A/N: Here goes another chapter!

Chapter 3: Welcome to Cam

Percy Jackson

After the shock and awe of his new surroundings finally faded, he was accompanied by Annabeth and Grover outside of the infirmary. Although Percy was still dazed by the recent events, Annabeth seemingly over it, they both were ready to learn more about camp. Percy hoped to make new friends which was something he was unfamiliar with. As Grover walked ahead of the two 7-year-olds, Percy noticed one thing about the satyr: he sure did love to talk. The trio walked out of the infirmary five minutes ago and, so far, Grover Underwood consumed every second with his mouth open. This made it difficult for Percy to admire the view and see just how many people were at camp. To Percy's happiness, Grover finally closed his mouth a tad when he realized he almost walked them into a live firing range. Watching the arrows slam into the hay bale targets, Grover turned to the archers standing a hundred yards away. "Sorry guys! My bad!" He yelled as color rushed to his face. He quickly ran through the range, Annabeth and Percy following close, and turned his attention to the main heart of the camp. "This is Camp Half-Blood Percy, in all of its glory!" Grover exclaimed with glee pulling him to the various buildings and unique spots of the camp. Percy was shown the Strawberry fields, The Canoe Lake, the dining hall, the woods that no one was permitted to enter alone, and the cabin that Percy was expected to stay in. Percy was horrified with what he saw. Grover noticed his look and sighed, "This is the Hermes Cabin, the cabin for the offspring of Hermes and unclaimed Demi-gods." Percy was going to respond but couldn't break his focus from the poorly kept cabin. It's once white and gold paint faded and began to peel away, the roof shingles cracked and were falling, even the wood that appeared waterlogged was somehow beginning to splinter. It was as though the camp didn't care for them, or cared for the god. Annabeth finally broke the awkward silence with a question that Percy had on his mind too. "What do you mean by 'unclaimed', Grover?" she asked with a hint of curiosity and fear. "You see, Annabeth, when the three of you came through the borders it showed Chiron that you all carried the god's blood. Which god however, is unknown to us until you are claimed or grow old enough to show some power. Luckily for you and Luke, you both were claimed minutes after walking through our borders. Luke is a son of Hermes and you, Annabeth, a daughter of Athena." He explained, giving her a reassuring nod before turning back to Percy and his look growing dark. "However, Percy was not claimed. Since we don't know who his godly parent is, he will have to reside in the Hermes cabin. This is not all bad though. Some of the kids in here have been claimed later. It just takes time.He gave Percy a quick pat on his back.

"But why the Hermes cabin?" Annabeth asked.

"Hermes offered his cabin as a safe haven for all the unclaimed that seek shelter in our borders. However, we noticed that even the kids who were claimed, were claimed by minor gods. We don't have cabins for them as well, so Hermes agreed to leave the children of minor gods here as well." Grover took a deep breath before continuing, "But the cabin is at its limit already and we can't expand its walls anymore. So... it will be tight. I am sorry Percy." Percy only responded with a small nod. He was happy to have a place to stay, crowded or not, but deep down he was afraid of the interior of it. If it was anything like how it looked on the outside, the inside had to be as bad or worst. He turned his attention to the blonde girl, "Where will you be?" She was surprised by his question and twirled her fingers a bit before pointing at a gray cabin yards away. "That's my Cabin, the one with the white curtains." Percy was bummed but he was glad the people who saved his life also had a place to stay. "So, Luke will be in this cabin too?" Grover gave Percy a quick nod and a sly smile, "Yes Perce, he will be. At least you'll have someone you recognize with you." With that, Grover noticed Percy growing a smile and decided it was time to move on. "Let's go guys! I'm sure Chiron would like a word with Percy here." Grover took lead while Annabeth followed behind. Percy noticed something about her eyes before she turned away though. He wasn't sure if he was right or just seeing things, but he thought her eyes seemed a little distant.

