Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Camp Half-Blood is a safe space for all demigods, regardless of their heritage. But it hasn't always been that way. 

I walk through the newly built cabins, for the so-called 'minor gods'. Gods who aren't Olympian: Hades, Iris, Hypnos, Nemesis, Nike, Hebe, Tyque and Hecate. There are countless other Greek divine creatures who fathered or gave birth to possible heroes. However, they don't seem to have a cabin of their own. Not yet, at least. 

Patience is needed in moments like these. Camp is going through many changes, and we need to accept what we already achieved. Before the second war against Kronos, there were only 12 cabins - one for each Olympian - and now there are 20. A step is a step, regardless of the size or length.

I open the doors of cabin 16, for Nemesis' kids. My half-siblings. Inside, there are a small number of teenagers, organizing their baggages or preparing themselves for their daily activities. Most of them are younger, and surely had been in camp for less time than me. 

As their counselor, I try to be a decent support and guide. Yet, in the short time of their custody, we already formed a reputation, being known for our revengeful and spiteful tendencies. Other demigods don't dare annoy us. Some of them don't even dare keep a conversation. 

This bothers some of my cabin colleagues, who struggle to socialize. Me, on the other hand, prefer it that way. I don't appreciate small talk nor unnecessary conversation. Mainly with the children of the Olympian gods. We will never get along.

ꕤꕤꕤ

The last week has been eventful. There aren't unclaimed demigods anymore, and the camp doubled its number of members. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, has been occupied with her work as councilor of cabin 6 and the arrival of all the confused and surprised teens. She is one of the only children of an Olympian god that I admire, her wits and rational thinking is something to be acknowledged. 

Today, she was helping Chiron introduce a group of new campers, each one of them with different appearances and reactions. Some arrivals were peaceful while others were turbulent, but definitely not as much as the four people and one satyr that emerge from the nearby lake after an explosion of colors.

Chapter Text

My day went from trying to get some gossip to almost being griffin lunch.

Today is August 24th, and I'm experiencing a modern style of torture: math class. Since it's early in the morning and the teacher is explaining his equations, most students are either sleeping on their desks or doing something more interesting. Consider me as one of them since I rather do anything else over actually paying attention.

I look at the view outside: trees are green and healthy, the sky is clear and there are people walking on the streets. I suddenly notice a glimpse of a flying figure, yet I can't remember more about it aside from the brown fur. It's probably my brain playing tricks on me again, it wouldn't be the first time anyways. I shrug it off, shaking my head and then looking around the room. Most of my colleagues are still unfocused on the class, but two people call my attention: Nicole Iverson and Lorenzo Flora. 

The curly red haired girl has a dark skin tone and brown eyes, her body has an athletic shape while her clothes could be shortly described as a sporty dry fit set. She is the daughter of the famous football player James Iverson and is the best player on the school team, winning almost every game she plays. We aren't close, but we did share some words while working for a science project last year.

She currently looks puzzled, staring at the window with a frown on her face. For a moment I wonder if she saw it too, but I quickly dismiss the possibility, she was probably just bored. Lorenzo, on the other hand, is looking at me curiously. He has a raised eyebrow and is examining me like he wants to figure something out.

The boy has short wavy dark hair and tanned skin tone. He is more on the scrawny side than the athletic one, and he was born with a health condition on his legs which makes him walk in a different way. We don't know each other for long, but he is a nice guy to have around. I like to consider him a friend, yet the way he is always staring and trying to analyze my every move makes me feel unsettled. I know he doesn't mean any harm, but sometimes I can help but ask, "Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why were you staring at the window, though?" He answers, and since I don't want to look like a crazy person who sees flying figures, I shrug "I'm just bored." He doesn't continue the conversion for the rest of the class, and neither do I.

ꕤꕤꕤ

When the bell finally rings, all students stand up and leave the room. I shove my pencil case down my backpack, grab my snack and head to the cafeteria along with Lorenzo. We sit on a group of chairs close to the wall, which is covered by posters about nutrition and the importance of maintaining a healthy diet. There aren't many people around us, most of them on the line to buy their food or chatting at the bigger tables. It's not like I don't want to be with them, but fitting in has never been a strength of mine.

