I wanted to die.

Not, like, actually though. I mean, sure, dying might not be fun, but at that moment, it was pretty much the best alternative I could think of. When I woke up, my eyeballs felt like a million drops of hot sauce had been dumped on them, and I don’t mean the weak stuff. I mean like Ghost Peppers dripping their sauce on your eyes while you feel like you’ve swallowed a stale piece of toast whole and pins have been pushed into your temples. That kind of bad.

I did have one moment of great ease. As soon as I yelped and shut my eyes, flailing my arms weakly, a pair of hands grabbed mine gently. I succumbed to their strength, letting them put my arms down before they pressed a straw to my lips. I put my lips to it greedily and began to suck. Maybe I looked kinda stupid then, but I didn’t really care.

Whatever I was drinking, it was amazing. It brought back so many good memories, I just… I couldn’t even think. What it tasted like? Well, that’s even harder to describe. It wasn’t baklava this time, like the ambrosia had been. Against whatever this drink was, ambrosia were like saltine crackers for a snack (but those are actually quite good if you get something like Skyflakes). Then again, ambrosia kind of is like a cracker… I’m getting off topic.

They tasted of croissants, perfectly buttered and flaky, and just the hint of the taste of apple and cinnamon. They were just right, and it was a taste I never thought I would ever be able to have the pleasure of tasting again. Why? Well, these were my mother’s croissants. Why do you think I loved them in the first place? They were of the same stuff my mom was into, but nothing in the world’s bakeries could possibly compete with how my mom made them. Before I knew it, the drink was over, and I felt a million times better as well as a million times more depressed.

“W-what was that?” I asked the figure sitting next to me.

“Nectar,” was the reply, a soft yet apprehensive voice said. “Drink of the gods.”

“It-It tasted like my favourite food too? Just like the ambrosia?”

I heard silence before the clinking of glass on a table broke it. “It does that, yeah.”

Slowly opening my eyes this time, I found myself staring up at a wooden ceiling, of which was adorned a rustic chandelier that had at least six bright light bulbs. My vision swam a little, but it was nothing as painful as it was before. Blinking a few more times, I allowed myself to focus my mind, as I still had a slight pounding in the sides of my head. After I did that, I began to prop myself up, wincing at how sore and stiff my body felt.

I looked to my left and found myself staring at a boy who was as pale as the moonlight outside. He was skinny, almost unhealthily so, and his hair was somewhat long for a boy, and very shaggy. Wearing what looked like a new aviator’s jacket and a skull ring, as well as a shirt that screamed emo, the thing that caught my attention the most were his eyes. I could tell he didn’t know what to make of me, but other than that, there was something there. Like a piece of pain that had compounded into a boulder against a glass table that had been shattered and rebuilt a million times, each time a shard going missing.

“You’re in the Big House,” he said, guessing my next question. I guess all clueless people who wake up in unfamiliar places are predictable, but it still caught me a little off guard. “The infirmary, to be specific.”

I asked the next question on my mind “Who’re you?”

His expression darkened a little, the shadows around him seemingly stretching and writhing. “Names can be dangerous.” I didn’t know what to make of that statement, but I wouldn’t let myself be rejected like that.

“Look,” I said, offering my hand weakly, “I'm Babs Seed. From the Bronx, moved to Brooklyn. Apparently a demigod. No idea what the heck is going on.”

For a second, I thought he would leave me hanging until he sagged in his seat and sighed. The shadows looked like they retreated as he took my hand and looked me in the eye. “Nico di Angelo.”

We shook hands and I went back to lying on my bed. “Cool name.”

He studied me for a second before shaking his head. He muttered something under his breath and sat forward, placing his face in his palms and massaging his temples. He groaned, bringing his face back up to look at me.

“So, am I at Camp Half-Blood then?” I asked him, choosing to stare at the lights instead of him. “You never really said where I was. You just said ‘The Big House’. For all I know, that could be somewhere in the Bahamas.”

