▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER THREE ▬▬▬▬▬

BASIL WAS WITH HER WHEN she woke up in the camp's infirmary. The Stoll brothers had woken up earlier and were already getting started on the tour. The wound in her arm was gone without a scar. After getting checked out by a couple of children of Apollo—who all had sun-kissed skin, blonde hair, and sky blue eyes—she was ready to leave for her camp tour.

"Oh, but the back of your calf has some scars though from when the Chimera scratched you," Will Solace said as he helped her hop off the bed. "But that's okay. You'll get more."

She didn't know whether to say 'thanks' or 'is that supposed to comfort me?' so she just settled with an "Okay. Thanks for healing me."

He sent her a blinding smile. "No problem."

After that, Basil let her walk around the camp to get her energy back. During the walk, Esmerelda couldn't help but stare at everything she saw. Basil wasn't kidding when he said demigods didn't live long. The campers—who all wore bright Camp Half-Blood tee-shirts, looked to be as young as her. The oldest she saw was a teenager that was maybe fifteen. Another thing she noticed was the not-so-human campers. Satrys were walking around without their pants on and showing everyone their furry goat legs and hinds. There were pretty girls that melted into a glittering lake or a tree—Basil said they were naiads and dryads. A group of mean looking kids were duking it out with literal swords, cutting each other up while the audience cheered with blood-thirst. Basil wheeled her away from them, saying that they were kids of Ares and warning her of their ruthlessness.

There were many other things that Esmerelda marveled at other than the people. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture—an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena-except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. They had a sandpit that some campers were playing volleyball in. There was a small, pollution-free lake where people were canoeing. There was an archery range that was currently occupied by—most likely—Apollo kids. Walking past them on a wooded trail were other campers who were leading in horses, and some of them even had wings.

"This place is so cool," she told Basil, who grinned at her obvious excitement. "Man am I glad I didn't die on that road trip. I would've regretted missing out on seeing this place."

"There's more where that came from," he said, looking just as eager as her. "Wait 'till after you watch the orientation film. Then you'll get the whole tour of the place."

"Hey, whatever happened to all those monsters from last night?" She asked, suddenly remembering the slightly traumatic events from before.

His face fell. "Well, the campers that were on guard duty managed to kill the hellhounds."

"But the Chimera?" She asked, having a sinking feeling about the answer.

He bit his lip. "Nobody could kill it."

"So it's still out there."

"It always will be," he said. "Monsters work differently than you think. When you kill them, they'll come back."

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"They don't have souls, you see. They're primal forces—archetypes if you will. They reform after you kill them, so they'll always come back. If you're lucky they could take a whole lifetime to reform."

"Something tells me most demigods aren't that lucky." She said dully.

He tried to give her an encouraging smile, but it looked more like a grimace.

"Oh wait," she then remembered something else from that night. "That boy—Ethan Nakamura?—do you know where he is? He saved me and pulled me—well he actually sorta dragged me—into camp. I wanna thank him."

Basil suddenly looked skittish. "Oh h-him? He's, erm, he's somewhere. But uh, Esmerelda, he was just doing his job, you wouldn't wanna thank him."

She gave him an odd look for his weird phrasing, which he noticed. Flustered, he tried to explain, "Listen, I think you should just, er, stay away from him? He's kind of a loner around here and," he shuddered. "Weird things happen around him."

"Weird things? Like with me?" She asked curiously.

He shook his head. "No, even weirder. You see, bad things happen to people who treat him badly and good things happen to those who are nice to him. At least, I think that's how it works. He doesn't exactly have any friends around here."

She gave him another odd look as he struggled to explain. "When he and Asher—the satyr who found him—made it to camp, Asher was suddenly elected as head secretary for the Council of Cloven Elders which is sorta a big deal for us satyrs. The decision was sudden, and nobody was expecting it even though Asher's been trying for decades to get the job."

"Maybe they just finally decided to give him a chance," she shrugged.

He shook his head. "That's not all though. Clarisse la Rue dunked his head in a toilet—"

"—That's horrible! And gross..."

