The bright orange and yellow flames had turned all pitch-black and had reached at least 20 meters into the air. It flickered non-stop and the warming sensation was replaced by chill. However, I wasn't afraid of it. I was instead attracted to it. The dark fire felt familiar.
Following the black flames, the ground started to shake violently.
*Rumble... Rumble... Crackle...*
*Crackle... Rumble...*
The slits across the ground in small and medium sizes appeared as the demigods screamed out of fear. The Earth shook for over a minute until the nightmare finally ended. As the earthquake subdued, the black flames too turned back to their original color.
The site of the campfire was all destroyed and the ground was full of cracks. Fortunately, no one was harmed and everyone was okay in terms of physical health. However, you wouldn't be able to say the same thing for mental health.
As the chaos vanished, all eyes fell onto one demigod, who seemed to be responsible for the commotion.
I blankly glanced at my surroundings as I realized the only place that wasn't affected by the earthquake was the podium I was standing on.
'Fuck!'
Chiron was the first one to come back to his senses as he announced my godparent. His voice didn't carry any passion or excitement. Instead, his voice was shaking out of hesitancy.
"W-Welcome to Camp Twilight, Son of H-Hades!"
His voice didn't sound welcoming at all. The crowd wasn't cheering as well. Everyone was in complete silence. The spirit of the crowd had died and no one seemed to be content with the outcome.
'It is understandable that they don't look that happy to see a son of Hades to be in the camp. After all, the last time a child of Hades had joined the camp didn't end well.'
To take control of the situation Chiron spoke.
"Attention! Tonight's campfire gathering has ended. Everyone, go to your cabins!"
Hearing Chiron's commands everyone slowly departed for their cabins. The crowd gradually diminished and after a while, the only ones left were me, Adriel, Amelia, Grace, and Chiron.
"Grace take Amelia to Athena's cabin and explain the cabin system."
Nodding, Grace left the area with Amelia too after taking a suspicious glance at me.
Once everyone was gone, Chiron waved me and Adriel to come after him. We were heading towards the cabins of the Big Three: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades.
On the way to the cabins, Chiron didn't talk once. He was probably trying to make sense of what just happened. Not two but three children from the Big Three. It was hard to accept it.
After walking through stone paths that led us to the cabin area of the camp, we stood before three cabins that stood next to one another. They were bigger than the rest of the cabins on the right and left side of the big three cabins. The cabins were organized into a ∩ shape.
"Each god has its own cabin in the camp for their children to stay in. For example, only children of Athena can stay in Athena's cabin."
"For you two guys, you are going to stay in these two cabins. Since there are currently no other children of the Big Three in the camp, you can freely use the cabin as you wish."
Chiron pointed towards two of the three big cabins.
"We will talk again tomorrow but for now just sleep and replenish your energy. Tomorrow is gonna be a long day."
After that, Chiron left the cabin area, and Adriel and I were left alone in the dark stone path which was only dimly lighted by some street lambs.
"Thanks for the help against the monster today."
So he had seen me fighting before losing consciousness.
"Don't mention it."
Adriel entered Zeus' cabin while I stood there to observe the cabins. In the middle of the three big cabins stood the Zeus' cabin. It was made out of white marble. White columns supported the structure. The symbol of Zeus, a lighting made out of marble was on the entrance of the cabin.
Right to Zeus' cabin was Poseidon's cabin where Eleanor resided. It was made out of blue and green stones mixed with some wood here and there. It had a water fountain in front of the entrance. The symbol of Poseidon, the trident could be seen just above the entrance door made out of wood.
Left to the Zeus' cabin was Hades' cabin where I would be residing from now on. It was made out of black marble and dark wood. It had a minatory aura as if screaming not to get close to it. The symbol of Hades, Cerberus the three-headed hell dog looked intimidating as it stood on the both left and right sides of the entrance.
Each of the three of them was as big as a mansion on its own. A demonstration of the superiority of the Three Big.
I pushed the doors open and entered into Hades' cabin. Its interior was well-designed. In the center of the cabin was a grand fireplace that was somehow still on fire.
'I guess that's fire is fueled by the divine energy.'
Around the campfire were couches desks and other living room essentials. The floor was covered in cushy black carpet.
Then I used the stairs to go up. It was a two-floored cabin with the bedrooms on the second floor. There were several bedrooms. Without much thought, I just entered one of the bedrooms.
The bedrooms had their own bathroom, a king-size bed, a huge wardrobe full of dark-colored clothes, and a wide desk. It was an ideal bathroom with all a sixteen-year-old could ever want.
I threw myself into the comfortable bet and immediately fell asleep.
***
"Isn't he that kid claimed by Hades..."
"Look at him... Eating like he didn't just destroy half of the camp yesterday..."
"Isn't it dangerous for him to stay in the camp..?"
"Right..? What if he ends up just like the last one..?"
As I tried to eat my food peacefully I was subjected to the whispers of the demigods around me. They were all looking at me as if I was a huge threat to the existence of the camp itself, which was not that wrong, to be honest.
'Out of all the gods, how come I turn out to be the supposed-to-be-death son of Hades?'
The reason I was treated like a stranger or an outcast wasn't because I had caused all the chaos yesterday night (though it didn't help my situation). It was because I was a child of Hades. And to say the least, Camp Twilight didn't have good relationships with the children of Hades.
For as long as Camp Twilight existed, which was first established in ancient times, the children of Hades always somehow caused serious trouble for the camp. This resulted in a collective trauma in the camp that was reflected through the discrimination of Hades' children.
The last time a child of Hades had come to the camp was around 20 years ago. She was the daughter of Hades. She betrayed the camp by collaborating with the enemy and put the lives of many demigods along with the existence of Cam Twilight in danger. After her, demigods were never able to believe the children of Hades.
However, the origin of this discrimination and hatred was actually a result of a dispute between the gods themselves, the Big Three to be exact. After defeating Cronus; Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades drew lots to decide who would control which domain. Zeus received the authority over the sky, Poseidon received the authority over the seas, and Hades received the authority over the underworld.
However, Hades, drawing the worst domain to control wasn't pleased but didn't deny his fate either. He has spent his time in his grand black castle away from other gods deep under the ground.
As the only one who wasn't allowed to enter Olympus except in winters, he felt locked in the underworld, feeling banished, even though he helped Zeus and Poseidon defeat Cronus. Over millions of years, this feeling of betrayal gradually turned into a bitter resentment.
He couldn't confront the Olympus head one as this would only benefit their common enemies. But his resentment passed on to his children. That's why the children of Hades bore a grudge against the other demigods. And the fact that they were discriminated against in the camp only fueled this hatred more.
'However, I am technically not a child of Hades. That's why I don't actually feel any resentment towards the Camp. Though It didn't change the fact that I still felt like a stranger here, just like every other place.'
*Sigh...*
Anyway, I need to go to the training ground. Chiron had told me to come to the training ground around this time of the day.
'He probably will team me up with the main cast.'
Camp Twilight was both a safe place and an academy for demigods. The demigods would be grouped into 5 or 6 people. Once you get into a group, you will be training and going on quests with them during your stay here. And I was probably going to be added to the main cast group.
Why?
The teacher of the main cast group was Chiron himself as he wanted to keep in eye on the two children of the Big Three: Adriel and Eleanor. Since I was a child of one of the Big Three, he would likely want to keep an eye on me too. The fact that I was Hades' son didn't help either as it gave all the more reason to be cautious of me.
I got up and departed for the training ground.