Chapter Text
When you lose someone, there’s a brief moment right before you really wake up, where it hasn’t happened. A moment where everything is still right in the world. But then that moment is over and it feels like something is on your chest. Like you’re drowning and being crushed all at the same time. And a million things run through your head, like what you could’ve done differently, or all the things you should have said. These feelings weren’t really new for Percy. He’d gone through them once before. With his mom. He’d just never- he hadn’t ever really thought that he’d be feeling them again. That he would have lost Jason. But as his eyes flutter open and his brother isn’t right at his bedside, he knows it wasn’t a dream. Jason was gone. And Percy was alone.
“Oh! You’re awake,” A voice comes from near the end of his bed. Percy scrambles up and shoves himself as close to the wall behind him as he can.
“Who-”
“Right, you probably don’t- I’m, um Grover?” He says, and Percy immediately frowns as he realizes he recognizes the other kid.
“How are you here?” Percy asks, only willing to talk because the gut feeling he’d had that something bad was about to happen hadn’t been present since he’d woken up. Grover gives an awkward smile and rubs the back of his neck.
“That’s uh, a long story. One that I think Chiron will probably want to be present for,” he says. Percy blinks, shock covering his face.
“Chiron? Like, teacher of heroes, Chiron?” Percy asks. This time, it’s Grover’s turn to look shocked.
“You know about Chiron?” He asks, and Percy nods.
“Well, yeah. When we found out I was a demigod, my brother was determined to make sure I knew as many of the stories as-” Percy stops and swallows back his tears. “My brother. He’s really gone, isn’t he?”
“I’m sorry, Percy. By the time I made it to the top of the hill, I only just saw the monster disappear,” Grover says, holding out a shoe box. Percy takes it, and his stomach immediately drops as he takes the lid off the box. “I thought you might want this.” Percy swallows, trying hard to ignore the way his stomach churns. He looks away from Grover and out the window. He could just see green fields with acres of strawberries, and the shimmer of water in the distance. It was beautiful and it was wrong. How could the world look so normal when everything was so wrong? He was alone, again. He couldn’t go back to Gotham. Couldn’t face Bruce when he was the reason that the man’s son wouldn’t come home again, the son that he’d already lost once. Jason had miraculously come back to his family and had been just fine until Percy came into his life. He always ruined everything.
“What happens now?” Percy asks, hoping Grover doesn’t comment on the way his voice shakes.
“If you feel up to it, we go talk to Chiron,” Grover says. Percy shakily stands up, ignoring the hand Grover holds out for him.
“Lead the way.”
---
The room he’d been in was part of a bigger house, with a huge wraparound porch. As Grover led him to Chiron, Percy couldn’t help but gape a bit at everything he could see. There were fields full of bright strawberries, buildings that looked like they were pulled straight from ancient Greece, and dozens of kids in bright orange shirts. He wasn’t totally sure what he’d expected Camp to look like, but this wasn’t exactly it. From the way Diana had spoken about it, he’d expected a lot more weapons. Sure there was an archery range, but there were also kids playing volleyball and other kids riding what looked like horses with wings. It all looked so normal, it made his brain hurt. As they turn the corner, Percy spots a group of people near a table at the other end of the porch.
“That’s Mr. D, camp director. Be nice,” Grover says, nodding slightly to the middle aged man in the Hawaiian shirt. For the briefest moment, Percy gets a flashback to some of the guys that used to come to his mom’s apartment to play poker with Smelly Gabe. Pushing away the bad thoughts that always come with Gabe, he focuses back on Grover. “She’s just a camper, but she’s been here longer than just about anybody. And that’s Chiron, the activities director.” Percy glances at the other two people around the table. The girl, whose name he hadn’t caught, seemed vaguely familiar. Like someone he’d seen in a dream, but never in real life. She was probably around his age, with intense eyes that seemed to be analyzing him from the second he’d walked up. The other man was in a wheelchair, with thin brown hair, a beard, and a frayed tweed jacket.
“Is he really the same Chiron from the myths?” Percy asks quietly. He’d been pretty sure that the Chiron from the myths he’d read with Jason was a centaur. And unless his wheelchair was magic, there was no way the man sitting in front of them was a centaur.
“Ah, Percy, you’re awake. Care for a round of pinochle?” Chiron asks, turning slightly and gesturing to the empty chair to the right of Mr. D.
“Cards aren’t really my thing,” Percy says, not moving from his spot next to Grover, whose eyes have widened significantly.
“Nonsense. Pinochle is one of the greatest games ever invented by humans, it won’t hurt you to join a round,” Mr. D says with a huff. Percy opens his mouth to argue, because who did this guy think he was, but Chiron beats him to it.
“Annabeth, my dear, why don’t you go check on Percy’s bunk? He’ll be in Cabin Eleven for now,” he says before turning back to Percy. “Percy, this is Annabeth. She helped nurse you back to health.” Percy shoves the memories of Alfred and Jason helping him when he was sick or hurt to the back of his mind and swallows back the bitter taste in his mouth.
“Thanks,” he says, trying hard to keep his voice neutral. He didn’t understand why his throat felt full or why the back of his eyes were stinging like he was going to cry, but he couldn’t. It was his first day here, and since he couldn’t ever face Bruce and the others again, he was stuck here.
