The Boy on Fire

Chapter 2

At first I was a little hesitant to get onto the metal, fire-breathing dragon, but I didn't really have a choice. I was sure it wouldn't be too long before someone got suspicious of the huge hole torn through the side of the school. Leo and Jason helped me get onto the dragon first. Leo even had a special storage compartment to put my braces in! Leo got on the dragon next and his arm bumped into one of the bronze scales on the dragon.
"Ow!" Leo exclaimed out of pain.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
He took deep breaths. "Uh, yeah! I, um, just got a little bruised...in the fight! Yeah...", I didn't believe him, and the others didn't look like they believed him either, but no one asked any questions.
Leo showed me the hidden harness and how you could use the plates of metal on the side the dragon that could be used as stirrups. I used my arms to force my legs into the stirrups to ensure that I didn't fall off. Gee, that would be embarrassing.
Jason, Piper, and Leo took turns explaining to me that the Greek myths were real, that I was something called a demigod (which was a half human and half Greek god), and that we were on our way to this place called Camp Half-Blood because it was one of the only safe places for demigods. It took me the whole ride to camp to let that sink in.
"So my mom was a Greek goddess?", I asked them.
"Yeah, most demigods don't really meet their godly parent until their older." Piper explained.
"How could she do this?" I asked loudly. My dad had sent me as far away from him as possible to every single boarding school he could find. And the kids at the schools were even worse. And my mom couldn't even drop by? No words of encouragement, no nothing. Leo turned around to face me, a pained look on his face, as if he knew exactly what I was talking about.
"There is no way I am ever going back there. Ever." I said sternly. I was on the verge of tears but I thought, "No, you are not going to cry in front of these people."
Jason interrupted my thoughts and said, "The camp does have a year-round camper program. You could stay there all year instead of just the summer, if you want." I sighed a big sigh of relief. We sailed through the sky without a word the rest of the way there.
Soon enough, I smelled strawberries and looked down to see what must have been camp. There were a bunch of kids my age and kids who were not my age distributed around the camp. There were a bunch of buildings in a U shape and two wings of buildings on the sides that were all decorated differently. There was also a big light blue house with a nice, white wraparound porch. There was also a big section of woods next to the camp. I was probably imagining it, but I thought I heard a roar coming from the woods.
We touched down just in front of this huge pine tree that looked taller than all of the rest. Now a bunch of kids came towards us to see what was going on. I followed the others's examples and unstrapped my harness, swung my leg around (with he assistance of my arm of course), and slid down the side of "Festus" as Leo had said his name was. I didn't have much luck though, for my stupid legs wouldn't hold me up. I crumpled to the ground, leaning on Festus as Leo quickly grabbed my braces and helped me off the ground.
A boy who was a couple of inches taller than me with dark, jet-black hair and sea green eyes walked up to me. As soon as he laid his eyes on me, he had a look of pity in them. The look soon disappeared though.
"Hi, my name is Percy Jackson. What's your name?"
"Uh...Julianna Masters," I answered.
He gave me a big smile and said, "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!" Everyone cheered and I smiled shyly. Then a man walked through the crowd and towards me. He was a little different, though. He was perfectly normal from the waist up, but below that, he was a white stallion.
"I am Chiron, the camp activities director. Why don't we have Leo here take you for a tour, okay?" I smiled again and nodded. I didn't know what my deal was. Sometimes I could be shy and scared, but others I could be brave and protective. I was trying to work on making my brave side my dominant personality, but it was going to take a lot of work. I felt threatened by most things, most people, and I just had to be brave enough to conquer my fears. Apparently Leo noticed this during the school year and started to call me Jekyll and Hyde, depending on my mood.
Leo put his arm around my shoulder and I immediately tensed up. He gave me an confused look and his hand receded.
"Alright, Hyde, let's take a tour. Do you want to see the shed of deadly weapons first or the arena where we fight each other with deadly weapons? Ooh! Or do you want to see the rock climbing wall that can melt your face off? That's fun." Leo teased with a smile. I waited for him to admit that he was kidding, but he never did.
"Leo, don't scare her, it's her first day!" Jason called after us, but Leo was already taking off towards a huge rock thing sticking out of the ground. And around the bottom of it was...lava? Oh, this was going to be fun.
A little while later, he had showed me the cabins, the arena, the campfire site, the dining pavilion, the Big House, and, of course, the rock climbing wall.
"Now for you to pick out your weapon." Leo told me. He led me over to a gardening shed. When he opened it, there was every single weapon you could ever dream of. There were swords, daggers, spears, you name it. I looked around on shelves and tables for something suitable for me. I picked up a sword, but I could barely hold it up. I dropped it back on the table where I had gotten it.
