Crystal Jones - Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - I wake up in the Boot-Camp for Badasses
I don't remember waking up, but I do remember opening my eyes to the moving mosaics of clouds and lightning. I moved to get up, but my back tensed with strain and I winced, but managed to sit upright. Feeling around my face, checking for burns and bruises, I realized that my skin was uncut and unmarked by my fight with that monster, and that I was in the same clothes, which were completely dry despite the fact that I remembered falling into deep water.

I turned to realize that I was inside a large square building with a domed roof where the mosaics were hovering above my head, made of immaculate, shining marble. I turned again to see that I was sleeping under a gigantic statue of a muscular man in a loincloth, wielding a huge lightning bolt. The statue was made of gold, and I was amazed at the attention to detail - the carves of skin, the swirls of thin hair in the voluminous beard and even the lines in the irises of his intimidating eyes. I thought he looked strangely familiar to me.

"Big chap." I remarked.

"Big chap with a big head." said a voice behind me and I twisted around, paranoid. There was a leanly-built boy standing in the doorway behind me. He was dressed in an orange shirt with a pegasus emblazoned on it, and khaki shorts, but the rest of his wardrobe was drastically different. He also wore a woollen maroon jacket and equally brown trainers. The boy had wild black hair and olive-green eyes, and very bronzed skin. The boy walked towards me and smiled an easy smile, with his hands in his pockets, "I never met the guy, but I hear he's got a really serious self-admiration problem."

"Where am I?" I demanded, furiously, searching my pockets for my phone. The boy smiled and reached into the pocket of his shorts, producing my cell phone. My eyes blazed with anger, but the boy casually tossed the phone towards me and I snatched it out of the air perfectly, squeezing the power button. The sword morphed into a three-foot sword with a curved crossguard and green gem at the pommel. I jabbed the sword at him, "Answer me!"

"Calm down." the boy said, casually, with gentle hand gestures indicating for me to lower my blade. I refused to, and stepped towards him, cautiously, "You're in Camp Half-Blood, you are safe...I really don't know how to say this, but you can't leave just yet..."

"What are you talking about?"

"My name is Callum Stone," the boy went on, "this is Cabin One...."

"Cabin what?"

"Calm down." the boy repeated, more forcefully this time. I lowered the sword slightly, then put it away. The boy, Callum, walked towards me and took my hand. His touch was rather icy. He led me outside the Cabin, into the sun, "Welcome to the Boot Camp for Badasses."

The world outside was beautiful. A huge green grassy expanse consistent of a ring of thirteen huge cabins of various shapes and colours and styles, and outside of them I glimpsed a small arena, a stable, a climbing wall (What kind of climbing wall spewed lava?) and one large chalet-like house at the top of the hill. I gasped at the beauty of the place, it was like something out of I'm a Celebrity but more stylish and magnificent. He led me out of the Cabin and up the hill.

"I'll explain this more slowly." Callum said, "What do you know of Greek Mythology? Nothing? Oh, well, let's just say that the Greek Gods of Olympus are real, and not only are they real but...sometimes they have children with humans. Half-Bloods, or more commonly demigods. These children are special and possess some of the powers and traits of their godly parents. And some of them, like you and me, are dangerous."

"Dangerous? How are you and me dangerous?" I asked, doubtfully, not quite convinced yet.

"I'm a son of Hades, the God of the Dead and the Underworld. As one of the Big Three, Hades is one of the most powerful...and the more powerful the God, the more dangerous and the more they attract...trouble, and a lot of trouble. And you...you're a son of Zeus, the God of the Sky and King of Olympus. He's the most powerful...trust me, this all makes sense eventually."

"Zeus?" I remembered the statue back in that Cabin, of the man with the lightning bolt...and the explosion I caused back at Liberty Island. Suddenly, it all made sense...but that didn't explain the monster. "What happened to the monster?"

"The Sphinx?" Callum smiled, "Went Ka-Boom with the rest of Lady Liberty's pretty head. It wasn't pretty, trust me."

