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The Tour of Camp Half-Blood II

Leo's POV

Leo's tour was going great until he learned about the dragon.

The archer dude, Will Solace, seemed pretty cool. Everything he showed Leo was so amazing, it should've been illegal. Real Greek warships moored at the beach that sometimes had practice fights with flaming arrows and explosives? Sweet! Arts & crafts sessions where you could make sculptures with chain saws and blowtorches? Leo was like, Sign me up! The woods were stocked with dangerous monsters, and no one should ever go in there alone? Nice! And the camp was overflowing with fine-looking girls. Leo didn't quite understand the whole related-to-the-gods business, but he hoped that didn't mean he was cousins with all these ladies. That would suck. At the very least, he wanted to check out those underwater girls in the lake again. They were definitely worth drowning for.

Will showed him the cabins, the dining pavilion, and the sword arena.

Leo: Do I get a sword?

Will glanced at him like he found the idea disturbing.

Will: You'll probably make your own, seeing as how you're in Cabin Nine.

Leo: Yeah, what's up with that? Vulcan?

Will: Usually, we don't call the gods by their Roman names. The original names are Greek. Your dad is Hephaestus.

Leo: Festus? Sounds like the god of cowboys.

Will: He-phaestus. God of blacksmiths and fire.

Leo had heard that too, but he was trying not to think about it. The god of fire...seriously? Considering what had happened to his mom, that seemed like a sick joke.

Leo: So, the flaming hammer over my head. Good thing, or bad thing?

Will: You were claimed almost immediately. That's usually good.

Leo: But that Rainbow Pony dude, Butch—he mentioned a curse.

Will: Ah...look, it's nothing. Since Cabin Nine's last head counselor died—

Leo: Died? Like, painfully?

Will: I ought to let your bunkmates tell you about it.

Leo: Yeah, where are my home dawgs? Shouldn't their counselor be giving me the VIP tour?

Will: He, um, can't. You'll see why.

Will forged ahead before Leo could ask anything else.

Leo: Curses and death. This just gets better and better.

He was halfway across the green when he spotted his old babysitter. And she was not the kind of person he expected to see at a demigod camp.

Leo froze in his tracks.

Will: What's wrong?

Tía Callida—Auntie Callida. That's what she'd called herself, but Leo hadn't seen her since he was five years old. She was just standing there, in the shadow of a big white cabin at the end of the green, watching him. She wore her black linen widow's dress, with a black shawl pulled over her hair. Her face hadn't changed—leathery skin, piercing dark eyes. Her withered hands were like claws. She looked ancient, but no different than Leo remembered.

Leo: That old lady...What's she doing here?

Will tried to follow his gaze.

Will: What old lady?

Leo: Dude, the old lady. The one in black. How many old ladies do you see over there?

Will: I think you've had a long day, Leo. The Mist could still be playing tricks on your mind. How about we head straight to your cabin now?