Dinner was a blast. Imagine this- hundreds of ADHD children, crammed at dinner tables, talking. There's this giant brazier of fire that seemed to change with the moods, burning bright, sometimes changing hues, and it was a little mesmerizing to watch. Jasper told me that the tables used to be divided, based on your godly parents, but they did away with that rule after it led to some campers sitting alone every night. I assume Jasper's had that problem, regardless.
I didn't mind it, though. I was new to the place, and I only had two friends now- Sephora was sitting up at the head table with Atalanta and Ganymede, probably telling them about her ideas for a novel she wanted to write and publish. They all seemed so interested in the conversation… Around us, kids wearing orange camp shirts were crowded at tables, eating, laughing, talking, and the occasional argument would spike up then simmer down. They didn't pay any mind to me or Jasper, and I didn't really care.
Jasper picked at his plate of food, eyes fixed on the fork. When we both got our dishes of food, he showed me how to make a sacrifice to the gods. Apparently they have to do that each night. Honestly, it isn't the weirdest thing I've seen today. I've witnessed girls turn into trees, guys with goat legs, a lion-cat woman, a metal bird from hell, and to top it all off, a horses with wings.
"It's a bit funny," Jasper began, spearing a brussel sprout onto his fork, "how much has changed over the years. Camp Half-Blood used to be a lot more like a camp, than a town. I think that architect girl got the inspiration from New Rome."
"New Rome? Camp Jupiter, right?" I had to clarify, just so that I could understand, "Architect girl? She's the one who designed the new cabins, right?"
"Her name is Annabeth, and she's currently going to college in New Rome, yes. Camp Jupiter, like I had said earlier, allows ALL demigods to attend colleges," the son of Hades smiled, popping the brussel sprout into his mouth.
"Huh, I think that's pretty nice of them. What did the cabins look like beforehand?" I couldn't help the curiosity, but I just had to know. They were already a mix-up of various different cultures, architecture styles, and colors, so if this was the chosen redesign… Was it bad before?
"There's pictures in the Big House, actually. The cabins were a bit smaller, and a lot less… Well, they were just like someone painted a model house a certain color, slapped a symbol or two of a god on it, and boom! A cabin!" Jasper accentuated his boom with the hand that wasn't holding his fork, making a firework-like sign.
"So they were ugly?" I summarized.
"I wouldn't say ugly, I'd just say they were a… creative decision," Jasper concluded.
After a little while of talking, the dining pavilion finally began to quiet down, as Atalanta stood up.
"Campers, welcome back to another summer at Camp Half-Blood! As you all know, we've had a few new faces join us. Some have already been claimed, and some others have not. Join me in welcoming them," She elegantly gestured one arm towards a table where some strong, mean-looking kids were sitting. "Morgan Riviera, Daughter of Ares!"
The table went wild, hooting and hollering, some drumming their fists on the wood. A young girl, probably about eleven or twelve, with tan skin and sandy hair raised a fist into the air and shouted 'Yeah!' Seems she was stoked to live with the WWE lineup. Campers around them cheered, the flames of the brazier glowed brightly.
Atalanta moved another arm over, "Evan Song, Son of Iris!" The table the boy was sitting at was littered with people wearing colorful clothes. Iris was the goddess of the rainbow, so it made sense for most of her kids to wear colorful things. The boy was about fourteen, with short brown hair that had a purple and green streak in it, pale skin, and he wore a camp shirt. Next to him sat someone who looked like an older version of him.
"Are they..?" I began, and Jasper nodded.
"Full brothers, yes. Same mom, same dad. They're both sons of Iris," affirmed Jasper.
"And finally, we welcome Ren Takayama!" Atalanta's hand pointed towards me. I could feel the eyes on me, as if awaiting my godly parent to be announced. Honestly, I understood it too. How does one get claimed by a godly parent? Do they just come down from the sky and say 'Hey! It's my kid! Bye!' or is it something like-
I felt something stirring inside. Honestly, I mistook it for anxiety, but that wasn't it. My body was racing, and when I looked around, I realized some people were gazing with their eyes wide. My body was glowing brightly, as if I were made of sunlight.
"I guess that answers it," Atalanta continued, "Ren Takayama, Son of Apollo!"
A group of kids with matching yellow converse cheered, other campers clapping their hands. The glowing continued for a while afterwards, making me feel like the ultimate mosquito and moth beacon. Thankfully, pests weren't an issue in Camp Half-Blood. Jasper said the barrier that keeps monsters out, also tends to keep mosquitoes out- and we both agreed that it just meant the same thing.
After dinner, Jasper and I parted ways. Sephora had left for her cabin as well, and most campers went off to do night time activities. The yellow-shoed kids came up to me, introducing themselves as the children of Apollo- my half-siblings. They got me set up in the Apollo cabin. The entire basement of the cabin was for hobbies- and the kitchen was turned into a makeshift medic room, with herbs, medicine, and stretchers ready for injured or sick campers. The living room was filled with writing utensils, various instruments, and paintings of many, many sunrises and sunsets.
The furniture looked like it belonged in a beach house, all striped couches, worn white wood tables, and a few lamps shaped like palm trees that were actually pretty cool. My mom would love this place, but I don't think I'd want my house to turn a summertime beach house cabin… I'm fine with the yellow walls in the house.
