Chapter Text
Wednesday
Wednesday Adams would rather have her eyes gouged out with red hot pokers than spend her summer surrounded by teenagers willing to sing “campfire tunes.” She has managed to stave off her parents’ incessant pleas for her to attend Camp Half-Blood for three years, once even going as far as to pull the spark plugs from the family hearse’s engine to prevent the journey. This time, her mother put her foot down.
“Wednesday, mija, one day you will thank me for this. I promise that you will find your place at camp. Half-blood hill blessed me with the love of my life. Please, for me, just try to keep an open mind. Maybe you’ll make some friends”
Wednesday’s eyes could not have rolled further back in her head. As if she had the slightest desire to follow in her parents’ disgustingly romantic footsteps. At the moment, she was wishing she had been born the child of a god and a mortal, rather than two demigods. Of course, it was natural that her parents had fallen in love. The daughter of Hades and the son of Thanatos, two gods of death, were drawn to each other like a moth to a flame. Wednesday loved her parents very dearly, even if she would not admit it out loud. The Addams’s were notoriously close-knit and family oriented. Even their innately aloof eldest child cared deeply for her brother and parents. But right now, Morticia and Gomez were seriously at the top of her shit list.
“Mother, as much as torture delights me, this is not the sadism I was looking forward to this summer. Your ridiculous insistence on my attendance at this “camp” is impeding my research projects. I will have no access to my lab or materials. And I do not need friends. I have friends.” Wednesday retorted.
Okay, one friend. That friend may or may not have been a sentient disembodied hand, but still. Thing sat on her shoulder, presumably looking out the window...however he accomplished that. She wished her parents would let him stay with her at camp, but they thought it would somehow impede her ability to "find her place" amongst the populace. She thought that was a stupid argument.
Because Pugsley was finally thirteen years old, he was also attending Camp for the first time. Being from a demigod-parent household, the Addams’ were not required to attend Camp as early as traditional demigods. Her parents were no stranger to monsters and the dangers of their world, after all, and the Addams estate was safe as can be. Her parents were happy to be able to keep them home as long as possible, even if Wednesday overstayed her welcome a bit.
Unlike his sister, Pugsley was thrilled to finally be attending camp. Growing up, he hung onto their father’s every word as he regaled them with the tales of dangerous quests, epic capture the flag battles, and fun nights with friends by the campfire. Wednesday was admittedly intrigued by many of these stories, particularly the more gruesome ones, but she was deterred by the sentimentality of it all. And she really could not get behind those god-awful matching T-shirts.
In the front seat, Lurch grunted, signifying that the family was coming up on Half-Blood Hill. Down the road, Wednesday could see a large pine tree, which she recognized quickly as Thalia’s Tree. She hadn’t seen it in person since the last time her parents were able to drag her to an “Alumni Weekend” in the third grade. Apprehension rose steadily in her chest. She was really, really not looking forward to this.
Once the family crossed the border, the camp finally came into view. The sight was undeniably breathtaking. Wednesday’s eyes scanned the small hills and fields, the glistening ocean in the distance, the small, grecian buildings dotting the countryside. Her eyes narrowed when she saw the crowd of campers surrounding the Big House, teeming with excitement for another summer at camp.
The Addams’ traveled down the hill, luggage in tow, and finally came upon the large, blue house. White pop-up tables stood in front of the wraparound porch, staffed by various satyrs, nymphs, and some very “can-do attitude” looking campers. “Great,” Wednesday thought, “orientation.”
Her mother ushered her and Pugsley up to the table labeled “A-G” to check in.“Hi! Welcome to Camp! We are SO excited to have you here this summer! Name?” a bright voice chirped up ahead.
Wednesday pulled her eyes away from the death glare she was aiming at her mother to meet the gaze of the person standing in front of her. Wednesday’s breath hitched as her eyes roamed over the girl smiling brightly at her. Blonde hair streaked with pink, stunning blue eyes, soft, smooth skin. Unfortunately, the girls’ beauty was marred by...the rest of her. Loud, cutesy jewelry hung from her wrists and neck. Her earrings were giant dangling rainbows. She had a few spots of paint on her arms and hands. And, of course, that damn bright orange shirt. Ugh. Wednesday simply did not do color.
The girl’s blue eyes squinted. “Um, hello?” Wednesday snapped out of whatever that was. “Wednesday Addams. Hades cabin.” She stated, hopefully calmly. The girl’s smile somehow grew even brighter, sending heat straight to Wednesday’s cheeks. She lunged out and grabbed Wednesdays hands between hers.
