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Chapter Text

Aurora Williams expected her summer to be just like anyone else’s her age. In fact, she had just finished her 1st year of middle school and was looking forward to spending her summer at camp. As she stepped out of the doors of the school for the last time until the next two and half months were up, she began looking for the familiar red SUV her dad drove. She found it relatively fast considering her other dad was sticking his head out the window looking for her. The car pulled up in front of her and she slid into the back seat. 

“Hey Anthony, hey Micheal.”

Aurora said excitedly as she buckled into her seat and the car started to move again. 

“Someone is excited today.” Her father claimed, and she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“We just need to pick up your brother and sister and then we can go for ice cream. Does that sound good?” Her father questioned, she nodded. The rest of the car ride was mostly silent except for a few exchanged words. Aurora was mostly too busy texting her friends. When they finally pulled up to the elementary school after being stuck in traffic for 30 minutes, Mikey and Rosa were the last kids left and the principal was waiting with them. 

“Mr. Williams’, you’re late.” The woman said bluntly. She was clearly disgusted but was trying her best not to show it. The woman had never liked her family because they weren’t “traditional”.

“We’re so sorry Mrs. Ramirez, there was an accident on the way here and we were stuck in traffic for a half hour.”

“Well, just don’t let it happen again.” She turned around, her heels clicking and keys jingling as she stormed inside. Once the two were settled in the car they began to drive off once more as Aurora’s siblings began talking up a storm. 

“My class beat Mikey’s class in field day by just one point daddy! Can you believe it?”

Rosa announced proudly to everyone. Mikey gave her an aggravated look. The twins had always held a competitive streak with each other. 

“We would have won if you hadn’t cheated during the balloon toss” Mikey retorted.

“I did not cheat! You’re just a big jealous sore loser. You have such a giant head but somehow your brain is so puny.” This caused the two 2nd graders to start fighting with each other. 

“Hey! Stop fighting right now you two, or I will turn this car around right now!” That got the twins to stop fighting momentarily, or at least they stopped until they got ice cream. 

When they arrived back at home Aurora put her bag down next to the counter and plopped down on the couch to finish her rapidly melting ice cream. She’d been home less than 30 minutes before it all went to shit. Less than 30 minutes before everything changed. She’d just put on more comfortable clothes when there was a knock on the door. She looked at the ring camera to see who it was. It was her Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, and another guy who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Even though she found it strange she opened the door.

“Aurora, who is it?” Her father questioned when he’d heard her open the door. 

“It’s my Latin teacher dad! He’s with some other dude too.” She shouted in response.

“Aurora, I’m so sorry to bother you now that school is over. However there is something important we must discuss.  It would be best if you got your fathers.”

“Dad! Daddy! My teacher and some other guy want to talk to you!” Once hearing this the two men made their way upstairs and welcomed the two other men into the house. They made their way over to the family room and sat down.

“Aurora, there is no easy way to say this. You’re probably going to be shocked by this as we-”

Mr. Brunner was interrupted before he could finish as the other guy spoke up. 

“Kid, you’re a demi-god.” The man said bluntly. “Half god. Half mortal.” This man had to be 500 kinds of crazy. Gods weren’t real, and she certainly wasn’t half of one.

“I know what you’re thinking. I’m crazy.” He continued. “I promise I’m telling the truth though. The Greek Gods you learn about in school, they’re real. And your mom was doing the devil’s tango with one of them.” This was when Mr. Brunner took control of the situation once more. 

“Aurora, I promise there will be time for explanations later, but right now we need to get you to a safe place.” So Mr. Brunner was crazy too, that was just great. She turned to look at her dads but instead of wearing shocked expressions like she did, they just looked saddened. 

“So soon? I thought we’d have more time...” Her father spoke, seeming disappointed, but also for some reason seeming to believe these wackos. Meanwhile, her other dad turned to her.

“Aurora, these men aren’t lying. During the last custody battle Micheal and I had to talk to your mother to convince her to give up her parental rights, she was high of course so we didn't believe her at first but she insisted on it . She told us all about you. She also told us how to get in contact with Mr. Brunner. You have to trust them, Aurora.”

Ok so everyone was crazy. Even her fathers. Before she even had a second to protest she was ushered out the door and into the car. Her father had to stay behind with Mikey and Rosa. 

“Where are we going dad? What is this?” She asked demanding answers immediately.

“A camp, it’s on Long Island, you'll be safe there sweetheart. Aurora, you probably have a million questions to ask right now. I wish I could answer them for you, but trust me, they aren’t lying. Just think about all of the unexplainable things that have happened to you, maybe that’ll help.” 

It took a couple hours as they made their way to their destination. The car eventually parked on a deserted road next to what looked like miles of woods, never seeming to end. It was a bit creepy, if she was being honest, especially considering the fact that she was with people who were speaking nonsense. She was rushed out of the car by her dad so that they could quickly follow the two men. They had walked for about 30 minutes until they reached a large pine tree that was seemingly different from the rest. The tree stood in front of a gateway arch that read: “ Camp Half-Blood”  engraved into the stone. 

“Aurora.” Her dad spoke up, seeming oddly…mournful. “I can’t go any further. The barrier won’t let me, I’m not like you.” 

Her dad had tears beginning to well up in his eyes.

“What! No! You can’t leave me here. I don’t even have any of my things.” 

“We’ll send a package of your summer clothes here, and a few other things. But Aurora, you have to trust me, and you have to trust them. You’ll be safe here I promise, and you’re gonna have lots of… fun.”

