The Pharaoh's Wife

Hen had had some pretty strange encounters with mythical creatures, but the first day of eighth grade had been the weirdest.

Kelli had been acting oddly nice to him before the final bell rang, but when it did, she cornered him into a stairway. Hen had thought, Okay, no big deal, she probably wants me to be the mascot or something, but when she turned into a white skinned, flaming haired, fanged, weird legged, red eyed creature, Hen blinked, and shook his head.

“Kelli?” He had known the girl for about a year when she transferred to his middle school, with her dark skin, curly brown hair, and cheerleader attitude, but he thought he was imagining things when she shapeshifted.

“What, Hen?” She was as pretty as ever, with her hair falling off her shoulders, and the way she moved. It made Hen want to come even closer to her, but even with a dazzling white smile on her face, her tone seemed angry.

“I-I don’t know.” Hen backed away from the girl, and bumped into the brick wall behind him.

“Oh, Hen, you do know. You want to forget everything, and kiss me.” She leaned forward, still smiling. “Henry Wilson, come here.”

Hen lurched forward, and followed her commands. Kelli could do no harm, she just wanted him near her.

In that instant, the door to the stairway flung open. “Kelli, when your mom hears of this, she will be so angry.”

In the doorway stood a teenage girl, dressed in an orange t-shirt, jeans, and wore choppy braids in her hair, and she seemed determined, gripping a dagger in one hand, and a bag strewn on her other shoulder.

Kelli squeaked and turned around. “Go away, demigod, this is none of you business.” She snarled, and went back to smiling at Hen. He blinked, wanting to follow her words.

“Kelli, you don’t have to listen to me, but, Lou Ellen!” The girl called to the side, as a girl suddenly appeared next to her.

“Mother, or Hecate, will be angry if you hurt me, and I can stand in front of him.” Lou Ellen strolled breezily past Kelli and stationed herself in front of Hen. “And, dear sister Kelli, weren’t you supposed to be guarding Mount Misery.”

“You’ve won, for now.” Kelli hissed then disappeared.

“Come with us.” The girl with Lou Ellen said. “I’m Piper, and we’ll explain everything in the cab.” All three rushed out of the school, as if it were about to explode.

Lou Ellen threw a golden coin on to the road in front of them, and uttered something in, was that Greek? An old battered taxi formed in front of them, with three old woman in front, and the whole car seemed surrounded by gray fog. “Gray Sisters’ Taxi. Hop in before it rains.” One of the three drivers said, and as soon as Hen sat down, they sped in a hurry away from his school, driving dangerously.

Hen notice the seatbelts were black chains, and he just held on. “This is the fastest way to Camp Half-Blood. We’ll be there in a minute.” Piper gazed out the window. Poor Lou Ellen, squished in the middle.

It started downpouring as soon as the car stopped. “Camp Half-Blood. Thank you for the drachma, and watch out for the new girl.” One of the drivers turned back, and she had only one eye. Hen had noticed them fighting over something earlier on in the ride, but it couldn’t be them.

“I get the eye now! You had it most of the drive.” One of them tackled the other. Lou Ellen, Piper, and Hen rushed out of the cab as it drove off, zigzagging on the road as it left.

“The Three Fates. They weave the future, but they can never decide who of the three of them gets their one eye.” Lou Ellen remarked as she and Piper began heading towards an entrance.
Hen scrambled to catch up and once he did, he wanted to run back to his old life, just him and his dad, playing catch, making dinner, being a normal kid. There stood a large pine tree, with a golden piece of something, and it overlooked a hidden camp.

Piper led the way, weaving in and out of the campers, as rain was pouring. Hen was soaked, and so was everybody else, except for two people near the lake. He tried to peer over campers’ shoulders and see who they were, but everyone had stopped, and stared at him. A glowing symbol of a wine goblet floated above his head.

“Your mom is Hebe.” Piper finalized. “Now let’s go to Cabin Eighteen and see your siblings.” Lou Ellen left the two of them, and Hen was dragged to a small cabin, with white columns, and made out of a white stone. A poorly made sign read, Go away, and the cabin looked newly made. He looked around for the first time at the camp. To one side, there was a forest, with creatures skittering into trees, and it seemed they were in a valley with a lake. To one side stood a large house, and near it was a pine tree. There were lots of normal summer camp activities and weird ones, like an arena.

