3 ❦ Chapter Two: Housing

❦ Kaiana Hamilton ❦

Chiron led us through the hallway, explaining the college's purpose.

"There will be students from Camp Half-Blood, yes, but there will also be many from Camp Jupiter, the Brooklyn House, and Hotel Valhalla."

"Hotel Valhalla?" I asked, frowning.

"Brooklyn House?" Brookelynn asked.

Chiron nodded. "The Greeks and the Romans are not alone. We share our world with the Egyptians and the Norse, too."

"Woah, woah, woah, hold up," Axel said. "You mean the Norse and Egyptian gods are walking around here, too? America's their stomping grounds, too?"

"Yes," a new, female voice called. "I've seen both."

The four of us turned.

"Ah, Annabeth," Chiron said warmly.

"You've seen both?" I asked eagerly.

She nodded. "My cousin Magnus is the son of a Norse god and Percy and I met Sadie and Carter Kane, two Egyptian magicians."

I shook my head. "My head has officially reached its quota of weirdness."

Annabeth smiled.

"You should get used to weirdness by now, Kai," Axel pointed out. "We live and breathe weird."

"But not like this!" I protested.

"Yeah, we kind of do," Brookelynn put in.

"Oh, whatever."

➴

"So, housing," Annabeth said. "I came up with it myself. Girls and boys will live in separate houses, obviously, but a group of six will live in a house. Then, in addition to those six, there will be 'caretakers', so to speak: two from the Egyptian world, one from the Roman, one from the Greek, and two from the Norse. Now, you guys are used to everyone being sorted by their godly parentage. That doesn't work here. In other words, respect everybody else, okay?"

"Are there going to be any mortals here?" Brookelynn asked.

Annabeth nodded. "A few who can see through the Mist, like Rachel. But other than that, no. Also, there might be one mortal like that in your house, it depends on numbers and all that jazz."

"All that jazz?" I echoed. "Annabeth, that doesn't strike me as something you say."

"I've been spending too much time around Magnus," Annabeth sighed. "Only he would say something like that."

I laughed.

"So, when do we get our rooms?" Axel asked, bouncing on his heels.

"Right now," Annabeth said. "HEY MALCOLM!"

Her brother Malcolm came running over. "'Sup."

"Show Axel to his house dormitory," she said, handing him a map. Malcolm and Axel walk off, talking like old friends.

"And you two come this way," Annabeth said and led us to a beautiful stone house with steep, black roofs, arched windows and doors, a looped driveway and a wide expanse of lawn. It was just the perfect distance from the house and surrounded by trees.

"Oh my gods," Brookelynn gasped. "It's beautiful."

"Isn't it?" Annabeth beamed. "I designed each house to be different. I got help from the Norse and the Romans and the Egyptians, too. To make it home for everyone, you know?"

"Yeah," I said. "We're actually going to live here?"

"Yep. And I hear you had a friendship with a girl named Eva Skau?"

I nodded eagerly.

"She's in this house, too. I paired you together and her brother Adrian with Axel."

"Thank you so much!" I cried.

"I let you two explore your house," Annabeth said. "Here are your keys."

"Thanks!" we chorused and ran to the house, eager to meet our new roommates and catch up with an old friend we hadn't seen for nearly a year.