Amaya woke up with a splitting headache, a hungry stomach and a need to make sure everyone was okay.
When she woke up, she was lying on a soft bed, and a girl with curly blond hair hovering over her.
What was her name again? Anna? Annabelle? Annameth?
Amaya wondered what crazy parents would name their kid Annameth?
“Your friend drools a lot in his sleep.” The blond girl announced.
Amaya looked at the corner and saw Percy sleeping, droll cover his cheek while he sleeps.
Amaya tried to get off the bed but almost stripped on her feet. Wow she really hoped tripping over nothing would not become a regular thing.
“Hey! What’s happening at the winter solstice? Do you know what’s going on? Amaya heard the blond girl ask.
She heard the blond-haired girl asking her about a few things but Amaya muted her out.
Amaya looked around worried.
Hope. Where was Hope? she remembered when Hope mentioned no human can come to camp, but she said she would sneak in, did it not work? Is Amaya left alone without her sister in this strange place?
“Where’s Hope, Is she here!?” Amaya asked panicked
“Hope?” The blond tilted her head.
“Oh, you mean the mortal, yeah she’s over there” The blonde girl said pointing outside where Hope was talking to a bearded man.
And he was on top of a horse?
She was about to run outside to go see Hope and make sure she was okay but got blocked.
By a boy with surfer-boy sun-kissed blond hair, blue eyes and was wearing a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD.
“Here. Have this”
He gave her a glass of some strange substance in it.
Amaya looked at it skeptically.
“It’ll help heal you” The blond-haired boy announced, trying to get her to drink it
She was taught not to trust strangers, but these strangers just helped her heal and saved her so she chugged it quickly, hoping it wouldn’t taste as bad as she expected it to be.
She recoiled at the taste, because she was expecting it to taste like cough medicine. It wasn’t like that at all.
It tasted like Cookies and cream Ice-cream. Liquid Ice-cream? And not just any type it was—her brother’s, Ivan, he would always buy them for her when their mom was away since she was seven.
“Amaya!” Amaya heard her older brother shout “Look what I got!”
Amaya quickly went down stairs to see what her older brother got, while running she tripped over the stairs and head her head on the floor.
Ivan quickly went to check on his little sister.
“Holy crap Amaya are you okay!?” he asked panicked.
“No!” Amaya cried, she touched her forehead, and it must have hurt because doing that seemed to make her cry more.
“Amaya stop crying you’re going to be okay” Ivan promised but that didn’t make her stop crying.
He quickly went to grab something inside a plastic bag sitting on the dinner table.
It was a cookies and cream ice cream.
He opened the lid, brought out a spoon and ran back to where Amaya was crying.
He scooped a corner of the ice cream with the spoon and tried to feed it to Amaya.
“Here have it, it’s ice cream.”
“Mom doesn’t let us have ice cream.” Amaya pointed out, still crying over her injury.
Ivan frowned. “Mom isn’t here, she doesn’t have to know, it’ll be our little secret.”
Amaya ate the ice cream, she was so happy that day, she stopped crying and finished all of it all on her own.
She was happy with her brother.
She wished it stayed like that.
She smiled at the drink, her mind filled with nostalgic memories.
Drinking it, her whole body felt warm and good, full of energy. She wished she hadn’t finished the drink in one go.
“Can I have another one please?”
“No can do, too much of this is a no go, unless you wanna get incinerated.”
Amaya looked at the cup regretting drinking it, if it could potentially kill you then why do they just hand does things around like that.
“Hey, how do you know it can kill—”
“Amaya!” she heard Hope yell her name
She quickly looked around trying to spot her sister, when she finally found her Hope engulfed her in a tight hug.
“Amaya your awake” Hope sighed in relief
Amaya wrapped her free arm around Hope and hugged her back.
“Yeah, I'm awake! And you’re squishing me” Amaya squealed unable to breath due to Hope’s tight grasp.
“Oh, sorry” Hope quickly unwrapped her arms around Amaya.
Amaya studied Hope, her hair was in the same ponytail, but she had a few bandages on her forehead and was also wearing a camp half-blood shirt.
“Is everyone here wearing an orange shirt that says calm half-blood, why don’t I get one” Amaya complained.
Hope sighed. “You’ll get one easy peasy, I had to practically beg for this one since I’m not technically a ‘real half-blood'
“Well, I don’t care if you’re a half-blood or not, I’m just glad you’re here, it would suck if you weren’t” Amaya said moving her arm around.
It was her ADHD acting up whenever she was freaked out, excited or scared, she would move her arms around.
“What’s that?” Hope asked pointing at the girl’s purple bracelet “I’ve never seen you with that before.”
Before Amaya could answer
Before Amaya could answer she saw Percy start to wake up. Hope quickly went to get Grover.
On the table next to Percy was a tall drink. It was the same drink that the blond-haired boy that Amaya later learned to be named Will gave her.
She watched him try and grab the glass but his hand was so weak he almost dropped the glass.
“Careful,” Amaya heard a Grover say from behind her.