“If this were the Bahamas, I would probably have left by now,” Nico said. “I can’t handle tourists.”

I grinned, a soft giggle bubbling from inside me. Maybe this guy wasn’t as bad as he made himself to be. “It’s the locals you have to watch out for.”

“You can say that again.”

We both allowed ourselves a short laugh, one I realised seemed to be unusual for Nico because he coughed and I saw him trying to force his smile back down. Had something bad happened to him, for laughter to be something foreign and unnatural? One of the few questions that crossed my mind to be sure.

“To answer your question,” Nico began, “Yes, we are at Camp Half-Blood. For better or for worse, we’re all stuck here, whether we want to be or not. It’s home for people like us.”

“Demigods, right?”

“Yes.”

I thought about that for a moment. “So we’re all half god?”

“Yes.”

“Who’s my parent?”

Nico remained silent, and if I wasn’t sure he was still there, I was certain he could have melted into the shadows and I would’ve been none the wiser. “You’re… undetermined. That means we don’t know who your mom or dad is-”

“My dad,” I said abruptly. “My mom’s dead.”

He frowned. Well, more than he already was, studying me closely. My mom was gone. That was the end of story. My dad was never there to begin with, and I was fine with that. Sure, it would’ve been awesome. I’ve always wanted a dad. But… my mom was always enough. And then she had to go and disappear from my life, like all the important things I once owned and knew. Like the solidarity of the world before myths destroyed my entire perception of it.

“I’m…” It was clear he had begun to say ‘I’m sorry’, but thought better of it. I sort of understood the sentiment. Especially if he had lost someone close to him too. After enough times, ‘I’m sorry’ became a dull statement that didn’t mean much other than that particular person was feeling sorry for you. If he had gone through the same thing, then kudos to him as well. I wasn’t going to push him either. He cleared his throat. “Well, whatever the case, we don’t know who your godly parent is. You’ll be bunking with Cabin Eleven.”

“Cabin Eleven?” I asked.

“Hermes,” was his reply. When I tried to pry more information out of him, he looked into the distance darkly and said “You’ll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”

“Quoting Star Wars, now?”

He didn’t reply.

“Who’s your dad?”

“What’s with the questions?” he snapped. “I don’t need to know anything about you. You don’t need to know anything about me. I’m not your friend.” I was taken aback by the sharpness in his words.

“Yet.” Another voice joined the fray, breaking the tension that had built up between the two of us. Standing at the door was someone who was lean as he was handsome, with blonde hair and gleaming eyes. “Nico, lay off the patient, will ya?”

He pouted under the guy’s gaze. “Come on man, we don’t know anything about her! And from what Percy described—”

“From what Percy described, she’s been through a lot in the short amount of time she’s known she was a demigod. Chill. It’s not like you freaked out this much with Meg, did you?”

Nico tightened his expression. “Apollo was with her. That’s different.”

Blonde Guy shrugged. “She saved Percy’s life. Percy brought her to camp. What’s the difference? He was like a god to you once.”

Nico’s face flushed a furious red, and he glared daggers at the person standing in the doorway. Standing up, he started clutching the hilt to a sword I hadn’t yet noticed from him. “Hey! That was uncalled for.”

“You’re uncalled for.”

At this point, I had no idea what was going on. My eyes were flitting between the two persons like a birdie between to badminton rackets. Nico huffed and stormed up to Blonde Guy, who merely smirked down at him. “You’re insufferable.”

Blonde Guy smiled. “I love you too.”

With that, Nico disappeared in a flurry of darkness, and Blonde Guy sighed. He then walked up to me, checking my bedding before taking the seat Nico had been sitting in just seconds before. I looked at him questioningly, not sure what to make of what had just transpired.

“Will Solace,” he said, stretching his hand out. “Sorry about Nico, he’s always so uptight about everything.”

“He seems nice enough,” I said, shaking his hand. “What was all of that arguing about?”