Whoever Chiron was, he must have been pretty important. Grover had led him and Annabeth to this massive house that sat atop a slight hill at the south side of the camp. The house was a bright sky-blue color with a nice gray trim. Percy could hear some music playing from a radio that sat on a railing as they walked up to the front door. Even the door, to Percy, gave off a nice welcoming feeling. However, Percy noticed that the deck was damaged with dents and scratches as though a horse ran back and forth on it. Percy brushed the thought to the side since he heard Grover's hooves bang atop of it and assumed it was from him constantly coming to see the person inside. Grover gave the door a quick rap before he made his posture straight, almost like a solider. The seconds seemed to count by as Percy succumbed to his A.D.H.D. and looked at the view the big house had of the entire camp. Seeing it from this angle made camp look tiny, which was far from the truth. The camp was quite the average size of a summer camp, but just had some additional bonuses. As Percy looked at what Grover called the training grounds, he noticed something he must have missed when he was first down there. A giant rock wall stood far from the center of the grounds, but this time Percy saw some kind of red liquid pour over the top and felt his curiosity spike. "Grover, what is that on the Rockwall?" Without looking or breaking his form, Grover gave a quick chuckle, "Oh, you know, just some lava." Did he just say lava? He was about to ask another question about the dangerous view but was cut off by a very loud and annoyed man that swung the door open, "What do you want, Goat Boy? We are in a meeting with an Olympian council member." To this, Percy too felt nervous from the man's voice. Noticing Grover swallow back his nerves before continuing, "Mr. D, sir, I have the new camper that came with Annabeth Chase and Luke Castellan. Chiron said he wanted to meet him when he awoke from his sleep." The Chubby man with the big red nose looked over Grover's shoulder at the boy with brown eyes. The man's purple hair was a mess. "Listen, I know who he is because the horse wouldn't shut up about him. To me, I don't care if he was the son of Hades! This meeting is important the council member so do your job and take the gray eyed pale kid and the orphan to the dining hall and come back only when we say. You go it?" Before getting a chance to respond, Grover watched the door slam in his face and gave a very audible sigh. "Well! Let's get you two over to the hall for some dinner! I'm sure you two are hungry!" Grover faked his glee and began to make way down the steps. Annabeth turned on her heel and muttered something about being pale before leaving Percy alone on the deck. He was about to follow when he heard some voices coming from the other side of the door. Percy moved closer and was sure he could hear voices. After fighting with his mind, he decided to lean his ear onto the door to listen better. He was hoping to catch some of the conversation but only received a little of it. "Listen, I know it's not normal. But given the circumstances and the timing it has to be done. Just place the boy into my cabin. He has the blessings from me. He must be safe at all costs." He heard a woman say in the most formal voice he has ever heard. But who was she talking about? It couldn't be him, right? Before the thoughts continued he heard a man talk, his voice different from the man Grover called Mr. D. "We will, but he will need your actual blessings. Let's discuss this more upstairs, I'm afraid the topic is growing heavy." With that he heard them walk away. "Percy! Come on man, let's go! What are you doing up there?" he heard Grover yell from the hill side. Percy pulled his ear away, turned towards his friends far in the distance, and ran to catch up. The words he overheard lingered on his mind.

Who was the woman in the house?

