Chapter Text
Sana looks at the front of the class with a bored look. She glances at her seatmate who was impatiently shaking her leg. The teenager’s mind gets distracted very easily, but not as much as her seatmate, Momo.
“What are you doing?”, Sana whispers to her friend.
Momo jolts up at the sudden whisper to her ear and shrugs her shoulders, “Just counting down the minutes until it’s lunch time. I’m starving.”
“Am I interrupting you, Ms. Minatozaki and Ms. Hirai?”, the substitute teacher asks. “You seem to not be interested in the class I’m teaching.”
“Sorry”, Momo mumbles an apology on behalf of herself and Sana.
That was the odd thing. Usually substitute teachers would come in, write their name on the black board, and inform the class that it’s a self-study hour. What else would the substitute teacher do if they don’t know the curriculum properly? However, this teacher was different. Sana, if she could put her mind to it and squint her eyes a bit more, notices words that were not common in Korea. They were Greek words.
The substitute teacher tilted her head and leaned forward to the teacher’s desk. “Something caught your eye, Ms. Minatozaki?”
Sana shook her head and smiled. She wasn’t someone who would speak up in class.
“Back to my little lesson. There are many instances when gods would come down from Olympus and interact with mortal beings….”
And then once the teacher continued her lesson, Sana blocked her out. Like Momo, Sana started to become laser focused on the clock. Each tick was getting the two excited, ready to sprint out their seats and immediately to the cafeteria.
“Race you to the cafeteria?”, Momo asks.
Sana grins, “It’s not a race when I always win.”
Momo scoffed at her friend’s comment. “Not this time, I’m ready to scarf down three rolls of kimbap today.”
ring*ring*
Once the bell rang, the two Japanese students bolted out of the room. Students made way for the two students racing. Sana didn’t bother to listen to the judgmental comments and glares from students. It’s been like that ever since she moved to Korea. Her father had a sudden urge to drop all his life’s work and move to a country that he was new to. And for that, Sana was then the topic of her school for being a foreigner. The one who doesn’t know how to speak the language, the one that never pays attention in class, and the one who doesn’t fit in.
That was when she met Momo.
The new transfer student walked into the homeroom with fidgeting hands and eyes always looking up at the ceiling- never other people’s eyes. Once Sana heard Momo’s last name, she was glad that she finally met a fellow Japanese student. Someone who she bonds with and has each other’s back. The two were inseparable. They didn’t need anyone else, they didn’t care about the world outside their little bubble.
Sana pridefully tilts her chin up high as she grabs the lunch tray first- signalling that she won the race. Momo huffs in frustration and quietly takes the lunch tray, not wanting to start any conversation that could boost her friend’s ego. However, Momo didn’t need to do anything, Sana was already on it.
“Momo- 0, Sana- probably 300? 301?”, Sana teases as she nodded to the lunch ladies as the cafeteria workers were handing out food.
“Whatever”, Momo sighed and nudged Sana. “I haven't seen Mina yet. Should we save her some tteokbokki?”
Sana sticks out a peace sign towards the lunch lady and smiled, “Two portions of tteokbokki, please”
Mina was the chaotic duo’s precious little sister.
Being one year younger, Mina was never in Sana or Momo’s class. The trio finally met in the halls where kids were surrounding Mina. Sana saw a crowd and was curious. After sticking her head up and asking Momo for a lift up to get a better view, Sana’s eyes narrowed and hopped off of the complaining Momo. The angry teenager pushed through the crowd and stook her arm out to the student huddled in a ball.
“Oh come on, Minatozaki, let her be.”, one of the students said with a whining voice. “Isn’t this a good thing? We have a new Japanese chick to mess with.”
Sana ignored the comments and waited for the curled up student to take her hand. Sana sighed and kneeled in front of her. “I’m here to help. You can trust me.”, Sana said in her native language.
Her Japanese resulted in the teary eyed student on the floor to widen her eyes. Although the student on the ground had tears filled up in her eyes, there was a sign of hope. There was a sense of comfort brought to her when her native language was spoken.
Sana smiled pleasingly as the younger student took her hand. “I’m Sana and this is Momo”
Mina sat down and looked around, more afraid than usual. Sana slides her tray with a comforting smile. “Got your favourite, tteokbokki.”
Mina nodded and took the chopsticks and took small bites. However, the small little shifts in her eyes are still present causing the older two to look at each other with worried looks.
“Someone bothering you, Mitang?”, Momo munches her kimbap as a whole.