Despite the smile he was trying to put on his face tears were actively streaming down her dad’s face at this point. She didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye before she was ushered through the arch. It was strange, as a warm feeling passed through her. Once she had entered entirely through the arch she was able to see a large blue house through the trees. She could also see that Mr. Brunner was no longer in his wheelchair and was in fact a horse. Once noticing this she did the only logical thing a person could do. Scream, as loud as she could, and try to run away. She was quickly stopped from running away when the other man grabbed onto the back of her shirt. She struggled to get away but the man wouldn’t loosen his grip. Eventually she relented, and stopped fighting against the man, only then did he release his grip on her. She was forced to turn and was led closer towards the large blue house. Once close enough she could see more details of the house, it was at least three stories tall, had a large wrap around deck that led to a field of strawberries. 

She finally allowed herself to look around, and she gasped a little. This… camp was actually very beautiful, the sky was bright blue, the fields were filled with bright red strawberries, and there were a bunch of buildings in a rectangular shape that were also quite breathtaking. Everything was pretty except the bright orange shirts that most people seemed to be wearing. 

Mr. Brunner walked up the steps and through the door of the house, ducking, of course. Aurora hesitantly followed, and was surprised by how homely it was. There were shelves covered in knickknacks, a couch with blankets folded neatly beside it, and a coffee table in front of it holding a plate of cookies. 

“Sit, sit please. Aurora, do you remember the stories about the Greek gods? I don’t know how to put this lightly, but those stories were all real. And you, child, are a demigod.” 

“...Should I even be surprised, is that why you…you’re…well. A horse.” She sighed and sat on the couch rubbing her forehead, she was getting a migraine. She started counting her fingers with her thumb, 1…2…3…4…1…2…3…4. 

" I uhm… I apologize for the surprise Aurora. I'm gonna put on a film for you and hopefully it will explain everything. 

And so, Aurora watched the orientation film. It was confusing, yet enlightening. According to the people in the video, the past orientation film was much worse, and that is something that is extremely concerning.

In truth, she didn't know what to think. Eventually she just accepted that she wasn't going to understand what the hell was happening here, and took it all in. 

 She walked into what was called the Hermes cabin. It was chaos all around her the second she made it past the door frame. Some kids were running around, some were yelling at each other, and some were counting things in large piles of probably stolen items. Amidst the chaos however there was one person who when they saw her enter stood on a table and started yelling at everyone to shut up. 

“Hey! Everyone be quiet Chiron is here with a new camper!” The yelling seemingly grabbed the attention of everyone in the cabin. The boy who got everyone's attention then jumped down from the table and walked over to her and Chiron.

“Thank you Connor, I’d like to introduce you to Aurora.” He paused for a second to gesture to her. “She just arrived at camp today, I trust you and the rest of the Hermes Cabin will make her feel welcome. I leave her in your… capable hands”

Connor chuckled, “I’ll have someone give her the official tour later, we’ll…introduce her to everyone.”

His eyes met a raised eyebrow from the horse legged man, “It’ll be fun! C’mon kid, I'll show you your bunk, hope you’re a heavy sleeper.”  

She looked around at the chaos, I guess it looked normal for a camp, it was just very big, with a lot of people around her age. The laughter and smiles eased her nerves a little bit, maybe this would be okay. When she turned around, Chiron was gone, and a girl with messy brown hair stood in the doorway, looking a bit bewildered. 

“Who are you?” The girl spoke with confusion evident in her voice. Before she had the chance to say anything Connor walked up behind Aurora and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Calliope, this is Aurora she just got here. I was actually hoping you would show her around.” When Connor said this the girl's face lit up in excitement. 

“Really!?” Connor laughed a little bit. “Yes really, I have a feeling you two will get along. Just uh, please try not to land her in the infirmary on her first day.” The other girl grabbed her wrist and started to drag her out of the cabin. “No promises!” She yelled back at Connor. 

Aurora’s eyes widened in fear, infirmary?! Before she could even voice her fears, the girl with baggy stained jeans and band-aids covering her face was ranting and pulling her around like an old dog on a leash. 

“What do you want to see first? There’s all the cabins, the battle arena, the forges, the fields, the beach, the infirmary, the archery range…what else? Do you know much about Greek mythology? Maybe I should show you the list of classes, there’s the amphitheater too! Did you watch the orientation video? Obviously you watched it, you walked in with Chiron. There’s also the dining pavilion, you must be hungry, I know I wasn’t but my mama sent me with a bunch of food.” 

The girl finally stopped to breathe then looked at her, “what’s your name again?” She smiled nervously a bit before responding. “It’s Aurora, and I don't think I caught your name.” 

“It’s Calliope, and uh cool name. Makes you sound like a child of Apollo.” Aurora put on a confused expression when Calliope said Apollo as she tilted her head slightly to the side. “Child of who-?” Calliope’s expression morphed from one of excitement to one of shock. “Wait, you don’t even know who Apollo is?! You know what, I’m making an executive decision, we’re gonna give you a tour of camp and a lesson in greek mythology. First stop infirmary, we'll kill three birds with one stone there.” And once again before she could process anything that was said Aurora was dragged off in the direction of wherever they were going.

Calliope pushed open the doors of the infirmary, “Nico can give you a run down, he's a huge nerd.” 

They walked past a desk and into a warm room, with sunlight shining on many clean white sheets. She cringed a bit internally, seeing all the beds reminded her of some particularly rotten foster homes. 

“Let’s go to the office Borealis, they must be back there.” 

She chose to ignore the nickname as they approached a door in the back, where loud voices seeped through the cracks. “I promise you they love each other,” the brown haired girl said as she pushed open the door. 

“You can’t beat me with that weak of a card William, that’s one of the lowest cards in the game!” 

A boy covered in freckles shouted back at the paler of the two, seriously, has that kid ever seen the sun? “It’s shiny, you told me that means they’re powerful!” 

“William, you're mixing up pokemon cards and myth-o-magic.” 

“No it isn’t! You must be cheating then.” 

“I will raise your ancestors from the dead to personally,” his voice got louder, “rip up that card because it is literally worth nothing!”

