"What?" I blinked, confused at what Chiron just said.
I'm mortal, a full human, not a demigod like Percy? But I thought that my ability to see the true nature of the world would make me a demigod? Chiron senses my confusion and gives me a pitying look, turning to Mr. D, who has just finished shuffling his cards and is ready to play.
"Apologies, Mr. D. Perhaps some other time, I need to talk to Percy and Clay."
Mr. D's face transformed into a look of annoyance before sighing and leaning back in his chair. "Fine, fine. I'll just nap before singing along." He gets up, yawning before turning to Percy and me.
"Cabin Eleven. Behave yourself, Percy Jackson, and so for, you mortal...keep your friend out of trouble."
I pursed my lip as Percy muttered, 'Come on.'
"Oh, and Grover?" Mr. D eyes Grover, who flinches. "We need to talk about your poor performance, again."
Grover gulped but stood up and followed Mr. D inside the house. Percy and I look at each other. Then to Chiron.
"Is he going to be okay?" Asked Percy.
"Grover will be fine, Mr. D...just REALLY doesn't want to be here. He would keep reminding how much he can't wait to leave the camp and rejoin the gods on Mount Olympus."
"Mount Olympus, there really is a palace there?"
I rolled my eyes. "Percy, we just established you are the son of a god, and we just met the...uh, which god is Mr. D?"
"The god of wine and parties."
"Oh! So Mr. D stands for Dion-" Chiron gives me a look, which clears my throat.
So Mr. D is actually Dionysus. One of Zeus's many children. He seems more grouchy for being the god of wine and parties. Is it because he's sober?
"Anyways, Percy, the Greek gods are real, why are you surprised that Mount Olympus is real?"
"Come now, Clay. While you're taking all this well, Percy recently experienced a tragedy; of course, it would be too fast for him compared to you."
My mouth quivered as my memory replayed Sally's body being reduced to golden particles. Percy looked down.
"Hey, I'm sorry-"
"No, it's fine, let's just change topics."
Yeah, I was eager to get this conversation somewhere else.
"Chiron, am I really a demigod like Clay said? Who really am I?" Percy asked, totally lost.
And he wasn't the only one. We were both lost, just two kids in a world that we know, but just recently we learned that we know nothing about the world we live in. Chiron looked at both of us before nodding and smiling at us.
"That's what we all know, isn't. But for now, I need to come with me. I'll take you to cabin eleven."
And then, much to Percy and I's surprise, Chiron rose up. I literally blinked from disbelief, and in front of me wasn't a man at all. At least not from the waist down. Chiron still looked like himself from the top, but now, from the waist down, was the body of a white stallion. So that's where his horse legs were.
"What a relief," he says. "I'd been cooped up in there for quite a bit. Now then, come now, you two, let's meet the other campers."
We walked throughout camp, but this time it was more thorough, Chiron giving us short details and a bit of history about the camp. He also clarified earlier about Mount Olympus being somewhere in America, and the original Mount Olympus in Greece was the original place of the gods. But they moved around as centuries passed. I don't know, Chiron mentioned something about the spirit of 'Western Civilization'. But I didn't really get it.
We walked past the volleyball pit, and I could see the corner of my vision of them whispering and pointing at us. Specifically, Percy, I could see their eyes hold respect and envy for Percy. I've seen those envious eyes in Yancy Academy, so I know people looking at people and jealousy, but what would they be jealous of? Their eyes turned to me, and earlier, they didn't scowl, but more like 'What's he still doing here?'. It reminded me of my first years of Yancy.
After seeing what I now know as a true monster could harm me, everyone in Yancy Academy looked at me like a freak. Not malicious or making fun of me, just annoyance, like a fly moving around in a cafeteria. An unpleasant thing you have no choice but to deal with. Their stares were bothering me to the point I could barely hear Chiron and Percy's conversation about an attic or something. We moved past strawberry fields, and might I say might the strawberries look extra juicy and big.
Or maybe that's just the lack of food in my stomach protesting and demanding I feast upon these delicious fruits. Then I remember that whatever Percy drank earlier would literally melt me, who knows, maybe anything edible here would destroy my mortal body.
"Grover won't be in too much trouble, is he?" Percy asked. "I mean...he tried his best and everything."
Chiron gives Percy a sad look. I didn't like that face.
"He indeed tried his very best, but I am afraid Grover has dreams. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate courage by succeeding as a keeper, finding a new camper and bringing his safety to camp."
"But he did just that!" Percy protested.
I reached for his shoulder to calm him, and he turned to me, and I shook my head. I then look at Chiron.
"People didn't see it that way, did they?"
