User blog:Joeaikman/Wiki Half Blood Chapter 5 - Noah

The next few hours passed in a blur. The three kneeling kids were introduced to me by the goat boy. The short and stocky one, who walked with a bit of a slump and who's back was slightly hunched, was called Gordon. He looked weak and, if I was interested in those kind of things, like someone you would want to excessively hug. Apparently he was the son of Hypnos, whatever that nonsense meant.

The taller boy who had talked to the shadows was introduced next. He was dark skinned and had scary silver eyes. Strapped around his waist was a belt, and attached to that was a very sharp sword, sheathed in a scabbard as silver as the boy's eyes. He introduced himself as Phil Jay, child of Athena. Noah recognised the name, but wasn't sure where from.

The last boy didn't really have any distinguishing features. I thought he was the most nondescript person I had ever set eyes on. Whilst each of the others had told me who their dad or mom was this boy remained incredibly quiet, unnervingly so. I spotted a sadness in his eyes when the others mentioned their parents. I could feel the pain radiating off him, the pain of sadness and rejection.

And all that weirdness didn't even compare to the fact that there was a black floating hat above my head. I was trying to get my head around it. First a goat boy with super strength saves me from my shadows, after that he introduces me to a girl my age armed with a bow and arrow, now this. They were calling me the son of Hades. What did that even mean?

When the introductions finished we headed back the way that our saviours had run in from. Gordon and Matthew were both quiet, but Phil was trying to explain the events that had just happened to everybody.

"Those were Lamia, or, as they like to call themselves, living shadows. Traditionally they are servants of Hecate, the goddess of magic, but they have been known to follow a somewhat darker master. We should get to Camp and introduce these two to Chiron. Especially..."

I could see his eyes glance at him, with both Tiger and Gordon trying to take subdued and surreptitious looks. What was so special about him? He was nothing. Who was this Chiron that they couldn't stop bleating on about? I couldn't escape the fact that he had heard the name somewhere before.

When we reached the camp Tiger left us, saying that he had to report back to something called the Council of Cloven Elders. Shortly after that Tina was whisked away by some guy called Barry and I was introduced to Jorn and Brandon, who were the sons of Hermes and Poseidon respectively.

Jorn was plump, and that was putting it nicely. The dude really looked like he needed to cut back on food and start enjoying some physical exercise. Having said that, he also looked clever, in a mischievous kind of way, like he always had a plan. Brandon, on the other hand, was short and thin, with electric blue eyes. His most distinguishing feature was his voice, that rolled over you smoothly and softly, like the ocean.

Phil told me that the two boys were Head Counsellors of their cabins, which meant that they looked after the other children of their godly parents. There were only two other sons of Poseidon, Shark and Whale. I asked how many other sons and daughters of Hermes there was.

"Too many to count" Phil laughed. It was a quiet chuckle, the kind you would expect from an old professor "We send any unclaimed demigods to bunk in Hermes cabin. He is the God of travellers, after all. You will be Head Counsellor for your cabin. Children of Hades are very rare, he doesn't often show mortals his favour."

The next two hours was a whirl of meeting new people. First I was introduced to a horse dude. I remembered now that Chiron had trained heroes in the times of the Ancient Greeks, seemingly death had come easy to him. After that there was a brief encounter with a dark clothed goth chick. Sierra, Head Counsellor of the Hecate cabin.

Then we went to the infirmary to meet Billy, Head Counsellor of Demeter and the first non-Apollo chief healer in years. Whilst there I also met Jasper, a son of Apollo, and Jose, Head Counsellor for the Hephaestus cabin, who had injured himself in the coliseum this morning, wielding a trial mechanical mace that also shot out poison darts.

After that Phil told me there was a meeting at the Big House, called by Chiron, on the advice of Sierra. All the Head Counsellors would be there and I had been invited to attend. We walked over to the building with Billy and Jose.

The Head Counsellors of Demeter and Hephaestus were apparently best friends, although they made an amusing couple. Billy was small and slight of frame, looking fragile to the touch, whilst Jose was tall, even more so than Phil, and looked strong enough to pull a car with just his pinky.

On the way across Billy filled me in a bit on the back stories of the Head Counsellors. Apparently there had recently been a big reshuffle, with Phil, Jose and Jorn only recently appointed to their posts after a load of departures from camp. They wouldn't tell me what had caused the departures, only that it had almost torn the Wiki in two.

Once we got to the Big House I saw a multitude of chairs arranged in the back garden. 13 had been arranged in a horse shoe shape, with others spread out behind the. "A Council of War..." I heard Billy mutter, accompanied by grim looks from Jose and Phil.

Many of the seats were empty, but I recognised Gordon sat at one of the scattered seats, whilst Brandon and Jorn were both sat within the horseshoe. Jose approached the chairs, paused, muttered something, and then carried on walking. Billy did almost exactly the same thing.

"This is where the Head Counsellors meet to make decisions that are important to the camp. To enter you have to approach and say your name and godly parent, otherwise it won't let you in. Watch me do it." Phil walked towards the set of seats and called out in a clear voice "Phil Jay, Son of Athena" before carrying on his walk.

I approached the same spot Phil had, nervous that it might go wrong and I would be stuck on the outside. I could see Phil a few metres in front of me, silently mouthing encouragement. I called out my name and father, not half as confidently as he had, before stepping in. I could feel a weird tingling and suddenly all sound was cut off from the outside. I was inside some weird soundproof force field.

Once there I was introduced to even more campers. There was Alan, Head Counsellor of Hestia cabin, whom I thought looked a lot like Jesus, and Jeremy, the Chinese Head Counsellor of the Bia cabin. After that I met Wach, who was the drunken Head Counsellor of Dionysius, and Cyan, the distinctly more sober Head Counsellor of Apollo. I asked him how Tina was doing. He told me that she was settling in fine and had already claimed her bunk. I was glad to hear it.

I sat down at the seat marked Hades, and no sooner had I done so than it transformed into a large, black, brooding throne. I was surprised, but looked round to see that others seats had done the same. Brandon was sat to the left of me on a throne of coral and starfish. To my right was Billy, who's throne looked like it was made of wheat tightly packed together. Gordon's throne looked suspiciously like a bed, but he looked more awake than I had ever seen him.

Most of the seats were still empty. Phil had pointed out that the seats for Hera and Artemis were both free, saying that neither goddess was prone to having children. I noticed that the grand throne at the tip of the horseshoe was also empty. I deduced that it belonged to Zeus, as was the blood red throne sat directly opposite Phil. I wasn't sure which god it represented but I could tell that I didn't want to find out. It was emanating fear and terror.

My attention was dragged away from the throne, and instead I gazed upon a queer sight. Chiron was walking down the aisle of the horseshoe, accompanied by Sierra and a redheaded girl wearing jeans and a T-Shirt. She was no demigod, but her power...it gave me goosebumps. This was pure evil.