CHAPTER TWO
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𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗞𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗔'𝗦 𝗘𝗬𝗘𝗦 fluttered open the first thing she noticed was the lack of light. "Funny," she thought. "I thought heaven was supposed to be bright...oh god I'm in hell."

"Well, that's one way to put it," came a sudden voice, startling Katia. She shot up from her cot, a mistake as her head fuzzed up again.

The mysterious voice returned, holding a glass up to her lips. "Here. Drink this," they said. Katia hesitated, and the voice reassured her, "It's not poisonous, promise."

Hesitantly, she drank it – a vanilla cupcake with purple buttercream frosting. The taste triggered memories of her dad's favorite dessert recipe. It felt like home.

As she finished the drink, her eyes adjusted to the darkness, revealing a short blonde-haired boy with piercing blue eyes. "I'm Lee."

"Katia." Her voice was horse, probably due to the yelling from beforehand. Finally conscious enough she slowly reached for her wrist, but it was empty.

Lee must have sensed her panic and handed her something. "Here." He held out her watch for her to take.

Relieved, Katia rested against the headboard. Memories from the night before flashed in her mind, it reminded her of her nightmares. "That thing, what was that? It was like a... like a-"

"Monster?" Lee finished.

Katia nodded, and Lee decided, "I'll go get Chiron. He'll explain everything."

Chiron – the same name they had called before she passed out.

As Lee left, Katia explored the infirmary. Soft curtains, light green walls with white carvings, stained glass windows, and a table with bottles of the mysterious drink – the room felt surreal. She noticed three other beds, one near the window and two across from hers.

Getting up, she realized she wasn't wearing a shirt. Grabbing hers from the bed edge, she put it back on. Curious, Katia made her way over to the window. It was rather hard to see anything due to the tint however what she could see was a lake and a couple of kids in orange shirts.

The door suddenly opened, revealing a man in a wheelchair with a greying beard and round glasses wearing a blazer over a shirt that read "PARTY PONIES." His calm voice identified him as Chiron.

"You've had quite an encounter, haven't you, Katia?" Chiron spoke, his voice resonating wisdom.

"If being chased by a monster in the woods qualifies as 'quite an encounter,' then yes," she replied, using air quotes.

Chiron chuckled, "What you faced in the woods was a creature from Greek mythology, a Manticore. But more importantly, you're here at Camp Half-Blood, a haven for demigods like yourself."

"Demigods? Like, children of gods?" Katia questioned, trying to wrap her head what the half-horse was saying.

"Yes, precisely. You're a demigod, Katia."

"I'm a what?" She gave the man a crazy look.

"A Demigod."

Katia let out a sarcastic laugh, "Wow, I always knew I'd go crazy. I just didn't think it'd be so soon, and so fast." She ran her fingers through her hair.

"You are not going crazy, my child. This is all very much real."

"Listen, here psycho. I don't know what kind of games you're playing at but I'm not playing. The Gods aren't real, and even if they were I am definitely not one of their children."

Chiron sighed. "I understand your hesitation, child, but they are real and you are very much one of their daughter." Chiron extended his hand towards Katia. "Come, let me show you."

Despite her skepticism, Katia decided to follow Chiron. The two of them exited the infirmary.

As they walked, Katia couldn't help but take a deep breath. It smelt like the sea, it reminded her of her dad and their long weekends at the beach.

Passing by the training grounds, Katia observed groups of kids and teens all in bright orange shirts practicing their skills. Archery, swordplay, and some were even playing music.

Chiron spoke, "Camp Half-Blood is a sanctuary where demigods can train, bond, and prepare. You may not fully believe it now, but your connection to the gods is real."

Katia looked over at the forest, the entrance of where she had first arrived. Her heartbeat began to quicken.

"This is a sacred valley." Chiron's voice broke her daze and she turned her attention back on him. "Humans can't see it and monsters can't enter it."

Walking through the camp, Katia noted locations like the arena, armory, stables, and a strawberry field.