“I just feel like someone is staring at me”, Mina mumbles softly. Sana and Momo out of instinct leans forward to hear Mina talk more. It was normal for the younger one’s voice to be soft. With Sana and Momo’s short attention span and being easily distracted, they have to lean forward to have a better listen to Mina’s words.
Sana and Momo looked around. They didn't feel anything odd, didn’t see anyone staring at their way.
“Ms. Myoi”, one of the teachers walks up to the trio’s table. The teacher looked like she just sniffed something delightful as a small twitch to her lips appeared on her face. She then looked at Momo and Sana. “I wanted to talk to you about your last test. It seems like there are some questions that you need to work on.”
Momo sensed something off from the teacher. Number one, the way the teacher was staring down at Mina with a sinister look. Number two, Mina doesn’t need extra help from any class. Momo has never met someone as smart as Mina. Despite the younger one’s lack of communication, awareness of her environment, and language barrier, Mina strived through all her classes. Especially in a math course… math is the universal language for god’s sake!
Mina gave her two friends a look. ‘This is what I mean by stares!’ Mina wanted to mentally send the signal to the two older teens. Thankfully, the two understood that look of panic and Sana interfered. “Is it possible we come as well? I probably took this class as well, I could see what she’s struggling with and tutor her.”
The teacher seemed to be pleased with the offer. Sort of a look of ‘the more the merrier’ and nodded. “Please, follow me to my classroom.”
The three picked up their backpack and Sana nudged Momo to quickly grab her fork. Sana shoved her chopsticks into her pocket and then intertwined with Mina’s hands as a reassurance.
The farther they walked away from the cafeteria, the quieter the halls got. Momo felt like she was being dramatic, she pinched herself multiple times to keep herself awake and aware, but she noticed how the halls were getting darker. The air got colder and Momo may be paranoid, but she heard multiple footsteps.
Mina huddled closer to Sana and looked around.
It wasn’t just Momo who was feeling the sudden change in environment.
“Myoi Mina”
The trio stopped and gulped. The teacher’s back was still facing the students, but there were cracks as the teacher’s neck was moving sideways. The teacher’s back hunched, nails getting longer, and the teacher finally revealed her face. Teeth were sharp and eyes glowing.
“I knew there was a demigod in this area, I could smell you from miles away.”, the teacher bares her teeth out, tongue extending, and a little bit of drool sliding down her chin.
“That's… so… gross…”, Momo looked at the transformation with wide eyes.
“And you brought your friends”, the teacher snapped her head to Momo. “I guess I don’t have to share my catch for today.”
Footsteps were heard and the trio was surrounded by two more monsters like the teacher that brought her here. Sana could clearly point out that one of the monsters was her substitute teacher judging by the outfit.
“Step back, empousais”
A voice was heard from a distance. Sana sighed and looked up to the ceiling. Although she was glad someone noticed that they are in a life or death situation and came to help, she was expecting a group of jacked up football players to come to their rescue. Not a student, barely as tall as her, big doe eyes, and no weapon. Absolutely no weapon to defend herself.
Sana tried so hard no to roll her eyes at how unhelpful this brave student was.
“Another demigod, perfect. I didn’t know this school was a buffet”, one of the monsters smiled, the edges of their lips stretched wider- really sinister like.
“Come and get me first”, the stranger grinned.
“Geez, this kid is just asking to die”, Momo mumbled.
“Better her than us”, Sana said- almost regretting that coming from her mouth. But if someone had to sacrifice themself, she rather this stranger.
“That’s Jihyo”, Mina said with a whisper. “She’s new to my class just a few months ago.”
One of the monsters stood guard on the trio, but the other two started charging at Jihyo.
Jihyo chuckled and took out a golden coin.
‘Great’ Sana thought to herself.
Jihyo throws it up to the sky and catches the coin. “Heads or tails?”
The monsters snared at her and Jihyo shrugged her shoulders, “tails.”
‘Yup she’s dead’ Sana wanted to smack her head.
That was until a gold rod grew out from the coin and at the end, came out two blades forming a double edged axe.
“Holy shit”, Momo lets out which earned a growl from the monster guarding the trio.
Jihyo swung the axe which sliced one of the monsters in half. The other monster dodged it and started to step back. Jihyo’s eyes sparked with gold and her axe started to brighten up the halls. Shocks and sparks started to form at the blade and the monster fell down.
“Child of- child of Zeus”, the monster crawled backwards.
Sana notices the monster on guard looks just as frightened as the one on the ground. It was her time to take out her chopsticks and stab one in their eye.
