Champion of Olympus

The Wheelchair has a Horse In It

Intermittent flashes of visions raced passed me as I slept. A man with the body of a horse looking down at me. A blonde girl with striking grey eyes feeding me little golden squares. And then nothing. 

The sound of distant voices woke me up again. Bearing some lucidity I looked around the unfamiliar surroundings. Where the hell am I.

I sat up and found an ache strike through all of my limbs. Damn, it feels like I ran a marathon then proceeded to lift weights till I passed out. A sound of a door opening made me turn towards it. Looking back at me was a large man with blonde hair. His eyes were staring at me. Well eyes as in probably a hundred of them seeing as how his whole body was covered in eyes.

I shivered at his gaze and said "Ummm hey? How's it going?" Cool. Great. Just making conversation with the hundred-eyed man. This can't get any weirder I guess.

The man rolled his eyes and just walked back outside. Well that was something. About ten minutes later another person showed up. It was that blonde girl again. Walking right in she stops and stares at me for a few minutes. Her eyes felt like it was studying or analyzing me. I felt naked and I had to check down at my body to see if maybe I was actually naked.

"You're up. Drink" the girl handed me some cup with something that suspiciously looked like apple juice. I took the cup and looked at it strangely. 

"Its not poisoned." she huffed at me. "If we wanted you dead, we wouldn't have nursed you back to health". I blushed in embarrassment and took a sip.

I almost spat the drink back out. Coffee and vanilla ice cream was not the first thing I would expect from it. The girl looked at me amused at my reaction.

"What did it taste like?" she asked.

"Coffee and vanilla ice cream. Like the one I got with my dad whenever we went out for food..." I replied. The girl nodded, "I think that's enough from you now. Don't want you to burn up."

I stared at her wondering if she was joking or not. "C'mon, if you're fine now lets go meet Chiron and Mr. D". I shakily got up to my feet.

"Wait, your name. What is it?" I called to her as she got up. "Annabeth. Annabeth Chase." she smiled.

"Asher Arrington" I grinned back. Annabeth motioned me to come as we head off.

The first thing that hit was the strawberry breeze. It was a soothing smell. In the landscape, there were buildings that looked of ancient Greek architecture. There was amphitheater, a circular arena, an open air pavilion and even an archery range. I saw several high school looking kids in orange shirts playing volleyball with satyrs. There was even a wrestling pit and a boxing arena. I wonder if I can find some people to spar with.

We kept walking until we reached a porch with a middle aged looking man in a wheel chair and a rather portly looking man. I saw Grover was also sitting next to them looking nervous. He was also wearing a orange shirt that read 'Camp Half-Blood' on it.

"Grover! Dude you're ok." I ran up to him to give him a hug. "Asher! You're awake now. You're ok? No broken bone right. Is your body ok?" I staggered at his rapid fire questions.

"Grover you're sounding like a mom or something." I laughed. "Just a little sore but otherwise I'm feeling fine."

"Asher. I'm glad to see you're up and awake now. Care to join us?" the wheelchair man motioned to a chair next to him. "Uh sure." I walked hesitantly up to him and sat down.

"My name is Chiron," the wheelchair man said, "and you should already know Grover. The girl who was nursing you was Annabeth. And this here is Mr. D, our camp director."

Mr. D stared at me with his bloodshot eyes. A glimpse of recognition seem to appear in his eyes before he turned away. "Yes yes its oh so great to have you here, blah blah blah welcome to camp and all that." Mr. D waved his hand absently. 

"Don't mind Mr. D, he's just a little upset because of his job." said Chiron. "But now that you're here, I expect you have some questions you want answered.

The events of the lamia flashed through my mind. "Yea. Why was I chased by a lamia? Why was there even a lamia in the first place? And what does Grover mean by there being Greek Gods?" I barraged Chiron with questions. I was so confused and maybe I was just hoping a little that whatever happened was just a dream.

"Well to answer your first few questions, you were becoming of age and monsters must have been able to smell you. It was unfortunate that the queen of Libya was the one who found you, but you were lucky it seems and came out the victor. As for your last question, yes it is true. The Greek gods are still around even to this day." Chiron carefully explained.

"But why? How? Are you telling me that they were always a thing and we just never knew? Why am I just finding this out now and no one else knows?" My mind started swirling with the sudden revelation. 

"The gods have always been around since their conception. They have never faded like the myths tell they do. They simply moved along with the 'Western Civilization. From Greece they moved to Rome where they took on different names. Then to Germany, then France, Spain. Wherever the flame was brightest, the gods were there. You can see the influence they have brought when you look at their architecture. People did not forget the gods, they are shown in their paintings, statues and more. Look at the your symbol, the eagle of Zeus or the Greek facades of your government buildings in Washington. America has become the new flame and the Western Civilization is here. And so Olympus is here. And we are here."

I looked down at my feet. It was just so much to process and I didn't even know where to start. "So then why me. Why am I being told this when so many don't know. What makes me so special." I heard a snort from Mr. D

Chiron ignored the noise, "The reason why you're to know is because of who you are. You're a half blood. Borne of mortal and god. Your mother was a goddess."

"My mom is gone. Left my dad after I was born." I replied sullenly.

"No your mother is still around. The gods cannot stick around mortals for too long." Chiron looked at me sadly.

Sigh. I looked out back at the landscape. What am I supposed to do with all this. "So what now? Can I meet my mom then? And do I just wait here until then?"

Chiron shook his head. "We do not know who your mother is. But when time comes, you will hopefully be claimed. As for meeting your mother, that will be up to her. For now you will be here at camp. It is too dangerous for you to leave now that you know everything. You will be trained to protect yourself." He turned to Annabeth who was just waiting on the side. "Annabeth would you be able to give Asher a tour of the camp. I have archery class I must attend to. Take him to cabin eleven first." 

Annabeth nodded. "Yes, sir"

"Wait what about Grover?" I said. I looked back at Grover who was still in his chair nervously chewing on a Styrofoam cup. 

"Grover has a meeting with Mr. D about his performance. You don't need to worry about him." Chiron answered.

"I'll be fine Asher. Thanks." Grover  muttered.

Chiron then got up from his wheelchair. A white body of an animal was sprouting from his chair as he rose higher. At the end all I could see was a horse with a man at the top of where the head would be. 

"What a relief." Chiron said. "I never did like being cooped up in there for too long."