The Valdez Legacy (A Heroes of Olympus Fanfic)

Chapter 11: Camp Half-Blood

It took a moment for Sofia to completely regain consciousness, before she realized what the Piper-woman proclaimed. Sofia didn't care about what she said, she only cared about one thing, "Where's my father?"

The blonde woman looked down, and her scary face turned into a sympathetic one, "Sofia, we don't know."

  Sofia felt her breath stop, as she remembered the events of the previous night. What happened? She was attacked, and out of nowhere, her body burst into flames, yet here she was, perfectly fine. Or at least, she wasn't dead.

  Worst of all, she still did not know where her father or aunt were, and she really needed them. Her worry caused tears of frustration to build up in her eyes. Where was her father? Who were these people? Before Sofia could stop herself, she began to sob rather loudly,

Soon, she felt arms wrap around her loosely, in a half-hearted hug. It was obvious the blonde-haired lady wasn't used to being affectionate, but she was fully capable of it.

When Sofia looked into the blonde woman's gray eyes, it was full of sympathy, rather than the analytical look she was wearing before, "Look, it's okay, we'll find your father, and I'm sure your father will be fine, your father has survived more things than you know."

More things than she knew? It seemed as though everyone was saying there was a lot Sofia didn't know about her father, but what was it? What could her father possibly be hiding from him after all these years? Why did he have so many friends Leo was unaware of.

"W-what's g-going on h-here?" Sofia stuttered, but tried to sound more confident with her next words. "Where am I?"

The Native American girl, which Sofia remembered as Piper put a had on her shoulder comfortingly. It was obvious Piper was better at showing affection than her friend...Annabeth?

"You're at Camp Half-Blood, the safest for people like you, me, your father, everyone." Piper explained.

"What do you mean...'people like us'?" Sofia asked.

"I'm sure Chiron can explain it better to you than we can, but we just want you to know that you're safe, and there's nothing that can hurt you here." Piper soothed.

Piper seemed to have a way with words, a way to make everything feel somewhat better, even in this disastrous situation. Sofia, for the first time in a while felt at ease.

"Who's Chiron?" Sofia asked, curiously.

Piper smiled, "You'll see."

  Sofia gulped.

****
After Piper, Annabeth and Jason left, Sofia observed the other people in the infirmary. She still had no clue where it was, but most of the people there had injuries, but none of them looked ill. Most of them looked to be in their teens or preteens, like Sofia, and they all seemed to wear an orange shirt that said Camp Half Blood. The only adults Sofia had seen so far, or at least had gone into the infirmary, were her father's friends.

"So, who are you?" A guy asked from beside her. He had straight black hair and blue eyes, and his arm was in a splint. Sofia sighed. She was currently just sitting there.

"Sofia Esperanza Valdez." Sofia told him. She had always introduced herself with her middle name, seeing as how fondly her father talked about his mother, in which her middle name came from.

She looked at the boy who asked her about her name, and his eyes were as wide as her father's were when he had caffeine.

"You're the daughter of Leo Valdez? The one everyone has been talking about?" he asked.

Sofia frowned. Everyone has been talking about her? Why? What did she do?

The boy seemed to have read her thoughts, "You're father was some sort of legend around here, along with the others of the seven. But he left when he was a teenager, something about what a couple of his friends said about him."

Sofia thought back to the friends that introduced them. Were any of them the reason why her father left, wherever this was?

"What's 'around here'?" Sofia asked.

The boy looked confused, "Nobody's told you?"

Sofia shook her head, "Everyone just told me that a dude named Chiron would tell me everything."

The boy rolled his eyes, "Of course they did, because it's so easy to leave you sitting here confused as hell."

Sofia pursed her lips. She certainly was confused as hell.

The boy bit his lips, "Well, it makes sense, seeing as how nobody believes us when we first tell them..."

When he paused, Sofia feared he would not tell her more, but the boy smiled at her, "Well, you're going to be confused anyways, so why not?"

Sofia sighed in relief.

"Have you read Greek Mythology?" The boy asked.

"Yeah, but I only vaguely remember them."

It was true. Her father had often told Greek Myths to her when she was a child, but that was a long time ago. She could still recall the myths if someone mentioned it, but without hints, the only things she could remember were names of some of the gods and goddesses.

The boy continued, "Well, they aren't...myths."

Sofia was now confused, but tried to stay open minded, "What are they then?"

The boy bit his lip, "They're real."

Sofia almost laughed, until she noticed the boy's face was serious. He actually thought the Greek Myths were real, and Sofia thought perhaps maybe he was injured somewhere other than just his arm. Then again, it would make sense if myths were real, since it would mean magic was too. How else would she be able to burst into flames and come out of a fight alive?

Great, now I'm believing they're real too. Sofia groaned internally.

"Myths aren't real." she told him, simply.

   The boy rolled his eyes, "I told you it was hard to believe, but it's true."

  Sofia laughed, humorlessly, "And what does that make me?"

  The boy smiled, "Seeing as how your father was a demigod himself, you're the granddaughter of Hephaestus, the god of forges and fire."

  That made sense, her father did have an interest in building things, and she was apparently immune to fire. It made sense, there was evidence adding up. Did her dad know? She met her grandfather once, and maybe that's why she never saw him again.

  Of course he knew. That would explain a the secrets, his "business trip". Why Aunt Nyssa suddenly disappeared. 

  "Was my mom a demigod too?" Sofia asked.
 
  The boy shrugged his shoulders, "Possibly. Many half bloods fall in love, and have children together. Some of them still come here, very occasionally." 
 
  Sofia realized this was the first time in a while she thought of her mother. She definitely thought of her mother, but it had never been a top concern for her. Nyssa always treated Sofia like a daughter, and that was always enough, but even Nyssa couldn't suppress the curiosity over who her mother was.

  "Who are you, by the way?" Sofia asked, after realizing he hadn't gotten his name yet.

  "Felix Cantic, son of Apollo." He introduced himself, excitedly. "I can't wait to see more of you, Sofia."