Will’s smile faltered a little, but he composed himself just as quickly. I noticed this, but I decided it was better to leave it be. It was none of my business. “We bicker a lot. It’s just one of the many things I like about him. But uh… well, he learned something, that’s for sure. Ever since, he’s kinda been on edge.”

“He wasn’t that bad to me.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “No? That’s surprising.”

I chose to stare at the ceiling, trying to focus on not passing out. “He doesn’t seem like a guy who smiles a lot. Or laughs.”

“Things happen to people. By the way, you never told me your name.”

“It’s Babs. Babs Seed.”

“Babs, huh? Doesn’t sound like a common name.”

I huffed, blowing the bangs out of my face. “Yeah, well your name isn’t so stellar either.”

He put up his hands and bowed his head. “Hey, we’re all friends here.”

I glanced at him. “Are we really? I mean, I just met you. And Nico over there didn’t say anything to me about being his friend.”

Will shrugged. “Nico’s always been like that. He hasn’t changed four years. Me, on the other hand… Well, I like to make friends. It’s especially easy when someone’s wounded and you have a guy like me to help you out.”

I took a second to think about that. It was so familiar, trying to talk to him, as if… his name! Will. Percy in my dream had said he had a hard time healing me. Does that mean I was really that close to death? What if I had died? Where would I go?

“Hey,” I croaked. I coughed a little, and he reached to get my glass to fill it with water. “Wait. I need to ask you something.”

He raised an eyebrow, settling back in his chair. “Sure. Why not?”

I breathed in a little shakily before saying “I had dreams. Really weird and scary dreams while I was out. Are those normal?”

He stayed silent for a few moments, contemplating me. After a few more seconds, he nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. One of the many non-fun things of being a demigod. We can get visions of the future, dreams of the past, and we can see things happening right now in other places of the world. It only happens so frequently, but it’s frequently enough.”

“In one of my dreams,” I said, “Percy, he said you had a hard time healing me. That Nico saw I was really close to death.”

He winced, as if to say ‘That was not fun’. He sighed, looking toward the door and the rest of the room before settling on me. “Yeah, you really were near death there. You were pretty roasted up and the poison from that chimera was about to kill you. If you had come any second sooner, we might not’ve-”

“Okay, okay,” I said, shaking my head. “TMI.”

“Sorry.” He rubbed the nape of his neck and shook his head. “Nico, well, he was kinda just standing guard as me and Chiron healed you. When he looked over was when he saw that you were this close to going to the Underworld. And man, I had to use a lot of supplies on you. I haven’t seen a newbie batter themselves as much as you had. It’s quite impressive, what you did.”

“And what did I do?” I asked.

His eyes lit up a bit, and he grinned. “Well, hotshot, you’re in for quite a story.” He began to relate to me what Percy had said during their council meeting, where he saw me get a dagger and start helping him. He then told me of how I had broken up the earth and protected a kid before passing out from exhaustion and poison. After he had related the story to me, I just blinked at him for a few seconds and allowed myself to sink into my sheets.

“I did all that?”

He shrugged again. It was really starting to annoy me. “Hey, it was all Percy. I personally believe you, since you had several first and second degree burns. You were also a million shades darker this afternoon than you are now. It’s also a demigod thing to heal quicker, plus all the ambrosia and nectar you’ve gotten. Pretty cool.”

“But…” I stuttered. “Why didn’t these kinds of monsters attack me before? Why now?”

“Beats me. Chiron especially was baffled by how old you were. You’re like, sixteen, right?”

“Fifteen,” I corrected. “Going on sixteen.”

“See?” He waved his hands. “Did you know that the most common age for demigods to be attacked is thirteen? And more powerful demigods, like Percy, get attacked even earlier. To hear you do something crazy like that and be as old as you are to not know your true blood… well, that’s pretty crazy.”

“Thirteen?” I asked. “Seriously?”