“Eeee, how exciting! A legacy! And you happened to come to my table! Chiron and Weems told me to let them know when your parents arrived. I’ll just run and grab them.” Quick as a flash, the girl ran off, without even giving her name. Wednesday stood, frozen, wondering what the hell just happened.
“Well she’s a ball of sunshine, hmm?” Her mother mumbled beside her, soft smile on her face. Wednesday rolled her eyes. “Great. Good thing it’s a big camp. I hope they aren’t all like this.” She wasn’t surprised they were rolling out the red carpet for her parents. The concept of “legacy” demigods was relatively new. Being a demigod was dangerous, and for a long time reaching adulthood and having children was a rarity. In the past decade or so since Percy Jackson and his group of legendary demigods had saved the world, again, and united Camp Half-Blood with Camp Jupiter, it was becoming more common. Many demigods today were able to continue on to New Rome University and live in safety. Of course, the Addams family was unique before then. Her brother and her were some of the oldest children of demigods that they knew of.
Just then, the blonde girl returned with two figures Wednesday recognized from some of her parents’ parties. Chiron, the famed trainer of heroes, centaur, and camp director, and Larissa Weems, assistant director and a childhood friend of her parents. The two greeted her parents immediately. Chiron then turned his gaze to their children.
“Wednesday, Pugsley, welcome to camp. Enid, thank you for letting me know the Addams family had arrived. You may return to check-in.” He stated, nodding towards the tables.
The girl--”Enid,” Wednesday thought--shot him a thumbs up and ran off after tossing a “let me know if you need anything!” at Wednesday. The black-haired girl almost laughed. Sure, will do.
Wednesday and Pugsley were now to be set off to watch the orientation video, and thus the tearful goodbyes had to begin. Her father employed his usual dramatic and sentimental flair. “Oh, mi vida, away from us for an entire summer! Your mother and I will miss you dearly, brujita.” He kissed her on each cheek and set off for the car, weeping.
Her mother was more subdued, but still, her eyes shone with a bittersweet look. “I’m so proud of you for doing this. We’ll see you in August. Please do write us, I do not want to hear everything through Pugsley,” she said.
Wednesday doesn’t see why her mother would be proud of her for doing something against her will, but she acquiesced, offering her mother a nod and a quick, albeit tense, hug. After her parents had said goodbye to both of their children, she and Pugsley were marched off into the main room of the Big House for the orientation video and presentation.
* * *
Surprisingly, the orientation video was not terrible. Wednesday was able to see several clips of campers writhing in pain after burning off a foot on the rockwall or being accidentally impaled at sparring practice. It was quite calming. She was beginning to think there may be some things she enjoyed at the camp. Afterwards, they were broken off into groups for guided tours. To her surprise (and scorn), she and Pugsley were once again matched up with the girl from before. She bounded up to them, that 100-watt smile on her face. Shocker. Wednesday really wished she would stop doing that.
“Look at us, matched up again! I am so sorry I didn’t actually get to introduce myself earlier. Enid Sinclair, daughter of Apollo.” She stuck her hand out for Wednesday to shake. Wednesday blinked at her, hands still at her side. “Wednesday Addams. Descendant of Hades and Thanatos. And this is my brother, Pugsley.”
Luckily for Enid, Pugsley reached out and took the outstretched hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Enid! I apologize for my sister’s...aloof nature. She isn’t one for touching.” He explained.
Enid’s eyebrows raised for a second before she schooled her features. “...gotcha. Well, let’s begin the tour! As always, let me know if you have any questions.” She shot them one more smile and flounced off, already starting her spiel for the small crowd of demigods gathered around. Wednesday felt a small chill run down her spine. What was it about this girl that made her feel so...off? She chalked it up to simple irritation and a minor allergic reaction to the bright hues she adorned herself with and tuned in to the tour.
Once again, Wednesday was pleasantly surprised. This camp was beginning to show some promise. She was particularly intrigued by the armory and sparring arena. The sheer amount and variety of deadly weapons was mouth-watering. The camp’s collection was even more impressive than her own family’s. She could feel the ancient power radiating off of the items, the sheer strength of them. She was glad to find something she would enjoy in this godsforsaken place. She was equally impressed by the library in the Big House. Apparently, the Athena Cabin’s collection was also worth perusing.
Finally, after listening to Enid tell painfully cheesy jokes and share camp lore about all of the hot spots, the guide began to drop the campers off at their cabins with their counselors. Wednesday and Pugsley were the last stop before the section of cabins dedicated to minor gods. Enid yammered on as she walked the two of them up to the front door.
