To Be the Hero || Book 1 ▪️On Hold ▪️

Chapter 5: Percy plays Pinochle

Chapter five: Percy plays Pinochle

Y/N POV: I woke up about half a day earlier than Percy. Since I had never actually lived here, I had to make Luke lead me to were my bunk was, using the same lie I had with Annabeth during the Iris message—but instead of 'falling down the stairs' I fell down the hill and bonked my head on a rock, which wasn't a total lie. 

Turns out, I shared a bunk with Luke—me accommodating the top bed, and him possessing the bottom. I placed my things (most of them were clothes, and no, I didn't leave my wallet there) on the bunk (so didn't have to carry everything wherever I went) and then thanked him before walking out of the cabin and heading towards the big house, we're I sat next to Annabeth—waiting for a particular demigod recruit and a particular half goat to appear.

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Percy POV: As we came around the opposite end of the house, I caught my breath.

We must've been on the north shore of Long Island, because on this side of the house, the valley marched all the way up to Long Island Sound, which glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, I simply couldn't process everything I was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture – an open-air pavilion, an amphitheatre, a circular arena – except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun. In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and, unless I was hallucinating, some of their horses had wings.

Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. The blonde-haired girl who'd spoon-fed me popcorn-flavoured pudding was leaning on the porch rail next to them—Y/N sitting on the rail beside her.

The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of baby angels – what do you call them, hubbubs? No, cherubs. That's it. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt, and he would've fitted right in at one of Gabe's poker parties, except I got the feeling this guy could've out-gambled even my stepfather.

"That's Mr D,"Grover murmured to me. "He's the camp director, be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here for longer than anybody else. And you already know Y/N and Chiron..."

He pointed at Y/N who was next to the blonde, and then towards a guy whose back was to me. First, I realized he was sitting in the wheelchair. Then, I recognized the tweed jacket, the thinning brown hair, and the scraggly beard.

"Mr Brunner!," I cried. The Latin teacher turned and smiled at me. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B.

"Ah, good, Percy," He said. "Now we have five for pinochle."

He offered me a chair to the right of Mr D, who looked at me with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now don't expect me to be glad to see you."

"Uh, thanks." I scooted a little further away from him and closer to Y/N because if there was one thing I had learned from living with Gabe, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. If Mr D was a stranger to alcohol, I was a satyr.

"Annabeth?," Mr Brunner called to the girl on the other side of Y/N.

She came forward and Mr Brunner introduced us. "This young lady nursed you back to health, Percy. Annabeth, my dear, why don't you and Y/N go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in cabin 11 for now."