Approaching the dining hall was a weird but organized event that Percy, being alive for only 7 years, found hard to do. Reason being was it was segregated by cabins. The last ones to enter being Hermes cabin, which was the biggest, followed by the 12th cabin based for Dionysus, the god of wine. His cabin contained only two members, both being only a year older than Percy himself. Grover issued both Annabeth and Percy to join their cabins in the lineup and quickly trotted off to the strawberry fields. Percy gave Annabeth a small wave which she returned as they stepped into their cabin line up. Percy stood in the back of the line feeling a bit uncomfortable. The kids in the cabin were rowdy and liked to yell, making the other cabins glare at them. Percy wanted to talk to some of them and try to get to know them, but felt that this was not the time since they were not properly introduced. Closer to the front of the line he saw a blonde boy he remembered from the day he was brought to camp. At the big house Grover said he was Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. Percy thought about getting his attention and waved his arms above his head. This stunt made two girls in front of him stop what they were doing to look at him, puzzled looks growing on their faces. "Um, kid? You okay?" The girl on his right looked at him, her long dark hair frazzled by the little scuffle with the other girl. Percy turned red from embarrassment and put his arms down, "I was trying to get my friend's attention, but I guess he can't see me." The other girl, who looked almost like the girl on the right except with more of a tan skin color, analyzed him and gave a cute smile. "Don't worry about it! You'll see him when you sit down at the table. You're the new kid. Percy, right?" He responded with a small nod and noticed her eyes light up. "I knew it! I told you Holly!" She yelled at the girl who stood on Percy's right then refocused back to him. "My name is Lauren, by the way. Lauren Victor. This loser—" she stated, pointing at the girl, "Is my sister Holly Victor. We are both Daughters of Nike, Goddess of Victory." As she finished, she extended a hand out to him, which he took almost immediately. He then did the same to Holly out of respect. Looking at the two girls side by side, you could start to tell the differences between the two. Lauren had a more prominent chin and cheek bones whereas Holly had chubby cheeks and slanted eyes. Percy wished he had a twin, or at least a sibling, that way he wouldn't be alone. "That's pretty cool." Percy muttered turning his attention to Holly who had a scratch on her left cheek. It wasn't bleeding, but it looked irritated and uncomfortable. "You have a scratch on your cheek." Percy informed her. Lauren looked at her sister and began to laugh, "I got you good! I am the best."

"Lauren, you are not the best! Don't make me tell Mike!" Holly retorted cupping her cheek. Percy watched the two in silence as they went back to yelling at one another as they were before. Finally, the Hermes cabin was permitted to enter the giant hall. Percy looked all over the place and liked what he saw. Almost like a school, there were tons of kids all chattering amongst their tables. Some were silently eating and watching the others talk. The hall seemed like it followed uniform with the other buildings being made of solid wood and what appeared to be a special metal. Percy approached the woman behind the counter and was given a plate of food with no conversation or remarks. The plate contained only a small portion of meat, a drink that Percy was unfamiliar with, and a salad. Once he had his food, he made his way to the Hermes table and looked for a seat as close to Luke as possible. Luckily for him, he noticed there was one seat to Luke's left that was open and quickly took it. Gaining the attention of the older boy, he received a slight chuckle, "Well, I didn't think I would see you here. When did you wake up?" Percy settled in his chair, "This morning, Grover was showing me and Annabeth around for most of the day. We were going to meet Chiron before we came in, but he was busy." Percy explained as he bit into his food. He didn't realize just how hungry he was until he smelled the perfectly seasoned meat on his plate. "Yeah, Chiron is a hard man to grab when he is dragged away. You'll meet him eventually. Don't worry, he needs to do the formalities with you. Welcome to Cabin Eleven, in which I am the head councilor of." Percy broke from his meal and looked at Luke with bewilderment, Luke countered the look with a quick explanation "It's because I'm the oldest. The oldest usually take charge." Percy accepted it and continued to eat his meal in silence. He did want to talk to Luke about where he came from and why they were running. However, he felt that the matter could wait until after dinner to give them time to open up and talk about how they got here. The only problem was, Percy had a hard time remembering how he got here and why he had to be there. He couldn't help but look for Annabeth while he chewed his food. There were a lot of kids his age around camp that he could try to be friends with, but he wanted Annabeth to be his first friend since they both got here together. He finally saw her at the foot end of the Athena table talking to a couple of the other cabin mates, unaware of his stare. He felt something tug at his stomach and realized it was envy. Percy always kept away from school because of his mother claiming that he wasn't safe. If only he understood why he wasn't safe before his mom left him alone with a stranger in a field. As Percy finished up his tray, Luke grabbed his arm and pointed toward the entrance of the hall. "Over there is Chiron, the head of the camp. I'm sure he would like to speak to you." Luke said to him, but Percy was too focused on the man. He was confused on what exactly this Chiron was. From the waist up, he was an older man, Possibly 40-50's, with a full beard and long brown hair. His bottom half, however, was far from human as it was a horse's body. To Percy's fortune, Luke broke him from his stare and pulled him to the trash can, so they could dump their trays. The two then approached the half horse man, making Percy feel uncomfortable. Even with the man's friendly and welcoming smile, Percy felt like he had a deeper plan for him. "Chiron, this is Percy. The camper who came here with me and Annabeth."

