Patton's POV

"Patton?" A voice called. "Patton wake up!"

I opened my eyes to my brother Jonathan shaking me awake.

"Whatisit?" I mumbled while rubbing my eyes, my left hand searching around for my glasses.

"Someone's here to see you." Jonathan said. It wasn't until I found my glasses and shoved them on my face that I could see the smirk on his face.

My face went pink as I realized who he must have been talking about.

"Tell him to give me a couple minutes."

Jonathan rushed out the door as I got out of bed. I went into the bathroom to shower, noticing that all my other siblings had already left for breakfast and activities. I felt a wave of affection towards them as I realized that they had let me sleep. Val must've told them about last night.

I closed the bathroom door behind me and turned on the water. As it warmed up, I looked at myself in the mirror. My curly blond hair was sticking every which way and my grey paw print pajamas were rumpled. My sky blue eyes were surrounded with a spray of freckles and had slight bags under them from the energy I used up last night.

Once I finished up in the bathroom and got dressed in my blue polo with a Camp Half-Blood logo on it with my cat hoodie tied around my shoulders, I pulled on my shoes and walked out the door.

Logan was standing there holding a book and a bagel with cream cheese on it for me.

Like always, I was turned breathless by how gorgeous he looked. He wore a black polo shirt with a CHB logo on it's chest, blue jeans, and a striped blue tie. His black hair was swept over his forehead and he wore a pair of square framed glasses. Yeah he was a nerd, but he's my nerd.

"Salutations, Patton." He greeted. "I brought you some food since you slept through breakfast."

"Thanks Logan!" I said, smiling as I took the bagel he offered. "Did I really? I guess that healing spell took a lot out of me."

I took a bite of the bagel and it made me feel just how hungry I was.

"I suppose so." Logan responded. "Since the healing spell is primarily composed of an energy transfer, it makes sense that it would leave you feeling depleted-"

I pulled his head down and planted a kiss on his lips. Not too long or passionate, but enough to get him to stop talking.

I pulled away and looked into his dark blue eyes.

"Are you done?"

He nodded breathlessly. I slid my hand into his and began to walk towards the Big House.

"Wait, why are we going to the Big House? Shouldn't we be going to our cabin activities?" Logan questioned.

"We're going to go check on Virgil!" I answered cheerfully. "And Chiron always gives me a free day after I use a lot of power like that. Now come on!"

I began to run towards the Big House, laughing as I watched Logan trying to keep up.

We got to the porch of the Big House where Mr D was playing pinochle with Chiron and a satyr named Meliorn.

"Good morning, Mr D!" I greeted happily

"Says who?" Mr D replied grumpily. "Last night's ordeal has given me tons of paperwork. Why aren't you two at your lessons with all the other brats?"

Unfazed by his negative response, I responded

"I'm going to check on Virgil. Logan's coming to help me."

Mr D just motioned for us to go away, so we did.

We climbed the stairs together and I told Logan to go sit next to Virgil, who was still asleep and breathing steadily.

I changed Virgil's bandages and checked to see if the wound had improved. The gash was nearly closed from the nectar Valerie had given him.

I cuddled up to Logan as he took out his novel and began to read. We decided to stay there all day since I had a free day and Logan was excelling at all his activities.

The sun was beginning to lower when the sleeping boy finally moved.

Virgil's POV

Was I dead?

No, I couldn't be. I'm pretty sure corpses don't feel pain.

I groaned and my eyes tried to open as my brain seemed to catch up with the throbbing pain emanating from my chest.

"Patton," I heard a deep voice say. "He's awake."

Who is that? And who's Patton? WHAT IS GOING ON?

I finally managed to pry my eyes open to see that I was in an infirmary of sorts. Multiple beds like the one I was lying in were up against the wall, each with a chair next to them. Storage cupboards were covering most of the opposite wall and corner. I turned my head to see two boys I had never seen before beside my bed. One sitting down with a book in his hand, and one on his feet like he had just stood up. They both seemed the same age as me.

The one sitting down had black, straight hair that matched his pair of rectangular Warby Parker glasses, dark blue eyes, and a black shirt with a blue striped tie. The one standing had curly blond hair, eyes the colour of the sky surrounded with freckles, and was wearing a blue shirt with a grey hoodie tied around his shoulders. He seemed very happy and excited.

"Who are you? What happened? Where am I?" I questioned, getting more and more panicked with each word.

"Hey, hey," The blond one stepped closer, looking concerned. "It's okay."

He glaced at the dark haired boy beside him.

"Can you go get Chiron?"

The boy left his book on the chair and left the room. The new unfamiliar name panicked me more, my breathing picking up speed.

"Hey, look at me." The blond boy said, drawing my eyes to his. "I need you to breathe for me, okay? Inhale for four seconds, hold it for seven seconds, and exhale for eight. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded and tried to follow his instructions. The more I repeated it, the clearer my mind felt.

"How do you feel?" He asked me with kind eyes.

Hesitantly, I answered

"Better." I shifted my eyes to my hands. "Thank you."

