"Hey Jackson, hurry up!" A voice called from afar, and I realized I was standing in the middle of my family's room.
"Hurry up, we're going to the pool!" It was David, he was calling to me... oh right, they were on the cruise ship.

"I'm coming!" I replied and made sure my swim trunks were on before I headed out onto the deck. It was a clear, crisp day... the salty brine of the ocean could be smelled from miles in all directions. There was a light breeze that ruffled my hair as I walked toward the swimming pool. By now, mom and dad were lounging on those chaise longues that were typically seen at a beach setting. David and Cynthia, were already in the pool, splashing each other and laughing. They were twins, both 20 years old and both attending Harvard University. We played for a while, splashing... laughing... then the skies turned dark and the ocean churned. Froth and bubbles gathered at the side of the large ship, and everyone was warned to get back into their cabins.

Curiosity grabbed hold of me and I looked over the edge of the ship to find something ascending. It was slow at first, but as if angry at the sight of me, it shot up and I realized it took the shape of a massive hand. It made the boat look like nothing more than a toy that toddlers often brought with them for their bubble baths. Just as that thought crossed my mind, it slammed down on the deck and everything grew dark.

"Hey..." Someone spoke... but it sounded so fuzzy and distant I wasn't sure if it was all in my head or for real.
"Hey you..." Who's calling me?
"Wake up!" No... I refuse.
"Somebody get Chiron!" Who?

David was looking down at me, his right temple was covered in blood. "It's time to wake up, little brother. I'm afraid it's goodbye as well."

"Why must it be goodbye?"

"I can't say, I've already said too much. Live a good life, Jackson. We'll wait for you on the other side, alright?" No... no! What other side? Why can't I come with you?

"He's waking up! Hey, are you alright?" My eyes opened and immediately, my head started to spin. I hurriedly closed my eyes and waited until the spinning subsided before attempting to open my eyes again.

"Where am I?" I croaked, my throat felt dry and I knew I couldn't have sounded any better than a frog.

"The infirmary. What happened to you?"

"Infirmary?" I echoed with great difficulty, trying to process the information.

"Yes, here, have some." I felt something pressed against my lips and I opened them only to feel the cool rim of a glass in between. Water soon flooded my mouth and I swallowed all of it, ravenously taking in the cool water that healed my parched throat. Finally, I managed to lift my heavy eyelids and I found myself staring at a group of people rather than one person alone.

"Who...?"

"I'm Grover. That's Percy, and the girl is Annabeth. We found you washed ashore, do you remember what happened to you?" All of this was too much to process, it was starting to give me a headache. If that wasn't enough, I looked down to find this Grover in a half goat costume. I was shocked, but my body was too tired to be shocked, so I ended up laughing. The three gave each other looks,
"Um..."

"Didn't you get the memo, Halloween was over a long time ago." I noticed the horns, and the hooves... and the furry lower half. I seirously thought the guy didn't get the memo.

"Excuse me, but I am a satyr. The protector of the great Percy Jackson!" He said it so proudly... as if that was supposed to ring any bells. The guy named Percy smiled sheepishly and the girl shoved the man-goat Grover aside.

"Who are you?" She got right to the point, and I blinked, processing her words for a second then using up another minute to come up with an answer.

"I'm... Jackson. I'm Jackson Yu." The blonde girl, Annabeth, didn't seem convinced... I suddenly noticed the sheathe on her hip and realized it was a dagger.

"You don't look very..."

"Chinese? I know, I was adopted. I was surprised too." I cut her off, rolling my eyes in the process. Yeah, my pasty skin and light brown hair weren't exactly typical for Asians. Annabeth looked annoyed, hell I was annoyed! Where the hell am I?

"What happened? Why were you washed ashore?"

"I wish I knew." I replied indignantly, staring up at the ceiling and then back at the girl's face. Her eyes were stormy gray, and it reminded me of the storm which swept over the boat. Those eyes were unrelenting, worming their way into my soul, trying to pry my secrets from where they lay. There was no point in keeping this charade up any longer.
"What happened was..." I started to explain about the cruise and the weird storm. I told them my memory was definitely fuzzy, but I remember this gigantic hand stretching out from the ocean and slamming down on the boat. I spoke about the stormy clouds too, and by the end of it, everyone was quiet.

The three gave me stern looks before they retreated further away from me and started to whisper amongst themselves. That was fine with me, it gave me more time to think. They decided upon something and the two guys left, leaving Annabeth alone with me in the infirmary. Maybe not, but I couldn't raise my head up to do a 360 of the place. "So... Annabeth..." The girl perked up at her name,
"... you guys know what happened don't you?"

"We can't say for sure." She replied, and I knew immediately then that she knew something was up.

"Tell me, please. I need to find out if my parents... if my family is okay! There were a lot of people on that cruise, I need to know if they survived or not! I know... I know I'm crazy with the big hand and everything... but I need to know." The girl placed a hand on my chest as I tried to rise, and effectively forced me back down.

"Chiron will tell you everything you need to know. Please, rest for now. Everything will be revealed soon." I laid back down and frowned, worrying will get me nowhere, but I can't just lay here and twiddle with my thumbs while David and the others are in danger.

A while later, this man-horse thing came galloping into the infirmary. I can't say if I was more surprised by the sudden entrance or the fact that the one that made the sudden entrance was half horse. Earlier I had laughed at Grover... I didn't dare laugh at this person. "Ah, good, you're awake." The man-horse spoke, he had a deep, rich voice behind that scraggly brown beard. He reminded me of that dwarf from The Lord of the Rings... of course this guy's no dwarf.

