Hey, sorry for the late update. I've been trying to work on it while dealing with my own life, but here it is. Not much is going to happen here, at least plot-wise.

Enjoy!

As it turns out, hero's are kinda generic at Camp Everyone Is Half God.

My new Ares friend from Capture the Flag taught me that lesson, along with a few of her friends.

Started like this.

Almost a week after the games, I had been on the way back from a late night bathroom trip. It had become a bit of a habitual event.

I'd wake up surrounded by snoring half-bloods, trip over literally everything and everyone, then take a relaxing walk thru the woods. I felt most relaxed when surrounded by nature, it almost helped me forget how I was in a monster-killing training camp for violently inclined god children.

And the wait staff were a bunch of harpies. Whose sister I killed. With cactuses.

Maybe it was harder to forget after all.

Still, I felt calm in the woods. Closer to her. My mother. Plus the nymphs were all really nice.

When I had first taken this trail, I had nearly fainted (no, I didn't scream) when a whole group of nymphs jumped from their trees to say hello.

Not proud of that moment, but hey, who would've been prepared for a horde of tree spirits to suddenly throw a surprise party. In the middle of the night. In a forest full of not nice beasties.

Anyways, they knew who my mother was, since she was like the original Mother Nature.

Now when I walk through the woods I like to say hi to my new friends.

Keeps me from feeling too jittery, nervous and overall panicky. Being in Camp Half-Blood, taking in the whole situation, especially after the ordeal at the orphanage, finding out about my mother...

It's a lot for a ten year old to process. So yeah, the trail was great.

Until the ares girl figured out about my night time stroll. Which brings me here, surrounded by big, grunting Ares campers with my friend at the head.

I wish I had stayed in my cramped bedroll.

"Well lookie here, a little un-claimed Demi-snot alone in the woods. Anything could happen..."

"Okay, that was just a little too creepy. Can't you just say you'll beat me up, instead of sounding like a serial killer?"

Seriously, why couldn't ANYTHING be normal here? Even bullies got a super juiced shot of insanity. On another note, there are a lot of bullies here, and I am taller than only zero of them.

"When were done with you," she started, walking forward while the circle enclosed, "you're gonna wish I had killed you."

"Okay, again with the cree-" was all I got out before a foot found my spine, and suddenly I knew that the mean girl's shoes needed replacing. Seriously, was frayed beyond saving a new style?

"Get him back up, I want to see his eyes."

They dragged me to my limp feet, forcing my face to look up to hers.

"Someone's gonna come," I say. They all chuckle, like on cue, but all I see is the impossibly white teeth of the girl who probably is going to bury me alive.

"Ya know, if you had just laid down and cried at the games, none of this would be happening. Instead you got lucky, but also very unlucky, cause now that little victory is going to cost you your hand."

Oh my god, she's gonna rip my hand off!

"Why not my little toe, I don't need that one!"

"Actually," a new voices, behind me, "you do. That little toe provides a lot of balance, you'd be all clumsy without it."

The silence is deafening, and I here feet shuffling.

"Mark," psycho girl again, "shut up. Seriously. Just...just shut up. We're gonna break his hand. Gods, why do I put up wi-"

Taking the moment of distraction as an opportunity, my head jolted up to meet her chin, hopefully biting her tongue.

She staggers back, and my thrashing earns me a swift punch to the stomach from another Ares camper.

Amid the string of curses(with lisps, score, got the tongue), the girl gains back her bearing and marches toward.

"Ouch," she growls.

"Hold out his arm!"

Despite my valiant struggling, I'm only one small god child, and their are many muscle heads both male and female with biceps bigger than my head. The forest is eerily silent around us, my nymph friends either sleeping or staying away.

They probably saw stuff like this a lot, it was murder camp after all.

"Hurry up Grace, before the harpies come back around," one urges.

Grace, who I realize is the leader, seemingly ignores him as she takes hold of my struggling hand.

"Don't worry," she says a little too sweetly, "you won't feel a thing."

Another perk of being a demigod is a supernatural sense for bull crap.

The force on my hand gradually increases in discomfort, until pain builds to a very fast approaching burst.

"Ow ow ow OW OW OW," I yell, before a shriek rings out. It wasn't from me, before you say anything.

Suddenly relieved of pressure, hands going slack around me, i take the chance to push away, falling in a heap as the group stares out into the oppressive darkness.

"Grace, what was that?" Mark says nervously.

"Shut up! Seriously, just shut up!"

Snap* Heads ship around to our left, into a clump of bushes and dense foliage.

Another *snap* echoes from the opposite direction, gasps and whimpers filling the small trail.

I peer into the darkness, body pressed as far into the ground as possible. In the not so distant distance, I spy a pair of glowing green eyes staring back at me. They seem to wink, before a small smile flashes at me.

Then the eyes and smile are gone, and the snapping of branches and rustles of the forest resume, in different places and growing ever closer.

"Uh guys, we should leave now."

Mark is smart, gotta hand it to him. Still a jerk, but hey, at least he was going places. Knew what a pinky toe did and everything.

The Ares kids begin moving slowly back down the trail, ready to turn and sprint for safety at the slightest provocation.

