Daughter Of Light- Book 1: PJO

Chapter 7: Camp Half-Blood

I stepped through the barrier, expecting to feel something, but nothing happened. No warm tingle, no buzz, not even a damp or coolness. Literally nothing happened and I was slightly disappointed. I frowned and looked back.

"That was anticlimactic." I muttered.

"The one and only time you will say that in your demi god life." Percy rolled his eyes.

As my eyes adjusted to the bright beautiful sunshiny day I felt my muscles relax standing in the sun. I could smell the fresh strawberries growing. I swept my eyes across the camp, trying to take everything in.

"So that's the Big House." Percy said pointing to a huge four story tall old farm house with a huge wrap around porch. It sky blue with white trim, like an upscale seaside resort.

"Whoa. That's a big house." I sputtered.

"Why we named it such, it's where Chiron and Mr D stay. Where we have counselor meetings, the infirmary is there, a few offices. Camp head office."

"Got it. Avoid the Big House."

"Exactly." Percy grinned one of his mischievous smirks. "You truly are my sister."

I lifted the corner of my lips. Ripping my eyes away from the house, I looked down at the camp spreed out below me. It looked so perky and happy, yet something felt wrong. There was tension in the air, as if the hill itself were holding its breath, waiting for something bad to happen. I could physically feel the tension radiating off everyone here. It was slightly overwhelming. Frowning I looked back at Percy and Annabeth who was already marching down the hill.

Percy tugged my arm and I followed after them. We walked down into the valley and found the summer session in full swing. My head was swiveling back and forth trying to see everything all at once. We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance.

Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture- an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena- except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun.

As we walked Percy pointed out different people and places.

"Most of the campers arrived last Friday. We had to stay for that stupid orientation." Percy grumbled.

I felt the same way, but I shrugged, can't do anything about it. Not worth getting angry. I saw satyrs playing their pipes in the strawberry fields, making the plants grow with woodland magic. I turned and saw other campers were having flying horseback lessons, swooping over the woods on their pegasi. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range.

"Those are the Apollo kids, I'll introduce you in a few minutes."

Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.

"So, see that smoke from over there?" Percy pointed, I nodded. "Hephaestus campers, it's the forges," I could hear hammers banging and the sounds of fires roaring.

"Kids make their own weapons for Arts & Crafts." Percy explained.

My eyes went huge, "They MAKE their own?"

"Well ya, their dad is Hephaestus...the god of-"

"-blacksmiths and fire." I finished. I saw a whole bunch of kids having chariot races around a huge track, and over at the lake some kids in a Greek trireme were fighting a large orange sea serpent.