“You drool when you sleep,” Annabeth says, immediately pulling him out of his thoughts. He blinks, but before he can say anything in his defense, she’s off. Percy turns to Grover and raises an eyebrow at the poorly hidden smile on the other kid’s face.
“She always like that?” He asks, and Grover nods.
“Oh yeah.”
“Well, Percy, if you aren’t in the mood for a round of cards, perhaps you would like a tour of camp?” Chiron asks, pulling the attention back to him. Percy nods. Might as well get used to the place. What he wasn’t expecting was for Chiron to start rising from the wheelchair. Straight up. Until the body of a horse was standing in front of him, with Chiron’s torso attached to the top. Percy wished he could tell Jason that they were both wrong. Chiron was a palomino.
---
Percy did his best to ignore the way that some of the other campers stared at him, not bothering to try and figure out what kind of stares they were. It wasn’t that he wanted people to dislike him. He’d been friendless at Gotham Academy until Damian had started talking to him and that had been awful, but he was also just exhausted. He wanted to get the tour over with so he could curl up and be upset for five minutes. Since waking up, everyone had wanted to talk about everything but Jason. And sure, he knew that they were just trying to help him or whatever, but he didn’t want that right now. He just wanted Jason. Chiron tells him all about the different parts of camp as they pass them, and Percy listens as well as he can. There were strawberry fields, woods, a lake, stables, an amphitheater, an arena for sword fights, a javelin range, an armory, and a pavilion with a dozen stone picnic tables where they had meals. Apparently weather wasn’t a concern. The last thing on the tour were the cabins. Twelve of them arranged in a neat U shape. But that was the only ‘neat’ thing about them.
Every building was different. From the way they were decorated, to the building style and materials, each cabin was unique. Remembering the stories that Jason has made him pour over, he quickly realizes that the cabins all represent a different Greek god. A huge stone lined firepit sat in the middle of the cabins, and a girl was sitting tending to the fire, despite the fact that it was already pretty warm. Several of the cabins they walked past were empty, which was confusing since the majority had groups of kids in and around them. After accidentally making direct eye contact with a mean looking girl outside of cabin 5, Percy turns his focus back to Chiron.
“Chiron, are you actually the Chiron? Like, the one from the stories?” He asks. Chiron smiles at him.
“If you’re asking if I’m the trainer of Hercules, then yes, Percy, I am.” And suddenly, it wasn’t just the stories of heroes and monsters running through his head. Because a different story popped into his mind, a story that sparked a plan.
“Chiron, are all the stories true?” Percy asks, a bubble of hope forming in his stomach.
“To a certain degree, all stories have some truth in them, Percy,” Chiron says, but frowns. “But trying to find which elements are true to try and use them for your personal gain will only lead to heartbreak.”
“So bringing back someone from the Underworld-”
“A feat not even Orpheus was capable of, Percy. I’m sorry.” The bubble of hope pops as quickly as it had formed. And just like that, the world had darkened once again.
---
Annabeth had, apparently, had enough time to grab a book and read some of it while she was waiting for them. She was leaning against the last cabin on the left, number 11. The one that looked the most stereotypical summer camp cabin, but also the most run down.
“Annabeth, I have a class soon. I trust you can take Percy from here,” Chiron says. Annabeth nods. “Welcome to camp, Percy,” Chiron adds with a small nod of his head before he trots away. Making his way up the worn steps, Percy does his best to ignore the intense way that Annabeth was staring at him. The inside of the cabin was packed. It reminded Percy of some of the shelters he’d tried to stay at when he’d first ran from his foster home back in Gotham. All of the bunks were full, and sleeping bags nearly covered the floor.
“Cabin Eleven, meet Percy Jackson,” Annabeth calls out, immediately gaining everyone’s attention.
“Regular or undetermined?” Someone shouts out.
“Undetermined,” Annabeth replies. People start groaning and Percy can’t help the heat that rushes to his cheeks.
“Hey guys, cut him some slack. That’s what we’re here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot right there,” A guy who looked about nineteen (just a little younger than Tim) comes to his defense. Like the rest of the campers, he was dressed in an orange camp shirt and had a necklace with clay beads. Despite his blonde hair and too light eyes, there was something about him that reminded Percy of Jason. He immediately shoves those thoughts down.
“This is Luke,” Annabeth says with a small gesture. “He’ll be your counselor for now.”
“For now?” Percy asks. Luke gives him a smile that looks a little sad.
“You’re undetermined, so you’ll be here with us for now. Cabin Eleven takes in all newcomers and visitors since our patron is Hermes,” Luke explains.
“And undetermined means?” Percy asks, wishing for the first time in his life that someone would just give him a big packet of instructions or something. Anything to better explain this world that he wasn’t really ready for but had been dropped into anyway.
“Means we don’t know who your godly parent is. If you’re claimed, you’ll move into your parent’s cabin,” Luke says.
“If?” Luke reaches out and squeezes his shoulder, a motion so familiar it chokes him for a minute.
“The gods are busy. They can’t always make time for us,” Luke says. “But don’t worry, Percy, you’ll always be welcome in Cabin eleven.”