"I see you're awake." I heard a girl's voice behind me. A girl about 17 appeared next to me. She had blonde hair and stormy gray eyes. "I'm Annabeth." She introduced herself.
I didn't answer. I still felt drowsy. I just simply looked at her.
"Not the talkative type?" She implied.
"Annabeth," said a familiar voice behind me. I realized the voice belonged to the horse guy, who's name I believed was Chiron. That's when the memories came flooding back. The arrows, Dodds' evil mutation. It wasn't very nice. "Just leave Saffron alone."
"Urruugghhmmmmphhh?" I mumbled.
Annabeth sighed, picked up the lemon-square, and put it in my hand.
"Eat it." She commanded. I was expecting it to taste, like, well, a lemon square, but it turned out to taste like blueberry muffins. Annabeth then left.
"Do you feel strong enough to walk?" The horse guy appeared next to me, but in wheelchair form.
I nodded my head weakly, and then shook it. There was no way I was going to walk anytime soon.
"Then you should rest." He suggested gently.
I fell into a heavy sleep several minutes later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Saffron? Saffron? Wake up." I felt hands shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see Annabeth's face. Instead of me in a rocking chair, I was in a bed.
"I'm taking you on a tour!" She said happily.
I sat up and looked at her. "Where?" I asked.
"Well, Camp Half-Blood, of course. Come on."
I slowly crawled out of bed and steadied my feet. I followed Annabeth down the stairs to meet Chiron in the living room.
"So I heard you're taking Saffron on a tour?" Chiron asked Annabeth. She nodded. "I think that that's too soon. You've forgotten that she doesn't know yet."
Know what?!
Annabeth blushed and slapped her palm to her forehead. "Oh, yeah, forgot about that."
I felt like a third wheel as I stood there awkwardly next to her.
I felt so confused. I needed some answers.
"Where am I?" I asked simply and patiently. My grogginess had faded away.
"You are at Camp Half-Blood." Chiron answered. So this was how we were going to communicate.
"What was that thing that I killed?"
"A fury. One of Hades' minions." Hades. I had heard that name before. In school, at history class. We were learning about Greek mythology.
"Is this a dream?" I asked.
"No. This is all real, Saffron. Now, here's where you might get confused, or start to think I'm lying. I assure you, I would never lie to you." Chiron said this as if he knew me before the evil demon probation officer incident. "All those things that you've learned about Greek Mythology is all real." He paused, either to let it sink in or just for the dramatic effect. "Here at Camp Half-Blood, you'll train to live on your own. This is a safe refuge for demigods."
"So what's a half-god or demi-blood or whatever and why am I here?" I asked. He wasn't answering directly, which made a knot form in my stomach.
"Well, here's where it gets confusing." Chiron said uneasily. "You're mother or father is a..... Greek God."
Another pause. I couldn't confirm nor deny what Chiron said. I didn't know who my parents were, I lived in an orphanage until they kicked me out when I was only 10. I learned to live on my own and try to survive on the streets of New York. Luckily, I stumbled upon an old friend from the orphanage a year ago, so I at least had a roof over my head. To cut it short, I hadn't had an easy life. I was 12 now and... you know the rest.
"I never knew my parents." I said quietly. "I'm not sure if you're just playing a joke on me, or if I'm just going insane, or just..." I didn't consider the third choice. Were these people telling the truth? Annabeth seemed oretty nice, but what about the horse dude?
"If you need more proof," Chiron said. He sounded almost desperate. "Just say so. Do you need more time to think about it?" He asked. It's a good thing that I catch on easily.
"No. But can you start showing me the strings of the camp?" I asked, taking a deep breath. This was a lot to take in. "I mean, this is going to be, like, my home for the rest of summer break." I had just started the break, only three days in.
Chiron nodded and began to explain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So this is the Hermes' cabin, where you'll be staying until you're claimed." Annabeth gestured toward a wooden cabin with a caduceus. Chiron already explained the camp terms to me. Iris messages were like Skype video calls, golden drachmas were currency, and if you were claimed, that means your godly parent is, well, claiming you as their own child. "Good luck. You're gonna need it..."
I walked into the building, instantly engulfed into a cabin of torture.
"NO!!!!!!" Someone screamed. "THAT'S MINE!!!!!!!!" And that was only a fraction of the noise.
The noise was deafening, and it was extremely crowded. And I mean, like, worse than the orphanage. It stank like dirty feet and.... hot dogs?
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" I heard a very authoritative voice interrupt the insanity that was the Hermes cabin. "WE HAVE A NEW ADDITION!" There was a long train of groans coming from the campers. I stood there awkwardly as I was shot dirty looks from all around. "BE RESPECTFUL!" The voice belonged to a 17-year-old boy who was stepping out of the crowd. He had dirty blonde hair and a mischievous twinkle in his pale blue eyes. Another boy, looking exactly like him, followed.
He held out his hand. "I'm Travis, the counselor of the Hermes cabin. And you must be Saffron."
"And I'm Connor. "The other boy said. "The.... other counselor."
"Yes. Nice to meet you Travis." I shook his hand. "And Connor." I shook his hand,
"I saved a spot for you." Travis led me over to a bunk bed in the back. "And sto-- bought you some toiletries." He handed me a plastic baggie filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bottle of water. "Chiron should have have your stuff here soon. Just be careful..." He lowered his voice. "Hermes is the god of thieves." He chuckled and started to walk away.
"Hey." I stopped him. "What time is it?"
