New Camper! Codie's Arrival

[Codie Floyd]

Codie looked at the building and then glanced over to his House Dad. Even though he trusted him and was going to make his way to the house either way. His curiosity took over, and he had to ask, "What are you?". While asking this question, he reached out to pet the House Dad's legs and giggled. The House Dad shot him a disappointed look, so he gave one last pet before he brought his hand back to his lap. "Sorry" Codie blushed embarrassed that he just petted his House Dad like he was some sort of animal. "It's okay, Codie." He placed his hand on Codie's shoulder to comfort him as he continued to talk. " My name is Phil and I'm a Satyr. In simple terms, I'm half man, half goat. I've been tasked to find and look over children like yourself. I know you have many questions right now, but you must head inside the Big House.” He gestured back the building behind them. “I promise they will be able to explain things better than I can." 

Phil was right. He did have questions. Without hesitation, Codie jumped to his feet but fell right back to the ground as he got too lightheaded. Luckily the satyr caught him before he landed on his face. He got up again with a big smile on his face, and this time with the Phil's help. "Okie Dokie! Let's try this again" He made his way through the front door of the Big House. As he walked in, he asked without genuinely paying attention if anybody was in the lobby. "Anybody here? Heeeellloooo!" A comfy chair caught his eye; without thinking, he started to make his way there. He plopped himself into the chair immediately; he felt like he was about to drift off. Honestly, this wasn't out of character for Codie. Anytime he found himself in a comfortable spot, he could fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Even if he wasn't necessarily tired, half the time, he didn't notice he had fallen asleep.

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe could hear the familiar sound of the front porch steps creaking, followed shortly by the front door swinging open. She smiled as she heard an unknown voice. A new camper. "I'll be right there! Make yourself at home." She called from the kitchen towards the front of the house. Lilythe poured a couple glasses of lemonade and threw together a plate of cookies before following through with her promise. Placing the beverages and cookies onto a tray, Lilythe walked herself into the front room.

"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. I'm Lilythe, one of the cabin leaders here at the camp. I'm sure you're tired and have a ton of questions." She said sweetly, and placed the tray down on the table before the girl. Grabbing one of the glasses of lemonade, she took a sip and sat in a chair opposite the couch the young boy sat upon. "Please feel free to relax, have a cookie or two, and drink some lemonade. I'm here to answer any questions you might have. And when you're ready I can show you the camp." Lilythe said with a smile.

 

[Codie Floyd]

With every second that passed, Codie sunk further and further into the chair. Don't get it wrong, the chair wasn't the most comfortable, but to him, it was lightyears better than the Satyr's shoulder. With the combination of the chair and the room's warmth, he pulled himself into a ball and started to drift into sleep. All his worries seemed to melt away until a voice in another room called out. Wait…..oh no, I'm not supposed to be sleeping right now. He thought to himself, panicked at the thought of being caught. Codie scrambled to get into a seated position before whoever called walked in. He tried to put on a normal smile, but it came out more of an awkward one. A woman came through with a tray of cookies and beverages. Codie's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't had cookies since his mom passed away. "Uhh …hello Lilythe, nice to meet you. My name is Codie" He said with a nervous quiver. It was at that moment when everything that happened the last couple of months had started to sink in.

This wasn't the first time Codie's life had been turned upside down. He had to start all over again because magical beasts were real. Well, at least this place has cookies. Codie thought, trying to find a positive spin on this situation. He grabbed one of the cookies savoring each bite. Trying to think of any questions he may have. "I do have some questions. Why was I brought to camp instead of like a fantasy police station? Are there more creatures like the…uh…. SAYYY-Tuor?" He stuttered as he tried to remember how to pronounce Satyr correctly. This didn't bother him as much as his last question did. "Why did these creatures choose me? Why does my life always get ripped apart?" 

A tear trickled down Codie's face as the emotions he had been holding at bay flooded into his mind. Quickly he grabbed another cookie and turned his face away from Lilythe trying to conceal his sadness. Instead, it dug up the memories of his mother, which caused him to pull his knees up to his chest and he started cry. "I-I-I'm S-sorry.". 

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe could hear the nerves in the poor boy's voice. She had seen it several times over the years. Campers often arrived scared and unsure, things had changed so suddenly and they found themselves having to come to terms with a whole new reality in a matter of minutes. It was overwhelming to say the least. "Pleasure to meet you as well, Codie." She said with a reassuring smile. 