A tall girl, about my age, came walking towards me. She had dark, coppery-brown skin, with bright blue eyes that stood out. Her hair was long and black, tied into small braids, which were then tied into one ponytail at the back of her head. Streaks of gold weaved through her hair, highlighting everything about her. She wore a yellow tanktop, with a puffy, cropped yellow jacket overtop, ripped white jeans, and a pair of neon yellow converse.
"My name is Serenity, and I'll be your cabin counselor," She held a hand out towards me, and I took it. She had this warm aura around her, and just by shaking her hand, I felt a sense of calmness. It was like I was laying down for a nap, on a warm sunny day. "Welcome to cabin seven. As children of Apollo, our main task in camp is healing, though some campers don't have the magical side of it."
Serenity gestured to a girl with rich, dark tan skin and freckles, with her eyes being honey brown. She wore a yellow abaya, designed with sunflowers, and a yellow and white hijab. The girl was about fifteen or sixteen, and had the most gentle expression I had ever seen on a person's face.
"Myra was born with the gift of healing. She's the one who set up the walk-in clinic here, and she stays year round," Serenity said, giving Myra a smile. Myra nodded, looking towards me with a grin.
"I also host a field medic class once every two weeks, on a Tuesday. It's worth coming to check out," she spoke softly, her voice smooth as honey, "And also, I am strictly against any form of fighting unless it's in self-defense. I don't really do anything regarding swordfighting or camp games like that."
"Yeah, camp games can get pretty brutal around here," Serenity snickered, patting Myra's shoulder. Myra grinned back up at Serenity, before she went off to restock the walk-in.
"Camp games?" I asked, but then I remembered what Jasper had told me while we were walking to the dining pavilion.
"The camp does all sorts of things to prepare demigods for the outside world. Most of the time it's camp games, like capture the flag, or hide and go seek. It's always wise to choose your allies well."
"Yeah, plenty of them. Last week we had a parkour challenge. Hermes beat the rest of camp, even the Nike cabin!" Serenity seemed to have a smirk, as if she'd been wanting that to happen.
"Yeah!" A young boy's voice chimed in, before he began to giggle, "You should've seen their faces! Oh, and hi! I'm Cyrus!"
Cyrus had messy, curly blonde hair, freckled tan skin, and the same brilliantly blue eyes as Serenity. He couldn't be any older than ten, and stood at about chest height to me. He waved a hand with a brilliantly bold smile, and I couldn't help but smile back.
"It's nice to meet you, Cyrus," I reached forward, giving him a ruffle to the top of his head, his curly hair bouncing as I did so. "Wanna show me around?"
Cyrus' eyes lit up, and he grabbed my hand, dragging me off and into the cabin. "Yeah! Let's go! It's so cool here!"
Cyrus introduced me to the rest of the cabin members. He showed me the music room, which was nearby the clinic, then he showed me where everything in the clinic was. Myra scolded him a bit for messing up one of the herb drawers, but it was all in good humor. He showed me the room where they made special arrows, which was pretty small. I assume it was supposed to be like an office, or a storage room.
The upstairs was a lot less bright and lively. It was like living in a sunset. Sun-shaped string lights hung from the ceiling, and the top floor was split in two- one room being for the boys, and the other for the girls. The walls were painted from top to bottom with extremely detailed paintings, showing off scenes of demigods from the cabin doing different tasks; shooting arrows, healing campers, playing a guitar at the campfire, stuff like that. It really made me feel like I was in an important place.
And honestly, with what the Apollo cabin does, it seemed like they were pretty important.
Cyrus opened the door to the boy's room, and I was a bit shocked. Everything was clean, neat, and orderly. Each bed had personality, complete with different bedsheets, decorations, and even stuffed animals on some of them. A few were plain, with white and yellow bedding, left vacant for new members of the cabin.
"This is our room!" Cyrus announced, running and jumping onto a bed that had bright blue sheets, with a collection of frog plushies on it, making it look like a pond, "And this is my bed! You can have that bed, over there!" He pointed to the bed next to his own, one of the plain white and yellow ones.
"Oh, neat! No one claimed that bed, right?" I wanted to make sure before I ended up sitting, or sleeping, in someone else's bed.
"Nope! Honestly, its just you, me, Sebastian, Alex, Kieran, and… That's it! The cabin was much bigger back in the winter, but a lot of campers are spending this summer at Camp Jupiter!" Cyrus smiled, laying on his bed and picking up a plush frog. "The others should be back from the slam poetry night soon. Apparently the Ares cabin is really good at it."
"So I've heard," I nodded, cracking a smile at the thought of some buff, mean camper reciting poetry, "I don't doubt it."
Within a few minutes, Cyrus was tucked in bed and snoozing away. The kid seemed like an energetic ball of pure sunshine. I could only lay back in my new bed and stare at the tiny, glow-in-the-dark suns on the ceiling, wondering… What gift did Cyrus have? And what gift did I have?
"Hey, uh.. Dad? Apollo?" I whispered, though I really felt insane doing so, "If you can even hear me, or something, let me know… What the heck am I doing here?"