“Oh yes,” Will said. “But seriously. Being able to crack the earth? You’ve got to be a daughter of the Big Three.”

“The Big Three.” I said the phrase aloud, trying to recall where I’d heard it before. The Big Three… of the Greek Gods? What had that empousa said? ‘Child of the Big Three’? “You mean, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, right?”

Distant thunder crackled. Will winced. “That’s right. Those are the names. Among them, Hades is the closest to controlling the ground like you did. Even though you haven’t been claimed yet, rumours have been flying around the camp, and many people think you’re a daughter of Hades.”

“Seriously?” I asked incredulously, feeling a pressure build up in my head. “Hades could be my dad?”

“Yeah,” Will said. “Why do you think Nico was so uptight?”

“Nico’s a kid of Hades?” I asked, nearly falling out of my bed. “What?”

“Yeah, and my dad’s Apollo.”

I felt the world start spinning around me like crazy, as if someone had just drugged me and told me all of the secrets of the universe. I guess I hadn’t actually been thinking of the implications of being a demigod. I mean, my dad being one of the Greek gods of mythology? And especially one of the most powerful one’s, Hades? That just…

“Hey, you feeling okay?”

I smiled wackily at him, giving him a high pitched ‘mmhmm’ before my head fell and hit the pillow.

I awoke to sunlight piercing the windows in my room, brighter than the candlelight that had somehow blinded me before, but a welcome change. Instead of the murky darkness that had clouded the outside world, I could clearly see rolling hills and a forest in the distance, as well as several house-like structures. Just past everything, I could see the effects of Long Island Sound and the faintest scent of strawberries.

I groaned a little, my neck especially feeling sore. Man, the torque on my neck must've been terrible.

“Oh good, you’re awake.”

I admittedly froze a little, not expecting the somewhat baritone quality of the voice compared to Will and Nico. Twisting my head to look to my left, I saw a man sitting in a wheelchair reading a book. The wooden chair had been pushed aside in favour of his position next to the stand, and he kept reading in spite of addressing me. His hair was long, and his beard was longer, both scraggly enough to be able to climb, and his green eyes flitted from word to word on his book.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” he said. “You can go back to sleep if I bothered you.”

“No no,” I quickly said, smacking my lips thirstily. I propped myself up against the wall my bed stood against. “You’re fine. I just, ugh, I had the craziest thing said to me last night and I… phew.”

“I understand,” he said, a hint of mirth in his voice as he spoke. He put his book down to look at me. “Learning that one of your parents is an Olympian is always taxing on new campers.”

I winced. “So it’s all true then?”

He nodded, pursing his lips. “I’m afraid so, child. You are, for better or for worse, a demigod. I would certainly hope the former, but, as in recent times, one can never be sure.”

With his cryptic words, I coughed a little, swallowing slowly as I felt my throat thicken. “Blech, sorry about that and all, but do you have some water? I’m really thirsty right now.”

He nodded and grabbed the jug of water next to him, pouring a cup and handing it to me. I grabbed it greedily, gulping down the ice-cold beverage. When I finished, the man refilled it once more and I drank it full again. After sighing gratefully, I placed the cup on the nightstand and threw the sheets off of me, throwing my legs off the bed.

“Take your time,” he warned, “You’ve been in that bed for quite a while and I would hate for you to injure yourself so soon after leaving it.”

“Uh, yeah, thanks,” I said. Placing my feet on the wooden floor, I stood up… and immediately felt the world go sideways. The vertigo right then was like turning upside down as I stood up, and I felt my head go woozy. Stumbling against the wall, I bumped into the nightstand and breathed, steadying myself.

“Whoa,” I muttered, breathing deeply until my head cleared. “How long was I out?”

“Almost a week.”

I almost fell again, facing him incredulously. “A week?!”

He nodded. “Your injuries were quite severe. Add to that the chimeric venom you took and the exhaustion you incurred upon yourself by using your powers, your body needed time to heal. When you were put before me, I almost signed you off as a lost cause.”