Settling into her chair, Lilythe nodded as he said he had questions. The first one made her chuckle internally. If only, kid. If only. "Well I suppose that's because we don't have a police station. There's no police to track down creatures. Just us." She shrugged, but grabbed her lemonade and took a sip. There was a lot of information she was going to have to go over. She could tell. The satyr must not have had much time with the boy, or perhaps the boy hadn't thought to ask him anything. Lilythe had no way of knowing what had occurred on their trip after all. "There are lots of satyrs here. But they often go out looking for other half-bloods like us, to bring them here so they can be safe. You probably need a bit more explanation than that, but I'm going to answer your questions, I promise. It'll just be a lot to take in. You might want to get comfortable."

"So, the important thing to note is that the Satyr didn't 'choose' you, he recognized what you were. A half-blood. Like me. We're the half-mortal children of the Greek Gods. Demigods." She paused here, knowing that it would take a minute for that to truly process and sink in. "Out there, beyond the camp, there are monsters. Heaps of them. Monsters that mortals can't see, but we can. And to them we smell like the most delicious cake you've ever tasted. Here, at Camp Half-Blood, we train half-bloods to be heroes so that you can protect yourself from the monsters out there in the mortal world." Lilythe grabbed a cookie and nibbled on it while letting that information process. This was going to be a shock to his system. She was fairly certain he hadn't been told anything before arriving.

"If I had to guess why your life 'falls apart' as you put it... I'd bet good money that it had to do with monsters." Lilythe said. "It's okay... I know this is a lot of information and a really big change. But you're safe here. And you can decide whether you want to stay. But, I promise you're safe here." And she truly meant it. Things hadn't happened to the campers at Camp Half-Blood in nearly 10 years now. She truly hoped and believed that the worst days were behind them. "Would you like to know more about the camp?"

[Codie Floyd]

The fact that Lilythe didn’t seem to overreact to him breaking down in front of her after just meeting less than a minute ago. This comforted him more than someone rushing to his side to coddle him. Her presence alone radiated this sense of safety and reassurance which helped guide his breath, allowing him to ground himself. To anyone else, her words would have warranted a call to a crisis team to take her straight to a mental health facility. But after everything he has seen in his life, this nonsense made sense. 

“So these monsters hunt Demigods….and I’m a Demigod? How is it that other people can’t see the monsters? You would have to be completely oblivious not to notice those creatures.” Codie wondered if he had heard about things before getting here. Nothing seemed to pop up, although he never was one to keep up with current events. “I wonder what kind of cake I would taste like to them. Well, I mean, I wouldn’t want to know because, you know, gross.” Codie laughed nervously at his own attempt to make a joke. His natural optimism seemed to finally come back to him. 

Oddly enough, all of this comforted him even more. It might have simply been the fact that he was finally getting answers. She said that I was going to be safe. Will I finally be able to call a place home? As He thought to himself, an earnest smile started to form on Codie’s face since he genuinely believed her words. “I’d love to stay here. If everyone is anything like you, then I think I’ll like it here.”  Codie had a question that kept creeping into his mind as Lilythe began to finish her explanation. Without another thought, the question he had slipped out of his mouth. “I do have one more question, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily about the camp. It’s more selfish, I guess. How do I know who my father is? I mean, I guess he has a valid reason for not being in my life since he’s a god. But I mean, come on, it wouldn’t hurt to get at least a birthday card of some sort.” Codie rumbled on and on, which he had often done in situations where his brain went into overload.

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

His next question was one that came up frequently. Kids always wanted to know how nobody else saw the monsters they saw every day. "That's both very simple and very complicated all at once. There's something called 'the mist', and... basically it kind of shields mortals from what's really happening. For their protection, I suppose. It's probably easiest to just think of it as magic, but it's something that we as demigods can see through. Hecate controls it." It was a concept that was hard to put into words other than 'it's magic' to make it make sense. She hoped she had done a good job, but it wouldn't be the first time her explanations left the camper more confused. She was always ready to have to clarify things where possible. Lilythe chuckled at Codie's out loud thought. "I'm sure you're not the first camper to wonder what we taste like to monsters. I assume it's probably something like how ambrosia tastes to us."

"Well that's so sweet of you to say Codie!" Lilythe could tell that this kid had a kind heart. She hoped that his parent was someone that would give him an equally warm and inviting home. "Not everyone is like me, but most of our campers are friendly enough. Even the Ares kids aren't so bad once you get past their general hot-headedness." She chuckled. One thing was for certain, Codie lacked the underlying lair of rage that all Ares campers seemed to have boiling inside them. Definitely not cabin 5. She thought to herself.

