Chapter 5

A/N FINALLY! 2 REVIEWS! I was starting to doubt myself. And we all know what happens when people doubt themselves.. Kidding!

Isaac POV

"This is the Hermes cabin" Nico showed me a really normal looking cabin with a Greek caduceus hanging over the door.

I walked in and a bucket of water poured down on me. Two boys a couple of years older than me stood in font of me with guilty and shocked expressions on their faces.

"Well I.." One started.

"But we.." The other cut in.

"You kinda.."

"And then.."

"We're sorry." They said in unison.

"You guys sure know how to make me feel welcome." I grumbled.

"What happened? Why are you soaking wet? Did you guys just apologize?" Nico asked from behind me.

"We kind of heard your voice out there," The boy on the left said, addressing Nico. "And we set up this prank real fast. And then you let the girl come in first. And she got wet."

Nico's face turned from confused to completely infuriated. "You tried to prank me?!" He shouted at them. "I can easily arrange your deaths!"

"Yeah, but it's so fun to get you angry! Uh, I mean, it will never happen again. You have our word." One of the boys said.

I hadn't been thinking about it, mostly because I had just gotten a bucket of water poured on me, but the boys looked exactly the same. And when I say exactly, I mean exactly. They both had curly brown hair in a messy mop on top of their heads. Their eyebrows had the same arches, and their eyes were both brown with the same humored glint in them. They had upturned noses, and mischievous smirks like they knew something you didn't. Which, right now, wasn't that hard to believe. They were tall and handsome, probably old enough to be in college.

"It better not." Nico grumbled. "This is Isaac, the girl you pranked. She's new."

"Awesome! New campers are cool. I'm Connor by the way. This is my brother, Travis."

"Hi." Travis said. They both held out their hands for me to shake.

"Okay, but don't count on me to remember which one of you is which. I'm really bad at that." I told them.

"Nah, it's fine, people who have known us for years still mix us up. Chiron still does, and I think that is a major accomplishment." Connor said.

Nico wasn't amused, but I had to chuckle at their enthusiasm. In the background, a horn blew a long, flat, note.

"That's the dinner signal." Nico explained.

"Oh, is it already time for dinner?" I asked.

"Yeah. Hence the "signal for dinner" horn." Connor said, winking at me.

"Right. Yeah." I said, embarrassed.

As we walked up to the Mess Hall, tons of people came up to Travis and Connor, who were walking beside me on my left, and Nico, who was on my right. I recognized Nyssa, walking beside someone I had never met before, and Leo goofing off at a picnic table. It seemed to me that everyone at this camp knew everyone else. As I looked around, there were guys and girls talking and laughing all over the place. A pang of jealousy shot through me. I had never had a lot of friends, really. I never really cared about it, either. I guess just seeing it made me jealous.

"What's that about?" Nico asked me.

I realized I had been laughing at myself for being so petty. I recovered quickly though, because I didn't want to have to explain, especially to Nico. "Oh, nothing. I'm fine." His quizzical look made me think that he was going to question further, but he dropped it, and kept walking.

As we walked into the Mess Hall, voices rang from every direction. I started to get scared as every face turned towards me when Nico and I entered. Apparently, news traveled fast at this camp.

Chiron trotted up to us, his hooves clopping against the stone floor and echoing loudly around the silent room. Travis and Connor were already at their table and greeting their friends.

"Hello Nico, Isaac." Chiron nodded to us. He then turned around to address the whole camp, and his voice startled me as he boomed out, "Heroes! This is Isaac Malone. She is a new camper and I expect you to treat her kindly, as she doesn't know her way around quite yet." He turned back to us and said quietly, "I assume you will be claimed tonight. No need to be scared, it happens to everybody." Chiron headed back to his table at the end of the hall, and Nico explained to me that I would be sitting at the Hermes table, with Travis and Connor. He walked away from me, and sat down at a table at the end of the hall all alone.

I walked to where Travis and Connor were, assuming that that was the Hermes cabin table. The silence was still hanging uncomfortably in the air as I went, but when I sat down the campers voices gradually started up again. "Hey, Isaac." The brothers said in unison, scooting away from each other to make room for me.

"Thanks." I replied, sitting down.

Just when I had gotten settled, and started to look at the delicious meal before me, every single camper stood up and formed a line leading to the fire. "Uh, what are we doing?" I asked Connor, I think, as I got in line behind him with my plate full of food.

"Offering to the gods." He told me, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. "Scrape the best part of your meal into the fire. We usually say a silent prayer to our godly parent, but since you're new you can just pray to the gods in general."

I looked down at my plate, trying to choose the best part. I finally decided on an extra juicy piece of barbecued pork. When Connor and I reached the fire, he scraped some mashed potatoes and gravy in, muttered something under his breath, and walked back to the table. Then it was my turn. Still not knowing what to do, I stepped up to the flame, pushed my barbecue into the fire and thought, this is crazy but, to my dad, whoever you are. As I walked back to the Hermes table I caught Nico's eye. He quickly smiled, then looked away.

