk will work." He pointed to a messy, unmade bed and a little chunk of floor next to it.

     "Gee, thanks." I muttered sarcastically and put my bag down on my spot.

     I don't think he understood the sarcasm.

     "No problem. I'm Luke, by the way. I'm the counselor of this cabin and... son of Hermes." He said distastefully.

     Not sure why, but the way he said he was the son of Hermes made me feel like I shouldn't want to know who my parent is. His tone just made it sound bad.

     "So, you're an actual son of Hermes?" I looked up at him and sat down on his bunk.

     He flinched a little, but answered me. "Yeah, most of us in here are children of Hermes. We take in all the undetermined though, like you."

     "I'm undetermined, huh? So, how do I know when I'm 'determined' or whatever?" I asked, glancing around at everyone rolling their eyes at my unknowingness.

     "Your parent will probably claim you soon. Don't worry." Luke responded. "I hope she's nice." I whispered to myself, but Luke heard.

     "She probably won't be." He immediately remarked, but I could tell he didn't mean to because his face turned red.

     This Luke kid must really had the gods or something. "Why wouldn't she be nice?" I questioned him. "How would you know?"

     He gulped as I approached him. "I think you should see more of the camp."

     "No. I want to know why you think my mother would be mean." I retorted and crossed my arms.

     "Later, okay?" Luke responded, his face was turning angry. He grabbed my arm and sprinted out of the cabin.