“Ack!”, the monster held onto the chopstick, trying to take it out.
“Momo! The fork!”, Momo jumped behind and stabbed the monster in the neck.
Jihyo quickly finishes off the monster on the ground and rams her axe straight to the chest of the last empousai.
Momo and Sana watched in shock at the monster lying lifeless on the ground. “What the hell was that?”, Momo yelled in shock.
“They’re empousai”, Jihyo said with a blank face.
The Japanese trio stared at her with ridiculous looks.
“Vampires?”, Jihyo thought of a word that would probably be easier to understand.
“Vampires? In this world?”, Momo started holding her stomach as she watched Jihyo pulls her axe out of the monster.
“Yup, and you three… need to come with me.”
Momo was dying as she walked up the last few stairs up the mountain. Sana was also losing stamina as she wasn’t someone that athletic. However, she looks over to her youngest and quiet friend who had no troubles- no drop of sweat on her forehead.
“Aren’t you tired?”, Sana pants.
Mina chuckled at her two friends. “I’m alright. It might’ve been the adrenaline.”
“Hurry up guys. The gates are right here!”, Jihyo yells down the hills, probably 10 metres away from the group.
“Do you think we’re stupid for believing whatever Jihyo just told us?”, Momo asks while holding her knees to catch her breath.
Sana wondered that as well. That for some reason… her, Momo, and Mina were children of Greek gods. Literally almost impossible as the three have no physical features that bring out the Greek side of them. However, Jihyo explained that the greek gods could shape shift into mortal beings- different cultures included. That could explain some stuff… but it was too much to believe. Gods? Sana wanted to laugh, but a part of her believed it. The dead vampires proved that very well.
“It’s just…” Mina swallows her saliva- probably her only source of refreshment after the 2 hour hike. “We’re… children of these gods… that’s just…. Why us?”
Sana understood what Mina meant. Why them out of all of the kids? They’re outcasts. There is nothing special about them…. She was more curious as to how her dad could capture a greek god’s heart.
“Welcome to Camp Half Blood”, Jihyo raised her hands as a sign of welcome and then dragged the group through the wooden arch. “Once you step in here, you’re protected from all monsters.”
“There’s more?”, Momo whined and looked up to the sky. “Why?!”
Jihyo watches the latter with amusement. “I’m curious as to who you’re the daughter of. You have quite the character.”
“Jihyo? You’re back!”, a teen runs up to her with open arms. The girl had pale skin, sharp eyes, and a big smile. Hair was pitch black which emphasizes the pale and clear skin.
“Hey Dahyun. And I brought guests.”, Jihyo gestures to the trio while the trio waves hello. “Tell Mr. Park that the mission is completed and get the welcome cabin ready.”
The three looked around in amazement. The area was surrounded by trees, almost camping vibes, and that made Momo a bit worried.
“Are we going to live like we’re nature lovers?”, Momo smacked her skin as she felt a mosquito bite her.
Jihyo gave her a polite smile and shook her head. “Nature allows us to feel the environment better- train as well since many monsters are still pretty old fashioned… they’ve lived for centuries and are a bit traditional with their lifestyle. Understanding them and their environment, we become better prepared to fight them. Also this secluded environment lets the gods communicate with us without any distractions from the city noise. But do not worry, we still have really good internet here.”
A horn blew and Jihyo beamed at the sound. “Oh this is great!”, Jihyo drags the trio towards a balcony to get a birds eye view of the open field. “This would probably make you guys excited- come watch! It’s our evening spar. Demigods challenge each other to a friendly spare and the winner gets their cabin dibs for dinner first.”
“Who is up first?” a boy yells in the middle of the field.
“Me! Me!”, someone comes out of the crowd. Sana notices the short hair cut, but the voice and the figure clearly shows that the volunteer was a woman. The volunteer still had a fist up in the air and people cheered for her. “Today’s turkey is going to the house of Hermes”
Hollars were louder when the volunteer announced her words.
“And Jeongyeon, who are you going to challenge today?”, the boy spins around and points at all demigods surrounding the field.
“Pick of the day?”, Jeongyeon rubs her chin. “I’m going to have to choose you.”
The boy- who has been hosting currently drops his smile and throws his head back. “Oh come on!”
“You can’t refuse a fight when the volunteer chooses”, Jeongyeon gave him a teasing glare. “Jackson, it’s a friendly spar.”
Jackson cracks his neck and loosens up his muscles, “then I shall fight for the cabin of Dionysus!”