The one in a doctor's coat finally looked up, “Oh. Calliope you better not have hurt another camper this is the second time today, I’m trying to spend some quality time with my boyfriend.” 

Aurora looked at Calliope, “When he said raise his ancestors did he mean…”

She nodded in response, “Yup. Don’t mess with him, mess with Will all you want though.”

Will raised his eyebrows in surprise, “How is that fair?” 

She watched them argue back and forth remaining in the doorway out of caution. 

Aurora Williams was going to have anything but a normal summer, or rest of her life, for that matter.

Chapter Text

Aurora watched the two boys, William and Nico, continue to argue with each other for a few more minutes before setting down their cards and turning to look at her and Callie. The one with blonde hair motioned for her to walk further into what appeared to be an office. She ignored him and stayed firmly planted in the doorway. 

“Sorry about that, I hope we didn’t scare you. So, Callie, want to maybe introduce us to your friend?” The blonde boy questioned, Aurora noticed there was a hint of a southern accent as he spoke. Callie turned her head and smiled reassuringly before turning back to the boys.

“Her name is Aurora, she just got here. Connor said that I can be her official welcome party.  I’ve taken supreme authority in taking her around camp. I'm trying to teach her a bit about how things work around here.” The boy with golden hair smiled at her, a look of realization dawning on his face.

“Ah, I see. Well Aurora, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name Will, and this here is Nico, my adorable boyfriend.” Nico rolled his eyes at the taller boy, “Solace how many times-“ Will interrupted before he could finish.  “Oh shush you.” Will turned back to look at her. 

“This right here is the infirmary, my dad is Apollo. He’s the god of healing, so me and my siblings kind of got stuck running this place. However I am the oldest, making me a head counselor, and the head medic at camp.”  

Aurora swayed awkwardly in the doorway, but some of her tension and anxiety began to ebb away as Will spoke to her. He seemed like a very kind person, being in his presence was like when the sun soaks into a dark shirt on a chilly day, she didn’t know why but she immediately trusted him.

 “Now I don’t mean this in a rude way, but I certainly hope I don’t see you around here often. This is an infirmary after all, and I don’t like seeing anyone get hurt.” Her face scrunched up slightly not enjoying the notion of future injury  Callie noticed and nudged her slightly with their elbow, “It’ll be fine! Will is basically a puppy dog, only the idiots end up here. Now come on, you've gotta see the rest of camp before dinner!” Will waved goodbye as she was dragged by the arm. It was only after her and Callie had left the infirmary that she spoke. 

“Well that was certainly… uh, something? Will did seem nice though, I just don’t think Nico likes me very much.” Callie just continued to smile at her, “Yeah, they can be a lot, and don’t worry about Nico. He’s like that with everyone. He teaches my sword fighting class though, he’s pretty badass in my opinion, and a great teacher.” 

Aurora only nodded slowly, finding it was the only thing she could do.

 “What else do you have to show me?” Callie perked up slightly, a fiery light in her eyes. 

“Not too much, I won’t give you a full in depth tour quite yet, we don't have enough time. But we have the cabins, dining pavilion, arena….” Callie continued to drone on and on about things that Aurora couldn’t comprehend, so she turned her head slightly and looked off into the distance, the headache she’d developed over the last few hours seemed to become harder and harder to ignore. God—or gods now really, just a few hours ago everything had been fine, she was home eating ice cream with her little siblings, and now she was here. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Callie was suddenly in front of her waving her hands around like a madman. 

“…orealis?! Dude what happened, did you even hear a single thing I just said?” Callie stared at her looking about two seconds away from marching her back into the infirmary. “Sorry” There was a short pause, “just zoned out for a minute, I do that a lot, it really doesn’t help that my head hurts either…it’s all just a lot to process.” She spoke sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with the palm of her hand. She felt a shock of pain in her chest when she remembered where she got the mannerism from, her father did it all the time.. Callie looked back at her and shrugged. 

“Yeah, it’s a lot to take in at first, I was kinda lucky though. My moms used to be Hunters Of Artemis, they taught me about a lot of this stuff. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Connor will probably talk to Chiron so we can have the same schedule. That way you’ll have a friendly face while you learn the ropes around here. By the way I forgot to ask earlier, when do you turn thirteen?” Aurora raised an eyebrow. “Next week…why does it matter?” Callie’s eyes widened a bit as if she were staring at a dancing fire.

 “Huh, I guess you’re lucky, all demigods have to be claimed before they turn thirteen, so you shouldn't have to be in the Hermes cabin for too long. I envy you. My moms knew and wouldn’t tell me. They said it was a part of the ‘process.’” 

Aurora tilted her head a bit,“claimed?” Callie rolled her eyes and looked at her as if this was something that should be common knowledge. 

“Camp is split into different cabins, based on who your godly parent is Aurora. We have cabins for all the major gods, even the virgin ones or the ones who don't have demigod children, like Hera and Artemis. Before you’re claimed you have to stay in the Hermes cabin, he’s the god of travelers. Claiming is just your godly parent’s way of acknowledging that you’re their kid, and they have to do it before you turn thirteen.” 

She was still slightly confused, but she had to admit Callie’s shotgun explanation helped in the slightest. “Can we just get on with the rest of the tour? I really want to go lay down. This is all…way too much to take in if I’m being honest, I’m still trying to process the fact that my biological father is somehow a Greek god.” She noticed Callie’s smile faded slowly. The pit in the bottom of her stomach deepened. She hadn’t meant to come across as rude.

 “Yeah, of course, come on. We only have an hour until dinner anyway. Sorry if my rambling was annoying…I do that a lot.” 

Aurora felt her hands begin to sweat and her eyes widened. “No, no! That wasn’t—it wasn’t annoying I just…..I have a hard time conveying tones pretty often, it gets me in a lot of trouble with my dads. Please don’t stop, it kinda helps make everything less scary.” 

