Chapter 2: I Discover a Camp of Half... Everythings.

After the whole Sphinx incident, Sephora and I made our way to my mom's townhouse. It was a bit run-down, and a bit dated. It was like getting sent back to the 1940's, with its front porch being covered, the roofing held up by skinny white wood pillars. The house inside, however, was recently refurbished. The walls in the living room were a bright, sunny yellow. My mom let me pick it out when I was ten, but we both would've chosen it anyways. The kitchen was a paler yellow, with some white cabinets that looked straight out of a country farmhouse. 

"Ren, is that you?" My mom called from upstairs, the sound of her footsteps could be heard throughout the house. It's always been like this. In an old house, things everywhere could be heard. You could hear someone snacking on chips in the living room, all the way from the bathroom upstairs. Seems our lovely ancestors didn't take noise cancellation into account. I didn't mind it though, I always enjoyed listening to the 90's hiphop my mom played when cleaning or reading her books.

My mom came downstairs. She was a short, sweet looking Japanese woman named Estelle. She had long, straight black hair, that was tied back in a ponytail, and a blue handkerchief tied over her bangs to hold them back. She often wore light colored, flowy clothes, comfortable to move around in, I bet. She always enjoyed being active, even if she wasn't performing on stage. My mom works as a musical actress, starring in some Off-Broadway performances. She was really well known in the scene, but turned down offers from Broadway itself, settling here in New Jersey when she had me. 

"Mrs. Takayama, we have an issue," Sephora blurted out, before holding up her wrist that had the bracelet, "It happened. Lark went ahead to get things ready."

"Get what ready?" I questioned, but was only met with a worried look, before my mom patted my shoulder to get me to hush. 

"I'll get my keys," my mom said, heading towards the kitchen. I looked towards Sephora, who was fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist, looking down at it. She had something going through her mind, as if she was hiding something but contemplating telling me. We didn't talk about the Sphinx situation, but I figured it was because she was shaken up. Now I understood, she knew what happened, but she didn't want to talk to me about it. 

"Seph? You knew what that thing was, didn't you?" I finally broke the silence, and she looked towards me with widened eyes. 

"Lark knew I could see through the Mist, thats why he introduced us. He wanted someone to help keep you safe," she spoke softly, before looking over my shoulder as my mom approached. "Mrs. Takayama, I can drive if you want. I don't want anything happening to you."

My mom smiled her signature bright smile, twirling the keys on her index finger, "What? You don't trust my driving skills? Let's go before it gets dark out."

We spent a few hours in the car. City traffic wasn't too bad, but it was terrible on the bridges to Long Island. To say the car ride was awkward was an understatement. The whole time, my mom was humming along to the Cats musical soundtrack, Sephora was sat in the back, looking around and out the back window and side windows like a panicked bird. And me? I didn't know how to break the weird silence. I tried to recall the situation with the Sphinx, but it only perplexed me more. My eyes fell onto my bracelet.

It had turned into a bow back then, one that seemed to be made of gold and leather. I mean, it was cool, but I couldn't imagine how a beaded charm bracelet could turn into a bow? I furrowed my brows, but eventually turned my attention outside. We had finally hit the Long Island Expressway as the sun was lowering in the sky. I gazed out at the scenery- or, well… lack of. It was just a road for miles ahead and behind, with the occasional forested part, or the occasional roadside town. It wasn't much different from my hometown in New Jersey. Honestly, it was almost exactly the same. 

We came to a stop at some forested part. To the side, there was a large hill. Did we run out of gas? I looked over, but my mom just smiled. 

"Sephora, take care of him, please. And Ren? Write to me, and tell me how camp is, okay?" My mom said, knowingly. What was happening? A random camp? 

"What's going on? Can I just walk into a random summer camp and say 'Hey! I'm going to be staying here!' Is that even okay?" I argued, but Sephora had already stepped out of the car. In the distance, I could see a tall pine tree poking over the crest of the hill. Sephora came around to the passenger side door, opening it and taking my hand.

"Dude, we don't need another attack, so let's just get to camp and I'll explain everything," She was commanding, rather than asking or offering. I stared at her in disbelief, but eventually got out of the car and followed her up the hill. About halfway up, we heard a growling noise. At first, it sounded like the rumbling of my mom's car's engine… But then it grew louder.

Behind us, my mom's car was gone. Thankfully, she had a sense of self-preservation. Unfortunately, it wasn't genetic. I noticed a giant black bird, with shimmering bronze talons, and a nasty looking bronze beak to match. Great, I've always wanted to become an emo seagull's lunch.

"Ren! Duck!" Sephora shouted, and I followed that command, just barely missing her sword flying past my head, hitting the talons of the bird. A metallic clang filled the area, and the bird screeched, an array of black metal feathers flying towards me. 

"Unfair! I didn't even hit you!" I called to the flying fiend, rolling to dodge the feathers. I had a feeling they weren't very soft if they were to hit me. With how they embedded in the grass, it seems my hunch was correct. Those feathers were almost like steel, buried a good three inches into the ground.

