EDITED... MOSTLY
( t h r e e )
Surprisingly, I acutally stayed true to my word and did not run when I had the chance. Percy didn't look like he totally trusted me, but he didn't say anything else in protest.
Chiron brought me to a sitting room, where there was a leapord's head hanging the wall. I was a little creeped out by that, especially when Chiron tossed it a few Snausages - the head actually ate them - but I didn't ask, thinking that I just didn't want to know.
I sat down in the closest chair and watched as Chiron started stuffing his horse body into a wheelchair that should have been far too small. First he stepped in with his back legs, compressing himself into the chair, then folded his front legs in as well. A pair of fake human legs covered in a blank popped up to conceal the empty space. I blinked.
"So," started Chiron like this was completely normal. "What's your story? I'm sure it's interesting."
I hesitated, biting my lip. I wasn't sure how much I wanted to tell him. Should I explain how I was either a... three-quarter blood or a god? If I was a god, I didn't even know what I was the god of. I was just sort of... there.
So I decided to begin with the simple stuff. "Well," I started, "I've pretty much lived in the forest all my life and the godly part of my family pretty much ignored me all my life." That much was true, at least.
"You knew about the godly side of your family?" Chiron asked disbelievingly.
I hesitated again. "Sort of," I said after a second or two. "I knew that they existed but I didn't know know who my godly parent is. I still don't know."
Chiron frowned pensively. "How do you come to know about your godly parent, without knowing who they are?" He asked.
I bit my lip with intent to kill. After a moment or two I decided not to tell anyone about my strange parentage. It would just cause questions and confusion. So, instead, I told him, "Well... like I said, I've lived in the forest my whole life, really, though never the same forest, because I always travel. But one day, a year or so ago, there was just this... voice telling me everything. It explained how all the Greek myths are real, and that I'm a demigod, only the voice didn't tell me who my godly parent was. My weapons appeared at my feet. From then on, I've fought monsters as I travel."
Chiron nodded thoughtfully. "When and why did you start traveling?" He asked.
I shrugged, my mind whirring to come up with a suitable lie. It had to be something plausible, something normal - well, the demigod equivalent of normal, at least.
"Around when I was thirteen," I said a second later, "I ran away then. Things at home were too complicated. I used a regular knife for hunting, though I didn't do much killing. I brought food and money with me, so I mostly just bought what I needed."
Chiron seemed to run over my words in his head before he nodded yet again. "Okay. You'll be staying in the Hermes cabin, then, until you're claimed. Hermes is the gods of thieves, travellers, merchants, and a lot of other things. Once you're claimed, you'll stay in that god or goddess' cabin. By the way, is your mortal parent your mom or your dad?"
"My mom is mortal," I lied. It was just the first thing that came out of my mouth, so I'd have to try extra hard to remember that lie in case someone asked me.
Without saying another word, Chiron stood, his horse half emerging easily from the wheelchair, and headed out the door to the hallway, where everyone but Blondie (obviously) was waiting.
"Chiron," Annabeth said immediately, ignoring me, "can Percy and I talk to you?"
Chiron nodded (seriously, what was with him and nodding?). "Why don't you Seven - or should I say Six? - come, and I'll fill you in. Clarisse, could you give Jason some ambrosia?" He directed.
Clarisse rolled her eyes. "No way," She answered with a grunt, rolling her eyes.
"Clarisse," Chiron said insistently.
Clarisse sighed but nodded nonetheless. "Fine," She muttered.
"Thank you," Chiron said. Then he turned (it looked rather odd with his horse half) and headed back into the sitting room. Everyone besides Clarisse (and Jason, obviously) followed him in. Hazel closed the door behind her.
I was left standing awkwardly in the hallway with Clarisse. "They leave me out of every freaking thing they do," She muttered angrily before turning on her heel and heading out the front door.
"You can find your own way around!" Clarisse called over her shoulder as an afterthought.
I rolled my eyes at her back and waited a few seconds, glancing down to the basement stairs. I had knocked Blondie - no, Jason - out twice. It wouldn't be right to leave him, so I decided to find some ambrosia.
