CHAPTER - 18

Today is the day when I've to tell my mother what I know.

Also take Nancy, my mother and her mother to the kingdom.

Of course first I have to go through the incident of Mrs. dods, and get myself expelled.

Currently I am on the bus arriving at the museum, sitting next to me is Grover.

10 minutes later we arrived at the museum, who was leading the tour is Chiron.

We passed by different sculptures and every time he saw me a little distracted he asked me about them thanks to the power of reading ancient Latin I could answer most of his questions.

To have a positive point with him or you know getting his positive opinion about me, I also have to make a little fuss to continue a little with the book.

And I take that opportunity when the whole class did not get their voice down for Chiron's explanations, then I shout.

Ryan : "SHUT UP!!!"

Everyone stares at me, then Mrs. Dods approaches with her face of disgust and orders me to follow her.

When we get to a place with no people in sight, she asks me to give her the lightning.

When I tell her that I don't know what she is talking about, she transforms into one of the ugliest creatures you can meet.

A fury, they are half bird women just like harpies, but these are a little smarter and uglier, generally similar to vultures.

Then she attacks me with her extremely long claws, but I dodged her, well btw I didn't defeat her quickly because I want the storm breaker weapon that Atlas' daughter gives to a certain hero to steal a golden apple because she fell in love with him.

But he left her abandoned, while I was still fighting Grover arrives and tells me to catch it, while he throws a pen.

When I catch it, I press the button, the next moment in my hands I have the beautiful sword, I turn around and when the fury approaches, with one blow I decapitate it, the next moment fury turns into ashes, I look at Grover and ask him

Ryan : "What have you been hiding from me?"

Grover : "Ryan this isn't what-"

Ryan : "don't deny it Grover, the fury has already told me a lot of information, I just want you to confirm it."

Grover : "Ryan, it's not what it looks like we didn't want you to be in danger."

Ryan : "Did you just said, we didn't want to?"

Grover : "well, Mr. Bunner, your mother and I are the ones protecting you"(Mr. Bunner is Chiron for those who don't know).

Grover : "now, you're in danger Ryan, you have to come with me before the winter solstice or you could die".

Ryan : "then where are we going?"

Grover : "to a safe place, don't worry, we just have to figure out what to do with Nancy, your mother and Nancy's mother"

Ryan : "I can take care of that I just have to go back to the hotel, to talk to them".

Grover : "ok, but it has to be quick, I'm going to talk to Mr. Bunner now, uh inform him what happened, you give me the sword back"

"ah, sure, here" I don't worry too much since I know it will come back to me later, then we go our separate ways.

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Inside the hotel I tell the women about this power I have and to demonstrate it.

I make my mother and Nancy's mother younger and then my mother reveals that my father is a god.

So, I reveal that I have some of his powers and then I move them to the castle of my kingdom.

And I asked the others to show them the place, then I leave the hotel with a clone made of mud of my mother to drive the car.

Then we go for Grover on the road, then we go to the place of the camp, finally the time has come to meet my future wife Annabeth Chase.

The trip was very quiet, when I was about to reach the camp, was interrupted by a big minotaur and powerful beast that can be raised very well in my kingdom.

Grover already faints and my mother's clone fades into a light nd there was Hades who took my mother's soul to his hell but it would be funny to see his face when he realises that it's just a clone not a real soul.

Since, my mum is in my kingdom.

I activated the uzumaki adamantite chains, after catching the minataur I sent him to the kingdom.

The next moment Isabel informs me that a new species has been generated in the kingdom, as he is male.

I bought him, some females for the beginning of reproduction between them, as they are of a race more thrown to the beasts I will not turn the females into more human and mate with them.

I will wait for the minotaur to die from the constant use of its vital energy from so much reproducing.

As the minataur is in my Kingdom and Grover have also fainted I've to wait for him to wake up.

I told him that I have already defeated that beast, he gets very excited and then says that they are near the camp.