“...and the last counselor here of course was Nico di’Angelo, although he didn’t spend a ton of time around camp. He left a few years ago. You guys are your cabin’s first residents since then! But don’t worry, we’ve totally kept the place in tip-top shape for you. Anyway...” Enid popped the door open, “welcome home! I am just a few cabins down with the Apollo squad, and I have been designated your camp bestie, aka mentor, aka guide. Let me know if you need anything. Questions, snacks, a shoulder to cry on--” Wednesday almost snorted at that one, “--I’m your girl!” “Finally,” Wednesday thought. Enid, finished with her rambling, shot them one last grin before walking back over to the remaining campers.
Wednesday was glad to finally be in the peace and quiet of her new “home” for the summer. She was disappointed to see that the beds no longer resembled coffins, as her parents had described, but they were grand regardless. The four-poster beds with beautiful, shining brass frames and deep maroon comforters were certainly suitable. She and Pugsley began to unpack their belongings into the provided mahogany wardrobes and chests.
As she filled the drawers, Wednesday’s mind wandered through the events of the day thus far. She knew that the first day would be mostly settling in, and so all that they had left on the schedule was dinner in the cafeteria and the bonfire afterwards. As much as she wished she could skip out on that one, she wasn’t convinced she could escape unnoticed given her legacy status. Still, she was tired. That much social interaction took the life out of her.
On her bed lay an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. Wordlessly, she grabbed the fireplace poker, picked up the shirt by the end of the stick, and tossed it into the fire burning in the ornate fireplace in the center of the room. From her bag, she fished out the black version of the same shirt, with white lettering, that her mother had custom-made for her. She slipped into the changing room attached to the cabin and switched shirts, keeping her black jeans on. When she came out and saw that Pugsley had done the same, she nodded at him. “Time for dinner.”
* * *
Wednesday felt unsettled as she and her brother walked up the steps to the mess hall. The large, open air Greek pavilion was impressive, but the curious eyes of the hundreds of campers before her were unpleasant. Wednesday did not appreciate being watched, especially by that many people. She caught some of the whispers as she and Pugsley crossed the room to their table, all gossip about her family history and power. Wednesday was quite used to such discussion. Mortals found their family just as interesting, although they were less admiring.
Glancing around the room, Wednesday caught a flash of blonde-and-pink hair amongst the gaggle of mostly flaxen heads at a table a few rows down. She had almost a direct line of sight to her newfound enemy, the golden-haired daughter of the sun god himself. Wednesday had decided that her minor obsession with Enid must, of course, be hatred. A nemesis was a healthy thing. She could use a new rival, anyway. Although, she didn’t typically spend this much time staring at people she hated.
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she was startled by blue eyes suddenly glancing up and meeting hers. Enid knit her brows in confusion before smiling and wiggling her fingers in a soft wave. Wednesday snapped her eyes away, burning a hole in the table in front of her. Her face burned with embarrassment.
Pugsley nudged her foot with his under the table. “You good, Wends?” She nodded wordlessly before getting up to scrape some food into the pyre for the gods. Hopefully the bonfire would get her mind off of this...issue.
* * *
Well, the bonfire certainly got her mind off of things, primarily because it was a total nightmare. There was a lot of singing. Worse, there were skits. Cheesy, poorly acted, downright painful skits put on by, of course, the Apollo cabin. This was the opposite of Wednesday’s scene. At the end of the night, Chiron called the rowdy campers to attention to give his beginning of summer speech.
After some general housekeeping information, he launched into the important topics. Campers would find their activities schedules on their doors the next morning. The first game of capture the flag would be at the end of next week, and teams would be determined by tomorrow’s bonfire. Wednesday sat up a little straighter at this, excited at the possibility of some real action. This was one of the few things she had been looking forward to.
“Finally, campers, I want you all to appreciate how special this place is. A space for demigods to be safe and free. Here, you will make lifelong friends, bonded through your bravery, loyalty, and dedication to each other. Some of you may even find a life partner amongst your peers.” At this, he glanced over to the Addams children. Wednesday stared at the ground. “I encourage you to participate in everything camp has to offer. Enjoy your time here to its fullest. Now, it is time to close the first night of camp, summer of 2025. Here here!”
With that, the campers whooped and applauded. A chorus of “here here!”’s followed. Finally, Wednesday and Pugsley were freed to return to their cabin.
Wednesday’s head swirled with thoughts as she tried to settle down to sleep. She couldn’t imagine ever finding herself comfortable in a place like this. She longed for the comfort of her home, of her study, of her solitude. But instead she was hours away surrounded by people. What a waste of a summer.