"You're a satyr!" Grian said to Grover as soon as the video was over.

Grover kicked off his shoes to reveal that he did indeed have hooves. "Yep."

The Hermits had seen much weirder things than goat boys, so there were a few wide eyes but not much beyond that.

Doc would love this, Ren thought.

Grover had other things that he needed to get done, so he left the Hermits with Chiron and, after glancing nervously at the front door where Mr. D was still sitting, took the back exit.

Another satyr came inside without any pants on, showing his furry legs and short tail. "Sir, are they ready for the tour?"

Chiron nodded and wheeled out onto the porch.

Mr. D glared at them as they walked out after him. The Hermits now knew that the grumpy camp director was Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry. And they also knew that Chiron was a centaur, the same who had trained ancient heroes like Jason. Both directors were thousands of years old.

Chiron stepped out of his wheelchair, obviously expecting the Hermits to gasp or do something interesting, but when they didn't, he seemed surprised. He didn't say anything, though.

Chiron gave them the tour of Camp Half-Blood: the archery range, arts and crafts building, forge, climbing wall, strawberry fields, dining pavilion, amphitheater, swordfighting arena, bathrooms, and camp store.

The Hermits enjoyed different parts of the camp. Gem got along great with the dryads in the forest and strawberry fields. Ren was excited about the swordfighting. Tango and Zedaph were fascinated by the arts and crafts building and forge. And Grian eyed the wares at the camp store with a mischievous glint.

The favorite of all of them, however, was the cabins.

There were twelve buildings, all in a U shape around a central fire pit. A young brunette girl stoked the flames, smiling at them as they passed by. The Hermits waved back.

As they passed each cabin, Chiron explained each one - they each represented a different Greek god. Some were occupied more than others, depending on who the demigods' parents were. They were a crazy assortment - ranging from blinding gold to sparkling marble to steampunk.

Cabin Eleven, Hermes' cabin, was by far the most packed. It looked like a normal summer camp cabin, but instead of blending in, it stood out because of how ordinary it looked.

"This is where you all will be staying until you're claimed," Chiron said.

The Hermits peered inside the cabin with a hint of dismay. The bunk beds had long since been filled, and campers were even at the point of laying sleeping bags out on the floor.

A blonde boy came out of the cabin. He looked about seventeen. "Please don't tell me they're all undefined."

Chiron sighed. "Unfortunately, they are. Demigods, this is Luke, son of Hermes, your new head councilor."

The boy studied them. He had smile crinkles on his eyes and a mischievous look to him. But he wasn't smiling now.

Suddenly, Tango gasped, pointing at something above Zedaph's head. A glowing owl, outlined in grey.

The Hermits, Chiron, Luke, and several campers all turned to stare. The owl faded after a few seconds.

"It's not every day a demigod gets claimed," Chiron said finally. "Congratulations, Zedaph, son of Athena."

------

After Chiron whistled and brought a satyr (not Grover) to their side, he told the goat boy to go find someone named Annabeth. "She should be in the arena," he said.

The satyr nodded and trotted off.

The Hermits clapped Zedaph on the back, cheered their congratulations, and whispered about their envy of him not being in an overcrowded cabin. Zedaph accepted it all, a little overwhelmed by the attention.

When the satyr returned with a twelve-year-old blonde girl in tow, they knew that they would have to continue their tour without him.

"I left Percy alone for this," she said before she even introduced herself. "If he kills himself, I'm blaming you guys." However, she said it with a joking tone.

There was that name again. Percy. Everyone seemed to know him.

"I'm Annabeth," the girl said. "Head councillor of the Athena cabin. Which one of you just got claimed?"

She glared around at all of them.

Zedaph unsteadily raised his hand.

Annabeth smiled, but there was a danger to it that kind of scared the Hermits. "Hi. Welcome to the best cabin. Also, you're my half brother."

Zedaph looked a little bit terrified. "Okay."

