When we landed, everyone crowded us and squished me. Wow, I guess they never heard of a harpy attacking before, or personal space for that matter. I thought. Before my claustrophobia kicked in, Clarisse pushed and shooed everyone away.
“All right everyone, BACK UP!” She yelled. She said the last part so loudly, even I jumped back. Clarisse then gestures for me to follow her and I gladly do. She leads me to a large house that was a nice blue color.
At the front door, there was a man, except, he wasn’t entirely a man. The top part was, but the bottom part was a horse. He was a… centaur. But, he seemed to calm for the typical centaurs that I have read about. I mentally searched my mind until an answer popped up. I gasped once I found my answer.
“Your… your Chiron, the trainer of demigods,” I said. He looked surprised, probably because I knew who he was.
“Well, your obviously not dyslexic,” he said with his arms crossed in front of his chest, which was human.
I saw Dylan pull himself out of the large, watching crowd. He worked his way over to us and said “Chiron, how did they know we were coming? This is like the press attracted to Blake Shelton!” He exclaimed.
Clarisse stepped forward and corrected Dylan. “Actually, princess’s here horse brought all of the attention.” While she was talking, she jerked her thumb at me. Chiron looked astonished at her remark.
“Why don’t we bring this inside,” He said to us. As we all walked into of the big, blue house, the entire crowd went “aww”. Wow, looks like I’m a celebrity, I thought. I walked inside and with my two new friends and Chiron.
We were guided to a table that a man with a bright Hawaiian shirt was sitting at.
“Ah, Sarah Harter,” the man said. I looked at him confused, then looked around to see if a Sarah was here. I then realized he was talking to me.
“Um, sir, It’s Sam Hamper,” I corrected him. The man looked please at what I said.
“See, she called me ‘sir’ and I didn’t even have to tell her to! I like her already,” the man said. He then picked up a magazine and continued reading it as if we didn’t even exist. I just shrugged and walked over to the others. I noticed Chiron was looking at me sympathetically.
“So Sam, why don’t you tell us what happened? Just so we can try to determine your godly parent,” he said nicely. I was confused. Godly parent? Does he mean that I am part god? I remembered what Clarisse said about Ares being my father. I looked at him with a confused look.
“Are you saying that I’m a demigod, like Hercules?” I asked, surprised that he even implied that I could possibly be a demigod. He simply nodded and gestured for me to carry on. I took in a deep breath and started talking about the morning I started school. I talked for a few minutes until I got to the part about how my dad had my weapons in the chimney, then he stopped me.
“What about your parents?” Chiron asked. “You just mentioned your stepdad.” He searched my face for an answer. I sighed and just stared at my hands.
“I didn’t know either of my parents. My stepdad was a good friend of my dad, or that’s what I was told. I don’t know any of my other family members,” I explained to him. Chiron just looked at me sadly.
“Well, we don’t have any idea who your parent is, and we are no closer than we were when you first arrived. We will just have to seen if you get claimed sometime soon. Now, let’s go to the mess hall, it’s almost time to eat and I’m sure your hungry,” He said. As if on cue, my stomach gurgled in response then, Chiron looked at Clarisse.
“Since you and Sam have gotten along so well, you will show her around after we are done eating, Clarisse. For now, show her where the dining pavilion is,” Clarisse nodded in agreement and got up. I got up as well and followed her outside.
We got to the mess hall, which was a room full of demigods. There was a table, which had the symbols of all the gods, it was very long. As we walked in, Everyone turned our way and stared at me. But, Clarisse gave them all one dirty look and they all turned around and carried on to eating their food.
“Come on kid, you can come and eat with us,” she said to me. I looked over at an almost empty table and made eye contact with a kid with sea-green eyes and black hair. He immediately looked away, then Clarisse called me over.
“Hey kid, come on!” She yelled. I walked over to her and sat down at the table.
“Guys, this is Sam, she is new and doesn’t appreciate fame. Got it?” All of the Ares campers nodded, but one boy turns toward me.
“So Sam, want to go spar with us after lunch?” the boy said to me. I nodded in agreement.
“I would rather hang out with you guys than those kids over there,” I gestured to the table of Hermes people. One of the kids was putting a cup of ice down another’s shirt.
I saw some of the kids at the table go up and walk to a large table filled with lots of food. There was BBQ, grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, and fresh bread. I noticed a girl serving the food to other people. She was very strange looking. She had long red hair, but that was really the only thing normal about her. Her ears were pointed at the tips, her skin was bright green, and her eyes were slanted. I followed the other campers and got a plate of Barbecue and some bread.
“Lemonade!” Someone said. Their glass, which was previously empty, mysteriously filled with a yellowish liquid. I looked around and discovered that this was happening to everyone. Red, green, and clear drinks filled everyone’s glasses as they said the name of it. Clarisse noticed me looking around.
“Hey, just say something you want to drink out loud. It’ll be in your glass and it’ll never empty,” she explained to me. I thought of a drink that I would enjoy drinking. I grabbed my glass and held it up.
“Mountain Dew!” I said aloud to my cup. The yellowish drink filled my cup. I took a sip and realized it was the delicious soda.
I was about to dig into my meal when I noticed everyone heading toward the fireplace with their plates. Clarisse got up and I followed closely behind. The kids in front of me took a piece of their food off of their plates and put it into the fire. I realized Dylan was behind me. I waved at him and smiled and he smiled back.
“It’s an offering to the gods. Most do it to their parents but…” He trailed off and didn’t finished his sentence. I walked up to the fireplace and grabbed some of my BBQ and tossed it into the fire and think as hard as I can.
To the gods, please claim me soon.
I walk back over to the Ares kids and eat the rest of my food. I finished my meal and thought, I could get used to this.