"...Indeed. While it could be debatable between the three of us whether Grover was successful or not, it's not our place to judge. Dionyusus and the Council of Cloven Elders believed he had failed his mission."
"But..." Percy tries to say, but no words come out of his mouth.
"Grover lost you in New York-"
"But we ditched him!"
"Yes, perhaps, but in the Council's eyes, it didn't matter. Especially with the added disaster of...your mother's unfortunate fate. Also, it is Clay who dragged you near the border while Grover lay unconscious."
I bit my lip, and Percy looked frustrated. But both of us felt guilty. If we hadn't ditched Grover back there, would he have completed his task successfully? Actually, if I pushed Percy to wait for Grover, could Sally still be alive? I tighten my fist. It was frustrating how all this could have been avoided if I were only smarter and stronger.
"But...he'll get his second chance, right?" I said.
Chiron winced. "Boys. I'm afraid that was Grover's second chance; the council were hesitant to let him try again after the incident three years ago."
"What happened?"
Chiron shifted uncomfortably. "A story...for another time." He seemed to look older when he said that.
"But, I advise them to wait longer before trying again, he's small for his age."
"How old is he?" Percy asked.
"Twenty-eight."
"T-Twenty-eight!?" Percy and I say in unison.
"But that's just...wait, what's he doing in middle school then? And he's pretty short."
"Saytrs mature half as fast as humans, Clay. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."
"Yikes."
"That's horrible."
"Quite." Chiron agreed. "Grover is a late bloomer even by satyr standards, and not very experienced at woodland magic. But even then, Grover is anxious to pursue his dream. Perhaps he will find some other career..."
"No..." I muttered, feeling bad for my friend.
Percy wanted to say something more, I can tell from the way he moves his lip, but no actual words came out.
"Shall we get a move on?"
Before we could move any further, Percy speaks up, "Chiron, if the gods and everything from Greek mythology are all real..."
Chiron and I looked at each other wearily before we looked at Percy with a raised brow. "Yes. Percy?"
"Then, does that mean the Underworld is real too?"
At the corner of my eye, I could see Chiron's face darkening. What was Percy trying to do by asking that-? Then it hit me, I looked at him both with guilt and sadness.
"Indeed. There is a place where spirits go after death. But until we know more, I suggest you put that out of your mind?"
"What do you mean?"
Chiron cleared his throat. "Come now, boys. Let us see the woods."
And we did, the trees are incredibly thick and healthy. It was a refreshing sight to see after seeing nothing but buildings and blinding signs. As we headed there, Chiron asked if we had a sword or shield. We ask why he is asking two broken twelve-year-old boys this question, but a faint, amused grin spreads across his lips.
"Forgive me, I was jesting. Even in the safety borders of the camp, it's still dangerous here, not to mention you'll miss one of the most exciting activities here at camp. Capture the flag, sparring. But worry not, I'll get you a sword you could use, but Clay...mmh." He massaged his beard, thinking.
I frowned. Truly, each time the seconds passed, I truly felt like an outsider. Finally, we got to the cabins. There are twelve of them grouped into a U shape, nestled in the woods by the lake. They look totally bizarre and exotic, and none of them look the same as the other. The only thing they have in common is the large number on the door.
One cabin looked like it had smokestacks like a tiny factory, one had tomato vines on the wall, a roof made out of grass, and one made the entire cabin out of gold. It's to the point that the sun reflects it, causing my eyeballs to burn.
"The person designing the cabin had fun, didn't they?" I muttered.
"The cabins are designed to house demigods of a specific godly parent. Children of Hermes, stay in the Hermes cabin, and the Aphrodite demigods stay in the Aphrodite cabin and so on."
Ah, so each cabin had a different god, like a mascot. But Percy noticed some of them were empty, he muttered about it under his breath, but I noticed something else.
"Why just twelve?"
While my Greek myth knowledge is a novice at best, even someone who barely knows about it should remember that there are more than just twelve gods. So, unless other deities swore off siring demigods, there should be more cabins.
"The twelve represent the twelve Olympian gods."
"Yeah, but isn't there more than just twelve? What about gods like Atlas or Hypnosis, or something like that?"
"Good question, but first of all, Atlas is a titan, not a god and it's Hypnos. But yes, there are also many demigod children produced by the minor gods. They don't officially have a cabin, so they head to cabin eleven: The Hermes cabin."
"Why is that?" Percy asked.
"Hermes is the god of travellers, and so are any unclaimed demigods or one that doesn't have a cabin to say."
Well, that's dumb. I didn't say that out loud, of course, I don't want to be suddenly cursed to fall in love with a cow or something dumb like that. We moved on to see other places. I could feel demigods as well as a few satyrs either narrowing their eyes or glaring at me outright. I shifted uncomfortably. Percy doesn't seem to notice, but Chiron frowned. Eventually, we go over the blonde girl from earlier, Annabeth Chase.