Callie’s lips began to tilt upward as she listened. “Oh, I get it, my tone gets me in trouble a lot too. Now come on, let's finish this tour.” 

The rest of the tour and dinner went by just about as smoothly as they could have, and before she knew it she was back in the crowded Hermes cabin. Unfortunately for her, since the cabin was so packed full with Hermes kids and unclaimed demigods, a bed for her was a sleeping bag and a pillow on the floor. This also meant, since she had left in a rush, borrowing clothes from a complete stranger until her dads managed to send over some of her things. Now she stood in front of a mirror wearing a much too large t-shirt in an unsightly shade of bright orange with the Camp Half-Blood logo on the front of it, her brown hair falling down just past her shoulders. She had to admit, she wanted to cry. Before she had a chance to do anything, Connor came from behind her out of nowhere and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

 “It’ll be alright kid. First nights are always the hardest, it’ll get better after this, I promise. Why don’t you sit next to me at breakfast tomorrow? That way I can tell you a bit more about camp. Callie is just as new as you, she doesn’t know as much as it seems.You should get some rest, tomorrow will be a new day.” 

The older boy ruffled her hair before walking off. The gesture was nice in theory, but it had just made her feel worse. She walked over to where her sleeping bag was in some tiny cramped corner of the cabin beside Callie’s. The strange girl had insisted on this, leaving no room for Aurora to argue. 

The next morning during breakfast, Aurora is handed her schedule by Chiron which was as follows:

8:00 AM                                          Breakfast & Cabin Inspection

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM                      Beginner Sword Fighting -  Nico DiAngelo 

10:00 AM - 10:30 AM                    Ancient Greek - Chiron

10:30 AM - 11:00 AM                    Greek Mythology - Chiron

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM                     Beginner Strength Training - Sherman Yang

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM                     Cabin Chores

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM                       Lunch

1:30 PM - 2:30 PM                         Beginner Archery - Kayla Knowles

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM                         Cabin Chores

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM                         Free Choice & Free Time

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM                         Dinner & Offerings

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM                         All Camp Activity

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM                       Campfire & Sing-A-Long - Apollo Cabin 

10:00 PM - 11:00 PM                      Prepare For Bed

11:00 PM                                         Lights Out            

“Yes! We’re in pretty much all the same classes! Now come on Borealis, DiAngelo doesn’t like it when people are late.” 

Callie grabbed her roughly by the arm and started to drag her out of the dining pavilion.

“Do we actually use swords for this?” Aurora asked, seeming worried, her eyebrows furrowing slightly and the corners of her mouth turning downwards.

“Not in the beginner classes, but the advanced classes do. Sometimes the intermediate classes will too but not all the time. Don’t worry we’ll be fine, Nico is an amazing teacher.” 

Callie was in fact correct, Nico was a good teacher. She was pleasantly surprised to find out that he didn’t yell at her when she made a mistake either, unlike her other teachers, maybe this place wasn’t gonna be so bad. Nico had split them into pairs to work on different movements with the wooden practice swords. He walked around, observing the groups, occasionally stopping to help certain kids. Aurora was practicing with Callie and as it turns out, sword fighting is a lot harder than it looks on TV, dodging Callie’s attacks wasn’t so hard but trying to hit her without dropping the sword was proving to be quite difficult. 

“You’re holding the sword wrong. That’s why it's so hard.” Nico said as he appeared behind her causing her to jump. He put his hands in hers and maneuvered the sword around a bit until he was satisfied. “Try attacking her now.” Aurora moved forward to swing at Callie and to her surprise she didn't drop the sword this time, and it felt much more comfortable to hold. She looked up at Callie and smiled, Callie smiled back. “See, I told you it wouldn’t be that hard to learn the ropes around here.”

Chapter Text

It was finally Friday at camp, the next few days passed without incident, for the most part. Aurora liked all her classes well enough, and as it turns out she was quite good at archery. Her teacher, Kayla, who was a child of Apollo, said that if she kept up the good she might be able to move up to the intermediate class. Now seeing that it was Friday, that meant it was time for the weekly capture the flag game, and currently she was with Callie walking through the woods while they tried to avoid other players. The two were mostly walking in silence except for the occasional comment from one of them. 

“You know, you’ve been here almost a week and I don’t think I’ve ever seen you use sunscreen, yet you haven’t gotten sunburned at all.” Callie said, sounding bewildered after what was a seemingly sudden realization. “Oh, well I mean I’ve always kind of been like this, I’ve actually never gotten sunburnt before.” Aurora said as she shrugged, not quite understanding what was so astounding about it. 

“Aurora…no offense, but you’re white . Like really white.” Aurora stopped walking and laughed slightly before stopping abruptly after hearing the snap of a branch. 

“Did you hear that?” She asked, turning to look at Callie. “Yup.” Callie tried to stifle a chuckle, “Run?” Aurora nodded. “Run.” She grabbed Callie by the arm and the two took off at sprint giggling and smiling at each other while they ran away. But of course, for the two of them. They had only been running for a grand total of two minutes, and then she tripped, on a root, and fell. Now of course since she had been dragging Callie by the arm, Callie also fell. On top of her.

 “Ow! Shit that hurts! You alright Borealis?” Callie groaned as she rolled off of her. 

“Yeah, I think so, rolled my ankle and I’m pretty sure my forehead is bleeding, are you ok?” Callie grinned and stood up offering her hand to help Aurora get up. “Yeah, you broke my fall.” Aurora rolled her eyes but grabbed Callie hand and pulled herself up, wincing gingerly when she placed weight down on her injured ankle, luckily for her the blast of the horn signaling that the game was over. 