I got up to my feet, feeling a surge of adrenaline kick in. The sunlight around me felt warmer than before, like a blanket. I could see things a little more clearly now. The bracelet around my wrist turned back into a bow and I went to notch an arrow. The bird screeched again, swooping down, and I didn't have time to aim. Instead, I swung the bow like a bat, smacking the bird out of the air with a loud THWACK! It fell to the ground, dust and dirt flying as it impacted and slid a good eight feet away. 

"Let's go! Ren!" Sephora called, rushing over to grab my hand. It seems her sword had come back to her hand, the feather-like blade shimmering brighter than before in the light of the sun. I realized something… 

"Seph, let me see the sword!" I called, holding my hand out as my bow returned to a bracelet around my wrist. 

"Are you insane?! Let's get to the camp border! It's safe in there! It can't get in!" Sephora called out, but I knew what needed to be done. When she got close enough, I grabbed the sword from her hands. The bird came soaring at me, screeching once again. I drove the blade right through its open beak, piercing it. 

It exploded into golden dust, littering the hillside before dissipating in the wind. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in, my eyes fixed on the crash site of the bird. I walked over, lifting the feathers out of the ground. They felt solid, like steel, and were about the length of my hand. I pocketed them, pushing them into the top pouch of my backpack. 

We made our way up the hill and finally I could see it. Down below, there were fields of strawberries, people in orange t-shirts plucking them. Across the fields, there was a large blue plantation style house, and in the distance I could make out other buildings scattered about. The more I looked, the stranger things got. And that's saying a lot, considering I had just been attacked by a metal bird, and nearly eaten by a lion-woman. 

"This is Camp Half-Blood," Sephora said, leading me down the hill, towards the house, "Come, you'll need to meet our director."

I followed her closely, waving at the people around us. Some were normal campers, picking berries, talking in groups, or carrying what looked like weapons from one building to the next. Some others were humans with the legs of goats, skipping about and playing kickball with some other campers. Satyrs, I remembered. They were the followers of Pan, the God of the Wild, but others say they followed Dionysus, the God of Wine. 

The house looked a bit dated, but the paint was fresh. All around the wrap-around deck, vines filled with red, green, and black grapes climbed. It was almost like something from a painting, but the smell of charcoal smoke felt a bit out of place. It reminded me of the factories at the edge of the city, the smell of melting steel and burning coal. Perhaps they did some metal working here, as well as farming?

"We've had a change in directors in the last few years. It used to be Chiron, the Centaur, and Dionysus, but recently they both decided to retire the summer camp business," Sephora explained, but I had to pause for a moment.

"Wait, you mean to say the god Dionysus was a director here?" I asked, a bit baffled at the idea. 

"Yeah? Who else? Anyways, he was let go of his punishment and was allowed to go back to Olympus. Chiron, however, gave his mantle up to someone else, and chose to retire. He still stops by every now and then to check in on us, to make sure we aren't dead or anything." Sephora's voice was serious, and she pushed the door open. Inside, it looked rather nice. The furniture was new, and there were bookshelves all over.

There were a few rooms with signs that read 'Shh! Do not disturb!' They had a sort of lyre symbol on them, and I knew it meant there likely were hurt people inside. We stepped out the back door, onto the porch overlooking the valley. I could now clearly see it. 

Cabins were displayed in a semi-circular arrangement, with two pieces sticking out the middle, like the Greek omega symbol. Nearby them, a large Greek-style building rose, with plenty of tables and benches. I assumed it was the dining pavilion.

"Oh, you two are here! Lark let me know you were coming!"A woman's voice called out from nearby. We both turned, seeing a small, round wooden table with some chairs. Sitting down was a tall woman, with tan skin, curly, shoulder-length dark brown hair, and golden brown eyes. She seemed to be glowing with a slight gold color, almost radiating a sense of power. "Sit, please, children. You must be a bit hungry, so have some snacks."

Across the table, there was an array of pickings to choose from. Small peanut butter sandwiches, crackers with meat and cheese, fruit, stuff like that. Cups were also there, as well as a pitcher of iced water with lemon slices. I took a seat, accepting a cup of water, while Sephora sat next to me. 

"Ren, this is Atalanta, she's our new camp director. Atalanta, this is Ren," Sephora gestured with one hand between the two of us, her other hand grabbing at a sandwich.

"Always a pleasure. I'm Atalanta, the huntress," the woman said, taking a seat and plucking a grape from one of the vines on the porch's columns, "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. It's a safe haven for people like you, though I'm shocked you lasted so long out there."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but Sephora was quick to answer it for me. 

"Ren, you know what you saw. A Sphinx, then a Stymphalian bird. You're a demigod, like from those myths we read in school, or as kids," She smiled.

"Demigod? Wait, they're real?" I tilted my head, my eyes falling to my bracelet.

"Real enough to get you almost killed, yeah," Sephora snickered, standing up and walking around the table. "See, you are a half-god, half-human. Your dad is a god, your mom is a human, thus making you a demigod."

"Thanks, captain obvious, I wasn't aware," I playfully rolled my eyes, cracking a smile. "And you're a demigod too?" 

Atalanta and Sephora both shook their heads. 

"I'm not, no. I have some special exceptions to the rules here. I'll explain that later, for now we need to get you a tour of camp," Sephora spoke quietly, but she kept a smile on her face, "Maybe we'll meet the activities director. I think you'll find him to be pretty cool."