Chaos Rising |BOOK 2| Harry Potter x PJO |Alexandra Marine|

BONUS: THE DAY SHE CAME TO CAMP

"This is Camp Half Blood?" I asked, shocked.

"Yep," Aster replied, smiling.

The hill was awesome. Trees flanked it on the east, and on the west, it was clear, just green grass and tall plants growing on all sides. A large arch stood at the entrance to the camp, and the words 'Camp Half Blood' were written boldly, so that even I could read them. The air smelled like strawberries.

In the middle of the whole camp area stood a large house, larger than every other house in vicinity, painted baby blue. I could see two people sitting around a table, playing.. were those cards?

"That's the Big House," Aster informed me. "Come on, I'll show you around first."

Aster took me to the Divine Cabins area first. Twelve cabins flanked the large fireplace in the center, making a U shape. And they were without doubt the most bizarre collection of buildings I'd ever seen.

Except for the fact that each had a large brass number above the door (odds on the left side, evens on the right), they looked absolutely nothing alike. Number nine had smokestacks like a tiny factory. Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof made out of real grass. Seven seemed to be made of solid gold, which gleamed so much in the sunlight it was almost impossible to look at. They all faced a commons area about the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flower beds, and a couple of basketball hoops.

A girl about nine years old was tending the flames, poking the coals with a stick.

"Each cabin has a different god, like a mascot," Aster explained. "That's the Zeus and Hera cabin, and no one ever stays there, really, and there's Poseidon, no one there too- and Ares, and this is, Athena, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy."

"Where do I stay?" I asked.

"We still don't know who your godly parent is," Aster replied. "Until we find out who she is, you stay at the Hermes Cabin."

"Who's Hermes?"

"God of thieves, travelers, and everything else the gods aren't."

"Awesome."

He led me through the dining pavilion. "The dining pavilion is where the campers eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can ask whatever you want to drink. Each cabin has their own tables and campers are not allowed to sit at a table that is not their cabin's."

The tables were covered with a white tablecloth fringed with purple. At the center of the pavilion was the bonfire.

"It's lit during the dinners. At the beginning of each meal, each cabin takes turns going up to the fire and dropping in a share of their best food as an offering for the gods," he explained.

The forests were thick, and dark. "Don't go in there without a weapon," Aster warned. "There are so many dangerous creatures, you don't want to know."

And finally, passing through the strawberry fields, Aster led me to the Big House. In front, two people were sitting round a table, playing. One of them was in a wheelchair, scratching his dark hair, trying to think of a good move to win, probably. The other guy, the one with the Diet Coke in hand, he was frowning, waiting for the first to make a move.

"My lord," Aster said, bowing to the Diet Coke dude. "I have followed the goddess' orders."

The dude turned to the satyr only two minutes later. The wheelchair guy, however, he had already scanned me up and down.

"Welcome," the man said, "I am Chiron, director of activities here at Camp Half Blood."

"Hi, Chiron," I replied back, "I'm Ariana."