GODS Are Called MYTHS For A Reason
Percy Can Actually Keep a Secret
I groaned and my head flopped onto my chest. Today was the day from hell and I was definitely getting a serious migraine. "No, this can't be right. I'm sorry but I’m pretty sure that you’ve got the wrong person here. That’s not possible."
Percy opened his mouth to say something but Annabeth cut him off. "We're here, Ms. Hale. Sally will get you straightened out and we'll take good care of Naida."
We landed on a tall building and waiting on the roof was a pretty woman in her mid-forties with light brown hair, gentle brown eyes and a kind smile. My eyes instantly welled up in tears. My mother was the only person that had ever been there for me. We watched out for each other and I didn’t know who was going to take care of her if I was gone. Or who would take care of me. "Mom, I can't leave without you."
The older lady flashed me a small smile. "I’m Sally, Percy’s mom. Percy was the exact same way when he had to go to Camp. But you're meant to go on this journey on your own. I will watch out for your mother and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover will take care of you. It's your destiny," she said gently almost as if she was reading my thoughts
I didn't want to listen to her, but I believed her. More than that, I trusted her. And I didn't trust anyone. I wiped at my streaming eyes and nodded. I threw my arms around Mom's neck and pulled her into a tight hug. "I love you, Mommy. I'll miss you."
"I love you too, Naida." I could hear the tears in her voice but she was too tough to let them spill. "You will get all of your answers soon, baby. Take care of yourself and trust your instincts. You’re smarter than you think, hon."
I wiped at my blurry eyes before I pulled away from my mom so that no one would see me crying. I hated showing weakness, especially in front of a group of strangers that I apparently had to go to camp with. I climbed into the chariot and watched as my mother became a tiny speck on the rooftop.
The chariot ride from the apartment to camp wasn't long, for which I was grateful. I had to hang on tight to Annabeth's arm while we were up in the air, but it was better than grabbing onto her boyfriend. We landed in a clearing somewhere in the middle of a forest. I didn't even know that there was a forest in New York, especially so close to Long Island.
"Welcome," Annabeth announced, "to Camp Half-Blood."
My eyes darted everywhere at once. Even though the sun had already gone down there were lanterns with green fire and it was still early enough that kids aging from like five to college-aged were running around in matching orange T-shirts while fighting with swords or shooting arrows or making weapons. There were goat-boys like Grover and some other spirit looking things that I couldn't name.
"Well, I think that you two can handle Naida from here," Grover said. "I have to go find Juniper before she gets mad at me. I haven’t seen her in months and if I don’t go visit her first thing she’ll be on a war path." He leapt off and left me with Percy and Annabeth.
"Come on, you have to meet Chiron."
I didn't follow. "Wait, I'm still in the dark here. Can someone please tell me what's going on? Like what is Grover, this place, or those spirits?"
Percy took over the explanations. "Grover's a satyr, a demi-god protector. This place is Camp Half-Blood. It's protected from monsters and mortals so we can train in peace. The spirits are nymphs and dryads. They're spirits of the trees and water."
I nodded. Since I was being a good girl and actually letting him explain, I had a more important question on my mind. "So who's my father? You said you knew when I could hear Blackjack."
Annabeth covered his mouth before he could answer. "You'll find out tonight at dinner. The gods are supposed to claim their children by the time they're thirteen, so I'm actually surprised that yours hasn't yet."
I shrugged. "Mom and I moved around a lot. I think we were in Italy two years ago. I'd rather have been there than getting claimed- whatever that means."
"Well, that explains why the monsters hadn't found you by now. But still, they made a deal with Percy and you should have been claimed."
"Especially if I'm right about who your dad is," Percy added. Annabeth nudged him again.
"Let's take her to Chiron."
Chiron, it turned out was the events coordinator. He was sitting in a wheel-chair playing cards with a man in a leopard-print shirt.
"Anniebell, Perry, who is this?" the leopard-guy said sharply, like he didn’t like the interruption in his card game.
"This is Naida Hale, Mr. D,” Annabeth replied totally ignoring the fact that he’d gotten her name wrong. “She's new."
"I am Chiron," the dark-bearded guy in the wheelchair said kindly. "This is our camp director Dionysus or Mr. D as we call him. I'm glad to see that you were retrieved safely. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."
"Thanks," I muttered.
“It seems that you have had quite the journey to get here but we can discuss that soon enough. I am sure that you have many questions. Is there anything that you would like to ask me?”
There were a million questions rushing around in my head, like how the gods were real and what would happen to my mom and what the hell was going to happen to me now, but they all seemed stupid all of a sudden in front of this nice old man. Instead of saying anything my mouth glued itself shut and I simply shook my head.
"Well, if there’s nothing to discuss, why don't we all go down to the field for a night game of capture the flag? Naida, Annabeth can get you some equipment and we'll find you a team."
"She can be with us," Annabeth volunteered quickly.
"Excellent. Shall we?" Chiron started to stand. I didn't think that was a good idea, considering that he was in a wheelchair and all, but he did. When he stood, he was taller than a normal person should be. And he had the bottom half of a horse. Centaur, I was sure was the word. Ironically, Chiron being a centaur was something I could somewhat wrap my brain around.
