When River woke up, she was sitting in a lawn chair on a huge wrap-around porch. She looked over and saw Percy sitting unconscious on a chair beside her. Grover stood nearby, leaning against the railing. He looked like he hadn't slept in days.
"Is he okay?" River asked.
"Yeah," Grover answered. "He'll be okay. You were both unconscious for a while."
"Wait. Please tell me that was a dream. Where am I?"
"Camp Half-Blood," Grover looked down like he was disappointed. "It wasn't a dream. Look, River, I tried everything I could. I'm so sorry. I failed."
"My mom..." River felt like she was stabbed in the heart. "She's dead."
Silence filled the air for a few minutes. Next to River on a table was a tall drink, she reached over to grab it but her hands were so weak she almost dropped it.
"Be careful," Grover said, he walked over to River and helped her bring the drink to her mouth.
River took a sip, expecting apple juice or something, but no. It was chocolate chip cookies—her mom's blue chocolate chip cookies. River felt as if her mom had wiped away her tears and handed her a cookie. Like she always did when River was sad.
River drank the whole thing.
"How does it taste?" Grover asked.
"My mom's chocolate chip cookies," River said. "She always made them blue. I swear it makes them better."
"How do you feel?" Grover asked.
"Like I could fight a bear with my bare hands."
"That's good," Grover took the glass away and set it back on the table. "I don't think you should have anymore though."
Next to River, Percy woke up. Grover handed him a shoe box with the Minotaur's horn in it. Percy realized everything wasn't a dream, his mother was dead. All he had was his twin sister.
Grover told River and Percy that Chiron and Mr. D were waiting for them. They walked to the other side of the house, where two men sat at a card table. A girl with dark skin and braided hair leaned against the railing. Grover said that she was just a camper, Annabeth Chase, who River later found out was the daughter of Athena. Grover also pointed out the guy facing River, he had dark, curly hair. He said that he was Mr. D, the camp director.
Then he pointed out the guy who had his back to them, River noticed the thinning hair, the wheelchair, and the tweed jacket. It was Mr. Brunner, her Latin teacher.
Chiron sent Annabeth to check on Percy and River's bunks.
They offered River and Percy to sit down, and so they did. They started playing a game called pinochle, which River had never heard of, so Mr. D impatiently explained the rules.
River found out that the Greek Gods are real. It didn't take long for her to catch onto what they were saying, but Percy denied them for a while, infuriating Mr. D. She found out that Mr. D is actually Dionysus, and he is not someone she wants to mess with.
After the game, Mr. D and Grover left to talk. It was just Chiron, Percy, and River. Chiron further explained the gods.
Chiron started to rise out of his chair, which caught River off guard because he was supposed to be paralyzed from the waist down. Once he rose, River saw them from the waist down, he was a horse. She later learned he was a centaur.
"What a relief," Chiron said. "I'd been cooped up in there for so long, my fetlocks had fallen asleep. Now, come on, let's meet the other campers."
They walked through the camp, kids staring and whispering. Most of them were older than River, wearing orange CAMP HALF-BLOOD T-shirts. The way they were looking at River and Percy made her uncomfortable.
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Fanfiction"i would've married you, if you had stuck around."