“Well thank the gods for that, let’s uh,” Callie paused and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, “you should probably take a little trip to the infirmary. Come on, I'll help you.” She groaned as Callie started to drag her along in the direction of the infirmary. “Come on Callie please we don't have to go, it's really not that bad I’m sure they have better things to deal with.” 

Callie stopped moving and looked her directly in the eyes. “Borealis, I love you. But if you don't shut up I’m going to throw you over my shoulder. Either way, you’re going. Deal with it.” Aurora let out a loud harumph which Callie took as an admission of defeat and continued to walk.

When they got to the infirmary, Aurora was incorrect in assuming that they would be busy, they were exactly the opposite of busy. Two of the several patient beds were occupied, there was also one that had a curtain drawn around it keeping Aurora from seeing if anyone was there, but she assumed there was. 

Other than that the infirmary was actually quite a calm and welcoming place, not at all like she remembered it to look when she had first seen it, however to be fair she hadn’t really gotten to look around and most of that day was a blur anyways. There was a wooden cabinet and table at the far end of the building stock full of medical supplies.

 Perpendicular to the wooden cabinet there was an archway leading into what she remembered as the office, and directly next to that there was a large metal filing cabinet with a lock on it. 

There were a few windows, all of them open, blowing in a slight breeze. Despite the fact that the all but set there was still a presence of warm sunlight flowing in from an unknown source. Positioned directly in the middle of the infirmary right in the front was a large desk, with three sides, behind it stood the boy that Aurora remembered to be Will, who had a disappointed look on his face, his mouth in the shape of a frown and his eyebrows furrowed. 

“Di imortales, Callie, I thought I told you not to break the new kid. It’s been less than a week!” Will shook his head and guided the two of them over to one of the unoccupied beds.

 “It wasn’t her fault, we were running, I tripped over a root.” Aurora said quietly, trying her best to defend Callie, and mouthed a sorry in her direction. Will shook his head at both of them and walked over to the cabinet in the back grabbing a bottle of rubbing alcohol, a couple pieces of gauze, and a cartoon band-aid before walking back over to them and setting the supplies down. Aurora carefully watched the movements of the boy as he opened the bottle of rubbing alcohol and wet a piece of gauze with it, the pungent smell made her scrunch up her nose, and when he started to dab the piece of gauze on her cut that made her scrunch up her face even more. 

“Sorry, just wanna make sure it’s clean before I put a band-aid on it”

Will was quick with finishing up and placed a band-aid with a smiling purple unicorn over the cut on her forehead. Once he was done Will stood and gestured for the two girls to leave, before they were out the door though he spoke up, “I’ll see you both at the campfire tonight! Austin has a riveting sing-along planned!”. The two laughed and walked out.

After leaving the infirmary Aurora and Callie were just walking around camp to kill time before the campfire. Capture The Flag had ended much earlier than anticipated so they had at least another 30 minutes to kill. The two had a good laugh after watching Sherman Yang, from the Ares Cabin, fall out of his canoe due to a panicking 10 year-old tipping it over. Their incessant giggling however was stopped when Chiron approached them and the two girls were suddenly silent, well as silent as two 12 year old girls trying to hold in laughter could be. Chiron cleared his throat before speaking, the slight British accent present when he did, 

“Girls, sorry to interrupt you, but Callie, Mr D says he has an emergency and has requested your presence in his office. Aurora, you also have someone on the phone for you. If you’ll both follow me to the big house please.” Chiron spoke curtly, but not rudely, there was however an air of annoyance in his voice while talking about the camp directors antics. 

When Chiron had someone called camp wanting to talk to her, truly, she had expected it to be her dads, seeing as she had not yet heard from them. What she did not expect however, when the displeased looking god in front of her handed her the landline, was to hear the sickly sweet voice of her mother. The one the woman only used when talking to Aurora. 

Now had this been one of the sweet old foster mothers she had had over the years, she would have been fine. But instead it was the mother that had left her alone for days in search of drugs. The mother that given every chance to get Aurora back went and fucked it up. The same mother that was the only reason her dads weren’t able to adopt her until a year ago, stubbornly refusing to give up what little parental rights she had. 

“What do you want mom?” Aurora spoke coldly, not wanting to drag out the conversation any longer than necessary. Mr D gestured for her to go into a side room, something she obliged with immediately. 

“Can’t a mother call her daughter darling? I missed getting to talk to you yes-” 

She cut off her mother quickly. 

“Cut the crap mom. How did you even know to call here?”

The change in her mother’s tone was blatant.

“Those horrible men you're living with told me. Though I do suppose I have to thank them, how else would I have known where you were?” 

Aurora’s mother had never been fond of Anthony and Micheal. She had never been fond of any of her foster parents really, but had a particular dislike for them. 

“You don’t get to talk about them! I stopped caring what you think about things a long time ago! Unlike you they stuck around and actually gave a crap about me!”

A scoff can be heard through the receiver of the phone. Typical behavior anytime Aurora did something her mother didn't like. 

“Aurora, don't say stuff like that! I’m your mother of course I care about-” Small tear drops filled the corners of her eyes. She shouldn't have been surprised really, it was always the same story with her mother. 

“You know what mom? I’m done. I am sick and tired of the same song and dance from you. God, do you ever think about anyone other than yourself?! Don’t call here again.”

 Before her mother could speak again she ended the call. Messily wiping the small tears that had formed she walked back into the office and slammed the phone down on the god’s desk and stormed out of the big house. She didn’t really know where she was planning on going, she just kept walking till she eventually reached the Hermes cabin, which was deserted seeing as nearly everyone had made their way over to the campfire by now. 

She walked over to the little area in one of the corners that her and Callie occupied at night. She grabbed the hoodie Connor had taken from the camp store for her and tugged it down over her head. She let herself just sit there for a few minutes before standing back up and walking towards the cabin door. She swung the door open and found Callie standing there mid-knock, the expression on her face wasn't the lively one she was used to, instead it was much more tired. Her mouth wasn’t smiling, but it wasn't a frown either.  

