As Long As I Live

The Campfire

The whole day, I was dying to find out who my father was. It's not everyday you realize that you have a parent you thought didn't exist, and it's especially not everyday you find out that that parent is a Greek god. I waited anxiously for the campfire to begin; I just wanted to know who my "loving and caring" dad was.

Finally, when the sun casted it's final burst of light, a promise that their would be more days to come, and sank bellow the horizon like the Titanic at sea, we were called in for dinner, a fire, and some sing along songs. 

I sat in between Leo and Annabeth, chatting with them happily as the campfire began to rise. Then, dinner was served, and I couldn't wait to dig in. Through all the near-death situations I had faced in the last day, I had completely forgotten that I had to eat food to survive.

My plate came, pilled high with mouth watering foods, mostly barbecue, but before I could inhale any of it, someone tapped my on the shoulder.

I turned around only to come face to face with a girl my age. She had brown hair that had been chopped off messily, and tan skin, but the most striking thing were her eyes. They almost seemed to change color. To sum it up, she was pretty.

"Hi. I'm Piper!" She said cheerfully, sticking out her arm towards me. "You're the newbie, right?" 

I shook her hand. "Yup! I'm Y/n. Nice to meet you!" 

She smiled "It's nice to meet you too, but since you're new, I just thought I should inform you that before we eat, we make a sacrifice to the gods. I know, strange, but it's just the way things work around here."

"Oh." I said. "Well I'm getting really used to strange these past couple of days."

She laughed. "I'll bet you are. By the way, I'm the daughter of Aphrodite."

Well that explains why she's so pretty.

"Isn't she the goddess of beauty of something?" I asked, not remembering what I had learned in school. I wish I'd taken notes.

"Yes," Piper's smile disappeared. "But I don't really care about that part. She's also the goddess of love."

I nodded. "Oh yeah! That's right." I remembered my teacher droning on for a class period about the famous goddess of love. 

"Well, I should probably head over to my table." She gestured to the one filled with girls putting with pounds of makeup and guys with gelled hair. "I'll see you around. We're friends, right?"

I gave her a thumbs up. "Right!" 

She smiled. "Cool." Then headed in the direction of her table.

'Sacrifice to the gods?' I thought. 'At least it's not as weird as the fire itself.' The campfire changed colors, like a mood ring, and no, not just red, yellow, and orange, but an array of blacks, blues, greens, and purples were thrown upon the mix.

I decided to shrug it off and just go with the flow. I approached the fire, and watched a kid scrap some of his food into the flames. I copied his actions and looked up into the billowing smoke that rose up to the starry sky, dissipating somewhere in the stratosphere.

'Please dad, if you're out there, tell me who you are. Give me a sign. That's all I ask.'

I tried reaching out to my unknown father, but in the back of my mind I knew it was no use. An all powerful being running the universe wouldn't have time for an insignificant speck like me.

That's why I didn't expect what happened next. As I opened my eyes, I could sense some kind of light nearby, and no, it wasn't the campfire. All heads in the camp were turned towards me, and out of the shadows came a man on a horse.

He came closer to me, and only then did I realize he wasn't riding a horse, he was one. Well half of one anyway. The top part of him was human. 

'This must've been who Leo was talking about when he mentioned Chiron.'  I thought to myself.

Then, I noticed the glowing figure on my head. I gasped out of surprise, craning my neck to get a better view, but it was no use. Wherever my head was, the glowing light was right above it. I gave up and turned my attention back to the man-horse, Chiron.

"So you're the new camper?" He asked. "I apologize that I couldn't talk to you earlier. What's your name?"

"U-um. I'm Y/n L/n." I stuttered. 

Chiron bowed, the other campers doing the same. "All hail Y/n L/n, daughter of Apollo."