"Yeah, she does that a lot to the newbies here," he grimaced. "But anyways, an hour later she went to the forest to hunt monsters and got attacked by a whole pack of them. Her foot was a whole mess, we were gonna have to amputate it if it weren't for Apollo's best healer coming back just in time to heal her foot. Then the was the whole incident with a Hermes kid stealing his clothes and then that same Hermes kid fell off the climbing wall and shattered his whole leg... Then there was that Aphrodite girl who led him on and she woke up the next day with really bad acne—"

"—Okay, I get it now." Esmerelda interrupted. "But that just sounds like a bunch of coincidences."

He winced. "Trust me, there's a lot more..." He trailed off. There was a faraway look in his eyes as if he was thinking of each crazy incident that surrounded Ethan. In the end, he said, "Come on, let's go back to the Big House."

There was a skip to her step after those words.

After a while, they finally returned to the Big House which was, well—a big house. It looked like a house you'd see on a farm. It was two stories tall—three if you counted the attic—and had sky blue paint that seemed to be chipping off in some places. Standing on the white porch was a centaur. From the waist up, he was a middle aged man with brown hair and eyes. Below his waist, he was a white stallion. Next to him on a rocking chair was a pudgy man sipping on a can of coca cola. He had a chubby face, a nose redder than Rudolph, and hair so black it was purple. As for his blue eyes, they were watery and bloodshot. Esmerelda had seen them many times from foster parents who drank a lot.

Basil leaned in close and whispered, "The centaur over there is Chiron. The man next to him is Mr. D. He's a god so be very careful of what you say."

A god? The guy who looked like an alcoholic undergoing really horrible withdrawals symptoms was actually a god?

"Uh, which god?" She asked.

He gave her an incredulous look. "Which do you think?"

Mr. D.

Alcoholic.

Dionysus? She wondered.

Basil must have seen the look on her face because he nodded. "Yup. You got it."

"But... why is he here?" She wondered aloud.

"He's here as punishment," Basil grimaced. "He chased after an off-limits wood nymph twice so his father, Lord Zeus, punished him by putting him in charge of the camp for a century. He's our camp director now while Chiron works as the activities director. As part of his punishment he's not allowed to drink wine—" that explained his appearance. "—or grow grapes for wine. Though he does use his powers on the other plants—like the strawberries. He's a great help around here."

They reached the porch steps and the god spoke to her first. "You must be Emmanuella." He grunted.

She blinked.

The centaur corrected him, "Esmerelda, actually."

"Whatever." He went back to picking lint from his tiger striped Hawaiian shirt.

Chiron smiled warmly at her. "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Esmerelda. I'm glad Basil managed to get you and the Stoll brothers here safely. Basil will be well awarded, right, Mr. D?"

Mr. D sighed heavily and spared a hopeful-eyed Basil a glance. "Oh alright. I'll think about it later."

"Thank you, Mr. D!" Basil said, positively beaming.

"Basil, can I ask you one last favor before you go?" Chiron requested. "Can you make sure Cabin 11 is ready for it's newest occupant?"

He nodded. "'Course. I'll see you later, Esmerelda." He scampered off, whistling a tune that sounded very much like Katy Perry Hot n Cold.

"Now Esmerelda," she turned her attention back to Chiron. "I'm sure Basil already informed you about the existence of gods?"

She nodded.

"And you're aware that you are a demigod?"

Another nod.

"Good," Mr. D muttered. "I'm getting sick and tired of new campers wailing things like 'there's only one god!' or 'I'm an atheist!'. I'm always tempted to turn them into rats..."

She was glad that Basil and the Stolls told her all about the gods prior to coming here. She was pretty sure she wouldn't make a good rodent.

"He doesn't mean that," Chiron assured her. "Now Esmerelda, I think it's time for you to watch the orientation film."

"You go do that. I want to finish my coke." Mr. D waved them off boredly.