Grover was leaning against the porch railing, looking like he hadn’t slept in a week. Under one arm, he cradled a shoe box. He was wearing blue jeans, Converse hi-tops and a bright orange T-shirt that said CAMP HALF-BLOOD. Just plain old Grover. No goat legs, which Amaya was confused about.
Hope was standing next to him and gave Percy a look of concern, she was practically wearing the same thing as before, she had on her black baggy jeans and pink sneakers, but was wearing the same Camp half-blood shirt as Grover except she tucked her shirt in.
“You three saved my life,” Grover said. “I…well, the least I could do…I went back to the hill. I thought you might want this.”
Reverently, he placed the shoe box in Percy’s lap while Hope gave Amaya a separate shoe box, Percy knew she needed it considering she lost one of her shoes during the fight with the Bull-man.
Inside were two black-and-white bull’s horn, the base jagged from being broken off, the tip splattered with dried blood.
Amaya knew it from his face, he realized what happened hadn’t been a nightmare. He had really lost his mom.
“The Minotaur,” he said.
Amaya couldn’t look at him, so she stared at her new shoes and socks, she wanted to leave, she wanted to be anywhere but here, she wanted to go back to Yancy academy, make fun of Nancy, or even better she wanted to go home, but she knew that wasn’t the case, that wasn’t the reality she was in.
“That’s what they call him in the Greek myths, isn’t it?” Percy demanded.
Hope sighed
“The Minotaur. Half man, half bull.”
Amaya wished she knew more about Greek mythology but sadly she barely knew shit about it.
Grover shifted uncomfortably. “You’ve both been out for two days. How much do you remember?”
Amaya stared at Hope with wide eyes, she had been asleep for two days, she didn’t really know how to react to that.
“Two days!?”
Hope shrugged “Yep two days, I was considering smacking you both awake.”
Amaya was grateful she had Hope to lighten the depressing mood, she was glad she was glad she was with her sister.
“My mom. Is she really…” Percy looked down.
Amaya now realized how incredibly lucky she was; she had Hope, she at least had her one family member with her, but Percy had no one, he just woke up in a strange place and came to the realization that his mother was gone
That he has no family members left.
Percy stared across the meadow. There were groves of trees, a winding stream, acres of strawberries spread out under the blue sky. The valley was surrounded by rolling hills, and the tallest one, directly in front of us, was the one with the huge pine tree on top. Even that looked beautiful in the sunlight.
Percy glared at it; his mother was gone. The whole world should be black and cold.
Nothing should look beautiful.
“I’m sorry,” Grover sniffled. “I’m a failure. I’m—I’m the worst satyr in the world.”
Hope looked at him “Grover you tried your best.”
Amaya wanted to say something to cheer him up but she had nothing to say, she was bad when it came to connecting with people, she didn’t like talking to anyone, she hated communicating. She was always alone
Hence why she was happy when Hope became her sister, she didn’t have to be alone anymore.
Grover moaned, stomping his foot so hard his Converse came off. The inside was filled with Styrofoam, except for a hoof shaped hole.
“I will never get used to that” Hope said trying to sound cool about it.
“Oh, Styx!” Grover mumbled.
Thunder rolled across the clear sky.
Amaya placed her hand over her heart, she had a mini heart attack over that.
As Grover struggled to get his hoof back in the fake foot, Amaya now wondered how on earth Grover managed to hide this from her and Percy while Hope either found out or he told only her.
Amaya felt bad for Percy, he looked miserable, Amaya thought that made sense since he lost his mom.
Grover was still sniffling. Amaya was now wishing she had Hope’s communication skills, that girl can befriend practically everybody.
Lucky for her Percy spoke up “It wasn’t your fault.”
“Yes, it was. I was supposed to protect you both.”
Percy now looked up at him
“Did my mother ask you to protect me?”
“No. But that’s my job. I’m a keeper. At least…I was.”
Amaya now wondered why didn’t Hope count, didn’t she also need protecting, she might be human but it was clear humans could be hurt by monsters too.
Percy stared at his cup with glassy eyes he was trying to grab it but failing. Amaya decided to bury their differences between them for now and help him.
“Don’t strain yourself,” Amaya said. “Here.”
He gave her a skeptical look but obliged.
She helped him hold his glass and put the straw to his lips.
Amaya could see their reactions but she could practically feel Hope staring at them with wide eyes with her jaw dropped.
Before Amaya knew it, he’d drained the glass. The moment he finished it she backed away quickly.
She felt Hope drag her arm away, she had the widest smirk, give her a suggestive look.
Amaya resisted the urge to smack her across the head for even thinking about it.
“Was it good?” Grover asked.
Percy nodded
“What did it taste like?” Amaya asked, she wanted to make sure she wasn’t going crazy because there was no way that drink tasted like ice cream.
Percy rolled his eyes and gave her a glare. She was never that nice, she was doing it out of pity. And Percy hated that.
“Why?” he asked. “Should I have given it to you instead?”
Amaya suddenly remembered why she disliked Percy so much; she was trying her best to be nice to him but he was just acting like a jerk.
Amaya returned the glare.