Easier said then done.
I looked around the whole house for it, with no success. Finally, I clomped outside and sighed, looking around helplessly. I had absolutely no idea where anything was, which was a strange and scary feeling for me.
Finally, I spotted a sign over a door that read 'infirmary', so I decided to go there. After my failed ambrosia mission, I was planning to just find the Hermes cabin, but, hey, now that I knew where ambrosia was, it would be easy to get it and wake Jason.
So that's basically how I nearly got a black eye.
Okay, that probably didn't make much sense, so I'll keep going.
Once I spotted the infirmary, I headed straight towards it with a quick, confident pace. When I reached it I pulled the door open and stepped inside.
There were a few beds laid out, and only two were occupied at the moment. The archer I had shot was sitting up in the farthest one with a disgruntled expression and a wrapped wrist. The other contained the satyr I had taken down. A camper was inspecting his cloven hooves, which didn't look the least bit damaged to me.
I closed the door softly behind me, though apparently not as softly as I had thought, because a few of the campers - children of Apollo, I guessed - must have heard the sound and looked over. They took me in - an unfmaliar person with a bow and a quiver of arrows. Apparently I didn't look too friendly to them.
The nearest person dropped the ambrosia she was putting away in a cabinet and leapt straight for me, fist clenched and heading for my face. I barely managed to dodge the surprise attack and grab her fist.
"Woah, calm down," I said, dropping my bow peacefully on the floor in front of me. "I'm just looking for some ambrosia."
The camper seemed to look me over for injuries for about two seconds. "You're not injured," She said after a moment, "then who's the ambrosia for?"
I paused. "Jason," I said, "you know him?"
The camper nodded like that was obvious. "Everyone knows him. No one really has a choice about knowing him. What happened to him?"
"I.. uh.. I sort of maybe knocked him out," I admitted. Before she could go all psycho and try to attack me again, I said, "It was a misunderstanding. We're cool now. Well... he is actually still knocked out, but you know what I mean."
The medic frowned and thought my words over. "Fine," she said after a moment, "I'll see if I can talk to Chiron, though. I'll come with you to give him ambrosia as well. By the way, if you're a new camper or whatever, who's your godly parent?"
I didn't miss a beat. "I don't know. I haven't been claimed yet," I lied immediately.
The camper looked me over again. "You're definitely over thirteen. You should've been claimed ages ago," she said.
I shrugged in response. "Who knows why I wasn't claimed on time?" I asked rhetorically.
To my surprise, the camper actually answered me. "I dunno why, but I know that the last time someone was claimed late, it was because they were part of the Seven. It happened to be Jason, Leo and Piper."
I frowned. "The Seven? What's that?" I asked.
The camper gave me a disbelieving look. "You don't know who the Seven are? Seriously? How is that possible?"
I bit back a retort, instead shrugging. "Can we just go?" I asked, fed up with everything.
The medic nodded, grabbed some ambrosia, and headed out of the infirmary.
"I'm Ashley," she said as way of introduction as she led me back towards the house overlooking the entire camp.
"Adara."
"Weird name."
"Yet you don't comment on something like Percy."
We lapsed into an awkward silence as we walked. Finally, I said, "If you're going instead, can I just go find the Hermes cabin and get settled in, then?"
Ashley shrugged. "Sure," She said, "doesn't matter to me. Hermes's cabin is number eleven. Ask around and stuff. Tell them Chiron sent you, so they don't kill you."
I nodded and set off towards the formation of cabins. There were two beside eachother, facing in the general direction of the pine, and ten more, two rows of five making a U shape with the other two. There was also another row of cabins facing the bigger two.
I approached the closest people, two boys who were so similar they could be brothers, except for the fact that one is a good bit taller than the other. Well, they could still be brothers, I guess.
"I'm Adara. Chiron sent me - I'm a new camper. Where's the Hermes cabin?" I asked quickly.
The taller one grinned mischievously. "I'm Travis," he said.
"I'm Connor," the other added.
"Sons of Hermes. Pleased to meet you!"