I coughed. “That bad?”

“Yes.”

“So, if you were one of the people healing me, you must be Chiron?”

He smiled. “That would be me, yes.”

I studied him for a second, my eyes going from the blanket covering his legs to his smiling face, then to his wheelchair and back to his face. “You wouldn’t happen to be related to the Chiron the Centaur, would you?”

That pulled a chuckle out of him, like I just told him the most golden joke in the world. It went on like this for a second longer before he shifted in his wheelchair. “Oh, my dear, I’m closer related than you think.” Just as he said so, as if on cue, a shout could be heard from outside, calling for morning muster. We met eyes. “But perhaps another time.”

I studied him for a little longer. “Wait. What do you mean.”

“Come along, now,” he said, seemingly not having heard her words. “You must get yourself familiar with your new home.” I processed his words as he rolled himself to the door. A million thoughts raced in my head, a good ninety percent of them being questions, but one stood out. New home? What about my old home? My aunt’s still expected me to come home, and if I’d really been out for a whole week…

“Wait!” I cried, and he stopped just before the doorway. He turned to me inquisitively.

“Yes?”

I gulped. “What about my family? I mean, I was supposed to go to my aunt’s place in Brooklyn before I came here.”

I could see his expression twitch as a pondering look crossed his eyes. He sat there for a moment before he looked me in the eye. “I… suppose I can allow you to contact your family, especially if it’s an urgent case like this. We can’t have a mistaken amber alert in our hands. Just be warned, cell phones and any other device that emits a signal immediately sends out your location to any and all monsters nearby.”

I nodded, trying to understand what he had just said. So many things were wrong with what came out of his mouth. He supposed. Amber alert. Cell phones attract monsters. Cell phones attract monsters? What the heck?

His mood brightened considerably as he saw someone I couldn’t see. He smiled, nodded, and waved before he motioned me over. “Come now,” he urged, “We're burning daylight!”

“I’m glad I never got attacked then,” I muttered as I walked over to him. “I’m around computers all the time. Maybe it’s a good thing my phone was about to die on the way here. It’s probably dead now anyways.”

He rolled out onto the porch, where he swivelled to the side, allowing me to step out beside him. As the fly-door closed behind me, I took note of the blonde girl I had seen in my dreams running straight towards us, a smile directed at Chiron whereas she hesitated when her eyes fell on me. She lightly flew up the stairs before coming to a stop.

“Hey, Chiron. How’s that book I gave you?” she said.

Chiron smiled. “Nothing I haven’t read already. Sure, different plot, different characters, but the same story.”

She huffed, rolling her eyes. “You don’t have to be smart about it.” They shared a laugh. Finally, the attention turned to me.

“Annabeth, I would like you to meet…” He tapered off as we both realised I never gave my name to him. I held my hand out, and she clasped it firmly. I was surprised by the strength of her grip.

I said my name for what felt like the millionth time. “Babs. Babs Seed. Pleased to meetcha’.”

“Annabeth Chase,” she said. “Good to see you out of a hospital bed.”

I nodded with a weak smile. “Yeah, but it definitely beats dying.”

That got a giggle out of her. “You can say that again.”

“Well,” Chiron said, “Now that the both of you have hit it off so well; Annabeth, I would like you to show Miss Babs Seed around the camp, show her some of the ropes, if you will. Help her get familiar, and then let her take an important call. I assume you’ve already had breakfast?”

“If you call blue milk and a plate of pancakes breakfast, sure.”

He tilted his head to one side, a funny smile adorning his lips. “Is Percy still insisting on you to have blue food as well?”

Annabeth sighed, a conflicted look on her face. Her smile was like it was broken this time, unlike when she had seen Percy in my dreams. Like she was trying to forget something. Kind of like me most days, actually. “Well, it’s definitely helping, what with what happened in California...”

Chiron grabbed her hand, gently patting it. “I understand. Don’t trouble yourself thinking about it too much.”