“I was Just wondering…jeez.”
“Chocolate-chip cookies,” he said. “My mom’s. Homemade.”
Amaya sighed, this was not the time for petty arguments, they were in a strange place with only each other, they had to at least be decent to each other
“And how do you feel?” Grover asked
“Like I could throw Nancy Bobofit a hundred yards.”
Hope snickered
“Well, I wish I did that now, I would make a YouTube video titled Nancy the Bobo bitch getting karma from 300 feet high”
Grover sighed but he looked like he was hiding a laugh.
“That’s good,” he said. “I mean, that you feel better. I don’t think you could risk drinking any more of that stuff.”
Amaya thought Will was joking about the drink being able to kill but he was dead serious, and then a bunch of what ifs invaded her head.
What if a child stole the drink and drank it, what if someone got addicted to the drink and drank more without anyone’s knowledge what would happen to them.
“What do you mean?”
Amaya snatched the empty glass from him gingerly, she stared at it like were dynamite, and set it back on the table.
Hope sighed
“Come on. Chiron and Mr. D are waiting.”
The porch wrapped all the way around the farmhouse.
Percy’s legs felt wobbly, trying to walk that far. Grover offered to carry one of the Minotaur horns, but he held on to it.
As they came around the opposite end of the house, Amaya couldn’t help but in amazement.
She knew Greek mythology was real and all that jazz, but she could not believe what she was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena—except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun.
In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school–age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover’s and Hopes were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, some of their horses had wings.
Hope and Percy looked just as shocked.
“Wait!” Hope called out “You’re telling me, If I did as I was told and didn’t enter camp, I would have missed all this!?
Grover shrugged
“We still don’t know how you entered, the tree should’ve blocked all human and monsters away, no one admitted to giving you permission to come in, the tree still blocks full mortals and monsters, it doesn’t make sense.”
Amaya tried to remember what happened in her few moments of consciousness, all she remembered was being engulfed in shadows and waking up, that was it, maybe that had something to do with it?
She checked in her shorts pocket and the note she picked up was still there. She really didn’t imagine it, she looked at her new bracelet. How did it turn into a bow and arrow before?
Amaya heard Hope gasp “That’s the uhmm, what’s her name again? …Annameth? Yeah! It’s the Annameth girl! “Hope yelled out pointing at the blond girl in front of them.
Amaya immediately covered Hope’s mouth
“Holy shit! Hope, you can’t just say that!”
Grover and Percy gave them wide eyed look of pure shock, Percy was confused on how after all that was happened, Hope yelling Annameth to a random girl minding her own business was the most shocking.
Sometimes Hope was one of the smartest people Amaya knew, other times she acted plain stupid.
Lucky for them the blond girl either didn’t hear them or was to focused on the conversation she was having with the two men next to her.
Amaya let go of Hope’s mouth and heard her mumble an apology.
Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blond-haired girl who’d Amaya had basically ran away from was next to them.
The man facing them was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels—what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That’s it. He looked like a cherub who’d turned middle-aged in a trailer park.
“That’s Mr. D,” Grover murmured to them. “He’s the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that’s Annabeth Chase. Not Annameth, Grover said looking at Hope.
Hope scratched the back of her neck.
“Sorry about that.”
Grover continued talking.
She’s just a camper, but she’s been here longer than just about anybody. And you guys already know Chiron.…” He pointed at the guy whose back was to them.
First, Amaya realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then she recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, the scraggly beard.
“Mr. Brunner!” Amaya and Percy exclaimed in unison.
The Latin teacher turned and smiled at them. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple-choice answers B.
“Ah, good, Percy, Amaya” he said. “Now we have five for pinochle.”
Amaya did not want to play whatever ‘Pinochle’ was, she was still mad The Latin teacher called her more immature than Percy of all people.
He offered them chairs to the right of Mr. D, who looked at them with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. “Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don’t expect me to be glad to see you.”
“Uh, thanks.” Percy scooted a little farther away from him, if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice.
“Annabeth?” Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl.
Amaya looked at Hope.
“Her name is Annabeth not Annameth, let’s not go call her that okay Hope”
Hope crossed her arms.
“I got it her name isn’t Annnameth”
She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced them. “This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Amaya. Hope. Annabeth, my dear, why don’t you go check on their bunks? We’ll be putting them in cabin eleven for now.”
Annabeth said, “Sure, Chiron.”
“What’s cabin eleven.” Amaya whispered to Hope
Hope shrugged “I don’t know, apparently I’m not supposed to be here in the first place.”
She was probably their age, a couple of inches taller than all of them, and a whole lot more athletic looking. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair.
Amaya found her absolutely stunning, she could help but feel like she could look at her all day. She had beautiful grey eyes, like storm clouds; pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take her down in a fight.
“You drool when you sleep.” She said pointing at Percy.
Amaya nodded “I can confirm that is true.”
Then the pretty girl sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.
Amaya couldn’t help but look at her in amazement, she was very cool and pretty, Amaya hoped to befriend her one day.
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Hi o(〃＾▽＾〃)o