"So when do we do this campfire every body keeps talking about?" I asked one of the Hermes kids who had just introduced herself to me as Leanne.

"After dinner. It's really dorky, but you'll get used to it." She assured me.

"I'm not sure I'll get used to anything around here." I said, looking at a girl levitating her food and throwing it at her friends. " How long have you been here?"

"Ever since I can remember. My mom dropped me off at a really early age. We had too many monster attacks and this was the only safe place for me. Chiron took me in and raised me, and my dad claimed me a couple months after my mom dropped me here."

"Wow. Do you ever get to see your mom?" I asked.

"I used to go home during the summer, but monsters liked me too much and wouldn't leave us alone. She's still in Arkansas, but I haven't seen her in a couple of years."

"I'm sorry." I apologized, feeling like an intruder.

"You're fine! We all go through things like that. So, what's your story?" She asked me.

"I don't know where to start," I replied, shrugging.

Leanne folded her arms and told me sarcastically, " Well, the beginning would suffice."

"Fine. I lived with my mom and older brother until I was 7. My mom passed away, so my brother, who was 19 at the time, moved to an apartment and brought me with him. His name was Dean. We lived in that apartment for 3 years, and then monsters started attacking. I didn't know what they were then, but I understand now. They killed Dean, and I ran away. I've lived on the streets ever since. Then Nico found me, and now I'm here."

"Wow. That's.. a lot. So, do you know anything about the Greek gods?" She asked me, changing the subject.

"I know a little. I know some of the gods, but not a lot." I told her. " I know who Zeus is, of course. And isn't Athena the smart one?"

She laughed. "Yes, Athena is the goddess of wisdom."

"Oh yeah. Wisdom. Right. I have a lot to learn." I started getting overwhelmed. I never really paid attention to any type of school someone taught me, especially with my ADHD.

"Don't worry, it gets easier as you go. Come on, the campfire's about to start. Wanna sit by me?"

"Sure." I agreed, breathing a sigh of relief that I didn't have to sit alone. If I was going to be "claimed" or whatever it is, I might as well be sitting next to someone I know.

As we walked towards the fire, butterflies started erupting in my stomach, and I started feeling sick.

"You okay? You look a little queasy.." Leanne said beside me.

"Maybe because I am, I feel horrible." I replied.

"Is this about being claimed? If so, don't worry about it! I'm sure so many other people have told you that, but I'm serious, it's no big deal. All you have to do is sit there and be claimed! No one will look at you funny, or anything! You're good, trust me."

I started to relax. "Ok. Thanks Leanne."

"Anytime." She smiled at me, and we walked on.

When we finally arrived, I got a better look at the fire. From far away I could tell it was big, but standing in front of it was different. The flames reached all the way up to the trees, and licked the sky gleaming with stars.

"Let's sit over there, I want to introduce you to some of my friends." Leanne gestured for me to follow her and started walking towards a group of people sitting on some benches surrounding the fire pit. "Hey guys, this is Isaac. Isaac this is Heather, daughter of Athena, Gavin, son of Hermes, and Ellie, daughter of Demeter."

"Hi." I said to them and shook their hands.

Heather was a tall blonde girl with blue-gray eyes. She looked really happy for some reason and was smiling a really big grin at me. Ok, sure. Gavin had brown hair and a devilish smirk. He looked like he was constantly up to no good. Ellie was tall, even taller than Heather, and she had strawberry hair and a face full of freckles. She had bright blue eyes and a pleasant smile. She looked very welcoming.

I sat down in between Heather and Gavin and Heather immediately asked me every single thing about me. How I was enjoying camp, etc. My answers were short, and I hoped she didn't think I was being rude.

"So, how'd you get the name Isaac? Sorry for saying, but isn't that kind of a boys name?" She asked me.

"Oh, um.. My mom liked it, I guess." I answered, wondering why she would ask me something like that.

"Well it's a nice name! Can I call you Izzy?" She beamed at me.

"Izzy?" I asked, revolted. Nothing sounded girlier than that! Of course, I was a girl, but still! Izzy?

Gavin started chuckling beside me.

"Yea! I came up with it myself! Do ya like it? Can I call you that?"

"Well.. How about Iz? I like that much better than… the other one." I told her.

Gavin could hardly control himself. He started laughing like an idiot.

"Ok! That's fine. I'll call you Iz."

I didn't know what I had gotten myself into.

"Ohh! It's starting!" Heather told me.

All at once, the campers started singing these weird campfire songs, and I'm pretty sure one was called "I Went to Olympus and Saw". I didn't try to join in; I just sat there, getting more and more nervous about getting claimed. Couldn't it just happen already? I thought to myself.

