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i walked into camp and scrunched my face up looking at it.
normally, i would be ecstatic to return to camp, but this just felt wrong. it felt as if someone had wrapped everything in plastic wrap, and tried making it look pretty. except, they ran out of plastic wrap and used cling wrap, hoping no one would notice.
i didn't like it. not one bit.
on the surface, things didn't look all that different. the big house was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wrap-around porch. the strawberry fields still baked in the sun. the same white-columned greek buildings were scattered around the valley — the amphitheater, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking long island sound. and nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins — a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different olympian god.
but there was an air of danger now. you could tell something was wrong. instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counselors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. the forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on half-blood hill stood out like ugly scars. even my siblings were preparing weapons. (and that, meant something)
walking towards the big house, i got a few nods from some campers. nobody bothered to chit-chat. the place felt too formal. like a military school. (i wouldn't know. i've never been to one. or any school for that matter)
my entire life i've always lived in loud, and pretty chaotic places. the silence, and danger in the air sent chills running through my body.
none of that mattered to tyson. he was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw. "whasthat!" he gasped.
"the stables for pegasi," percy said. "the winged horses."
"whasthat!"
"um... those are the toilets."
"whasthat!"
"the cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your olympian parent is, they put you in the hermes cabin-that brown one over there — until you're determined. then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group."