“Mr D said that if you broke the phone he’s gonna make you clean the stables for the rest of the month.” Callie smiled slightly. Clearly intending for the statement to make her laugh. Even though she didn’t really find it funny, Aurora did smile. Wanting to break the awkward silence she spoke up quickly. 

“You’ll come help me out anyway. Now come on, we should get to the campfire.” Aurora grabbed Callie’s hand and started to walk over to the giant bonfire that could probably be seen from anywhere inside camp. 

By the time the two girls finally reached the amphitheater everyone else was already celebrating and singing songs. Aurora couldn’t quite make out the words but it sounded like they were singing about stuff down by the Aegean. Wanting to sneak in unnoticed, Aurora and Callie slid into the first seats they could find, thankfully it was next to the rest of the Hermes Cabin. 

They sat there together for several minutes, not really participating in the dorky camp songs the Apollo Cabin put on for the younger campers. Once the younger kids started to filter out to go to bed, her mood did start to pick up a bit as the music became less dorky. Callie was next to her having the time of her life half screaming/half singing along to the music. She still had no idea how that girl had that much energy all the time. She reminded her of her little brother, Mikey. Callie looked down at Aurora smiling but within mere seconds Callie’s expression to one of bewilderment and her pupils nearly doubled in size. 

“Aurora! Your hair! It’s blonde!” It takes a second for her to process the words of the brown haired girl next to her but her eyes go wide when she does, seeing the now blonde strands of hair out the corners of her eyes. She shot up out of her seat abruptly looking to Callie for some kind of guidance on the situation. Callie’s mouth was stuck agape, however frozen in shock.  

All eyes soon turned to Aurora as she became enveloped in a warm yellow glow, and at the very peak directly above her head was a holographic sun with exactly 21 rays each in the shape of an arrow. Distantly she could hear Chiron saying something down near the campfire. “Apollo. Chief of the Muses, Light Bringer, Father of Art and Music, Observer of Prophecies. Hail, Aurora Williams daughter of the Sun god.”

The holographic sun soon faded and the three kids down near the fire began to clap and cheer louder than anyone else there. All around her people were clapping and cheering, it was so damn loud. God. Gods, she was getting a migraine. Why couldn’t everyone just be quiet….

“Hey there kid, didn’t think I’d be seeing you again so soon. Why don’t we get out of here and go somewhere a little less crowded, then I can answer all the questions that I’m sure you have.” An unknown voice said.

Aurora looked up to see who the voice could be coming from, and it was Will. What was he doing here? Had that glowing thing hurt her in some way? Before her thoughts could be led too far astray, Will extended one of his hands for her to grab onto, Aurora gratefully accepted it and the older boy began to lead them away from the campfire and towards the cabins.

Once the loud cheers of the campfire had drowned out to dulcet tones she stopped right in her tracks and looked up at Will, dozens and dozens of questions racing through her mind. “What was that back there? Why did everyone start cheering? Why did you come and get me? What’s going-” She was interrupted before she could continue with her onslaught of questions.

“Woah woah woah, slow down kiddo, I’ll answer everything. I suppose I should start with what just happened back there.” He spoke gently and warmly, and got down on one knee so he was face to face with her. “What happened back there is what we call getting claimed by your godly parent. Basically means that they’re acknowledging you’re their kid. You just got claimed by Apollo, god of the sun, healing, prophecy, archery, and a whole bunch of other things. He really is a jack of all trades.” Will stopped for a moment to make sure that she was still following along.

“As for the reason I’m here? Well that’s because my dad is Apollo too, and I’m the head counselor of the Apollo cabin since I’m the oldest of us. I’m also the head medic around camp. Now that we have that settled, what’s gonna happen next is that you and I are gonna head to the Hermes Cabin so you can get your stuff, then we’ll get you all settled into the Apollo Cabin. Sound good?”

There was a certain calmness to the boy’s words as he spoke to her. Like he’d had lots of practice with this sort of thing. Aurora also noticed a slight country accent deep in his voice. Somehow it made his words sound increasingly calming. She looked up at him and he reached out to wipe away the tear that she didn’t even know had rolled down her cheek, and in that moment she smiled.

Chapter Text

It didn’t take long for Aurora to clear her stuff out of the Hermes cabin, especially since she still hadn’t gotten her clothes sent over. So all she had was she had come to camp in and the clothes Connor had taken from the camp store for her. The idea of leaving the Hermes cabin didn’t exactly excite her, although it was more so the idea of leaving Callie in there all by herself again. It wasn’t fair. Aurora had been there less than a week and she had already been claimed, meanwhile Callie had been at camp for two months and she had nothing. 

By the time she and Will arrived at the Apollo cabin the sun had long since set and campers had been sent from the campfire back to their cabins…which meant everyone was waiting inside for her…hoorayyy. Will led her up the stairs to the cabin but just before he opened the door to walk he turned around to face her and knelt down again. 

 “Why don’t you stay out here for a minute kiddo, that way I can talk to the others first and tell them to keep it lowkey for now. That sound good?”

Aurora just nodded and squished the stuffed animal she was holding so it was squeezed between her arms and her chest. It wasn’t even one of hers, she actually had no idea whose it was originally, but it had been one of the few comforts she’d had over the last few days. Will smiled at her again and turned back around to walk into the cabin, she could hear the excitement and commotion even from outside before Will managed to calm it down. 

When he had come back out of the cabin to collect her, Will left the door open, and she could see that there were about half a dozen other kids waiting eagerly for her. Will ushered her in front of him and started walking them inside, probably his way of stomping out any attempts at eloping before they even began. Despite Will’s prior warning to the rest of the Apollo children, the second Aurora’s foot stepped over the threshold and into the cabin they all seemed to crowd around her. 