As a trans boy, it isn't hard to feel... invalidated. People are constantly making intrusive questions, treating me differently or even making disrespectful jokes. And the fact that I am always wearing colorful clothes and enjoy feminine things only worsens my case. That's one of the main reasons why I am so thankful for my new friend: as much as he can be quite unpredictable, he understands how it feels to be different. 

His eyes dart from the clock to the main corridor while his right hand holds a half eaten apple. This makes me realize I was so distracted that I forgot to eat my own snack. I begin to munch on my sandwich, thinking of what I could say to start a conversation. But before I could even try anything, he finishes the fruit and announces, "I'll come back in a minute."  

"Okay," I nod and watch him heading forward, glancing at the sides and walking into the janitor's room. I frown, tempted to sneak and figure out what he could possibly be doing there by himself. I try to remember that privacy is important and we aren't intimate enough for me to be that intrusive, but reason loses the battle to curiosity and I stand up too, leaving my food on the chair and walking down to the door. Gossip is gossip after all.

As I get closer, I hear voices coming from inside. Not just Lorenzo's, but also from another person I don't recognize. With dozens of questions in my head, I silently open the handle and peek into the room. A dizziness creeps into my head and reality feels distorted, like two images overlapping. Yet, when I focus my vision on a specific point of light, my eyes comically widen. 

The lighting is weak and the area holds a strong scent of cleaning products, probably coming from the metal lockers placed on the side. The dark haired boy is talking to a rainbow with a screen inside, just like a video call but.. magical? It shows a middle-aged man with brown hair and beard who is patiently listening. When I think it couldn't get any weirder, my attention goes to my friend's legs: they definitely don't look human. 

I almost fall back due to surprise but I manage to support myself on the door. This causes a loud noise and calls the younger boy's attention, who widens his eyes and quickly says, "I gotta go! Bye, Chiron!" and turns off the rainbow video call, now looking at me. "Ben, what are you doing here?" 

"Lorenzo? What- why? How ?" I ask, not knowing what to say first and saying all at once. My eyes travel between the place the rainbow was, his face and his now.. goat legs? I could feel a headache coming from this overload of weirdness. 

"You probably have a lot of questions and this is totally normal, just keep calm and I'll expla-" He begins to answer but is interrupted by the sound of Nicole's back harshly hitting the door while she holds her thermal water bottle like a baseball bat. Her eyes are wide open and she looks prepared to fight. "Where is it?" she questions frustratedly to herself.

"Where is what?" I ask, taking her by surprise. She points the bottle at me and I quickly raise my arms in surrender, "Hey, uh.. no need to.."

She huffs, holding the object to the outside direction again. "You guys are seeing it too, right? Please tell me you're seeing it too, I'm not crazy," she says, her voice hopeful and with a pleading edge.

"Seeing what ?" I repeat as I look to the same area she is staring at. Aside from the white and somewhat dirty school walls, I don't notice anything.

"The.. I don't know! It's like a big leo with wings and brown fur.. and.." She continues, not believing her own words.  

"Brown fur?" I think out loud, remembering the figure I saw earlier today. Maybe I am not actually going insane. Or at least I am not going insane alone. But before she answers, Nicole notices the half-goat part of Lorenzo's body and screams, almost falling back like I did not so long ago.

"Guys! guys! Calm down! I'm going to explain everything!" the boy tries to reason, stressed with all the chaos. "Just please put the bottle down and take a deep breath. I swear I'll explain it!"

"You better" the red haired girl tries to sound demanding despite her own uncertainty. My friend doesn’t have the opportunity to speak since, just our luck, we are interrupted again. The three of us look to the other side of the door when we hear a thud in the ceiling. I almost choke on thin air when I see what Nicole was trying to describe. 

It is a bird-like creature with the body and size of a lion. It has wings, a brown, yellow-ish fur and it seems particularly hungry. Not only that, but the animal keeps sniffing around, looking for something that (I hope) is not human flesh. Yet what surprises me the most is that no one is reacting to it. All the teenagers, children and even teachers in the cafeteria are acting normally, completely oblivious - or even ignorant - towards the enormous creature that is flying on the school corridor. 

I can't help but think this is all a crazy dream and I am going to wake up sweating cold in my bedroom, glad it was just my imagination but still annoyed that I lost another rest for my nightmares. Surprisingly it doesn't happen, and instead of being safe and sound in my house, the girl by my side quickly slams the door against the animal's face, defending us from its attack.

