LUNA JUST wanted to go back home. She didn't belong in the camp like everybody else. Her mother hadn't claimed her, which sounded worse when it came from Mr Brunner- who Luna had reunited with in centaur form. The man's name was Chiron, and he didn't actually need a wheelchair for the Mist hid his horse body. Luna still thought she was dreaming, so kept pinching her arm as Mr Brunner- well, Chiron- toured her around the camp. Percy was unclaimed too, which made it better for Luna because at least they had each other.
However, Percy hadn't spoken a word since he awoke from the hospital this morning. He obviously missed his mom, but so did Luna. His silence made her feel like it was her fault- which was a stupid thought- but Luna couldn't help but think if she wasn't refusing to attend the camp, they would've made it before the Minotaur arrived.
Chiron explained, "You'll be staying here. Hermes, God of travellers. His cabin is home to both his own children, and the unclaimed."
Chiron left them alone in the cabin filled with other half-bloods, as Luna lead Percy towards a pile of their things and sleeping bags.
"Percy, listen." Luna cleared her throat nervously, her throat still dry from shouting and crying, "I'm sorry for what happened to your mom-"
"Please, don't." Percy couldn't even meet her eyes, "It's not your fault, but I'm not ready to talk about it, okay?"
"Okay." Luna nodded quickly, before she gently nudged her step-brother, watching as three older boys approached them.
Percy stood up quickly, "Look, if you want to give me a hard time, please do it tomorrow. I can't do anymore today."
"I heard what happened to you on the hill. And I just... I want to say I'm really sorry. I know what you're going through, believe me." The boy spoke, before reaching his hand out, "I'm Luke."
Percy smiled slightly, "Percy. This is Lu- Luna?"
However, the girl had already left, practically storming out of the Cabin towards Chiron's cabin- where he was playing cards with Mr Dionysius, the actual God, which Luna found impossible to believe.
She knocked on the wall beside her, "Is this a bad time?"
Dionysius answered quickly, "Yes-"
"No." Chiron interrupted, "Go ahead."
"I want to go home." Luna exclaimed, as Dionysius bursted out laughing. She frowned, folding her arms over her chest, "What's funny?"
"Who even are you, kid?" Dionysius scoffed, judging the girl heavily as she took a sip from his Diet Coke can.
"Luna Ugliano." She replied confidently.
"Okay, Lena Uglingo." Dionysius retorted, "I suggest you-"
"That's not my name... but okay." Luna frowned, before looking at Chiron, "Mr-I mean, Chiron, please send me home. You've made some kind of mistake. I'm not a God."
Chiron glanced at Dionysius, before answering, "It's not safe for you to go home. As you are aware, their are monsters in which threaten your life. This sanctuary will keep you safe."
"Look, I didn't ask to be here." Luna shot back, "I found out less than twelve hours ago that I'm a half-blood. It didn't change anything about my life when I lived in New York. So why am I suddenly so special?"
Chiron sighed, "I understand your point. But I'm sorry, Luna, you have to stay for the safety of everyone."
Luna rolled her eyes, before walking outside towards the Hermes cabin, however she was met with Percy and his new friends.
Percy frowned, "Where'd you go?"
"Asking to go home." Luna replied, "I don't belong here."
"If you spend too much time trying to figure out why the Gods do whatever it is they do, you'll drive yourself crazy." Luke explained, "The sooner you stop worrying about that the sooner you can enjoy what this place has to offer."
"That's easy to say when you're a claimed half-blood." Luna remarked.
"Claimed or unclaimed. It doesn't matter here." Luke reassured, "This place offers glory to everybody. The God's used to call it kleos. It's like the stuff that attaches itself to your name and makes it more scary, bigger, more important. People will listen more when you talk, they work harder to be your friend, and they think twice about messing with you-"
Abruptly, a girl bumped into Percy, causing the boy to react quickly, "Hey!"
Unexpectedly, the girl turned around and shoved him to the floor. Luna's blood boiled, stepping in front of Percy and pushing the girl back. She frowned, "Don't fucking push him."
"Hey, hey, hey!" Luke pulled Luna back, "Knock it off, Clarisse. It's their first day, come on."
Luna helped Percy to stand up, as Clarisse glared at them both intensively. The girl scoffed, "This is the kid that killed the Minotaur?"
Percy replied cautiously, "Yeah?"
"I'll bet." Clarrisse scoffed, "Look, you want attention around here, dummy? You better be ready for it when it comes."
"Get out of his face." Luna warned.
Clarisse teased, "What are you gonna do, Red?"
Luna glared at Clarisse as she laughed with her friends and walked away. She rolled her eyes, before checking if Percy was okay. He scoffed, "She seems nice."
"Ares kids." Luke explained, "They come by it honestly."
Percy questioned, "Why don't they mess with you?"
"They know better." Luke replied, "I'm the strongest swordsman at camp."
"Glory?" Percy asked, "So if I get glory, Clarisse will stop messing with me?"
"You already got glory. You killed a Minotaur." Luna exclaimed, "Clarisse is just a bitch, who finds joy in hurting other people."
"But if I get glory she'll leave me alone and my dad will notice me and claim me?" Percy continued.
Luna scoffed, "Did you hear a word I just said?"
The day had come to an end and Luna and Percy were told about their Burnt Offerings. This involved the half-bloods giving up their burnt food so it gets the God's attention before they pray. Luke had told them to 'burn the thing they would miss the most, so they know you really mean what you have to say'. The problem was, Luna didn't know what to say- she had never spoken to a God before.
She sat alone in the forest, holding a chocolate bar that Sally Jackson had gifted her in the car journey to the beach house. She lit a candle and rested it on a log beside her, breaking up the squares of chocolate and watching them melt in the flames.
"Uh, hi?" Luna cleared her throat, "I hope I'm doing this right. I've never spoken to a candle before... but then I've never been in a half-blood camp before either." She paused for a while, "I don't know what to pray for other than the fact I would rather be at home." She scoffed, "It reminds me of the multiple times where I used to call Mrs Jackson at school and beg to come home. The other students were awful to me, but when you're... different it's like you were born to not fit in. I got used to it but I just hate that Percy is being bullied. The good news is that he's met a lot of real friends, much more than I have here. I don't think I belong here... but I've discovered my talent is archery."
Luna paused in thought, before speaking again, "Uh, if I'm talking to my mom... please give me some sort of sign or message or anything. I didn't know you were a Goddess... I wouldn't of imagined a Goddess choosing my father to have kids with. It's a very strange choice, I mean, out of all the humans in the world you chose Gabe." She sighed, "I just want to belong somewhere. So again, please just give me a sign that you can hear me."
She paused, listening to the sound of crickets around her. Nothing. Except from a repeating hoot from a brown owl sat on a tree branch above her. The animal noticed her, flying down towards her and cautiously landing on the log she was sat on. Luna frowned with curiosity, calmly reaching out her hand,
"Hi." She lowered her voice gently. The owl hooted again, though Luna could've sworn she understood the owl like it was speaking English. She stood up quickly in confusion, yet the owl didn't fly away- the creature just stared curiously, as Luna rushed back to her cabin.
a/n:
why is tiktok taking away my favourite edit sounds😞