-𝔠𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 6-
𝔑𝔦𝔠𝔥𝔬𝔩𝔞𝔰 𝔰𝔢𝔢𝔰 𝔍𝔢𝔰𝔲𝔰
The room was empty. Or as far as he could see, that is. Nicholas cracked open his caramel eyes for the first time in two days, scanning his surroundings automatically, scrounging for answers about where he was and what happened.
He laid on a bed, it was soft and made him want to stay forever.
Which was weird.
Usually he hated beds, he'd feel compelled to sleep.
And God knew how much he hated sleeping.
Wait...
He hadn't had a dream. It just felt like an eon of blackness, cosiness. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep before, but it seemed to do the trick. He felt more awake than he had in years.
The brunet sat up, his arms shaking slightly and his eyesight still blurry as he peered round the white curtain next to his bed.
As he did, his dizzy gaze came across another figure in a bed, similar to his own. Although, this boy, or man, was already staring right back at him. Focusing his vision as best he could, Nicholas squinted at him.
Long brown hair, tanned skin, and a mid-length beard.
He looked kind of like...
"Jesus?"
The man laughed as the words fell out of the demigods mouth. He sat up straight and grinned a white toothy smile at him.
"Sure, I'll take that."
Nicholas' lips parted as he thought deeply.
"Does- does this mean I'm dead?"
Again, the man chuckled.
"No... although it was hit and miss for a while. I mean, even the monster killing kid woke up before you. Only a few hours ago or something." He noticed as the boy's face grimaced in confusion and how he slightly faltered for a moment. "Oh, Gods, you don't know, do you? Gee, Grover must've had trouble getting all three of you here. So glad I'm not a Satyr."
Slowly, Nicholas straightened up, pulling back the curtain completely.
"Where's my sister?"
Jesus, or whatever his name was, hummed.
"Right, the brunette. Took ages to get her leave your side. Chiron basically had to swear on the River Styx that you'd be alright." Seeing the absolutely befuddled look on his face, Jesus tried to gesture with his hands. "The River Styx? In the Underworld... Achilles? Ringing any bells?"
Nicholas blinked, his face completely blank of any recognition.
"This has gotta be a dream, man. Who the hell decided to put Jesus in my dream? I bet it was Daisy. She's always been preaching about him to me..."
Jesus raised an amused brow as he mumbled to himself, then as he threw himself back down on to the bed and chanted "wake up... wake up... wake-"
"It's not a dream."
Without even opening his eyes, he let out a "that's exactly what a dream would say."
The tanned man huffed out a small laugh as he speculated.
"Hm... wonder who's kid you and your sister are... stubborn, naïve, funny." Nicholas scrunched his brows as he tried to ignore the voice on his right. "Oooo," it said excitedly, as if spreading gossip to a friend. "Maybe your Mr D's kid? That would be hilarious to watch all summer."
Sighing, frustrated, the McCallister sat back up and turned to face the man.
He tried to think about what happened that night.
Why was he here, if this wasn't a dream?
Last day of school
Day of being stuck up in his room to avoid his dad
Grover with goat legs
Why did Grover have goat legs?
Focus.
Derek talking about their mom
Gods and Goddesses
The car ride
The big, fuzzy bull...
"Oh my God."
"Gods, actually." He sunk back down at the small glare thrown his way. "Sorry, not the time. I take it you remember?"
Nicholas nodded, holding his head in his hands.
What had life come to?
He was too confused to be shocked anymore.
Was he really shocked, anyway?
The nightmares, the hallucinations...
He'd actually be surprised if something mystical wasn't at play.
"Come on, it's not that bad. You get magic powers and stuff. And a family, assuming you don't already have one. Most don't. Not any they really want anywa-"
"I have a family. My sister is my family."
Jesus raised his hands up in defence, nodding earnestly.
"Sure, sure, I get it. Now, I bet it's your turn to see the boss men. Up you get, follow the porch, you'll probably find them. Just listen out for loud yells of rage."