I could see him smile from the corner of my eye.

My head snapped up when I heard the door opened. The boy from before entered with a man in a wheelchair and a tweed jacket.

"Mr August," The new man began. "It's good to see you awake. I'm sure that you have many questions, but I will answer all of them to the best of my ability."

I drew my knees up to my chest.

"How do you know my name?" I asked suspiciously.

"Your friend Joan told us when you arrived. They're quite worried about you."

The fact that this man respected my friend's pronouns eased me a bit, but I kept my guard up.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Chiron. I'm the activities director here."

Something about that name reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite remember...

"Where is 'here'?"

"Ah," Chiron began, as if he was dreading this moment. "Well that's where this might get difficult for you to take in. This is Camp Half-Blood, a haven for kids like you."

Kids like me? Like what? Emo, emotionally distressed teens that can't go a few days without having a panic attack?

"Half-blood? What's a half-blood."

"Children that are half human, and, well," Chiron answered, seemingly worried for my reaction. "Half god."

The room went silent.

Half god? No way. I looked around at all their faces. They were actually serious about this! Even the smart looking one. It would make the ordeal with the monsters make more sense, but there's no way that I, Virgil August, am half god. This had to be a joke.

It had to be.

I let out a breathless laugh.

"Of course." I said, obviously surprising them. "Of-fucking-course. Who put you up to this? It was Sebastian, wasn't it? That son of a bitch. I was stupid to think he'd just let me go."

I chuckled a little bit more, closing my eyes for a moment. But when I opened my eyes, the three people in front of me were confused, but very serious.

"Wait," I realized, my voice shaking slightly. "You're serious about this?"

"I'm afraid so." Chiron said sadly, sympathy lacing his tone.

"And as for who we are," The blond one spoke up. "I'm Patton Morales, son of Apollo."

The memory of my sixth grade history lessons came back to me.

Apollo, god of the sun, archery, healing and poetry

Woah

"My name is Logan," The dark haired one introduced, extending a hand. "My mother is Athena."

Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy

I shook his hand.

"What about you?" I asked Chiron. "Who's your godly parent, or whatever."

Chiron smiled a bit.

"I'm afraid that I am not a demigod like you." He answered. Then he stood up from his wheelchair.

Well, not really, but that on it's own would've been shocking enough.

His torso kept rising up, and the front of the wheelchair popped open, showing that they were fake legs under a blanket. The man kept growing until in front of me stood the front half of a man, and the body of a white stallion.

Oh THAT'S why the name sounded familiar. Chiron was the centaur that trained greek heroes.

"Okay, sure. Why not?"

"Logan, Patton, would you mind returning to your cabins while I give Mr August the tour?" Chiron asked the two boys.

"Of course, Chiron." Patton responded. Then he came up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder, a very father-like gesture. "If you need anything, just come to the Apollo cabin. I'm here to help."

"The Athena cabin is always open to you as well." Logan chimed in, pushing up his glasses.

I swallowed the lump building in my throat, nodded and responded with a simple

"Okay."

Patton smiled and began to walk out the door.

"Bye Virgil! I hope you like it here!" He called before he disappeared down the stairs.

"So," I began, looking at Chiron. "Who's my godly parent?"

"Well that is the question, isn't it." He answered, studying me. "Do you know which one of your parents it might be?"

"My dad." I responded instantly.

"So you were raised by your mother then?"

That made me go quiet. I looked away, not wanting to see the pity in his eyes.

"My mom died when I was five." I said, not moving my eyes away from the floor. "I was raised by my foster parents."

"I see..." Chiron replied

I couldn't take the silence anymore.

"So," I began. "Where will I be staying?"

"You'll be staying in the cabin that correspond with your godly parent." Chiron answered easily.

"But since I don't know who my dad is, what, will I just sleep outside or something?"

"No," Chiron replied, a faint smile playing on his mouth. "You'll be in the Hermes cabin with the other undetermined campers."

He then pointed out the bathroom and told me to meet him downstairs when I was finished.

Once he left, I ripped the blanket off of my legs and stood up. I saw my hoodie hung over the back of a chair and my backpack leaning next to it. I grabbed both and shut myself in the bathroom. After a fast shower, I dried off and examined my arms and legs.

For the first time in ten years, there wasn't a single cut, bruise, or slap mark on my skin.

I put on some of the clothes that were lain out for me, blue jeans and an orange t-shirt with a design of a black pegasus, and shoved the pair of jean shorts that they also gave me in my bag.

I looked at my appearance in the mirror, and decided to put my purple and black hoodie on top of the orange shirt. The only thing missing was my eye shadow. Knowing that there was pretty much zero chance this demigod camp would keep makeup in their bathroom, I still checked in the cupboard under the sink.

Lo and behold, I actually found some. A small red pallette with a cursive R in the center. Most of the colours were scraped clean, but the black was almost completely untouched.

I applied some black eye shadow under my eyes, put the pallette in my bag, and zipped it up.

I slung the bag over my shoulder, and started my way down the stairs.

AN- All comments are read and appreciated <3