Chiron nodded and motioned for her to follow him inside the Big House. He started explaining a few things about the Big House's purpose—how it served as the main administrative building and held the Oracle, whatever that meant. He then began leading her to a large room that had a ping-pong table placed at the center. There were vacant seats around it and he had her sit in one of them as he turned on the projector.

The orientation film was the weirdest thing she had ever watched. It started out with a bird view of the camp—which showed how huge the place really was—then a couple campers came on screen. Behind them was a huge climbing wall that spewed lava. While the campers talked about how 'safe' the camp was, someone fell off the climbing wall screaming and steaming. The scene quickly shifted from there.

It gave a brief introduction on the twelve Olympian gods and the cabins they had for their children. Some of the goddesses (like Hera and Artemis) didn't have any kids, but they still had honorary cabins.

Then it started talking about the camp boarders and how mortals were unable to go through them. The camp was also surrounded by the Mist to kept mortals from stumbling in.

Finally, the film ended with a song. Obviously, the kids singing it weren't from the Apollo cabin because most of them were off-key. In the tune of 'The Hokey Pokey', they sang, "It lets the demigods in! It shuts the monsters out! It keeps the half-bloods safe, but turns mortals all about! It's Misty, and it's magic, and it makes me want to shout: the border is all about!"

The projector screen went black.

"Um... wow." Was all she could honestly say.

"I hope that was informational." Chiron said as he turned the machine off.

"It... was."

He smiled. "Good."

"Um, Chiron sir? Could I ask you a question?" She asked.

He nodded. "Anything."

"Well, are you like the Chiron from the myth? The one who trained Hercules?"

"Yes, I am. I am a trainer of many heroes," he replied, smiling in reminiscence.

"If you're here now... does this mean you're immortal?"

"Eons ago, I asked the gods if I could continue training heroes forever and they graciously granted my wish. I could be a teacher of heroes as long as humanity needed me. Considering the fact that I'm still here, humanity still needs me."

"But isn't that sad?" She blurted out. At his inquiring look, she further explained: "I-I mean that, well... you'll still be alive while all the heroes you trained are dead... and it's not like we live that long either..."

His smile didn't fade, but it grew dimmer and sadder. "Oh yes, my job could be a depressing one especially since I bond so much with all the children here..." He trailed off, his eyes glazing over as he pictured all the fallen heroes he had come to love and train. His attention turned to the door. "Ah, Ethan."

She turned around and saw the Asian boy from last night standing out in the hallway. The same one that Basil seemed to be scared of. The door was opened so they were able to see him.

He stood up straighter, spared her a short glance, then looked back at Chiron. "Yeah?"

"Are you busy by any chance? I was hoping to give young Esmerelda the tour of the camp, but unfortunately I need to teach master's archery in a few minutes."

He shrugged. "Sure."

Chiron smiled gratefully "Thank you, Ethan. Esmerelda, this is Ethan. He will be giving the tour of the camp. Do enjoy yourselves you two."

Ethan turned out to not be so great of a tour guide. He showed her through the volleyball courts and the arts and crafts station and gave her the dullest explanation ever with the blankest face ever. It wasn't until they reached the twelve cabins did he show some emotion.

The twelve cabins were all nestled in the woods in a U shape by the lake. They weren't like the typical brown, woody cabins. All of them were different from one another. The first two looked like Greek mausoleums. Their grand exteriors automatically made Esmerelda think of Zeus and Hera. Cabin 3 had walls embedded with sea shells and was decorated with other sea-related things (definitely Poseidon). The cabin next to it was covered entirely with tomato plants and flowers. Cabin 5 was a huge contrast to 4. It was aggressively painted red, as if whoever did the paint job was forced to do it and there was a boar head mounted above the door. Cabin 6 was much neater. It was a plain grey building with an owl design over the door. Cabin 7 looked to be made of solid gold—all she saw from that cabin was the color, it was so blinding that she had to look away. Cabin 8 was the opposite. Instead of gold, it was silver and she was sure it would shine brightly under moonlight. The ninth cabin looked like a small factory with brick walls and smokestacks. Cabin 10 was very pleasant to look at. It had a painted blue roof, pillars, and a checkerboard deck.

