The Summer I Turned Into a Demigod

chapter three ~ matten

for the last month or so, the only sentence that i've heard come out of anyone's mouth at this camp is, "the egyptians believe that the most significant thing you could do in your life was die." don't get me wrong, it was funny the first time around but now it makes me want to drown myself in the nile even though i physically cannot drown.

thanks a lot khnum.

being one of the only two khnum kids was a flex until it came down to the topic of what khnum does best: make water. since our camp is in the middle of the desert, we don't have many bodies of water to cool off in. people at camp often blamed my half sister, mallory, and i for the "water shortage" but we all know that's complete bullshit. everybody and their mummies know that it's all khonsu's fault. he showed up out of nowhere and asked us to help him so he could carry on with his travels. he took all of our water and left without telling us any details like where he was going or how long he was going to be gone. leaving his temple unattended was risky considering the fact that we're almost at war with the libyans and the sea people. we all figured that khonsu was just going out for a few days to scope around arizona to make sure that none of the enemies had gotten into our territory but it seemed a bit more complicated than that based on the delayed information coming from the gods.

i had talked to other people around camp, including one of khonsu's sons, omar, but there was still nothing new to the situation. omar had a theory but it didn't make much sense. "i don't think the libyans are our biggest problem anymore." omar said. mallory and i exchanged confused looks for a second. "what do you mean by that?" mallory asked. omar shrugged, "i just don't think my dad gives that many shits about a country that hasn't beefed with us in a few millennia." he had a point but i couldn't quite follow what he meant. "so what are you suggesting?" i asked him. "i don't know, maybe there's another egyptian camp like us." omar sounded completely serious and certain with this answer.

i could've called him crazy but to be honest, i couldn't doubt it. it seemed reasonable enough, i just don't understand why another camp with our same religion would want to start a war with us. it just didn't sit right with me. "well what if it's not even an egyptian camp?" i blurt out. omar and mallory both raised their eyebrows and looked at me like i had solved global warming or something. "that's actually not a bad idea." malloy said. omar nodded, "i didn't even think about that but that makes a whole lot more sense," he said, "but what other camp could it be?" he wondered. we all had to think for a bit. "well, most of the other religions that are even somewhat similar to ours are practically dead so..." mallory said, dragging out the 'o'. i nodded in agreement. omar shrugged and stood up from the bench we were sitting on. "maybe we're just overthinking it, you know?" he stated. mallory and i nodded in unison. "who knows, maybe khonsu is just giving omar another half siblings" i raised my eyebrows and smirked in a joking manner. omar gave me a disgusted look and fake gagged. "ugh please poke my brain out and mummify me!" he exclaimed. mallory and i started dying laughing at his response. "come on, we have lunch soon!" omar grabbed mine and mallory's hands and pull us both off of the benches and onto our feet. "maybe in nine months when you have a new half brother, we can babysit him!" mallory said sarcastically as we all began to walk to the main camp temple. "i'm gonna throw you guys off of the luxor temple if you don't shut your mouths" omar said to us in a completely serious tone. mallory and i just silently laughed at his threat.

~     ~     ~

later, mallory and i met up in the camp archives library. omar was off with his friends (probably playing basketball or something.) mallory and i usually come to the library after dinner just to hang out before curfew. even though we're the only two in the khnum temple and we can hang out anytime, we still like to sit around and judge people as they walk by. maybe that's another reason why people here don't like us.

at 9:00 PM, the bell tower chimed, signaling that it was time to start making our way back to the temples. as the kids piled into the temples organized by their godly parents, mallory and i subtly pointed to people that gave us second hand embarrassment.

which was basically everybody.

mallory and i walked into the khnum temple and made our way over to our beds which are pretty spaced out compared to a handful of the other temples here since a few of the gods can't keep it in their pants.

mallory and i said goodnight to each other and shut all of the lights off so it was almost pitch black. the only light throughout the temple was from the moon peaking through the windows.

"matten?" mallory said my name. i lifted my head up slightly. "yeah?" i respond. i hear her sigh, "do you really believe omar's theory?" she asked. i thought for a second. i hadn't put much thought into it in a few hours. someone else probably would've called us crazy for the conclusion we came to but i think we all had good points. "i don't know mal, i mean, you can't deny that there's probably other another camp somewhere in the world." i say. i only hear a quiet "true" come from her before i slowly fall asleep.

~     ~     ~

i was standing in the middle of a forest. i turn around to get a full 360° view of my surrounding. it was definitely in the evening. i could tell because of the slight breeze and sun starting to set. i feel a few other presences with me but i seem to be the only one out here. in the distance i see a tall blonde boy walking along a path with a book in his hands. i tried to walk up to him but i couldn't move. as the boy got closer i heard someone yelling behind him. the boy turned around and behind him, i could see another boy with black hair running up to catch up with him.

"hey, i've been looking everywhere for you!" the black haired boy said to the blonde one. "oh yeah sorry i've just been walking around all day." the blonde boy said. he was taller than the black haired boy so he had to look down to talk to him. the two seemed to be super good friends or a couple. i'm not here to make assumptions though. "what are you reading?" the black haired boy asked, pointing to the book in the blondes' hands. the blonde boy looked nervous at the question. "oh it's nothing." he said. the black haired boy rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "come on will! i'm your boyfriend just tell me!"

called it!

the blonde kid, will, sighed and handed his boyfriend the book. the kid with black hair looked confused at the cover. he looked up at will before proceeding to open up the book and flip through the pages. "will-" the black haired started but was cut off by will, "nico please don't tell anyone. im not crazy i swear, i'm just curious about that dream. i have to know if it meant anything." he said with a sound of desperation in his voice.

obviously, i don't have any context so i don't know what the hell these boys are talking about but i gotta say, they make a really cute couple.

"will, i know you're not crazy." nico said, interlocking his hand with his boyfriend. will looked into nicos eyes. they both smiled at each other. will hugged nico and said, "you're just as sane as i am." nico hugged will back and replied, "can we even call it sane?"

BRUH WHO ARE THESE LITTLE GAY BOYS AND WHY ARE WE NOT BEST FRIENDS!?!?!?!?!?

"nico, do you believe the roman's are still out there?" will asked, completely out of the blue. nico released the hug and sighed, "will, i believe there's a lot more than just the roman's out there..."

wait what?