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As Emilee Abbott says goodbye to her dad, she opens herself up to a world of unknowns. She doesn’t know this satyr named Napaeus, who’s leading her away from her home, and she doesn’t know much about where she’s going, only what her dad and Napaeus have told her in the past few hours. She knows that she’s a demigod and that her dad thinks her godly parent is Apollo (though Napaeus suggested she wait to share that information until she is claimed officially). She knows that monsters can sense her, like that fiery lady who tried to hurt her. She knows that this “Camp Half-Blood” is supposed to be a safe place for demigods. That’s about it.
Bits and pieces of mythological lore swim around in the eleven-year-old’s head on the trip across the state of New York as she tries to recall anything she’s learned from school or from her dad. Napaeus fills in any blanks and helps her wrap her head around the idea that gods, monsters, and other mythical beings are real and live in the same world she grew up in, even if she’d never noticed until today. She asks if it’s easy to make friends at camp, because she’s going to miss her school friends back home, and the satyr tells her that it is. People are welcoming and always happy to see a new face.
When they finally arrive at Camp Half-Blood, Napaeus guides her around, handing her off to Chiron and assuring her that he’ll be around if she needs him for anything. With a full duffel bag in one hand and her violin case in the other, the little girl stares up at the centaur, who greets her kindly.
“Emilee, is that right?”
She nods, clarifying, “With two ‘e’s at the end.”
“Noted,” he smiles, “Welcome to camp, young hero. I’ll see to it that you have a bunk ready in the Hermes cabin, where unclaimed demigods stay until the day-”
“My daddy says Apollo’s my dad,” she says, having already either forgotten or discarded Napaeus’ advice.
Chiron blinks, then chuckles and nods, “I’m sure he’s right, but there are proper procedures we must follow.”
“Why?”
“Well, for one thing, the Hermes cabin already knows about your arrival, and I’d hate for their hard work preparing space for you to go to waste. And another, we cannot be certain about a demigod’s godly parent until they are claimed.”
“Are you calling my dad a liar?”
Shaking his head and smiling, he calmly responds, “Of course not. I only mean to say that the gods go about communicating in different ways than mortals do, and sometimes that leads to miscommunication.”
“So the gods are liars?”
At that, Chiron’s smile falters, “In no way. They are mysterious and often unknowable. With luck, yours will claim you soon, and we will know for certain.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
“Then the Hermes cabin will welcome you with open arms. Now, I will lead you there so you can be shown around camp. And later, I’ll introduce you to Mr.D, our camp director. He’s, well, occupied at the moment.”
The tour of the camp was as overwhelming as the briefing her dad and Napaeus had given her. From every angle, kids of all ages were training with weapons, playing games, and generally just being loud. She’s appreciative of the head counselor of the Hermes cabin for slowing down when she started to lose track of where everything was. The older girl assured her that everyone got a little lost for at least their first few weeks at camp, but that didn’t mean she was doomed to get lost forever. She’d learn her way around and find her place just as everyone before her did, and as everyone after her will.
Once the tour concluded, the head counselor let her rest back in their cabin, telling her that they’d start training early the next day. Apparently, there was some kind of magical godly border, but that didn’t mean they were completely safe. So, just like everyone else, she would learn how to fight.
Now left to her thoughts (seeing as most of her cabin mates were off doing something or using the time to rest themselves), Emilee wonders if she’ll be any good at fighting. She’s never gotten into a real fight before. Even when the empousa had attacked her, she hadn’t needed to try to defend herself because Napaeus had been there to protect her. Something tells her she can handle it, but that doesn’t make the fear go away. All she can do right now is hope that, somewhere deep within her, the fighting instinct that Napaeus had told her was there is actually there.
After about an hour, Chiron stops by to collect her, leading her back to the big house and introducing her to Mr. D.
“Mr. D, this is Emily Abbott.”
The camp director considers the young girl for a moment as if trying to recognize her, but seems satisfied with not having a clue who this girl is.
“She arrived earlier today,” the centaur adds, “Unclaimed, officially, but she,”
“My dad said my other dad’s Apollo,” Emilee interrupts.
Mr. D nods, “Not unsurprising if true. You seem…bright. Not in the smart way, but in the obnoxiously cheery way.”
“Thank you?” she replies, looking to Chiron to gauge whether or not that was an appropriate response. She’d been informed of his identity before this meeting, but that doesn’t actually help her with knowing how to talk to a god.
He just nods to her, then looks back to Mr. D, “That aside, Emilee will be a year-round camper.”
“Oh great,” the god mutters, “Another one.”
“How many are there?” she asks, head tilting.
“Too many, if you ask me.” Mr. D answers.
As the same time, Chiron answers, “No more than 30.”
“Still too many,” the god grumbles. “All you need to know, kid, is that you need to respect me, but you can interrupt and bother ponyboy here as much as you want.”
Emilee nods confidently, earnestly committing herself to respecting both camp leaders.
That evening, when she joins the Hermes cabin for dinner, she finds herself praying to Apollo when she follows their lead and scrapes some of her food into the fire. She trusts her dad, no matter what anyone else says.
The prayer is quick and casual; all she does is think to herself, Hi Apollo! I don’t know if you’re listening, but if you are, hi! Again. I hope you like the food. Oh, and tell Hermes thanks for how nice his kids are.
After dinner, while everyone gathers around the campfire, Emilee asks if she can get her violin to play along with the other musicians. She’s hesitant to ask, but when the Apollo kids, who are setting up their own instruments, overhear her, they insist on her joining them. So she runs back to the Hermes cabin, grabs her case, and runs right back to the group, breaking out her instrument to tune. She finds her place in the music and loses herself in it so much that she keeps playing when the golden sun shimmers into view above her head, distracting most of the other musicians. They smile and whisper amongst each other, but don’t dare to stop her.
When her impromptu solo concludes, Emilee smiles, glancing around at the crowd before looking to her fellow musicians, one of whom nods upwards. She follows the boy’s nod and looks up to see the small sun shining above her. Absolutely beaming, she looks around for Chiron and laughs, “Told you so!”
Mr. D looked over to the other director and repeated, “She told you so.”
Chiron only smiled and announced, “Everyone, welcome to camp Emilee Abbott, daughter of Apollo.”