Nicholas furrowed his brows at the directions, but figured it was better to listen than ask questions at this point.
Especially if they were instructions from God's son.
"Thanks, Jesus dude."
With that, he stood. Only struggling a little as he gained back his balance, the brunet walked out of the room slowly.
Once out of earshot, the tanned man laughed quietly.
"You're a horrible man, you know that right?"
He rolled his eyes at the blond girl that stood in the doorway.
"Gods, Annabeth, he said I was Jesus first. I'm just letting him have his faith for a little while longer before those two ruin it for him." Annabeth raised a judgemental brow before putting her baseball cap on, and disappeared from his view, leaving the man to his own devices. "Jesus... Got a nice ring to it."
***
The man was right.
All he had to do was follow the sound of pure anger and he had found who he was looking for in a minute.
Or, at least he thought he found them.
A man sat in a wheelchair, too far away to see his features, and another man was sat opposite him, shouting at a wine bottle that had rolled away from him multiple times whenever he reached for it.
At the sound of his footsteps, the two men turned to face him.
It was then he realised who was in the wheelchair.
"Mr Brunner? Should've known."
The man with a beard grinned at the boy, ignoring his colleagues famous glare.
"Nicholas! Glad to see you up and walking. Your sister and Percy have both been through this. They're taking a tour right now."
The McCallister flicked his gaze momentarily to the other man, taking in his appearance. Curly black hair that kind of looked purple with the light. He was short, too, making him kind of look like a mad garden gnome.
But the glare in his eyes made him feel that maybe it wasn't best to voice those thoughts.
"Mr D, I guess..." The man nodded shortly, his red nose scrunching. "So, you're Chiron?"
Mr Brunner too nodded, though he a smile on his face.
"Indeed, now, Nicholas, why don't you take a seat? We have lots to discuss."
***
Um.
Wow.
That was...
A lot to process.
He thought back to only a few moments ago, to the conversation he'd just had. Maybe if he ran through it all, he'd be able to figure it all out better?
Yeah, sure, he can at least try.
So...
Mr D was a God. He didn't know which one, apparently names were too powerful for them to say or something like that.
And he seemed to have troubles remembering his name.
Every time, whatever he called him had changed. One time, he even called him Nicole. Which was definitely the most weird of them all.
And he had a temper.
When he'd quietly mumbled his real name, all the man did was repeat him and say, "sir," after in a commanding tone.
Annoying as Hell, one would say.
He'd been punished by his dad for trying to get with a wood nymph? And now they were blessed to have him work at Camp Half Blood.
Yay.
Next, was that Percy had killed a Minotaur. Which made him feel kind of sad that he missed it. They'd never really had a proper, or any, conversation, and now he had to do it after he'd literally killed a monster.
Way to make a guy feel uncool, Percy.
And then, they made the revelation that the Greek Gods are, in fact, very much alive. Just like his dad had said.
Oh yeah, and Percy's mom died.
So...
Maybe he'd wait to speak to him until he grieves properly.
Probably best.
Grover was a Satyr, a protector. He'd originally been sent to protect Percy, but then the twins arrived and he kind of assigned himself to them too.
Which was nice, if he thought about it.
He's also twenty-eight.
In Satyr years.
Not exactly a comforting thought as he remembered the blush on his cheeks as he spoke to Paige.
Mount Olympus is in America.
That was a shocking one.
But the biggest shock was when Chiron stood, and became a whole fricking horse!
Or half of one.
Either way, he had four legs and a tail.
Nicholas nearly collapsed right then and there.
And then they went on a tour.
Kids, younger and older than him, was looking at him like he was an alien that fell out of the sky. He'd asked Chiron about it, and all he said was, "you're the third new Half Blood they've gotten today. I'm sure they're just wondering about why there's so many."
And although there was a truth to his statement, he felt like the man/horse thing was holding something back.
Not that he had very long to question it as they continued the tour.
There were strawberry fields, they seemed like a nice place to chill. But, no, of course Chiron wanted it done before dinner, so rushed him forward.
