Alstroemerias {Percy Jackson}

14

The group of demigods followed Luke up the hill toward the dining pavilion. Satyrs slowly joined, leaving the meadows with a final note on their pipes. Naiads emerged from the canoeing lake, and nymphs made their way out of the woods. Maggie noticed Maple, one of the young saplings, leave her tree and skip up the hill. Altogether, there were about a hundred campers and fifty others.

Maggie hated it.

There were too many people and not enough room at the table for all of them. The fact that they could only sit at their assigned cabins table made it even worse. Despite the fact that there were four empty tables, they were still forced to sit uncomfortably close to one another. And she wasn't even claustrophobic.

Normally, after she had thrown part of her meal into the fire, she would escape the crowd and eat with Hestia. However, she had already asked the goddess to forgive her for leaving her alone for the day seeing as she had to make sure Percy didn't get killed, or blew up a toilet again, or panic due to the overwhelming amount of people that liked chaos during food time. The goddess of the hearth was quite understanding.

Maggie managed to squeeze in next to Percy, who already had half of his butt hanging off the edge of the bench. In times like these, she was grateful she was so small. Ethan and Jamie sat to her left, laughing about something stupid that happened during mythology class.

She took a quick look to her right, only to be met with the sight of Percy's electric blue drink.

"What is that?" she asked him.

"Cherry coke."

"No way! I don't know the cups could do that!  What. The. Heck. That's so cool!"

"You should try it?" 

"What color do you think I should do? And what drink?"

Percy smiled at her enthusiasm. "Ummmm.... How about green, to match your hair..... And, as for the drink, I'm not sure. Just pick something you like."

Maggie thought about it for a second before settling on green vanilla cream soda. She did not regret her decision. Just as she placed her cup down, Luke handed Percy a plate of smoked brisket. He took a quick glance her way before turning around to grab the plate of spaghetti.

"Nice of you to join us for once, grinch," she said with a smirk as he handed her the plate. "I can't reach anything else, but this should be alright."

"It's perfect, thanks sandy."

Percy was just about to take a bite of his food after Maggie had served himself. He stopped just in time to notice that everyone was getting up and walking toward the large fire at the center of the pavilion, plate in hand.

Maggie grabbed the boy's hand in his confusion and led him closer. "Come on, Perce."

As they made their way forward, Percy noticed that everyone was scraping a portion of their meal into the fire. He was about to ask Maggie what was going on as she got ready to drop a few celery sticks and a hefty forkful of spaghetti in, when Luke decided to read his mind.

"Burnt offering for the gods," he murmured, almost sending Percy's entire plate into the fire, along with the bot himself. Maggie tried to cover up her snort with coughing.

"They like the smell." Luke finished.

"You're kidding." Percy questioned. He wondered why anyone, let alone a powerful being, would like the smell of burning food.

Luke gave Percy a small smirk as he walked closer. He took a large cluster of grapes in calling out, "Hermes."

Percy wasn't sure what he should say. He decided to make a silent plea to whomever his father was before stopping back to watch Maggie. She dropped in her chosen items along with a small brownie, whispering the name, "Hestia."

"I thought you weren't claimed yet?"

"I'm not."

"Then why-"

"Will talk about it later, promise."

Percy took a moment to see why the burnt offering was appealing to the gods. One sniff was all it took for him to understand. Rather than giving off the smell of burnt food, the fire gave off the smell of hot chocolate, baked brownies, hamburgers on the grill, wildflowers, and a bunch of other foods. Miraculously the smells didn't blend into one big mess.

The three returned to their seats, followed by all those who went after them. As they finished the last of their meals, Mr D, the resident god, got up with a loud sigh.

"Yes, well, I suppose I better say hello to all you brats. Hello. Notice the spelling of the word, of you please, which explains this place in all its glory after you drop the 'o'. Anywho, our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels.

Ugly cheering rose from the Ares table.

"Personally, I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I was told to announce that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson."

Chiron murmured something, but Percy didn't miss the vicious galre Maggie sent the gods' way. It seemed that Mr. D. didn't either. 

"Er, Percy Jackson," he corrected. "That's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire.

Everybody cheered and headed down toward the large amphitheater, where the Apollo cabin led a sing-along. The demigods sang funny songs about the gods, ate smore's, and joked around. Percy beamed every time he looked at Maggie because she seemed to fit in perfectly. He didn't feel as alone anymore either.

After the conch sounded once more, each kid made their way to their own cabins. He collapsed on the sleeping bag sending one last smile toward his best friend.

As Percy's fingers curled around the minotaur horn, he couldn't help but think of his mom. His last coherent thought was of the way she used to tuck him in at night when he was younger.