Then I began to follow him a few minutes after entering the forest we pass through some trees that form an arch, when we pass them what appears before me is a large hidden camp full of demigods training to be the next heroes.

Then he tells me that I have to go to the directors of the camp, and I know who he means, they are Chiron and Mr. D as he likes to be called or to be precise Dionysus the god of wine, the wine, the parties, etc. who was punished by his father Zeus for touching the nymph of the forest that he had forbidden to touch.

And as he was wrong several times he got different punishments.

Just like in the book we have a little discussion and I meet Annabeth in the big house where they are all after talking for a while Chiron takes me out of the big house.

when I leave Chiron gets out of the chair with wheels and turns into a centaur with his horse part of a beautiful white color.

Once I got over the fact that my Latin teacher was a horse, we had a pleasant ride, although I was careful not to ride behind him.

I had played poop patrol in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade a couple of times, and, sorry, I didn't trust the back of Chiron the way I trusted his front.

We passed by the volleyball pit. Several of the campers nudged each other. One pointed to the minotaur horn I was carrying. Another said, "That's him."

They all think that I've killed the minotaur and from what I told Grover, that's also why I created a horn with ninja powers.

Most of the campers were older than me. Their satyr friends were bigger than Grover, all of them trotting around in orange CAMP MEDIA-SANGRE t-shirts, with nothing else to cover their hairy bare butts.

I wasn't normally shy, but the way they were looking at me made me uncomfortable. I felt like they were waiting for me to give a blow out or something.

I looked back at the farm. It was much bigger than I had perceived-four stories high, blue sky with white trim, like a luxury spa. I was looking up at the bronze eagle weathervane at the top, when something caught my eye, a shadow on the topmost window of the gabled attic.

Something had moved the curtain, just for a second, and I had the distinct impression that I was being watched.

"What's going on there?" I asked Chiron.

He looked to where I was pointing, and his smile disappeared. "Just the attic."

"Does anyone live there?"

"No," he said firmly. "It's not a living thing."

I had a feeling he was being sincere. But I was also sure that something had moved the curtain.

"Come on, Ryan," chiron said, his cheerful tone now a little forced. "Lots to see."

We walked through the strawberry fields, where campers were picking sacks of berries, while a satyr played a tune on a reed flute.

Chiron told me that the camp grew a good crop for export to restaurants in New York and Mt. Olympus. "This pays our expenses," he explained. "And the strawberries are taken almost effortlessly."

He said Mr. D had this effect on fruiting plants: they just went crazy when he was around. This worked best with wine grapes, but Mr. D was limited to growing those, so he grew strawberries instead.

I saw the satyr playing his flute. His music was causing lines of bugs to leave the strawberry field in all directions, like refugees fleeing a fire. I wondered if Grover could work that kind of magic with music. I wondered if Grover was still inside the house, being reprimanded by Mr. D.

"Grover won't get into too much trouble, will he?" I asked Chiron. "I mean...he was a good protector. Really."

Chiron sighed. He took off his jacket and hung it on his horse's back like a saddle.

Chiron : "Grover has big dreams, Ryan. Perhaps bigger than reasonable. To reach his goal, he must first demonstrate great courage by succeeding as a guardian, finding a new camper and bringing him safely to Hala-Blood Hill."

Ryanb: "But he did it!"

"I might agree with you," Chiron said. "But it's not my place to judge.

Chiron : "Dionysius and the Council of Cloven Elder's must decide. I fear they may not see this task as a success."

"After all, Grover lost you in New York. Then there is the unfortunate...ah...fate of your mother."

"And the fact that Grover was unconscious when you pulled him out on the property line. The Board might wonder if this shows any courage on Grover's part. "

I wanted to protest. Nothing that happened was Grover's fault. I also felt very, very guilty.

If I hadn't given Grover the ticket at the bus station, he might not have gotten into trouble.

