All Across

Demigods-2

Spencer

I looked up at Sun, who nodded to me and walked off. Lilah had her arms wrapped around herself, her fingertips digging into her skin slightly. I gently brushed my thumbs up between her fingers and arms, making her let go of herself.

"Hey. You're okay. No one here is going to hurt you. You're safe here." After a moment I realized she'd moved, her arms wrapped around me and her face was buried in my neck. She was practically clinging to me, her fingers tangled in my shirt. Before I could stop myself my arms were loosely wrapped around her, my thumb rubbing gentle circles into her lower back. "You're safe. I promise." I just gently held her, letting her relax for a moment.

"You promise?" She looked up to me, and I saw a mix of fear and confusion in her eyes.

"I promise. You're safe here. No one can hurt you." I just held her for a minute, giving her a second to calm down.

I couldn't blame her for being overwhelmed. Most of us had a reaction like this. It turns your world upside down, suddenly makes things not make sense.

"I know you're lost, and confused, but you'll be taken care of here." I lifted her chin lightly. "It's scary, I know. But you'll be safe here, you'll be taught to defend yourself, to learn more about yourself too. In terms of figuring out who your godly parent is, you'll be claimed eventually. Some of the gods will claim their kids just for showing up to the camp, others wait for the children to do something to make them 'worthy' of claiming. Despite the promise Percy Jackson had them make, they don't completely listen."

"I don't know who you're talking about-? Percy?" She looked up at me, talking seeming to help calm her down.

I just smiled gently. "My brother, son of Poseidon. He saved the world.. more than once. The first time, the gods offered him a gift, offering to make him a god. He turned it down so he could stay with his girlfriend. Instead, he made the gods swear to claim their kids by the time they were thirteen. There are points where it doesn't happen like that, but most often it's because being claimed makes it far more dangerous when you're not here. Like you, you're probably around my age, so that's why you haven't been claimed. I'm sure it'll happen soon though."

"Claimed-? I won't lie I'm a little lost here- logistically it doesn't make sense-"

"Logic really doesn't have much of a place here." I chuckled sheepishly. "Technically, what we are defies logic in a way. Logically, the gods wouldn't get with humans and have children. The lack of logic does tend to annoy some of the campers- mostly the Athena kids." I shook my head. "Chiron can explain better than I can."

"Chiron? The trainer of heroes from mythology? Wouldn't he be, you know, dead by now?" She tilted her head.

"To keep it short, the gods allowed him to continue living so long as there were heroes that needed to be trained." I kept holding her gently, feeling her grip on me relax slightly. "So since Camp Half-Blood exists, he's still here." I smiled. 

"That makes sense I suppose." She nodded, sitting up a bit. She winced visibly and held a hand to her side.

"Hey, relax okay? You need to heal. I'm not sure what monster hurt you, but you need to relax." I brushed a bit of her hair out of her face, smiling gently.

"It was no monster.. not the ones from mythology at least." She curled her arms around herself, looking down.

I frowned, understanding what she meant. "Well they can't get you here, okay?"

Before she could say anything, Chiron came in, in his wheelchair. I assumed so that he wouldn't scare her.

"Hello my dear." He smiled gently, turning to her. "My name is Chiron. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sorry if this is rude or anything, but I thought Chiron was a centaur? I remember reading the myths-"

He chuckled. "I am, though I tend to take this form so I don't break things in here. This building isn't exactly built for centaurs."

"That makes sense I suppose." She nodded, sitting up a little.

I chuckled softly. "Chiron, I'm gonna go find her something to eat and some clean clothes." I stood and nodded to him and Sun a bit before walking out.

There was something about her, and I just couldn't figure it out.