They saw the lake, the archery field where a few teenagers were shooting arrows, one landing dangerously close to his foot. He wondered if it was on purpose as he saw a mocking smirk on one of the boy's faces. They also saw the stables, which Nicholas loved a lot, unaware for Chiron's distaste of them. He loved horses on a next level. Next was the javelin range, the amphitheatre and an arena for sword and spear fighting.
The last one sounded cool until he imagined himself trying it, and definitely failing.
Then there was the mess hall?
It wasn't much of a hall, really, just a place with a lot of benches and a bonfire.
Still, it looked nice.
Finally, Chiron took him to the cabins.
Apparently, there was twelve.
Nestled in the woods by the lake. They were arranged in a U, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were without doubt the most varied collection of buildings he'd ever seen.
Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks, like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.
None of them were really Nicholas' thing, but he didn't say anything about it.
At the front of the field, where only the two cabins stood, Nicholas dragged his eyes over it.
The first one had big white marble boxes with heavy columns in front. Cabin one was the biggest and bulkiest of them all. It had polished bronze doors shimmered like a hologram, so that from different angles lightning bolts seemed to streak across them.
Cabin two, however, was more graceful with slimmer columns garlanded with pomegranates and flowers. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.
The McCallister looked at them for a moment, a change in the air around him as he did.
Shrugging it off, he followed after Chiron to Cabin 11.
The one he called Hermes' Cabin.
This one looked... normal.
Just wood lodgings and a cosy feeling around it.
The door was wide open, so he could see the range of kids scattered around the cabin. There were a lot, from as far as he could see. Boys and girls alike, all different ages.
It was kind of... packed.
"Well, I wish you luck, Mr McCallister. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for here."
And just like that, the man trotted off, leaving him at the doorstep.
He expected nothing else from him. He always did that in Yancy, why would this Camp change his riddle way of speaking and lack of explanation?
Slowly, he stepped inside the cabin, instantly feeling eyes turn to him, the loud mutterings quieting down.
"Nik!"
A relief-filled yell came from the back of the Cabin, and he looked over to see a very familiar brunette running toward him.
She wrapped her arms around him, tightly, and he could hear kids snickering.
But he didn't care.
He let her embrace him and hugged her back, but kept his gaze on the kids around him.
Where his twin had just been, he noticed Percy Jackson looking back at him, his green eyes watching the two with a piercing gaze.
Nicholas felt the need to a) apologise to him for his mom, and b) thank him for helping keep his sister safe while he was... sleeping?
No, passed out.
Thank Gods for whatever they gave him while he was out. Otherwise his head would be killing him right now.
However, with the arms keeping him right where he was, he opted for giving the black-haired boy a grateful nod from his place in the doorway.
Percy nodded back, sending a small smile.
As Paige finally let him go, his gaze scanned across the kids in the cabin, stopping on one in particular.
He was taller than most of the others, blond, tall and muscular with striking blue eyes. And his face instantly changed in a friendly grin.
What was it before?
A deep in thought scowl.
Paige spun around to face everyone, "this is my twin brother, Nicholas. Nik, this is the Hermes Cabin. All of Hermes' kids and the undetermined."
At the mention of twin, he noticed the blonde's face falter for a moment, but he quickly brought back the smile.
He didn't think about it too much, instead seeing how everyone's postures changed from teasing to welcoming.
Did Paige make friends with all these people in less than a day?
It wasn't exactly unlike her.
But still...
"Undetermined?" His voice was quiet, not really wanting all these kids to hear him, but with the silence in the room, he didn't really have a choice.
"People who aren't claimed yet. Like me and you, and Percy."
Nicholas nodded slowly.
He saw as some people tried to keep their smiles on as they listened in, showing who was undetermined and who wasn't.
And the majority was.
But why?
Chiron didn't explain any of this.
How did Paige know?
And why were so many kids unclaimed?
Would he be claimed?
Would Percy?
This was officially the most stressful day of his life.
if you recognise some of the descriptions... no you don't.
(i'm lazy)
thanks for reading!!