"Chiron I'm sorry, how was I supposed to know he was injured?!"

"You shouldn't have been so rough!"
"I didn't exactly have much time to think about it! The chimaera was only a few steps behind him!"

"You shouldn't have been out there at all, Luke! Especially with the chimaera so close! You were specifically told after the last time to leave that to me and the rest of the staff, yet you did exactly the opposite."

"If I waited for you, he'd be dead!"

"You were specifically told to leave it to their protector-"

"There was no protector, Chiron! These guys were on their own. Did you honestly expect us to leave them?" Silence permeated the room.

"Chiron, Luke is right on this one. They had no one. We did what we needed to do. Everyone is still alive! I'd call that a good choice."

The rickety wooden bed Travis had been placed on shifted, stirring him from the inky depths of unconsciousness his mind had retreated to. A moan escaped his lips as he squinted his eyes open, a fresh wave of pain washing over him after his temporary reprieve.

A girl with striking grey eyes appeared over him, a glass of amber liquid in her hand. "Here, drink this." Without much choice, Travis allowed the bittersweet liquid to drain down his parched throat. His body felt as though it were under a pile of bricks, but the pressure slowly released itself as the liquid took effect. For the first time in a long time, his pain started to evaporate.

"Better?" she asked. He could only force himself to nod, exhaustion tugging at his limbs, begging him to close his eyes once more.

"Hey man, I'm really sorry. I had no idea," A toned, muscular blonde- presumably the guy that had snatched him out of the chimaera's way- stood at the foot of the bed. "How long ago did that happen?"

"Uh," Travis struggled to gather his thoughts. "Almost two days, I think."

"Unbelievable," the guy muttered, looking questioningly at whom Travis assumed was Chiron. Upon a closer look, Travis found that the bearded Chiron man had the lower body of a horse. It disappointed him that discoveries like this were no longer surprising. "How is that even possible? To survive a chimaera's poison for that long?"

Chiron shrugged. "That depends. That particular chimaera's poison could have been less potent for some reason. Or maybe Travis here is just very strong willed." Upon saying this, Travis met Chiron's eyes, suddenly feeling exposed. There's no way this horse-man could know, could he? Could know his thoughts and motivations for getting his brother here? It was highly unlikely.

His brother. Connor hadn't even been a thought to Travis since awakening, and he was suddenly urgently pushing himself out of bed. How could he have let him slip his mind so easily? "Connor! Where's Connor?"

Luke and Annabeth were at his side within seconds, gently forcing him to stay still. "Relax. He's fine," Annabeth assured the older Stoll. "I brought he and the girl in to the camp's borders before going back to help Luke with you. They're settling in to their cabins right now."

"I'm sure they'll be in soon. They haven't stopped asking about you since we brought you in here. You need to stay as still as possible though," Luke warned. "The nectar Annabeth gave you has potent healing powers, but on a wound as severe as yours, it's going to take some time."

Travis nodded with a grimace, slowly sinking back down onto the stiff pillow.

"I'm sure you have many questions, and I assure you they will all be answered in time," Chiron said. "However, you need a lot of rest right now in order to make a full recovery. I understand your journey hasn't been the easiest." The centaur eyed the older Stoll suspiciously rather than sympathetically once again, making Travis even more uncomfortable than before. He would have to take extra care to be cautious around that one. "I'll allow your friends in after dinner. Meanwhile, get some rest. Annabeth, Luke, make sure our new campers are settling in. We will finish discussing this later."

Sleep was about the last thing on Travis's mind as the group left the room, but his exhaustion was too heavy to ignore. Without struggling he surrendered himself to his first nightmareless slumber in months.

"What happened to my brother? Is he okay?" Connor bombarded Luke and Annabeth with questions the second they entered the Hermes cabin.

"He's resting in the infirmary. He should be fine though. Right now however, he's in desperate need of sleep. Chiron will allow you to visit him after dinner." Connor's shoulders visibly relaxed upon hearing Annabeth's words.

"So where are we, anyway?" Now that their friend's safety was taken care of, Alissa could take care of the number of other questions tumbling around in her head.

"Camp Halfblood," Luke answered with a charming grin. "The safest place on earth for people like us. Other than Mount Olympus, maybe."

"Halfblood?" Alissa questioned. "As in what?"

"Both of you are missing a parent, are you not?" Annabeth asked.

Alissa and Connor exchanged a suspicious glance. "Yeah- why?"

"Everyone here is," she answered. "That's because one of your parent's is a god who fell in love with a mortal- your other parent- and had you: what we call demigods. For example, I am a daughter of Athena, as are you," Annabeth asserted, looking at a surprised Alissa.

"And you and your brother are sons of Hermes," Luke finished, glancing at Connor. "Just like me. We all have daddy issues here."

"Or mommy issues," Annabeth muttered begrudgingly.

"So you're not alone."

"So wait," Alissa interrupted. "Demigod…I'm confused. What does that mean?"

"It means that while you don't have the full power of a Greek god, like those born of two gods do, you have partial powers due to the mixing of god and mortal blood. That is also the reason why you more than likely have some sort of attention disorder or dyslexia."

"Or both, if you're really lucky," Luke joked.

"So, why did my dad leave then?" Connor asked, trying his best to wrap his mind around it all.

"Zeus," Luke answered simply. "Zeus issued an order stating that gods could no longer have contact with their mortal offspring. They were all forced to leave their mortal families and return to life in Olympus, which sucks if you ask me."

Connor and Alissa were both silent. Having the mysteries of their entire life explained to them was a lot to take in at one time. "I think I'm gonna be sick," Alissa mumbled.

Annabeth just chuckled. "It will take a while for it to all sink in, but once you get used to it, it really isn't all that bad. Kind of cool, actually. How about a tour, and I can answer more of your questions along the way?"

With heads swimming with new information, the two of them agreed, and set off to get a feel for their new home with their new halfblood friends.