Piper knocked rapidly on the door. “Ryan, I’ve got a new brother. It’s Piper, from Aphrodite’s cabin!”

The door swung open, and a meek scrawny looking boy with red hair and glasses frowned. “What?” His tone was sour.

“Ryan, this is Henry Wilson, your half brother. He’s still a little confused about everything and it’s raining, so could we come in or-” Ryan grabbed Hen’s arm and yanked him in. He slammed the door on Piper and led Hen deeper into the cabin. “Or I could just go.” Piper’s muffled voice sighed and Hen had a feeling she had trudged away.

“Man, am I glad to finally have a brother. It was just me, Camilla and Rasha, and they just stay on their side of the cabin, ignoring me. You can sleep on the top bunk if you want, but the place isn’t fully furnished yet.” Hen could tell.

There were two sides of the cabin, both holding only a bunk bed and wardrobe. The walls and floors weren’t exactly the smoothest. “This was the most recent cabin built, so we’ll have to do for now.”

“Can someone please explain to me how I’m a demigod?” Hen asked Ryan.

Ryan chuckled. “Sorry. The other cabinmates I have are girls, so they don’t really listen, but here’s the story. Greek and Roman gods and goddesses from the myths are real. Demigods, like one of the most famous, Heracles, our stepdad, are actually children of a god and a mortal. Our mom happens to be Hebe, the goddess of youth. We kinda live longer than normal people, we like to be social, help others, party, blah, blah, blah. Tonight we can head down to the armory and you can pick out a weapon.”

Hen heard the door open behind him, and he spun around to see who it was. “Hey Ryan. We gave someone our only umbrella, sorry. Do you think-Who’s he?”

One of the two girls who had just entered glanced at him. “I’m Hen, it’s short for Henry. I think I’m your brother.”

The older girl introduced herself. “Hi Hen, I’m Camilla.”

“Rasha. How old are you?” His three new siblings looked nothing like him, nevermind each other. Camilla had thick curly blond hair, brown eyes, and a portly figure. Rasha had almond colored skin, jet black hair, and piercing black eyes. They all seemed young.

“I’m thirteen. You guys?”

Ryan grinned. “You never can know with Hebe’s kids. I’m seventeen.” Hen was surprised. He could easily pass for a fourteen year old.

“And I’m eleven.” Rasha giggled. She seemed as if she belonged in a second grade classroom.

“Nineteen, and the counselor. We were out helping out Katie at the camp store.”

Ryan scoffed. “Helping out, again? I’d rather waste my time in here, hanging back.”

Camilla glared. “It’s odd that you say that, since our mother usually helps people, and yet all you ever want to do is party and sword fight.”

“The two best things I do. Now, excuse me, I need to go take a nap.” He casually strolled off and Rasha frowned.

“He doesn’t seem related to us.” She then returned to a full smile, “I’m gonna go find Lacy. I need her to help me cut my hair.”

Camilla grimaced. “Just not too short, okay?” It was clearly a subject they had fought over.
Rasha bounced out of the cabin. “Let’s get you a weapon, shall we?”

The armory was a big metal shed, next to a blue and gold cabin. “Malcolm, where’s Annabeth?” Camilla asked a blond boy with gray eyes.

“With Percy, today’s his birthday. Is that your new brother?” Malcolm gestured to Hen.

“Yeah, I’m Henry, though I like to be called Hen.”

“Sure, I’m guessing you need a new weapon, so let’s go inside.” The shed’s interior was filled with rows of weapons that were gold, silver, black, and bronze.

“Choose anything, really, we don’t mind.” Hen scanned all the choices. He didn’t really want shotgun, or a spear. He picked up a gold sword. “Imperial Gold, from the Romans.” Hen hefted the sword in the air. It was pretty lightweight, and now all he needed was practice. He nodded at Camilla and Malcolm.

“By any chance, could we borrow an umbrella?” They entered Athena’s cabin, where a bunch of kids were working on different projects, and the cabin seemed like a classroom. Everyone became silent when a phone rang in someone’s storage trunk.

“Somebody go get Annabeth.”

Notes

Yes, Hen is a name. This chapter is basically just to introduce Henry Wilson, and I'll be changing between his and Ariadna's perspectives. Please comment any feedback you have, I'm always looking to improve my writing.