Unfortunately, well, for them, the forest didn't give them the chance.

As though the very forest came alive(technically, it is, but you get my point so shut it), the bullies were suddenly snatched from the ground in a flurry of limbs, branches and screams.

My new buddies streamed from the tree line, giggling and pointing in the midst of the startled voices of the Ares' kids.

One in particular, a red-haired nymph named Holly, came and helped me to my feet.

"Took you guys long enough," I said, only half-joking.

My arm was still slightly trembling from the anticipation of having it dislocated.

"We wanted to enjoy the show a bit longer, see you get all panicky," Holly teased. However, underneath her joking tone I could hear a slight hesitation.

"Uh-huh, sure, and what's the real reason?"

The nymph sighed heavily, shifting from place to place. Her bright yellow eyes looked uncertain.

"We were at a meeting. An important one."

An important meeting of tree spirits? What did they have to talk about?

"What was it about," I asked quickly, it giving her a chance to change the subject.

Curiosity killed the cat, but this was a war camp and I just got jumped by blood crazed half-gods.

"I-I can't tell you that, Mitch," she said, ignoring my protest against that nickname. "It's a secret, we're only supposed to tell Chiron if he asks. Or the satyr council."

What's a satyr council? Holly started walking back towards the cabins before I could ask.

"Hey, wait!"

When we broke from the tree line, the area kids were lined up before a very irate looking Chiron, as well as some hungrily staring harpies.

They all appeared very nervous as the centaur chewed them out, and I felt a sick satisfaction about that.

Then he turned my way, and that feeling immediately disappeared.

'Oh sh-'

"Mitchell Roarke! A word, now."

Very slowly, I tentatively approached, feet dragging as much as possible without tripping.

I turned for support from Holly, but she had vanished back into the woods.

"Uh-hem."

The ares campers had dispersed, leaving me to timidly stand before the towering Chiron as he stared into my very soul.

"You are our last curfew." I nodded to the ground.

"You could have been hurt. Or worse," He continued in a grave tone.

Once again, I nodded.

"I am glad you are safe," he finished, tone drastically changed from that of an angry father to concerned guardian.

My head snapped up to his, which was almost impossible, in surprise.

"What?" I couldn't stop the shock in my voice.

He nearly smiled, but seemed to think better of it and instead shook his head exasperatedly.

"Do not mistake me, I am very displeased you have broken curfew on apparently several nights." I winced at that. Obviously I wasn't as sneaky as I thought I was.

"However, this does not mean I would wish you harm. You are a valued child here, Mitchell. You belong here, and along with being your teacher, I am also your guardian."

I stared hard at the ground again, determined to not let him see my unshed tears.

"No more nightly excursions, Mitchell."

I nodded again, before turning towards the Hermes' cabin.

A hand on my shoulder stopped me suddenly, and in the next moment I found my face pressed into the strong leg of a horse, arms immediately wrapping around it.

I didn't cry. A lot. A drastic amount. Just a little.

Then the moment was over, and I was ushered to my bed.

As I tucked myself into my tiny slice of heaven, bundled into my sleeping bag with my sword clutches tighter than usual to my body, I felt something.

A sensation I had sorely missed without realizing it, but was now very much aware of how much, caressed my ears.

The whisper of a breath, and the sudden scent of a forest and fresh air calmed me to sleep.

I dreamt of a Goddess wreathed in flowers...

For about 5 seconds, before I realized 1) I wasn't dreaming, and 2) That was a goddess wreathed in flowers.

"What the-" I began, then started as a snore sounded next to me. "Mom?" I asked in a much lower voice.

She certainly looked as beautiful as Physis, but after another look I realized it wasn't. The goddess' response confirmed that for me.

"No, I am not your mother Demi-God, though I can sense your connection to me." Connection? "I am Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest."

"Sooo, corn?" I could swear her face morphed into something very angry for a split second immediately after that.

"No, not just corn. There is a lot more that can be harvested besides corn."

"Like what?" Her fists clenched, and an aura of power pulsed around her ethereal form. Her glowing auburn hair moved like tendrils.

Maybe I should stop asking her questions. A moment later, she sighed heavily and the glow along with her hair relaxed.

"Listen, boy, I will not be here long. I sensed the presence of a long forgotten being here, emanating from you." I gulped, remembering my mother's warning to keep my parentage quiet.

"What being?" I asked innocently. Her eyebrow raised in suspicion, and for a second I thought she might turn me into a stalk.

She didn't, thankfully.

"I will be keeping an eye on you, Mitchell Roarke. I will discover why you hold a piece of a Primordial inside you."

Wait, how the heck did she know that? Could Gods see inside peoples souls? I shuddered, I didn't like that thought. I did a lot of things as a little kid I don't want any immortals seeing.

Before I could ask even one question, Demeter's form began to glow blinding, and a sudden screaming instinct had me shutting my eyes.

When I opened them again, I was alone. Well, not even close to alone, but the goddess of corn was gone, and I was in the dark.

I don't know what usually happens when a Goddess visits a person, but I decided that at that moment all I wanted was to sleep for the rest of the week.

I drifted to the sounds of snoring and, right beside me, sleep-talk about the terrors of the lava wall.