That was two Hermits who had been claimed. And unfortunately, Scar was not one of them.

Zedaph had gone to the Athena cabin, which was much too confusing to Scar. He was not smart enough to be one of them.

And just last night, Ren had been claimed as a son of Ares. He had gone with Red Team. And since Ares and Athena were rivals, almost enemies, he and Zedaph were pretty much against each other. Scar did not want to be in the middle of that conflict.

Scar joined the other Hermits as the Hermes cabin went to breakfast the morning after Capture the Flag. Nobody had been seriously injured in the game last night, so everyone was there.

Well, except that kid Percy. He had been seriously injured by the Jell-O hound.

Jell-O hound... that didn't sound right.

He'd go with that for now and hope Grian didn't notice, although he probably would. It wasn't Scar's fault he couldn't pronounce babagerie- menadegerie- mun-

Never mind.

Scar squeezed in between Gem and Travis and waited for the food to come out. He was hungry.

After Chiron told everyone good morning, the dryads brought out the food.

It was delicious, as always. Scar didn't know what half the stuff was, because he had pretty much lived off of steak, baked potatoes, and golden carrots in Hermitcraft, but it was still good, and Scar still ate it. There was a lot left for him to try.

"Scar," Grian whispered, leaning behind Travis. The son of Hermes looked a little annoyed at the wall of red sweater (that Grian still wore with a camp shirt under it) that now forced him to lean nearly into his food.

"Yes?" Scar said, taking another bite of his.. whatever it was called. It was some sort of grain, with milk in it. Scar had also put some berries in it that he couldn't remember the name of.

"I almost jumped off a cliff last night," Grian said causally.

Scar nearly spat out his breakfast in his laughter.

"Wait, what?" Travis said.

"When we were scouting," Grian said. "Remember?"

"Yeah, but you almost died!"

Grian shrugged. "I almost die a lot."

"I do die a lot," Scar said.

Travis looked incredibly confused. "What-"

"Never mind," Grian said quickly.

"Maybe we shouldn't talk about this stuff in public," Gem said. "Anyone could hear us right now."

"Yes," Travis said. "I agree. Don't talk about... dying a lot at the breakfast table."

"Who's dying?" Connor asked.

------

The day was spent trying to get the new campers claimed. Even if they weren't claimed, Luke had some theories on who their parents could be.

They found him in the swordfighting arena, training Percy, the son of Posideon who had been claimed last night.

Scar had noticed that not many people talked to Percy anymore. He used to be pretty popular, something about a minotaur, but now most people avoided him. Scar didn't understand what the deal was.

"Luke, you said you had some theories on who our parents could be, but we can leave if you're busy," Tango called.

"Please be busy, I need a nap," Bdubs yawned.

"You always need a nap," Scar pointed out.

"They don't let us shreep, though!"

"Yes they do!" Grian said. "Even though we have such a loud cabin that it's impossible. But you sleep through anything!"

Bdubs shrugged and yawned again, causing everyone else to as well.

Luke and Percy took off their helmets. "You can do it now," Percy said. "I'm just trying to get my mind off the attention."

"I would like the attention," Scar said unhelpfully.

Percy shook his head. "Trust me, you wouldn't."

Luke spun his sword in his hand, narrowly missing impaling himself every time it went around. But then Gem looked like she was about to have a heart attack, so he stopped. "I do have some theories. But I think we should try out the activities first, just to see what you're good at."

"If all you're good at is canoeing, then you might be Posideon's kid," Percy said. But there was a little doubt in his eyes, as if he didn't really believe what he was saying.

"There's CANOEING?" Gem gasped. "I love canoeing! It's so peaceful!"

"Peaceful," Grian said with distaste. "Peace is boring."

"Peace is not boring!" Gem argued.

"In the demigod world, it's nowhere near boring,"  Luke agreed. "Come on, let's go to the archery range first. Maybe one or two of you will be Apollo."

Scar and Gem sucked at archery. Luke called Bdubs and Tango's skills "average." And Grian was okay, but Luke seemed to have already decided that he was a son of Hermes.