He led me up the hill towards the huge chalet-house and inside. It was made of brown wood and grey stone, structured beautifully.

Inside, it was like a normal chalet, with a wooden table and fireplace. But the two men sitting at the table...weren't normal at all. One of them was a centaur - a tall man with thick black-grey hair and a brown destrier horse's body, the human waist fused into the collar of the horse's body. His human body was rather muscular for his age. The man next to him was pot-bellied, dressed in a purple Hawaiian shirt, with brutal bloodshot eyes and filthy black hair curling over his scalp like a large octopus. He looked like he was recovering from the ultimate hangover of all time. Both of them were playing chess, and the centaur was winning. The centaur slid his bishop delicately into his queen, tipping it off the board and the pot-bellied man slammed his fist on the table angrily, snarling hoarsely.

"I envy Athlim for being the God of Games. I could sure use a hand from him right now!" he snarled and the centaur smiled. Then they turned and saw me and the centaur smiled broader.

"Hello, Crystal." he greeted, "I'm glad to see you woke up. My name is Chiron, and this...this is Dionysus."

He looked tired, like he hadn't slept in days. Dionysus looked a whole lot worse, though. Chiron stretched to his feet (Or hooves) and approached, putting an arm around my shoulder.

"You seem a whole lot better than when I pulled you out of the river." he chuckled. I stared at him, "Oh, you were unconscious. Your clothes were singed a bit, and your head was bruised quite badly, but luckily it's not something you don't see everyday around here, a blow to the head."

"Why am I here?"

"Camp Half-Blood is basically a sanctuary and training ground for Greek demigods." explained Chiron, "It is where they train to fight and to enhance their powers to survive and protect, because the monsters out there are attracted to demigods like moths to a flame. Here, you will be safe and protected. Here, you will train to protect yourself from the outside world."

"Interesting." I said flatly.

"Another one." muttered Dionysus, "Another pesky half-sibling. How many will Dad be satisfied with?"

"Dad?"

"Zeus." growled Dionysus, "King of the Sky. Lightning-bolt bloke. Big beard, big muscles, big ego..." he cut himself off at once, as if afraid he'd just spoken a terrible curse, "Anyway, Chiron dragged your scrawny flab out of the river and brought you here - oh, by the way, seventeen people were seriously injured in the explosion you caused! Seventeen! Do you know how much paperwork I have to send to Olympus on the damage you brats do?"

"I didn't mean to!" I snapped. I couldn't help it. I'd been chased all day by that beast and I was terrified, and I didn't know what I was doing, and this overweight moron was slagging me off about it, "I was trying to stop that Sphinx from attacking me! I'd like to see you try any better!" Dionysus looked up at me, and suddenly his eyes blazed with purple flames so intense that his hair caught fire. I yelled and stepped back and Dionysus burst to his feet, his fists raised violently, but Chiron grabbed him and slammed him back into the chair before he could do anything to me.

"Don't you dare insult me so, you little princess!" shouted Dionysus, "Do you know who I am? I am Dionysus, son of Zeus and God of Wine and Madness. Defy me again, and I will throttle you with a grapevine, so help me!"

"Calm the Hades down, Dionysus!" snapped Chiron, angrily. The flames in Dionysus's eyes quenched and his face softened.

"Mr D," Callum stepped forward, "I think we should take Crystal outside and show her the ropes."

"Agreed," Dionysus said, tensely, "I think I've lost too many chess games today to be of sound enough mind to do it myself."

"You've only played one today." Chiron pointed out.

"Shut up." Dionysus paled with embarrassment. Callum walked me out while Chiron reset the chessboard and Dionysus turned away. Somehow, I knew that I had crossed him in totally the wrong way right there, but I was too tired and too angry with him to care.

"You shouldn't piss off a God, Crystal." explained Callum, "You just shouldn't...Dionysus can turn really nasty when it suits him."

"I get that now." I said. But something about Dionysus just made me really, really mad - it wasn't that he was a prat, and he certainly was so, but something drastically different I couldn't put my finger on.