"It's a pleasure, young man. I am Chiron, and I know what you are going to say. I am what you call a centaur, half man and half horse." The man said using his hands to identify the two parts. "Thank you, Luke, for bringing him to me. I do have some matters to bring to young Percy's attention before he settles into your cabin. If you would please excuse us." Chiron respectfully stated while putting a light hand on Percy's shoulder and began to lead him toward the big house.

"So, young Underwood has shown you around already, aye?" The old centaur asked as they walked across the center of the camp. The sun was slowly setting over the lake, making the sky turn from blue to a very sinister purple. It was almost like the man from the big house's hair. Percy nodded, but did not verbally answer him. Chiron smiled and looked at the sky, "Ah, I am also sorry about Dionysus and his actions earlier. He has been very... Unhappy about his punishment from Zeus." Chiron paused and looked down at the confused 7-year-old. "I'm sorry, my boy. You probably have no idea what I am talking about right now, do you?" Percy frowned and gave a slow shake of the head. "Well to be frank, since we are almost to the big house, you are not normal. Nor is this world normal to you anymore. Greek gods are very real, my child, and you are a son to one of them. Which one is yet to be determined, and it's something I am not accustomed to since I should know everything about the students who enter. We will teach you the history of our world, as well as train you to stay alive against the monster that will now try to hunt you. Due to recent events from a certain god, our camp now has a new border to protect us." Chiron quickly explained as they reached the top of the hill. Percy felt like his head was going to pop with all the new information. Chiron opened the front door and issued Percy to enter. He was quickly met with a woman who stood with perfect posture and was standing by the bottom of the stairs. Her attention snapped onto him with perfect precision, her judgement digging into him. The woman was pure beauty to Percy. She had long blonde hair which resembled the color of wheat that housed a crown of roots, deep coffee-colored eyes that now matched Percy's, and a green robe that almost looked like leaves stitched together. "Is this the boy, Chiron?" She asked him as she walked towards Percy. Each step sounded like she was stepping on dead leaves. "Yes, it is. Lady Demeter, this is Percy. I'm sorry, but his last name is not known yet. Percy, would you please share to us your last name?" Once again, Percy froze to a question about him. He couldn't remember his own last name and a blank space popped up every time he tried to think about it. "I don't remember my last name." To his shock, Demeter didn't seem fazed by his remark. "Sounds like Hestia to clear his memories of his past life. Before the truth, that is, she always had a soft spot for sore memories that would bring him nightmares or confusion." She was now towering over him, her hands folded into one another in front of his nose. "Listen to me, boy, I know your fate. I know where you came from and who you are. I know what you need to do for our world and that is the only reason I agreed to help Hestia in her little 'Rebellion' so to speak. I would rather you gone from this world but after losing the daughter of Zeus, you're the only one left." She snarled with disgust before continuing, "So I will have to give you my full blessing to mask your identity. Chiron, you can hear us, but you can't learn his true identity yet. As far as you are concerned, he will now be a son of Demeter and will be treated as such. He will need proper training and he will need to understand how to use my powers, along with Hestia's. Do I make myself clear?" She asked, looking between both men who simultaneously gave her a nod in agreement. With that, she placed her hand onto Percy's head and made him glow a dim gold. He felt his body become light and his scalp itch. When the blessing was done, he kept his eyes on the Goddess who gave him a glare before disappearing into a bright light. Percy was too shocked to move, but heard Chiron trot up to him from behind. "Well, my boy, it seems we all have somethings to discover. But before we move onto that," he said as he placed a mirror in front of Percy, who felt his eyes widen as his once brown and black hair riddled with a yellowish color like tainted gold. "Get used to your new look. Percy, we need your mind sharp when we start your new training tomorrow. Ill get the head of Demeter's cabin here so she could bring you to it." He turned away from Percy and walked into the next room. Percy wanted to know what was going on, who he really was, and what he had to do but he was told not to question it. Instead, he let the events of the day take hold of his mind as a new question was formed.

Why am I so special? This was his final thought before he walked out the front door and sat on the porch, waiting for his new head of cabin to meet him.