A group of boys started yelling- cheering for Jackson.
“Mark, come in and help us host the game”, Jackson asking Mark to take his place as host. Mark walks up to the two and then gestures to the crowd to give them some space for the fight.
“Remember, one weapon only. Powers are allowed. And remember, this is a friendly competition so let your demigod temper cool down if you have an urge to kill.”, Mark grins and then steps back. “And spar!”
Jackson took out his nunchucks that were hanging out his pockets and whips it to the air. The nunchucks started to extend longer and the black grip slowly turned gold resulting in the becoming a long chained whip. Jackson grinned, “Giddy up”
Jeongyeon tapped her shoes with her heels and white fluffy wings popped out.
“Oh geez, golden whips vs fluffy wings”, Momo leaned toward the rails of the balcony. “I place my bet on golden whips.”
Jihyo crosses her arms and chuckles. “We’re betting? Then I would choose fluffy wings.”
Sana had a feeling that Jihyo knew the fluffy winged demigod and the Japanese are now anticipating something interesting happening to this fight.
“My bet on the fluffy wings”, Mina said with a soft voice.
Momo laughs, “You sure? Mitang?”
Jackson snaps the whips, but Jeongyeon was quick on her feet. With the help of the winged shoes, Jeongyeon was able to take steps in the air- jumping around Jackson. The child of Dionysus got dizzy and yelled, “Come on, Jeong! Don’t dodge the fight.”
Jeongyeon smirks and lands on the floor. Jackson quickly snaps his whip and the chains finally catch Jeongyeon’s upper arm.
“Ya!” With that shout, Jackson signals the chains to grow out spikes- almost making the weapon look like spiky vines.
Jeongyeon groans in pain and pulls the vines. Sana winces as she could imagine how painful it was to feel sharp spikes digging her arm. Jeongyeon took steps up the sky with her feathered shoes, wrapped the chains around Jackson and starts flying around.
“Arg!”, Jackson was being dragged on the ground in circles.
“I’ll stop if you surrender”, Jeongyeon sings in the sky.
“I won’t- arg!”
Jeongyeon uses her strength, blood was starting to drip down her arm, and whips the chains sending Jackson flying to the sky then back to the ground.
“Stop! Stop!”
The crowd cheered as Jeongyeon finally let go of the chain, eventually releasing Jackson from his own weapon.
Jeongyeon wiped the blood off and raised her hands up in the air as a sign of victory. “Let’s go!”
Jackson sticks his hand out with a smile on his face. “Good match”
“Always a pleasure, vine boy”, Jeongyeon took the hand and shook it roughly. The winner gave him a slap on his back and pushed him back in the middle of the circle so he could continue hosting the evening spar.
“Anyone else up for a match?”, Jackson cups his ears to emphasize that he is anticipating someone to come continue the fun.
Sana watches from afar and winces as Jeongyeon was tending to her injuries.
“That’s Jeongyeon, daughter of Hermes”, Jihyo explains to the group watching from the balcony. “She’s a trickster so I would be careful. But she’s a good friend.”
“You close with her? You seemed to expect her to win”, Mina spoke up with a louder voice. She seemed interested with the current competitions happening down at the field, eye sparkled interest.
Sana would have mistaken it as a crush, but this was a different look. It was the same look as when the youngest of the trio was introduced to Minecraft. Sana knew that her youngest friend was somewhat interested in the competition, which is out of brand for Mina. She knew Mina as someone who would avoid any kind of fight. Sana wanted to investigate that, but Jihyo answered Mina.
“We’ve trained together. She knows how to dodge things quickly and capture the perfect moment to make someone tremble.”, Jihyo explains. “That’s the Hermes in her- always thinking differently.”
“Come on! Don’t end the evening spar early guys!”, Jackson whined.
“I want to challenge someone”, a large bulky man stuck his arm out. It was evident that Camp Half Blood was a place for demigods, but the majority of the demographic was in their late teens to early adolescent years. However, the man that just stepped out for a challenge looked older. It put a shiver down Sana’s spine with the thought of that man fighting someone who just finished puberty or is currently in highschool.
“Wonho, who would you like to challenge?”, Jackson’s voice seemed to waver when the bulky man walked up to him.
“I want to challenge the dumb fuck who messed with my girlfriend.”, Wonho yelled while searching the crowd with his eyes.
The crowd was silent, afraid to say anything.
“Shit”, Jihyo mumbled under her breath.