Ryan : "He's going to get a second chance, isn't he?"

Chiron grimaced. "I'm afraid this was Grover's second chance, Ryan. The council wasn't anxious to give him another, either, after what happened the first time, five years ago. Olympus knows, I advised him to wait longer before trying again. He's still too young for his age.... ".

Ryan : "How old is he?"

Chiron : "Oh, twenty-eight years old."

Ryan : "What! And he's in the sixth grade?"

Chiron : "satyrs mature half as fast as humans, Ryan. Grover has been the equivalent of a middle school student for the past six years."

Ryan : "That's horrible."

"Absolutely," Chiron agreed. "In any case, Grover was a late bloomer, even by satyr standards, and still not very proficient in forest magic. Alas, he was eager to fulfill his dream. Maybe now he would find another career...".

"That's not fair," I said. "What happened the first time, was it really that bad?"

Chiron looked away quickly. "Let's move on, shall we?"

But I wasn't quite ready to drop the subject. Something had occurred to me when Chiron talked about my mother's fate, as if he was intentionally avoiding the word death. The beginnings of an idea-a little fiery hope-began to form in my mind. clearly to go unnoticed about having my mother with me and Hades only having my clone in the form of Sally Jackson

"Chiron," I said. "If the gods and Olympus and all this is real..."

Chiron : "Yes, son?"

Ryan : "Does that mean that the possibility of another world's are real, too?"

Cheiron's expression darkened.

"Yes, son." He paused, as if carefully choosing his words. "There is a place where spirits go after death. But, for now... until we know more.... I urge you to put it out of your mind."

Ryan : "What do you mean? until we know more"? "

Chiron : "Come on, Ryan. Let's go see the forest."

As we got closer, I realized how big the forest was.

It took up at least a quarter of the valley, with trees so tall and thick, you could imagine no one had been there since the Native Americans.

Chiron, said, "The woods are full, if you want to try your luck, but go armed."

Ryan : "Full of what?", I asked, "Armed with what?"

Chiron : "You'll see. Capture the Flag is this Friday night. Do you have your own sword and shield?"

Ryan : "My own?"

"No," said Chiron. "I don't think you do. I think a size five will do. I'm going to visit the armory later."

I wanted to ask what kind of summer camp had an armory, but there were too many other things to think about, so the tour continued.

Clearly I know what he's talking about but I have to pretend for as long as possible until I find a way to reveal or get off this world We saw the archery range, the canoeing lake, the stables (which Qiron didn't seem to like very much), the javelin range, the singing amphitheater, and the stage where Qiron said they had sword and spear fights.

"Sword and spear combats?", I asked.

"The hut challenges and all that," he explained. "It's not lethal. Usually. OH, yes, and there's a barracks mess hall."

Chiron pointed to an open-air pavilion framed in white Greek columns on a hill overlooking the sea. There were a dozen stone picnic tables. No roof. No walls.

"What do you do when it rains," I asked.

Chiron looked at me like I was a little weird. "We still have to eat, don't we?"

I decided to change the subject.

Finally, he showed me the huts. There were twelve of them, located in the forest by the lake. They were arranged in a U-shape, with two at the base and five in a row on either side. And they were, without a doubt, the strangest collection of buildings I had ever seen.

Except for the fact that each had a large bronze number above the door (odd on the left side, even on the right), they didn't look at all alike.

Number nine had chimneys, like a tiny factory.

Number four had tomato vines on the walls and a roof of real grass.

Seven appeared to be made of solid gold, which shone so brightly in the sunlight that it was almost impossible to see.

They all faced each other in a common area the size of a soccer field, dotted with Greek statues, fountains, flowers, and a couple of basketball hoops (which were more my speed).

In the center of the field was a large stone lined with a bonfire. Even though it was a hot afternoon, my heart was burning. A girl of about nine years old was tending the fire, stoking the embers with a stick.

