𝔅𝔲𝔯𝔡𝔢𝔫 - 𝔉𝔢𝔪𝔒ℭ𝔵𝔏𝔢𝔬 𝔙𝔞𝔩𝔡𝔢𝔷

5. I Fight With Wine Dude

I'd never seen Camp Half-Blood in winter before, and the snow surprised me.

Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed to be real balls of fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in that once beautiful girl.

"Whoa," Nico said as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"

"Mhmm." I rung out my hair, the water falling to the floor, and then I willed myself to get dry.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?"

I shrugged. "For fun. A little extra challenge?"

Percy dried himself off, "Come on, we'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoë, have you met—"

"I know Chiron," Zoë said stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."

"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.

"We know the way."

"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here, if you don't"—he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking—"like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"

Zoë rolled her eyes, but I guess she figured out there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca di Angelo was leaving, she went to whisper something in Nico's ear, but he just scowled and turned away.

"Take car, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. He winked at me, "Watch out for those prophecies, Jacksons. I'll see you soon. Say hi to Lee for me!"

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, he hopped back int he bus. "Later, Thalia," he called. "And, uh, be good!"

He gave her a wicked smile, as if he knew something she didn't. Then he closed the doors and revved the engine. I turned away as the sun chariot took off in a blast of heat. When I looked back, the lake was steaming. The white Dodge Challenger soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sun.

Nico was still grumpy looking. He came over and held onto my side, like he had Bianca during our fight against the Manticore.

"Who's Chiron?" He asked. "I don't have his figurine."

"Our activities director," Percy eyed Nico. "He's . . .well, you'll see."

"If the Hunters don't like him, that's good enough for me. Let's go." Nico grumbled.

⋆✩𖤓✩⋆                   ⋆✩𖤓✩⋆                    ⋆✩𖤓✩⋆ 

The second thing that surprised me about camp was how empty it was. I mean, I knew most half-bloods only trained during the summer. Just the year-rounders would be here—the ones who didn't have homes to go to, or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left. But there didn't seem to be many of them either.

I spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stroking the forge outside the camp armory. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. Even Clarisse didn't seem to be around.

The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow lights that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames cracked in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr. D and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.