And there it was, the question she got almost one-hundred percent of the time in all the years she had been greeting new campers. It was natural that they would want to know who their parent was. Lilythe could vaguely remember what it was like to wonder about that part of you that you had felt was missing. "Our godly parents will claim us. Trust me, they make it known. Usually by evoking their symbol above a kid's head. Unfortunately, it's very rare for the Gods to actually come and visit us. If they pay attention to a mortal, even a half-blood mortal like us, it generally doesn't go well for them. Do you know the story of Heracles?" Lilythe said by way of example. He was the most famous demigod of all time. He had been favored by his father, much to Hera's dismay. And as a result Hera had made his life a living hell. Demigods who attracted the attentions of a God, especially their favor, typically met a cruel fate. It was better that their parents ignored them, even if most of the campers didn't see it that way. "But your father will have to claim you before your thirteenth birthday. So I imagine you'll know who he is soon enough!"

[Codie Floyd]

The moment she said the word magic made him perk up. Codie has always found the idea of magic so fascinating. This may be due to the extensive time he has spent dreaming. His dreams have always been of monsters and the heroes who slay them. What intrigued him the most was the magic. Hear Lilythe speak of these Greek gods as though they were real. Well, they are real. She wouldn’t lie about this. He thought to himself, letting out a giddy laugh. 

“Yeah, I know, Heracles. He fought Hades to save Meg, and he sang a song,” Out of instinct, he trailed off and began to sing You Can Go The Distance. Codie realized he was singing aloud and began sinking into his chair in embarrassment. His face turned a similar shade of red as his hair. “I don’t think we are thinking of the same Heracles.” He tried to change the topic by inquiring more about the camp even though he hadn’t even processed what she had said about being claimed. “So you said we could stay here if we wanted to. Where do we sleep or stay while we are here?” Codie’s voice cracked at the end, sending him back into that state of embarrassment. “I would really appreciate somewhere to sleep or simply hide…..yeah hide; that would be nice.” 
 

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe chuckled a little bit as Codie spoke about the version of Heracles he was most familiar with. "Yeah, I saw that movie when I was a kid too. But it didn't exactly go like that. Sometime I'll have to tell you the story of the real Heracles. Remind me, okay?" She beamed at him. The kid seemed sweet, and was easy enough to like. He'll do fine here. Lilythe thought to herself. She could easily see him making friends with some of the more mellow cabins like Demeter or Apollo.

"You'll stay in my cabin, Cabin 11, until your parent claims you. And then, if your parent isn't the same as mine--Hermes--you'll go to the appropriate cabin for them." Lilythe said with a smile. "Think you can handle staying in a bunk in my cabin for a night or two?" One of her favorite things about being a daughter of Hermes was that it allowed her to meet all the new campers as they joined camp. Usually, unless they were claimed instantly, she was the first cabin leader for the kids. She was the first friendly face, and she tried her best to remain one for the duration of their stay at Camp Half-Blood. It would break her heart if Dionysus and Chiron ever decided to kick her out for getting too old. Thankfully, they still seemed to want her help running the camp.

"I can take you on a small tour of the camp and then get you to your bunk, if you want. Or we can go straight to the bunks now. Up to you." She gave him the choice. It didn't bother her either way.

[Codie Floyd]

“Don’t worry, I’ll ask you about it. I probably should know more about Hercules aside from that movie.” He laughed nervously, thinking about how much he didn’t understand. It finally clicked for him that all of the myths about the Greek gods must be true. This started Codie down a rabbit hole of dangerous thoughts. People often talk about a god or gods who can alter the world with a snap of their fingers. Knowing these beings existed was frightening; these thoughts sent shivers down his spine. Codie shook his head gently to pull himself from spiraling once again.

“I wouldn’t mind staying at your cabin for a while. Just to have a place to rest and to call home for a bit sounds wonderful.” He said as he started to yawn. Everything that had happened in the last 24 hours had exhausted him. Still, his curiosity was the driving force that kept him awake. “Heading to the bunks sounds tempting right now, but I still want to see the camp,” He said with another yawn. Codie used all of his strength to pull himself from the chair. Stumbling for a second, he found his balance waiting to follow Lilythe’s lead. He made sure to pocket a few of the cookies.

“While you show me the camp, I have another question. Since we are children of Greek gods, does this mean we have powers? If we do, then do we also have costumes?” Excitement gleamed in his eyes as the words came out of his mouth. Codie stared blankly ahead and drifted momently into a daydream of all of them wearing superhero outfits based on their godly parent. He let out an audible laugh at the thought of himself wearing a cape.
 