The pair of cabins at the head of the field, number one and two, looked like his and hers mausoleums, large white marble boxes with thick columns in front. Cabin one was the largest and most voluminous of the twelve.

Its polished bronze doors glowed like a hologram, a that from different angles of lightning flashed through them, giving the appearance of passing through. Cabin two was more graceful in some ways, with slimmer columns garlanded with flowers and pomegranates. The walls were carved with images of peacocks.

"Zeus and Hera?" I surmised.

"Right," said Chiron.

Ryan : "Their huts look empty."

Chiron : "Several of the cabins are. That's true. No one stays in one or two."

Ryan : "Right. So in each cabin was a different god, like a mascot."

"Twelve cabins for the twelve Olympians. But why would any of them be empty?"

I stopped in front of the first hut on the left, hut three.

It was not tall and powerful like cabin one, but it was long and low and solid. The outer walls were rough gray stone peppered with bits of shells and coral, as if the slabs had been carved straight from the bottom of the ocean. I peeked through the inside of the open door and chiron, said, "OH, I wouldn't do that!"

Before he could pull me back, I caught the salty fragrance of the interior, like the wind on Montauk Beach. The interior walls shimmered like a sea ear.

There were six empty bunk beds with silk sheets folded down. But there was no sign that anyone had slept there. The place felt so sad and lonely, I was glad when Chiron put his hand on my shoulder and said, "Come on, Ryan."

Most of the other cabins were full of campers.

Number five was bright red, a real messy paint job, as if the color had been splashed on top with buckets and fists.

The roof was lined with barbed wire. A stuffed boar's head hung over the door, and its eyes seemed to follow me. Inside I could see a bunch of children with baleful looks on their faces, both girls and boys, playing tag and arguing with each other while rock music played.

The loudest was a girl of about thirteen or fourteen. She was wearing a size XXXL CAMP MEDIA-SANGRE T-shirt under a camouflage jacket.

She focused on me and gave me a wicked sneer.

She reminded me of Nancy before I made her mine, although the camper girl was much bigger and looked tougher, and her hair was long and straight and brown instead of red.

I kept walking, trying to stay away from Chiron's hooves. "We haven't seen any other centaurs" I observed.

"No," said Chiron sadly. "My kin are wild and barbaric people, I'm afraid. You might meet them in the desert, or at more important sporting events. But you won't see any of them here."

"You said your name was Chiron. Are you really..."

He smiled at me. "The Chiron from the stories? The trainer of Hercules and all that? Yes, Ryan, I am."

"But shouldn't you be dead?" Ryan asked

Chiron paused, as if the question intrigued him. "I honestly don't know if I should be. The truth is, I can't be dead. You see, thousands of years ago the gods granted my wish. I could continue the work I loved. I could be a teacher of heroes for as long as mankind needed me. I earned a lot of that wish... and I've given a lot. But I'm still here, so I can only assume I'm still needed. "

I thought about being a teacher for three thousand years. That wouldn't have made my TOP ten list of Things I Want.

Ryan: "Doesn't it ever bore you?"

Chiron : "No, no," he said. "Terribly depressing, sometimes, but never boring."

Ryan : "Why depressing?"

Chiron seemed to go back to listening hard again.

"OH, look," he said. "Annabeth is waiting for us."

* * *

The blonde girl I had met at the Big House was reading a book in front of the last cabin on the left, number eleven.

When we got to her, she looked at me critically, as if she was still thinking about how much I was drooling.

I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn't make out the title.

I thought my dyslexia was acting up.

Then I realized that the title wasn't even English.

The letters looked Greek to me. I mean, literally Greek.

There were pictures of temples and statues and different kinds of columns, like those in an architecture book.

"Annabeth," Chiron said, "I have archery class at noon, would you take Ryan from here?"

Annabeth : "Yes, sir."

"This is Cabin eleven," chiron said to me, pointing toward the door. "Make yourself at home."