When she saw the eleventh cabin, she couldn't help but frown. It was worse than Cabin 5. It looked completely broken-down. It's brown paint was peeling awfully and the wooden porch had missing bars. Over the door was a caduceus, the only nice thing about the cabin.

Staring at the poor state of the cabin made her feel depressed, so she looked over at the last one. It was covered with grape vines so it was obvious to her who it belonged to: Dionysus.

All twelve cabins faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops. In the center of the field was a huge stone-lined fire pit that a little girl was busy stoking.

"The first three cabins belong to Zeus, Hero and Poseidon." Ethan began. "Hera's faithful to Zeus so she doesn't have any demigod kids. Her cabin's empty but she has one anyways in honor of her."

"And Zeus?" She asked. "Didn't he, um, sleep around a lot?"

"Yeah," he smirked slightly. "But he doesn't have any demigod kids anymore. The last one—Thalia—died a few years ago."

"She died?" She was surprised to hear that. "H-how did that happen?"

He sighed heavily, like the answer was going to be a long one that he didn't want to be bothered with. He was kind enough to explain it all anyways. "The Big Three gods—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—made a pact never to have demigod children after World War II. Their kids were powerful and they were effecting the world too much. World War II was a huge fight between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon on one side and the sons of Hades on the other. Zeus and Poseidon's side won and they made Hades swear an oath on the River Styx to not sire any more heroes. It was no surprise that Zeus was the one to crack first. He had Thalia Grace which pissed Hades off enough to send the worst monsters from the Underworld to hunt her down. She and the other three just barely made it here... Thalia sacrificed herself to save her friends. In order to keep her from going to the Underworld and suffering under Hades's punishment, her father took pity on her and turned her into a tree just as she died. She was only twelve."

His gaze went over to the large pine tree that stood at the border of camp.

"That's her over there. Thalia's Tree. She now helps keep the camp safe from monsters."

It was a terribly tragic fate. And unfair. Why did Thalia have to be punished for her father's deeds? It made Esmerelda wonder how long Thalia and her friends have been on the run. How long they have been hunted down. It must have been hell for them.

"But Thalia's father is the King of gods... Why couldn't he stop the monsters from attacking her and her friends?" She asked.

His tone grew bitter and venomous. "Listen Esmerelda," he began, glaring down at her as if she was some naive child that he was growing sick of. "Gods don't work like normal parents. The gods that actually care for their kids aren't allowed to interfere because of the Ancient Laws and as for the rest of them... They just don't care about us. They ignore us."

That explained everything actually. During her 'road trip' to camp, she often wondered why her father—a god—couldn't save her all those times her foster parents hit her. Or yelled at her. Or threw her out of the house to wander around the streets for days or touched her inappropriately. Wasn't he watching over her? And what about the Stoll brothers? They told her about how their mother always neglected them or kicked them out for reminding her too much of their father. She wondered why their father couldn't stop that.

But now she knew.

Did that mean Esmerelda's father just didn't care about her?

She forced herself to stop thinking about it. Instead, she focused on something else.

"Why are there only twelve cabins? Aren't there more? Like... Eros and Hecate. Why don't they have their own cabins?" She asked.

She must've asked the wrong thing because his face darkened. "It's only the 'important' gods—the Olympians—that get one. The minor gods don't."

"What if you're a child of a minor god?"

"Then you're stuck sleeping on the floor of the Hermes cabin forever."

"The Hermes cabin..." Her eyes flew over to Cabin 11.

He followed her gaze and nodded in confirmation. "Yup, that's it. It looks all beaten up because of how over-crowded it is. Hermes accepts anyone, so his cabin is a home for not only his kids, but for the unclaimed and children of minor gods. You know, the unwanted leftovers."

She winced. "That's harsh..."

"But true." He stated.

"When will I be claimed?" She asked hopefully. She didn't want to be seen as an 'unwanted leftover' for the rest of her life.

