The Hidden Goddess

Chapter 4: I Bravely Confront a Dragon (Who, Thankfully, Doesn't Kill Me)

I do not want to say hi to Peleus.

However friendly he may be, he's still a dragon.

Sorin, however, does not give me much of a choice. He trudges up through the tall grasses of the hillside, and as we reach the base of the tree, he holds out his empty palms to the dragon.

"Hey, Peleus," he says, as if he were a small dog. "I'm not a threat, I promise. You remember me?"

Peleus blinks slowly, letting out a small stream of smoke from his left nostril. I do my best not to look threatening, but I don't exactly know how to do that. What does a dragon see as nonthreatening?

I've spaced out for a second. Sorin is shaking my shoulder. "Estelle."

"What? Sorry."

"Show him your palms."

"Uh, okay."

I copy Sorin's movement from before, showing my hands to Peleus. He moves closer to me, and for a split second, I think I'm going to die. But all he does is sniff them.

I smile, the sensation reminding me of my cat, Lamia.

Peleus snorts, brings his nose away from my hands, and sneezes. Then he curls around the tree again and closes his eyes.

"Okay, he's not going to kill you," Sorin informs me.

"Was that a possibility this whole time?" I yelp.

Sorin grins. "No."

I glare at him. "Not funny."

"Kind of funny."

"Whatever."

"Let's go."

As we begin to descend the other side of the hill into the valley, I take in the legendary Camp Half-Blood. It really does look like a normal summer camp—a large one, and it isn't summer, but still. On second look, though, I notice some not-so-normal details. The rock wall has rivulets of lava flowing down it. The stables have pegasi in them, not horses. The cabins are all different, with eccentric colors and functions on the outside. I see some with ornate Greek columns, one with barbed wire around it, and even one that shimmers silver under the sun.

I realize belatedly that I've stopped in my tracks to admire the scenery. I hurry down the hill to catch up to Sorin, who's already far ahead of me.

By the time we've reached the bottom of the hill, I notice another weird thing about the camp: it's almost deserted. You'd think that such an interesting camp would have lots of people in it, but no. There's a guy poking a dummy with a dagger in some sort of training area, two kids in a canoe out on the lake, and one girl walking out of the bathroom, but that's it. It seems sad, like there should be many more people.

Sorin makes a beeline for a house in the middle of camp. It's tall, four or five stories, light blue with white trim. I follow, not having much of a choice. He steps onto the porch, but instead of going inside, he walks around the house until we're on the other side of the wraparound porch. There's a table there with four chairs, but only one of them is occupied. A man in a zebra-print Hawaiian shirt and bright pink running shoes is drinking from a Diet Coke can, making obnoxious slurping sounds. He's facing away from us.

Sorin stops about six feet behind him and says, "Mr. D?"

'Mr. D' jumps and turned around toward us. As soon as I see his face, he seems to glitch, flashing for a second into a man in one of those Greek bedsheet outfits, holding a goblet, and glowing rich burgundy, the color of red wine. I blink and the bedsheets disappear, but the reddish glow  doesn't.

"What do you want?" he directs his question at me, even though Sorin was the one who'd gotten his attention.

Sorin speaks again. "Is Chiron here?"

"Pfft. 'Is Chiron here?' It's like he's a celebrity." Mr. D rolls his eyes. "He's inside. Somewhere." He waves a dismissive hand to the door, turning back to the table.

"Thanks." Sorin starts to walk inside, waving me after him.

"Wait." I look at Mr. D again, then his Diet Coke, then his glow, which is much brighter than Sorin's. "You glow, but not like a demigod. You're brighter."

Mr. D turns around again, more slowly this time, to face me. Slowly, he looks me up and down. "You're mortal."

"Um...yeah." I do my best to sound respectful.

"Why are you here?" He turns to Sorin. "Why is she here?"

"I would rather explain to you and Chiron together. It's complicated."

"You're Dionysus," I blurt out.

Sorin and Mr. D turn to me. My face colors. It makes sense now, though. The flashes, the brighter glow, and the Diet Coke.

Well, no. The Diet Coke doesn't make any sense. At all.

"Well, I will talk to Chiron later. You can explain to him, and he'll tell me. I have other matters to attend to." Mr. D stands and walks away from the Big House.

After a few more seconds of incredibly awkward silence, the door to the porch opens, and a man on a horse comes out.

My first thought is, why would you ride a horse in a house?

That thought is followed by some incoherent mental screaming as I realize that the man on the horse is the horse.

He fuses at the waist with the place where the horse's neck should start. He looks at me, then Sorin, then Dionysus.

"What happened, Sorin? Is this a rouge?"

"No," Sorin says. "This is Estelle. Percy's little sister."

i love mr. d

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peace from st. louis,

~~zoe~~