Annabeth nodded, holding his hands in hers before letting go. “It’s good, Chiron. Really. I’ll be fine.” What she really meant was, she did need to try to forget, but she couldn’t help it. She was still thinking of whatever was bothering her. She nodded towards me, her real smile somewhat struggling to return. “Come on, Babs, I’ll show you around.”

“Take care, Annabeth,” Chiron said in farewell, “And Babs, please refrain from injuring yourself to the point where you come back here again. I would hate for me to have to see you here again.”

“Don’t die, old man,” I called back with a smile. He grinned widely and nodded, allowing for me and Annabeth to take our leave. As we did, the bustling of people around us was steadily growing louder, the promise of breakfast being something irresistible to even the hardest-hearted hungry warrior. Trust me on this. I may be a punk, but I’m usually a very hungry punk. I can never get enough food.

“So,” Annabeth said, “Babs, huh? Not a common name.”

“Never heard anyone called Annabeth either,” I countered. She chuckled at that.

“Touché.”

Seriously though, I get that I might not have a common name, but you didn’t have to go around reminding me every ten seconds. It’s not like I’m the only one with an uncommon name. Heck, Canterlot is filled with people who have weird names. You didn’t see me point out that Percy’s name was uncommon, did you? Nuh-uh, I didn’t think so. Have some respect for odd people, won't cha?...

Though I guess that point’s moot considering how we’re all demigods. At that point, everyone around you is odd, and if everyone is odd, no one is.

“You were out for quite a while, you know,” Annabeth said. “Everyone was getting worried about you. We could feel the tremors from here.”

“The tremors?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yes, when Percy said you used your powers. When we first felt it, we thought it was just another giant cyclops roaming near Long Island, but then Percy showed up with you. You know Percy, right?”

“Oh yeah,” I said, “He’s the guy who thought it was a good idea to take on two chimera at once without help.”

“That’s him,” Annabeth confirmed with smile. “What a loser.”

I laughed. “Sounds about right.”

Walking through the camp grounds, I was pleased to find that everything wasn’t as cluttered and claustrophobic as I thought it would be. When you I think of a camp, I think a group of tents bunched together around a small fire, with all these logs situated for you to sit on. This was nothing like that. The Big House, as it had been called by Nico, was standing watch above all the camp, and I could see where it got its name. Its size was comparable to a three story building, and yet, it stretched widely like it were trying to make sure it could accommodate as many people as it could.

I could definitely see how it got its name, as even now, it loomed over me and Annabeth. Everything else was relatively close to said Big House, such as fields of strawberries and what looked like an amphitheatre. Even further, closest to the shores, was a bustling dining pavilion filled with campers, and the cabins Nico had mentioned earlier being just three or four minutes closer. Said cabins weren’t even that tightly packed, which made me very glad. I just hoped that the insides of these cabins weren’t as tight as a tent.

“So,” Annabeth said after a bit of walking, us somewhere in the middle of the camp. “Where to first? I usually go through a routine, but I thought I could mix it up a little. It’s also been a while since I’ve been here and even longer since I’ve given a tour to a greenie.”

Maybe it was just me, or maybe it was the feeling that I was missing something, but my thoughts quickly turned to the weapon I had grabbed a week ago. A glowing bronze dagger that had fit perfectly in my hand, but currently didn’t know the status of.

I asked “Do you have a place where you store your weapons and stuff? Because I want to know what happened to that knife I used.” I could suddenly see Annabeth’s eyes twinkling with a curious glint, her smile giving away the fact that she was suddenly as eager as I was to see my weapon of choice. In all honesty, it scared me a little.

“Your dagger?” Annabeth said, “Well, that’s something I would just love to start with. Great first choice! And with some of my help, you can definitely survive Capture The Flag.”

I gulped. “Survive?”

She smiled. “Oh yes. Because in the real world, you live, or you die.”

Author's Note

Oof.