The Summer I Turned Into a Demigod

chapter two ~ will

being a homosexual at a camp full of attractive and jacked guys was not on my bucket list but it should've been. everyone knows i'm gay, it's just a known fact. nobody has a problem with it. i'm not gonna lie, i was nervous that people were gonna start shit talking but nobody can really judge me for being gay. i mean, what's weirder: being the child of a god or liking your own gender? let's take a vote.

"will, i think that's enough nectar!" i hear someone yell from across the infirmary. i snap out of my thoughts and look back down at the overflowing cup of nectar. i roll my eyes and quickly set down both the bottle and the little cup. i grab a towel from the shelf next to me and start cleaning up the mess i just made.

"what are you thinking about?" i hear someone ask from behind me. i turn around to face my boyfriend, nico. i scoff, "just random stuff i guess?" i say to him. nico raises his eyebrows, "oh really?" he seemed skeptical, "that "stuff" doesn't happen to be about the dream you were telling me about, does it?" he asked.

i really hadn't thought about that in a few days but now that nico mentions it, i'm aware of it again. i shake my head, "no i'm just thinking about homosexuality." i say in a more serious tone than i originally intended. nico bursts out laughing, "of course you are thinking about that!" he slaps his knee as he leans back on one of the infirmary bed. i look at him with a completely straight face and wait for him to be done with his laughing fit.

once nico realizes that the joke isn't funny anymore, he clears his throat and stands up. he fixes his shirt to make sure that there's no wrinkles and stands on his tippy toes to kiss me on the cheek. i give him this stupid smile as he begins to walk away. of course, he turns back to me for one last look before he exits the infirmary.

i feel a hand go on my shoulder and turn my hair to see my half sister, emma, with a cringe look on her face. i raise an eyebrow, "what?" i ask because she obviously has something to say. emma simply shakes her head and laughs, "sorry man that was just..." emma pats my shoulder, "that was really gay." i roll my eyes at her comment and go back back to wiping down the counter. as i do so, i can't help but start thinking about that dream.

in the mortal world, dreams don't really mean much. they're usually about your crush at school or your scary male teacher who seems super gay but actually has a wife and kids.

in the demigod world, dreams can often be a sign. sometimes they're good and sometimes they're bad.

morpheus and apollo must team up and do some weird voodoo to demigods dreams because sometimes our dreams can be little prophesies.

i can't really tell what my dream was telling me but it seemed fine for the most part. there was an old city with lots of fancy structures. nothing seemed out of the ordinary. there were normal people walking around and kids playing soccer in the streets. my attention was quickly drawn to a teenage girl with raven black hair and these bright blue eyes. she wore a purple shirt with yellow letters printed on the front. she seemed to be in some sort of argument with a gentlemen in the same purple shirt, layered with a white toga. i could only see the back of him but he had blonde hair and from the looks of it, he was holding a light brown teddy bear. i couldn't hear what he was saying to the girl but he was shouting. as i examined the girl more, i noticed a large mark on her left forearm. i squinted to get a better look. i couldn't quite make out what it was but it seemed to be some sort of tattoo or brand?

i remember helping my mom and stepdad brand our cows back home in texas but why would a human be branded? i've heard some frat boys brand each others asses as a joke but why would a teenage girl have a brand out in the open?

i remember the blonde boy turn towards me to walk away from the girl. i realized that he also had that same mark on the same arm. i looked closer at it to try and figure out what it was. my dream started to fade away but in the last second of being asleep, i got a final glance at the mark. it showed a harp, like apollos, and seven lines underneath.

when i woke up from the dream, i immediately went to nico's cabin and told him all about it. nico sounded a bit worried but i didn't want anyone else knowing so i made him promise not to tell chiron, our camp director. surprisingly, nico agreed without a doubt and that was the last we had talked about it.

that was until he mentioned it in the infirmary. i've ignored it for weeks but is that really the wisest decision? i know chiron won't mind and nico just want me to be safe but what if this is serious? why was i so drawn to that girl and what did that mark mean? why did it have apollos symbol?

i figured it was just a random town in olympus but nothing about that setting looked greek.

"hey em, do you mind if i step out for a bit?" i asked my half sister. she looks back and me and nods, "yeah just please be back by the time capture the flag starts, you know we're gonna be packed with campers." she said to me. i nod and walk out of the infirmary, making my way to cabin 6; athena.

i walk inside to see just the person i was looking for. "hey liana, do you think you can help me with something?" i ask the girl who is laying on the ground, reading a book. she peeks out from behind the book and smiles at me, "of course, what's up?" she asks as she stands up. i clear my throat, "uh i need a book." i say. liana laughs and points behind her to the massive shelves which are filled with books along the walls. "yeah i think we might have a few of those," she says sarcastically, "anything specific?" she asked. i whisper, "i need a book about rome." liana looks confused. "what was that?" she asked politely. "i need a book about the romans!" i raised my voice a little louder than i meant to.

liana looked shocked. she stood there and stared at me like she had seen a ghost. "sorry, i didn't mean to raise my voice. i just-" i say but i'm soon cut off with liana handing me the book she had just been reading on the floor. she looked around like this was some sort of sketchy drug deal. "will, if anyone knows this book is at camp, they will burn it. only read it on your own time, am i clear?" she said in a stern voice. i nod and thank her as i rush out of the athena cabin.

i look down at the book for a second to see what lia had given me. the book was black with a golden helmet on the front. there were all sorts if drawing coming out of the helmet. i looked at the golden writing which read:

mythology - timeless tales of gods and hero's

i hear the giant bell ring meaning it was time for capture the flag. i quickly race back to the infirmary like emma had told me to do. once i got there, the place was empty. i took this time to sit back and start reading this book.

this will be my key to finding out what that dream means...