40+ Advance chapters on [email protected]/Saintbarbido.
-Loth's P.O.V-
"I don't remember much to be honest, just waking up on the beach, the dryads and that...that thing."
I finished retelling my story.
Chiron and Mr.D shared another glance before the Centaur turned my way and cleared his throat.
"Right, Mr.Loth, would you be willing to make the Camp your home, just until we figure out your situation? Here you won't have to worry about your saf-"
"Yes!"
I eagerly nodded before he could even finish.
Mr.D snorted.
"Awful excited aren't we?"
"You have no idea how close I came to dying."
I shivered at the memories.
"I don't care what I have to do. I'll work, I'll even sleep on the ground if there are no available beds. Just...please let me stay."
Mr.D scratched his unshaven cheek, eyes staring into me, as if searching for something.
"Mmh...I'll have my eye on you Luke."
"Actually my name is-"
"Don't care."
The God in disguise threw back as he left the cabin.
"...Maurice Lothal."
I finished lamely.
A chuckle broke out of Chiron.
"Don't mind him. He's like that with everyone. Now how about a tour?"
-0-
The morning light filtered through the trees as I stepped out of the camp instructors' cabin, trailing after Chiron.
I was in a blue camp Half Blood t-shirt, faded jeans and some sneakers that surprisingly fit my big ass feet.
My mind buzzed with a thousand questions, including how they got my body measurements, my next move, why the ambrosia healed me despite not being a demigod, the origin of my powers...each question louder than the last.
Before I could voice any of them, a cute blonde girl with intense gray eyes approached us, her steps confident.
"Annabeth, this is Loth. He's new." Chiron introduced, his voice warm.
She nodded briskly. "Hey, Loth. I'm Annabeth, head of the Athena cabin," she said, extending her hand with purpose. "Chiron asked me to show you and another new arrival, Percy, around camp. Ready?"
Percy? That puts us at the start of canon. Before everything goes to shit and the world is saved from destruction by teenagers. Multiple times, I might add.
I shook her hand, nodding while glancing around at the strange but wondrous surroundings. "Yeah, I think so."
"Right. I'll leave you to it."
Chiron concluded, patting my shoulder while leaving.
As we started walking, Annabeth launched into an explanation. "Camp Half-Blood is a sanctuary for demigods. It's where we train and learn to survive. Most of us find out who we are when monsters start hunting us..."
My mind flashed to my encounter with the giant spider, and another shiver ran down my spine.
"Yeah, I've noticed," I muttered, wondering if I'd ever get over the fear.
She nodded, pointing to a row of cabins lined along the clearing, each one looking like it had been pulled from a different world.
"There are 12 cabins. One for each Olympian, except Hades. Don't ask me why, we don't have time for that lecture..."
Kids in Camp T-shirts, leather, metal armor and a variety of different greek inspired attire mixed with modern clothing, walked in and out of the cabins. The compound was rife with activity. The anti-social in me was fidgeting at their stares. I felt so out of place.
Especially because almost everyone was younger than me.
Even Annabeth. I knew she was supposed to be 11-12 but she seemed tall enough to pass for 14.
Wait. I stopped walking.
"Huh Annabeth, weird question. How old do you think I am?"
I asked.
Raising her brows was thankfully the full extent of her reaction.
Her gray eyes gave me an once over.
"About 15. Maybe 16?"
I knew it. Whoever brought me here messed with my age too. No wonder the PJ's felt baggy on me.
"Thanks. Please go on."
"As I was saying, each cabin here is dedicated to a god," Annabeth continued, gesturing to a fortified structure with thick columns and stone walls.
"That's Cabin One, for Zeus," she added with a subtle reverence. I could somehow feel a tangible presence around it. Like lightning during a Thunderstorm.
"And Cabin two for Hera..."
They were built in a U shape layout and the king and queen of the gods' cabin formed the base of the U.