“W-what?”, Momo started to feel the tension from the field and faced Jihyo. “Is he like… bad news?”
“He’s the son of Ares, god of war… but that’s not what I’m worried about.”, Jihyo rubs her temples. “I'm worried about who he’s going to challenge.”
The last sentence caught Sana’s attention. She quickly peered over the balcony and followed Wonho’s eyesight, searching for the unlucky one.
“Come out, Im Nayeon”, Wonho said with a sinister tone.
The crowd didn’t waste a minute and immediately dispersed from a certain area revealing a pale skinny young adult in a leather jacket. Sana squinted, wanting to see a better view of the leather jacket girl. The so-called Im Nayeon didn’t look scared or excited, she lacked emotions and walked towards the centre.
Wonho was much taller than her, he was looking down at her- glowering her to intimidate the woman. “You’re dead meat, Im. You shouldn’t mess with my girl.”
“I didn’t mess with her-”
Nayeon was cut off by a slap on her face. The crowd gasped and Jackson quickly stuttered. “Uh- Wonho, the fight doesn’t start until I say so-”
“Then start it!”, Wonho sneered at the host.
Jackson gulped, raised his hand and yelled, “Begin!”
Wonho stuck his hand out and someone from a crowd threw his spear towards him. He spinned it around and started to point the sharp tip at Nayeon.
“I don’t want to fight”, Nayeon said with a low voice. Eyes were glossy, cold…you could see your reflection from her eyes, a way for her to steer other’s attention away from analyzing her feelings through her eyes. Her words were icy- making her nearby environment chillier. Wonho’s hair on his arm stood up, but he tried to act like he was unaffected by the sudden atmosphere change.
“I’m going to head down to stop this”, Jihyo heads down the stairs. The daughter of Zeus looked up and nodded towards the exit, “Come with me. You guys would be a good distraction to ease the tension from what’s about to happen.”
The Japanese trio gulp- afraid to step foot on the sparring field- but they followed without question.
Wonho continued to swing his spear, but Nayeon- without any effort- was dodging all of them.
“Come at me, daughter of Hades”, Wonho grunts in frustration. “You’re making this not fun.”
“I told you”, Nayeon’s eyes shimmered a bit of green. “I didn’t want to fight. I’m not interested in your airhead girlfriend.”
A group of girls in the back gasped at the comment, murmurs amongst the group and glares. Sana assumed that the said ‘airhead girlfriend’ was in this group. Jihyo drags the newbies towards the field, Mina’s head is down- afraid of the unwanted attention. Momo looked at everything but the eyes of the curious demigods and Sana huddled closer to Momo to find some sort of comfort.
“That’s it!”, Wonho lost his temper. If he was holding his temper this whole time, then hell is going to break loose. Wonho looks for something nearby. He ran close to a large tree trunk that had settled on the field for some time- it was probably a product from a past battle striking the tree down and over time, the demigods used it as a good hiding spot for capture the flag games.
The crowd gasped, it was known for a child of Ares to have great strength, but it still amazes the camp that Wonho was able to lift the tree trunk with no hesitation. Wonho grunts and throws it towards Nayeon, resulting in the crowd behind Nayeon to run away.
The daughter of Hades jumped away which distracted her. It was the perfect opportunity for Wonho to do close combat. The son of Ares leaped across the field and kept Nayeon down on the ground. Multiple punches were thrown at Nayeon, who was struggling to break free.
Once Wonho was finally finished with letting his anger out on the daughter of Hades, he took his spear head and pointed at Nayeon’s chin- almost drawing out blood. Nayeon felt the pressure under her chin and something came over her. The iris of her eyes was flushed green- almost emerald color- and her lips formed a devious smirk.
“Do it”, Nayeon stopped moving and looked straight into Wonho’s eyes.
Wonho shifted his eyes- uncomfortable with the stare. “Ju-just yield”
“Do it”, Nayeon’s voice became an octave lower. “Give me a reason to kill you.”
The crowd made way immediately for Jihyo, knowing that she could handle the situation better than anyone. Everyone knows that this ‘friendly’ spar is not going to end well, not for Wonho.
“Nayeon”, Jihyo said with a commanding voice. She walked up closer and grabbed Wonho by the collar of his shirt to pull him away from Nayeon.
Wonho was stunned, he knew he pushed too far. Nayeon got up from the floor and kneeled. She touched the ground gently, the ground beneath the field started to rumble, and Nayeon seemed like she was pulling something out from under.