Heather got really into the campfire songs, while Gavin sat there and sang along, but didn't really put much feeling into it. Hey, I probably wouldn't either. The singing was soon over, and right after started talking about the night's announcements or whatever, a red light bathed all the camper's faces. I looked around to see where the light was coming from, when Gavin nudged me and pointed up. Above me, there was a bright glowing hammer. You could tell it was transparent, but it looked pretty real to me.

"Is this claiming?" I whispered to Gavin.

"Yup. You're a daughter of Hephaestus. Congratulations." He replied.

Chiron stood up and boomed, "Isaac Malone, Daughter of Hephaestus!" People clapped politely, but a group of people on the far side of the fire pit stood up and whooped and hollered. I figured they were the children of Hephaestus.

Chiron finished the evening announcements and dismissed everybody to their cabins. He came over to me and said, "From now on you'll be sleeping in the Hephaestus cabin and during free time you'll have the option to work in the forge. You'll do your activities with your cabin and a few other cabins. You can go get your stuff from the Hermes cabin and move it to your new cabin in a moment. You will get a camp schedule in the morning. That's all you need to know at the moment, good night, Isaac." Chiron waved goodbye and trotted off to the Big House.

Gavin and Leanne were still standing next to me.

"Wanna get your stuff now?" Gavin asked me.

"Sure." I replied, and we walked off.

While we were walking back to the Hermes cabin I saw Nico and he started walking over to us. When he caught up to us he asked me, "So, you're alright, right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" I asked.

"Well, I was just wondering if you were alright with the whole claiming thing and… stuff."

"Oh. Yeah. I'm good."

"Good." We walked in silence for a while. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Hope you like the Hephaestus cabin. Bye."

"Bye." I was very confused.

We got to the Hermes cabin and I went to my temporary bed. All that was there was one other pair of clothes, raggedy and torn like the one I was wearing, my necklace my mom gave me that had a picture of me and Dean in it, the bag of food I had stolen from the man's car, I should probably get rid of that, my beloved sonic hat, and another pair of Converse high tops, again, torn up and dirty. Not much, but it was my stuff, nonetheless.

I gathered all of it up and stuffed it into a big plastic bag that Gavin had dug up for me and headed to the Hephaestus cabin. Leanne had offered to go with me, but I decided I would go alone. I walked towards the metal-looking cabin and walked in. There were a couple other kids in there and they smiled and waved at me. I smiled back and headed towards Nyssa.

"Hey, which bed is gonna be mine?" I asked her.

"Oh hey, you're on the far end, top bunk. I hope you like it, no one's slept there in a while so it's kind of old." She apologized.

"That's fine, I don't mind."

I went to the end of the long hall of bunks and set my stuff on a large dresser that had the words "Bunk #26" Carved into it. Seeing as that was also the number carved onto my actual bed, I figured it belonged to me. I could tell someone slept on the bottom bunk, but I hadn't seen anyone come over there yet, so I wasn't quite sure who. I hopped onto my bed and looked around. The bunks were separated down the hall, boys and girls. There were also walls that came up around your own bunk, for privacy. Buttons on the walls controlled everything. Someone had put a lot of work into this cabin, and by the looks of it, it was still in progress. By the push of a button you could: make your bed, get privacy, turn the lights on or off in your space, get food, turn on the TV (which, by the way, was installed at the end of your own bed), and many, many, other things. I was going to like being in the Hephaestus cabin. Oh yes. Everybody had his or her own personalized space. One kid had a whole video game station on his bed! I began thinking about ways I could improve my own area, but I heard someone rummaging on the bed below me. I climbed down and waited for her to notice me. Until then I put on my necklace, and rearranged my clothes.

When the girl finally noticed me, she introduced herself. "Oh hey! You're Isaac, aren't you? I'm Brooklynn." She held out her hand to me.

"Yes, I am. Nice to meet you." I said, shaking her hand. "Do you sleep here?"

"Yup, I do! You're gonna love being in here, not to brag or anything, but we're a pretty awesome cabin." She laughed.

I smirked. "I can see that, and by the looks of it, you've got an unlimited supply of food. I like it!"

We laughed and talked some more. She was very pleasant, but she looked rough, like she'd been through a lot. I wondered about her back-story, but I didn't want to intrude, so I didn't ask. She had dark circles under her eyes, like she didn't get enough sleep last night. I wondered if that was just because she was having fun, or it was a regular thing. I also wondered if Brooklynn was her real name, or if that was just what everybody (including herself) called her. She was a very interesting person; but for now we were just talking and laughing and there was nothing else. It was nice to talk to someone, and I didn't want to think about anything more.

That night I met so many people I thought I was going to explode. When it was finally time to go to bed, I climbed up on my bunk, got under the covers, and slept like a rock. I didn't even think about how my new life was going to be like, all I cared about was that I had a place to live now, and they had an unlimited supply of food. Food, glorious food.