Nearby, another cabin seemed to shimmer with a sea-green tint, catching the light in a way that made it look like it was reflecting waves.
"Cabin Three, Poseidon's cabin," she explained. "You'll see the differences once you get to know the other campers."
I already could. Some of the kids had an aura similar to the cabins. An indication of their parentage maybe? Was what I was sensing their spirits? Souls? Or the gods' powers? Mr.D's aura felt similar to his demigod kids, but he was a God.
This 'sense' wasn't very clear. But it could be useful when trained.
'I need to explore these abilities. Find out what else I can do.'
I kept using the aura sense as we walked, but after a few minutes, a headache formed. The grandeur of the cabins, each radiating its own aura of power, was too much and I had to shut it off. Immediately, the headache eased.
Without aura sense on, it took a second to notice another boy walking quietly beside us, his dark hair sticking up at odd angles and his gaze darting around, clearly just as bewildered as I felt.
"Oh, that's Percy," Annabeth said, glancing at him with a small smile. "You two arrived almost at the same time. Percy, this is Loth."
"Nice to meet you." I offered, extending a hand to the Protagonist. The future God of Heroes himself.
Out of curiosity, I turned on Aura sense and immediately sucked in a breath.
His sea-green eyes held the most potent powerful aura out of everyone. Like a calm ocean that could get violent at any time. Definitely a son of Poseidon.
Though right now, he seemed more like a normal kid out of his depth.
Percy looked at my hand for a moment before shaking it, his grip uncertain.
"Same here," he replied, his voice low. "This whole demigod thing... it's a lot to process."
I nodded, feeling just as overwhelmed. But for different reasons.
"I know what you mean, but we'll figure it out." I said, picking up the pace to match Annabeth's stride.
While it was cool to meet one of my favorite heroes, my survival instincts told me being overly friendly with the protagonist was recipe for disaster. And unlike him, I didn't have plot armor.
Suddenly, a scruffy satyr with curly hair and hooves for feet trotted over, grinning widely.
"Hey! Annabeth, I see you found Percy. Chiron told us to meet-" He greeted, bright and cheerful. At my sight, he stopped and gestured.
"Wait, who is he?"
"Loth."
I waved.
"New arrival."
"Oh, I'm Grover, Percy's best friend. Don't worry, Camp Half-Blood can seem overwhelming, but you'll get used to it."
His friendly demeanor put me at ease, reminding me of my plan to inform the Satyrs about Pan's shrine. Chiron had said he'd look into it though, so I left it to him.
With Grover's addition, the four of us continued with the tour, and I got to learn more about the Camp.
Soon, we reached the arena, situated behind the 12 Cabins.
The arena was the size of a small stadium and bordered a massive lake to the South and a strawberry field to the east.
Inside, it was cut into different sections. Excluding the stands, there was an archery range, a sparring section in the middle, and a large tent which was where the equipment was stored.
The archery range was populated with Apollo's kids- the exceptional marksmanship clued me in. They were hitting bullseye after bullseye from an unbelievable distance.
In the middle of the Arena, was a crowd of campers, most of them burly teens with weapons, surrounding the sparring platform.
"Those are Ares' kids-"
Annabeth explained with a tongue click, pointing out the rowdy majority.
"The phrase, don't judge a book by it's cover doesn't apply here. What you see is what you get. Brawn with little brains."
"Not nice, Annabeth."
Grover lightly chided.
"Sure, some of them like Clarrise are difficult-"
I half listened, half studied the fight happening on the sparring platform. One tall guy with a sword was fighting a group and actually winning. The crowd was cheering him on.
'I wonder how he'd do against the giant spider.' I thought.
Among the Ares Camp, a girl with wild eyes and a brute-like stance spotted us and started walking over.
She sneered, twirling a spear between her fingers.
"Well, well, looks like we've got some fresh meat!" she called out, her tone dripping with mockery.
Before we could react, she hurled the spear straight at me.