He shrugged. "Who knows. You might never be claimed."

She definitely didn't want that to happen, but who could be her godly parent? Definitely none of the Big Three since they made a pact. It can't be Ares since she wasn't as burly and violent as his kids. Apollo? She wasn't blonde and blue-eyed and she never had the chance to test her archery skills. Hephaestus? Wasn't he the god of fire, forges, and metalworking? Definitely not him since she couldn't build anything. Hermes was the last male Olympian left, but she wasn't a thief...

She sighed in disappointment. "I can't figure out who my godly parent could be."

He gave her a look akin to sympathy. "Neither could I when I first came here."

"Who's your godly parent?" She asked curiously.

He avoided her eyes. "I was never claimed, so I don't know."

Her face fell. "O-oh, I'm sorry for asking then..."

He shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I've been here for two years now, I'm used to it. I used to live with my dad, so my mom's a goddess. That's all I know."

"Used to? As in, you don't live with him anymore?"

He nodded. "I'm a year rounder. So I stay here all year."

"I guess I'm a year rounder too..." She mumbled. "How did you get here?"

He paused for a moment before telling her his story. "I was nine years old when I decided to run away. My dad was... acting like an ass as usual. I got tired of it, so I ran away. Nearly got killed by an empousa, but that's when I ran into Ash, a satyr who took me here. It was a long journey from Utah to New York. You?"

She looked down for a bit. "I stabbed my foster father."

"Did he die?" He asked.

"I don't think so..."

He shrugged. "Shame. So why'd you stab your foster father?" He asked casually.

"...He turned out to be a monster." She winced. "Or maybe, a monster just disguised itself as him. I don't really know..." She shrugged.

After showing her the cabins, he took her to the Dining Pavilion. It was framed in Greek columns on a hill that overlooked the sea. She quickly noticed that there were no walls or roof to cover anything (what if it rained?). Attached to the columns were torches. There was a central fire burning inside a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each table has a white cloth with purple trim.

"Um, what if it rained?" She asked, pointing at the lack of roofing.

Ethan just snorted at her and took her to the Amphitheater. It reminded her of a mini colosseum where at the center was a camp fire.

He showed her where the Camp Store was. It looked like any normal mini mart except the camp store sold Camp Half-Blood tee shirts, toothbrushes, windchimes—available in Celestial bronze, silver, and seashells that can interpret the voices of prophecy-sprouting trees—packs of Mythomagic cards, and tote bags.

"Why bright orange?" She couldn't help but ask. "Why not a different color?" A more flattering one. She mentally added.

"It makes it easier for us to spot the bodies." He replied.

"..." She said nothing.

Next up was the climbing wall which she saw from orientation film. It looked just as deadly as it was in the fifties. It had two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough. There were currently two kids climbing the wall—a regular camper and a satyr. The satyr reached the top with no sweat while the other camper was having a lot of difficulty.

"Bet you a drachma that he's gonna fall." A girl said to another.

"No thanks, I know he's going to fall too." The other replied.

He walked her around the edges of the woods and warned her not to go there. It was where the dryads lived, but that wasn't the problem. It was stocked with monsters too. Campers only ever went in there if they were armed or with a companion (people often went there to hunt for monsters as training). Other than that, campers went in there every Friday to play Capture the Flag. It was also where Zeus' Fist was located.

They passed by the Arena which Ethan explained was where campers dueled and practiced with weapons. He allowed her to peek in and she caught a few glimpses of campers hacking away at armored dummies with swords, daggers, and other weapons she didn't know the names of.

Next to the Arena was the Armory, a big metal shed, where everyone got their weapons.

She saw the stables on the way to the Forge. It was full of Pegasus that was currently having their manes groomed. The forge was located at the edge of a stream and had waterwheels spinning bronze gears. The building had white marble columns lining the walls that were stained with soot. She could hear loud noises coming from it, the cranking of machinery, fire crackling, and hammers slamming against metal.

The last place to visit was the Strawberry Fields. Ethan explained that they used the fields to sell strawberries for money. It was also where the camp's cover name—Delphi Strawberry Service—came from.

