Chapter Text
Dinner was a little lacklustre, Katie showed me how to offer part of my dinner as a sacrifice by throwing it into the fire, and we were able to drink whatever we wanted by speaking our intent to the cups. I picked a milk tea sweetened with honey, much to the bemusement of the Demeter kids.
I picked out a hot vegetarian lasagne for my dinner and an almond baklava as a dessert, I had sacrificed part of my lasagne to Lady Demeter and a second baklava I had picked up I had torn in two, offering one half to mother and the other to my step-dad. The latter earned me a few stares but I was starting not to care.
The jacket did its work when I didn’t talk, keeping other people from noticing me so I was able to eat in peace. I’ve been here a little over twenty-four hours if you count the time I was unconscious, and I was already fed up with how people demonized Lord Hades. Being afraid of death isn’t an excuse for rudeness.
Sleep came quickly and easily that night, my dreams were peaceful and filled with the sweet, soothing voice of a woman. I couldn’t recall what she said but when I woke up the next morning, I woke up happy and feeling oddly at peace. No-one else in the cabin was awake when I woke up so I used this chance to use the showers first, once I changed I grabbed my bag and left to carry on where I left off.
It carried on like this for the next few days. Beckondorf would often join me with another one of his siblings occasionally joining us to help build the shrine. Figuring out how I wanted it to look and putting that into practice was hard, since I usually went off visions and constructions in my mind which didn’t really translate well into actual design plans. By the fourth day, the outer walls and roof of the shrine had been built and sanded down.
Deciding what to do for flooring was tricky, and in the end I decided to leave it and just let the tree stump be the place where offerings were placed. The tree stump was sanded down too so objects could sit evenly on it, and all that was left was painting the shrine. Choosing colours was hard, and we only had a limited palette to choose from since there was only so much wood paint available and most of it had to go towards more practical things to help the demigods in the camp survive, which was understandable.
That didn’t make it any less frustrating when I had to figure out what to pick out of the available colours we had. In Hellenistic religion, Persephone was associated with the colours black, purple, green and white, and for Hades, he was associated with red, purple, white, black, and metallic colours. Both had a few of the same colours so I wasn’t sure what to pick.
…maybe the outside could be black, and the inside could be red with white bones and flower patterns? That could work.
When I voiced my choices to Charles and the other Hephaestus kids, they seemed a little amused by my ideas but helped with it. It took most of the day to paint the entire outside black in an even coat and then to cover the colour in a protective layer of varnish, and another to do the same to the inside in red.
By the third day of decorating, it was complete.
I was tired and covered in paint by the end of it but very satisfied, and my first offering was a drawing of Mum and her husband. I based the designs of what I imagined they would look like, and placed it and a tealight candle that Charles gave to me to finish it off. It wasn’t much but it was a start.
The sun was setting over the horizon as Charles and his brothers helped me to gather the leftover supplies and return them back to the workshop. He was pushing the wheelbarrow whilst I browsed through my old notebook full of notes on all the different deities I’d researched before I left Nick’s home, looking for ideas on offerings I could give to them.
“Pomegrantes aren’t available at this time of year so maybe I could offer some drawings of them or some flowers for mum?” I mused aloud, not actually expecting much input. “Some coins for Lord Hades are definite, I have some spare from my time being homeless that I don’t need anymore.”
Most of the money I’d had during my two months of living alone was gone with only a little change left but with my jacket and mary poppins bag it wasn’t that much of a problem if I needed to acquire more items, in all honesty.
In ancient times, people would make offerings to deities based on things to do with their domains, and in Hades’ case, coins were an easy one since he was a god of wealth and money was a part of wealth. Mum would be offered flowers, pomegranates, flowers and like every deity, pretty stones and crystals associated with them would be offered too.
Hmm, maybe I could offer them some cool rocks I find whilst wandering the woods?
“You were homeless?” Charles questioned, his voice raising a little as he did.
“Yeah,” I reply as I look at him, now a bit distracted from my thoughts. “Monsters kept hanging around my dad’s home to look for me so I had to leave, and it was only for a couple of months until the satyrs found me.”
“Only a couple of months, she says,” he says with a snort and a shake of his head.
“Well yeah, I’m an untrained demigod so there’s no way I would have lasted much longer,” I point out, feeling a little defensive. It’s not my fault that Nick wouldn’t let me learn how to defend myself, and it’s not like there’s classes on how to use a spear on the streets.
“That’s not what I meant,” Charles said with a sigh. “It’s a miracle for any demigod to last that long alone, let alone untrained.”