Chase looked at us critically, as if expecting us to drool or snore or both. She was sitting down on the left of cabin eleven.
"Annabeth, I have archery class this noon, can you take Percy and Clay here?"
She nods like a soldier. "Yes, sir."
"But before that, wait here, I need to speak to Clay privately for a moment. Percy will stay here with Annabeth, make friends while we discuss something important."
Uh oh, what did I do now? Percy looked like he didn't want to leave my side, but I gave him a nod. Chiron and I walked a good distance away, me glancing at Percy, who opened his mouth to say something stupid, which led Annabeth Chase to roll her eyes.
"So, Clay, what now?" Chiron asked, suddenly making me raise a brow.
"Uh, sorry, I don't follow."
"I'm not going to sugarcoat your situation, Clay; you do not belong here."
Ouch, for some reason that hurt. Hearing that from Chiron especially hurt. Though he didn't say it to hurt me, he was just telling me the truth.
"There is no one like me here."
"No. In fact, clear-sighted mortals are very rare; no one in history has ever entered Camp Half-Blood. You are the first one." Chion says. "There have been a lot of mortals that can see through the mist back in the day, but there is a major decline after World War two."
"What's the mist?"
"The mist is the reason why no other mortal aside from yourself and Sally Jackson can see the true reality of the world. After the age of gods, or rather the age of myths as some would say, the mist was created by multiple divine beings, mainly Hecate and other goddesses whose domain was magic. It shields our world from mortal eyes. Either by making it invisible or different from what it appears to be."
"I see...wait, Sally could see through the mist too!?"
He nodded. "Indeed."
I looked down, remembering her words. She said that I was like her.
"Wait, is that why she couldn't cross the barrier because she was mortal?"
"Yes, both of you. The only reason you can enter is that you had my permission, allowing you to go inside the barrier." Chiron confirms.
"Which leads us to this problem: what do you want to happen next?"
"What do you mean?"
"You have two options: stay at camp with Percy or return safely back to your orphanage."
"Let me guess, you'll erase my memories about the whole thing?"
Chiron looks at me with a raised brow.
"Come now, Clay, do you really think we really need to?"
Yeah, I guess he does have a point. It really doesn't matter if I use a megaphone and scream about my experience here. People already think I'm crazy; if I say anything about this place, I'm getting sent to a loony facility or worse.
"What do you recommend?"
"For you to return back." Chiron says without any hesitation, which kind of shocks me, and I feel hurt.
Chiron sensed my pain and put on a softer face and tone.
"Listen, Clay. Camp here is meant for demigods, but I'm not telling you that you can't stay here. The thing is that if you stay here, it would be hard for you, maybe even more so than Yancy Academy. You're mortal and not a very strong one at that, just average. At the same time, even weaker non-combative demigods from even the Aphrodite cabin are strong enough to knock most grown men out cold with a couple of punches. And this camp is designed to challenge them." Chiron explains.
He sighed, giving me a hard, but warm expression. "You have many disadvantages, not just physically...the campers don't really like you."
"I could guess that much from the way they look at me."
"Please forgive them. Like Percy, they are given a tough time by the world of mortals. In fact, Percy's story of being bullied and looked down upon is a common story for demigods, all of them sharing ADHD and dyslexia. They don't dislike you because you're mortal; you're disliked because you remind them of their experiences. How would you feel if you finally found a nice place to hang around with friends and people like yourself, and suddenly someone like Miss Bobofit suddenly evaded that nice place?"
"...I wouldn't like it." I sighed.
"As I said, I'm not forcing you to camp, I'm just telling you that, this place...isn't for you.'
"I...understand."
He's right, this sounds even worse than Yancy Academy. But I've already made up my mind as soon as I woke back up from consciousness.
"Chiron, my parents abandoned me."
"Clay?"
"They left me thinking I was crazy, my classmates, the doctors and even I believed I was crazy. For years, I believed that I was broken, only learning now that I wasn't just a guy who could see another world." I clench my fist.
I replayed that memory of that one winter night, I was cold as I stared inside a house with a look of pained horror. I grit my teeth.
"I know I don't belong here, but then again, I don't belong back there either. Either way, I'm an outsider in both realities. But at the very least, I want to see this world, the world that I've been seeing but never crossing over for years. I know it's dangerous, I know it's going to be hard, but still..." I looked Chiron deeply in the eyes.
"...I want to see this world with my own two eyes."
Chiron stared at me for quite a bit before releasing a sigh. "There is no way to change your mind."
I nod.
"Then join Percy and Annabeth, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Clay Brandon."