They went off toward the grey Athena cabin, getting to know each other.

The remaining Hermits looked toward them with a hint of nervousness. They had wanted to stick together. But they decided that it was fine, they could always talk to Zed again later.

The group turned back to Luke and the Hermes cabin.

"This is where I leave you," Chiron said. "Luke, please help them get oriented."

Luke nodded, shot them a grin that made everyone think, uh-oh, and ushered them inside.

Grian clicked with the Hermes kids immediately. There was a particular pair, twins named Connor and Travis Stoll, who he got along particularly well with.

Bdubs crashed on the nearest bunk, which turned out to belong to a kid named David who chewed him out for it.

"Who're you?" David asked.

Bdubs looked up groggily. "Huh?"

"I said, who are you?"

"Bdubs," Bdubs replied.

"Bdubs? What kind of name is that?"

"One that's better than yours!"

The five other Hermits in the room exchanged amused glances. David had no idea what he had gotten himself into. Bdubs was formidable when he was angry, which was a lot, especially when his nap was interrupted.

They found spots on the floor and spread the sleeping bags they had brought, or as much as they could spread them in the cramped space. Then Luke yelled over the noise of the cabin, "DINNER TIME!"

The scene turned to utter chaos as twenty hungry teenagers all tried to get out the door at once.

Not knowing what else to do, the Hermits followed them to the dining pavilion. They squeezed onto a bench at the Hermes table, and it got so bad that a group of satyrs and nymphs had to bring a card table out of the big house for the new arrivals. But they figured it out in the end.

When they had all gotten settled, Mr. D stood up at the head of the pavilion. "I suppose I have to do this for the millionth time," he grumbled. "But we have some new recruits, who Chiron has asked me not to reveal their last names. Bubs-"

Chiron whispered something.

"-Bdubs, Gemini, Grain-"

"WHO IS THIS GRAIN CHARACTER?" Grian yelled.

"He got my name right," Gem said.

"It's 'cause he's too dumb to think of a way to mispronounce it," a black-haired boy said to her.

Also cuz the author's too dumb to think of a way to mispronounce it

"Randy-" Mr. D continued.

Chiron whispered again.

"-Ren, Scap-"

More whispers.

"Scar, fine, Tongo-"

"Tango," Chiron corrected.

"And Zedaph. New demigods, blah blah blah, I know, seven more little stupid godlings to torment me, blah blah blah, speech over." He sat down.

He was probably too tired to say the last one wrong.

"Have any of them been claimed yet?" A girl from Table 10 said. Aprodiote, the Hermits remembered.

"One has," Annabeth said, pointing at Zedaph, who was sitting next to her. He waved.

"Hopefully, more of them will be claimed soon," Chiron said. "But that's eight new demigods in the past week!"

A few Cabin 11 kids grumbled, but most of the campers cheered.

"On a different note," Chiron continued, "A reminder that Capture the Flag is tomorrow night. Athena versus Ares, this should be interesting."

The campers cheered, but it was more of a roar. The Athena and Ares kids were loudest of all.

The Hermits at the Hermes table exchaged glances. The climbing wall for this place had lava, so Capture the Flag was probably also unnecessarily dangerous.

"I'm going to die," Scar muttered.

"Probably!" Grian said. "But hopefully you'll respawn."

Scar looked at him. "Hopefully?"

"Maybe you can hide in the cabin," Ren suggested.

Scar considered that like he was actually serious.

"You're not going to die," Gem said. "As long as you stay with Grian or Ren or someone else who's decent with a sword. Bdubs, wake up."

Bdubs lifted his head off the table. "What?"

They followed the rest of the Hermes cabin to the amphitheater, where a fire was already roaring in the pit. They joined in the sing-along led by the Apollo kids, sometimes slyly adding in their own parts to fit with the world they knew.

By the end of the night, the fire was bright purple, ten feet high, and as hot as the Nether. When the Hermits finally got to bed, Camp Half-Blood felt like home.