The defensive feeling washed away and was replaced with embarrassment. I really need to stop assuming people mean the worst when they’re commenting about what I do or have done, not everyone is like the teachers and bullies in school or like Nick.
“Oh, sorry. Yeah, if it weren’t for the jacket Mum gave me I wouldn’t have lasted more than a day,” I freely admit, looking down to the sleeves of my jacket that was covered in embroidered flowers. “If I’m quiet, no-one notices me when I wear it.”
Things went quiet between us after that which was fine with me, I had ideas to think about.
By the time I reached one week living in Camp Half-Blood I was already getting sick of the other kids, people didn’t point anymore or stare when they could see me but whenever I spoke up I could feel people staring, looking, and sizing me up. Being treated like some kind of bizarre alien was getting old, fast.
This was the most common during sparring matches when I had to leave the jacket in the Demeter cabin so I wouldn’t soak it in my sweat, learning how to use a spear was hard as hell. It required a lot of repetition and practice, and coming from a kid who had spent months skipping gym classes and didn’t enjoy sports, it was very demanding on my body.
Unfortunately there was no cheat code for learning how to fight, so I was stuck doing something I really didn’t like but needed to do for my own safety. There were no demigods past the age of 18 here, and there had to be a reason. When I eventually had to leave I wanted to learn all I could to protect myself, but that still meant a life having to run from monsters and facing homelessness in this world, since normal mortals can’t see monsters they would never accept any explanation I give.
Getting and keeping a home and job would be impossible, unless there’s a way to ward off monsters. Plenty of pagans use smoke cleansing to ward off supernatural beings and bad energy, perhaps something similar could be done here?
“Get up you pansy,” my current sparring partner, Clarisse, drawled whilst she spun her spear around her fingers effortlessly. She was older and more experienced, and unfortunately, one of only three other people who primarily used a spear instead of a sword or bow and arrow. So I was stuck with her being one of my three sparring partners, and she didn’t hold back at all.
I groaned from my spot on the floor of the training grounds and did just that, I felt sore all over and I knew that the moment this training session was over I was having a hot shower to soothe the bruises. Fuck the schedules, it won’t be the end of the world if I have a shower and change, and turn up a few minutes late for the Demeter cabin’s allotted time for the arts and crafts station.
“What did I do wrong?” I asked her, mentally bracing myself for every single flaw in my stance to be pointed out and rubbed in my face. It was annoying but useful, Clarisse was good with a spear and I really needed to learn, even if it meant letting a kid lord it over me. Pride has no place in the life of a demigod.
Like I expected, she did point out every flaw in my stances, and even helped me to correct them. Usually by smacking the part of my body with the blunt end of her spear in the spot where my stance was bad but you had to take what you could get.
By the end of the training session I was covered in bruises, and I retreated to the Demeter cabin to have a shower and clean myself up. The warm water and some bruise salve kept in the first aid kit in the cabin helped to soothe the bruises enough that my pride was soothed enough to be in a good mood when I joined the rest of my cabin in the arts and crafts section.
We were joined by the Aphrodite cabin, the love goddess’ children were having fun painting and making jewelry. I hesitated, starting on a small painting of bones and flowers as I internally gathered up the courage to ask them for help. There was something I’d wanted to do for a long time that Nick had refused to let me do and I wanted to do it soon before I chickened out.
All too soon, my painting was done and had to be left to dry, and there was only a small amount of time left until we were free to do whatever we wanted for the rest of the afternoon, until dinner.
If I don't do it now, I’ll never get it done.
I took a deep breath and approached the Aphrodite cabin, who all went quiet (and one of them jumped) when I greeted them. “Hi, sorry to be a bother but do any of you know where I can get a cut and dye in this camp?”
“...for your hair?” One of the Aphrodite girls, a girl with long black hair, asked me as she put her paint brush in a cup of water.
“Yeah,” I say, feeling more and more awkward by the minute.
“We can help with that,” the same girl said again, a smile spreading across her face. “I’m good at dying hair.”
“I’m pretty decent at hair cuts,” a dark skinned girl with cheery red hair said, her voice soft and quiet, almost meek. “I’m Callie.”
“Oh! I’m Selena!” The first Aphrodite girl that spoke up said to me, it looked like she was perking up like an excited puppy. I think she was one of the first people I saw when I first came to camp. “Come to the cabin with us, and we can sort out your hair.”
I wasn’t sure about letting kids cut and dye my hair but at this point it was becoming more and more apparent that there were no adults to rely on other than a bored, uninterested centaur and a sulking god, and out of those options I think I’d rather risk having the kids help me with my hair.
