Stories from Camp Halfblood: Legends of the Heroes

by Amy Laine

Finding My Way to Camp Halfblood

 

  I’m not all that mysterious if you take the time to get to know me. Most people, don’t stay that long, or survive that long. Especially mortals like you. Most people run away screaming with their hands waving in the air wildly.

  I’m a problem child, and that’s all you really need to know. I got in a lot of trouble at school, like all you regular demigods, and yeah, I got expelled twice. Not as many times as some people I heard about.

  My mom…she’s got problems. She used to be a famous actor in the eighties and well, she’s not anymore. I think that’s how Zeus found her- he must have seen my mom on TV or something, and fell in love with her big poofy hairdo. And I will say, my mom used to be really pretty in her prime.

  Was I surprised that Greek Mythology still was around? Not really, I just accepted it. I guess it’s because girls who are six years old are actually more mature than you might think. I found it kind of cool, when my mom first told me.

  So, when my mom found out the Lord of the Sky from old Greek Mythology fell in love with her- I think that was too much for her to handle who knows how old she was. Besides, she thought this made her better then everyone else- resulting in an inflated ego. Like, she couldn’t believe the gods still existed, and when they did, one fell in love with her.

  When Zeus left to go back to Olympus…it broke my mother’s heart. She thought maybe, something was wrong with her, like she wasn’t good enough. Zeus left her in a sorrier state than she had been before he came, because she turned to alcohol for assistance.

  She went over the brink. People stopped showing her on TV because she kept going crazy. One time, in a shampoo commercial she grabbed the shampoo containers (which were filled) and dumped them on the directors head. Don’t ask me why, people do strange things when their drunk.

  Those years were the worst for me. I started to get the feeling; my mom was never actually there. I’d made up my mind to runaway when I ran into somebody in the doorway.

  I was only seven but I had my sack of things slung over my shoulder and determination on my face. The man that appeared in the doorway looked to be in his early forties or late thirties. You can never tell with a god, but I didn’t know who he was at the time.

  He was dressed in a clad (stylish though) toga with the symbol of a lightning bolt on a golden button, pinned to his collar. My mother came to the door and didn’t look twice at my runaway gear. Not like she cared though.

  “Zeus?” She gasped, in obvious disbelief.

  The toga guy shook his head as if he were slightly amused with my mom’s reaction. “I am Zeus,” He acknowledged, “but in a different aspect or another time I am known as Jupiter.”

  My mom would have hit the floor and broken in her head, if not for her loving daughter who was there to lessen her fall. “Jupiter,” My mom repeated leaning against the wall. “You left me,” She managed to right herself.

  Jupiter didn’t argue but his gaze flickered to me and then back to my mom. “May I come in?” He asked in that handsome strong, but firm voice. I couldn’t read his expression but I was sure he was saying, “What is that sorry excuse for a girl?”

  How could mother refuse another visit from the Greek (Roman) god?

  He waved his hand at the breeze whisking by as if telling it to ‘Shut Up’. If he was Lord of the Sky I was sure he wouldn’t mind being in a storm but mom allowed him to come inside.

  I was told to go to my room and not disturb them talking. Of course, I eavesdropped, sue me.

  Their conversation went something like this.

  “It’s good to see you, Ms. Grace.”

  “Is that all I am to you? Ms. Grace?” My mom sounded heartbroken, like she actually understood what he was saying. Point for mom!

  There was a short pause and nobody spoke for a moment. Then Jupiter/Zeus replied.

  “I missed you. We need to talk about Thalia.” He makes me sound like some random object. Like ‘We need to talk about that old moldy apple.’ Did he mean, dispose of me? Because that would not be good for any of our health’s.

  I hear rustling in the kitchen. Mom must be making my, er….dad a sandwich. “Indeed we do. I heard about this...Camp? Is it…safe?”

  Another silence, only this one is longer. “I am Jupiter, you must remember this. I do not like this…other Camp as much as the second. But she would not be welcomed there. It is not an option. There is no other way, keep her near you.”

  What are they talking about? Keep me near my mom? No way. Besides, why would they care? Was someone after me? Did I do something wrong?

  They talk a little more, about how much my mom was hurt when he went away. When he ditched her, with a little girl in her hands. A burden, that’s all I was. A mistake, my mom made in her life.

  I don’t want to listen to anymore. I start to sneak back to my room, when Jupiter says, “Thalia come out here.” I pause and then decide I better do what the man says.

  I pad back into the kitchen. “What,” I growl, “Make it quick.” I’m tempted to add buddy just for complaining sake. For a seven year old, I had an attitude.

  Jupiter smiles warily at me, he’s holding an uneaten ham and cheese sandwich. I want to tell him its okay, I don’t like her food either, but I don’t. Mom’s not in the kitchen anymore, probably in her room sobbing her eyes out, about how she feels so abandoned.

  “Watch her for me, Thalia. Make sure nothing happens to her.” And then he’s gone in a flash of light. Dramatic exits, how exciting.

  I wanted to yell at him, for making my life so unfair. For making all this happen to me, and he asks me to watch her? Like she never had never watched me? Is that what he meant? I glared at the spot he used to be.

  “Yeah, sure…no biggie.” I lied, even though he wasn’t even here anymore.

  I find my mom in her bedroom, lying on her four poster bed. She’s face down and I can hear screaming, even though she attempts to muffle them in her bed sheets.

  A wine bottle is clutched tightly in her hands and she’s muttering, “Make it go away…”

  I have no respect for her but I have to know. “Who was that? Zeus?” I demand. I’d never seen the man before, and I defiantly didn’t like him anymore than I did then, now.

  “No, that was Jupiter.” And then the door closed in my face. I should have run away then, but I didn’t.

  I had a lot to think about. Jupiter visited more frequently, I think he was worried for his ex girlfriend. He was much more fatherly to me though. I’d only seen Zeus (Like Zeus Zeus, not Jupiter) once, but he was arrogant, he didn’t seem to care about me. Jupiter was different. He was more…stern and cared for me. After his…fifth visit, he didn’t come back anymore. I wished he would, because it seemed like mother was okay when he was around. Or at least I didn’t avoid talking to her when he was around.

  I never spoke to him, but he talked to me. Frequently he spoke in Latin, which I found odd, but I didn’t really care. His last words to me were, “Thalia, watch the boy. He’s due very soon now. A couple months, given time. Good bye, my sweet daughter.” And then he left, this time using the door, instead of exploding into a fiery ball of light. This I found disappointing as I’d set up a little video camera by the coat closet. Maybe he knew about that.

  I thought I heard a voice in my mind whisper; Bacchus could have healed her… But the sound is lost in the wind.

  I had other concerns though. What did he mean by ‘watch the boy?’ We didn’t have any males in our family. I was shocked when I learned my mom was pregnant with yet another child of the Sky god, only year after Jupiter visited us the first time.