"Nope," I muttered. Leo laughed a little. I liked to make him laugh. He had a nice, clear laugh that made you feel all tingly inside. I walked over to another table to find a pair of sunglasses.
"What are these doing in here?" I asked Leo.
"Press the hinge on the side," he replied. I opened the glasses and found a little button next to the hinge of the frame. I pressed it and it transformed into a bronze axe. It felt perfectly balanced in my hand.
"I think I'll keep this one," I said with a smile. I inspected the axe and found a button on the bottom of the handle. I once again pressed the button and it turned back into a pair of sunglasses. I tucked them into the inside pocket of my blue jacket and turned towards Leo. "Where to next?" I asked. "Which of those cabins will I be staying in?" He led me outside of the shed and gestured in the direction of the cabins.
"You'll be staying in the Hermes cabin until you get claimed. But don't leave any of your belongings in there. Those Hermes kids will steal whatever they can find. And watch your step too. You never know when you might set off one of their pranks,"
"Thanks for making me even more worried, Sunshine. I needed that," I joked with a smile. At the word 'Sunshine' his playful grin disappeared. Sorrow filled his eyes and he slumped down on the side of the shed with his back leaning against it.
"Was it something I said?" I asked gently. He closed his eyes.
"No," he replied. " 'Sunshine' is what I used to call...her," his eyes opened and I thought I saw tears in them.
"Explain," I begged. I used my braces to lower myself to the ground until I was sitting right next to Leo. He sighed and looked up towards the sun.
"A long time ago this beautiful girl named Calypso sided with the Titans in the first Titan war. When the war was over, the gods won and they punished Calypso by banishing her to this faraway island called Ogygia. She couldn't leave the island. She was stuck there, trapped. The gods teased her by having heroes land there, but the heroes couldn't leave until Calypso fell in love with them. Calypso fell in love with every hero that was landed there, and the heroes promised to come back for her. They all left and forgot their promise. But I didn't. I crash landed there a couple months ago and she fell in love with me. I loved her too. When I left, I promised to come back for her, as all of the others did. The problem was, a man can only find Ogygia once in their lifetime. Then I died to stop the rising of Gaea, this evil dirt woman, and I used this physicians cure to come back to life." I gave a little gasp at this part.
"Another long story, next time," he promised.
He continued, "When I came back to life, I went back to Ogygia to rescue Calypso as I promised. She climbed onto Festus's back and we sailed through the sky. I was so happy. I turned to her and asked, 'Where do you want to go?' She said, 'New York City!' so I agreed. We landed in Central Park, scared some pigeons, and walked around a little. She kept calling me these names...I guess she thought they were pet names, but they really hurt my feelings.
Finally I said,'Hey, could you lay off the name calling? It hurts my feelings!'
'Stop being a big baby! You were one of the only people I could joke around with and now I can't even do that!' she screamed. Then she pulled me into a kiss. I totally wasn't expecting it. She started getting a little out of control when I pushed her away from me. 'Things are moving a little too fast here, don't you think?' I asked, out of breath. She...she slapped me across the face and admitted that...she stopped loving me the moment I had left. She...she wasn't expecting me to come back, but went along with it when I did. I was shocked. She hit me again. I tried to pull something that would protect me out of my tool belt, but...I only produced a monkey wrench. She took it out of my hands...and started whacking me with it. She didn't hold back. Then...she ran away, leaving me there incapable of walking or moving. I..." his voice cracked. "I never saw her again." Leo pulled up his shirt sleeves and held out his arms to reveal some pretty nasty scars and bruises that I had never noticed before. He pushed back a section of his hair and I saw an old scar that extended from the top of his ear to his temple.
"Oh, Leo," I looked at him with tears in my own eyes forming. "I'm so sorry," I knew he didn't want my pity, but I didn't know what else to say.
"Ah, it's okay. I got over it. I got great friends like Piper and Jason. And now I have you." He said quietly with a smile.
I tried to stand up with my braces. After I had completed the almost impossible feat, I announced, "Lets find her! Then maybe I can try out my axe..." Leo raised one eyebrow at the evil look on my face. "Ah, just kidding. But you can be sure I won't let her off easy," I promised.
"Take it easy, Jekyll, I'm over it." He admitted with a smile. How could someone do that to someone as sweet as Leo? He was just being honest! Right about then I wanted to separate Calypso's head from her shoulders. Then I heard a loud noise, which I guessed was some sort of signal.
"Time for dinner," Leo announced. He stood up and he tried to slip his arm through my own. My arm started shaking immensely and he let go. I pulled my arm back closer to my body and attached it to my brace, still shaking.
"Afterwards, you're telling me why you don't like human contact, okay?"
"Sure," I replied. Leo had told me his secret, then I had to tell him mine. I just hoped he would understand.