“Now what did I just tell y’all? I thought I just told y’all not to overwhelm her and look at what you're doing already huh? Everyone back up, give the poor girl some room to breathe.” Everyone backed away from Aurora once Will finished talking. One girl, who Aurora recognized from her sword fighting class, spoke up. 

“Sorry Will, we’re just all so excited, it’s not everyday that we finally get another cabin member.”

“It’s alright Luc, I know we’re all very excited. I think we might just have to keep the excitement contained till the mornin’ though, we don’t wanna scare her off now do we?” Will hummed out calmly before continuing, “Aurora, why don’t you introduce yourself real quick and then we can get you off to bed, I’m sure all the excitement has you exhausted.”

Aurora looked up at Will, and saw he was smiling down at her. He seemed so happy, they all did. For a moment it almost felt like she was back home. For a moment it felt like everything might just be back to the way things were, and then she was snapped back to her reality, which was that she was half-god, and the dozen or so children and teens standing in front of her were her half siblings. 

Aurora could feel the tears behind her eyes that were threatening to make an appearance. She knew that they could all see the way her jaw trembled when her mouth opened to speak, “I’m uhm…I’m Aurora, like Will said. I don’t uhm really know what I’m supposed to say, so…hi?” She lifted her hand slightly, no higher than her chest and waved at the group. The response was a chorus of hello, and what’s up, and welcome. Thankful Will whisked her away to safety to get ready for bed before it became anything else.

The rest of the night passed by in a blur, according to Luceana, or Luc as she insisted on, most nights weren’t like this, and that it was only because Will had said so that the energy and activities that night were kept to a minimum. I felt odd, sleeping on an actual bed again, rather than just the mat on the floor she’d had in the Hermes Cabin. It was nice, it was even nicer the next morning when she got to sleep in for an extra hour seeing as how she was no longer in a cabin where there were thirty people that needed to get ready. 

When she arrived at breakfast Aurora immediately began searching for Callie in the crowd, she spotted her fast, Callie didn’t ever exactly blend in within a crowd.  The two friends made eye contact for a split second and the glum look that had been written all over Callie’s face vanished. Aurora made a move to run off towards her but was stopped when Luc grabbed her by the wrist and held her back. “Where do you think you're going silly? Unless you forgot you were claimed by dear old dad last night which means that you get to sit with us now, you’ll get to see your friend later.”

She tried to protest that it would only take a second but her cries fell upon deaf ears and she found herself plopped down in a chair at the Apollo Cabin table. Despite the fact that she wouldn’t be able to sit with Callie, or even see her until much later in the day. Everyone at the table began buzzing away with conversation, occasionally someone would remember she was there and ask her a question before going back to their own conversations. There was movement in the corner of  and Aurora turned her head to see that Will was now standing in back of her with Nico standing at his side. She jumped a bit from the shock, Nico snorted at her.

“Relax, just need to give you your new schedule. That’s all. Have a good day Aurora, and remember if you need anything you can talk to me; I’ll be in the infirmary most of the day.” Will hummed out calmly before walking over to his own seat at the table, Nico towing behind him. She fumbled with the piece of paper now in her hands. How could she be getting a new schedule already? She had just started getting used to the first one!

8:00 AM                                          Breakfast & Cabin Inspection

9:00 AM - 10:00 AM                      Beginner Strength Training - Sherman Yang

10:00 AM - 11:00 AM                    Intermediate Archery (Cabin 7 Only) - Chiron

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM                     Beginner Sword Fighting - Nico DiAngelo

12:00 PM - 12:30 PM                     Cabin Chores

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM                       Lunch

1:30 PM - 2:00 PM                         Ancient Greek - Chiron

2:00 PM - 2:30 PM                         Greek Mythology - Chiron

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM                         Cabin Chores

3:00 PM - 4:00 PM                         Infirmary Training - Will Solace

4:00 PM - 5:00 PM                         Free Time

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM                         Dinner & Offerings

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM                         All Camp Activity

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM                       Campfire & Sing-A-Long - Apollo Cabin 

“Hey look!” A male voice from a few chairs down exclaimed, “The newbie got her new schedule!”

“Wait really? Oh man this is always my favorite part of getting a new camper, it’s the best part about dad being the god of so many things.” Another voice chimed in, female this time.

“Ugh that’s right I totally forgot! Please let this one have healing, I love you guys but we have too many artsy kids and not enough people in the infirmary that can heal more than little cuts and bruises.”

Aurora stopped reading the schedule in her hands and looked up at them, her face was scrunched up in confusion, one of her eyebrows raised. The others seemed to notice this and before she could get a word in the male voice spoke up again.

“Oh wait that’s right, you’re like new new right? You don’t know how any of this works?” She nodded and the boy continued, “Ok, so basically all demi-gods inherit certain…characteristics from our godly parents. For example pretty much all Apollo kids are nearly immune to sun related injuries or illnesses since Apollo is the god of the sun. Everyone here also has some sort of varying abilities in archery, music, and medicine.”

“We’re also pretty good at deciphering prophecies when they come around!” Luc piped in

“Yes yes but that’s besides the point. What we’re all talking about is the big one. So on top of the basic abilities associated with your godly parents' different domains, every demi-god gets one special ability from their godly parent. Will got healing, which is the actual reason he’s head medic not just cause he’s head counselor. Mine is related to music, it’s actually pretty cool; I can make my voice sound like anything or anyone. But the thing with dad is that because he has so many domains your big power could be just about anything, so anytime we get a new member we like to make a game about trying to figure what it could be.”

She tilted her head slightly, trying to make sense of everything just spewed out at her, “So basically I’m your guinea pig..?”

The boy looked over at her and blinked several times before finding the words to answer her, “That’s one way of thinking about it. Regardless, we can start with archery. That’s another cool thing, we get our own archery time slot to basically fool around, Chiron will teach us stuff sometimes but for the most part he’s just there to make sure we don't maim each other.”