Sana stepped away as she watched wind-like entities coming out from the ground and surrounding Wonho- who seemed like he was about to shit his pants.
“What the hell is that?”, Momo mumbled as she held onto Mina and Sana’s arms protectively.
“They look like ghosts”, Sana replies.
“They seem like they're hissing”, Mina gulps.
“Come on, Wonho”, Nayeon slowly took steps closer to him. “What’s your biggest fear?”
Give up. A voice was heard in Wonho’s ear. You can never be good enough with that temper. You’re only muscle- bulk. Nothing special. Give her your blood, son of Ares.
“ARGH”, Wonho covered his ears.
Nayeon took out her dagger and stuck out her hand. “Give me your palm.”
Wonho held his head between his knees and closed his eyes tightly. “Make it stop!”
“The spirits won’t stop until you give me your blood.”, Nayeon said with a sinister voice.
Yield. Yield! Son of Ares! Wonho swings his arms in the air, trying to push away the spirits of the dead. It didn’t work and the demigod was getting tired. He felt suffocated and he gasped for air.
“Hand!”, Nayeon forcefully took his hand and guided her dagger across his palm.
“Nayeon!”, Jihyo said louder and the daughter of Hades snapped her head towards her. Something knocked Jihyo down, probably a spirit as well. This was a bad sign and it caused an immediate reflex from the other demigods at the field to bring out their weapons.
Nayeon stared at her dagger, covered in the blood of a demigod. She brings it closer to her nose and lets the scent take over her senses. Just as she was about to put the dagger near her lips, a splash of water pushed the dagger far away from Nayeon’s reach.
Nayeon dropped Wonho’s hand and looked around furiously. More water was jetted towards her in full force. Nayeon wipes her eyes and glares at the demigod walking towards her.
“Come on, yeonie”, the demigod wasn’t showing any fear towards the green-eyed demigod.
Nayeon was about to speak but was then surrounded by water swirling around her like a torpedo- almost drowning her. Spirits that were holding Wonho and Jihyo were slowly dissolving away meaning that whatever the intruder was doing- probably drowning Nayeon- was working.
“Enough, Chaeng”, Jihyo lifted her hand up to signal the intruder to stop. Jihyo walked up to the unconscious body and sent a lightning shock to her heart.
Nayeon gasped for air as she coughed out water. There was silence surrounding her and she felt ashamed. Nayeon didn’t want to look up- she lost control- she knew she was going to face disappointed and feared looks from others. She wasn’t ready to see that again.
“Well, what a show!”, Jeongyeon tries to lighten up the mood and subtly signals a group of people to bring Wonho to the infirmary. “Why don’t we end off the night with dinner, yeah?”
“You keep an eye on her”, Jihyo pointed to the water-splashing friend. The daughter of Zeus stood up and walked up to Jeongyeon. She whispers into her ear and Jeongyeon nodded in agreement.
“Before we start supper… why don’t we give a warm welcome to our newcomers!”, the daughter of Hermes gestures to the three awkward looking Japanese who are trying to stay away from the spotlight.
Maybe it wasn’t the smartest plan from Jihyo. Due to the turn of events, the rest of the demigods were still frazzled and weren’t giving the warmest welcome to the Japanese trio. Small claps and murmurs of ‘welcome to hell’ were heard. Sana felt her stomach flip at the unwanted attention, there was a split second where she regretted following Jihyo to this camp.
“Let’s move on guys”, Jihyo clapped twice to grab everyone’s attention. “Everyone to the cafeteria.”
“So, how do you feel about Camp Half-Blood”, Jeongyeon smirks as she settles three plates each with a giant turkey leg.
Sana, Mina, and Momo swallowed their saliva, realizing just how hungry they were this whole time.
“Dig in, guys”, Jeongyeon gestures to the three plates.
“But isn’t this the winnings for the cabin of Hermes?”, Mina asked.
Jeongyeon chuckled with her mouth full and pointed Mina with her half eaten drumstick. “You caught on quick with the cabins and the spar.”, Jeongyeon wipes her mouth and leans closer like she was about to tell a secret. “You guys haven’t been chosen yet… so let’s just say you’re part of the Hermes cabin? You can’t turn down a good barbeque.”
Jeongyeon slides the plates closer to the three salivating girls. With one last encouraging look, Momo was the first to dig in and the rest followed.
“Slow down there”, Jihyo slides on the bench and sets her plate down. “There’s dessert tonight.”
“Really?”, Jeongyeon’s eyes glowed in excitement.