"2:30 in the afternoon." I climbed up the ladder to my bed and sat down. The screaming had started up long before I was finished talking to Travis. This was going to be a long day.
"Annabeth," said a familiar voice behind me. I realized the voice belonged to the horse guy, who's name I believed was Chiron. That's when the memories came flooding back. The arrows, Dodds' evil mutation. It wasn't very nice. "Just leave Saffron alone."
"Urruugghhmmmmphhh?" I mumbled.
Annabeth sighed, picked up the lemon-square, and put it in my hand.
"Eat it." She commanded. I was expecting it to taste, like, well, a lemon square, but it turned out to taste like blueberry muffins. Annabeth then left.
"Do you feel strong enough to walk?" The horse guy appeared next to me, but in wheelchair form.
I nodded my head weakly, and then shook it. There was no way I was going to walk anytime soon.
"Then you should rest." He suggested gently.
I fell into a heavy sleep several minutes later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Saffron? Saffron? Wake up." I felt hands shaking my shoulders. I opened my eyes to see Annabeth's face. Instead of me in a rocking chair, I was in a bed.
"I'm taking you on a tour!" She said happily.
I sat up and looked at her. "Where?" I asked.
"Well, Camp Half-Blood, of course. Come on."
I slowly crawled out of bed and steadied my feet. I followed Annabeth down the stairs to meet Chiron in the living room.
"So I heard you're taking Saffron on a tour?" Chiron asked Annabeth. She nodded. "I think that that's too soon. You've forgotten that she doesn't know yet."
Know what?!
Annabeth blushed and slapped her palm to her forehead. "Oh, yeah, forgot about that."
I felt like a third wheel as I stood there awkwardly next to her.
I felt so confused. I needed some answers.
"Where am I?" I asked simply and patiently. My grogginess had faded away.
"You are at Camp Half-Blood." Chiron answered. So this was how we were going to communicate.
"What was that thing that I killed?"
"A fury. One of Hades' minions." Hades. I had heard that name before. In school, at history class. We were learning about Greek mythology.
"Is this a dream?" I asked.
"No. This is all real, Saffron. Now, here's where you might get confused, or start to think I'm lying. I assure you, I would never lie to you." Chiron said this as if he knew me before the evil demon probation officer incident. "All those things that you've learned about Greek Mythology is all real." He paused, either to let it sink in or just for the dramatic effect. "Here at Camp Half-Blood, you'll train to live on your own. This is a safe refuge for demigods."
"So what's a half-god or demi-blood or whatever and why am I here?" I asked. He wasn't answering directly, which made a knot form in my stomach.
"Well, here's where it gets confusing." Chiron said uneasily. "You're mother or father is a..... Greek God."
Another pause. I couldn't confirm nor deny what Chiron said. I didn't know who my parents were, I lived in an orphanage until they kicked me out when I was only 10. I learned to live on my own and try to survive on the streets of New York. Luckily, I stumbled upon an old friend from the orphanage a year ago, so I at least had a roof over my head. To cut it short, I hadn't had an easy life. I was 12 now and... you know the rest.
"I never knew my parents." I said quietly. "I'm not sure if you're just playing a joke on me, or if I'm just going insane, or just..." I didn't consider the third choice. Were these people telling the truth? Annabeth seemed oretty nice, but what about the horse dude?
"If you need more proof," Chiron said. He sounded almost desperate. "Just say so. Do you need more time to think about it?" He asked. It's a good thing that I catch on easily.
"No. But can you start showing me the strings of the camp?" I asked, taking a deep breath. This was a lot to take in. "I mean, this is going to be, like, my home for the rest of summer break." I had just started the break, only three days in.
Chiron nodded and began to explain.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So this is the Hermes' cabin, where you'll be staying until you're claimed." Annabeth gestured toward a wooden cabin with a caduceus. Chiron already explained the camp terms to me. Iris messages were like Skype video calls, golden drachmas were currency, and if you were claimed, that means your godly parent is, well, claiming you as their own child. "Good luck. You're gonna need it..."
I walked into the building, instantly engulfed into a cabin of torture.
"NO!!!!!!" Someone screamed. "THAT'S MINE!!!!!!!!" And that was only a fraction of the noise.
The noise was deafening, and it was extremely crowded. And I mean, like, worse than the orphanage. It stank like dirty feet and.... hot dogs?
"EVERYBODY SHUT UP!" I heard a very authoritative voice interrupt the insanity that was the Hermes cabin. "WE HAVE A NEW ADDITION!" There was a long train of groans coming from the campers. I stood there awkwardly as I was shot dirty looks from all around. "BE RESPECTFUL!" The voice belonged to a 17-year-old boy who was stepping out of the crowd. He had dirty blonde hair and a mischievous twinkle in his pale blue eyes. Another boy, looking exactly like him, followed.
He held out his hand. "I'm Travis, the counselor of the Hermes cabin. And you must be Saffron."
"And I'm Connor. "The other boy said. "The.... other counselor."
"Yes. Nice to meet you Travis." I shook his hand. "And Connor." I shook his hand,
"I saved a spot for you." Travis led me over to a bunk bed in the back. "And sto-- bought you some toiletries." He handed me a plastic baggie filled with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a bottle of water. "Chiron should have have your stuff here soon. Just be careful..." He lowered his voice. "Hermes is the god of thieves." He chuckled and started to walk away.
"Hey." I stopped him. "What time is it?"
"2:30 in the afternoon." I climbed up the ladder to my bed and sat down. The screaming had started up long before I was finished talking to Travis. This was going to be a long day.
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