Ethan walked her back to Cabin 11 at the end of the tour. He opened the door and a whole bunch of kids stared back at them.

A tall boy stepped forward. Esmerelda found herself stupefied by him.

So far, he was the oldest camper she had seen here. He looked about nineteen! He was tall and muscular with sandy colored hair and a semi-friendly and semi-mischievous smile that kind of reminded her of the Stoll brothers. He wore the usual orange shirt but around his neck was a leather necklace with three different colored clay beads (which represented the years spent at camp).

She then spotted the thick scar on his face. It ran from just beneath his right to his jaw.

"Ethan," he greeted. "I take it this is Esmerelda?" He motioned to her.

She nodded and waved. "Hi."

"It's nice to meet you Esmerelda," he greeted with a genuine smile. "I'm Luke Castellan. Cabin counselor for the Hermes Cabin, which means I'm also your counselor. For now that is. Until you get claimed."

"Unless you don't." A camper said bitterly.

She looked over at his direction and immediately noticed two things.

One, he was on the floor. Two, he wasn't the only one on the floor.

All the bunks were already taken by campers that looked alike to one another. They must be the children of Hermes. Which meant the ten or so kids that were on the floor were...

The unwanted leftovers, Ethan's voice echoed in her head.

They were all miserable and bitter looking. The eldest—who was the one who spoke—looked fourteen while the youngest looked at most eight.

"Don't be like that, Presley," Luke said to him. "There might be some hope for Esmerelda."

"Might be," Presley repeated under his breath.

Luke just sighed and gave Esmerelda a sad smile. "Don't worry too much about what he said. I'm sure you'll get claimed. Anyways, I stole some stuff from the Camp Store for you. Just some toiletries, clothes, etc." He handed her a bag. "And we managed to find a spot for you to sleep." He pointed over to a section of the floor where an empty sleeping bag laid. It was squished between another empty sleeping bag and a girl who sat over hers. She had frizzy red hair and bold blue eyes. The girl gave her a short wave.

"That's Lyra Highland." Luke introduced. "You'll be sleeping between her and Ethan, hope you don't mind."

"Oh, wait!" A female camper who was on a bunk bed—so a daughter of Hermes—suddenly exclaimed. "We framed your Chimera tail!"

Esmerelda stared at her. "Sorry, my what?"

"Your Chimera tail," she repeated. "You were holding on to it before you collapsed, remember? We framed it on the wall." Several campers helpfully pointed at the wall where the Chimera tail was placed over. It was framed in one of those wooden frames that showcased dead insects, but instead of insects, it was a severed tail-snake-thing.

"How'd you remove it?" One little camper asked excitedly.

"Uh, I didn't really remove it..." She said sheepishly. "I was just holding on to it when it was suddenly just... ripped out?"

"Coool!"

"Basil said you made the car levitate, is that true?" Another camper said, looking very excited.

"Yeah, how'd you do that?"

"Is it true that you were all gonna plunge to your deaths?!"

She looked to Ethan for back-up but he was leaning against the doorway, looking amused. Luke was the same too. She looked back at the eager campers.

"Er, well, yeah, I did, but—"

"—Can you levitate Clarisse la Rue from the Ares Cabin and throw her in the lake?!"

"What else did you do before you came here?"

"It sounds like you have some sort of wind powers," someone mused, making everyone quiet down and turn to her. "Maybe you're the daughter of some wind god... Oh! Or maybe you're the daughter of Zeus—"

The camper froze, as did everyone else.

Esmerelda immediately noticed the few wary eyes that darted to Luke, and how tense he became.

He plastered on his friendly smile. "Enough questions now. Let Esmerelda settle in before dinner."

— author's note —

I decided to leave a few hints of Ethan's powers that he has from being the son of Nemesis. According to Wiki, as the goddess of balance she is able to give bad luck to those with too much good luck or grant good luck to those with bad luck. I figured Ethan should be able to do something similar to a certain degree.