The First Times

First Time in Camp Half-Blood

Ana was excited and couldn't contain the emotion.

He was glad Benny hadn't made plans or she would be forced to cancel them. And when explaining, she would have to mumble something about a 'family gathering' and try that Benny believed her. For her luck, Benny had his own family gathering and had apologized profoundly for being absent that weekend. Ana told him it was alright, but was jumping in excitement inside.

She was going to see Camp Half-Blood for the first time.

Nico had explained that the young Legacies (Luke, Silena, Willow and others) were getting the wrong ideas about how things happened during the Second Titan War and that Drew decided to make them recreate the events on a play. Will was of the firm idea Drew did the play as an excuse for parents to swoon over their kids.

So now, she was sitting between her Dad and Papà, Grandma Naomi by her Dad's and Grandma Sally, Grandpa Paul and Estelle by her Papà's. She wondered how much was exaggerated by her imagination and how much wasn't. As parents and little kids sat around, Aunt Drew and Uncle Pollux's heads sneaked from behind the curtain, smiling at them.

"Hello! And welcome to the first production ever in Camp Half-Blood!" Pollux started, earning a round of applause. "I'm Pollux and this is Drew and, tonight, we'll lead you through one of the most important events you couldn't presence..."

"Though, a word of warning..." Drew eyed the crowd, serious. "They're are more adorable than we've ever been!" She squeaked, earning chuckles from the audience. Pollux dragged her to the side, before the curtain was pulled up. Ana stifled a laugh when saw the paper-maché scenery. It was really cute.

"Not many years ago, there was a demigod who saw things could be better for us..." Pollux began to narrate. A hidden live orchestra, made of kids of Apollo was playing. "The demigod's name was Luke-"

"That's me!" Ana saw eight-year-old Luke Jackson interrupting the narration while jumping on scene, full in his costume. "I'm Luke and I'm gonna make the world better!" He said his line, before walking closer to the edge to the stage, ignoring everything around him. "Hi, Mummy! Hi, Grandma!" He whisper yelled at Grandma Sally, making everyone chuckle and awed him.

"He wasn't alone." Drew continued the narration, showing how hard was to be serious. "There were others that thought like him and wanted to help..." Behind Luke, several older campers were dressed up in monster costumes or armors to play their roles. "But, some of that help advised him wrong and he went dark..."

"We're not Siths!" Luke couldn't help to argue, which made everyone laugh.

"Against him and his help, there were other demigods that wanted to achieve the same, but decided on other ways..." Another group walked in, also in armor costumes, as well as nature spirits and satyrs costumes. "The leaders of that group were Percy and Annabeth-"

"Hi, Auntie Annabeth! Do I look like you? I hope I do, I wanna be like you!" Sophia Pace, Malcolm and Nyssa's five-year-old daughter rushed to ask for her Aunt's opinion, earning awes and laughs. Nico stifled a laugh when he glanced to his back side and saw Malcolm in tears.

"-along with some nature spirits that wanted to help as well..." Pollux kept going as if no one had interrupted. Willow, Grover and Juniper's daughter walked in, dressed in a costume of a satyr, though seemed a little heavy for the seven-year-old. Ana smiled when some older campers saw her struggle and helped her keep her costume straight.

"But, peace was long away, until a camper decided that her friend Luke was wrong... And to prove it, she fought the most dangerous creature there was... the Drakon!" Both groups of 'actors' parted like the Red Sea, showing the head of what Ana assumed it was a drakon, roaring and snarling. Ana heard kids hiding from the view but adults were captivated by something else.

"I might not be strong as Ares, but that doesn't mean I'm not brave! And I will destroy you!" Silena, Clarisse and Chris' nine-year-old daughter, spoke. Will elbowed Ana gently and both marveled at Clarisse's proud face while watching her only daughter 'slaying' the drakon, just like her namesake years ago. At the end, Silena had to pretend to die, falling on the floor and making a lot of noises, making the audience laugh. She peaked with one eyelid and looked around "How was that, Mommy?" She asked, not getting a reply back.

"Silena's sacrifice was the encouragement everyone needed to put end to the battle..." Drew picked up the narration once again. "But Luke was fighting his own side, in specific a man named Kronos..."

"You can't beat me, Kronos! My Daddy says you're a coward and if I can't, he's gonna kick your butt!!" Luke shouted around, as if pretending to be mad. Ana saw how Uncle Percy groaned and Aunt Annabeth frowned.

"Lucas Ethan Jackson! Language!" She scolded from the crowd and Luke jumped in fear.

"Yes, Mommy! But, it's true!!" He couldn't help himself to add.

"At the end, with Percy and Annabeth's help, Luke beat Kronos, sacrificing himself for his friends..." Pollux finished the narration, as the kids gathered around Luke's 'dead body'. It was obvious Luke was loving the attention.

"From that day on, the gods realized we were not gonna be ignored any longer, making life happier and easier for us..." With that last line, the curtain closed and everyone started to clap, cheering for the kids and stuff. Ana glanced to the side and saw Chiron, the legendary hero trainer, wiping some tears from his eyes, especially when the curtain opened again and the kids bow to get their second round of applauses.

"Papà, I thought you and Dad were there too..." Ana whispered at him, who was clapping along.

"We were there..." Nico admitted, smiling softly before looking at her. "But this is how we prefer it..."

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This is taken from Mortals: Meet... part 2. I had to fix some things to fit the timeline of the story, which I'll fix for the revise version too later. Please, I apologize for my continuity errors (though, part of me wants to keep them, like Conan Doyle).

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Good morning/afternoon/evening!

How are you? I'm great, thanks for asking. The past week has been busy rejoining work after a two-week holiday with my family... I have to admit that the road-trip didn't go as planned but we had fun anyway. I know many of you are just walking into spring and Spring Break (if you didn't have it yet), so... have fun!

Today, the last Sunday of March, is a bittersweet day for me. Why? After a lot of thought, I decided to post the final 7 chapters of The First Times TOGETHER. That means that after today, there won't be more updates. I apologize to the readers of Saving Time - A Caleo Story as I couldn't finish the chapter yet, but since it will be my priority from now on till mid-May, I'll make it up to you all!

So, with a tear in our eyes, let's proceed...

The First Times: the final seven chapters... I appreciate and love every single one of the comments, the likes and follows this story had and will continue to have. It was an emotional rollercoaster at times, but I loved it as much you did, I hope.

We'll see each other next weekend!
xoxo, SilverHuntresses