Next, they went to the climbing wall, nearly died, and gave up. Except Tango. He escaped the lava unscathed, even though from Scar's angle it had looked like he had gotten a very hot shower.

With holes in their clothes, the Hermits, Luke, and Percy headed to the lake, where the naiads did everything in their power to tip the boats.

"They're just playing," Luke assured them. "I think they're trying to impress Percy."

Percy turned bright red.

In the forge, Tango took out some redstone and made a little robotic helper in minutes. Luke stared at the glittery red dust, bet decided not to ask.

"You might be a son of Hephaestus or Athena," Luke said to Tango. "They're the crafty, hands-on people."

At the arts and crafts building, Scar and Grian caused the kiln to explode.

They decided not to speak of that ever again.

Aside from that, Zedaph was also at Arts and Crafts. He showed them a tapestry he was weaving, expressed how much he missed being able to dye sheep and have the wool grow back in that color, and then complained about how Camp Half-Blood needed a Wool Wall. The last thing Scar heard before he wandered over to the paint was Tango and Zedaph planning the materials they needed to build one.

Scar wasn't half-bad at painting. He thought it was because of his skill in building and the imagination it required.

Gem was great at sculpting, but she wasn't able to fire her creation, a deer that looked so lifelike it could have jumped off her palm at any minute, because, of course, Grian couldn't resist pushing buttons and exploding things.

Bdubs was even better at drawing and painting than Scar was, which made Scar mad.

Luke puzzled over Bdubs. He didn't seem to be useful for much except sleeping, and of course he was okay at combat and art from his time in Hermitcraft. But that didn't say anything.

Their last stop was the strawberry fields, in case any of them were children of Demeter. Gem got along with the dryads and satyrs great, and Scar thought the plants grew a little taller in her presence. But he could have been wrong.

In the end, Luke had a few ideas. "I think Gem is a daughter of Demeter. Tango, either Hephaestus or Athena. And if Grian isn't Hermes, I have no idea whatsoever. Scar... maybe Demeter? You said you like trees. Or you could be Dionysus. You definitely eat enough to be Dionysus."

Scar snorted. "If I'm Dionysus, I'm going back home."

"I would too, if I could," Luke said. "Nobody likes him."

"Wouldn't he have claimed me as soon as I came if he was my... dad?" Scar asked. The word felt alien in his mouth.

Luke shrugged. "The gods forget about their kids a lot," he said bitterly. "Sometimes they never notice."

Scar got the feeling that that went a lot deeper for Luke than it did for most people.

"That's horrible," Gem said. "Who would just forget about their own kids?"

"If they never knew they existed," Luke said. "Or sometimes they just don't care. They're immortal, after all. And we're... not. We don't last very long in their eyes."

Bdubs crossed his arms. "What about me? Who do you think my godly parent is?"

Luke stared at the sword in his hands. "I have no idea. You might be a minor."

Bdubs huffed and glared at the head counselor. "Of course I'm a minor. We're all minors."

Grian snorted. "He means a minor god, Bdubs."

"I KNOW WHAT HE MEANT!" Bdubs yelled at him, sending the older demigod into a fit of giggles. "I was TESTING him."

"Sure," Scar laughed.

Bdubs stomped over to Scar.

"Oh, no," Scar said sarcastically. "He's going to kill me. Someone help."

"HEY!" Bdubs said. "IF YOU KEEP DOING THAT, I WILL KILL YOU."

"Oh, wow, you might be a son of Ares, actually," Luke said.

Everyone except Bdubs cracked up.

"IF I AM, THEN ME AND REN ARE GONNA DOMINATE CAPTURE THE FLAG NEXT WEEK!" Bdubs threatened loudly, causing a few dryads nearby to shush him.

"Bdubs, please be a little quieter," Gem said. "I don't think the dryads like you yelling very much."

Nobody, not even the loudest twelve-year-old in existence, could say no to Gem.

"Hopefully later another one of you will be claimed," Luke said, still trying not to laugh. "Three claimings in two nights. Hopefully the streak continues."

Scar hoped so too.