Bring It On, Stoll

Finding Camp Half-Blood

"Guys! Look out!" I yell, grabbing my twin pistols and shooting at the wild hellhound.

I didn't miss a shot. The dog evaporates into golden dust, and I look down at the pistols. They look like regular pistols, black and now engraved with 4/01/03. I blink, realizing that it's my birthday.

I look up, seeing my brothers' faces. I look past the pinecone tree to see a place that looks absolutely amazing. The faintest scent of strawberries glazes our noses and practically lures us into the beautiful place. The sign above our heads rearranges the writing to say "Camp Half-Blood."

We step inside, and look around. There are cabins in a U shape in one area, with a campfire in the middle of it. In another area, strawberry fields are being tended to by satyrs. Nymphs and other creatures play around happily in the lake around there and in the forest. A Greek ampitheater is barely noticeable, and a huge house painted blue in need of some improvements is right in front of us to our left.

"Whoa!" I smile, looking around the woundrous place. Travis and Connor admire the camp too.

"Welcome, young demigods. I am Chiron, the owner of this camp. It is the only safe place for demigods. Do you know which god or goddess you are the child of?" He asks, and I look down to realize he's a freaking centaur. I step back a little in surprise, and he chuckles.

"It's alright, young demigods. Please, follow me." He says, leading us to the huge house painted blue.

We sit in a large room where a stuffed leopard's head sits on a mantle and a man drinking a Coke reads a wine magazine, throwing a Snausage to the stuffed leopard snatches it from the air and growls at us.

I step back a little into Connor, and he sits me down between him and Travis.

"So... we're at a camp for children that are half mortal and half god?" Travis asks, confused but interested. Connor and I look expectantly at Chiron.

"Yes. It is the only safe place. You attract monsters and other creatures among Greek mythology, but here, you cannot be found. All of these children, including you three, might be lucky enough, or already have been claimed by their godly parent. Which parent have you lived with?" He asks, and Travis speaks up for us.

"Our mom." He says, but nothing else.

"Then you three will be claimed by a male Greek god. For now, you'll stay in the Hermes cabin, I'll have Luke Castellan show you around." He says. He walks outside, and at least fifteen minutes later, he calls us as well.

"This is Luke Castellan, son of Hermes. He'll show you three around." Chiron says before leaving us with the teenager. He looks kind of like us, to be completely honest. Same brown hair, freckles, bright blue eyes, thin but muscular, and very tall. Well, a little taller than Travis and Connor, but he was really tall to me.

"Hey, I'm Luke. What are your names?" He asks, and Connor smiles.

"I'm Connor, this is our Travis, and this is our Hannah." Connor says, and I smile. We all figured out pretty early that we don't have to introduce each other as siblings and twins. So the phrase, "This is my twin, Travis," or, "This is our little sister, Hannah," turned into, "This is our Travis," and, "This is our Hannah."

Luke laughs. "Nice. How old are you guys?" He asks us, and Travis answers for us.

"We're fifteen, Hannah's ten." We start walking away from the huge blue house.

"Cool. Okay, so these are the cabins. Zeus and Hera are the two big ones over there, Hera's is just honorary because she doesn't have children with anyone other than Zeus." Luke explains, and I pull a confused look.

"Why not?" I pipe up, and Luke looks down at me, then puts me on his shoulders. I look around, smiling.

"Because Hera's pride gets in the way of everything." He says, and I laugh as we walk into a cabin that looks kind of beaten up.

"This is the Hermes cabin, you guys will stay here. Pick some bunks over there, and I'll grab you guys some clothes." Luke tells us, and I take a an top bunk above an occupied bottom one. A head pokes out from the edge.

"Hey!" He smiles, and I jump a little before smiling softly back.

"Hi! What's your name?" I ask curiously.

"I'm Cecil Markowitz. I see you're my new bunkmate." He says, and I smile a little more.

"Yeah, if that's okay. I'm Hannah, Hannah Stoll." I reply, and Cecil smirks. It looks almost exactly like mine, and Travis' and Connor's. His eyes glint a little mischievously, and I feel like I connect with Cecil a bit.

"Nice to meet ya, kid." He says, "I hope to be pulling pranks with you sometime."

I smirk back, "I hope the same, Markowitz."

"Hey, Hannah made a new friend!" Travis remarks, then he and Connor smile.

I roll my eyes and slip down to sit next to Cecil, and Travis and Connor sit next to each other.

"These are your brothers?" Cecil asks, and I nod.

"Yep, that's my Travis and Connor." I reply, and Cecil nods, smiling.

"Nice to meet you all. I hope we can play some pranks together sometime." He says, and I see Luke come back with three stacks of clothes.

"Here you three go," He says, handing us the clothes, "Go get cleaned up and change." He says, and we nod, going into the bathroom to clean our cuts.

I sit outside the bathroom, waiting for Connor and Travis to get done changing. They step out of the bathroom, and I smile at their appearances. They look like themselves again. Like when we were kids.

I go into the bathroom again and change into a bright orange Camp Half-Blood tshirt, dark blue jeans shorts, black converse, and tie my hair into a messy 'I don't care' bun.

I walk out of the bathroom, and I'm greeted by two girls with the same mischievous smiles.

"Hi! I'm Alice, and this is Julia. We're sisters, daughters of Hermes! We heard you're new here along with Travis and Connor, so we came to welcome you!" Julia smiles, and I pull a surprised look.

Holy cow, how are these children of Hermes just like Connor, Travis, and I?!

I snap out of my thoughts and smile.

"Well thank you. Everyone here is so welcoming and nice!" I smile.

"That's the way it's supposed to be, sweetheart. I'll bet you're our sister, Connor and Travis, too. Dinner's about to start soon, come on guys!" Julia yells, grabbing my hand.

I grab Luke, who grabs Alice, who grabs Travis, who grabs Connor, and we all run at the same wicked speed to the dining pavilion.

"Whoohoo!" I yell, jumping over a rock.

I look around seeing a glow, but can't find out where it's coming from. I look at Travis and Connor, and almost jump out of my body when I see above them...

"Oh my gods, guys!" I point above their heads, and they point above my head.

"We all have the same thing! It's a... caduceus! Hermes' symbol!" Travis says, and we all look at Luke.

"Welcome to Cabin 11, new siblings!" He smiles, and he hugs us. Alive, Julia, and Cecil hug us too, and I smile.

"All hail Hannah, Travis, and Connor Stoll, sons and daughter of Hermes, god of thieves, sports, and travelers." Chiron says, and he bows to the three of us, then the rest of the camp bows to us.

Wow...