“I told the satyrs that we have new recruits. They’re making creme brulee in honour of you three.”, Jihyo grins.
“Recruitment?”, Sana slows down her chewing.
“You saw how dangerous it is. Even in your own school. Camp Half-Blood is a safe place for demigods.”, Jihyo explains. “This is where you belong.”
Mina puts down her turkey leg and then fumbles with the ends of her sleeves. “What about our parents?”
Jihyo looked at Jeongyeon and sighed. “We can let you contact them. But they knew about this…or are prepared to send you off to this place sometime in your life.”
“It’s what they get for sleeping with a Greek god”, Jeongyeon shrugs, showing no empathy.
Jihyo nudges her to keep it down.
Sana didn’t care. So does Momo. Sana’s father and Momo’s mother have been pretty absent after coming to Korea. They were always working, trying to make a living in this foreign land. As the teenagers entered their adolescent years, they slowly grew apart from their parents. Living here at Camp Half-Blood wouldn’t be so bad, not when dinner is like this every day.
However, Sana knew that Mina had a special relationship with her father. Unlike the older two, Mina had a very successful doctor as a father and their bond is something to envy about.
Jihyo notices Mina’s worried look and tries to reassure her. “There are days where we can go to the outside world to visit our parents. Do not worry. I’m sure your parents understand. That’s probably why you guys immigrated to Korea.”
“What?”, it was Momo’s turn to chime in.
Jihyo puts on a gentle smile. “If your parents knew about Greek gods and having a demigod as their child, they would know that Korea is the place for demigods. It’s a random location considering it is of Greek heritage… but they chose South Korea to hide from monsters. Camp Half-Blood here is the safest.”
“Just… recently, like a few years ago, some monsters are finding or locating us here. I guess having an area concentrated with demigod blood… well, it makes it easier for them to detect where we are.”, Jeongyeon added. “I give it another 10 years for a relocation for Camp Half Blood. Hopefully L.A.”
“Do you think L.A. would have space for us?”, Jihyo smacked Jeongyeon’s head. “There’s barely any room for us to spar in Jeju.”
Jeongyeon was about to speak, but there was a sudden silence across the table. Actually, not just the table- but the whole cafeteria.
Sana looked around to observe what was going on. Her eyes landed on a leather jacket wearing female who was much interested in looking at the ground than anything else. However, the crowd was all eyeing her- not in awe, but in fear or awareness. Although Sana didn’t know much about Nayeon, she felt bad for her.
“Look who came… the daughter of hell”, Jeongyeon muttered. Jihyo glares at her friend as a warning.
Chaeyoung, the one who literally dumped the whole ocean on Nayeon to stop her from killing anyone during the ‘friendly’ spar, dragged Nayeon towards the barbecue to grab some food.
“Don’t be afraid”, Jihyo said with a gentle voice, it seemed like Jihyo was staring straight at Sana. Sana blushes as if she was caught staring at Nayeon and only Nayeon. But Jihyo took it in another way, thinking that Sana was afraid of the daughter of Hades. “She’s technically my cousin…she’s family. And she’s just going through some stuff.”
“What stuff? Cuz she’s been like this since she came to Camp Half-Blood and that was almost 12 years ago.”, Jeongyeon ate her dinner with macho.
“12 years ago?” Sana was thankful that Mina asked the question first. “So did she come when she was… 10 years old?”
“She was 9. But that doesn’t make a difference, she was still young. We have young recruits at our camp, but 9 years old is the youngest we’ve recruited.”, Jihyo replies back. “She… was abandoned by her mother. Nayeon walked around South Korea and for some reason her feet landed her at Camp Half-Blood. No one knew she was alive… no one was given a quest to bring her here.”
“That’s basically a bad omen”, Jeongyeon points her drumstick bone to Mina. “Her… finding this place without any knowledge…. But then we realised that she was much older than she thought.”
“Jeong”, Jihyo said with a stern voice. “I don’t think that’s our story to tell.”
“Oh come on, Ji”, Jeongyeon chuckles. “You’re scared as well. And you’re more afraid of telling the story because anyone that talks about her life is like bad luck.”
The Japanese trio sat with their backs straight and afraid to ask any more questions. Jeongyeon then faces the trio and smirks. “So, I advise you to back away from the demon daughter.”
“I agree”, a male voice appeared behind the trio. Jeongyeon scoffed at the presence of the male and started stabbing her food. The Japanese trio turned around to face a boy. However, based on the excessive muscles on his body- he looks like a man-child. “The name is Chan. Bang Chan.”
