『Surprises Anyone? At A Discounted Rate!』

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They did not have much to say his dad left as soon as he caught sight of Dionysus which proved how good of a dad he was.

Totally awesome at being a trash parent.

In the end, it happened like what Diedre had expected to happen. Him leading their big enough group with the addition of his two best friends from another world who he still needed to ask about how they were reincarnated/sent here accompanying him at first. Nico and Bianca fell into a silent step behind the three of them while the hunters lagged at the very end, probably still repulsed by their experience with Apollo who even Diedre would not trust with his two shoes.

Frost covered the chariot track and the strawberry fields. The cabins were decorated with tiny flickering lights, like Christmas lights, except they seemed like balls of a real fire. More lights glowed in the woods, and weirdest of all, a fire flickered in the attic window of the Big House, where the Oracle dwelt, imprisoned in an old mummified body.

"Whoa," Aayansh said as he climbed off the bus. "Is that a climbing wall?"

"Yeah," Diedre said.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?"

"Little extra challenge. Come on. I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoe, have you met—"

"I know Chiron," Zoe said stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."

"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.

"We know the way."

"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here if you don't"—he tripped over a canoe and came up still talking—"like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"

Zoe rolled her eyes, but she figured there was no getting rid of Grover. The Hunters shouldered their packs and their bows and headed off toward the cabins.

♬♬♬

Just the year-rounders would be here—the ones who didn't have homes to go to or would get attacked by monsters too much if they left. But there didn't even seem to be many of them, either.

Diedre spotted Charles Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armoury. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, from the Hermes cabin, were picking the lock on the camp store. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. That was about it. 

The Big House was decorated with strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch but didn't seem to catch anything on fire. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Mr D, the camp director, and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlour.

Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoofprint design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.

He smiled when he saw them. "Percy! Diedre! Thalia! Nico! Bianca! Ah, and they must be—" 

"Aayansh Dalton and Theodore Allen," Diedre said with practised ease. "They  are half-bloods."
Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."
"Well..."

His smile melted. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?" 

"Oh, dear," Mr D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

"What do you mean?" Thalia asked. "Who else is lost?"

Just then, Grover trotted into the room, grinning like crazy. He had a black eye and red lines on his face that looked like a slap marks. "The Hunters are all moved in!"

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