My first instinct is to grab the nearest broom, and it does give me a sense of security that lasts for five seconds and fades when the creature destroys the barrier with its claws. I stubbornly threaten the lion-bird with the cleaning tool in my hands, and it clearly isn't half as efficient as I wish it were. 

The animal sniffs and jumps towards my direction, probably offended by my weak attempt of defense. Before I can even react, Nicole hits their body with her bottle. It isn't strong enough to hurt, but to change their attention focus. Lorenzo takes advantage of the distraction to dig a dagger into the animal's neck, making it evaporate.

"Where did you take that dagger from?!" I yell horrified, wondering for how long he had it with him and for what purpose. My breath is heavy and my heartbeat is so strong that it feels like it will rip off my chest. I grip tighter into the broom, using it to keep myself grounded in reality. 

"I always carry a dagger with me." He answers with a worrying casualty.

"Why do you always carry a dagger with you?! Are you insane?!" Nicole takes a step away from him, which I genuinely don't blame her for.

"I'm just prepared . Monsters are getting more dangerous these days" He answers, but it only brings even more questions. 

"What the hell, dude?!" The red haired girl exclaims even more confused, looking at both of us like she is reconsidering her sanity. "This thing just.. evaporated! What is this? Some sick prank?"

"Prank? No! I swear it isn't!" Lorenzo argues.

Meanwhile I am left completely speechless, not knowing what to say or do. Both of their voices become background noise and I stop paying attention to the conversation… Well, until the brown haired boy sighs in frustration and puts his dagger down, "Now will you two please let me explain it?"

"Yes..?" I utter, my eyes wandering down to his goat legs. 

"What do you guys know about Greek mythology?" He questions, making the girl raise an eyebrow. "What? You mean like Poseidon, Zeus, Medusa and stuff? What does it have to do?" 

"Those gods exist, they are real."

"Sure, totally." She scoffs sarcastically and looks at my direction instead, expecting me to side with her.

"I don't really think he's joking.." I try to reason.

"So now we have two crazy people here, great !" She says while heading to the door.

"Nicole," I call her, hoping the girl would actually listen this time. "I'm serious. The dude is like.. half-goat."

"I'm still here, you know?" My friend huffs.

"Sorry" I apologize right before hearing another loud thud. 

"What was that now?" The red haired girl complains, failing to hide the edge of fear in her voice. Despite trying to keep a tough facade, she was visibly terrified.

"I think there are more of them," The boy answers.

" More?! " I exclaim as I stand up with widened eyes, not even bothering to hide my feelings.

"Crap. Come on! We need to go to camp." He rushes and begins to walk out.

" Camp ? What ‘camp’!?" Nicole asks as we follow.

"Camp Half-blood"

"Camp half-what-now?" I question as I run after them, quickly growing out of breath.

"Camp Half-Blood. A safe space for demigods like you two." 

"Demigods? I'm not pagan!" The girl announces frustratedly, about to give up and just walk away from all the weirdness. Yet, the sounds of growls and steps on the ground only grow louder. This is enough motivation to make us run faster, causing people to stare at us like we are crazy - and I genuinely do feel a bit insane.

"You may or may not believe it. But if you don't come with me, you are definitely turning into griffin lunch!"  Lorenzo snaps back, growing even more annoyed with the situation.

"Griffin what?" I ask in heavy pants. Running, or doing any physical activity in general, does not go well with binders. So I am at a huge disadvantage here, struggling to keep up with their pace.

"Basically their food!" He yells as we head to the school entrance.

We don't stop running and don't bother looking back. I feel the adrenaline coursing through my body and giving me extra strength to keep going, which I am definitely thankful for. Lorenzo harshly opens the door for me and Nicole to cross, and when I finally feel a bit more confident about survival, I bump into another boy.

He is seemingly my age, but also taller than me. His black hair is short and straight with spiky edges, matching the dark brown of his eyes. His skin is olive yet extremely pale, like he doesn't know what the sun, or even going out, is. There are dark circles under his eyes and his clothes are black in a mixture of punk, with rock and I-grabbed-whatever-was-on-the-drawer.

"Hey! Watch out!" He screams angrily at the same moment that a blonde girl looks at him and calls, "Aaron!"