Percy opened his mouth to say something but Annabeth cut him off. "We're here, Ms. Hale. Sally will get you straightened out and we'll take good care of Naida."
We landed on a tall building and waiting on the roof was a pretty woman in her mid-forties with light brown hair, gentle brown eyes and a kind smile. My eyes instantly welled up in tears. My mother was the only person that had ever been there for me. We watched out for each other and I didn’t know who was going to take care of her if I was gone. Or who would take care of me. "Mom, I can't leave without you."
The older lady flashed me a small smile. "I’m Sally, Percy’s mom. Percy was the exact same way when he had to go to Camp. But you're meant to go on this journey on your own. I will watch out for your mother and Percy, Annabeth, and Grover will take care of you. It's your destiny," she said gently almost as if she was reading my thoughts
I didn't want to listen to her, but I believed her. More than that, I trusted her. And I didn't trust anyone. I wiped at my streaming eyes and nodded. I threw my arms around Mom's neck and pulled her into a tight hug. "I love you, Mommy. I'll miss you."
"I love you too, Naida." I could hear the tears in her voice but she was too tough to let them spill. "You will get all of your answers soon, baby. Take care of yourself and trust your instincts. You’re smarter than you think, hon."
I wiped at my blurry eyes before I pulled away from my mom so that no one would see me crying. I hated showing weakness, especially in front of a group of strangers that I apparently had to go to camp with. I climbed into the chariot and watched as my mother became a tiny speck on the rooftop.
The chariot ride from the apartment to camp wasn't long, for which I was grateful. I had to hang on tight to Annabeth's arm while we were up in the air, but it was better than grabbing onto her boyfriend. We landed in a clearing somewhere in the middle of a forest. I didn't even know that there was a forest in New York, especially so close to Long Island.
"Welcome," Annabeth announced, "to Camp Half-Blood."
My eyes darted everywhere at once. Even though the sun had already gone down there were lanterns with green fire and it was still early enough that kids aging from like five to college-aged were running around in matching orange T-shirts while fighting with swords or shooting arrows or making weapons. There were goat-boys like Grover and some other spirit looking things that I couldn't name.
"Well, I think that you two can handle Naida from here," Grover said. "I have to go find Juniper before she gets mad at me. I haven’t seen her in months and if I don’t go visit her first thing she’ll be on a war path." He leapt off and left me with Percy and Annabeth.
"Come on, you have to meet Chiron."
I didn't follow. "Wait, I'm still in the dark here. Can someone please tell me what's going on? Like what is Grover, this place, or those spirits?"
Percy took over the explanations. "Grover's a satyr, a demi-god protector. This place is Camp Half-Blood. It's protected from monsters and mortals so we can train in peace. The spirits are nymphs and dryads. They're spirits of the trees and water."
I nodded. Since I was being a good girl and actually letting him explain, I had a more important question on my mind. "So who's my father? You said you knew when I could hear Blackjack."
Annabeth covered his mouth before he could answer. "You'll find out tonight at dinner. The gods are supposed to claim their children by the time they're thirteen, so I'm actually surprised that yours hasn't yet."
I shrugged. "Mom and I moved around a lot. I think we were in Italy two years ago. I'd rather have been there than getting claimed- whatever that means."
"Well, that explains why the monsters hadn't found you by now. But still, they made a deal with Percy and you should have been claimed."
"Especially if I'm right about who your dad is," Percy added. Annabeth nudged him again.
"Let's take her to Chiron."
Chiron, it turned out was the events coordinator. He was sitting in a wheel-chair playing cards with a man in a leopard-print shirt.
"Anniebell, Perry, who is this?" the leopard-guy said sharply, like he didn’t like the interruption in his card game.
"This is Naida Hale, Mr. D,” Annabeth replied totally ignoring the fact that he’d gotten her name wrong. “She's new."
"I am Chiron," the dark-bearded guy in the wheelchair said kindly. "This is our camp director Dionysus or Mr. D as we call him. I'm glad to see that you were retrieved safely. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."
"Thanks," I muttered.
“It seems that you have had quite the journey to get here but we can discuss that soon enough. I am sure that you have many questions. Is there anything that you would like to ask me?”
There were a million questions rushing around in my head, like how the gods were real and what would happen to my mom and what the hell was going to happen to me now, but they all seemed stupid all of a sudden in front of this nice old man. Instead of saying anything my mouth glued itself shut and I simply shook my head.
"Well, if there’s nothing to discuss, why don't we all go down to the field for a night game of capture the flag? Naida, Annabeth can get you some equipment and we'll find you a team."
"She can be with us," Annabeth volunteered quickly.
"Excellent. Shall we?" Chiron started to stand. I didn't think that was a good idea, considering that he was in a wheelchair and all, but he did. When he stood, he was taller than a normal person should be. And he had the bottom half of a horse. Centaur, I was sure was the word. Ironically, Chiron being a centaur was something I could somewhat wrap my brain around.
I love, love, LOVE your story (and I'm only on the 11th Chapter!) :) :D :P
PS- You got Rachel's eye color wrong. -_-
2/17/15