Crossing the river, she saw the mess hall, cabins, lake with The Big House, arts and crafts/forger place, and the volleyball court on the left. On the right stood the climbing wall that oozed out lava — which Katia figured was definitely a safety hazard, and the amphitheater.

They arrived at the cabins – twelve in a large circle, with two larger ones, for the Olympian gods.

"Let me guess," Katia said, her arms crossed over her body. "Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympian gods?"

Chiron nodded, "That is correct. Each cabin is home to the children that god has claimed."

"So, if I'm supposedly a 'Demigod,' which one is mine?"

Chiron answered, "You haven't been claimed yet. For now, you'll be staying in Cabin 11 – the Hermes Cabin. It's home to both his children and the unclaimed."

Unclaimed – a word familiar to Katia, hurting more now than ever. Katia sucked on her teeth, "Great."

Chiron motioned for her to enter the Cabin. She did as she was told. The Hermes cabin was full — like full to the point where there seemed to be over 100 kids and no room for her.

Chiron cleared his throat, grabbing their attention. "Everyone, this is Katia Aguilar." She fidgeted with her watch. "Please make her feel welcome." And with that he left and everyone's attention went back onto what they had been doing.

Katia was about to call out to him. "Why the fuck is he leaving me?!" She thought to her.

"Hey!" Someone called out. "New kid!" Katia turned her attention to see a boy with dark skin and curly hair waving her over.

"Hi?" She said, but it was formed more like a question.

"I'm Chris." He introduced. "That's Travis and Connor," he motioned to two boys sitting next to him on the bed. "Welcome to Cabin 11"

Katia gave them all a slight wave. They were quick to notice something was off.

"Still skeptical, huh?" Travis asked.

"It's okay, so were we." Connor added. "Takes a while to get used to."

"We saw you come into camp. That shit was crazy." Chris smacked Travis on the head when he noticed Katia's deminor change.

"Dude!"

"What?"

Chris chuckled, "Sorry about that. Travis is a bit...well you know. What he means to say is we saw you come into camp and wanted to know if you were okay."

"Oh yeah I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" She let out a sarcastic chuckled. "Not like I was attacked by something straight out of my nightmares."

The boys laughed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Katia looked around the room. There didn't seemed to be any empty bunks. "Do you guys know where I'm sleeping?"

Chris nodded, "I'll show you." And began to walk away.

Katia waved goodbye to the brothers, who restarted their card game. She followed Chris until they reached an empty space with a sleeping bag on the floor and her backpack (which she had forgotten she'd even had).

"Sorry about the floor." He said. "It's kind of hard to have enough beds for everyone here so we have a rule that all the Hermes kids get bunks and once someone is claimed to another cabin the person who's been here the longest gets a bed."

Katia shrugged. "I've slept in worse conditions, at least there's a sleeping bag."

Katia recalled that one time when she was 11 where she had to sleep outside in the winter simply because her foster family had kicked her out.

Chris checked the clock on the wall. "You should probably head to the arena." Katia furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh, Chiron didn't tell you?" She shook her head. "Luke's waiting for you."

"And Luke is?"

"He's the Hermes head councillor. So, basically, we have to do what he says when he says. Luckily, he's my best friend so I don't do much." Chris joked. "Anyways, he's waiting for you down at the arena. I could bring you if you'd like."

Katia shook her head. "It's fine, Chiron showed me where it was."

Chris nodded, "Alright, well I'll see you at dinner then." He made his way back to Travis and Connor, who were now wrestling with each other as Connor tried to grab the card out of Travis' hand.

"Alright," Katia thought. "Onto find this Luke person."

INEZ SPEAKS
eeeee she's finally at camp!!! and she's about to meet luke. u gotta love the stoll brothers (and chris ofc).

kat being skeptical is so real of her cause if a strange man in a wheelchair told me i was a demigod and i could never leave camp i'd question my sanity too.

exams are soon so i wanted to get this out asap. anyways, off to write chapter 3 so we can finally meet luke.