[Lilythe Rayne Rare]

Lilythe smiled. Codie seemed like a really sweet kid. Too sweet to be one of my siblings, sadly. Hermes children were impish and mischievous by nature, typically. Their father was the god of thieves after all. Lilythe had been born with an insatiable wanderlust, herself, and seemed to primarily take over his travelling domain. But she found that the camp had given her plenty of travelling over the years, and she always found her way back here. It was home. "Definitely. But my friend James is a much better story teller than I, and he'll teach you about a lot of the stories in his course." Lilythe said. "We teach a lot of things you'll need to know here at camp." She said by way of clarification.

"Well, all of us have traits passed to us from our parents that I guess you could call powers. For example, as a daughter of Hermes I'm incredibly fast." Lilythe said with a smile. "The children of Aphrodite can feel love in other people and manipulate those feelings here and there." She said as another example. "The children of Hypnos tend to be able to work with sleep and memory." Lilythe offered. "As for costumes, I won't stop you if you want to make one, I guess, but we don't really do that. They would make us too noticeable by the monsters, and they already can smell us. We tend to just kind of blend in when we leave camp as best we can."

Lilythe smiled Code seemed to get excited. As he said he was ready to tour the camp, she stood up from her seat. "This is The Big House. We're a bit literal here sometimes." Lilythe chuckled. "We always have a cabin leader up here to help greet new campers, and generally help Mr. D with things." She paused briefly before continuing. "Mr. D is the Dionysus. Greek god of Wine, Parties, and Madness. If you respect nobody else here, I'd recommend respecting him--no matter how disrespectful he is to you--or else you may very well find yourself turned into a strawberry plant." That was not an exaggeration. Mr. D was not exactly fond of the half-bloods to begin with, and any excuse to turn them into a plant was taken up at every opportunity. "And no, I'm not kidding."

Lilythe moved out to the porch and gestured towards the campgrounds. "Over there are the volleyball courts. And that building is for Arts and Crafts." Lilythe pointed to the courts and the greek-looking buildings off to the east of the house. "To the west are the strawberry fields, and only some of those plants are former campers. Not very many. Mostly the strawberries are a cover for curious mortals who drive by on the road beyond camp. Mortals can't really get here when the boundary is up, but we've had it fall a few times in the past during some crises and having a good alibi is helpful." Lilythe said with a smile as she started walking down the steps, taking strides towards the grounds. As she walked up the trail, she gestured. "Over there are the Forge. The Hephaestus kids spend a lot of time there. Though anyone's welcome to help them."  Cody didn't really seem the forge type, but one never really knew. It was good to have a hobby around here, because things could get really boring otherwise when there weren't quests or events happening. "Behind the forge are the Pegasus stables and to the north is the Armory." Lilythe kept walking along the path, letting her newest camper follow her. "Up ahead we have the Arena where we practice our combat skills, and then just beyond that are the cabins. In the middle of all our cabins is a large bonfire. We gather every night before bed, sing some songs, roast marshmallows, and sometimes the godly parents claim their kids. And the showers are to the east of the cabins, and the mess hall is to the north."

Lilythe stopped along the path and gestured further up. "If you follow the path you come to a lake where we do some canoeing, the forest where we play capture the flag will be to the northwest of the cabins, and beyond the lake further up the path will be the Amphitheater and the Climbing Wall. The path ends at a beach, where the Long Island Sound is." Lilythe turned back around and faced the young boy. "While you're here we'll train you to be a hero. So that you can protect yourself against the monsters that hunt you simply because you smell like the gods. You're not trapped here. You can leave at any time with Mr. D's or my permission, or Chiron's once he gets back. But we have a magic boundary that helps protect us from the monsters here, and it's a safe place for you for as long as you want it." She offered a warm smile to Codie. "I know it may not feel like it yet, but I hope one day it feels like home." She genuinely meant it. After the wars, Lilythe had worked hard to foster an environment around camp that helped support one another and really keep the place safe for everyone. When she took over Cabin 11 from her half-brother Conner when he left to follow Travis at college, Lilythe had doubled those efforts to ensure that every camper had a warm welcome. Even the ones that were more rough around the edges. "You will be staying with me in Cabin 11, where the 'travellers' and children of Hermes reside. But I have a feeling your parent will claim you soon. You look like you'll be 13 soon, and they have to claim you before then." She reassured him. "Do you have any questions before I turn you loose?"