“Won’t your mum be upset if I go into your cabin without her permission?” I ask as another one of Aphrodite’s daughters, Drew, she introduced herself as, linked her arm in mine as she and her siblings surrounded like that I was a sheep that was part of a flock and they were the flock.
“As long as we invite you then it’s fine,” the boy from before, Michael I think he name was, said as he fiddled with the sleeves of his fleece. “Mom’s nice.”
Well, that was a relief. I’m glad I’m not going to get smited for pissing off a goddess.
I was ushered into the Aphrodite cabin, the inside was full of Aphrodite’s colours; pink and white, and there were lots of dove, pearls and shells decorating the walls and furniture, with some pretty, intricate lace curtains. The curtains looked handmade, and I wondered if Aphrodite was the one who made them for her children, it sounds like something a goddess of love would do for her children.
“What shade of pink are you thinking of getting?” Selena asked as she immediately wandered over to a set of chest of drawers whilst Drew lead made to a pink beanbag in the middle of the room, and she grabbed a towel that Michael gave her and placed it around my shoulders.
“A pastel pink,” I say after taking a moment to think it over, feeling a little shy at just how nice the aphrodite kids were being.
“Pink would suit you,” Drew said with a sharp nod and a sniff.
I felt a brush running through my hair, and I glanced behind me to see Callie, her cherry red hair tied back into cornrow braids. At least I think they’re called cornrow braids? There were some pretty hair charms and beads laced into the braids, in the shapes of hearts and arrows. It looked like she was dressing up for Valentines day, even though that was two months away.
“What style do you want?” Callie asked me.
“Shoulder length hair?” I say, not entirely sure what styles can be done with curly hair. In my past life I had straight hair and only paid attention to those styles, and Nick never let me do anything nice with my hair in this one. “No particular style, I just want to get rid of the split ends.”
“Callie’s great at cutting hair,” Silena praised her sister with a bright grin as she sat in front of me, on another bean bag. “You’re in good hands, Rose.”
I wanted to ask how she knew my name but since I’m the only child of Persephone and was claimed literally in the middle of camp, I guess I left an impression and made it easy to remember me. Fan-fucking-tastic. It's going to be impossible to keep a low profile here.
“A basic cut?” Callie inquired as she continued brushing through my hair. She didn’t comment any further when I confirmed what I wanted, and she started cutting once she finished brushing my hair. I tried not to think about it too much, I don't like shark things near my ears.
It was dinner time when the Aphrodite cabin was finished with me and my hair was cut, dyed, washed and dried. I couldn’t stop smiling at how soft and pretty my hair looked now that it was taken care of, Nick had always hated letting me have my hair cut unless it was starting to resemble a bird’s nest. The dick always acted like it was my fault too.
Now I could get it done and there was fuck all that he could do about it.
I retreated to my cabin to grab my jacket before joining everyone else for dinner, I noticed some of the Aphrodite kids looking around the pavilion but I didn’t think too much about it. It’s not any of my business what they do at dinner time.
“Vanilla coke,” I said to my drink cup after sacrificing my roasted potatoes to Lady Demeter, Mum and Lord Hades. I gladly tucked into my roast turkey, potatoes and root vegetables, covering it in a thick layer of gravy. It was the closest I could get to a traditional Sunday roast here, and I was in dire need of something that reminded me of my old home.
A camper I wasn’t familiar with found me days later whilst I was visiting the shrine I made for Mum and Lord Hades, lighting a red candle and placing some pretty rocks and some animal bones I had found and washed onto the tree stump surface. I hadn’t noticed her come by until she cleared her throat sharply, making me jump.
“You’re the one who made this shrine for Lady Persephone and Lord Hades, right?” The girl asked, her hands stuffed deeply into the pockets of her fleece jacket as she stared at me. She wore a white tennis skirt and green tennis shoes, despite the cold weather she didn’t seem cold at all. Her brown hair was tied back in a ponytail, and her brown eyes were sharp, like needles.
“Yeah?” I respond as I rise to my feet, not sure where this was going. The girl didn’t seem cold at all despite the weather, maybe she was the daughter of a fire deity?
“I’m Jenny, and I need your help to make a shrine for my Mum,” the girl, Jenny, said as she tapped her foot. She couldn’t stay still or not fidget for long, and I was starting to think Annabeth might have a point about most of the demigods having ADHD. I’d noticed some of them acting similarly.
“Sure. I got most of the stuff I needed and some help from the Hephaestus cabin, so that would be a good place to start,” I say, wiping my hands on my jeans.
The girl smiled.
“Good, then we’re making a shrine for Nike.”