Momo looked around for a reaction from her friends and was the nice one to just say hi back to him. That earned a grin on Chan’s face and he continued. “Like Jeongyeon said, you should back away from Nayeon. Don’t want your pretty faces getting sliced off by her dagger.”
“Chan, that was unnecessary-”, Jihyo cuts in to stop more gossip about her ‘cousin’.
“What?”, Chan shrugs his shoulders. “They’re too pretty to die. In fact, the whole Ares cabin is betting on who is going to be the chosen one. And these gems scream to be the daughters of Aphrodite.”
“Chosen one?”, Mina spoke up in curiosity. Chan smirks and leans closer to Mina’s face in an uncomfortable distance- or lack of distance.
“Yea, the lucky gal to be chosen as the daughter of Aphrodite. We… Ares' children are running out of Aphrodite ladies or men… you know… someone to have a companion with during these hard training days”, Chan turns his head towards a table filled with majority females.
Sana follows Chan’s sight and grimaces at the aura the table was giving off. Almost everyone at the table was holding something to see their reflection, a mirror, a spoon, or even their phone. Hair was perfectly shaped and it felt like pink clouds were surrounding them. Sana hoped she wasn’t one of them- she wouldn’t survive sharing a cabin with Barbie wannabes.
Mina and Momo were also staring at the table, but Chan only noticed Mina. The son of Ares tilts Mina’s chin and smiles, “Hoping you are going to be the daughter of Aphrodite. Maybe my companion.”
Sana’s blood boiled as her protective instinct was starting to break free. Mina was like a little sister to Sana and watching that chunk of meat stare down at Mina like she was an object was not sitting well with her. “Watch it”, Sana pushes his hand away from Mina. “Even if she is the daughter of Aphrodite, she would never pay attention to you…”, Sana looks up and down. “Based on your looks, she doesn’t go for pea sized brains… or just small things in general.” Her voice was loud enough to grab everyone’s attention.
Everyone in the cafeteria went silent and snickers were heard when Sana made that comment. Chan puffs out his chest and stands tall. “You don’t want to mess with me, new recruit.”
“Guys”, Jihyo stands up and wants to stop the two.
“Jihyo, this is not your fight. Sit down.”, Sana said with a commanding voice and for some reason, Jihyo did not hesitate to sit down. Sana then faces Chan and smirks with a glint in her eye. “And now you, Chan. You don’t want to mess with me.”
There was a mumble coming from Chan, a soft ‘no I do not’. Sana smiled at how easily Chan was convinced- she was proud that she was intimidating enough to protect her friends at this camp.
“And you certainly do not want to mess with my friends. So why don’t you… turn your body around and skip away from our table.”, Sana twirls her fingers which Chan also then twirls his body and then starts skipping away.
Bursts of laughter roared in the cafeteria as everyone watched the son of Ares skip away. After a few metres away from the table, Chan himself was also confused as to why he was skipping. Chan stopped and furrowed his eyebrows. He faces the Aphrodite table who all had their attention on Sana.
That was when Sana started to feel stares on her. There was a glow surrounding her, almost blinding her and she tried to close her eyes to prevent herself from going blind. “What the hell-”
Gasps were heard and Sana felt more uncomfortable when Momo had her mouth wide open when staring at her. “What?”
Momo swallowed her food and took her clean spoon. “You might wanna…you might want to see yourself.”
Sana hesitantly brings the spoon closer to her face and she gasps. She wanted to scream . ‘You’ve got to be kidding me’, Sana’s inner thoughts were all over the place, sirens were blaring loud in her mind telling her that ‘karma hit her’ for judging the Barbie wannabes. Because here she was, dressed in some Greek white gown, there were golden cuffs on her biceps and the wreath on her head was poking into her brain. She was…. She was… she couldn’t even say it.
“Sana… you look beautiful.”, Mina stood up as well and couldn’t keep her eyes off of her friend. “Like a Greek goddess.”
Sana tries to swallow down her tears. She felt humiliated for looking at this. She looked around for her old clothes but there was no hope. She looks at the golden band on her bicep that was glowing and sparks started to come out- engraving the golden band.
Jihyo walks up to her slowly. The daughter of Zeus notices Sana looking a bit frazzled and agitated at the unwanted attention… and possible unwanted reveal of her absent mother. Jihyo gulps as she reads the name on the golden band and lifts Sana’s arm up in the air. “Daughter of Aphrodite, everyone”
The audience clapped and there were some whistles and howls. Sana hated it.