Just then, the bell rang signifying the end of breakfast and the start of the day. According to her new schedule she now had strength training first instead of sword fighting. She would just have to find time to talk to Callie later. Everyone started to disperse to make it to their first classes on time, every one bidding her goodbyes and goodlucks.  

Archery, as it would turn out. Was definitely not going to be the domain her power would fall under. It wasn’t that she was bad, because she wasn’t. She was actually pretty good, especially for someone who picked up a bow and arrow for the first time less than a week ago. However she just wasn’t performing at the level someone with an archery related power would be at that point. Well there was that and then there was also the fact that when they had really started fooling around she’d almost shot off a boy’s ear rather than the apple on top of his head. 

Poetry wasn’t it either, a group of them had decided to have a haiku competition at lunch. She’d managed maybe three that actually followed rules. Even less that had actually made any sense. 

She was in the infirmary with Luc now, they were both sitting in the office practicing bandaging on each other like Will shown then just a bit ago. According to her, every Apollo kid, no matter how skilled they were in healing, was given training in combat medicine and how to treat basic injuries as well. It was then decided after a summer’s worth of training, depending on how their skills had developed, if they were allowed to be scheduled to work in the infirmary.

Luceana had been talking on and on about something the last ten minutes before Aurora finally excused herself using the excuse of getting another ace bandage wrap so they didn’t have to keep taking turns with just the one. She walked out of the office and over to the supply station on the back wall of the infirmary. Where Will was doing something. Great.

“Hey there kid, how’s your first day been going? You need anything?” Will questioned, not looking away from whatever he was doing.

“Just grabbing another ace wrap for us to work with, it’s taking forever just going on at a time.”

This time Will looked up, he opened one of the cabinet doors and pulled out a small box and tossed it to her. He then turned around and leaned back on the counter top using his elbows. “Smart idea. Still didn’t answer my other question though. So I’ll ask again, how’s your first day been going?”

Aurora sighed and allowed her gaze to meet his, “It’s been fine…I guess. Everyone keeps telling me about this big power I’m supposed to discover now that I’ve been claimed. Haven’t been successful yet but they all seem pretty obsessed with finding out what it is. I still don’t really get what the big deal is if I’m being honest.”

Will chuckled and shook his head, “There still on about that? You know I told them last night to not make a big deal about it this time. Luc was the new kid at the end of last summer and she nearly had a mental breakdown before we figured out her thing was poetry, and that was only after she started reciting haikus in her sleep from the stress.” He walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders.

“Listen, I was your age once, I know whatever advice I give you you’ll probably ignore. Gods know I did the same thing when my older brothers tried giving me advice. But seriously? Don’t stress so much about this, sometimes it takes a while, and don’t count anything out this early, except for poetry, I think we can definitely cross that one off the list. Here, I’ve got a girl sitting out there with a cut on her arm that’ll for sure need some stitches without a little healing. Why don't you come with me and give it a try?”

Aurora’s eyes brightened and she smiled up at Will nodding her head frantically.  She was led out to the main area of the infirmary and over to a girl that looked to be around the same age as Will was. Aurora was instructed to sit in the stool beside the cot. Will placed his hands over hers and guided them so that they were hovering just a few inches over the girl’s arm.

“Ok now just relax. Close your eyes and focus on what you want to happen. Sometimes when you're starting out it helps to envision it in your head.”

Aurora followed his instructions. She felt a warm feeling start to bloom in her chest that soon traveled up to her shoulders and then down her arms before stopping when it reached her fingertips. It freaked her out a bit and her eyes shot open in surprise. She tilted her head up at Will, her eyebrows raised and mouth slightly agape and she searched for any sign of approval on his face. He smiled and nodded for her to continue.

Aurora turned her head back to look down at what she was doing. Little by little the torn flesh on the girl’s arm knit itself back together, the jagged edges lining up with each other leaving only a faint scar behind. Once it was all over Aurora felt a blanket of exhaustion fall over her, it was thick and heavy, like she was drowning. She slumped back on the stool and nearly fell off. Fortunately for her, Will noticed and acted before she did. He stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders to keep her upright.

“Well I’ll be…look at that! I might just make a healer out of you yet!” Will exclaimed when he saw she’d healed the entire thing, “Most kids wouldn’t be able to manage that for weeks, nevermind on their first try.”

She felt the stool move and soon realized it was just Will wheeling the stool over to the front desk. He parked her right behind it and handed her something that she didn’t recognize. She just stared at it waiting for him to explain what it was

“It’s ambrosia. Eat it, it’ll make you feel better, and it tastes good.” Aurora chose to take his word for it and took a small hesitant bite. He hadn’t lied. She felt warmth run throughout her entire body, lifting the blanket of exhaustion so instead of drowning her it just wrapped around her tightly. It tasted good too, just like Micheal’s homemade mac and cheese, even right down to the slight taste of garlic. She shoved the rest of it into her mouth and relished in the taste.

“It won’t be as bad after a while, your body will get used to it and eventually only the big stuff will take you out. That was amazing back there kid, usually on someone’s first try they’d barely manage a papercut. You just healed a 2-inch deep gash on someone’s arm in one shot. You should be proud.”

Aurora fell asleep that night with a smile on her face. By the time she got back to the cabin that night everyone had heard about what she'd done. They’d all celebrated, some saying that it was a miracle she’d found her power in less than a day, and others saying that it was no way her power was healing and that if it was there would have been more to it. She didn’t really care either way. She was…happy?  That didn’t really feel like the right word, content, was more like it. One thing was for sure though, this was the best she’d felt since coming to camp. Still, she still just couldn’t quite shake the feeling that everything today all felt so familiar, like she’d done or seen it all before.