"Um... h-hi..." I murmured , not quite sure what to make of the unusual scene.

"My name is Chiron, I am the trainer of this camp. You are...?"

"Jackson."

"Right, Jackson. Well, right now you are in Camp Half Blood, this is a place where we train demi-gods."

"Demi what?" I wasn't sure I heard him correctly.

"Demi-gods, half human, half god."

"And I am...?"

"We can't discern that yet. I cannot sense any power from you, and yet you were able to drift through the barriers... it's a little unsettling."

"You're... joking right? There's no such thing as god... or... man-horses..." I said the last part in a small voice, afraid he would rear up and kick my head in with those hooves of his.

"I see, poor child, you are brainwashed by modern civilization. Come along now, I will show you." What? I strained to get up, but Annabeth helped me and eventually I was on my own two feet. I realized how serious my body must have been damaged. My arm was put in a sling, my head was all bandaged up, and my entire body ached.

"You know, you recovered rather quickly without eating ambrosia. You are lucky to have such powerful healing skills." Chiron noted and clip clopped out of the room, and I followed his furry hindquarter out of the infirmary. Outside, I could see people in bronze armour and they had swords by their sides.

"Is this some sort of reenactment?"

"Oh, no, this is a training camp for demi-gods." There's that word again, half human, half god. If I wasn't a demi-god, then why exactly have I washed ashore? Okay, say hypothetically that demi-gods existed and whatever fairies or unicorns were out there existed, then what was my part in all of this?
"There, we have the training arena, ropes course, range. Then the cabins, and there's the mess hall, and the Big House." Chiron took on the part of a tour guide as we strolled through the "camp". It was like a mini town in the middle of nowhere. Somewhere far off, a warm breeze blew past and it carried with it the smell of strawberries and plump grapes ready for picking. My left palm started to itch so I scratched it until I found relief.

"So this place is a pretty sweet spot, huh?" I asked, following Chiron around the entire camp.

"What Percy has told me is a little disconcerting, I was hoping to hear the story from you." I retold my tale, and when I was done we stood in front of the salty waters. I heard the waves lapping at the sandy beach, and tension rose as I thought of the hand... trying to make its way toward me.

"From what I have heard, it sounds like you have made Zeus and Poseidon angry somehow." I don't think I heard him correctly, Zeus and Poseidon? Like Zeus as in the naked guy on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, Zeus? Like Greek mythology Zeus and Poseidon? Was he for real? Chiron seemed to take note of my expression and I think he nickered... I can't be sure.
"It is strange though, I do not believe the two brothers would attack anyone so blatantly unless they had reason to."

"So... what are you going to do with me?"

"We will keep you within the boundaries of the camp until further notice."

I was handed over to Annabeth later on so she could keep an eye on me. I was also given new clothes to replace my tattered ones from before. Annabeth only answered impassively when I had questions about the random creatures that popped up around the camp. Percy came a couple of times to hang out with us, but he always abandoned us in favour of sparring or something. "So you and Percy are a thing, huh?" I didn't think the girl was capable of blushing or revealing emotion, but her cheeks grew pink. They were definitely a thing.

"Well..."

"Congrats." We walked around awkwardly after that, she kept playing the part of a tour guide, but she seemed uneasy. I don't know if I made her uncomfortable or anything, but I decided to leave the subject be. Eventually it was time for dinner, and my stomach was growling by then, so yeah I was pretty happy about it.

The mess hall was pretty big, it had to house all of the demi-gods afterall. It felt a little bit like it came out of the Harry Potter movies, where food just magically appeared on the table... except food appeared on the plates instead and the cups filled themselves up automatically. This magic thing was still pretty freaky, but I was rapidly getting used to it. Annabeth told me about the cups and the plates, and I asked for spaghetti and Arizona Iced Tea. The magic behind the plate could read my mind or something since a mountain of spaghetti appeared. I don't know why, I've always loved spaghetti. Before I dug in, Annabeth stopped me and picked up her plate and indicated that I should do the same. Confused, I waddled after her, and I swear to god (gods?) that she threw half her food into the fire. It turned into a strange colour as a plume of smoke in the shape of an owl appeared and then disappeared. "Um..."

"It's an offering to the Gods." She explained, answering my unspoken question.

"I'm an atheist." She shot me a look, and I just chuckled nervously before doing the exact same thing as her. I threw in a good amount of my spaghetti... ah... my poor spaghetti... and watched as the fire remained the same. "Hmm... maybe the Gods aren't taking calls right n-" The fire suddenly roared and became a large column, nearly licking the ceiling. It became black, and gave off an evil aura that made everyone turn and watch in horror as it slowly took on a shape. Before it could form completely, it dispersed, and the double doors slammed open to reveal a red-haired girl. Her eyes were glowing, and she appeared as if in a trance.

"The wrath of earth and sea combine,
Born of water, the Son of Time.
Four chosen for the race,
Monsters of Tartaurus will give Chase.
Fighting together 'gainst evil undone,
Sickle and Clock, combine as one.
The Trident and Owl then must choose,
Which one they would rather lose.
Pan's descendent or the Clock,
Hurry because tick tock, tick tock."

Everyone watched in horror as the girl suddenly fainted and was caught by Chiron who stood in the doorway with her. The centaur -Chiron had to explain the word to me several times before I finally got it- looked around the room once and nodded before clip clopping away. What was that about?

Notes

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